DX LISTENING DIGEST 2002 ARCHIVE HOME presents...
DX LISTENING DIGEST 2002 ARCHIVE, PART 4
NOTE: Since the first three months of 2002 file got so huge, >4 MB we have closed it, and renamed it dxldta02.html where it may still be consulted and searched. Likewise, the file containing the second quarter of 2002 is so huge that it is now closed, renamed dxldtb02.html. Like2wise, the file containing the third quarter of 2002 is also closed and renamed dxldtc02.html. Like3wise, this file of fourth quarter 2002 DXLDs is now closed and named dxldtd02.html. ALSO NOTE: INDIVIDUAL DXLDS, JANUARY-JUNE 2002: On our own website we no longer have individual issues before July 1, 2002, just these massive quarterly archives. Individual issues are, however, still available at DXing.com, indexed here: http://www.dxing.com/dxrold.htm As of October 3, 2004, the oldest DXLD at DXing.com was 2-200; presumably more and more old issues will be deleted as time goes on. DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-205, December 31, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1163, low version is already available: [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1163.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1163.ram [High version from Wed or Thu:] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1163h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1163h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1163.html [from Wed or Thu] WBCQ: Wed 2300 7415, 17495-CUSB, Mon 0545 7415 WWCR: Thu 2130 9475, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 -- maybe; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 7490 WRN: rest of world Sat 0900, Eu only Sun 0530, NAm Sun 1500 ONDEMAND: http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. AFEGANISTÃO VIA NORUEGA. 18940 *1327-1627* NOR 15-12 Norkring, Kvitsøy No voice! It should have been a satellite relay of R Afghanistan from Kabul, but the link did not work! 1327- 1330 Kvitsøy relayed the NRK programme, 1330 for 3 seconds the signature from R Denmark and then a pause for 45 seconds while searching for the link broadcast from Kabul. In lack of better the pre-recorded interval signal from R Afghanistan was played for three hours: 1331-1627. 34434 AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) This is the rule rather than exception ** ANGOLA. 4950, Radio Nacional 0407 Dec 30 with nice reception. Many IDs with what sounded like a news program till 0415, then music (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Hola Glenn... Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. En la frecuencia de 15820 kHz he escuchado ya dos emisoras argentinas. En una oportunidad pude oir a Radio Continental. En dos fechas, el 14/12, Radio Diez con el espacio ``Fiebre del Sábado``, con un reporte informativo a las 00 UT. Anunciaba la frecuencia de 710 kHz en Bs. As. También captada el 29/12, a las 0345, con noticias a las 0400. Identificaba como ``La emisora más potente de Argentina``. Las dos escuchas fueron en Upper Side Band. Saludos de Año Nuevo. 73´s y DX... (Adán González, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.93, 26.12 2215, Radio Baluarte, very nice -- completely without any disturbances (Laser Hot Hits on 6219 was very weak) with a Portuguese program, full ID in Spanish at 2300. QSA 3. SHN (= Stig Hartvig Nielsen in Denmark, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) So still active ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB-OZ: Per DXPL interview on Dec 28, Kununurra is now scheduled to officially commence on Sun, Jan 5, 0700 to the S. Pacific, 1230 to Asia, and they expect to do test transmissions as needed during the preceding week with a test program that they have prepared. From Jan 5, they will broadcast to the S. Pacific at 0700- 1200 on 11755, and to Asia at 1230-1430 on 15130 and 1430-1730 on 15135. On Mons and Sats they will also test to Ethiopia at 1800-1830 at 15430. On the S. Pac beam, programming will include some elements of their current programming plus promoting Australia and the region, including regional music for first half-hour each week night, tourism show "The Right Destinations" at 0800 week nights, Sat "Country [music] Down Under," Sun "Sunday Night Alive" talk. DXPL will also be carried over the Kununurra site. [WHEN??] On the Asia beam, weeknights at 1445 they will present "Radio Classroom" (English as a second language). Studio-transmitter link in Australia is ISDN line now, later (when they install a second transmitter) it will be via satellite; Quito and Colorado Springs programming reach Australia via .mp3 files over the Internet. No QSL-card developed yet; will do so during the next couple of months. However, they are interested in rpts, which should be sent to: HCJB-Australia, GPO Box 691B, Melbourne, Australia 3000; please include an IRC or other return postage. They can also be reached by E-mail to office@hcjb.org.au (DXPL via Jerry Berg) For a bit more about Dennis Adams, see http://www.sb.org.au/church/inservice.htm (DX-plorer via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Canção Nova, 4824.96, Dec 22 0010-, Portuguese religious music, sermon, weak. \\ 9674.97, 6105. All frequencies slightly unstable with a very slight wobble (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A partir de 1º de janeiro de 2003, a rádio Gazeta, de São Paulo (SP), passará a transmitir a programação da rede Canção Nova de rádios. A Gazeta está, em ondas curtas, nas freqüências de 5955, 9685 e 15325 kHz. As informações foram publicadas pelo jornal Folha de São Paulo, pela jornalista Laura Mattos (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 31 via DXLD) Wait a minute! This was supposed to be changing *from* evangelical *to* student/educational programming Jan. 1, per previous reports, mentioned in my SW Year in Review. No longer so? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BRASIL - A Rádio Gaúcha de Porto Alegre disponibiliza seu sinal de seis formas diferentes e pode ser sintonizada em real time em todo o mundo. As ondas médias, em 600 kHz, funcionam 24 horas por dia; as ondas curtas em duas frequências - 11.915 e 6020 khz - estão no ar das 0800 às 0300; o áudio da Rádio Gaúcha pode ser captado também pelo Canal 300 da Sky e na internet no endereço http://www.clicrbs.com.br e também através do sinal codificado enviado via satélite para suas 111 afiliadas distribuídas em 9 estados brasileiros. A Rádio Gaúcha, no dia primeiro de janeiro do ano que vem, estará cobrindo, ao vivo, a partir das 1500, as posses dos governadores eleitos em outubro e também, direto de Brasília, a posse do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. As informações são de Valter Gonçalves dos Santos, coordenador da Rede Gaúcha Sat. [as the accent should make clear, it`s pronounced ga-OO-shuh, but even gringos try to make it Spanish, even after `hearing` it... –gh] BRASIL - Conforme o boletim No Ar - RTM, segue o trabalho de instalação do novo transmissor da rádio Transmundial no município de Santa Maria (RS). As chuvas dos últimos dias têm dificultado as obras. O transmissor veio, de navio, de Atlanta, Estados Unidos. A expectativa é de que, com os novos equipamentos, a Transmundial passe a ser escutada, em ondas curtas, em dois terços do território brasileiro. Eis as freqüências da emissora: 5965, 9530 e 11735 kHz. Endereço para correspondência: Caixa Postal 18.300, CEP: 04626-970, São Paulo (SP). (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 31 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. US PROTESTS CAMBODIAN RADIO BAN The United States has protested to the Cambodian government over its decision to ban Phom Penh FM station Beehive Radio from carrying programmes of the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the decision would deprive Cambodian listeners of balanced and fair news reporting. Beehive Radio started broadcasting VOA and RFA programming on September 23. The ban follows US condemnation of political violence in Cambodia ahead of next July's elections (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 31 December 2002 via DXLD) ** CANADA. VANISHING CANADIANS: While doing research on an upcoming MT column, I arrived at a rather shocking statistic... Over the last few years, at least *19%* of the AM stations in Canada have moved to FM. (the figure is certainly somewhat higher; since stations often change callsigns when they move to FM, it's sometimes difficult to tell whether there's an FM station associated with a deleted AM.) Nearly *ONE-QUARTER* of all Canadian AM stations have gone silent - either by moving to FM, or by going off the air completely - in the last five years or so. Six more recent grants in December: CJCI-620 BC => 97.3 CFVM-1220 QC => 99.9 CKTK-1230 BC => 97.7 CJLS-1340 NS => 95.5 CBZ-970 NB => 99.5 CKSA-1080 AB => 95.9 There has been one application to resurrect an AM frequency, in Abbotsford BC. Aboriginal Voices Radio, recently granted an FM station in Vancouver, has applied to use the old CFSR-850 transmitter as a relay facility. CRTC Notice indicates CFSR's owners (now on 107.1 FM...) have promised to allow them to use the AM transmitter *without charge* for several years (Doug Smith, TN, NRC-AM via WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. 6715-usb, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, 2252-2309 Dec 27, male preacher with sermon followed by religious vocals. Amazing signal for only 100 watts (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. It`s New Year`s Eve and I have just heard Radio Centrafrique reactivated on 5035 at 2015 with the end of the news in french. Then I heard what sounded like the national anthem but they stayed on with African Music. Signal is fair and on its nominal frequency. Happy new year, (Stuart Austin, Blackpool, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. JIANGSU PROVINCIAL PEOPLE'S RADIO STATION CELEBRATING ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY From http://www.yangtse.com/gb/content/2002-12/30/content_603764.htm (12/30 13:19) Yesterday afternoon, Jiangsu Provincial People's Radio Station held a grand celebration for its 50th anniversary. Hui Liangyu, member the Politic Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and secretary of Jiangsu Party Committee, gave written instructions on the work report of Jiangsu Radio Station and expressed his sincere congratulations for its 50th anniversary. Xu Guangchun, vice minister of the Ministry of Propaganda of the Communist Party of China and director general of China Broadcast Television Bureau, Liang Baohua, assistant secretary of Jiangsu Provincial Committee of CPC and acting governor of Jiangsu Province, both sent the congratulatory messages and letters. Also present at the celebration were Chen Huanyou, Ren Yanshen, Zhang Taolin as well as the staff of Jiangsu Provincial People's Radio Station. Since its foundation half of a century ago, Jiangsu Provincial People's Radio Station has been growing rapidly. Now it boasts not only of News Channel, Economics Channel, Art Channel, Music Channel, "Sound of Jinling" Station, Communication Broadcast Network, Health Times and Commerce 937, but also a daily broadcasting time reaching 140 hours. With the advancement of broadcasting technologies, Jiangsu Provincial People's Radio Station has become a public media with the most audience and influence in Jiangsu (By Guo Lili, Xue Yingdan) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6959.98 (Harmonic?) UNID "Todelar", unknown QTH (Colombia). Dec 2002 - 1117 UT. With "Noticiero TODELAR de Bogotá". 1159.99 and 869.99 are two possible fundamentals but my guess is a harmonic on 1160 from "Ondas del Orteguaza" in Florencia (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 29, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Exactly, as previously IDed by Rodríguez (gh) ** COLOMBIA. Esta interesante nota llegó enviada por el colega José Alba Z. REVOLCÓN EN LA RADIODIFUSORA NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA DEJA POR FUERA A UN IMPORTANTE GRUPO DE REALIZADORES Hace pocos días los directivos de la Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia reunieron a un grupo de programadores de la cadena para informarles que sus contratos de trabajo no iban más. Fue un encuentro tenso en el que, además, hicieron saber que la intención era cambiar la cara de la estación y modernizarla, para lo cual pidieron consejo a los presentes. "No es posible que esto esté pasando -se dijeron dos programadores al oído-. No saben lo que van a hacer con las emisoras y quieren que nosotros les hagamos la tarea". Acto seguido algunos de los presentes emprendieron la retirada. La finalización de los contratos no pasaría de ser anecdótica si no fuera porque se trata apenas de la punta del iceberg. La disolución del dream team de programadores de la Radiodifusora Nacional (un grupo conformado por Daniel Casas, Moncho Viñas, Ángel Perea, César Pagano, Álvaro el profe González, Eduardo Arias, Juan Carlos Garay, Ana Karime Piñeres y Roberto Aroldi, entre otros), precipitó la salida de su directora, Silvia Motta, quien estaba adelantando una labor de rescate del archivo clásico colombiano que reposa en viejas cintas de carrete. "En general, lo que está pasando en la Radiodifusora Nacional y en Inravisión es lo mismo que ocurre en toda empresa deficitaria: si no hay plata para pagar la nómina, menos la hay para contratistas", asegura Juan Montoya, subdirector comercial de Inravisión y encargado de la Radiodifusora. La disolución del dream team precipitó la salida de su directora, Silvia Motta, quien adelantaba una labor de rescate del archivo clásico colombiano. Según el funcionario, lo que está ocurriendo es normal cuando empieza a desarrollarse un plan de contingencia. Dentro del nuevo modelo, finalizan las franjas pregrabadas y entra programación en vivo. Algunos de los antiguos contratistas fueron vinculados de tiempo completo y, según los directivos de la radio, aunque se perdió en especialización se ganará en interactividad. Dentro de los primeros problemas registrados están las constantes repeticiones en las llamadas frecuencia clásica de FM y frecuencia joven dedicada al rock. "Quienes quedaron de planta no estaban acostumbrados a trabajar en vivo los fines de semana -asegura Montoya- Por eso la necesidad de tomar pregrabados y repetirlos". Los directivos de la radiodifusora esperan recursos por 1.800 millones de pesos del Ministerio de Comunicaciones, con los que buscan encender la red en su totalidad, pues hoy por hoy de las 44 frecuencias asignadas cinco están fuera del aire y otras 14 han sido invadidas por radiofrecuencias piratas, incluida una de una empresa de taxis. Por lo pronto, los más afectados por la situación de la cadena son los oyentes. Creen que la salida del grupo de programadores, uno de los mejores que haya tenido cadena alguna en Colombia en los últimos tiempos, representa una baja sensible más allá de datos y planes estratégicos. Pero la crisis, como dicen, no respeta pinta y la Radiodifusora Nacional no ha sido la excepción (via Arnaldo Slaen, Dec 30, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Faro del Caribe has been off for a few days on both 60 and 31 mb. This one just can't seem to stay on (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Dec 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. CHIPRE. 6150, 0015-0215 20-12, Bayrak Int., Yeni Iskele, Northern Cyprus. English British pop songs, 0030 ID: "Bayrak International" by male and more pop songs, 0056 short announcement by female, QRM Deutsche Welle 6145 *0100-0145* & *0200-0230. My BC- country no. 234 heard according to the EDXC Radio Countries List ! Until 0100: 43433 AP- DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) Congrats; at that level, the new ones are scarce (gh, DXLD) What's going on? I'm hearing the same Supremes song, 'Baby Love' at 2202 today on 6150. Do these folks keep playing the same stuff over and over again or what?! Had to pull out all the stops today to get reception with the R7 and the 200' wire, had the AGC off also which helps (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. Dear Glenn, In one of the last bulletins, you asked if the broadcasting station of Djibouti intended to broadcast the programs of the Voice of America could emit on short waves. According to the Djiboutienne agency of press, it would be only about a broadcasting station medium waves of 600 kW. A broadcasting station short waves for the moment is not mentioned (Bernard Chenal, France, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That [planned new transmitters] belong only to the local RTV Djibouti service, replacing old 20 kW units on 1539 and 1170 kHz. And US will give away a SW transmitter unit and antenna too. Former French Somaliland and Rep. of Djibouti used always 4780 kHz channel in the past. R Sawa should use 1431 kHz channel with 600 kW of power [Thales- Thomcast?]; BBG asked for bids already in May 2001! 73 de wb (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I was referring to the lack of SW planned here by IBB (gh) ** ECUADOR. R. Centro, 3289.89, Dec 25 1035-1110+ Spanish talk, ads, promos. Andean vocals. No sign of Guyana, q.v. R. Oriental, 4781.36, Dec 25 1025-1110+, Spanish announcements, many IDs, Andean vocals. Good; no sign of Coatán on 4780 this morning (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. I have now tested my MFJ-1025/Phaser and it seems very good at phasing away interference, especially on lower SW bands. It functions on the upper MW band but needs modification to cover also the lower MW band. It is amazing to almost completely remove Radio Cristal here in Quito on 1380 kHz, it is located only a short distance from my QTH, and instead be able to listen to the Colombians on that frequency (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 29, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) see COLOMBIA, PERU, VENEZUELA ** EL SALVADOR. R. Imperial, 17835.35, Dec 25 0010-0050+, Spanish ballads, camp music, Spanish announcements. Many IDs at 0019, 0020, 0024 with good, clean audio. Good signal at times but some fading in and out with occasional deep fades (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle cutbacks. EDXP has learned in an unconfirmed report that Deutsche Welle plans to abandon all English services to Australia, effective from March 31, 2003 (Bob Padula, EDXP Dec 29 via Joe Hanlon, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DXLD) In reply to Joe Hanlon's info about the possible closure of the English service of DW to Australia etc., I have not heard anything but I would not be surprised if it were to be true; services from shortwave broadcasters are being cut all over the world and I don't think it is from the lack of communication or feedback from listeners. I just think it has to do with rich greedy governments finding ways of cutting costs and not caring about anyone or anything. Just the same, shortwave listeners should not wait until a closure threat becomes obvious before they start writing to a broadcaster to let them know they are out there listening to and supporting the station and its programmes. The more letters (or emails) that are sent to broadcasters even if it is just to say hello and thanks for the great programmes or to say that you enjoyed this or that programme, please keep up the great work, this will be supporting the broadcaster to no end. If however, you hardly ever write to say I listen to your programmes or you only write to send a reception report and demand a QSL card (as well as half the station) then this station or its financial supporters will say that the feedback to this service or area is dwindling and so we will now cut this service down or out. Listening to Mailbag Asia on DW in English, it is very rare indeed that I hear ANY letters, cards or emails from anyone in Australia and this is just not good enough. DW has some great programmes and we should all be listening every now and then and then write to them and tell them so and how much you enjoyed this programme, even if you only do this once a month! It is the old saying, use it or lose it. DW probably thinks that no-one in good old Oz does not listen to them on shortwave anymore and they would probably be write! Best wishes to all! (Michael Stevenson, Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia., Dec 30, EDXP via DXLD) ** GERMANY. I start to become curious what will happen with 6085. Right now (1200 UT on Dec 30) the transmitter is still on. Of course I will keep an ear on it (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bayerischer Rundfunk supposed to close down Dec 31 (gh) Later: Bayerischer Rundfunk stated on Dec 23 that 6085 will not be taken off air "for the time being", but a reduction of power and/or airtime in order to reduce the transmission costs is possible. In future 6085 will carry B5 aktuell between 6 AM and midnight (0500-2300 UT in winter). This via the German ADDX listeners club, original item enclosed. I would say it remains unclear whether or not the transmitter will be switched off between 2300 and 0500 from New Years Day. During this time B5 aktuell produces no own programming but instead relays MDR info from Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk at Halle, on FM and so far on shortwave, too. Until now 6085 carried a special arrangement of Bayern 1, Bayern2Radio and B5 aktuell programming, now they will reduce it to a mere B5 aktuell, making a special feed for the shortwave transmitter unnecessary but also the outlet less interesting. The original statement mentions a "preparation for DRM", so it appears to be an educated guess that they now hesitate from taking 6085 off air in order to prevent a permanent loss of this frequency. Keep in mind that BCE, the engineering branch of RTL, considers to use 6090 again. Trouble is, Ismaning 6085 and Junglinster 6090 cannot coexist when running DRM mode. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [A-DX] BR Muenchen Zum BR erreichte mich heute folgende Meldung via Klaus Hüsgen: Der BR teilte mit Datum 23.12.2002 mit, dass die zum 31.12. geplante Abschaltung der Kurzwelle 6085 kHz vorerst noch nicht erfolgt. Der BR behält sich allerdings vor, geeignete Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um die derzeitigen Kosten zu verringern (u.a. Leistungsreduzierung und Sendezeitverkürzung), um die Umstellung auf eine digitale Kurzwellenausstrahlung (DRM) vorzubereiten. Auf der Kurzwelle 6085 kHz wird zukünftig von 0600-2400 Uhr Ortszeit [0500- 2300 UT] das Programm B5 Aktuell ausgestrahlt. Weitere Informationen hierzu kann man bei der Technischen Redaktion des BR unter 089-5900- 2433 oder der in Deutschland kostenfreien Servicenummer 0800-8181081 erfragen. Soweit der BR via Klaus Hüsgen. Gruß Michael (ADDX Kurier via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Perhaps of interest this news item about German TV [external service to USA]: A news magazine reported a ZDF threat to withdraw from the German TV project, stating that it had no future when the lack in success continues. ZDF denied this report. Acc. the news magazine German TV has a mere 3,000 subscribers at present while 70,000 are necessary to be cost-effective: (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZDF DEMENTIERT BERICHT ÜBER AUSSTIEGSDROHUNG BEI GERMAN TV Mainz - Das ZDF hat einem Bericht widersprochen, wonach Intendant Markus Schächter mit einem Ausstieg aus dem öffentlich- rechtlichen Auslandsfernsehen German TV gedroht habe. Zwar laufe der Vertrieb in den USA noch nicht wie gewünscht, Schächter sei mit der inhaltlichen Entwicklung des Programms jedoch zufrieden, sagte eine ZDF-Sprecher am Sonntag (29.12.2002) auf Anfrage. Das Nachrichtenmagazin "Focus" hatte vorab berichtet, dass Schächter mit einem Ausstieg aus German TV gedroht habe und den Sender bei anhaltender Erfolglosigkeit für "nicht zukunftsfähig" halte. Der Auslandskanal German TV war im März gestartet. Über den Sender können Fernsehzuschauer in den USA rund um die Uhr eine Auswahl aus dem deutschen öffentlich-rechtlichen Programm empfangen. ZDF und ARD steuern je 40 Prozent zu dem Programm bei, die Deutsche Welle trägt 20 Prozent. Deutschsprachige Zuschauer können bei German TV unter anderem Sendungen wie "Tagesschau", "heute journal" oder Talk-Shows sehen. Damit das Programm schwarze Zahlen schreiben kann, müssten nach Angaben der Betreiber rund 70 000 Abonnenten gewonnen werden. Derzeit gibt es laut "Focus" nur 3000 zahlende Zuschauer. Zum Start von German TV war als Ziel ausgegeben worden, dass der Sender in spätestens sieben Jahren schwarze Zahlen schreibt. Das Programm wird per Satellit übertragen. Eine Einspeisung in das Kabelnetz würde die Reichweite deutlich erhöhen. (dpa 12:11) (Stand vom 29.12.2002) (via Kai Ludwig, Dec 30, DXLD) ** GUAM. Hi Marie... Thanks for the returned Christmas card. I hope you enjoyed it with your family. As for myself it was here on the island I sometimes call Gilligan's Island. It's still a good place and despite the island's lack of water and power, things are slowly starting to get back to normal. I spent my time traveling around this big rock seeing some of the sights but there is not a whole lot to see since the typhoon. Many are homeless, as I have been told about 3000 have no place but tents. The FEMA organization is some help but it's often better to just go with the flow of family, as they give only to those who have a real need (if you got bucks in the bank, forget the handout from FEMA). My friend KF6ILA was without power for almost 15 to 20 days, and he lives on the Naval station close to our ship. Power lines (concrete type) were down everywhere, and those beautiful palms were torn to threads. Only a few hams were able to get messages out, like NH7C and KH2JU, who must have had God on their side as many around had no power for almost 4 weeks. As you well know there are 3 big shortwave transmitters here, AWR, KTWR and from what I been told, Baragetta [Barrigada? -- gh]. The others were spared but the latter was very much destroyed. Many towers are now lying half up and down on the ground. It's a shame to see the ruins. Well, my ship is helping a lot as we have a big freezer on board and we were supplying blocks of ice to the Navy, Air Force and hospitals. Well, take care my friend an may you have a great new year. P.S.: If you have Yahoo or Hotmail Messenger you can reach me through chat mail at n6hpx_du1@yahoo.com or n6hpx_du1@hotmail.com Please forward if you want to the SWL group (Larry Fields, N6HPX/du1 via Marie Lamb, swl, via DXLD) Has anyone heard anything outta Guam since this last Super Typhoon? I listened for Danny, KH2JU, off and on to no joy. The ARRL report few days back said that several hams were operational? I thought most of us had moved off the island by now! Danny was the only one I knew on HF left over there. Anyone? And the HF site at Barrigada was Gov't. Haven't tried listening to AWR or the other one... Later, (Todd KH2TJ/6, Dec 31, swl via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4779.98, Radio Coatán continues with strong signal 1200-1230. ID by om at 1228 as Radio Coatán, this over marimba music. 1200-1210 om recited long list of names over non Guatemalan music, time check at 1215. Enchanting trio at 1230 29 December (Bob Wilkner, FL, NRD 535D, Noise Reducing antenna, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Dave- [re previous issue] I was listening at this precise time and heard a Radio Coatán ID at 0207. They remained on the air until sign off at about 0230. Their time check at 20 past sounded as if they said "23" to me. I was getting UTE QRM from 4778 and QRM from Oriental on 4781.3 so I used LSB to make it readable but couldn't shake a strong het. After sign off, the het remained for more than 5 minutes until tune out, so not sure if Satélite is under this or not. 73s- (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, USA, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DXLD) R. Coatán, 4780, Dec 15 1032-1045+ tune-in to NA. Spanish sign-on announcements with IDs at 1034 and into Spanish religious programming; poor-weak. R. K`ekchí, 4845, Dec 15 0245-0312* religious music, lite instrumental music, religious talk in local language. Sign-off with long NA; good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4845, Radio K'ekchí has been off for a few days (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Dec 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GUYANA. No sign of Guyana on either 3290 or 5950 for the past several weeks (Brian Alexander, PA, Dec 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See ECUADOR instead ** HONDURAS. 3250 nf, R. Luz y Vida, 1115-1140 with "Mañanitas Cristianas," sermon in English/Spanish, ID 1129 (Newman, IN 11/29, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 28 via DXLD) What`s new about it? (gh) ** INDIA. Friends, Yesterday 29th December 2002, most stations of AIR signed on at around 4.00 am IST (2230 UT) on MW & SW i.e. two hours earlier than usual, to bring the cricket commentary India vs New Zealand. Several stations of AIR will have extended schedules on the night of 31st December 2002 to welcome the New Year. These will be heard past 1830 UT (i.e. Midnight Indian Standard Time). Look out for stations especially on 3 and 4 MHz and of course MW. Happy New Year to all dx_india members & readers! (Jose Jacob, India, dx_india Dec 30 via DXLD) Later: Here is the schedule of the One Day International Cricket matches between India and New Zealand being played at New Zealand. 1 Jan 2003 at Christchurch (Day & Night match) from 0050 UTC 4 Jan 2003 at Queenstown from 2300 UTC ? 8 Jan 2003 at Wellington (Day & Night match) from 0050 UTC 11 Jan 2003 at Auckland (Day & Night match) from 0050 UTC 14 Jan 2003 at Hamilton (Day & Night match) from 0050 UTC AIR Home Service stations on MW and SW (3 & 4 MHz frequencies) will bring the running commentary of these matches and is noted sign on even at 2230 UTC (4.00 am Indian Time) i.e. about 2 hours earlier than normal which gives some interesting catches. Happy New Year! (Jose Jacob, India, DX_INDIA via DXLD) ** INDIA. 1536 UT checking for the 1530 English news on 12/31, heard the following, all parallel: 4760 Leh (assumed) - good. I assume this is not likely Port Blair 4775 Imphal - fair to good 4850 Kohima - heavy QRM de China 4920 Chennai - heavy QRM de China 4970 Shillong - very weak 5040 Jeypore - fair to good No site IDs; all locations assumed. Alternating man and woman with English news items. 1540 woman ID "This is All India Radio", and also at 1545. After 1545 end of English news, //s included 4760, 4775, 4970, 5040. Heard woman "This is Delhi" at 1600, signals disappeared shortly after. Other above listed 60mb frequencies were mostly audible but not //. 10330 Delhi heard during this time, not //. The 60 mb again faded in shortly after California sunrise. I looked for English at 1430 on 3945, 4850, 5050, 6085 but heard nothing from India. Has anyone logged these? Jose Jacob: can you confirm if there is English at this time, and if so, what frequencie(s)? (David Norcross, California, Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 6071.478, 24.12 1240, RRI Jayapura on extended time with Christmas music. Sometimes heard but usually closes earlier. Very lousy audio when the studio mike is used while taped music sounds OK. Drifting in frequency circa 6 Hz up and down. SA (= Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. V. of Indonesia, 11784.86, Dec 22 2000-2100, English news, commentary, ID, 2030 Mailbag program. Sked, address, local music. 2057 brief news summary. Fair-good; no parallels heard (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. Happy New Year! For those looking to ring in the festivities hourly as they approach our area of the world, maybe this link will be of some interest... http://www.live-radio.net/info.shtml It's not shortwave....but it looks interesting! (John Figliozzi Halfmoon, NY (USA), Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. Here's a "tradition" I try to follow each year. I spend part of my New Year's Eve day tracking the celebrations as they happen on my shortwave radio, and also the various webcams and radio audio feeds over the internet. Lou Josephs has put together a list of sites to follow should you like to travel the path of the World's New Year's celebrations over the web. Overall info and software to watch and listen (via RNW's media network site): http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/newyear021227.html From the International Dateline to Mauritius http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/newyear021227a.html From Iran to American Samoa: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/newyear021227b.html Bookmark Lou's work and tune your radios and click your mice, party hats are optional, but not the fun! Happy New Year x 24 !!!! (Pete Costello, NJ, swltalk via DXLD) [Join the SWLTALK group for live DX talk in the #swl channel on the StarChat IRC network... http://www.starchat.net/servers.htm ] _______________________________________________ SWLtalk mailing list http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/swltalk Pete's reminder is very worthwhile for a fun time with the radio and computer. In my opinion it is certainly better than dealing with the drunks on the road and the rip-off prices charged at restaurants, clubs and hotels. While it is true that Lou Josephs mirrors his New Year's Eve pages on the RNW Web site (below), when push comes to shove and each hour is nigh, Lou may be able to only make instant updates only on his own site as the hours of December 31 tick away here in the USA. I'd recommend also bookmarking his own Web site of http://www.ibcworks.net/ to get the latest details. Last year, as I recall, Lou and I stuffed a dozen or so Asian and African adds into the pages as little as 30 minutes before the top of an hour. Regards, and Happy New Year Year to all (Tom Sundstrom, Contributing Editor, Radio Netherlands Media Network, swltalk Dec 30 via DXLD) [links to the above were posted on our MONITORING CALENDAR well before Dec 31] I haven`t had as much time as I would like to follow the New Year, but a few observations: NHK with its usual excited talk and music on 11705 via Canada, but after 1400 pretty bad co-channel with something in English, I guess VOA Philippines. At 2255 or so DW webcast in German had a speech by the Chancellor, and at 2300 a polite, restrained announcement about the time and the New Year. A glimpse of the festivities in Berlin on CNN added a lot. At the same time I was listening to Spain, with a lot more excitement on 15110, which they evidently kept on the air a few minutes late past 2300. BTW, what was the very strong but noisy open carrier, on 15120 until about 2323? * Scheduling in BBC On Air did not indicate anything special, but checked 12095 at 2350 and World Today was on talking about the imminent Jahrwechsel, and not to be missed were the full chimes of Big Ben after the Greenwich timesignal, when 2003 REALLY began. Tried R. Atlântida, Açores webcast, before 0100 but it kept stopping, and was out at the moment of the New Year there. The newscaster afterwards had a really heavy Portuguese accent (but what could you expect?). I guess WWV will be in order at 0600 UT, midnight here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {* 15120 probably Habana} ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Decision in next few days about Arutz 7 From Mike Brand 29 December 2002 From today's Haaretz newspaper ELECTION PANEL ASKS FOR TRANSCRIPTS OF ARUTZ SHEVA BROADCASTS The chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Mishael Cheshin, on Thursday asked pirate radio station Arutz Sheva to provide him with transcripts of its broadcasts and video recordings of the various opinion pieces aired on the station in the past month. Cheshin asked for the material after hearing a petition submitted Thursday by Keshev (The Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel) and The Israel Religious Action Center, who want the station closed down until January 29 for broadcasting election propaganda in flagrant breech of the election law. The petition also claims that the station's election broadcasts violate the concept of media evenhandedness, since they give unfair preference to the Likud, National Religious Party, the National Union and Herut. Arutz Sheva's legal representative, attorney Dan Sela, presented Cheshin with a list of 15 political figures from left-wing parties, all of whom have been interviewed on the station recently. According to Sela, the list proves that Arutz Sheva gives equal airtime to all the political parties (via radioanoraksuk yahoogroup via Mike Terry, DXLD) Extract from http://www.haaretzdaily.com/ Monday, December 30, 2002 ...Earlier Monday, the commission prohibited right-wing radio station Arutz Sheva from broadcasting right-wing elections propaganda until after the January 28 national elections. Commission head High Court Justice Mishael Cheshin accepted the claim of the Center for Progressive Judaism that Arutz Sheva was illegally broadcasting election propaganda... (via Mike Terry, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Vanmorgen gehoord, 28 December: 5650, Voice of the Mojahed (presumed), local music, male about Iraq, Iran but signal drowned by heavy jamming and hopping to 5640 (0431), 5630 (0433), 5650 (0434), 5630 (0435), 5640 (0437), 5630 (0440), 5650 (0441), 5620 (0443) etcetera. Groeten, (Piet Pijpers, Netherlands, Dec 28, Benelux DX Club via DXLD) N5290.4 1649-1832* CLA Voice of Mojahed 1, Iraq Farsi 5350 is now jumping down to 5290 to avoid strong Iranian bubble jamming. Political talks, folksongs. Heard // 5650v 25333 AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX Dec 29 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. NEW RADIO STATION BEAMED TO SOUTH AZERBAIJAN The online newspaper Baku Today, quoting the press service of SANAM [Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement], says that the first independent radio of Southern Azerbaijanis, "Voice of South Azerbaijan Radio", will start broadcasting programmes directed towards South Azerbaijan in the first week of January. The programmes will be broadcast twice a week, says the report. SANAM is one of the largest opposition groups in Iran. An estimated 16 million Azeris live in Iran, about twice as many as in Azerbaijan itself. A station of the same name was active in 1996-1998, and was the subject of an investigative report by Clandestine Radio Watch: http://www.qsl.net/yb0rmi/vosa.htm [suggesting a possible link to Israel]. It's not yet clear if there's a link between the two (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 31 December 2002 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS (COMANDO SOLO). New 11292.0, 1454-1550 21-12. Command Solo flying near Iraq Arabic. New transmission short talks and Arab music. *1517 QRM Russian utility conversations and more noise. Heard again 20-12 1610-1700 in AM-mode Arabic songs and talks. // 9715 was completely covered by DW Wertachtal (2 x 500 kW) in Russian. 25333 AP- DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. (Earlier today) A few days ago there was a violent storm and some of the antennas as Yavne fell down. This has severly affected transmissions and on Reshet Hei there has generally been only one or two frequencies operating only via the old antennas at the east side of station. I do not think that any of the curtains there are working. At 2000 UTC only 11605 has been working for the past few days but tonight they will operate instead on 7525 kHz. --- (Later today) There seems to have been a change of plan today and 2000 utc was on 11605 and 9435. They are trying to use old, dormant antennas (Daniel Rosenzweig, Dec 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) STORM DAMAGE IN ISRAEL Dear all, In Israel we had wind storm that damaged 4 of our curtains and for the time being we are not on the air with all of the transmissions and the rest are with log periodic. The Main problem is with the low frequency curtains combined with the deep winter and the low SSN we almost had no options so...... the 1730 utc is as usual the 2000 utc the 6280 is off the air so we have 11605 9435 that soon will be changed to 7525 and we changed the program of the 9345 instead of Hebrew between 2000-2100 we have English, French, Spanish. Two of the curtains are total loss and we have to buy new. The third will be fixed at mid February (the earth has to be dry). Wishing you all the best and a happy new year 2003, îùä àåøï-îî"ã ùéãåø àú"ï åàú"ã àâó øùúåú çèéáú äðãñä åúëðåï {Hebrew, natch; we don`t have Hebrew character support installed, and just wonder if the above displays properly for those who do?} (Moshe Oren, ISRAEL- Frequency manager, BEZEQ-engineering&planning division Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Due to a recent transmitter upgrade at IRRS-Shortwave, we are selling a lot of two identical 5/10 kW communication transmitters model Siemens S42043-S305-A1, suitable for classes of emission A1, A2, F1, F4 and F6 (telegraphy) and for classes A3, A3A, A3J and A3B (AM Medium Wave, SSB, AM reduced carrier). These transmitters are modern, compact and rugged for operation even on a mobile truck (check weight and dimensions). Both transmitters are in good working order, and have been in operation so far at IRRS-Shortwave http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules IRRS used both transmitters for continued operation, employing one transmitter full time, and the second as a spare in case maintenance was needed. A set of spare parts, including antenna dischargers, antenna cable, and various electronics and used tubes are also available. 20% discount if sold to a non commercial organization for non commercial use. Private sale, exempt from VAT. Proceedings from the sale of these transmitters will help, in part, sponsoring the continuation of NEXUS-IBA activities, and the continuation of our Shortwave transmissions. Please check: http://www.nexus.org/IPAR/txsale.htm for all details including price. Please inquire to sales@nexus.org. Thanks. - (Ron Norton, NEXUS-IBA support, PO Box 11028, 20110 Milano, Italy e-mail : ron@nexus.org Dec 30, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Be nice to know what the `upgrade` consists of --- no transmitters at all near Milano, and buying time elsewhere? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KASHMIR. 4830 INDIA. Apparently the new R. Kashmir, Jammu: I started listening at 0020 Dec 22, Táchira presumed the LA that was dominant, but there was a good size het as well, the two just slightly out of phase. I didn't hear it on the first listen, but in reviewing the tape there is definitely the AIR IS twice at 0024, and what I think was their usual startup sequence at 0025. This was followed by some subcontinental horn-type music, and at 0030 a woman started talking, but it was muffled so I couldn't make out much. Still mixing after a half-hour or so. Other Indians were just so-so; this should be better on another night, but was better than expected even this time (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 28 via DXLD) INDIA. N4830 *0023-0215 IND 18 & 20-12 AIR Jammu Kashmiri/Hundi. New fq by 50 kW transmitter, AIR tune, 0025 ID: "Yeh Radio Kashmir", song, Vernacular news and talks, Indian songs and instrumental music. Still testing and not every day. Also heard 19-12 1625-1742*. Always disturbed by a tone from a strong utility carrier on 4831.67! 34444 AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** KENYA. EMBATTLED STATE BROADCASTER BOWS TO CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT | Text of report by Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation web site on 31 December All major TV stations transmitted the inauguration [on 30 December] of Mr Mwai Kibaki as president live from Uhuru Park. Nation TV, KTN and Citizen [all Nairobi-based private TV stations] were allowed to use the public-funded Kenya Broadcasting Corporation [KBC] feed signals at 12.15 p.m. The live broadcast was authorized by the permanent secretary for tourism and information, Ms Esther Koimmet. The Nation TV and radio managed to give blow-by-blow account of the happenings from [the] location. However, the Nation FM radio had hired outside broadcast van from East FM station, which comes with a frequency. Nation Broadcasting Division Managing Director Cyrille Nabutola said he had been negotiating with Ms Koimmet and KBC chief Caxton Munywoki since Sunday [29 December], who had told him that it [the feed] would cost at least 1m shillings [about 8,000 pounds]. But Mr Nabutola said he was surprised when Ms Koimmet called to inform him that the transmission would be free. "It was a very good gesture and we are very pleased," he said. KBC has for decades been known for its slanted news coverage of national events and heavy leaning on KANU [former ruling Kenya Africa National Union]. It changed dramatically and praised Narc [National Rainbow Coalition] and Mr Kibaki as it used to praise Mr Daniel arap Moi and KANU. Yesterday it changed tune in its coverage of the enthronement. It was not lost on public broadcaster's audience that all of a sudden the new ruling party, which it had been referring to as "the so-called Narc" throughout the campaign period, had become a respected party. Rare clips of President-elect Kibaki's moments of glory on the road to the top were splashed by KBC, whose skewed policy has been criticized even by the Electoral Commission of Kenya. Source: Daily Nation web site, Nairobi, in English 31 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Evidently KBC desires to remain a government mouthpiece, whatever that may be; perhaps the concept of `public` broadcasting is unknown to them (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. I sent a reception report to the Voice of Korea (North, not South) in May, got a package from them in July and I guess they haven't forgotten about me, or are trying to establish relations. I received a postcard today from VOK with four male gymnasts on front and on the back was typed a "A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" Wonder if I'm being watched by CSIS? (Canadian equivalent of CIA). Canada Customs has already opened and searched some of my mail from other SW stations, including Iran and a box I received from DW. They even charged me for "handling"! Anyone else get any mail recently from VOK? I mailed another reception report last week to Pyongyang; interesting to see what I'll get. The broadcast was very clear for a change (Monday 23 Dec 1503; 11710 kHz; SIO 444; started with a choir singing what I think was the "Internationale" followed by the usual Great Leader propaganda stuff) 73, (Sue Hickey, Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada, Dec 30, GRDXC via DXLD) 9335 kHz, Voice of Korea. Received QSL card, postcard, P`yongyang Times newspaper, Korea Today magazine, report form, personal letter and a separate letter announcing one of those poetry and song writing competitions in two months for English report and tape recording (Richard Lam, Singapore, Dec 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. QUIRGUISTÃO. 4050, 0250-0335, 11-12, Krasnaya Rechka, Biskek (tentative) Kyrgyz(?) nonstop pop music, ID "Hit Music Shortwave", fade out at the same time as Bishkek 4010. 34444 AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. LEGISLADORES CRITICAN A TV AZTECA --- Un grupo de parlamentarios mexicanos pidieron al gobierno de Vicente Fox que intervenga para frenar las acciones abusivas que habria cometido la cadena TV Azteca al apoderarse, el viernes 27, de las instalaciones de la emisora independiente, CNI Canal 40, recurriendo a guardias de seguridad armados (Ambas noticias, extraidas de El Mercurio, Chile, 30/12 via Gabriel Iván Barrera, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 4725, Myanmar Broadcasting System, 1120-1200 Dec 30. Initially noted music until 1129, then woman talks in Oriental Language for a few minutes. At 1142 signal improved from poor to fair and music followed until the hour. On the hour, believe the broadcast was switched to another language. The signal quickly faded away subsequently. Checked for the broadcast on December 31, at 1100, but it was nil heard (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strong here in Auckland: R. Myanmar, 4725 // 5040.6 at 1222 with pipe music and vocals, windscreen wiper on 5040 frequency, by 1240, 4725 gone but 5040.6 still going strong. Happy new year to all (David Norrie, AOR7030, Auckland, NZ, Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. Hello Glenn! Actually, the only Nicaraguan more or less regularly reported by DXers out there in north-eastern and east coast is YNN Radio Nicaragua on 620. However, semi-local WVMT in Vermont is just 100 kilometers or so from me, in the VT border and they beam NORTH to protect stations in RI et al on 620, so with the radio and its directional antenna beamed north-south, I can null WVMT easily, but I will completely null the much weaker Nicaraguan, so for me 600 is the best bet for logging Nicaragua, but other DXers that have a local or semi-local on 620 who beams east-west or that don't have anything at all on this frequency (aside from distant domestics) might try there. Yes, I logged Cuba on 620, but only during 2 minutes of open carrier on WVMT when no program was carried. I also heard a Spanish preacher way behind WVMT believed to be // 600 back in December 2000, but that's it. Another Nicaraguan that has been reported 2 or 3 times recently is Radio Sandino on 740, but CKAC [730] does away with that again. To be more clear, 620 is your best chance to log Nicaragua unless you have a strong station on it (Bogdan Chiochiu, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And a previous report: ODXA's Mediumwave Notebook -- April 1999 edited by Werner Funkenhauser ...Also, prowling around 600 kHz one night, I heard a distinctive "Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya!" slogan which sounded like a break between two pop Spanish songs, badly chopped up among other Spanish and assorted jumble. This may have been YNLD R. Ya in Managua, Nicaragua. I remember Robert Ross first reporting a Spanish station using a slogan that sounded like "Yacht!" years ago. It wasn't long after the Sandinistas were kicked out of power in Nicaragua. What he actually heard was R. Ya (Radio Now) run by some Sandinistas who before the communists ouster, commandeered equipment destined for R. Nicaragua. With new equipment, they operated on 600.1 kHz where they were easy to hear. As the story goes, they were the top station in Managua. Eventually R. Ya settled down on 600 kHz, and it's been years since I heard it (via Bogdan Chiochiu, DXLD) ** PERU. 2090.32 harmonic // MW 1045.16 kHz, unID LA, unknown QTH (Perú). Dec 2002 - 1030 UT. Heard sometimes both on fundamental and on second harmonic, I don`t have any more details. Nothing special to report more than "Frecuencia B" on 2662 kHz --- where "B" probably stands for "bendición" which means "blessing". UNID "Frecuencia" from last SWB now located in Chiclayo! 2662.69v Radio Frecuencia B, Chiclayo, el departamento de Lambayeque (Perú). Dec 17 2002 - 1040 UT. Heard with very good strength and excellent audio quality both mornings and evenings. Every morning the program "Nuevo Amanaecer". Varies in frequwncy +/- 2 kHz. Always a religious touch, talks a lot about "Jehová", but also some profane popular music. Sometimes hard to separate B/D/V but at one time the station gave ID as "Frecuencia B Beta, una señal de bendición" so there is no doubt. I can`t find any listed neither on SW nor on MW, so maybe a new station --- but I leave that to our member Thord Knutsson/TK at the WRTH staff to check out. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Chiclayo, cuya capital es Chiclayo. Sus distritos son: Chiclayo, Chongoyape, Eten, Puerto de Eten, José Leonardo Ortiz, Lagunas, La Victoria, Monsefú, Nueva Arica, Oyotún, Picsi, Pimentel, Reque, Santa Rosa, Saña; con una población total de 625,183 hab. 5637.24, Radio Perú, San Ignacio, el departamento de Cajamarca. Dec 18 2002 - 1120 UT. A funny station, seems to activate once a year but only for some very a few days. "Esta es Perú la radio, la grande de San Ignacio" ID by the DJ on duty but also have their recorded fantastic ID: "Ésta es la señal de más alta calidad, Perú su radio..." etc. Announces both 97.7 and 5635. [via WORLD OF RADIO 1163] Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de San Ignacio, cuya capital es San Ignacio. Sus distritos son: Chirinos, Huarango, La Coipa, Namballe, San Ignacio, San José de Lourdes, Tabaconas; con una población total de 111,070 hab. (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 29, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QATAR. AL-JAZEERA TO LAUNCH ENGLISH WEB SITE Qatar-based Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera has announced that it will start an English-language Web site In February 2003. Joanne Tucker, managing editor of the site, told journalists that the news coverage will be tailored to a Western audience. In addition to the Web site, Al-Jazeera is also planning to offer English voice-over translations of its Arabic news channel by mid-2003, as a precursor to launching a separate English news channel in late 2003 or early 2004. According to Tucker, these plans were already in place well before Sept. 11, 2001. Al-Jazeera is already carried on the Sky TV package in the UK, and can also be seen in the US via the Dish satellite network (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 30 December 2002 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 11975, "Kamchatka Rybatskaya," fishermen's program produced by GTRK Kamchatka and (per RUS-DX) transmitted from Yelizovo site near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Surprised to hear it at *0000- 0100* Dec 29 (sked Sun only). Signal strength low but decent, plus QSB, and improved very slightly after 0030, and no significant QRM. Several IDs noted, including a "Kamchatka Rybatskaya" at the opening, also several other mentions of Kamchatka during the hour. Program was mainly an interview of one woman by another, but also many RS vocals and what seemed to be occasional anmts or promos by a woman talking over light music. At the end there were four bells, ID mentioning Kamchatka, and off. First time for me, and surprised to hear it (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. CLANDESTINE from NORWAY? to SAUDI ARABIA. Checking 9930 and 7590 from 1843 to 1902 Dec 30, untraced on both channels. Did hear a bubble jammer on 9930. Checked their website which mentions 9925, but nothing I could hear there either. Anyone hearing them? (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX, Javaradio Sweden, via DXLD) Voice of Al Islah presumed the one on 9925 at 1955 check Dec 31, continuous talk apart from occasional audio breaks, good signal with bubble jamming way underneath (Mike Barraclough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9925 here at 2021 is blocked by bubble jammer, Al-Islah audible at 30% or so. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, NZ, Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. SOLOMONS BROADCASTER REFUSES TO CARRY CYCLONE WARNINGS UNTIL BILLS ARE PAID | Excerpt from report by Radio New Zealand International on 27 December The director of Solomon Islands Emergency and Disaster Management Office says the country's broadcasting service has prohibited him from issuing cyclone warnings because of outstanding bills. Lottie Yates says the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation or SIBC, will not allow his office to use its radio service because of outstanding bills for a public awareness campaign on disaster management conducted last year. While Vanuatu is the prime target, Cyclone Zoe is forecast to strike part of the Santa Cruz group, south of Solomon Islands at midnight Saturday [28 December] with gustily winds of up to 260 km per hour. Santa Cruz is home to some 1200 people. Mr Yates says the SIBC is not cooperating with the Disaster Management Office and that it is putting the lives of those affected at risk. [Yates] The government has not paid the SIBC 12,000 dollars. As a result of that, SIBC is not allowing us to give out any warning until we pay up to 12,000 dollars. We are trying to contact the eastern part of the Solomon Islands to get just what we can get on information on weather on that side. Conditions are very bad. [End of recording] Mr Yates says the Meteorological Office is struggling to get cyclone information and that it is close to shutting down because of a lack of funds. Meanwhile the manager for the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation says everybody should pay for its services even in matters of national emergency. Johnson Honimae says that while it is the country's public broadcaster, the government must pay for SIBC services such as cyclone advisory warnings or approach them to make payment arrangements... Mr Honimae says the SIBC will broadcast weather updates for free but if the disaster office wants to issue cyclone warnings then it has to pay. [Honimae] We are having to survive on sponsored programmes and advertising. That is the only way that we have survived. We have been able to get this thing going because we are charging everybody for everything but there is no free lunch in this country. The [Disaster] Management Office knows about this bill even before the cyclone season. Now when they need it they come crawling or start to criticize us. We are not going to back down to carry warning messages. I wish I could do it for free but I can't get my fuel for free, I can't get my telephones for free. I think the commercial consideration overrides the public service consideration. Source: Radio New Zealand International, Wellington, in English 0800 gmt 27 Dec 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DXLD) First things first 5019.9, SIBC: Per Wright in ARDXC, SI was hit by cyclone today, but station was heard as usual, carrying BBC at 1300 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Dec 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I am not aware of any cyclone hitting Honiara; actually the Solomons are generally outside the cyclone belt and rarely sees a good blow. Last was Namu in 1986, I think. Zoe (06P) was headed towards northern Vanuatu a few days ago and was peaking cat 5 so I had my suitcase packed (there is quite a lot of commercial activity in Santo) but did a 90 degree turn in accordance with predictions and tracked down between Vanuatu and Fiji, now just a fresh breeze http://www.npmoc.navy.mil/jtwc/warnings/sh0603.gif 73s gd dx de (Sam Dellit VK4ZSS, Dec 30, ARDXC via DXLD) Radio Australia has been providing good coverage of the Solomon Islands cyclone aftermath: see the 'Pacific Beat' page at http://abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/focus/PacBeatFocus_755950.htm The main concerns are for the far-flung islands of Tikopia and Anuta which are several hundred kilometres from Honiara. Australia has provided fuel for the Royal Solomon Islands Police patrol boat Auki which is due to leave Honiara shortly to visit the islands from which there has been no radio contact since Zoe hit. Some 1300 people live in the area. As for comments on the non-response to DX reports and requests for information from SIBC, a quick dose of reality: the country has been in a state of deep political and economic crisis for a few years now. It is a tribute to the determination and commitment of the SIBC staff that the radio station remains on the air at all. The interests of overseas radio hobbyists are probably at the bottom of the list of priorities, although I know from having met SIBC's general manager in Honiara last year that reception reports from afar are received with great interest. This is all sadly a great change from a couple of decades ago. SIBC was one of my first 'tropical band' reception reports, and I was delighted to get a full-detail QSL from them within a matter of just days. Cheers (Matt Francis, DC, Dec 30, ARDXC via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. RULING PARTY WELCOMES STATE BROADCASTER'S MOVE TO DROP CNN | Text of article by Eric Ntabazalila: "SABC has plan to dump CNN for Arab network" published by South African newspaper The Star on 30 December The ANC [Africa National Congress] has welcomed the SA Broadcasting Corporation's intention to drop CNN for Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based Persian Gulf news network. Al-Jazeera is well known for broadcasting videotaped messages from Usamah Bin-Ladin. The Democratic Alliance opposes the corporation's move. SABC spokesperson Ihron Rensburg said yesterday: "The key objective is to provide our audience with a range of perspectives and news events. No decision has been taken yet. It's not going to happen tomorrow." ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said: "The SABC has got a right to make its own choices. We can only interpret this planned action... [newspaper ellipsis] as diversity of news and exposing South Africans to events happening in other parts of world." The Democratic Alliance's Dene Smuts asked the public broadcaster to consult the public before taking the decision. "I don't think South Africans would have much interest in seeing their television licence fees spent on the Arab world's answer to CNN. "Al-Jazeera was the first attempt to give the Arab world a broader view, but that view is far from the free-speech-oriented-service that South Africans are entitled to." Source: The Star, Johannesburg, in English 30 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA/NORWAY. SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT CONCERNED AT NORWAY'S SUPPORT FOR LTTE The Sunday Times of Sri Lanka reports that the country's president, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, will write to Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Bondevik to convey her serious concerns at the role played by the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo in helping Tamil Tiger guerrillas acquire new equipment for the Voice of Tigers radio station. The President is apparently concerned that the embassy's role in acting as a consignee for the LTTE cargo has cast serious doubt on Norway's impartiality as a peace facilitator. She is concerned at the security implications for Sri Lanka and her neighbours, especially India. India has already protested at the upgrading of the station. President Kumaratunga is also expected to demand a full explanation from Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Last week the government admitted that it had approved the shipment of the radio equipment, and has even issued an official licence to Voice of Tigers (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 30 December 2002 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 6900.08, 27.12 1600, Tentatively Meteoroloji Sesi Radyosu from Ankara, broadcasting non-stop Turkish music. QSA 2. SHN (= Stig Hartvig Nielsen, in Denmark, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. R. Uganda, 4975.97, Dec 15 *0300-, sign-on with local drums, NA and English sign-on announcements with ID. Local religious music at 0302. Abruptly off at 0304. Technical problems? Came back on air at 0313; fair (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4975.97, Radio Uganda 0410 Dec 25, News in English, commercials, mentions of Uganda, "Jingle Bells" at 0415, ID at 0418 (Ralph Brandi, AOR AR-7030 Plus, 250-foot mini-Beverage, Tinton Falls, NJ, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, Following is from Alexander Yegorov of RUI. Here is a new schedule: Radio Ukraine International B02 tentative schedule (01 January - 30 March 2003) Frequency; Time UTC; Tx Site; Azimuth; Target Area 5905 2200-0100 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 7240 1800-2200 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 7375 0000-0500 Mykolaiv 314 N. America 7420 0400-0800 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 9610 0100-0400 Kharkiv 055 Russia (Tyumen) 9610 1400-1800 Kharkiv 055 Russia (Tyumen) 17760 0800-1400 Kharkiv 277 W. Europe The output of all SW txs is 100 kW except on 7375 kHz where it is 1000 kW. Transmission schedules in various languages are as follows: GERMAN (one hour): at 1800 & 2100 on 7240 kHz; at 0000 on 5905 kHz. ENGLISH (one hour): at 2200 on 5905 kHz; at 0100 on 7375 & 9610 kHz; at 0400 on 7375 & 7420 kHz; at 1200 on 17760 kHz. UKRAINIAN programmes are transmitted on all frequencies and at all times except for the time reserved for German and English programmes, as shown above. ROMANIAN (half an hour long): at 1800, 2030, 2200 on 657 kHz MW Chernivtsi, 25 kW. 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, VA, Dec 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked 7375 at 0427 Jan 1, and very, very poor; of course, propagation is poor at the moment (gh, OK, DXLD) ** U A E. RAS AL KHAIMAH RADIO RINGS THE CHANGES Ras Al Khaimah Radio is about to switch on a new transmitter. Crown Prince Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi has already officially opened the new station at Al Jazerah Al Hamrah, but it will not come into operation until 11 January. Ras Al Khaimah Radio will be off the air on 9 and 10 January. The move to a new transmitter location was necessary due to concerns for the health of girls at a school near the old site. The 200 kW transmitter operates on 1152 kHz. At the inauguration ceremony, the Crown Prince revealed that broadcasting hours will be increased to almost 22 per day, but the station will no longer broadcast non-Arabic programmes such as Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam. Sheikh Khalid said he will personally chair the weekly meetings of the board and implement new ideas. "I will dedicate one day a week to spend at Ras Al Khaimah Radio to monitor programmes," he said (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 31 December 2002 via DXLD) The rest of the story: Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday 30th December 2002, Dear DX friends, There is a radio station called Radio Asia in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates, that has been broadcasting in Malayalam language from 11 am to 4 pm local time (UTC +4) on 1152 kHz medium wave. The station has now announced that it will broadcast in Malayalam 24 hours a day beginning at 6 am on 1st January 2003 on 1575 medium wave. It claims that it will be the first radio station in the world to broadcast in this language round the clock (P. Sreevalsan Nair, dx_india via DXLD) ** U S A. New Year`s Day: In addition to Talk to America, I am preparing a program that will be broadcast on VOA News Now between 1400 and 1500 UT. This will include interviews with Juhani Niinistö of YLE Radio Finland, Jonathan Marks of Radio Netherlands, Jean Larin of Radio Canada International, Jean-Gabriel Manguy of Radio Australia, and Barry Langridge, head of the Middle East/Africa section of BBC World Service. Also: Glenn Hauser's look back at international broadcasting in 2002 (Kim Elliott, swprograms via DXLD) I understand that my review will also be on the 1700 Jan 1 Talk to America, perhaps in two parts and more of the total report, which will afterwards be available in text and audio at http://worldofradio.com (gh) {too many calls, too little time, so mine was not on the 1700} ** U S A. VOICE OF AMERICA SEEKS LOWER PROFILE Wes Vernon, NewsMax.com Thursday, Dec. 19, 2002 Editor`s note: See NewsMax.com`s previous articles on Voice of America: http://www.newsmax.com/cgi-bin/htsearch?words=Voice+of+America+VOA&x=109&y=16 WASHINGTON --- Voice of America is now distancing itself from its own broadcast operations in the Middle East and their teeny-bopper formats on Radio SAWA and Radio FARDA. The latter is a new service aimed specifically at Iran, and was scheduled to begin operations Wednesday. In a memo dated Dec. 18, a copy of which was obtained by NewsMax.com, the edict reads: ``Subject: No VOA sign-on before SAWA or FARDA programs. Stations please note that the VOA sign-on announcement should not — repeat should not - be played prior to programs of Radio SAWA or Radio FARDA.`` One can only speculate as to why the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has taken this step. It comes at a time of great controversy over VOA`s increasing emphasis on hit music of the likes of Britney Spears, Eminem, Whitney Houston and the Backstreet Boys. This Farda format has replaced the broadcasts of serious policy discussions that were encouraging dissidents living under the hated, iron-fisted Iranian dictatorship. In an op-ed piece Monday in the Wall Street Journal, retiring Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., chastised the BBG for shutting down Radio Azadi (Persian for freedom), which he said had delivered 11 hours (10 hours, according to BBG) of news and serious discussion in a country where freedom is suppressed at every turn. The BBG, in a response to a similar article by Jackson Diehl in the Washington Post that same day, argues that the new Radio Farda (Persian for tomorrow) will increase news and substantive content ``from 180 minutes on Radio Azadi to 315 minutes daily on [the new] Radio Farda.`` ``They`re not counting all the discussions, the round-tables and the call-in shows and all these policy discussions that they [Radio Azadi] did,`` Helms spokesman Lester Munson told NewsMax.com. ``They`d get people from Iran to call in and say, `I`m outraged at this,` or whatever. They`re not counting that as news. Radio Azadi was all talk. It was providing a forum for discussions ... It had much more of a basis in the policy issues of the day. Radio Farda is a completely different format. That`s the essential reality.`` Translation: From serious discussion in a country living under the jackboot, VOA transmits pop music interspersed during most of the time with nothing more than headline news. BBG`s response to Diehl is that the new service increases broadcast time from 10 to 21 hours a day. Three hundred fifteen minutes for news and substantive matters each day means five hours and 25 minutes out of 21 hours would be devoted to ``news and substantive content.`` All the other 15 hours and 35 minutes are for pop music. It appears that during many hours of the broadcast day, Radio Farda is mimicking the familiar ``Top 40`` format. Many veteran broadcasters do not regard this as serious public affairs programming, even with a few minutes of news each hour. In commercial radio in the U.S., that shortchanging of news led to the creation of all-news radio and later to cable television news, 24/7. It is ``niche broadcasting`` based partly on the premise that ``variety`` programming no longer attracts the loyal audience that it previously did. In an e-mail to NewsMax, BBG Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson explains that news on Radio Farda ``will be five to ten minutes on top of the hour — with thirty minutes news shows prime time in morning and evening.`` Pending the hiring of additional staff, he says, ``we will be doing two thirty minute affairs shows each week.`` There is more. In a future installment, NewsMax.com will discuss the case of a dissident, condemned to death, who rots in jail. His fate prompted Helms to weigh in on this issue during these last days before his retirement Jan. 3 http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/18/202012.shtml (via Jilly Dybka, NASWA Flashsheet Dec 28 via WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DXLD) ** U S A. Hello from New Zealand. I have been hearing Radio Farda on 12015 and 15290 at 0400 and on 17675 at 0730, all via Kavala at good level. Radio Farda now has a website up and running at http://www:radiofarda.com By going to their home page and clicking on #10 you will then get their schedule. By going to http://www.monitor.ibb.gov and clicking on language you will then be able to determine which site each broadcast is from by checking times against Farsi broadcasts. Radio Farda have advised that they will e-mail verifications for reports sent to comments@radiofarda.com Hope this helps someone. Regards, (Ian Cattermole, New Zealand, Dec 29, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Just a quick list of the Radio Farda transmissions audible here in South Wales today:- Freq UT Transmitter Location SIO 9585 0030 Radio Farda, Briech, Morocco 343 9515 0040 Radio Farda, Biblis, Germany 131 9795 0050 Radio Farda, Lamperheim, Germany 141 17675 0720 Radio Farda, Kavala, Greece 151 17675 0730 Radio Farda, Briech, Morocco 253 15290 0745 Radio Farda, Kavala, Greece 243 9585 0748 Radio Farda, Lamperheim, Germany 333 21475 0800 Radio Farda, Irana Wila, Sri Lanka 333 13680 0805 Radio Farda, Kavala, Greece 242 13680 1450 Radio Farda, Lamperheim, Germany 243 15410 1455 Radio Farda, Woofferton, UK 232 9435 1515 Radio Farda, Kavala, Greece 131 11845 1700 Radio Farda, Irana Wila, Sri Lanka 343 11985 1903 Radio Farda, Lamperheim, Germany 343 11960 1906 Radio Farda, Kavala, Greece 142 9785 2010 Radio Farda, Udon Thani, Thailand 131 (Graham Powell, Wales, Dec 29, Editor of the Online DX Logbook http://www.shortwave.org.uk DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA IN FARSI: A-OKAY Tuesday, December 31, 2002; Page A16 The Dec. 27 letter from the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees at the Voice of America suggesting that "plans are afoot" for Radio Farda to replace VOA's Farsi Service is false. As we have informed the members of VOA's Farsi Service, we are so proud of the work they have done on their short-wave radio (and television) broadcasts that we plan to improve and expand them, not replace them. The VOA demonstrates every day to the world its belief in the values of democracy and freedom of speech. We hold in equally high regard the value of accuracy (DAVID S. JACKSON, Director, Voice of America, Washington, © 2002 The Washington Post Company Dec 31 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF ``STOCK TALK LIVE'' RADIO SHOW TO SHORTWAVE RADIO Story Filed: Monday, December 30, 2002 8:01 AM EST SANTA MARIA, Calif., Dec 30, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- International Broadcasting Corporation (OTCBB:IBCS) is pleased to announce that its "Stock Talk LIVE" radio show will be broadcast on shortwave radio starting in January, 2003. "Stock Talk LIVE" will be broadcast each and every stock market day from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM (EST) on shortwave radio station WRMI, frequency 15.725 MHz. WRMI, based in Miami, Florida, broadcasts a powerful signal that reaches the United States as well as the Caribbean and Central and South America. A collateral effect of shortwave broadcasting is that the signals can actually reach all over the world as they bounce off of the ionosphere. Traditional AM and FM signals do not work like this. About Shortwave Radio Between 1920 and 1950, shortwave listening was very popular, with most of the home radio sets including shortwave bands. As television replaced radio as the prime information source and FM Stereo radio became popular, shortwave radio fell by the wayside. According to recent information, Shortwave radio is regaining popularity, especially in the United States. Grundig, a German Radio company that is the market leader in shortwave radio sales, said its U.S. business had increased by 500% in 2001 http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend6--20011106.htm Shortwave Radios can be purchased at Radio Shack as well as ordered online http://www.grundigradio.net/ According to Merlin Communications, which operates the BBC's worldwide transmitter sites, "latest research shows that shortwave radio listeners are growing globally, with shortwave penetration at its highest in the developing countries. That is not to say that shortwave is not having an impact in the Western world. Recent surveys revealed that in 1999, 97% of regular business travelers listened to international shortwave." The increase in the shortwave audience, says Merlin, is "spelt out dramatically by just one factory in China that is frantically producing 300,000 shortwave radio sets per month just to support demand. Grundig in America report growth each year on their sales of shortwave receivers. There are at least 600 million shortwave radio sets worldwide." Daryn P. Fleming, President of IBCS says, "We are excited about the continued ramp up of our IBC Radio http://www.ibcradio.com/ Network and the expansion of our `Stock Talk LIVE' radio show to the airwaves via shortwave radio. Religious broadcasters have built empires and worldwide audiences via shortwave radio. We feel we can do the same with our message of prosperity. Our message is clear and powerful – the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking and savvy investors make money trading stocks of tiny companies neglected by the major media." Darrell Nether, Vice President of IBCS says, "`Stock Talk LIVE' is a `grass roots' show where we take our message directly to the people rather than through media middlemen and the typical `red tape' involved in taking a show to the national level. Owning our own radio network and expanding to shortwave radio enables us to accomplish this mission without the time, expense and bureaucracy involved in traditional radio syndication." About Stock Talk LIVE Stock Talk LIVE is believed to be the very first LIVE radio talk show focused exclusively on continuous coverage of micro-cap stocks each and every stock market day from opening bell to the close. The show is exciting and stimulating and, most importantly, has featured many stocks that have moved up in excess of 100% in the short term. The show is fully interactive, taking emails and phone calls from the listeners. The LIVE show is "on the air" during stock market hours 9:30 AM to 4 PM EST [1430-2100 UT]. The show is also rebroadcast after market hours. About International Broadcasting Corporation International Broadcasting Corporation is a developmental stage company that endeavors to develop successful publishing, media, and broadcasting related businesses and ventures. The Company is focused on developing and providing online information and entertainment content through three units -- IBC News Network http://www.ibcnn.com/ IBC Radio http://www.ibcradio.com/ and IBC Entertainment Group http://www.cultmoviesonline.com/ The IBC Entertainment Group was launched in August of 2002, following the acquisition of an on-demand, streaming online movie website called Cult Movies Online. For more information about IBCS and all of the different services, visit the corporate website at http://www.ibcmedia.com/ [standard stock disclaimer] (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) That explains why WRMI has been filling with music at 1400-1600 weekdays, but a pity to lose a rare classical block on SW. Starting WHEN in January? If this be hugely successful for IBC, perhaps they are a prospect for even buying the whole station; WRMI still for sale, asking only $650K (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Checking WWCR`s new hardcopy program guide as of 01 January, for `specialist` programs, we find little change, but these of note: WORLD OF RADIO, no changes as frequently shown atop DXLD MUNDO RADIAL by gh, Wed 2200-2215, Fri 2215-2230 9475 ASK WWCR, Fri 1045 9475, Fri 2130 9475, Sat 0945 5070, Sun 0045 3210, Sun 0315 5070, Sun 1115 15825, Sun 1830 12160, Wed (1,4,5) 1815 15825 TECHNOLOGY HOUR, UT Sat 0300-0400 3210, Sun 0600-0700 5070 SPECTRUM, live, Sun 0400-0500 5070 CYBERLINE, live, Sun 0505-0600 5070 OLD RECORD SHOP, Mon 1030-1100 9475, Sun 1430-1500 15825 KEN`S COUNTRY CLASSICS, Sun 2030-2100 12160 ROCK THE UNIVERSE, Sat 1205-1300 5070, Sun 0905-1000 3210, Sun 1305- 1400 12160 MUSICAL MEMORIES, Tue 1330-1400 15825, Sat 1900-1930 12160 [gospel?] WORLD WIDE COUNTRY RADIO, M-F 1400-1500 15825, Sat 2000-2100 12160, Sun 0900-1000 5070, Sun 1000-1100 9475 MUSIC AND DANCING, Thu 2100-2130 9475 MUSICA Y DANZAS, Mon 2200-2230 9475, Wed 2215-2245 9475 GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO, UT Sat 0400-0500 3210 UNSHACKLED, M-F 1930-2000 12160 A VIEW FROM EUROPE, Sat 1210-1215 15825, Sun 1110-1115 5070, Sun 1810- 1815 12160 PRESIDENTIAL RADIO ADDRESS, DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE, Sat 2130-2145 9475 LATIN CATHOLIC MASS, Sun 1700-1730 15825 THIS WEEK IN AMERICANA, Sun 0705-0800 5070 AMERICA`S GREATEST HEROES, Sun 1605-1700 12160 (Glenn Hauser, Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. While World of Radio is definitely the best DX/radio-related radio program on the air, we also like listening to some of the others. Looking at the DX-programs list, we see that "Wavescan" is on 27 times on UT Sat & Sun only, and "DXing with Cumbre" is on 18 times on UT Sat, Sun, Mon and 1 on UT Friday. How about these programs' presenters spread these out better during the week? Let's take 5 or 6 of these airings and sprinkle them throughout the mid-week, preferably in the 0500 UT time range. That would help let a new audience be exposed to them. Regards, and good DX in 2003! 73, (Will Martin, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a bad idea, since those two shows don`t deal much with breaking news. On the other hand, I encourage WOR outlets to run it mostly Wednesday-Saturday when it`s freshest, but won`t turn down later repeats if we can`t do better (gh) ** U S A [non]. I tuned into AFN on 873 kHz via Frankfurt at around 0100 UT this morning, expecting to find Oldies Radio. Instead, I found the feed of news and short snippets which was in exact parallel to 6458.5 kHz USB. I don't know how long ago this schedule change took place, or if it was only a one-off (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, UK, Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WMRO test CANCELLED. I talked to Scott this AM and he sends this on. ``SWMBO rules here! Powell, Anyway, please post this to AM/NRC list: The DX test I was planning to do tonite has been canceled. I might do it tomorrow nite, but I need to wait & see if my wife is coming home from visiting the grandkids on tomorrow. The 31st is our wedding anniversary and I've been told no playing radio on NYE! Will let ya know on tomorrow.`` He'll let me know. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) rules over a DX test, you know! He said he might run it tomorrow and he IS on this list (Powell E. Way, Dec 29, NRC-AM via DXLD) So se moved it 24 hours later on MONITORING REMINDERS; not sure, but I don`t think it ran then either (gh) ** U S A. Speaking of small-town radio, Go to: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/4828977.htm for a look at small-market radio in Texas. (Bill Hale in Fort Worth, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Thought you guys might want to see a couple posts to the radio-tech list...... Ray says "IBOC helps" but doesn't say when and to whom under what conditions. No mention of any IBOC hurt. Not very much of a post. It basically says "We're IBOC. We're here to help." (Chuck Hutton, Dec 29, NRC-AM via DXLD) From: "Tom Ray" tomray@wor710.com To: radio-tech@broadcast.net Subject: Re: [RT] IBOC Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 11:07:35 -0500 You obviously don't have an AM station that is struggling and losing listeners....and not getting new listeners because AM is perceived as a low fidelity medium good for only talk and sports. And young kids? Unless they listen to a sports team on the air, they don't know the AM band exists. AM needs help. IBOC helps. And to those opposed, consider this. We put up a class B FM, get 50 or so miles from the transmitter and can no longer hear the station. We think nothing of it. But if you can't hear an AM outside it's coverage area, well, the world is coming to an end. Why? Can you sell outside your coverage area? We in AM have been clamoring for equity with FM for a long time. It looks like this equity may come with a coverage area comparable to FM. While the system is not perfect, it is coming, and sitting on the sidelines stomping our feet and proclaiming "IBOC sucks" isn't going to help the situation. Thomas R. Ray, III, CSRE Corporate Director of Engineering Buckley Broadcasting/WOR Radio New York 212-642-4462 fax: 212-921-4751 Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 11:32:49 -0600 From: Mike McCarthy towers@mre.com Subject: Re: [RT] IBOC Reply-To: radio-tech@broadcast.net With all due respect Tom, the goals of some AM's are not the same as WOR's or Buckley's. Some actively do have marketable coverage beyond market peer FM's and WANT to keep that coverage for a variety of reasons...and reasons which should be irrelevant to this discussion. For a distant station to cause harmful erosion to existing real and present "local station" coverage is patently unfair and wrong...FM coverage comparisons not withstanding since only a handful of AM's will even come close to matching FM coverage when all is said and done. Yours being one of them. When you look at the coverage footprints of AM's, only the 10 KW and greater signals (depending on the pattern, conductivity and channel) will have a chance at meeting Class B-1/C-3 FM coverages. Only 50's will match Class B and C stations to the FM's 1mV. So where does that leave the remaining 70% of the AM stations? Where is the "parity" here? Have you done any in-building penetration tests to see if the digital signal fares any better than analog inside a building... office...warehouse...high-rise? As for sitting on the sidelines, not me. If a client comes to me and says he wants it--make it play, I'll put it in and leave them with a written statement that it is done against my educated judgement. But I'm right now advising them to wait and see what happens with the first round of adopters and the resultant slew of complaints to the FCC which no doubt will come when some stations come to find they've had their interference free 1mV daytime coverage shrunk by 50% (or more). MM (via NRC AM Dec 29 via DXLD) ** U S A. From RAIN: Dear Mike, The U.S. Copyright Office and Library of Congress on Tuesday published the terms of the Small Webcaster Settlement Act in the Federal Register, the final step in making the terms of the deal available to all eligible small webcasters. The new law makes all copyrighted music available to webcasters with revenues under $1.25 million. The eligible webcasters would pay a percentage of revenues or expenses. There's more in today's issue of "RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter," online now at http://www.kurthanson.com (Paul Maloney, RAIN editor, Dec 30, via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. List of 812 LW beacons heard in California: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/swl/2002-December/004042.html (Phil Atchley, swl Dec 29 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 7260, 1030-1100, 16-12 R. Vanuatu, Emten Lagoon (tentative), Bislama (tentative), animated interview, splashes from SWRf 7265 and from *1100 also QRM from 7255. 23333 AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. The oldie "Ecos del Torbes" on 4980 seems to be off the air which is a pity (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 29, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. Tuning around this morning I came across the Voice of Tanzania, Zanzibar with the transmitter at Dole on 11734 at 2050 UT broadcasting African pop music, Swahili announcement by YL and OM with closing and National Anthem at 2059 with s/off right on 2100, slightly low level audio with slight distortion but readable (not that I can understand Swahili!) SIO 353. Dated December 30th UT time or 7:50 am local summer time on December 31st in eastern Australia. I was rather excited to hear this one considering the time of year (middle of summer with maximum daylight and early sunrise) as it is not the easiest country on shortwave to hear and the power is supposed to be only 50 kW (Michael Stevenson, Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia, Sangean ATS-909 with outdoor 15 metre longwire, EDXP via DXLD) ** ZIMBZBWE [non]. CLANDESTINE from MADAGASCAR to ZIMBABWE, 7120, Voice of the People, 0328 open carrier. Clear channel today and a better signal. Short tone at 0329, then return to dead air. 0330 man with ID's in English as well as postal and email addresses. Interview with a musician, it may have been Thomas Mapfumo, and playing of Zimbabwean music. This program was also in English, a bit of a blessing since when I have listened in the past they were broadcasting mostly in vernaculars. Interview continued through 0400, when I tuned out (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Dec 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ In keeping with IL style, this item has every line centered, tho it may not display that way for you (gh) {originally, but quickly lost center formatting in DXLD; never mind} INTERNATIONAL LISTENER IS BACK! First appearing in magazine form in the 1970's, International Listener was published as a monthly 40-page program guide for English-language broadcasts. That magazine became a web site on January 22nd, 1999, helping listeners easily access audio from these stations through their computer. The site disappeared when Tropical Storm Allison flooded my home with five feet of water in June 2001 (the hit counter stopped at 49838). But now International Listener has been redesigned. The main page loads much more quickly. You can immediately click to live streaming or on-demand audio from international shortwave broadcasters by using a drop-down menu on this opening page. Click on the International Listener Shortwave Radio Stations page for links to the home pages of shortwave radio stations around the world. There are some more drop-down menus with on-demand shortwave programs. Since blind and partially-sighted viewers say they cannot use drop- down menus, there are regular links to shortwave webcasts. As with the original site, there's a new edition of the International Listener Shortwave News each month--a roundup of items gleaned from radio station web sites and shortwave news sources from around the world. The January 2003 edition of Shortwave News has Part One of International Listener's exclusive look inside the BBC World Service in Bush House (this page will be posted on New Year's Day). Find searchable shortwave schedules by clicking to International Listener Shortwave Links, as well as listening clubs, audio archives and receiver manufacturers. BBC World Service schedules from DigiGuide are available by clicking on the BBC logo. Also, you can be transported to a webcast of shows from the Golden Age of radio. International Listener News Organizations leads to news agencies and the news outlets of broadcasting networks from around the globe. A news ticker links to worldwide news, sports and shortwave news. There are U. S. and British newspapers, as well as a special section of UK comics and magazines. There's a searchable weather database from the Weather Channel. There are London and UK radio stations with webcast links at International Listener British Radio, and webcasts are a click away on a drop-down menu. You'll find DigiGuide schedules of the national UK networks. Other interesting sites from Great Britain are included. London's current weather conditions and forecast are available from the Weather Channel. Check International Listener Television for links to launch TV webcasts and playbacks of individual television programs, plus DigiGuide British TV schedules. Some favorite UK program links are featured. Shortwave club publications, magazines and books are described in the International Listener Library. Throughout this web site, there is a 24-hour clock that displays the time in GMT. The Google search engine is featured throughout the site, and links to other popular search engines are provided. There are still some sections of the site being tweaked, but I think it's ready for use. I'd appreciate it if you could help me spread the word. I've linked to you site, and I'd like you to link to mine (or update the link to me so it works again). The main URL is http://www.internationallistener.com. That's a re- direct of http://home.houston.rr.com/edmayberry. Thanks to all who have sent words of encouragement over the long months that my family and I have been rebuilding since the flood. (Ed Mayberry, TX, Dec 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1163, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MONDE REBELLES -GUERRES CIVILES ET VIOLENCES POLITIQUES -L'ECYCLOPÉDIE DES CONFLITS I want to indicate that there is in France a book which reçense for several years all the secret movements in the world. It is updated about every 3 years. For those that understand naturally French it is about a reference book. The title in French is: Monde Rebelles - guerres civiles et violences politiques -L'ecyclopédie des conflits ("Rebel Worlds" civil wars and political violence - The encyclopedia of conflicts (Publishing: Editions Michalon Paris). The book makes 1561 pages and costs 33,53 euros. The classification makes leave country. Publishing: Editions Michalon, 18 rue du Dragon, 75006 Paris (ISBN 2-94186-091) Codes bar: 0 7682841 860913 (Bernard Chenal, France, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ NEW JAVARADIO IN BETA TEST Hi! New javaradio in beta test at: http://www.javaradiofrance.com Coverage: 100 kHz to 1300 MHz with all mode. Situation: based at Orly (just near Paris). Online: 24/24. Free access, just give a nickname and your location to connect on server. Troubleshooting? Send a message to jean-marc.cera@wanadoo.fr (via rec.radio.shortwave via SW Bulletin Dec 29 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ DXers Unlimited's Year End edition for 31 December 2002 and 1 January 2003, By Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK Hi amigos FELICIDADES !!! Congratulations and Happy New Year to all DXers Unlimited's listeners and readers around the world. I am Arnie Coro, radio amateur CO2KK your friend here in Havana, where the weather is simply gorgeous with temperature around 25 degrees Centigrade and relative humidity of 70 percent... Beautiful blue sky as I was writing the script of the program just a few minutes after local noon Tuesday... AND HERE IS ITEM ONE: Scientists are wondering what has happened 93 million miles away from Earth, as the Sun has just reached a standstill of sorts, with the sunspot count reaching a record low of just 44, the lowest in several years... As a matter of fact during the past few days we have seen the daily solar flux going down at a very fast rate; just 6 days ago we had a daily sunspot count of 77 and the latest optical observation done Tuesday morning here in Havana, showed a still lower than 40 sunspot count. So, expect the daytime maximum useable frequencies to go DOWN below 25 megaHertz even on the best North to South propagation paths (via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 01 - 27 JANUARY 2003 Solar activity is expected to persist at very low to low levels until about 07 January, when formerly productive active regions (including, among others, old regions 224 and 226 described above) are expected to return to the visible disk over the course of the following four days. Moderate flare activity may be possible for the subsequent two-week period (through 23 January), depending on the characteristics of the expected returning regions. Low to moderate activity is possible for the remainder of the forecast period. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the latter half of the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo- synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 04 January, 16-17 January, and 23-25 January, in response to recurrent high speed stream effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be in the range of quiet to active levels for most of the forecast period. Active conditions are possible on 04 January, due to expected effects from a compact, trans- equatorial coronal hole. Periods of enhanced geomagnetic activity are possible on 15-16 January and 22-24 January, due to the expected influence of recurrent coronal holes. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Dec 31 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Dec 31 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Jan 01 115 10 3 2003 Jan 02 115 10 3 2003 Jan 03 120 10 3 2003 Jan 04 120 15 3 2003 Jan 05 120 12 3 2003 Jan 06 125 8 3 2003 Jan 07 135 8 3 2003 Jan 08 145 8 3 2003 Jan 09 155 8 3 2003 Jan 10 160 8 3 2003 Jan 11 165 8 3 2003 Jan 12 165 8 3 2003 Jan 13 170 8 3 2003 Jan 14 175 8 3 2003 Jan 15 170 15 3 2003 Jan 16 165 12 3 2003 Jan 17 165 10 3 2003 Jan 18 160 10 3 2003 Jan 19 155 15 3 2003 Jan 20 155 12 3 2003 Jan 21 145 12 3 2003 Jan 22 135 15 3 2003 Jan 23 125 30 5 2003 Jan 24 120 15 3 2003 Jan 25 115 10 3 2003 Jan 26 115 12 3 2003 Jan 27 115 12 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Dec 31 via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-204, December 28, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1162: [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1162.html WBCQ: Mon 0545 7415 WWCR: Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 -- maybe; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 7490 WRN: rest of world Sat 0900, Eu only Sun 0530, NAm Sun 1500 ONDEMAND: http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS #8 has finally been updated Dec. 27 with material from DXLD since late September. http://www.worldofradio.com/oklahoma.html At the end of 2002 this file will be closed, renamed oklahoma8.html and a 2003 file started as oklahoma.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL I hope you like the Passport book I sent you. I thoroughly enjoy DXLD (Chris Hambly, Australia) Hi Glen[n], HCJB on their DX Partyline program this week gave you congratulations on completing DXLD #200. It was a very warm mention of your work (Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, Dec 28) Well... thanks, but I usually put out about 200 editions per year (gh) ** ANTARCTICA. THE ULTIMATE SOUTHERN TRIP Northern hemisphere winter gets a lot of people thinking about heading south. Some, though will travel as far south as anyone can get on this planet. Yes, once again it`s summer at the South Pole. While several countries claim pie-shaped wedges of Antarctica, international treaties ensure that research stations remain the primary activities, regardless of whether or not military staff them. Short wave utility radio, also known as high frequency (HF), was once the lifeline back to the inhabited world, though now most routine traffic moves via satellite. Remaining HF capability is used by several countries and agencies to contact low-flying planes and field parties on the ground. Some 10- kilowatt bases are still in use, as maintained by technicians who make the trip south every year. In past seasons, many aircraft on Antarctic runs have used the appropriate callsign of ``ICE`` plus a number. United States stations are often reached by flights from New Zealand. Another ``cold`` radio is NNN0ICE, the Military Affiliate Radio System station at McMurdo. Look for them just above and below the 20-meter amateur band. This is also the season for the US Coast Guard`s Operation Deep Freeze. The icebreaker/cutter Polar Sea is making the six-month supply run this year, carrying two Coast Guard helicopters. These are for ice scouting and final deliveries to such isolated spots as Amundsen/ Scott Station, within sight of the South Pole. In the past, Deep Freeze has used Coast Guard net frequencies of 4426/4134, 6501/6200, 8764/8240, and 13089/12242 kilohertz (kHz), all upper-sideband voice (USB). The first frequency of each duplex pair is the coastal station, while cutters transmit on the second. The US National Science Foundation, which operates many of these research outposts, uses the primary Oceanic Data Facility (ODF) frequencies of 8998 and 11553 kHz USB. These also attract some other countries and agencies. In the past, Antarctic activity has also been logged on such frequencies as 4067, 4125, 4242, 7665, 8867, 11255, 11558, and 13385 kHz USB. Australia once operated a large HF network on 5400 kHz, linking Antarctic operations to Sydney. It`s now largely dismantled, but still used in a few places for specific ground-to-air contact. Interestingly, the Australian Bureau Of Meteorology (BOM) operates VLM, a 1000- watt radiofacsimile (FAX) transmitter at lonely Casey Station. Assigned frequency is 7470 kHz, or 7468.1 for USB reception. Polar weather charts are transmitted continuously. With its historic callsign (once used by Radio Australia), and general remoteness, VLM would be a very nice catch (Hugh Stegman, HF Communications, Jan MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) VLM was most recently ABC Queensland SW ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Greetings to all on the EDXP E-NET. Thanks for everyone's contributions. I trust you have all had a good Christmas. HCJB World Radio's new transmitter site in Kununurra is nearing its start date, which has been rescheduled to January 5, 2003. On the DX Partyline this weekend, I will interview Dennis Adams of HCJB Australia to get a first-hand report on the final preparations. Dennis will also tell us the planned frequencies and broadcast times, as well as contact information for your Reception Reports. Current transmissions in English to the South Pacific from Quito (Pifo) will end once Kununurra goes on-line. Thankfully the DX Partyline will continue from the new site! Thank you, and I look forward to your company this weekend on the program. 73 and a Happy 2003! (Allen Graham, HCJB Quito, Dec 27, EDXP via DXLD) Target for first transmitter is Jan. 5. Reports with IRC may go to HCJB-Australia, GPO Box 691, Melbourne, Australia, 3000. Or to: office@hcjb.org.au (Dennis Adams, HCJB-Ecuador DX Partyline Dec 29 via gh, DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 4880, Bangladesh Betar (presumed), 1231-1301 27 Dec, Nice subcontinental music, 1232-1240 M in local Asian lang. with presumed news with mentions of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kabul, and Iraq. 1240 different M with brief announcements weakly, then into subcontinental music with M talk and vocals as part of the song. More very weak talk by M again. More music at 1250. Beautiful flutes and vocals towards Top of Hour. M announcer again weakly with possible ID but couldn't be 100% certain. Into presumed news by M (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 7184.98, Bangladesh Betar, 1226 28 Dec., OC with slight buzz, getting the same thing on 9550. *1227 start of IS. Audio level dropped to almost nil at 1228 and frequency jumped down 10 Hz. 1229 lively instrumental music followed by M announcer almost inaudible. W announcer at 1231 a little stronger but still unreadable. 9550 is always blocked (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. If one cannot sleep as a DXer it makes sense to get up from the bed and to tune in to the frequency 6035 kHz. Last night I could observe here the Bhutan BS with sensational signal strength of partly S=9+10. Unfortunately there was some interference caused by a power station on 6040. 6035, BBS Timphu, December 27th, 0110-0145, Dzongha, Bhutanese songs, international news 0130-0135, QRM 6040; SINPO partly 43423. The station is active on SW only Monday to Friday, signing on at 0100 UT. The signal decreases after 0130 due to the local sunrise in Bhutan. A Happy New Year to all (Michael Schnitzer, Hassfurt, Germany, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11815, Radio Brasil Central, 0800 Dec 25, Identification: "Radio Brasil Central, programa especial do Natal, em onda média, onda curta, 11815 kHz e onda tropical, 4985 kHz." SINPO 34333. Also on 4985 kHz (24222). (Manuel Méndez, Spain, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Has this one been otherwise inactive on 25m? (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4925.05, R. Educação Rural, *0952-1000, 28 Dec. While listening to presumed R. Internacional on 4929.93, got slopover QRM from this signing on, so immediately tuned down. Nice canned ID with QTH at sign-on, followed by ID, promo by M, canned announcement, then another with "Brasil" repeated echo-like at the end. 0954-0958 Choral ZY NA. Repeated "Brasil" again by M and ID/promo again, jingle, live M with TC, then what was probably a long canned ID news intro announcement with jingles, then presumed news by M and W. Very nice strong and clear signal. Easy (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA: RADIO STATION IN NORTH "TO TEST BROADCAST IN JANUARY" The Phnom Penh newspaper Reaksmei Kampuchea, a pro-government publication, carries in its 20 December issue a report on progress in the construction of the road linking the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to the historic temple of Preah Vihear on the Cambodia-Thai border. Among other things, the report notes that: "An official at the Phnom Penh City office also disclosed that the 10-kW radio station being built in Preah Vihear Province by Phnom Penh City is almost completed and can test broadcast in January 2003. Once the road construction is completed, there are plans to build schools and health centres along the road, starting from Tbeng Meanchey to Preah Vihear temple." Source: Reaksmei Kampuchea, Phnom Penh, in Cambodian 27 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? What even is the band? ** CANADA. On January 8, 2003, radio station CHWO AM 740 - Prime Time Radio will be celebrating its second anniversary. Originally on 1250 kHz from 1956, it moved to 740 kHz in 2001 when [after] the CBC left for the FM dial. To commemorate this birthday, the station and the Ontario DX Association will be issuing a special QSL for reports made on January 8, 2003 only. To received the special 2nd Anniversary CHWO AM 740 QSL card: *Station must be heard on January 8, 2003 from 0000 to 2359 (EST) *Time you heard the transmission (local or UTC); *Program Material (at least 10 minutes of specific program material heard: i.e., name of announcer, commercials heard, news items etc.); *Signal/Sound Report, (a general overview of how well you heard the signal at your location and the sound quality of the program). *Mention of the type of equipment and antenna you were using to hear the signal is helpful information as well. All reception reports and comments for the station may be sent to: Brian Smith QSL Manager for AM740 Box 161, Willowdale Stn A, Toronto, Ontario Canada M2N 5S8 or email to am740@rogers.com Thank you and good listening, Brian Smith am740@rogers.com Ontario DX Association http://www.odxa.on.ca Reception Report Manager for CHWO AM 740 http://www.odxa.on.ca/chwo.html YahooGroup Moderator for AM740 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AM740 PS - CHWO will be conducting a DX test in late January or early February. Details to follow (Brian Smith, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CHINA. R. Fujian is reactive with one hour transmission. The schedule is followed: 4975 2256-2321, 0955-1032, 5040 2245-2324, 0945- 1035. The transmitter is turned on/off abruptly without any announcement; duration also varies. One notice to repeat is that CNR-5, CNR-6 Taiwan service shut down all shortwave service; MW service still works. CNR-5 0055-0615, 0955-0005 549, 765; CNR-6 2055-0105, 0355-1805 (stop tx on Wed 0605-0955) 684, 909, 927, 1089 (Miller Liu, Taiwan, Dec 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. CROATIAN RADIO TO START BROADCASTING 24-HOUR PROGRAMME FOR DIASPORA | Text of report by Croatian TV on 22 December [Announcer] Croatian radio will start broadcasting a 24-hour programme called Voice of Croatia soon, which is intended for Croatians outside their homeland and national minorities in Croatia. So far this programme has been broadcast for two hours every day. Besides the introduction of the 24-hour programme, another novelty is digital technology. News and other programmes will also be broadcast in English, Spanish, German and French. [Unidentified report] Croatian radio broadcasts around 230 hours of programme on a daily basis. Programmes of interest to immigrants, minorities, tourists and all those in Europe and the world who wish to learn something about events in Croatia will be selected out of this rich production. According to the Law on the HRT [Croatian Radio and TV], Croatian radio is obliged to produce a programme for the diaspora and the minorities and the government will finance this project from the state budget. [Domagoj Versic, editor of Croatian radio's International Programme] We now spend 4m kunas on this programme annually and according to our calculations we will be spending 12.5m kunas on the 24-hour programme. Therefore, it is not too much money for such an ambitious, but very realistic programme. [Reporter] The programme will be broadcast on the satellite for Europe, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand on short wave and certainly on the Internet for the entire world. The digitalization will help improve the quality of reception. Preparations have been going on for a sesquiyear and the experimental broadcasting will begin in April. The 24-hour programme of Voice of Croatia will be launched on the Day of Radio and TV, 15 May 2003. The government has already earmarked finances for this major media project in the budget. Source: HRT1 TV, Zagreb, in Croatian 1830 gmt 22 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** DENMARK. RADIO LUXEMBOURG PROGRAMME ON DANISH RADIO On New Year's Eve it will be 10 years since the English service of Radio Luxembourg very sadly was silenced. This anniversary will be celebrated by the national Danish pubcaster DR P4 on New Year's Eve from 2315-0400 UT. Usually the AM transmitters of DR are closed down at night - but not so on the night before New Year's Day. P4 will be carried on MW 1062 kHz from Kalundborg (250 kW) all night long - and so listeners in Northern Europe, most of Western Europe and parts of Central Europe should be able to pick up this programme, which will be hosted by Allan Krautwald and Florian Fastina. Most of the programme will obviously be in Danish but most of it will consist of music well known from Radio Luxembourg, jingles etc. Besides - there'll be a couple of interviews in English with a.o. Tony Prince and Benny Brown. Read more here: http://www.radionyt.com and http://www.radionyt.com/artikel/default.asp?id=5732 The long wave transmitter at Kalundborg will also be on the air through the night before New Year's Day. On 243 kHz (300 kW) the youth channel P3 will be audible from 0000 UT. It may also be of interest to someone that P3 will be celebrating its 40 year anniversary on New Year's Day. There's a story (in Danish) about P3 here: http://www.radionyt.com/artikel/default.asp?id=5747 and there'll be a couple of special programmes on this anniversary on New Year's Day. Probably only on FM - but you may try http://dr.dk/nav/netplayer/player.asp?station=2 where streaming of P3 is available. Best 73s, (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Dec 20, MW-DX yahoogroup via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI. According to an article on DeepikaGlobal.com, Djibouti has been promised by the US government "$2 million to renovate state- run Radio Djibouti, along with $100,000 in annual rent, in exchange for a strategic transmission station the United States is building for the Voice of America just outside the capital. The targeted audience: Yemen and the southern regions of Saudi Arabia --- rich recruiting grounds for al-Qaida and home to more than half the Sept. 11 hijackers." Ref article: http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=21353 Anyone heard if this will be a SW transmitter site? (Ulis Fleming, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Djibouti has been planned for a long time as a new MW relay site, more likely now for R. Sawa than plain old VOA. I`ve seen nothing about SW from there (Glenn, ibid.) Last June, BBG asked for bids for both AM and a 50 kW SW here for RTV Djibouti. See http://www.fbodaily.com/archive/2002/06-June/26-Jun-2002/FBO-00098287.htm (Hans Johnson, ibid.) Viz.: FBO DAILY ISSUE OF JUNE 26, 2002 FBO #0206 SOLICITATION NOTICE 58 -- MW and HF Transmitters Notice Date 6/24/2002 Notice Type Solicitation Notice Contracting Office Broadcasting Board of Governors, Associate Director for Management, Office of Contracts (M/CON), 330 C Street, SW, Room 2500, Washington, DC, 20237 ZIP Code 20237 Solicitation Number Reference-Number-B004-280007 Response Due 8/15/2002 Archive Date 11/30/2002 Point of Contact Kristine Muschette Hicks, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-401-5827, Fax 202-260-0855, - Herman Shaw, Contracting Officer , Phone 202-205-- 8412, Fax 202-260-0855, E-Mail Address kmhicks@ibb.gov, hshaw@ibb.gov Description The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has an anticipated requirement for a Contractor to supply two (2) 40 kW medium wave (MW) amplitude modulated and one (1) 50 kW high frequency (HF) transmitters including facility renovations at the Dorale Transmitting Station that is owned and operated by Radio-Television de Djibouti in the Republic of Djibouti, East Africa. The station is not owned or controlled by the BBG or by the US Government. Please note that only limited information on existing conditions is available. Interested offerors are advised that this anticipated requirement shall include the fabrication, supply and installation of two 40 kW medium wave (MW) amplitude modulated transmitters (1170 kHz and 1539 kHz) and one 50 kW high frequency (HF) transmitter; integration of the new transmitters with the existing single tower MW antenna and HF log periodic antenna; and, the removal and disposal of existing transmitters and obsolete building equipment. This requirement shall also include a complete facilities renovation with new waterproof roofing, replacement of electrical and water supply systems, refurbishment of generators, painting, and replacement of plumbing fixtures, doors and air conditioning equipment. The Dorale station is located on the coast about 10 km west of Djibouti City. It is expected that potential bidders will be required to visit the station before submitting a proposal. An offeror will need demonstrated experience in successful supply and installation MW and HF transmitters systems including work in remote locations with difficult logistics and extreme weather conditions. It is expected that the Request for Proposal (RFP) solicitation for this anticipated negotiated firm-fixed price (FFP) procurement will be issued on or about October 1, 2002, with a proposal due date of forty-five (45) calendar days after the RFP issue date. Interested offerors may make arrangements for a site visit at their expense by contacting Mr. Walter Borys in Washington, DC at 202-205-8052. This public notice is not a RFP, IFB, or RFQ. Place of Performance Address: Dorale Station, 10 km West of Djibouti City, Country: Djibouti (via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. After several presumed and tentative loggings, I am very pleased to positively ID this one. 11805, Georgian Radio, Tbilisi, 0631-0701 12/26. English service with IS, ID "This is Georgia" and announcer mentioning "Tbilisi". Complete schedule was read, then the news with items on NATO, Serbia and terrorism. "...in the studio from Tbilisi, the Republic of Georgia" at end of news. Russian dance/folk music until 0701 when German service began. Poor, fluttery signal (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. How are things by now? Only 30 percent of the power is back, and no one is being given preferential treatment: http://www.guampdn.com/news/stories/20021228/topstories/657846.html (Guam Pacific Daily News Dec 28 via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4779.98, R. Coatán, 28 Dec. 0203-0210, Lively LA Pop song, 0205 Rock song for a minute, then M announcer with talk and ID. First time the ute wasn't here and was hoping this was R. Satélite. So, is Satélite still here/on the air?? Coatán weak with 4781 HC QRM (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW AND AUCTIONS HAVE THROWN RADIO BROADCASTING UP FOR GRABS; STATUS OF CATHOLIC RADIO IN CAPITAL & NATIONAL NETWORK by Victor Hugo Aguilar Martínez, Director of Fundación para La Paz y Reconciliación, of the Episcopal Conference of Guatemala. CRU Editor`s Note - I asked Señor Victor Hugo Aguilar some information on a number of Guatemalan Catholic radio stations, including those operated by the Fundación para La Paz y Reconciliación, of which Señor Aguilar es the director. In answering those questions, he provided interesting background on the telecommunications situation in Guatemala. His report deserves publication. Guatemala City, Dec 15 (special)— First I have to ask pardon for the delay in answering your e-mail in regard to some doubts over the radio stations of Guatemala. I have delayed in virtue of the fact that there are some situations that are still not clear in regard to broadcasting in Guatemala because of the implementation of the General Telecommunications Act that appeared in 1996 and which we can say nullified the previous law although it seems that they wanted to leave or allow to continue to be applicable some aspects of that law. but their application is considered very controversial. All this creates an atmosphere of doubt whether there exists a true legislation over stations or frequencies for radio stations, especially in the FM band. Now that there is little or no interest in AM because applications for AM or almost zero, I hope to clear up for you some points. If they are not clear, please advise me and I will try to make them simpler. To get going. 1. Before 1996, the government conceded radio frequencies in its manner, specially if it were a mass medium that ought to be controlled given the situation of the civil war that existed between the army and the guerrillas. Thus on licensing a person the use of a frequency, they assigned some call letters that began with TG, which signified Telecomunicaciones Guatemala, and then other letters that indicated the name of the station which was registered from the moment of licensing. Today frequencies are obtained by means of auctions and the nature of radio broadcasting itself of no importance. That which is important is the money that one may have to buy a frequency on auction. In this way it is easy to change the name of a radio station from night to morning now that you can sell, lease, give or do what you want with your frequency, at least for the 15 years that the right of usufruct is valid. Thus, under my criteria, one cannot oblige some (the old ones) to identify themselves and the others no (the new ones obtained in auction now that the law is such there is no need of general observance, which is the basis of all law). In regard to your specific questions, I will now answer them: Radio 940 AM is property of the institution named ``Catholic Events`` whose director is Señor Orlando Coronado. This station has had various names but the latest that it uses is Radio Paz and its call letters use TGTL that means ``Telecomunicaciones Guatemala Traigo la Voz`` which was the first name used for this station. For a better understanding we can make the following division or separation. We will call Catholic radio stations those whose frequencies were assigned to a diocese, that is to say, these are diocesan radio stations and thus the property of the Church and, of course, their programming is Catholic. Other stations are private property but with Catholic programming (which supposedly ought to have the authorization of the bishop responsible for the region in which they broadcast). Well, then, Guatemala is divided geographically into departments, and in the Department of Guatemala City in which the Archdiocese of Guatemala is located, there is no station that is owned by the Church but all of these are of private property, whether the owners be individuals or groups of laymen or ecclesiastical organizations. For example, Radio Paz belongs to a Catholic group named Eventos Católicos. It is supposed that they broadcast with the approval of the Archbishop of Guatemala, but this I cannot guarantee that every one of them has this relationship (of approval). My relation is directly with the diocesan stations, that is to say, the Catholic Church, and that are found broadcasting in the rural areas of our Republic. Among the private stations with Catholic programming, such as Radio Paz, I can mention Radio María FM (which belongs to a group of Italian laymen named Asunción de María) and that have representation in Guatemala. There is Radio María AM which calls itself La Voz de la Familia, which belongs to the Ingeniero Arturo López and which operates on the frequency 1600 AM but now has a repeater on 1615 AM in the zone of the Departamento of Sololá, specifically from Santa Lucía Utaltlán. But I do not know if he has legal authorization to do it. His identification is TGML and he has no website. The frequency 107.9 FM belongs to a Church station which carries the name Stéreo Gerardi in honor of Bishop Juan Gerardi, assassinated a few years ago in Guatemala, a murder which involved a priest as possibly responsible for the same. This station does not have call letters because it was acquired in an auction. I have been made to understand that they have asked the regulating agency of frequencies in Guatemala, the Superintendencia of Telecomunicaciones that they be assigned call letters but, as of today, they have not been assigned them. I repeat, for me this is unnecessary in the system, form, or method of assigning frequencies, Thus it was that Radio Sololá, the same institution responsible for managing its operations took the decision to change the frequency from 96.9 to 88.7 MHz because on 96.9 FM they had a great deal of interference from other stations. Thus it is that they are now on 88.7 FM and identify still with the call letters TGIZ. Let me take this opportunity to tell you that in regard to satellite linking of our diocesan stations across Guatemala, things are going well. All that is lacking is that the donator of our funds approves our using these funds in a different area, that is to say, he gave it to us for one thing and we would like to spend them in another. If he approves the change we are ready to begin buying and installing the transmitting equipment and the 16 receivers (Dec 30 Catholic Radio Update, Dec 28 via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. EL LARGO CAMINO PARA LAS VOCES LIBRES A fines del 2000, representantes de las radios Comunitarias entregaron al presidente del Congreso de la república la Ley de Medios de Comunicación Comunitaria A pesar del arduo trabajo para llegar a ella, la presentación al Congreso de la ley fue sólo un acto político ya que el organismo no le dio el curso debido. En Febrero de 2001 las distintas coordinadoras de Emisoras Comunitarias tomaron la decisión de conformar el Consejo Guatemalteco de Comunicación Comunitaria con el cual se da un importante paso. Unos meses después esta vez desde la Presidencia se promueve la articulación de una propuesta de reglamento para las radios comunitarias sin que se haya hacho consulta alguna a las propias radios interesadas. Con este acto se desconoce una vez más el esfuerzo realizado por las radios comunitarias, el Estado asume una actitud paternalista de las entidades que se agruparon para trabajar esta propuesta. Pero la lucha continua. Se vuelve a presentar una nueva propuesta de ley y frente a la indiferencia de las autoridades se inicia una campaña para recolectar firmas en apoyo a las radios comunitarias. Más de 40,000 voluntades manifiestan su apoyo a la aprobación de la ley que se encuentra en el congreso. La acción obligó al presidente de la comisión de comunicaciones a precipitar la convocatoria a una reunión con otros sectores relacionados con los medios de comunicación A pesar de todos estos esfuerzos las radios comunitarias de Guatemala no tienen otra opción que seguir trabajando desde la ilegalidad con los peligros que esto significa. No obstante a las amenazas en contra del proceso de democratizar el acceso a la comunicación las radios comunitarias siguen creciendo en las comunidades fortaleciendo la capacidad organizativa de los pueblos (Agencia Informativa Pulsar via Arnaldo Slaen, Dec 28, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** HAITI. RADIO STATION CHIEF SURVIVES APPARENT MURDER ATTEMPT Press Freedom 26 December 2002 HAITI Reporters Without Borders said today it was outraged at an apparent attempt on Christmas Day to kill the head of Radio Haiti Inter, Michèle Montas, in which one of her bodyguards was shot dead. "The attackers wanted to eliminate the person who is fighting for the arrest and punishment of the killers in 2000 of her journalist husband Jean Dominique, Haiti's best-known journalist," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard. Ménard expressed his "great admiration" for the "courage and determination" of Montas in her nearly three-year battle and assured her of his "total support" in the wake of what he called a "despicable and cowardly action." He also expressed his condolences to the family of her bodyguard, Maxime Séide, who was shot and killed in the attack. Montas was one of five journalists from around the world shortlisted for this year's Reporters Without Borders / Fondation de France Prize in recognition of her fight against impunity in the murder of her husband, the head of Radio Haiti Inter, who was shot dead in the station's courtyard on 3 April 2000. Reporters Without Borders called on the authorities to thoroughly investigate the latest attack and asked that key people in the enquiry into the Dominique murder be given special protection, especially Bernard Saint-Vil, the investigating judge, and the state prosecutor, Josué Pierre-Louis. Two armed men appeared at the gates of Montas' house in Pétionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, in the late afternoon of 25 December a few minutes after she had arrived home after a Christmas lunch with family members. They threatened her security guards who immediately shut the gates. One of the guards ran to the house to get a gun. The attackers then fired at the second guard, Séide, fatally wounding him before fleeing. Montas said the attackers had intended to kill her. The two men were on foot, she said, and had probably waited near her house for her to arrive. She said she had, unusually, asked her driver to take a different route back to the house that day. The attack came a few days before Judge Saint-Vil is expected to announce completion of his enquiry into Dominique's murder, which has been hampered by many obstacles. The outspoken Dominique, Haiti's best-known journalist and political commentator, criticised all sides, whether supporters of the former Duvalier family dictatorship, ex-military figures, member of the country's wealthy families or, not long before his death, those he suspected in the ruling Fanmi Lavalas party of President Jean- Bertrand Aristide of having turned the party away from its original principles. The murder investigation was assigned in September 2000 to Judge Claudy Gassant after his predecessor, Judge Jean-Sénat Fleury, had resigned after receiving threats. Gassant fled to the United States after his mandate expired on 3 January 2002 and was not immediately renewed by Aristide. He had been repeatedly harassed after naming an Aristide supporter and former army major, Sen. Dany Toussaint, as the man responsible for Dominique's death. Since July, the investigation has been in the hands of Judge Saint-Vil, who has resumed questioning people and said his enquiry may be formally completed by the end of the year. The case file will then go to prosecutor Pierre-Louis, who will have five days to ask for any further information from the judge. After that, the completion announcement, with names of people to be arrested or charged, will be made public. Régis Bourgeat -- Despacho Américas / Americas desk Reporters sans frontières, 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie, 75009 Paris - France tél. : +33 (0) 1 44 83 84 68 fax : +33 (0) 1 45 23 11 51 e-mail : ameriques@rsf.org / americas@rsf.org (via Georges Lessard, CAJ-list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) This was trilingual, but I resisted the temptation to include French and Spanish versions (gh) ** HUNGARY. HUNGARIAN DUNA TV STARTS BROADCASTING TO NORTH AMERICA | Text of report by Hungarian Duna TV on 25 December Pope John Paul II blessed our television 10 years ago, when the satellite broadcasting of Duna TV started. After a decade, we can safely say that the television has become the television of Hungarians all over the world. At dawn today, Duna TV started to transmit its programmes overseas eight hours a day. For the time being, it covers the North American continent. Hopefully, our programmes will soon be available to Hungarians in the southern hemisphere as well. Source: Duna TV satellite service, Budapest, in Hungarian 1700 gmt 25 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK?? Not to mention any other details! One has the impression such presumably satellite services on obscure transponders have an unrealistic expectation of audience in North America, undoubtedly minuscule, but it must play well back home (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR Domestic Service. Recent morning logs from 1430 to 1600 include 4940 Guwahati fair (// with stronger freqs), 7140, 7255, 9910, 10330 Delhi going from fair to very good. The Delhi stations are strongest after sunrise on the California coast (David Norcross, CA, Dec 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. NEW YEAR'S EVE ON THE WEB Several years ago Kim Elliott, former host of Communications World on the Voice of America spent his New Years Eve listening to how the world celebrated using shortwave radio. Lou Josephs adapted the idea for the Internet, and has assembled a list of Webcasters and Webcams that will usher in the New Year 2003. This is a great way see what Webcasting has to offer. More than 4,900 TV and radio stations worldwide are Webcasting. Lou has picked out some of the best ones. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/newyear021227.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Dec 27 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. XM SATELLITE RADIO GETS NEW FINANCING, STOCK JUMPS --- REUTERS December 23, 2002 WASHINGTON - XM Satellite Radio Inc., a satellite radio broadcaster, on Monday said it reached financing agreements totaling $450 million that should provide the cash needed until its operations reach break- even. XM stock jumped more than 10 percent following the news. The Washington-based company said the package includes $200 million from a sale of notes convertible into common stock at $3.18 a share, and a small concurrent stock sale. Also, General Motors Co., which is installing XM radios in 25 different 2003 vehicle lines, has agreed to $250 million in payment deferrals and related credit facilities through 2006, XM said. "With this financing package, we believe we have achieved full funding through cash flow break-even," XM President and Chief Executive Hugh Panero said in a statement. XM and rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI.O) have struggled to remain viable as the market for the capital-intensive satellite radio industry ramps up. Both XM and Sirius have lost money as they try to attract subscribers. Sirius said in November it was preparing for bankruptcy if debtholders did not approve a restructuring that included a debt-for-equity swap. XM shares were up 39 cents, or 13 percent, at $3.39 on Nasdaq in early trade. Sirius shares were up 1 cent at 55 cents, also on Nasdaq. In addition to the financing package, XM said it will start an offer on Tuesday to exchange its $325 million of outstanding 14 percent senior secured notes due 2010 for new 14 percent senior secured discount notes due 2009, warrants and cash. Based on sales to date and projections through the end of the year, XM said it expects to have more than 350,000 radios sold and ready for activation by Dec. 31, either through retailers or automakers. The actual year-end activated subscriber total is expected to be 340,000 to 350,000. XM also said it expects to add two new directors: Steven Hicks, the chairman of Click Radio, who has 33 years of experience in the radio and broadcasting media industry, and Thomas Elliott, executive vice president of automobile operations with Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s (7267.T) U.S. operations (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. ARUTZ-7 RAID UNCLEAR From http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=36141 26 December 2002 The circumstances surrounding yesterday's raid on Arutz-7's ship are still unclear. Arutz-7 officials have not been able to determine why the raid was conducted, nor why it happened specifically yesterday. Israel Police and Communications Ministry personnel raided the Eretz HaTzvi broadcasting ship of Arutz-7 Israel National Radio yesterday, halting the station's signal for over an hour and warning the captain not to resume broadcasting. Nothing was taken or damaged. Arutz-7 broadcasts from outside of Israel's territorial waters because privately-owned radio stations are prohibited from airing nationwide. A law duly passed by the Knesset granting Arutz-7 a broadcasting license was recently nullified by the Supreme Court. Communications Minister Ruby Rivlin of the Likud said he was "furious" at the timing of the raid, and other right-wing politicians railed against what some called "political persecution." A spokesman for Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, who oversees the Israel Police, told Arutz-7 that he did not know of the raid in advance, and that the Communications Ministry initiated it a while ago. The Communications Ministry says the raid was a result of Elections Committee head Hon. Michael Cheshin's call to ensure that unlicensed stations do not broadcast election propaganda. Cheshin himself said he was not involved. Arutz-7 announced in response that it is more careful not to allow its interviewers and interviewees to speak on behalf of specific parties than are Israel's public stations. ARUTZ-7 issued this announcement following the raid: "For 15 years, the State Prosecution and the police have waged a campaign to harm Arutz-7 by "hitting us in our pockets." On two previous occasions, police have smashed and confiscated our state-of- the-art broadcasting equipment, under the pretext that the station's broadcasts are against Israeli law. No court has ever ruled that this is the case, but Arutz-7 has had to pay top lawyers' fees in order to defend itself against these allegations. Police raids like the one today on our broadcasting ship are aimed solely at portraying the station as illegal, thus bringing about an immediate decrease in advertising income. "The Prime Minister, Communications Minister, and Public Security (Police) Minister all denied prior knowledge of and involvement in today's attempt to silence Israel's only radio voice opposing the establishment of Palestinian state. How, then, did it happen? Raids of this sort happen under right-wing governments because extremist left elements control key government institutions, including the police, the State Prosecution, the courts, and the Israel Broadcasting Authority. They are largely behind the systematic attempts to financially cripple and harm the lone nationalist voice on Israel's airwaves. We turn to our listeners and internet readers to fight this trend in whatever legitimate manner is available. Please speak out, write letters and faxes, and support the station in its continual struggle to survive these blows against our right to champion the Jewish Nation's right to the Land of Israel." (via Mike Terry, DXLD) From Mike Brand 26 December 2002: From today`s Haaretz Newspaper :: Election committee to hear petition against pirate radio station Arutz Sheva The chairman of the Central Election Committee (CEC), Justice Mishael Cheshin, will today hear a petition asking him to issue a restraining order against pirate radio stations Arutz Sheva, prohibiting it from broadcasting until after the January 28 elections. The petition, filed by Keshev (The Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel) and The Israel Religious Action Center, who claimed that Arutz Sheva is broadcasting election propaganda in flagrant breech of the election law. They also claim that the station's election broadcasts violate the concept of media evenhandedness, since they give unfair preference to the Likud, National Religious Party, the National Union and Herut. (Gideon Alon) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRELAND. We heard a number of Irish church services on 27 and 28 Dec. in the European afternoon, ca. 1300-1500 UT. Locations unknown. The reception was best in Finland. I copied a couple of them here in Holland as well. 27-12 ----- 27105 27185 26965 27305 (a wedding); 28- 12 ----- 27295 27025 27030 26805 27315 (a wedding) 27395 (3 different services at the same time, one was a wedding) (via Ary (from the Netherlands) in the WUN group via Hans Johnson, Dec 28, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. More Arutz-7: see INTERNATIONAL WATERS above ** ITALY. In the fall of 1988, a new shortwave radio station took to the airwaves of Europe. It started as a vision only six months before, and was operational in record time, thanks to the enthusiasm of its founders and a measure of good luck. This was a private station, with an independent, eclectic, experimental message – something distinctly different from the classic international broadcasters of the Cold War era. It's a story of broadcasting success against all odds, and how what started out as a gamble has made European broadcasting history. Bob Zanotti, formerly of Swiss Radio International, was a co-founder of the station, and has now decided to tell the story. WELCOME TO NEXUS-IRRS --- By Bob Zanotti In 1988 a new shortwave radio station took to the airwaves in Europe after being conceived a mere 6 months before. Its two adventurous founders set out to create something quite different from traditional Cold War broadcasting.... Alfredo Cotroneo was the front man for the Italian Radio Relay Service, but few folks knew that his partner was Bob Zanotti of Swiss Radio International. This is the first time the full story has been told. Part 1 gets us on the air: Part 2 will tell about keeping an independent shortwave station going – an entirely different matter! (January MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Kunitoshi Hishikawa, Japan, sent me the URL for Year End Hitparade 2002: http://cgi2.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/new/image/02kohaku.pdf The following schedule for the 53rd "Year End Hitparade", which will LIVE broadcast in Japanese on 31 Dec 2002 at 1030-1545 UT. To: Southeast Asia 1030-1600 11815 Yamata To: Asian Continent 1030-1600 9750 Yamata [Acc to the PDF file, seemingly the live coverage broadcast occurs only on the Asian Continent and SEAsia services. Broadcast time shifts to a recording at 1500-1930 UT to the following targets, except Sackville 11705 kHz relay still at 1300-1500 UT, see below, ed.] To: Southwest Asia 1500-1700 12045 Yamata (instead of Ekala?) 1700-1930 11700 Yamata To: North America 1300-1730 11705 Sackville, Canada (extended) 1500-1930 9835 Yamata (extended) To: Central America 1500-1930 9535 Yamata (extended) To: South America 1500-1930 9835 Yamata (extended) 1500-1930 21600 Montsinery, French Guiana To: Oceania 1500-1930 7140 Yamata (extended) To: East Europe 1500-1800 9750 Rampisham, UK (extended) 62 degr 1800-1930 9565 Woofferton, UK (extended) 75 degr To: South Europe 1500-1900 6175 Skelton, UK (extended) 150 degr 1900-1930 6010 Skelton, UK 150 degr To: Middle East and North Africa 1500-1930 11880 Ekala, Sri Lanka (extended) To: C Africa 1500-1700 21630 Ascension 1700-1930 15165 Ascension To: S Africa 1500-1930 15355 Montsinery, Gabon (Kunitoshi Hishikawa, Japan, via BC-DX, Christoph Ratzer-AUT OE2CRM did do the transform job, thanks (via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** LATVIA. See UK ** LUXEMBOURG [non]. See DENMARK ** MEXICO. 9705, Radio Mexico Int`l, Christmas eve programming. Dead air between languages. English at 0445 rather, and continued for much longer than a half an hour. Call in or interview show was quite audible; by 05 this was coming in like a local! almost 55555. 11770 was good, but the modulation has a problem, sound is sloppy. This was markedly better here than as reported by Terry Krueger in TOCOBAGA DX #67 via DXLD. Perhaps their beam is towards the western US? (David Norcross, California, Dec 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ve noticed occasional much better signals than usual from XERMX, but tend to blame it on propagation (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. MEXICAN TV STATION ACCUSED OF ARMED RAID OF RIVAL TV AZTECA ACCUSED OF ARMED RAID OF RIVAL Federal prosecutors are investigating claims a rival television station took over another channel using private armed guards wearing ski masks. Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca took over the facilities of CNI Channel 40 in the early hours of the morning. CNI Channel 40 said the men in black uniforms stormed the station's transmission facilities before dawn, holding channel employees for several hours and taking over the channel's signal. The frequency is now carrying programs of Channel 13, TV Azteca's flagship station. Televisora del Valle de Mexico, or TVM, holds the license for CNI Channel 40, a UHF station broadcast in Mexico City and distributed on regional cable TV systems. CNI Channel 40 said its lawyers have already filed charges against TV Azteca, calling the takeover an "unprecedented abuse in the history of Mexican television." TV Azteca confirmed it took over the facilities, but it denied using violence and said it was "exercising its rights and in full compliance with the law." It adds it has evidence on video that it took over the facilities peacefully. Manuel Feregrino, news editor at CNI Channel 40, said: "They retained the IDs of our staff, their addresses were taken, and they were told that their families could be in danger." TV Azteca and CNI Channel 40 entered a strategic alliance in 1998, with the two evenly sharing earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for programming and advertising sales. The partnership fell into dispute in 2000, when TVM owner Javier Moreno Valle pulled out and alleged that the agreements weren't valid. He was expelled from TV Azteca's board soon afterward. TV Azteca said last week the International Court of Arbitration upheld the company's right to buy 51 percent of TVM. Story filed: 09:30 Saturday 28th December 2002 via http://www.ananova.com (via Pete Costello, DXLD) The wild, wild South ** MEXICO. MEXICAN DJ HOPES PLAYING 2,001 SONGS IN A ROW WILL LAND HIM IN RECORD BOOKS MONTERREY, México (AP) - A Monterrey disc jockey played 2,001 corridos - traditional, sometimes controversial, ranch songs - back-to-back last month, hoping to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. Ricardo Escobedo, director of the AM station Radio Regiomontana, wants to set a record for broadcasting the longest radio show and the longest radio program in which no song was played twice. Guinness record book officials are investigating whether he qualifies, said Escobedo, who played 2,001 corridos in a row between Nov. 14-21 without leaving his microphone or playing any song twice. "I didn't feel tired during the broadcast, because I was very busy, but my throat hurt a lot afterward," the 34-year-old said Tuesday. He managed the feat, he said, by attacking the station's music collection alphabetically according to song title. Corridos are traditional northern Mexican ranch songs that often tell stories of betrayal, lost love, homesickness and the settling of scores over money or women. Los Tigres del Norte and other artists have given such songs commercial legitimacy in recent years. The Canadian Press, 2002 12/27/2002 12:30 EST (AOL Canada News via Fred Waterer, Dec 27, DXLD) I believe the word is Regiomontana, not Regiomontaña as some might think, correcto? (gh) ** MONGOLIA [and non]. Hello everyone and the best of the season to you all, I've been in Germany since March and as a result my international radio listening has been mainly focused on hearing the BBC! I'm back at home for Xmas and New Year and am re-exploring my clunky old computer and Worldspace receiver, both gathering dust for the last 10 months. While catching up on a few messages here I've also got BBC Radio 4's "A world in your ear" on (also available on the web I'm sure), which selects and plays choice features from broadcasters (and a number of international broadcasters) from around the world. [repeats Sun 2000] This week they talked to an Aussie journalist working at the Voice of Mongolia. Speaking about the station, he said that VoM's 'devoted listeners' consisted of Radio HAMs who struggle through the interference (in particular Radio Damascus) to hear the station, write to the station, receive their postcard and then go on to the next station. While the journalist's comment maybe a little tongue-in- cheek, I do wonder if this is really what many broadcasters think of their audience - that the only ones listening to the station don't actually listen for the programming and only listen the once for the QSL. Accurate or not it's energised me to write to the various international broadcasters I listen to regularly (for their programming of course) and to make sure they know that their hard work is appreciated. Peace and good listening to one and all, (Daniel Atkinson, England / Germany, Dec 27, swprograms via DXLD) - home of the internet's first SW FAQ (perhaps) http://www.eurobahn.co.uk ** NICARAGUA. 600, YNLD, Radio Ya, Managua DEC 27 0546 - caught a "Ya" mention during break in meringue music block by man; possible mention of "seis cientos" but too poor to be exactly sure. Anyway, country nr. 19 !! and obviously new catch. I hope to find some time to encode some of the tape made on 600 kHz last night into real-audio too! 73 and good DX, (Bogdan Alexandru Chiochiu, QC, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Bogdan has been going after LA MW DX quite successfully from Montreal, tnx to auroral condx. However, since ``ya`` is a common word in Spanish, meaning `already`, I would be hesitant to claim a definite ID based on the above. Merengue not exactly typical of Nicaragua, either. Good riddance, anyway, CFCF! 600 is thought to be the best chance for Nicaragua in North America (gh, DXLD) {See 3-307} ** NORWAY. Today I discovered that Radio Norway carries a program from BBC WS (European Branch) during the first half hour (0500-0530 on 7465 and 7490 kHz). Before, they used to carry their internal radio service (Alexander Egorov, Kiev, Ukraine via Active_DX, 12/27/02 via Sergei Sosedkin, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3290, NBC Radio Central, Boroko was audible on Dec. 24th & 25th 2002 between 1155-1400* with a weak signal carrying Karai National Service. In addition to that, I have noted an unidentified station (Radio Milne Bay, Voice of Kula, Alotau) on 3365 kHz at around 1930 UT. No sign of other stations from PNG (Jari Korhonen, Kitee, Finland, Dec 27, dxing.info via DXLD) ** POLAND [and non]. The German Enigma Cipher Machine - History of Solving http://www.enigmahistory.org/enigma.html (via Frank Parisot, France, Dec 13, DXLD) ** QATAR. AL-JAZEERA BROADCASTS IN ENGLISH From http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,865365,00.html Ewen MacAskill, Friday December 27, 2002, The Guardian The Arabic satellite television station al-Jazeera, demonised in parts of Washington for its coverage of Osama bin Laden and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, has begun experimental broadcasts using English subtitles in the US to try to expand its influence and revenues. A spokesman for al-Jazeera, which is based in Qatar and is popular throughout the Arab world, confirmed yesterday that the broadcasts using English subtitles have begun in the US. The move is aimed at finding new sources of revenue but staff believe that they have a mission to provide the context to Middle East stories they argue is often missing from Western media reports. The chief editor, Ibrahim Hilal, told the Christian Science Monitor that "the historical context is missing" in coverage of the Israel- Palestinian conflict and other stories. He cited, as an example, stories about the Iraq crisis that fail to carry a reminder that Saddam Hussein, was armed by the West in the 1980s. The channel is available in the US on subscription by satellite and cable but, until now, it has only been in Arabic. An hour-long phone-in programme, dealing with religion, is now being broadcast in Arabic, with English subtitles. If successful, the range of programmes with English subtitles will be increased (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Subtitles certainly help, but won`t cut it. From previous publicity I was expecting some programing audible in English. Perhaps later, after this first step. Since most of the staff started with BBC in Britain, there should be plenty of fluent English-speakers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. FIRST HUNGARIAN-LANGUAGE RELIGIOUS RADIO STATION LAUNCHED IN ROMANIA | Text of report by Hungarian radio on 24 December [Presenter] Hungarians living in Kolozsvar can now listen to another Hungarian-language radio. Janos Moszkovics reports on the first day of the religious radio: [Moszkovics] The first Hungarian-language, Transylvanian religious and community radio started its broadcasting at 1100 hours local time today, that is, it has been on air for more than one hour in Kolozsvar [Cluj-Napoca, in western Romania] and its region. Agnus Radio, owned by the Transylvanian Reformed Church diocese, started with a pre-Christmas programme, lasting till 1500 hours [local time] this afternoon on 88.3 MHz. Tomorrow, it will broadcast a magazine programme between 0300 hours at dawn and 0800 hours in the morning. It will include a religious service, in addition to interviews, news and music, Attila Sebesi Karen [phonetic], the secular editor-in-chief of Agnus Radio, has told the Hungarian Kossuth Radio [this station]. He added that one-third of the daily eight-hour programme will be about religious topics, while in two-thirds of its broadcasting time it will transmit secular public service programmes to all generations. The religious programmes will include Reformed Church, Catholic, Unitarian and Evangelical programmes and, for three hours a week, the Romanian Orthodox Church will also be involved, since this denomination has no radio station yet. The basic principle of Agnus Radio, which is operated by only 15 staff members, editors, reporters and technical staff, is to supplement regional public service radio programmes. Therefore, at the end of the daily programmes, listeners will be advised to switch over to the Hungarian programme of Kolozsvar Radio, which will also keep its usual religious programme, which was launched in 1990 by the same Kolozsvar- based pastor, Laszlo Adorjani, who dreamt, planned and now directs the first Transylvanian community radio station, Agnus Radio. Source: Hungarian Radio, Budapest, in Hungarian 1100 gmt 24 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. PRESIDENT ANSWERS PUBLIC'S QUESTIONS President Putin on 19 December answered questions from the public in a live appearance broadcast over national television, radio, and the Internet, Russian news agencies reported. In a two-hour session, Putin answered 51 questions covering many aspects of domestic and foreign policy, as well as questions about his personal preferences, Interfax reported. The event was announced about two weeks in advance and in the interim the presidential administration received 1.2 million questions, from which advisers chose the ones they deemed most topical. Asked about the possibility of restoring the Russian monarchy, Putin said this is not desirable because Russia has not yet firmly established a multiparty democracy. "It is true that monarchies complying with democratic norms exist in countries like Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Spain, but in Russia I cannot imagine how [democratic] executive authority could be formed," Putin said. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 19 December via RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 27 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. LOCAL RUSSIAN TV COMPANY SEIZED IN FAR EAST | Text of report by Russian Ekho Moskvy radio on 27 December [Presenter] The Novaya Volna [English: New Wave] TV company in Vladivostok was seized today. We learnt of this from the deputy general director of the TV company, Yevgeniya Golodova: [Golodova] People who are controlled by legal structures and the [Maritime] Territory's administration arrived at the building of the Novaya Volna TV company. They entered together with police and people unofficially representing a certain Vladimir Nikolayev who at the moment wants to run for mayor and in the State Duma election. They told us roughly the following - today former deputy governor [Yevgeniy] Krasnov was killed, and what happened to him will happen to you if you don't leave the building in five minutes. We have been surrounded by a group from Mr (?Arzhanov), the police and Nikolayev's people. We are staying in the building. We tried to contact the governor's assistant. He told us he would need a report on the situation, because the people who came did not act in his name. But we hope that Sergey Mikhaylovich will sort the situation out. They contacted us and said they would come in two hours time' and the situation would be sorted out somehow. [Presenter] Yevgeniya Golodova links the seizure with a property dispute to do with the TV company. We have just learnt that armed persons have burst into the TV company's building. The journalists fear that they may be arrested. We will be following events. Source: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian 1000 gmt 27 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) TV AND RADIO COMPANY'S OFFICE IN FAR EASTERN CITY STORMED BY POLICE | Text of report by Russian news agency Ekho Moskvy on 27 December: [No dateline, as received] The building of the Novaya Volna [Russ: new wave] television and radio company has been seized in Vladivostok, the company's deputy managing director, Yevgeniya Golubeva, has told Ekho Moskvy radio. At 1630 local time [0630 gmt] on 27 December people "in charge of the legal departments of the Maritime Territory administration" as well as people "unofficially representing Vladimir Nikolayev who is trying to run for the mayor of Vladivostok and for the State Duma" and accompanied by policemen appeared at the Novaya Volna with threats, Golubeva said. "They told us approximately the following: you have heard what happened to Krasnov (former deputy governor of Maritime Territory, who was killed in Vladivostok today). A similar thing will happen to you if you do not vacate the building in the next five minutes, Golubeva went on to say, quoting the raiders. She added that threats had been issued against the founders of Novaya Volna, Konstantin Tolstosheyin and Sergey Gubich. The building was cordoned off. The company's staff have no intention of leaving their office, Golubeva said. She added that the people who had made their way inside the building "had been brandishing the name of the governor" of Maritime Territory, Sergey Darkin. The company's staff contacted the governor's aide and he promised to inform Darkin of the incident. "We hope that the governor does not know what is happening and will clear up the controversy," Golubeva said. She said the raid may be linked to a business dispute surrounding the Novaya Volna television and radio company. In the summer of 2002, the founder of the Novaya Volna media holding, Oleg Sedinko, was killed in Vladivostok. His share in the company was bought up by Tolstosheyin and Gubich. A dispute between them and the late director's deputy, Oksana Rybalko, broke out. Later there came reports that armed people had stormed the company's office. The journalists fear that they may be arrested. [In a further report at 1108 gmt, the same agency quoted Golubeva as saying that riot policemen had stormed the Novaya Volna offices and were preventing the company's staff from leaving the building. She added that journalists had been lined up facing a wall with guns pointed at them. A TV camera and tapes had been seized from them. In the meantime, the Vladivostok main interior directorate denied reports that the Novaya Volna building had been seized. They explained that there had been a dispute about who should be guarding the building and the police were currently looking into the matter.] Source: Ekho Moskvy news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1014 gmt 27 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) The wild, wild, East (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Regarding site of VOR on 7125: The 1600-1900 transmission to Central Europe is from Yekaterinburg as stated in the HFCC. I believe the transmission listed as 2300-0600 is from the Moldova site, although I have not confirmed this for the current period. Since this frequency must not be used for transmissions to the Americas, the Russians report a more distant site (that would interfere less across the Atlantic) and a target area (CIRAF zone 17 = Iceland) that would be legal (Olle Alm, Sweden, 26 Dec, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Marcelo sends a view of his QSL which does say Kishinyov, Moldova on 7125 at 0400-0417 Oct. 17 (thus A-02 season in case that make a difference) (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Hi Glenn, I hope you enjoyed the holidays. So here some words on the 7125 matter. Yes, HFCC contradicts Voice of Russia, but it is quite obvious that the planning of the actual transmitter operation takes place more or less independently, they just put some suitable parameters in the HFCC file, like, why bother? Just see the power levels noted down for the other 7125 operations: The Popovka site near Krasny Bor, usually listed as St. Petersburg, has 200 kW transmitters, hence actual power levels are 200, 400 and 800 kW, respectively, but never 250 kW. And a Popovka transmission on 7125 not exists at all, this registration is a mere placeholder. Contrary Yekaterinburg uses 7125 (VoR German), but 240 kW? No way, they have 100 kW transmitters and operate them mostly if not always in pairs, so 200 kW are true spot. Once there used to be Russian shortwave transmitters rated at 120 kW (this design is still in use in China, once they got the blueprints and built such rigs, too), but I am not aware of any such ancient transmitter still in use in Russia. And just as a reminder, Serpukhov which probably still appears in the HFCC file is a non-existing site, just one of the ghosts from the old days. The German service of Voice of Russia received enquiries about transmitter sites quite frequently. This forced them to put a site table on their website. When looking at http://www.vor.ru/German/Liste/liste.html you will find various contradictions with the HFCC data. To make it short: Monitoring observations strongly suggests that the VoR list indeed reflects the true situation. Why not, they should know what they pay for! Conclusion: It should be true that 7125 after 0000 originates together with 7180 from Grigoriopol`, just as it always used to be. Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. QSL: Radio Hargeisa, 7530 kHz in 3 weeks. Letter, including 1 USD, sent to addres in Germany: Konsularishe Vertretung Somaliland, DJ6SI, Baldur Drobnica, Zedernweg 6, D-50127 Bergheim, Germany. Letter poststamped in Czech Republic (Claes Olsson, Norrköping, SWEDEN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. COLOMBO ASKED TO EXPLAIN BROADCAST EQUIPMENT TO LTTE The Sri Lankan government is under pressure to explain how high powered radio equipment was dispatched to the Tamil guerrillas in northern Sri Lanka. Buddhist monks were the latest group to join opposition political parties to protest against the Sri Lankan government for handing over the radio equipment. The government has declared that it would give a full explanation about providing the guerrillas with radio equipment. Gulf News learns that the Norwegians want the Sri Lankan government to fully explain the position leading to the import of the equipment. According to diplomatic sources, Norway has taken the position that the equipment had been imported from Norway on the request of the government and Oslo had no interest in providing the broadcasting equipment. The equipment is expected to be used to boost the transmissions of the guerrilla's clandestine radio Voice of the Tigers. Buddhist monks on Monday called on President Chandrika Kumaratunga to use her powers to expel the Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo, Jon Westborg for providing the equipment to the guerrillas. The monks on Monday held a protest opposite the Norwegian embassy in Colombo, burnt down two flags of Norway and then proceeded to the President's office to hand over a petition calling for the expulsion of the Norwegian Ambassador. The Ambassador left for Oslo for urgent talks with his government, while the embassy has been avoiding answering questions regarding the equipment. A team of Security Forces communications experts, backed by representatives from the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation had studied the technical specifications before they were dispatched. They were of the view that the equipment would enable the LTTE to only broadcast on the FM frequency to a limited area, but other technical sources said their transmissions could be heavily enhanced through boosters to reach areas outside Sri Lanka. The cleared equipment included an FM transmitter, backup transmitter, MPX Clipper Generator, FM antennas, headphone, patch panel, loudspeaker, microphone, microphone holder, MD recorder, CD player, cables, antenna cables and RDS audio. Meanwhile, the Marxist JVP (People's Liberation Front) has called on President Chandrika Kumaratunge to hold an inquiry into the transportation of radio equipment to the LTTE with the assistance of the Norwegian ambassador on the grounds that a diplomatic mission has no right to interfere in the internal matters of the country. JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said that an Independent Commission should be appointed to look into the matter. "The diplomat has gone beyond his call of duty. He has all the right to get down any equipment for him or the embassy but he has no right to get it down for a 'terrorist' organisation. We call on the president to hold an inquiry and take action against the ambassador," he said. The JVP states that the transaction was done illegally despite the government claiming that it was done through the proper channels. "Why was the equipment ordered by the ambassador to be sent to the LTTE," Silva said. "We feel that this was done under cover but when it was highlighted, the government came out saying there was nothing illegal," Silva said. With thanks to GULF NEWS (via D. Prabakaran, lecturer, N. L. Polytechnic, Mettupalayam, India, bcdxnet via Cumbre DX via DXLD) SRI LANKA JUSTIFIES RADIO EQUIPMENT IMPORT By V.S. Sambandan COLOMBO. DEC. 27. The Sri Lankan Government today justified the import of radio broadcasting equipment for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as part of the "positive developments" towards "permanent peace'', and termed the Norwegian "assistance'' as an "important contribution'' to the "peace process''. In a seven-page statement, the Government today sought to answer the queries posed by the Opposition parties on issues relating to the legality of the import and the role played by Norway. The LTTE, the Government said, had applied for licence on October 18 and described it as "an important step in the LTTE's transformation into a political grouping within the mainstream of the Sri Lankan political system''. The statement also reproduced a "specific request by the LTTE'' for licence. Signed by the secretary general of the LTTE's peace secretariat, Puleedevan, the letter had said: "the need for broadcasting services has become all the more important today to strengthen the peace initiatives undertaken by both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE.'' The Government has interpreted the Tigers' application for licence as "the willingness of the LTTE to submit themselves to the authority of the Government in this manner is a 180 degree change from that which prevailed in the earlier period when the LTTE ran an unauthorised and illegal radio operation termed the Voice of Tigers'' (VoT). There was a bitter controversy most of this month, with the Opposition attacking Norway's role. What essentially should have been a direct political issue between the Government and the Opposition took an external turn on two fronts. The Opposition's charge against Norway and apprehensions over whether the LTTE's transmissions would reach the Indian shores. According to the Government's statement, the Norwegian involvement was initiated by it to resolve an impasse over a request by the LTTE for duty-waiver. The Tigers, the Government said, had asked for duty exemption as the import was "for a purpose associated with the peace process''. However, the Government could not grant the exemption "since no exemptions on duty of VAT were being permitted''. There is no clear explanation as to whether the duty was subsequently paid, or who paid it, but the statement said the Norwegian Government had agreed to finance the setting up of "institutional mechanisms to take forward the peace process'' with an assistance of over "Rs. 12 million as an initial contribution'' for the Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), commonly referred to as the Peace Secretariat. The Government pointed out that the Norwegian contribution to the SCOPP could be "utilised for reimbursement to the Ministry of Finance for any loss of revenue, if required''. Moreover, Norway's role was that of a "consignee'' under the understanding that the "goods would be immediately taken over by the SCOPP'', the statement said. (via D. Prabakaran, lecturer, N. L. Polytechnic, Mettupalayam, India, bcdxnet via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Glen[n]: I notice some message for you. New Star Broadcasting Station is going to equip with spare new antenna and transmitter, so all number message from Taiwan is ceased. 11430, 8300, 9725, 15388, 13750 remains silent for months (Miller Liu, Taiwan, Dec 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last reported Nov 8 at 1410-1419* on 9725 in DXLD 2-197 ** THAILAND [and non]. World Scout Jamboree to include Amateur Radio activity: The 20th World Scout Jamboree http://www.worldscoutjamboree20.org in Thailand from December 28, 2002, to January 7, 2003, will include Amateur Radio operation from E20AJ at the Jamboree site. E20AJ will use World Scout frequencies http://www.home.zonnet.nl/worldscout/Jota/frequencies.htm The station will be operational for the duration of the Jamboree, 24 hours a day, on SSB, CW, SSTV and packet on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 and 2 meters. Three HF stations will be in operation. QSL E20AJ via HB9AOF or via the Thailand QSL bureau. GB2COS will be a special Scout station on the air from Chester, England, January 4-5. Activity will be on most HF bands, and GB2COS operators will attempt to contact E20AJ at the World Jamboree in Thailand. QSL GB2COS via G7BQY (some info from The Daily DX via ARRL Letter Dec 27 via DXLD) ** U K/LATVIA. It might be of interest read the statement below (via laserradio mailing list) by the producers of the Laser Radio transmissions via Latvia, regarding the legal status of their operations (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From: laser_radio no_reply@yahoogroups.com Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 23:09:03 -0000 Subject: [laserradio] Re: Digest Number 34 To answer the questions regarding Laser Radio: a) We are NOT connected to the pirate station which operates from Eire and calls itself 'Laser HotHits'. b) We are NOT a 'Pirate' - We hold a broadcasting licence issued by the Radio Authority and more importantly, we are fully authorised for our shortwave transmissions by the Broadcasting council in Latvia. We are a Free Radio station which has gone to the trouble and expense of ensuring we conform to the laws of both the UK and Latvia. We also hold the copyright for the term 'Laser Radio' in the UK (and Latvia) and have done so since the mid-80's. The ultimate corporate owner of 'Laser Radio' is Laser Radio Limited. Hope this helps clarify some of the mystery ! To learn more about the station and our plans for the future - keep listening! (Via Bernd Trutenau, DXLD) [Re 5935 logging as Dec 23:] Yes, it was the 22nd....now waiting for the next chance on the 29th. See what happens when you have too many events happening all at once (Xmas gatherings, concerts and family/ friends over, etc., etc.) (Edward Kusalik, AB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO FARDA FLOODED WITH EMAILS SUPPORTING THE NEW PERSIAN- LANGUAGE STATION Washington, DC., December 27, 2002--Washington, D.C., Dec. 27, 2002 More than 1,000 people, most of them inside Iran, have emailed Radio Farda http://www.radiofarda.com in its first week of broadcasting, expressing thanks and support for the new Persian-language station. "You are famous among Iranians – every body is whispering of Farda," wrote one listener. "God Bless America," wrote another. "I have to say that Radio Farda is very professional and it is about time to show the world that we can produce a serious radio that is like their radios," said one email. "I think also that this is the more effective way to reach Iranian youth and people. I am very proud of you and wish you the best." Added a college professor inside Iran: "We love your radio. You have saved us from being bored. We listen to your radio whenever we can. I am a college professor. The most drivers who drive between two towns … they all listen to your radio. We all love you." ... (BBG Press Release Dec 27 via DXLD) More R. Farda fan-mail, strangely enough all in English and seemingly unedited: http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=56&mode=general (BBG Press site Dec 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA Language/Frequency Schedule: http://www.voa.gov/allsked.cfm (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. COMMENTARY: TEN YEARS OLD AND NOBODY NOTICED Saturday, December 28th, WEWN Global Catholic Radio/Radio Católica Mundial marked its tenth birthday. It was on this day, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, in 1992 that Mother Angelica inaugurated her technically first-class shortwave operation to spread the Word of God Become Flesh and the Catholic Faith to the world. Financed by a wealthy Dutch couple, WEWN embarked on its mission using three 500,000-watt transmitters located in Irondale, Alabama, south of Birmingham, on a 24-hour schedule to North America and much of the world in English, Latin America in Spanish, and Europe in various languages. It was the developed world`s first full-service Catholic international shortwave station. It has continued to be so. HVJ Radio Vaticano broadcasts in dozens of languages around the world; it is the voice of the Holy Father and must be all things to all races and countries. Consequently, the longest program is barely an hour, because the antennas must be re- directed and the transmitter frequency changed to reach yet another part of the world. DZN Radio Veritas Asia is indeed a remarkable service, too; it broadcasts almost around the clock to the underdeveloped world of Asia in 17 languages; few of its programs are an hour length because it, too, with much less resources than HVJ Radio Vaticano, must be all things to all people. WEWN continues what it set out to do. At first, it merely rebroadcast the sound track of EWTN television programs, much like KTBN shortwave in Salt Lake City does with its network. The commercial American radio networks tried to do the same during the twilight years of network radio and the dawning of television. Such efforts didn`t work then and they do not work now. WEWN quickly realized that radio is not just sound, it is a different medium with its own demands and requirements. Mother Angelica hired a good group of professionals to make something of the radio station, and they have, and they have done it well. WEWN is an inestimable asset to the Church. The station is the only Catholic voice available in English and Spanish in many parts of the world, even where those languages are spoken. This is as true for the United States and Canada as elsewhere. Comparatively few U.S. cities have Catholic radio stations; those who do not have EWTN television or need portability will have some luck at certain times of the day and night in getting its powerful broadcasts. Not all will; I have never been able to get it during the daytime on my inexpensive shortwave radio, the kind most people have, and I assume they have the same reception problem. But we can get it sometimes, and it is a relief in a shortwave world of endless news, government spin, and half-educated ministers thundering out alleged Biblical prophecies about what is going to happen. Without WEWN, many of us in many places in the world would have no Catholic radio. Many places in Latin America are isolated; many Latin Americans live in rural areas, far more than in North America and Europe. For them, WEWN Radio Católica Mundial is the sole Catholic voice on the shortwave bands. In other countries, such as Argentina, almost all Catholic stations are comparatively low-powered FM stations that seldom get outside their cities of license. Again, WEWN is the sole available voice for many. Thank you, Mother Angelica. And thanks to the dozens of professional people at WEWN who give us that radio. Happy Birthday, WEWN! (Michael Dorner, editor, Dec 30 Catholic Radio Update, via DXLD) In Louisiana, Mike must be in the skip zone of the higher daytime frequencies. A bit further away here, WEWN is a blasting presence on all its frequencies, and for too many kHz either side of them. It`s still Dec 28 here and we have now noticed! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn. The DIA TIS (WPDI548) is indeed on 540. Although it uses a larger than normal ground mount antenna, it is still rated at 10 watts. I suspect that it might actually have a little higher ERP due to the antenna but the license data doesn't seem to reflect that. The CO Dept of Transportation station on 530 (WPLX284) is a 10 watt transmitter. But it has a licensed ERP of 40 watts due to the gain factor provided by the use of a 49 foot Valcom top-loaded antenna. That station covers the entire Denver metro area which is about 30 miles wide by 30 miles long. It replaced a number of smaller 10 watt stations, all on 530, that were located at every major roadway into the Denver metro area. Those have all been removed. So Denver has first adjacent channel TIS stations! They are located 16 miles apart. Happy holidays! (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, Dec 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The first thing I do after logging a new station is to do a search on Google to see if the station has a web page. Many stations don't have one and 99% of those that do have ones as bland and faceless as the station formats; Newstalk, Sportstalk, etc. Once in a while a web page comes along that has had many hours dedicated to its creation. Today I hit a real winner and I wanted to share it with the list. This morning around local sunrise here in the NC mountains, I was listening to a bluegrass gospel style station with a real down home feel with its ads and announcer. When it IDed, it turned out to be WMIK 560 in Middlesboro, KY. Although they faded out in about 15 minutes, I've been visiting the web site off and on all day long when I get a break from family duties. http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/cumberlandgapbc/index-original-page.html The opening shot of "Big MIK", an old RCA ribbon mike with the WMIK call plate on top, told me that this was not going to be an ordinary web site. This is the main page for the history of the Cumberland Gap Broadcasting Company. There is no link back to it from the above WMIK page. http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/cumberlandgapbc/ Reading the history of CGBC and studying the pictures gave me a feeling for the pride Middlesboro must've had when WMIK signed on in 1948. Imagine the isolation of a community deep in the hills of the coal country of southeastern Kentucky in these post war years that finally has their very own radio station. You can get a strong sense of the pride Middlesboro had in this station from the beginning and which lasts till today. My major in college was history, besides being a photographer, and sites like this really suck me in. I hope some of you will find it as interesting as I do. The picture of "Big MIK" is well worth your time. (Rick kf4ar Robinson, NRC-AM via DXLD) Excellent! That web site was a real slice of post-war little town America. The picture of downtown Middlesboro in the 50's was so full of flavor I'd have paid money for a print of it. I think I clicked on all of the links and looked at the whole thing. It was like reading a book or seeing a movie. Sorry it had to end. How many stories like this will be told in the future with the corporatization of radio? (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) To view some really kewl pictures, go to http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/cumberlandgapbc/index9.html At the top of the page Vice-President Richard M. Nixon dedicates the new Cumberland Gap Historical Park in 1959. WMIK was there to cover the event. Not only is this site a nostalgia trip to the 1940s and 50s, but a throwback to web surfing in 1995. Back in the days when most web pages were homemade do-it-yourself affairs. These guys didn't even bother to spend a few bucks for a domain name such as wmik.com or cumberlandgapbroadcasting.org 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, ibid.) I found a delightful website for a station where I worked when I came out of the Army in 1958, KPAN, Hereford, Texas. Chip Formby, current owner/operator, is the son of Clint Formby, a topnotch, local radio operator, who served a stint or two on the NAB Board. See: http://www.kpanradio.com/ Another Texas station that continues the dying tradition of local radio is KBEC-1390, Waxahachie. See: http://www.kbec.com/ (John Callarman, Krum TX, Dec 28, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Anyone going to CES [Consumer Electronics Show] in Las Vegas next month (I believe it's from 1/9-12)? Aren't the first IBOC consumer sets supposed to debut then? (Harry Helms, NRC-AM via DXLD) Kenwood is supposed to be showing their IBOC car radio. It should be available at high-end auto sound retailers summer 2003. Like any other chip-set, once Texas Instruments ramps up production, IBOC should be no more expensive than any other type of receiver. The number of options will determine final cost, whether it's just a simple Walkman- type or one with full display, memory, etc. No different than the wide range of models and prices available today (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, Dec 25, NRC-AM via DXLD) To be exact, TI's current solution is based on their TMS320C6000 family of DSP's, and is not a "chip set". They don't say exactly which of the many members of the family they are using, so the unit cost (in lots of 1000) could be anywhere from maybe $10 to $50. If people stay with the DSP approach to provide flexibility until real deployment of IBOC generates all the tweaks, you can expect to see (and this is just a guess) maybe $5 to $10 (based on very large volumes) of extra IBOC silicon cost per radio. When things finalize (unless the wheels come off of IBOC first!), expect a custom chip with cost of approximately half that of the DSP, and perhaps a little less. I don't expect to ever see IBOC in cheap portables, mainly for price reasons and somewhat because there will always be a bit of additional power draw. It will be an extra feature in the mid and upper end of receivers, as I see it in my crystal ball (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) IMO, IBOC will be a debacle of incredible proportions and a stake through the heart of AM radio in many areas. I can just imagine the scan function on a car radio when IBOC gets going. . . . . those radios will be stopping on noise instead of stations. I can't fathom why so many otherwise intelligent broadcasting professionals have bought into this crap. 73, (Harry Helms, CA, Dec 27-28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anything that informs the public is probably a better route than writing to your representatives in Congress and the Senate. Write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper informing readers about IBOC and other issues that may end what remains of local radio. Write letters to the editors of the national radio and science magazines; Pop'Com, Monitoring Times, Pop'Science, etc. Call local and national radio talk shows. I'm sure the topic would be welcomed on Coast-to- Coast AM or during open forum on the WBZ Steve LeVeille Broadcast. It might even interest Rush Limbaugh in terms of government mishandling. Call or write to the local TV news consumer reporter. The real problem right now is what little is known by the public. Only radio-heads like us seem to know what's going on. Your representatives could care less about losing a vote or two to DXers, but if it receives coverage in the local media then the issue might become more of a concern. Carry on. Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, Dec 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. On January 6, the Steve LeVeille Broadcast on WBZ Newsradio 1030, 12 - 5 a.m. will be about old-time radio shows. The in-studio guest will be the announcer from The Lone Ranger radio show (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH Dec 25, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Special MW DX Test: Monday, December 30, 2002 - WMRO-1560, Gallatin, TN - 1:00-1:30am EST [0600-0630 UT]. Arranged by DX- midAmerica (Lynn Hollerman, IRCA, via amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** U S A. Just heard from Bob Janney, CE of WBBR [1130 NYC]: His transmitter site is flooded and he can't get to three of his four towers! As a result, the downtime tonight and tomorrow night is CANCELLED. He expects to reschedule on the weekend of January 10-11, and will let us all know as soon as he knows for sure. Thanks to Bob for keeping us DXers in mind! -s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM Dec 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. NYC YULE LOG BROADCAST BURNS UP RATINGS .c The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) - The Yule Log - a TV broadcast of logs burning in Gracie Mansion's fireplace to a Christmas carol soundtrack - burned up the ratings this year. The uninterrupted two-hour Christmas morning broadcast of the ``Yule Log Christmas Special,'' a holiday tradition for fireplace-less New Yorkers, returned to the air in 2001 after a 12-year hiatus. Wednesday's showing, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., boasted 284,012 viewing households, a 26 percent boost in viewership compared with last year, WPIX Channel 11 said. It smoked the 1 p.m. airing of the 1951 classic film version of Charles Dickens' ``A Christmas Carol,'' starring Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge, by 29,000 households. The rather bizarre Christmas tradition also burned up the airwaves every year from 1966 to 1989. During the Yule Log's absence, WPIX, the local affiliate of the WB, was bombarded with letters and calls from viewers asking for the broadcast to be brought back. For its triumphant return, the Yule Log tape was digitally remastered, but the soundtrack, including ``Joy to the World'' and ``Winter Wonderland,'' was left unchanged. On the Net: See the Yule Log at: http://www.wb11.com 12/27/02 15:31 EST (AOL Canada news Dec 27, via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. Hi Glenn, Just few moments ago I was happy to hear SAUTI YA TANZANIA = V. of Tanzania, Dole on 11734.1 kHz with very nice Tanzanian music till 20 UT. After that music format was suddenly changed to Zanzibarian. To my ears it very much sounded like Arabian. We all know the history of the Island of Zanzibar, I suppose. Nice reception of SAUTI YA TANZANIA, Dole on 11734.1 kHz around 1930 UT. It`s bitterly cold, -12 degrees below zero (about 10 F?) here in SW Finland. Up in Lappland even +30! To the all readers I wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2003! 73 (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Dec 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ INSIDE THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT Here's the web site for my latest book: http://www.the-shadow-government.com 73, (Harry Helms, CA, Dec 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) INTERNATIONAL LISTENER International listener is back and Ed Mayberry has resurrected his site at the following url:- http://home.houston.rr.com/edmayberry/International%20Listener%20Shortwave%20Radio%20Stations.htm or this one for ease: http://home.houston.rr.com/edmayberry/index.html and we welcome him back after that awful flood of last year!! There are also other links on the site as well for the Shortwave enthusiast! 73 (Tim Gaynor, DXers Calling Audiosend, Australia, Dec 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL TV What do I like about DTV? From a standard TV viewers point of view, I'm curious regarding the possibilities of a clearer sharper picture. I don't like the wide screen aspect ratio, or the high price tag. So, for normal TV viewing, I'm mildly interested, but would generally prefer to stay with my trusty Blaupunkt 70cm colour TV. From a DXer`s point of view, DTV is the worst thing to happen in over 50 years of VHF/UHF DX. It's worse than any nightmare about all low band analog TV switching to UHF. In short, if DTV completely takes over, I'm out of here. I know DXers such as Jeff Kadet are doing very well with DTV DX. However, Jeff already does very well with analog long-haul tropo TV DX. And look at what Jeff uses for these long-haul DTV catches. How many US TV DXers are prepared to use a 7ft parabolic dish, masthead low noise GaAsfet UHF preamp, mounted on a high tower? 400-600 mile tropo is relatively common for several US TV DXers. This is partly because of your relatively flat terrain. In Australia, due to our undulating terrain, being able to watch weak pictures via tropo, at 400 miles, is very rare. We do well when we can watch 250 mile pictures. So, do you think we (Australian TV DXers) are going to bother with 100-200 mile DTV DX, which will only happen a few times every summer? None of us will. For these reasons, most Australian DXers concentrate on ionospheric propagation modes, i.e. Es, F2, TEP, and MS, etc. DTV will make all these modes obsolete. Frequency measurements. How many of you appreciate the advantage of determining if a video carrier is on -10, 0, or +10 kHz offset? This is a big help in identifying Es or tropo TV DX. And taking it to further extremes, precision frequency measurement is very useful for identifying 'poor quality' F2, multi-Es, or TEP low TV DX. With DTV, all the above methods of freq measurement will be obsolete. Any high quality scanner will only give you digital hash. How boring! I was brought up in the old school of crystal sets and MW/SW radios. I started listening to MW DX when I was 5. No one encouraged me to do it. No one was really interested. But it was the appeal of a noisy signal, which faded up from nowhere, that got my attention. With DTV, it's either there or it's not. No fading pictures, no analog reception techniques such as freq measurement, bandwidth reduction, no 2,000 mile Es catches, no EME TV DX, no international TV DX, etc, etc. During the late 1970s, when I really started to get serious in TV DX, I was fully aware of the fantastic medium of international satellite TV reception. I was amazed that my local TV stations was able to relay strong pictures from the US. But did this make me want to start satellite TV? Of course not! Satellite TV is not DX, and never will be. It's like getting cable TV, and nothing more. If I ever bought a satellite TV receive system it would only be for entertainment purposes. Similar to my cable TV service. Apart from destroying all of what I love about TV DX, digital TV, like satellite TV, is something completely alien to my interests. Why is there an intense push for DTV from the regulating authorities, when there is obviously no real compelling interest worldwide for a systems changeover? Because they know that most viewers are quite happy to stay with the current analog TV sets. They know that most viewers are not interested in digital TV, hence the only way to make them interested, is if the authorities force viewers to buy digital TV sets and subsequently switch off all analog TV. I only know one person who is interested in digital TV. He can certainly afford $7,000 for a new DTV. Also, he has over $30,000 worth of audio-visual equipment. Everyone else I know is not the slightest bit interested in DTV. Many of them only buy secondhand 10- 15 year old TV sets. Many viewers are content with mediocre picture quality, indoor antennas, and secondhand TV sets. The other minority group is much more demanding: they are easily prepared to spend $15,000+ on home theatre and other audio-visual high-end gear. I think DTV and analog TV should both operate, thus giving viewers a choice without forcing them into any one system. This would cater for both the connoisseur and average TV viewer. If DTV is fully introduced, this will have a devastating effect on analog DX-TV. Hopefully the current negative worldwide attitude to DTV, will greatly extend analogue. I predict that when DTV, IBOC, etc. starts to take hold, DX club membership will gradually reduce. I'm pleased that we are not going to use the IBOC system. Also, most countries around us, including New Zealand, have no immediate plans for DTV. So far, we continue to enjoy analog TV DX. In over thousands of years of man's history, only a few thousand DXers have been privileged to experience analog TV DX from the late 1940s up until now. Assuming DTV completely takes over by 2020, that's only 70 years! I used to take every summer Es season for granted. It was all I knew since I was 14. Now that analog TV is threatened by DTV, my appreciation for analog has never been higher. Sometimes we take things for granted that they will always be there until it's too late. Regards, (Todd Emslie, Sydney, Australia, Dec 27, WTFDA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ This is the weekend edition of DXers Unlimited amigos, and YES, the fact is that the year 2002 has proven to be a unique one regarding solar cycle 23... We still have to wait for a few more days, but doing some basic mathematics shows that the data won't change much when the daily solar flux figures for the last few days of 2002 are included... Now, standby for NEWS, here is what has happened, again results won't be final until next week, but the fact is that average daily sunspot number for the calendar year 2002 so far is 178.3. This contrasts with 170.3 for 2001, 173 for 2000 and 136.3 for 1999, which is surprising, since the peak of the cycle was expected to be a couple of years ago. A very interesting finding by all standards, something that Cuban scientists engaged in solar research had already warned me about, explaining that the September of 2002 record breaking month was a really important finding. Now, something also very interesting has happened, during the past few days solar activity has dropped significantly, so we may see rather low daytime maximum useable frequencies for the period between Monday and about the 6th of January. Holographic observations of the far side of the Sun show two rather large sunspot groups, that will surely increase the daily sunspot count when they rotate into view... Sí amigos, yes my friends, oui mes amis!! Solar cycle continues to puzzle scientists among other reasons because this particular cycle is the one best studied so far!!! (Arnie Coro, RHC DXUL Dec 28-29 via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-203, December 25, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1162: [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1162.html [from Thursday] WBCQ: Wed 2300 on 7415, 17495-CUSB, Mon 0545 7415 WWCR: Thu 2130 on 9475, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 -- maybe; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 7490 WRN: rest of world Sat 0900, Eu only Sun 0530, NAm Sun 1500 UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Thanks Glenn for another year of unbelievably fine DX News and shortwave information. I have long appreciated you and what you can amazingly do. Merry Christmas and have a fine New Year (LeRoy Long, OK) ** ANGOLA. 4950 Radio Nacional, Angola 2311-2339 12/25. While scanning the 60m band I rechecked 4950 to find Angola with a nice signal. Music program, in Vernacular, with easy-listening ballads including Dire Straits, in English, "So far away from me". "Radio Nacional" ID at 2328 during talk. Hope you had an enjoyable Xmas, spent with loved ones.Here in NH we are in the grip of the snowstorm that is making the national news, snow piling up fast and furious (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15820-LSB, FM Hit, Buenos Aires, \\ 105.5 Mhz. 1933- 1940. Romantic music in Spanish. Program conduced by female. 44444.- At same time, in this frequency, on USB mode, communications between Argentine military staff in Antarctic region with their family in the continent! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Dec 25, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. At 0030 UT I heard unID station playing some hits like Happy New Year by ABBA. Frequency was 5796. Any idea which station it was? Thanks for the reactions! 73! (Ruud Vos, Utrecht, Holland, Dec 25, hard-core-dx via DXLD) It's the 7th harmonic of fundamental 828, of national service "Horizont" from Bulgaria (Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it ibid.) ** CANADA. There are over a thousand news and current affairs radio and TV clips at the CBC Radio & Television Archives Web site at http://archives.cbc.ca/ The site is searchable by keyword or browsable by categories. Categories include sports, life & society, conflict & war, and people. Click on a category and you'll get several topics. Topics under life & society include Christmas, Marshall McLuhan, and a 1984 Papal visit. Pick a topic and you'll get several clips with thumbnail stills. Each item contains a brief note as to what it's about, as well as the media type (radio or television) and the running length. It looks like the clips play in Windows Media Player format. The breadth of clips offered here is pretty amazing. You can listen to Churchill's "Chicken" speech or see a story about the Cabbage Patch Kid mania. You can follow the devastation of Hurricane Hazel or check out the punk rock movement in Canada. Very interesting (Mike Terry, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 9724.9V, University Network; 1411-1420 Dec. 24, presumed the transmission source. The usual Dr. Gene Scott babble, Los Angeles phone number by the voice-over man and black gospel bumper music. Frequency varying all over the place between 9724.8-9725.05. Very good (Terry L. Krueger, TOCOBAGA DX #67 - 25 December, 2002 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA, via DXLD) {TIRWR, remember} ** CUBA. Just before my sunrise most Americans got weaker, and instead of that I got a fantastic signal from Radio Rebelde on 1180 kHz, peaking far above the S9 mark for several minutes around 0740 UT. Never heard them so strong before. I checked the parallel frequency of 5025, but that was inaudible (!). So, nice signals, totally against what I expected because of the active magnetic field. Mediumwave, an interesting band! (Dick van der Knaap, Holland, Dec 23, BDXC via DXLD) Radio Rebelde from Cuba came in again on 1180; today it started somewhere around sunrise. I first came across them at 0810, and the signal disappeared at 0823. There was a lot of echo on the signal; so maybe some kind of ducting/multipath signal. Heard this before on their signal, which is rather interesting (Dick van der Knaap, Holland, Dec 24, BDXC via DXLD) When I searched the band for Americans I came across an talkstation on 950 kHz. First I thought it was an Canadian, but --- then I heard them talking --- Spanish!!!!!!! They probably do not speak that on Canadian radio. Hmmmmmmmmmm interesting While listening at this station I found out that I was listening to Radio Reloj from Habana, Cuba!!!! Well, the station was there for only a few minutes, and then disappeared for good. I decided to check the 2 frequencies on which I recently heard other Cubans. On 890, Radio Progresso had a fine signal, but with some European interference. On 1180 I could hear Radio Rebelde in, but it was suffering heavy interference from the station on 1179. On 1470 I heard a station playing non-stop Carribean/Latin-music, with no news on the top of the hour. Maybe Venezuela?? I kept listening to Radio Progreso on 890, with slow fading on the signal it came in fine. Then around 0742 the signal rose up to well above the s9!!, and peaked at SINPO 34444 levels for a short time. Around 0745 the signal started to get weaker. After 0750 the signal was there all the time, but slowly fading up and down. At 0835 it disappeared into the noise. Meanwhile the transmitter on 1179 had switched off/or reduced power, and Radio Rebelde produced a fine signal. It got slowly weaker, and became more echoed and fluttery. At 0840 UT this one disappeared. Earlier this weak I discovered the sunrise peak on Radio Rebelde around the same time. The Cubans seem to peak for a few minutes somewhere around 10 minutes before my sunrise. (DX-tip???) Have a nice X-mas, and have fun on the magic-mediumwave band! (Dick van der Knaap, East Holland, Dec 25, Benelux DX Club via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Treasury bureaucrats forget which side of the Straits they live on SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/101289_cuba24.shtml U.S. THREATENS TO FINE MAN WHO POSTED CUBA NEWS --- Seattleite didn't have federal permission to promote meeting of 'sister cities' group Tuesday, December 24, 2002 By SAM SKOLNIK SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Retired Seattle plumber and World War II veteran Tom Warner says he's been a proponent of the Cuban revolution and the country's president, Fidel Castro, since "he came down from the mountains." Recently, as secretary of the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee, Warner, 77, supported developing a "sister-city relationship" between King County and Cuba's Granma Province. Even though there are tight federal restrictions on traveling to and conducting business with Cuba, Warner never thought he would run afoul of the law by posting on a Web site information about a meeting of the U.S. Cuba Sister Cities Association in Havana. But that's what has happened. Treasury Department officials, saying that Warner lacked a "specific license" to promote the conference, are threatening to fine him up to $55,000 if he doesn't tell them everything he knows about the conference and the organizations involved. Treasury officials also contacted King County Councilman Dwight Pelz, D-South Seattle, and Alice Woldt, head of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, who unlike Warner actually attended the conference. Warner has hired a lawyer to argue that the demand for information violates his constitutional rights of free speech and due process. He and several supporters in the civil liberties community held a press conference yesterday to publicize his plight. "All he did was post information on the Internet and they threatened him with fines," said Neil Fox of the Seattle chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. "This is a serious escalation of the assault on civil liberties in this country. It's outrageous." On Oct. 16, an official with Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control wrote Warner about the Web posting that appeared in January regarding the Havana conference the following month. "OFAC did not issue a specific license to you to organize, arrange, promote, or otherwise facilitate the attendance of persons at the conference in Cuba," the letter said. It went on to require that Warner give a "full explanation" of his involvement with the conference, including providing all relevant records. Warner's attorney, Lynne Wilson, wrote in response that Treasury "has no authority under the U.S. Constitution (or federal regulations) to interfere with someone's rights to post information on the Internet about a conference in Cuba." Treasury Department spokesman Rob Nichols declined to comment specifically on the Warner case. But when department officials are presented with information of possible violations of the 40-year-old embargo, he said, "we have to follow up on it." The reason to enforce the embargo is plain, said Nichols: "The Cuban government violates internationally accepted, basic standards of human rights." The department has not yet decided to fine Warner, Nichols said; that decision will come after he has had a chance to present his case. Though individuals can be fined up to $55,000 per infraction, the average penalty is $7,500, he said. After an impassioned debate, the County Council voted 7-6 in late October to reject the plan for a sister relationship with the Cuban province. U.S. veterans spoke out on both sides of the issue. About a dozen U.S. cities, including Tacoma, already have sister relationships with cities in Cuba. © 1998-2002 Seattle Post- Intelligencer (via David Crawford, DXLD) ** CYPRUS. 8464 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1600 id 98426 USB 3 10426 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1600 id 98426 USB 3 11545 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1400 id 50699 USB 3 12603 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1500 id 69078 USB 3 13375 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1500 id 69078 USB 3 14487 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1300 id 29372 USB 3 15682 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1300 id 29372 USB 3 16084 Lincolnshire Poacher CYP 21-12-02 1300 id 29372 USB 3 (Ary Boender, Netherlands, BDXC via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.78, Radio Cristal Internacional/Radio Pueblo 15-10, Santo Domingo; 2104-2323 Dec. 23. Per Gerry Bishop's request, I checked to see how this one is currently IDing. Turned it on at 2104 and had a weak carrier (probably just missed the s/on at about 2100), nonstop Spanish news by M&W coming up but threshold level till about 2130, then slowly improving. Recheck 2249, a clear canned "Radio Cristal Internacional" ID and into the usual bachata-type canned music format. Abruptly into this weird techo/synth loop from 2302 for a couple of minutes, then "Noticias... Radio Pueblo [no "15- 10" tag] en Santo Domingo, y Radio M(?)--- y onda corta" followed by newscast by M, telco-ish audio. Presume the techno music was filler while they patched Pueblo back in. News item on Fidel Castro's bum leg, end of newscast at 2316 and into a long ad block. They key has always been: music and brief announcements (rarely commercials) is Cristal canned prorgamming, but live news and commercials is usually Pueblo. But when you are going to hear either, I can't say (Terry L. Krueger, TOCOBAGA DX #67 - 25 December, CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, via DXLD) ** INDIA. Recently while TWR Sri Lanka on 882 kHz was off air for some days, I could hear AIR Imphal there which is usually blocked by TWR. A reply to my email report to AIR Imphal has just been received stating that on November 17, 2002 they have commissioned a 300 kw transmitter replacing the old 50 kw one on this frequency. The Station Engineer has asked me to inform other DXers about this and he appreciates Reception Reports which must be sent to: R. Narasimha Swamy Superintending Engineer, All India Radio, IMPHAL, 795001 Manipur State, India email: narasimhaswamy@yahoo.com [not truncated!!] As TWR Sri Lanka is using the same frequency, it is a difficult catch for those in South India. DX listeners please note that this station also operates on SW 4775 at 0030-0215 & 1030-1700/1730 and on 7150 at 0230-0430/0530 & 0630-1030 with 50 kw and the above address can be used. Info on any feedback received is welcome. 73 (Jose Jacob, India, Dec 21, dx_india via DXLD) Early this morning at 2.00 am IST (2030 UT) while checking the MW bands, I heard test tone with extremely strong signals on 648 kHz. This continued till 5.53 am (0023 UT) when the tuning signals and ID of AIR Indore was given. Enquiries with the station officials confirmed that it was tests by their new 200 kw French made transmitter which is being used from last week. This replaces their old 100 kw transmitter. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J, Hyderabad, Dec 24, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 11784.83, Voice of Indonesia; 2046-2102* Dec. 23, tune- in to English W host, Indo vocals with flutes, ID at 2056 into news summary on (mostly) Indo-related international policy issues. Closing ID at 2059, filler music and abruptly silent just past 2100 and carrier off at 2102. Fair via LSB (Terry L. Krueger, TOCOBAGA DX #67 - 25 December, 2002 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA, via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Here's a great site if you have a broadband connection: http://tv4all.com/portal.htm It lists about 570 TV stations from a bunch of countries and their streaming speeds. They make for some very interesting watching at times, and video @ 300k is pretty decent, IMO (Jacob Norland, Dec 23, WTFDA via DXLD) Hey, you found a great site! I'm at a music video site in Sydney Australia called the basement http://www.thebasement.com.au where right now they are playing music on the audio and for the video they have a camera (or webcam) on a bus as it makes it's route and the camera checks out the people going on/getting off, the stores, points of interest, etc. It drove past a Mobil station but too fast for me to check out the gas prices. What a cool concept! I do the same thing when we go to NYC on the bus. (The music is pretty good also.) Thanks Jacob! (Mike Bugaj - Enfield, CT USA, WTFDA Circulation, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. According to a story on the 2200 GMT Kol Yisrael English news, Israelnationanews.com/A7.org was off the air for an hour after complaints that the pirate was carrying election propaganda. The police did a search and took pictures but did not confiscate any equipment. According to the story on the INN/A7 website, the captain was warned not to resume transmissions. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=36073 Hmm - Kol Yisrael said the ship is inside Israeli territorial waters whereas the story on the INN/A7 website said it is outside. Apparently you can have private stations in Israel but NOT national ones. There was a law giving them a license but it was nullified by the Supreme Court. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1040703242951 http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=244681&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0 (Joel Rubin, NY, Dec 24, swprograms via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. IRANIAN "PRO-REFORM" JOURNALISTS WRITE TO US COUNTERPARTS AS NEW YEAR The following "message" from Iranian "pro-reform journalists" is addressed to "American journalists" in Persian and English is published on the web site of the Iranian newspaper Aftab-e Yazd on 25 December [This is the text in English] The Christian New Year starts in a few more days. Reformist Iranian journalists wish a happy new year for their colleagues all around the world with an aching heart though. Various members of the benevolent, alert and cultured Iranian society were saddened when they found out about how the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has mistreated their compatriots. Iranians have no time in history supported the use of violent and illogical measures against unarmed people. They have indeed every way possible rejected cowardly acts. The latest case in point is the Iranian nation's condemnation of the 9/11 terrorist operations which claimed many innocent lives.... http://www.aftabnews.net/payam/en.pdf (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. RE: 11292: There seems to be something wrong with the modulation on this frequency. I hear a strong carrier on exactly 11292.00 [1525 UTC ?], but only occasional snatches of very faint modulation, which does indeed sound like Arabic music. With the hash from 400 computers and God knows how many fluorescent light tubes, this place isn't electrically quiet enough to hear anything intelligible (A. Sennitt, RN, Holland, Dec 18, 2002 for Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. Hi, I am currently having one of my best Christmases ever as just yesterday we got some excellent news (its embargoed until January but you can probably guess what it is!) Hope you are also having a wonderful holiday and that 2003 is a wonderful year for you. Merry Everything (Paul Rusling FellowAnoraks@longwaveradio.com 25 December 2002 11:41 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. Voice of National Salvation: As I promised I have tried to make scanned copies of a letter and a "QSL-card" (so they say, but it is a program schedule) from Voice of National Salvation. I heard it on 4450 kHz. The address used was: National Democratic Front of South Korea, Grenier Osawa 107, 40 Nando-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan (B. Fransson, Sweden, Dec 20, 2002 for CRW) It`s up on the CRW Clandestine radio gallery in a few days (Martin Schöch, Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. R. Farda: On Medium Wave it is on 1593 kHz from Kuwait with a power of 150 kW. I would be interested in any reports on this particular frequency because I just spent three months in Kuwait installing that transmitter (smile). It is an old Continental 318.5D series working into a two tower 1/4 wavelength array. The transmitter in Kuwait is using an Orban Digital Optimod limiter/processor. There is another medium wave transmitter with only 60 kW on 1539 (I think) at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (Gaines Johnson, Dec 18, dxing.info via DXLD) Gaines, This transmitter on 1593 kHz has even been heard in North America. We heard this from the coast of Newfoundland on November 5th and 6th during a DXpedition. The signal was fairly strong but it was getting chewed up by interference from Romania, Ireland and Egypt. It was interesting that the MW signal was a couple of seconds ahead of the parallel programming on 9680 kHz. (Jean Burnell, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Dec 20, ibid.) Hi Glenn, American propaganda station R. FARDA, 1593 kHz, has been regularly heard with Farsi programming around 1730 UT. Reception is fair to good even with my indoor loop antenna. RX: AOR 7030+ ANT: Wellbrook ALA 1530P-active loop. PS. MERRY X-MAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!! 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Dec 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio: Heute kam auch mein Brief an ULMD/Hmong Lao Radio (Box 2426, St. Paul, MN 55106) zurück. Auf dem Brief findet sich allerdings ein Hinweis "try St. Paul MN 55102-1139". Ich weiß allerdings nicht, ob das nur ein Hinweis für einen POstbeamten ist, und der Brief schon dort war. Ich werde es auf jeden Fall noch einmal mit diesem ZIP Code versuchen (P. Robich, Austria, Dec 16, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) see also USA non ** MALDIVE ISLANDS. The URL you were asking for - Voice of Maldives - is at http://www.vom.gov.mv/ Happy Holidays (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland, Dec 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Webmaster of 1000 Lakes DX Page http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/3232/dx.htm and dxlinks.info http://www.dxlinks.info/ and Finnish DX Association http://www.sdxl.org/ Launches wmp automatically; nothing else is there (gh, DXLD) {Later: any English? Yes, at 1200. Does anyone remember what SW frequencies VOM once used?} ** MALI. 5995, RTV Malienne, 2252-2258 12/25. Music program, in French, featuring love songs. Cover of Elvis' "Cant stop falling in love with you". Announcer with several mentions, "love". Crushed at 2258 by CRI 5990 s/on (via Cuba). Switched to // 4835 fair // 4783 poor (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 11770.17, Radio México Internacional; 1616-1644 Dec. 24, noted a big carrier here around 1310+, no audio making it through. Rechecking at 1616: Spanish M&W chatter, ID, classical music fills from 1636. Extremely low modulation, easy to pass up if not for the het. Their transmitters must be about ready to be curbside trashed. And on Dec. 25th: tune-in at 1735 to French programming. Very bad FMing audio on this channel, and weak modulation on 9704.97, took a few minutes to actually confirm it was French, with W continuously talking except for classical, opera and flute fillers. Indeed French is listed (albeit the timing has shifted) per their schedule, which is at http://www.imer.gob.mx/programacion/rmi.pdf in Acrobat format (Terry L. Krueger, TOCOBAGA DX #67 - 25 December, 2002 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA, via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Re Piepzender website, 2-202: Beware: Music lanuches automatically obliterating whatever you are already listening to on real player!!! I hate websites that do this. Bezoeker, BEWARE (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. PBC on new 5080 is no doubt the News and Current Affairs programme ex 7105. The morning transmission remains on 7105 (though currently close to 7106). This transmitter often has a problem with the frequency exciter and produces a loud howl with the audio barely audible. When this happens, the "carrier" consists of several subcarriers that interfere with each other. Both frequencies are equally affected (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 25) ** PARAGUAY. 7737.3, Radio América, Villeta, 1006-1015, Diciembre 25. Charla religiosa en español. Música cristiana. 24442/1. Inaudible en 2300 y 9983 kHz (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. 6956.65, 0745 Radio La Voz del Campesino, fair sig on Xmas day with chicha music. PWO (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, Host of The South Pacific DX Report http://radiodx.com Dec 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A time, I suppose, when they are not normally on the air. Check again NY Eve if not sooner (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. 9720.4 Radio Victoria, Lima, 0048+, Diciembre 25. Reporte de la hora: "7 y 48 de la tarde". Anuncio: "seguimos con el pastor internacional.....Morais". Charla religiosa en español. 24432. No pude escucharla en su frecuencia de 49 metros (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina) 13565.6, Radio Ondas del Pacífico, Ayabaca, 0106+, Diciembre 25. Música tropical andina. Muchas ID's: "Radio Ondas del Pacífico...... categóricamente superior...."; "Siempre contigo, Radio Ondas del Pacífico"; "Radio Ondas del Pacífico......su mejor compañía"; "Radio Ondas del Pacífico es la radio que nació para usted". 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. A Puerto Rican station has applied for a "unitary license" - a permit to operate four transmitters on the same channel under a single license. WSTE channel 7 Ponce is licensed for a site about 6 miles northeast of the city. In 1986 they licensed boosters at San Juan, Mayaguez, and Arecibo. (WSTE-1, WSTE-2, WSTE-3) At about the same time, they licensed an auxiliary ("backup") transmitter in Ponce proper. Puerto Rico is a mountainous place. The documents indicate the station decided no single site could provide a decent signal across all the island, even though island-wide coverage *is* predicted by the formulas. So, with FCC consent, WSTE shut down their main transmitter (which would interfere with the boosters) and began running their Ponce backup transmitter and the three boosters instead. However, boosters can only operate if there's a primary station to relay, and only if the boosters are located within the (predicted) Grade B contour of the primary station. So WSTE has been required to maintain an operational transmitter and antenna at the main site. This transmitter has not been used since 1992. Basically, WSTE's request is to make this arrangement permanent. All four transmitters (the Ponce auxiliary and the three boosters) would be covered by a single license. So would four DTV transmitters, all on channel 66, at the same sites. The main transmitter would be closed and removed. Correct ERPs and coordinates for the three boosters appear in my database. The HAATs are 332m at San Juan; 366m at Ponce; and 28m at Arecibo. The Ponce auxiliary is not in the FCC database. (this is not unusual) It's 100 kW at 81m, at 18-01-46N / 66-38-09W. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com Dec 19, WTFDA via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. RRI, the best heard in a long time, good modulation and no QRM tho a bit fluttery, on 9510 at 0646 Dec 25 with news in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Radio Gardarika of St. Petersburg, is again on SW. It will be on the air since December 20 to 31, 2002 from 2000 to 2300 UT on 5920 kHz in Russian/English from 200 kW transmitter beamed to Western Europe. The station also identifies itself as Radio Studio and Radio Nevskaya Volna (i.e. Radio Neva Wave). It verifies reception reports with QSL cards. Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all members of EDXP! (Alexander Beryozkin, St.Petersburg, Dec 24, EDXP via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. MOLDAVIA: 7125 kHz Voice of Russia. Kishinyov. Tarjeta QSL (mencionando sitio transmisor en Kishinyov, Moldavia), tarjeta navideña, carta personal de agradecimento por el detallado reporte de recepción firmada por Tanya Stukova (Mrs.), boletín de horarios y frecuencias y folleto de participación del concurso de celebración de los 60 años de la resistencia del Ejército Rojo en Stalingrado frente a las tropas nazis. Demora de 22 dias. Es el radiopaís número 138 (Marcelo Toníolo, NY, Conexión Digital via DXLD) But is 7125 really Moldova? PWBR `2003` says it is in the 0100-0600 period, but B-02 HFCC registrations show 4 other sites, depending on the time, which you did not mention: 7125 1330 1600 44,45,64 TCH 250 120 1234567 271002 300303 RUS VOR GFC 7125 1600 1900 28NW EKB 240 281 1234567 271002 300303 RUS VOR GFC 7125 2030 2230 17,27N S.P 250 268 1234567 271002 300303 RUS VOR GFC 7125 2300 0600 17 ARM 500 310 1234567 271002 300303 RUS VOR GFC TCH = Chita, as if the way it`s transliterated into French were relevant; EKB = Yekaterinburg, as if the initial Y- in Russian were insignificant (and I have been informed there is no soft-sign in Yek... as I had been putting); S.P. must be St. Peterburg; and ARM the catch-all Armavir, also known by other names, none of which could be confused geographically with Moldova. Just because Moscow QSLs it as such does not make it so. VOR/R. Moscow/RMWS have an awful track record in specifying sites which are incorrect or downright lies held over from Soviet-era deceit and paranoia. But HFCC registrations are often falsified, too. So 7125 could really be Moldova; I believe the experts have discussed this before and hope they will refresh us briefly on this. Altho Marcelo was upset at a previous contradiction and may have given up reading DXLD. Nothing personal, I would assure him (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. The Civil Administration in Thamil Eelam -An American Academic - A US Academic, who spent several months in Thamileelam during a three year period (1994 - 1996), on his return to the US in 1996 sent this special report to the Tamil Voice. In this report he outlines his observations on the LTTE administration of the north I spent a total of one sesquiyear in the northern province of Sri Lanka since early 1994, as a volunteer working with farmers and educators. During this period I came to know the LTTE administrators and their administration of the Northern Province areas under their control. My observations below are based on that experience.... Communications: The north has no telecommunications link with the rest of the island or world. In total about 100 computers were in use before the October 95 offensive. The Sri Lankan radio and television programs are received in certain parts of the north with a tall antenna. International radio stations are the main source of reliable news. The LTTE operates an FM station for a few hours each day. [excerpt of only brief graf of relevance in very long article about all aspects of LTTE governance of area under their control] (via D. Prabakaran, Tamilnadu, CRW via DXLD) The entire document is in CRW #123, to be issued Dec. 31 (gh, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. Higher harmonics do propagate even if the fundamental is too low for the given time of the day! 21 Dec at 0936, heard Tajik Radio on 28980 kHz (343) - it's the 4th harmonic of 7245. Even the 3rd harmonic, 21735 kHz, was audible, but much weaker (O=1...2). As per WRTH, 2nd domestic program must use the frequency during the daytime (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal Dec 24 via DXLD) ** U K. UK FREQUENCY ALLOCATION TABLE PUBLISHED From http://www.radio.gov.uk/ 20 December 2002 The Radiocommunications Agency has today published the UK Frequency Allocation Table (UKFAT) on its website at http://www.radio.gov.uk/topics/spectrum-strat/uk-fat/uk-fat2002.htm The UK Frequency Allocation Table, until recently a classified document, now covers the whole radio spectrum from 9 kHz to 275 GHz. It also identifies the responsibility for management of those frequency bands or services where management has been agreed, showing whether they are managed by the Radiocommunications Agency, the Ministry of Defence, or another Government department. Its publication responds to a recommendation of the independent Review of Radio Spectrum Management. The publication of the UKFAT will contribute to greater transparency about the use of the radio spectrum and help to identify further opportunities for sharing between civil and military users. A printed version of the UKFAT will be available from the Radiocommunications Agency shortly. Those wishing to receive a copy should contact the RA library on tel: 0207 211 0502/05 (via Mike Terry, Dec 23, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. Glenn, You can watch the Queen's Xmas message at the BBC news website, but only after 1500 today (Ivan Grishin, Ont., Dec 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And for how long afterwards, I wonder. Specifically via: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2604079.stm (gh) ** U K. MEMORIES OF A WORLD SERVICE CORRESPONDENT Friday, 20 December, 2002, 22:28 GMT As the BBC World Service celebrates its 70th birthday, former correspondent Mark Brayne reflects on what the station means to him. There were many times in my foreign journalistic postings through the 1970s and 1980s when I was aware of the impact around the world of the BBC World Service - and perhaps the most dramatic was in China during 1989. Students and workers were demonstrating in their hundreds of thousands on Tiananmen Square, but it was from the foreign radio stations that most were getting their information. At the height of the protests, so bloodily put down by the Chinese army a few days later, one group of students paraded through Beijing with a banner reading "Thank you BBC". In the middle of the following night I was reminded dramatically of the responsibility that goes with reporting for the World Service. A BBC colleague telephoned from the Square with rumours there that China's then supreme leader, Deng Xiaoping, had resigned. Scarcely having slept for weeks, I allowed my professional judgement to slip, and broadcast a despatch without further corroboration. Literally within minutes, the word on the Square was not that Deng's resignation was just rumoured. It had now been confirmed, by the BBC no less, a source impeccable above all others. Unfortunately for me, it was not true, and was quickly corrected. But it was a healthy reminder how at so many critical junctures in the past 70 years, it has been the World Service to which the world has turned. Serious values We do not always get it right. We do, though, take accuracy and credibility very seriously, and our listeners' trust and admiration rubs off on the journalistic mortals who provide the reporting. Again and again, as I travelled Central Europe as BBC correspondent for the region in the early 1980s, I would be met with, "Are you THE Mark Brayne?" It was a comment flattering to the ego of a correspondent greenhorn, but of course it was not about me. Every BBC correspondent has a rich store of such anecdotes, although since the fall of Communism, the World Service has been playing a different role for many of its traditional audiences. Informative role Today we aim to bring explanation, understanding and the highest journalistic standards to countries now deluged and confused by information of their own. And of course we bring music, and art, and literature, and companionship. Whenever I wonder whether the World Service gets the right mix, I remember the words of one of the Western hostages held in Lebanon in the 1980s. During his six-and-a-half-year captivity, Thomas Sutherland had a small receiver in his cell. Listening to the BBC, he said, had kept him sane. And if someone were to begin with a blank sheet of paper and devise the world's best possible radio station, he observed, what would they would end up with? The BBC World Service. Mark Brayne spent nearly two decades reporting Cold War Europe and China for Reuters and the BBC, with postings in Moscow, Berlin, Vienna and Beijing (BBCWS website via Kim Elliott, Dec 24, DXLD) ** U K / U S A. The moaning and groaning about Byford and the BBC on this list is becoming tedious. Follow the money. BBC makes money from selling its programming to Sirius, XM Satellite Radio, and Public Radio International. Why do you expect them to compete with themselves by giving their product away free on shortwave to the North American audience? Get over it. The BBC will not be back on SW beamed to NA. I find that between 15.190, 12.095, 9.410, 6.195 and 5.975 I can hear BBC well enough at most any time of day or night. Granted, I live in a part of the USA that enjoys good SW reception from the UK direct or the relay facilities in Antigua. But then so does 80% of the US and Canadian population. If you can't hear them, I suggest you get a better antenna. I live over 100 miles from Washington DC and Philadelphia, PA yet I can hear an hour of BBC on FM at 5 AM, via WSCL, Salisbury, MD and a half hour of BBC World TV news via BBC America on Direct TV at three different times in the morning and at 6 PM in the evening. I also get an hour of BBC on the FM radio at 9 AM via the New Jersey public broadcasting network At 5 PM I get a program jointly produced by BBC and WGBH, Boston via WSCL. That totals up to 5 hours a day of BBC news without ever turning on my shortwave or satellite radio. And I live in the boondocks. Me thinks thou dost protest too much. "Aye, aye. Full power to the deflector shields. Brace for incoming photon torpedos." ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., Joe Buch, DE, Dec 20, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ No torpedoes, but I've done a little research. Here's the skinny as I have it: 1. BBC gets nothing from Sirius or XM. It's a straight barter arrangement, if one can call it that. BBC gets an outlet; Sirius/XM get (differing, btw) programming. Agreement has a shelf life (no one will say how long) and will have to be renegotiated at some future date. 2. PRI affiliates do pay...a flat fee regardless of how much BBC content they use. PRI also gets a cut of each affiliate fee. 3. Shortwave was never a factor in either negotiation, say my sources. BBC is free to distribute any way it wishes --- including DRM if they want. 4. If one only measures BBCWS hourly news availability, then BBCWS presence is up via FM in the US. There has been near zero success in getting PRI affiliates to relay other programming and more longer form news programs. (There is some churn....stations cancel or reduce output; others sign on and add.) Rich Cuff could check this with his sources, but I am told that there is disappointment at Bush House on this score, though their concern is much more with brand recognition - - raw numbers that say they have heard a BBC ID in the last month. To be perfectly frank, I find the concept that public pressure (due to loss of shortwave availability) will push PRI affiliates to add more BBC content to be preposterous. Equally so for an argument that potential to hear BBCWS will drive sat radio subscriptions. It just ain't happenin'. Joe's attempt to inject some logic into this subject is most welcome. Quite honestly, I think the whole thing is getting tedious as well. Yes, some frequencies still work somewhat. But it was a boneheaded decision, as much for how and when it was done, as what was done--and it sticks in the craw. I also don't think the Beeb's management should be let off the hook -- even at this late date-- for laying this egg. Furthermore and curiously, it was they that chose to bring it up all over again on Byford's Talking Point appearance. Obviously and oddly, *they* still think it's an issue! Even Coke relented and went back to its old formula when it received enough complaints! The part of this that's even more tedious is the willingness of the BBC to beat this dead horse (if that is truly what it is) itself on its own dime! PS: Sorry, Joe; but there's always the delete key. :-) Odd, though, isn't it that more PRI stations don't use more BBC content given that they pay the same whether they run 5 minutes of news or the full 24 hour schedule? The economics would appear to compel a different approach. My PD at the local public radio outlet says there's a limit to the audience's tolerance for foreign content. Evidently that ceiling is quite low (John Figliozzi, ibid.) I hate to say I told you so (not that anybody at the BBC was listening when I said the same thing back in 2001!) but public radio stations that play a "news/talk" format have certain things that they play that are well-established and are not going anywhere. No US public radio station that carries All Things Considered for two hours (and many do) is going to change to playing 1 hour of ATC and one hour of Newshour from the BBC. Ditto for Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, This American Life, Fresh Air, Marketplace, etc. Whoever convinced the folks at the BBC that stations would cut back programs like this to air BBC content did a fabulous sales job!! Interestingly enough, I have no idea if this is still the case, in the mid 1980s when I lived in Durham, NC, I heard the BBCWS for top of the hour updates on WCPE from Raleigh. This station played classical music and they got their BBCWS feed via shortwave. (At one point they were trying to put in a bigger antenna to get better reception.) I believe they felt that a membership in NPR wasn't cost effective since they were all music, and getting BBC on shortwave allowed them to have an hourly newsbreak without signing up for NPR. But that's just my hunch (Kyle Barger, Dec 21, swprograms via DXLD) WCPE recently had to drop BBC news (long since via satellite, not SW) as costs are going way up for rights, sewn up by PRI (gh, DXLD) If the BBC's intent is to drive more of the audience to alternative delivery modes including DRM, then cancellation of the North American and South Pacific targeting on analog SW will certainly work to that end. Once the audience is transitioned to these alternative modes, then the BBC will be in a better position to negotiate carriage renewal contracts or charge subscription fees. Think of the current arrangements as loss leaders with long term revenue possibilities. I think there is also a fear of British accents distorting the image of a station. To those of us who have been enjoying the BBC since we were kids, the British accents are no big deal but to most Americans, British accents sound haughty and aloof, just the image public radio is trying to move away from. That is why the two most carried programs on USA NPR/PRI outlets (The World and World Update) use an American hostess in one case and co-production by WGBH announcers in the other. I remember the first time I heard Estelle Winters' British accent on the Voice of Russia. She sounded really snooty. I was very surprised to find she was quite pleasant and friendly when I met her at the SWL WinterFest a few years ago. That just shows me how one might form an incorrect image of a person or a radio station based on accents. By the same token, many people from the southern part of the USA sound stupid to my yankee ears. You don't hear many southern accents on the radio north of the Mason-Dixon Line unless they are trying to cultivate a folksy radio image. (People in southern New Mexico told me I had a New York accent, but I don't think I did because I learned to talk in Indiana and had not lived in New York for 25 years.) I do know of one FM station in Carmel, California that was running the entire BBC stream 24 hours a day when I visited there a few years ago. That is a very upscale area with lots of rich, educated people. It is hardly representative of mainstream America. In this case the BBC programming certainly set the station apart from the rabble in a community where many of the people think of themselves as above average in affluence and lifestyle. Here the BBC seemed to fit right in. I would be interested to hear from other readers who know of other stations relaying BBC during prime time for extended periods. Maybe we can make some inferences based on where those stations are located. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, Dec 21, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ Remember, too, that not all public radio stations -- even those who take NPR programming -- are PRI members. For WDIY-FM here in Allentown, the PRI membership alone would be $17,000 per year. Money they don't have. Then there's the fees for the BBCWS programming on top of that (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) [Listener support:] What's being suggested here is changing the funding model of an international broadcaster. And y'all thought that getting a station to reverse a mere policy was difficult! :-) Read my lips |g| --- The BBCWS feels that, via FM and the internet, it is already getting its broadcasts to the people they feel are important to its purposes. You heard Byford mention Boston, New York and Washington, as well as "opinion formers". You could add another handful of cities to that list, but not much more. That is the message from Bush House, I'm afraid. The fact of the matter is: they don't much care if they're heard in Sheboygan (sp?) or Ypsilanti (sp?) (or even Toronto, apparently). If they can be heard there (or by secondary shortwave frequencies), it's a "value-added" situation as far as the BBC is concerned --- and not something for which they are willing to pay extra --- such as that $700,000. We may not agree with the approach (and I don't, fwiw); but we really don't have a say. And if the dissidents are right and Byford is wrong, the WS will suffer some consequences from that approach. If you really want to hear them well and often and ON A RADIO, then FM is the main game and Joe's plan is the way to go. As Scott said, "Think local". I enjoy this discussion because it calls into play the purpose of international broadcasting, the viability of the public service broadcasting model and the future (or lack thereof perhaps) of them both --- not because of the declining importance of shortwave radio (what someone referred to as "nostalgia"). Shortwave is simply a means to an end for an international broadcaster and has not been the only such means for the better part of a decade now. It stands to reason that a broadcaster would want to deploy a range of distribution options to best effect. Where I disagree with the BBCWS most is in its attempt to target something called an "opinion former". Their model, in this regard, assumes a certain stasis in that definition. One need only to look at what it is happening in the world today to understand that today's "opinion-former" can be tomorrow's "nobody" (and vice- versa) in a heartbeat. With that in mind, one would think that a station would gladly want to serve anyone who finds something of value in what the station is doing --- especially those who have recognized that value over time. (Personally, I think the folks that run many of these stations and services lack an essential understanding of the nature of their enterprises and how they differ from other broadcasting ventures; and are surprisingly ill-equipped for their tasks. But that's only an opinion (one informed by some knowledge, I hope) and I fully understand that times do change. Nonetheless, I do feel we are experiencing a serious loss in some respects and I regret that.) As far as changing Byford's mind, that horse ran a long time ago. (Actually, it's dead and has been pulverized nearly into dust at this point.) But I still think it's fun to talk about (John Figliozzi, ibid.) I believe that for Byford, it's *not* about getting the greatest audience numbers. It's about getting to those "opinion formers", average people be damned. In this case, letting people to listen to things such as "Saturday Sportsworld", "Westway", or any of the classical music programs isn't necessary. As long as they get the news and information parts of the stream out, that seems to be all they're looking for. The impression Byford gives is that he believes shortwave in North America is only for a) people who believe in the black helicopter conspiracies, and b) people who care about tractor production in Albania (Ted Schuerzinger, ibid.) I was not an opinion former when I first heard the BBC. I must have been less than 8 years old because World War II was still in progress. In 1943 my family moved from Indiana to Long Island and the old man rented a house next to Mrs. Baxter. Mrs. Baxter had the habit of playing her radio pretty loudly with her windows open. Mrs. Baxter was a transplant from the UK who used the BBC to keep up with the war news. I asked her one day after hearing the chimes of Big Ben what that was she was listening to. She invited me in to listen to her big console radio with the green tuning eye. I was impressed. We had a Silvertone console in the living room as did most families of that era. I never knew it had any use except to listen to the Lone Ranger and Captain Midnight. I used that radio to tune in the BBC and other shortwave stations. I was hooked at an early age. As I grew in education and mental capacity I came to respect the BBC as a great source of news and, in those days, comedy. My sense of the world and my sense of humor were irreparably warped. I became an opinion former. But because the BBC was not only targeting opinion formers in those days, I was convinced as a very young person that the British had ideas I could learn from and funny stuff that could make my life richer. Today, I vote and like most people on this list, I am not shy about sharing my opinions. I do so often in print, in broadcast talk radio, or on the internet. I consider myself an opinion former whose opinion of the UK and its culture was formed long before I became an opinion former of others. The BBC can learn a lot from the Catholic Church or the Church of England. Get them young and brainwash them while they are impressionable. The BBC did that to me. (The Catholic Church tried but failed.) The BBC should not target only opinion formers but folks like me whose opinions can be molded over decades of intelligent radio listening. In my now-formed opinion they can best do that by targeting everyone via as many different media as possible and over time the opinion formers will evolve, understanding the UK's view of the world and respecting the UK's contribution to civilization. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more! The BBC on SW beamed to North America should not be a dead parrot, but it is as far as the BBC budget is concerned. So we do what we have to do. We listen on FM or the internet or on SW with a slightly better antenna than we needed before. Someplace out there is a pimple-faced kid surfing the internet who stumbles across the BBC web pages and the cycle begins again. Some day he or she may even may even stumble across the Universal Radio web site and jump to the next level of evolution. Or is it devolution? ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, ibid.) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ Last words from me on this: As you know, I disagree vehemently with the point that the difference (between public and commercial) doesn't matter and that it's all "inside baseball". NBC TV (stateside) prides itself on excelling in attracting a particular demographic (age and income) even though its gross numbers may be lower than another network's. Understandable because what you're really trying to do is sell soap --- the programming is just an intro to the ads --- and you'll sell more soap if you target those who have the money and are more easily convinced to buy. Others want large raw numbers and program to the lowest common denominator as a result. (NBC just programs to the lowest common denominator of its prime target demographic.) Public service broadcasting --- in its "purest" sense --- has an entirely different orientation. The programming is the point and the audience for each offering is almost always a minority one. (Of course, these are gross generalizations to illustrate the contrast, but the contrast is clearly identifiable and not at all illusory or subtle.) It may be true that some (many?) wish to blur the distinctions because it serves their own agendas. And I'm not saying that numbers don't matter at all. But Star TV (and CNN) is one thing; the BBC (at least traditionally) is another. The standards and measurements applied to each should be different to recognize these distinctions. But if public has to measure up to commercial (and, therefore, presumptively compete with it), then the public will, indeed, begin to resemble the commercial more and more until the distinction becomes illusory. That is what is going on with public service media, in my view. Instead of a Byford standing ground and insisting on a recognition of the difference (as some former BBC DGs and MDs have done), he blurs the distinction while insisting that the BBC is superior (to Star or CNN). Oddly enough, that's only true as long as that public/commercial distinction can be maintained because it is that distinction that earned the BBCWS its stature. But what point will the "commercial popularization" of the WS erase that distinction entirely and its reputation with it? Put another way, two items may be fruit, but one is an apple and the other is an orange. Telling me you're handing me an apple because it's the same thing as an orange may serve a marketing purpose, but it doesn't change reality. ("It's all fruit! Most people don't care whether they eat an apple or an orange!") Maybe (as the consumer) I'll shake my head yes and accept your apple as an equivalent to the orange I originally asked for --- but that only acknowledges your marketing skill or your force of will, not your knowledge of fruit or my skill at getting you to give me what I wanted in the first place. If the only kind of programming that is deemed worthy of seeing the light of day is the one that will produce the most eyeballs for an ad campaign, then so be it. But don't tell me there is no important difference between programming produced primarily for commercial imperatives and that produced for primarily social benefit (in the eyes of the producer) or artistic imperatives. That's just not so and it's a tremendous disservice to the public service foundations of our broadcasting system in the US, as well as that of the BBC, to perpetuate that new myth. Peace (John A. Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) ** U K. BBCR3 WORLD MUSIC DAY 1/1/2003 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/wmdday2003.shtml Streaming available via web-embedded RA player. (You need to have RA installed in one form or the other.) Digging through my web cache I find: rtsp://rmlivev8.bbc.net.uk/farm/*/ev7/live24/radio3/live/fmg2.ra (Joel Rubin, NY, Dec 21, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K O G B A N I. NORTHERN IRELAND CLANDESTINE GETS TEMPORARY LICENCE Radio Failte /Triple FM, Teach Na Feile, 473 Falls Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT12 6DD. Tel: +442890319150 E-mail: feile@iol.ie The Irish Nationalist station "Radio Failte" based in Belfast has got a temporary 28 day licence from the UK radio authority despite broadcasting illegally in Belfast for several months now. Most of R Failte's (Failte = "Welcome") programming is in the Irish Gaelic language it broadcasts on 107.0 MHz FM. The only other clandestine known to have broadcast in NI in recent years has been the nationalist "Radio Equality" in Portadown which broadcast during the Durmcree/ Garvaghy riots in July however during the 1970's there were a lot of broadcasts from various Nationalist and Loyalist (pro British) factions (M. Byron, Great Britain, Dec 20, 2002 for Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. 15495, United Nations Radio (via BBC, Skelton); 1732-1745* Dec. 24, English M&W with UN news. A mere 15- minute transmission, listed as Monday-Friday 1730-1745 (Terry L. Krueger, TOCOBAGA DX #67 - 25 December, 2002 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA, via DXLD) ** U S A. 540, WPDI548, CO Denver - 12/24 0900 - Noted with a full length Christmas song inserted into the usual parking and telephone number info loop. This is at Denver International Airport 15 miles east of me. (PG-CO) (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, Drake R-8 and Kiwa loop, NRC-AM via DXLD) Used to be on 530; I heard in Kansas on groundwave; or maybe that was another Denver TIS. 540 ought to get creamed at night by XEWA, CBK, etc. (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Re Bruce Elving`s message to the American Family Network: It's a fine letter, perfect in spirit and content. And I don't agree with those who feel that you are tilting uselessly at windmills, Bruce. Your application and use of your citizen's right to free speech is something that I take very dearly to heart, and I can think of no better use of it than to better the DX'ing hobby, not to mention attempting to correct an illegal practice by a large religious organization whose bullying tactics are way out of place, especially at this time of the year. I see posted gripes from those who whine about the ineffectiveness of the FCC too often; I'd MUCH rather see a post detailing action helping the FCC to correct problems. You are to be congratulated for your efforts (Paul Swearingen, Topeka, KS, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Many thanks, Paul, for your heartfelt comments. I hope I can continue to uphold the right of DXers to expect the finest of the broadcast stations they DX (Bruce Elving, ibid.) Subject: [AMFMTVDX] Bruce Elving, AFR and deregulation Bruce Elving has touched on a broader issue affecting not only the broadcast industry but the public: The deregulation of the airwaves. The airwaves are public property -- like the sidewalks, streets, national parks, and town squares. Furthermore, they are a vital form of communication, by citizens, and a foundation of our democratic political and social system. Thus, the airwaves themselves more than just a business. Businesses do use the airwaves for broadcasting, but so do government and non-profit civil-society institutions. No one outside of the state, representing the public, owns the broadcast spectrum or space on that spectrum. We the people -- so to speak -- do. Government agencies like the FCC, the CRTC, and their counterparts around the world exist to regulate the airwaves. In democratic societies, these agencies are supposed to be accountable to the citizenry. Citizens include those whose primary interest is business and religion, but these groups are among many interest groups in society. However, broadcast deregulation has in effect turned these agencies into -- at best -- paper pushers. Traditional anti-interference regulations and other measures have, for the most part, gone out the window. The result is chaos. IBOC and the whole introduction of digital broadcasting is a classic example of what we can expect from a government when that government chooses to serve and represent particular interest groups, or specific parties within larger interest groups. If IBOC continues as we are currently experiencing it, broadcasters will be able to use IBOC to obliterate each other. Like a bad game of splatterball. Deregulation means stations will be able to identify however they choose, if and when they want. They will be able to sell their broadcast licences to other parties without public input. They will be able to freely air racist language. I'm currently fighting an Ontario station that used the term 'wop' to describe an Italian scientist -- actually it was the U.S.-based Phil Hendrie Show, which runs on CKTB in St. Catharines. The CRTC no longer handles these complaints; I've been handed off to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, an industry-run voluntary compliance outfit. They passed me onto the broadcaster, whose spokesperson says we should just agree to disagree. I wouldn't personally put my energy into Bruce's cause, and my methodology might differ from his, but I do wish him every success. We all have the right to know very specifically who the tenants are on public property. This is not a DX issue, to me. DXers don't have any special privileges. If there is room to make the spectrum more crowded, and in return increase the variety of programming and people who have access to the airwaves, then that is ultimately more important than having channels that can be easily DXed. Not to say I don't experience some mild disappointment when new locals take to the air (Saul Chernos, Ont., amfmtvdx via DXLD) Well! Put!! (gh) ** U S A. SPECTRUM WANTS TO BE FREE -- NEVER PAY FOR PHONE, CABLE, OR NET ACCESS AGAIN --- Issue 11.01 - January 2003 VIEW By Kevin Werbach A revolution is brewing in wireless. In an industry speech in October, FCC chair Michael Powell expressed support for a radical idea called open spectrum that could transform the communications landscape as profoundly as the Internet ever did. If it works, you'll never pay for telephone, cable, or Net access again. Open spectrum treats the airwaves as a commons, shared by all. It's the brainchild of engineers, activists, and scholars such as wireless gadfly Dewayne Hendricks, former Lotus chief scientist David Reed, and NYU law professor Yochai Benkler. The idea is that smart devices cooperating with one another function more effectively than huge proprietary communications networks. The commons can be created through distinct, unlicensed "parks" or through "underlay" technologies, such as ultrawideband, that are invisible to licensed users in the same band.... http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/view.html (via ??, DXLD) ** U S A. TV DXING IN A DIGITAL WORLD It's a safe bet to say that most of us in the WTFDA have access to a computer now and that most of have visited eBay at least occasionally, if not daily. It's also a safe bet to say that if we do any TV DXing at all we would also like to DX the DTV channels. But our options are few since a good DTV set-top box will set us back around $400 and most of us either can't or won't pay that price. If we can't afford a Samsung DTV converter the next best option might be a Hauppauge Win TV-D Card for our computers. Prices on these cards have come down on eBay to the point where you can purchase a new card for $130 or less. In one instance a WTFDA member recently bought one for only $115! 2003 will be another huge year for digital television. At this time the CEA reports that there are over 600 DTV stations on the air with another large batch ready to hit the streets on or soon after January of 2003. What this means is that analog TV DXing will be harder to accomplish than it already is. With all this in mind, what do we do? Do we stay with our analog TVs and hope we can log something new or do we just take down our antennas and say adios to TV DX or do we try to adapt to the new technology, which means purchasing a converter or a computer card. I went with the computer card. I really didn't want to give up on something I enjoy. The price was right and others have done it successfully and were there for support if I needed it. Watching TV with the Hauppauge DTV card is an eye-opener. Channels I thought were empty are not. Sure I could guess about a couple of stations, but others came as a real surprise. The "snow" I saw on channels 10 and 11 is a perfect WTNH and WWLP DTV picture. The same goes for channels 33, 34, 36, 39, 45, 46, 55 and 58. That stretch of channels from ch 30-40 that looked so empty on my Sanyo analog TV is not empty at all. DXing the digital channels should be interesting. However when one is accustomed to looking for weak, snowy signals as tropo indicators, a little re-thinking of the methods used needs to take place and I'm still in the re-thinking phase. As you all know, with DTV DXing you won't see a weak snowy picture. You'll see a black screen or a perfect picture or you might see a broken up picture with part of it out of place or digitally garbled. How do you know when the tropo is up? Luckily at this point we still have analog channels on the air. My best bet, I think, is to keep using my analog set to look for signs of tropo on those channels I still have use of. Or better yet, use my FM equipment to look for signs of trop. Next I have gone to Antennaweb.org on the internet and downloaded channel listings for Boston, NYC and other places, to get an instant grasp of what DTVs are actually on the air, and on what channels. And I also keep my VUDs handy for Doug's TV News columns. Then, all that is left to do when tropo shows is to find out where it's coming from, point my dish into that area and then check the available DTV channels. It's a strange feeling to watch a black screen…not at all like watching snow and the familiar audio hiss that goes with it. Watching a black screen is unnatural, if you ask me. But that's what we'll have to do if we want to do any TV DXing in the future. Right now we still have our old familiar analog stations to help ease the transition and provide some comfort, but when those have gone and the digital stations are the only ones left, will we still get any satisfaction out of staring into the black nothingness, hoping for a picture to appear? Each of us will have to answer that. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Yes, you can. Can a veteran analog DXer learn new digital tricks? No doubt about it, but the question is will the veteran analog DXer want to learn them. Time will tell (Mike Bugaj, CT, Jan WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) ** U S A. A CANADIAN HEARD ON HIGH http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021224/FASS24/Features/features/features_temp/2/2/3/ PRINT EDITION SOCIAL STUDIES A DAILY MISCELLANY OF INFORMATION BY MICHAEL KESTERTON Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ont.) Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - Page A20 At 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve, 1906, a dozen or so wireless-radio operators in the Caribbean began to hear faint, ghostly music. One said to his shipmates, "Listen, I hear an angel's voice on the microphone, and music and singing, too." But it wasn't an angel. It was Canadian-born inventor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, called by some the Father of Radio. A few notes: Mr. Fessenden's target audience, crews sailing aboard the banana fleet of the United Fruit Co., were told only that there would be a special broadcast on their ship-to-shore telegraph systems. They expected it would be Morse Code dots and dashes from the equipment the company had purchased from Mr. Fessenden. Instead, they heard a short voice announcement, followed by the Edison-Bell recording of Handel's Largo. A woman sang some carols and Mr. Fessenden scraped out Oh Holy Night on his violin. He sang the last verse and remarked: "If anybody hears me, please write to Mr. Fessenden at Brant Rock" in Massachusetts. He had just become the world's first music deejay, by devising a successful AM transmitter. Mr. Fessenden disagreed with Marconi's theory that radio transmissions were brief electrical whiplashes. The inventor himself believed broadcasts were like water ripples that moved in continuous waves, in widening circles, and that voice and music might be carried on them. Thomas Edison, his one-time employer, had told Mr. Fessenden that wireless speech was about as likely as a man jumping over the moon. The Christmas Eve broadcast was Mr. Fessenden's first announced transmission over long distances. In 1900, he had sent the first voice-only message, a distance of one mile: "Is it snowing where you are, Mr. Thiessen?" The man once called "the greatest wireless inventor of his age" accumulated more than 500 patents in his career. (He might have done his inventing in Canada if McGill hadn't turned him down when he applied for a professorship.) Many of Mr. Fessenden's ideas were widely adopted -- without his consent -- during the First World War. In 1928, the U.S. Radio Trust paid him $2.5-million in recognition of his contributions to the medium. Source: Social Studies, 1996 (via Daniel Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. BEWARE OF FORKED-TONGUE WARRIORS By Ian Urbina, San Antonio Current, December 12, 2002 Wedged between a rack of 99-cent cheese crisps and a display of pork rinds stood a life-sized cardboard cutout of a buxom blonde in a red miniskirt. Resting on her inner thigh was a frosty bottle of Miller Genuine Draft. "That's essentially what we do," an army major remarked, pointing to the stiletto-heeled eye-catcher. "But we don't sell beer." The scene was a recruitment barbecue conducted by the U.S. Army's 11th Psychological Operations Battalion ("Psy-ops," for short), held recently at Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C. Amid the Cheetos, cheesecake, and a sweaty game of softball, there was casual chit-chat about the workplace challenges faced by these fatigue-wearing PR execs. Part ad men and part ethnographers, these specialists, some of whom are just back from Afghanistan, are dispatched regularly to front lines in the Middle East for hearts-and-minds campaigns aimed at undercutting the enemy's military morale and winning over civilian support. Many are waiting eagerly for a call to Iraq. With the U.S. military deploying in every corner of the globe, demand is booming in the psychological warfare industry these days, and Psy-ops is especially eager to recruit outsiders who have experience or interest in the Middle East. Hence, the barbecues, accompanied by war stories - actually, psy-war stories. Although invited, I am a reporter, so recruiters and guests wouldn't speak to me for attribution. They did, however reluctantly, share some yarns. "Much of the time on the ground," one private recalled about a tour of duty in the Middle East, "is spent driving around the desert in Humvees mounted with nine speakers, each blasting a thousand watts of noise. Tank treads, helicopter propellers, huge guns - we broadcast anything that'll scare the shit out of 'em." When music is chosen, the playlist tends to be short: Beach Boys, AC/DC, and Jimi Hendrix's shrill "Star-Spangled Banner," repeat ad nauseam until the enemy submits out of sheer annoyance. Other psy-opers parachute in and then remain stationary, setting up the army's equivalent of a battlefield copy shop to churn out agitprop handbills in the millions. Some operatives are airborne aboard Commando Solo, an Air Force cargo plane converted into a $70 million flying radio and TV station, beaming news, tunes, and an occasional bit of disinformation to the enemy. "We just deliver the goods," quipped the major who played host to me. "The guys down South drawing the cartoons are the ones paid six figures to know that because bananas are a delicacy in Iraq, they should get drawn into the picture with an enticing feast scene." Headquartered at the 4th Psychological Operations Group in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the psy-op artists typically rely on cartoon animations to convey their messages. But it is psy-op history itself that belongs in a comic strip: Its collection of harebrained schemes is sometimes almost too colorful to believe, though all of the following tales have been covered in the press at one point or another. One such plan initially investigated by the Air Force before Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait entailed the projection of a holographic image of Allah floating over Baghdad and instructing Iraqi civilians to overthrow Saddam. The idea was promptly dropped after scientists informed the Pentagon that it would require a mirror a square mile in area, not to mention the added problem that no one knows what Allah looks like. Furthermore, since divine portrayals of any kind are strictly forbidden in Islam, the hologram would surely have elicited a reaction, but probably not the one intended. Framing an understandable message is always tough. When using comic strips, captions need to be as concise and simple as possible. Yet, even in small amounts, the use of text raises questions. One has to wonder, for example, whether it was really effective to drop millions of text-based leaflets on Afghanistan, where barely 30 percent of its 27 million people can read. In all cases, well-crafted animations are a must, and for the highest quality drawings, the 4th at Bragg sometimes opts to contract out. In 2000, it hired DC Comics to produce special versions of Superman and Wonder Woman comic books, in the languages of the Balkans, Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, to educate locals on the dangers of land mines. But even Superman can be confusing at times: Although widely understood in some contexts, thought bubbles appearing above a cartoon character's head left some readers, especially rural ones, completely baffled, according to press accounts. Often more confusing than convincing, psy-ops can suffer hugely from the smallest graphical errors. A T-shirt used in Cambodia to try to deter kids from entering certain unsafe zones featured a boy squatting over a mine that he was poking with a stick. The silk-screened shirt was yanked from production, according to one account, when angry villagers kept asking why American personnel were distributing images of kids defecating over land mines. The squatting boy was eventually redrawn. Bigger mistakes mean bigger consequences. Leaflets dropped in Somalia in 1992, prior to the U.N. troop arrival. were meant to assure the populace of the mission's humanitarian intentions. Unfortunately, of all the personnel the U.S. initially deployed in the country, only two were native speakers, and one turned out to be the son of the country's bloodiest warlord. Pamphlet proofreaders, needless to say, were in short supply, and the result was sometimes quite embarrassing. Instead of announcing help from the "United Nations," the pamphlets spoke of help from the "Slave Nations," and as anyone who has seen the movie Black Hawk Down can certainly attest, neither the blue helmets nor the boys with stars and stripes were welcomed with open arms when they eventually landed ashore. The backflow of misinformation can also be a serious problem. Although the Pentagon and the CIA are barred by U.S. law from propaganda activities in the United States, during the mid 1970s increased scrutiny of military intelligence operations revealed that programs planting fake leaks in the foreign press had resulted in false articles running back through the U.S. media. But sometimes the false articles are intentional. When the American public seemed to be developing weak knees about the Nicaraguan contras, the Office of Public Diplomacy, part of the Reagan-era State Department, quickly leaked fake intelligence to The Miami Herald that the Soviet Union had given chemical weapons to the Sandinistas. Distribution of misinformation overseas can be trickier. In 1999, during the NATO air war in Yugoslavia, more than 100 million leaflets were to be dropped on Kosovo. But at the designated time, there was too much ground-to-air fire for planes to fly lower than 20,000 feet. Swept by strong winds, many leaflets landed in the wrong country, according to military reports. Sometimes, the packages land in the right place, and the enemy is quite happy about it. During World War II, the Japanese utilized the standard tactic of telling American soldiers that their girlfriends were getting busy while they were away from home. But on the air- dropped handbills the Japanese illustrated their point a little too well, using graphic pornography that was otherwise tough to come by on the front lines. According to military historian Stanley Sandler, "Our guys loved it. They'd trade them like baseball cards ... five for a bottle of whiskey." But there are also some psy-ops success stories. In Vietnam, U.S. planes sprinkled enemy territory with playing cards, but prior to carpet bombing, they dropped only the ace of spades. Before long, the Pavlovian technique took hold, and just the dropping of aces was sufficient to clear an entire area. During the Persian Gulf War, many Iraqi soldiers surrendered with U.S. leaflets in hand. Throughout that war, American forces also cleverly floated 10,000 bottles with intimidating notes in the gulf toward Iraqi shores. According to subsequent interviews with captured Iraqi soldiers, the bottled messages effectively increased concerns in Baghdad over the possibility of a massive amphibious landing. No such landing took place. On occasion, enemy psy-opers have gotten it right, too. The North Vietnamese peppered American soldiers with leaflets using anti-war slogans from the States. "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" was a particular favorite appropriated by Vietcong leafleteers. When American soldiers finally came home, many commented that the printed reminders of stateside opposition to the war really wore down morale. Last decade, the Iraqis made occasionally smart use of disinformation, often disseminated through their old enemy, Iran (making it more believable). According to U.S. military sources, leaflets were circulated in Bangladesh citing a Tehran radio report that U.S. troops had opened fire on Bangladeshi troops who refused to join the military strike on Iraq. The incident, allegedly leaving hundreds dead, was a complete fabrication. Less than an exact science, psy-ops is a clumsy art that has seen few real innovations over the years. In the 4th century B.C., Alexander the Great ordered his metalworkers to craft giant helmets to fit men the size of 20-foot monsters. His soldiers would then leave the helmets strewn about in conquered villages, hoping to inflame the wildest imaginations of enemy armies passing through the area. More recent psy-op folklore has it that along the same lines, though pitching at a slightly lower angle, American psy-op specialists in Vietnam left foot-long condoms along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, presumably to preoccupy the enemy soldiers with hiding their wives and daughters. The laundry list of actual psy-ops bloopers is certainly long and dirty, leaving some in the U.S. military skeptical of whether the American forked-tongued brigades are keeping up with the enemy. A May 2000 report by the Defense Science Board Task Force, an advisory panel to the Defense Department, concluded, "While the United States is years ahead of its competitors in terms of military technology, in terms of psy-ops there are already competitors on par with, or even arguably more sophisticated than, the U.S." But in other circles, confidence is unwavering. At a recent press conference, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "If Saddam were to issue such an order to use a chemical or biological attack, that does not necessarily mean his orders would be carried out." Rumsfeld's oblique speculation rested on the dubious hope, gaining popularity on Capitol Hill, that psychological operations might just do the trick on Saddam's key weapons handlers. But as one unnamed senior defense official pointed out to USA Today, the men in charge of the supposed Iraqi chemical or biological weapons and missile forces are likely Saddam's most loyal soldiers. In fact, if our psy-ops people are left to their old devices, the Iraqi commanders might just hit those red buttons all the faster. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6343127&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=6 (via Nick Grace, USA Dec 17, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. CIA SPY MASTER TED SHACKLEY DIES AT 75 By Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald, December 13, 2002 http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/4733339.htm Theodore ''Ted'' Shackley, a legendary spy master and Cold War figure who ran the CIA's huge Miami operation during the height of U.S. tensions with Cuba during the 1960s, has died of cancer in Maryland. He was 75. Nicknamed ''The Blond Ghost'' because he hated to be photographed, Shackley was an exacting, intense, elusive covert operator. As Miami station chief during Operation Mongoose, an interagency U.S. effort to topple Fidel Castro, he ran about 400 agents and operatives during a period that included the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. The Miami assignment was only one of the many powerful posts he held during a 28-year counterinsurgency career that spanned the globe. The places where he worked as a senior CIA officer -- Berlin, Saigon, Laos -- served as signposts in the global struggle between the United States and Soviet-backed communism. In Miami, he directed an ambitious anti-Castro propaganda and paramilitary campaign, and as a sign of its significance, Shackley would later say that he commanded the third-largest navy in the Caribbean -- only the United States and Cuba had more vessels than the CIA station chief's flotilla. Thirty-year friend Tom Spencer, a Miami attorney, described Shackley Thursday as "the master spy chief, a strategist, tactician, a brilliant man, a chess player -- a person who could read tea leaves and watch things which ordinary people could not see or pick up.'' Added fellow CIA retiree E. Peter Earnest, now director of Washington, D.C.'s International Spy Museum: "He had a keen sense of discipline, and was very goal-oriented. He found himself periodically in situations where there was chaos, and he could pull some order out of that.'' RETIRED IN '79 Shackley retired from the Central Intelligence Agency in 1979 and set up a D.C.-area consulting firm that offered security strategy to corporate executives. But for nearly three decades before that, including 17 years overseas, he served as a CIA officer who recruited and handled agents, hatched plots and gathered intelligence in Cold War settings. From May 1976 to December 1977, he served as associate deputy director of operations, the No. 2 position in the clandestine operations branch. He held the job first under CIA Director George H.W. Bush, then under Adm. Stansfield Turner, who relieved him of his title in a late 1977 shake-up. At issue: a Carter administration decision to fire thousands of secret agents and informants, notably in the Middle East, and dismantle Cold War spy networks. Shackley, said Spencer, soon ''left in disgust,'' retiring from the agency he had joined straight from Army duty in 1945 in Europe. Besides consulting, he also wrote a primer on counterinsurgency in 1981 called The Third Option. Shackley was Miami station chief from 1962 to 1965, running his vast spy network out of the University of Miami South Campus, now the Metrozoo. It was the largest CIA hub outside of headquarters in Langley, Va. ''When I got there, the mission was to implement an intelligence collection program and clean up the residuals of the Bay of Pigs,'' he told retired Herald journalist Don Bohning in April 1998 in Washington. "As we got into the intelligence program and restructuring, we started detecting Soviet buildup in the context of all that, how to bring about change in Cuba.'' IN MIAMI Some of his Miami activities, he told Bohning, included ''psychological warfare pressure on Cuba,'' including infiltrations, radio propaganda and ties with a paramilitary, anti-Castro movement. The only full-fledged CIA station in the continental United States, its code name was JM-Wave. After Miami, he moved on to another Cold War hot zone, Southeast Asia, where he was a top CIA officer in Laos and Saigon in the late 1960s and early '70s. AUTHOR RECOLLECTS ''In Laos, Shackley helped run a secret war using local tribes people, and at the end of that campaign the tribe was decimated,'' said David Corn, author of the 1994 book, Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA's Crusade. ''Shackley was in some ways the archetype of the Cold War covert bureaucrat. He took orders from above . . . running secret wars, undermining democratically elected governments, compromising journalists and political opponents overseas . . . and made them a reality,'' Corn said. Shackley also ran Latin American operations out of CIA headquarters in 1973 when Gen. Augusto Pincohet led a coup in Chile that toppled the elected government of President Salvador Allende. ''He was not the mastermind of the clandestine operations of presidents and CIA directors. He was the implementer,'' Corn said. 'And in doing so, he avoided the moral questions that accompanied such actions and embodied the `ends justify the means' mentality of America's national security establishment.'' Fellow former CIA agent Mo Sovern, who said they were colleagues for 45 years, summed up Shackley's management philosophy this way: "Screw up and you'd hear about it. Screw up twice for the same problem, and you're gone." He could be a controversial figure, said Sovern, chairman of the Central Intelligence Retirees Association. "A lot of people absolutely hated him. A lot of people thought he was marvelous. But he got the work done." LAST DETAILS He cited this example of Shackley's micromanagement style: After receiving last rites on Sunday, he had his wife summoned a funeral director to their suburban Washington home and he picked out a casket, negotiated the fee and asked to be buried in West Palm Beach, where he was raised and educated before going to the University of Maryland. He died Monday. Burial will be next week in West Palm Beach. Visitation is scheduled for today in Washington. Mass will be said Saturday in Bethesda, Md. (via U. Fleming, USA Dec 14, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) Ted Shackley's involvement in CIA-run clandestine radio stations includes Radio Swan, Radio Américas and Union of Lao Races (which supported the Hmong tribes in Laos). (N. Grace, USA, Dec 14, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6155.08, Banda Oriental, Sarandi del Yi. 0139+, Diciembre 25. Apertura de transmisiones. Himno Nacional del Uruguay. ID completa por locutora: "A partir de este momento, inicia su transmisión, CWA155 Banda Oriental, en la frecuencia de 6155 khz, con estudios ubicados en calle Sarandí 328, Sarandí del Yi, Durazno, Uruguay. Nuestro correo electrónico es: norasan@a..." [truncated]. Luego, continúa una selección de música popular uruguaya. 44444 con algo de interferencia de Radio Fides, Bolivia (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. (TANZANIA) 11735, 08/12 1906 Voice of Tanzania, Zanzibar. OM en Swahili con programa noticioso y mencionando en reiteradas ocasiones: "Dar es Salaam". Fin del programa informativo a las 1916 cuando comenzo otro programa con el Cor`án y música de estilo africano. A 2000 "bips" (5 "bips" con el mismo tono y el sexto más agudo) seguido de la identificación(?) por OM. 34333 (a las 1906) pero con SINPO 23322 (a las 2000). (Marcelo Toníolo, NY, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Actually 11734+ ** ZANZIBAR. [TANZANIA] Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar, 11734.13, 2002-2059 Dec. 25. Possibly the one, after seeing the report of something here - - stating that it didn't quite seem to fit RT-Z -- program-wise. Tune- in to unID language (it did sound Swahili or similar), woman with possible news until 2006. She continued after 2006, but alternated with instrumental music (piano-type stuff, mostly). Nothing I could hear was particularly "Islamic" so-to-speak. At 2059, a man babbled a bit, but I had to depart briefly to answer the door (pesky neighbors). At 2108 recheck, they were gone (the station, but not the neighbors). Not even a carrier. Timing (closing just after 2100) and approximate frequency would fit my many past RT-Z logs. Despite a little line noise, signal at times peaked to a pretty fair level, just as RT-Z has sometimes done in the past here (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. ZIMBABWE JOURNALIST ACCUSED OF SPYING FOR BBC: REPORT (See 4th & 5th paragraphs! Andy.) HARARE, Dec 22 (AFP) - The Zimbabwe government has accused a local journalist of spying for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the state-controlled Sunday Mail reported. The paper, which reflects government views, said Lewis Machipisa, a Zimbabwean correspondent for BBC radio, was being hired by Britain's Foreign Office to also film and write stories for BBC television. The BBC has been officially banned from the country, but Machipisa, a Zimbabwean national, has been able to continue working here for the broadcaster. A senior BBC official quoted in the Sunday Mail denied the allegations against Machipisa and also said the BBC was not behind an exiled radio station broadcasting into Zimbabwe from London, as the government had suggested. The permanent secretary in Zimbabwe's Information Ministry, George Charamba told the BBC in a letter quoted in the Sunday Mail that the BBC's denials of these charges were not accepted or believed. The charges against Machipisa come ahead of the December 31 deadline set by the government for all journalists working here to be registered, turned down or de-registered under tough new press laws (AFP rt/ss Zimbabwe-media via A. Sennitt, Holland, Dec 22, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4790, 0046-0102 12/23. After listening to a presumed AIR, Chennai with Hindi music and talks, s/off at 0045, I could hear Arabic? style singing and chanting, reminiscent of the Kor`an. Brief talk at 0055 and more chanting until 0100 when pips, presumed ID, and more talks where heard. Weak tho audible. I'd like to think this was Pakistan, Azad Kashmir Radio (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 16 Dec, 2100 UT - 5025 kHz. A very weak talk in presumed English. Too severe conditions because of bothering utility pips. After YL talk music began. At 2105 Radio Tashkent started preparing its transmitter, cutting off the possibility to listen to anything else. After 2200 frequency was completely clear. 2100 was too early for Australia, it must switch to 5025 kHz at 2130 (per WRTH)... (Dmitry Puzanov, Kustanay, Kazakhstan, Signal via DXLD) As Chris Hambly has frequently informed us, the switchover times by the Northern Territory service are quite variable and unreliable. Sometimes they stay on the day frequency well into the night, or vice versa (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 23000, Over-the-horizon-radar 21-12-02 1349 very loud (Ary Boender, Holland, BDXC via DXLD) ### +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TRANSMITTER NEWS ++++++++++++++++ GEE-WHIZ WEAPONS COULD POSE RISKS - FOR U.S. BY SCOTT CANON, Knight Ridder Newspapers KANSAS CITY, Mo. - KRT NEWSFEATURES (KRT) - Imagine the effect of an electromagnetic burst over an Iraqi military hub - a radar station, an infantry command post or a Republican Guard bunker. That pulse of energy could wipe computer memories blank, fry telephone lines and radar circuits, zap tank ignitions. Defenses rendered instantly defenseless. The connected become the detached. High-tech turns obsolete. Best of all, the weapon aims to kill gear, not humans. Analysts say Iraq could end up the first testing ground for this next generation of GI gee-whiz weaponry. For now, though, much about high-powered microwave weapons remains classified. The very potential of these directed-energy weapons - the possibility that they could flip the "off" switch for a 21st century army - could keep them under wraps. That is because no military relies so heavily on electronics as the U.S. military does. U.S. troops depend increasingly on arms made ever more precise and lethal through electronic brains. "Network-centric warfare" - precisely choreographed battlefield movement and communication - sits at the core of the Pentagon's idea of a modern military. "The main reason why we keep this technology classified is not because it's so complicated, but because we want to conceal the degree to which we are vulnerable to what it could do," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., who has just completed a study on directed-energy weapons. Meantime, much remains to be seen about these untested weapons, which could range in form from an unconventional missile to a supercharged antenna. What is publicly known, for instance, suggests their performance in the laboratory can only roughly predict field tests. So what happens in the chaos of shifting battlefield conditions? Can microwaves effectively conk out enemy electronics? And would they indeed spare living things, or, if their power settings proved hard to control, would they cook a person from the inside out? Among the greatest risks comes if they perform perfectly, in which case using them holds at least a potential to backfire against America's high-tech military. Directed-energy gadgets are already a fixture on the modern battlefield. For years lasers have been key to aiming everything from rifles to tank cannons to bombs. There is evidence as well that they can be used not only to aim something, but also to inflict their own damage. In April 1997 a Canadian helicopter near Puget Sound hovered above the Russian trawler Kapitan Man, which was suspected of hunting for an American submarine. An American adviser on the chopper and a pilot reported severe eye pain. Photographs taken during the encounter suggested the Russian ship directed a handheld laser at the helicopter. Although lasers have yet to be fully developed as combat weapons, they represent one form of a technology widely believed to hold a range of warfare applications. Already microwaves temporarily jam enemy radar - a tactic now routine in American air assaults. It all starts with electromagnetic energy - from light to infrared to X-rays to the radio waves with lower frequencies and longer wavelengths at the far end of the spectrum. They batter you and all the electronics around you. High-powered microwaves shoot to concentrate, for just an instant, a burst of energy in the same part of the spectrum as the target. Lightning bolt-style, the energy overdose blows the circuits to transform a computer or radar into scrap metal. That power was seen from atomic bomb tests in the Pacific Ocean in the 1940s that sent out an electrical burst trashing phone lines in far-off Hawaii. The challenge now is to harness that effect without splitting atoms, and to point it in the right directions. Tests have begun on some weapons that look like modified radar dishes, like antennas or, to focus the transmission of energy, like horns. "These things are supposed to be directional," said Philip Coyle, a senior adviser at the Center for Defense Information. "The idea is to beam the energy at your target." He said the microwave weapons faced several hurdles on their way to perfection. They seem vulnerable to their surroundings, he said, penetrating physical barriers unpredictably and seemingly influenced by the weather or other radio signals. And they pose the problem of how to fry someone else's electronics without crashing your own motherboard. "We don't want to zap ourselves in the foot," Coyle said. In part because microwave weapons are believed to still be in need of fine-tuning, experts say their first use could come from a cruise missile or an unmanned vehicle. That way no U.S. troops would run the risk of their electronics melting down while delivering a blast. Instead, a remote-controlled blast might be rigged to convert the chemical energy of high explosives into an electromagnetic burst. In such a design, the effects would blanket an area rather than zoom in on a single target. What is unclear is the level of control over that burst of energy. Too little energy, and electronics escape unharmed. Too much, and not only do computers sizzle, but flesh burns, too. An article in Jane's Defence Weekly in August quoted an unnamed scientist who the publication said was familiar with the effects of the weapons and what the most powerful varieties could do to people. "All the fluid in their body cells would instantly vaporize into steam," the scientist told Jane's. "It would happen so fast, you wouldn't even be aware of it. "If, on the other hand, you were caught ... by a weak reflection of the main beam off a metal surface - which could easily happen in a city - you could probably suffer terrible burns as well as permanent brain damage." In fact, work is under way on microwave weapons for crowd control to, say, keep marauders from overrunning an American Embassy. They would make water molecules just beneath the skin vibrate violently, creating an intense burning sensation. Military officers who have experienced the effect said it creates instant panic. Thompson said he thought humans would not feel the effects of the weapons. The greater military risk rests in unleashing a genie that could bedevil American equipment in later conflicts, Thompson and other analysts said. Thompson noted that recent efforts to modernize the military led to the purchase of ever more sophisticated computers and other electronics from the civilian marketplace. While that makes for greater sophistication, he said, it also blends into the U.S. arsenal electronics that aren't hardened against attacks. And new forms of aircraft designed to avoid radar detection - the B-2 stealth bomber, the F-117 stealth fighter and the planned Joint Strike Fighter - have bodies of synthetic materials rather than metal. That makes them less visible to radar but lacking a built-in protection against microwave weapons. "We are probably doing too little to protect our equipment against electromagnetic attack," Thompson said. Some analysts, in fact, think the ever-widening technological edge the American military enjoys over its enemies has a potential to be an Achilles' heel. "We in the sophisticated and technological West are especially vulnerable to this," said Robert Hewson, editor of Jane's Air-Launched Weapons. "It would be great to blind the enemies' electronics with this. It could spare you collateral damage" - the military term for civilian casualties. "It could do a lot for you. "But we have the most to lose." © 2002, The Kansas City Star. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-202, December 24, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1161: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Wed 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 -- maybe; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 7490 WORLD OF RADIO 1162: [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1162h.ram [Low] and (Summary) not yet available as of early UT Wednesday FIRST AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1162: WBCQ Wed 2300 on 7415, 17495-CUSB WWCR Thu 2130 on 9475 RFPI Fri 1930 on 15039 HOLIDAY MONITORING REMINDERS I have just completed compilation of a great number of holiday specials, mostly on webcasting US public radio stations, but also WGN, CBC, BBC and some others, for Dec. 24 and 25 into UT Dec. 26. Enjoy: http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html (Glenn Hauser, swprograms via DXLD) And further updates at least a day ahead at a time UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Quite a compilation, Glenn! I don't know where you find the time, but I-- for one--are very glad you do. Thanks for another year of consistent and faithful service to the radio loving and listening community. Warmest best wishes for the Holidays, as well (John Figliozzi, NY) Glen[n], hope you can take some time out over the next couple of weeks to enjoy the season. Thank you for another wonderful year of DX news, and the help you have personally given me in identifying stations. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Mark Coady, Ontario) Glenn, you've put in countless hours of effort and thought into the column over 2002, and I just wish to say 'thank you' for giving so much back to our hobby. Radio as a hobby touches us in so many ways, from DX to QSL, from technical to enjoying music, news and sports, and from windows on other cultures and beliefs to education and inspiration. From antique radios to the latest gizmo, from learning languages to collecting station promotional material and airchecks, politics, art and even genealogy these days as people look back at radio history to find family links and so much more. Your regular 'warts and all' roundup reflects well on all contributors, and is a wonderful mystery grab bag each time from which we readers can pick and choose as we each enjoy our own world of radio. Well done, have a happy holiday season, and looking forward to more in 2003 (David Ricquish, NZ DX Times) ** AFGHANISTAN. PAPER CONDEMNS INSTALLATION OF FOREIGN RADIO TRANSMITTERS IN AFGHANISTAN | Text of report by Afghan newspaper Payam-e Mojahed on 19 December The Ministry of Information and Culture has violated the press law by permitting the installation of foreign radio transmitters in the country. After the establishment of the transitional government, BBC radio, Voice of America and Radio France received permission from either the minister or deputy minister of information and culture to install their transmitters inside the premises of [Afghanistan] radio- television and embark on broadcasting their programmes received via satellites. The first paragraph of the fourth article of the press law considers broadcast of radio-television programmes as the privilege of the citizens of Afghanistan. It is worth reminding that the 1343 [1964y] constitution that is now in force (except for chapters referring to the king and the national council) radio and television broadcasting is the monopoly of the government. It seems that the Ministry of Information and Culture, which had drafted the press law, has not taken the articles of 1343 constitution into account. Therefore, the installation of foreign radio transmitters on the soil of Afghanistan is contrary to the constitution and the press law. The Justice Ministry and the office of attorney general are duty bound to take necessary actions in case of violation of the law. It is worth mentioning that so far the foreign radio stations are broadcasting on FM which has a short range. However, according to another agreement that was signed recently by the minister of information and culture with the president of the Voice of America in Washington, the Voice of America will be permitted to install a mediumwave transmitter in Pol-e Charkhi for broadcasting its programmes. The main problem will arise when foreign countries embark on broadcasting their television programmes in the country which will inflict cultural and social harms on the society that could not be compensated. It is worth reminding that the Ministry of Information and Culture has undertaken these agreements unilaterally and without consulting with the cabinet or the head of state, otherwise, this explicit infringement of law would have been pointed out in the cabinet. It is to be added that the government of Afghanistan has no control over the content of programmes that are disseminated by foreign radio stations, and in many respects the contents of the programmes of these radios are contrary to the government policy, religious values, and the customs and traditions of our Muslim people. A point worth mentioning is that the minister of information and culture has signed a similar agreement for rebroadcasting Iranian radio programme, but fearing the reaction of the Western countries he is dragging his feet to implement it. Source: Payam-e Mojahed, Kabul, in Dari and Pashto 19 Dec 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Direct from Roger Broadbent of Radio Australia, we have this program note and addition/correction to this week's e-mail newsletter: "On Christmas Day we will be joining forces with the ABC's Local Radio Network which brings together Metropolitan and Regional stations across the nation. We will join them after the news at 1905 UT on Tuesday [which of course is Christmas morning here in Australia] and stick with them until 1500 UT on Wednesday [Boxing Day morning here]. There will be RA news at the top of each hour." To all, Warmest Greetings of the Season! (via John Figliozzi, RA Previews via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. UNIDENTIFIED 15065.05, 0728 Dec 22 relaying Radio Australia's programme on Helen Duncan, then into "discussions on archaeology" with Patrick Green (some sort of harmonic of RA??) (David Norrie, NZ, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Find two RA frequencies on the air at that time on the 15 MHz band, at the proper separation producing mixing product here (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Em 1º de janeiro, o presidente eleito do Brasil, Luiz Ignácio Lula da Silva, toma posse. As rádios Nacional AM, de Brasília (DF), e Nacional da Amazônia, em ondas curtas, estão anunciando cobertura completa do evento, a partir das 0800. A Nacional da Amazônia pode ser ouvida em 6180 e 11780 kHz [via WORLD OF RADIO 1162] BRASIL - A rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista (SP), está mudando de direção. Pedro Roberto, que também apresentava o programa Além Fronteiras, voltado para os radioescutas, vai comandar uma emissora da Rede Canção Nova localizada no Vale do Paraíba, no estado de São Paulo. O Além Fronteiras continuará a ser emitido, aos sábados, às 2100, com apresentação de Eduardo Moura e Antônio Kosta (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 23, via DXLD) ** CANADA. The advert was published on Thursday. It does include the shortwave facilities in Sackville and you can rule the world via shortwave into kings' presidents' ears! Linkname: Coordinator's Communiqué # 30 URL: http://www.cbucc.org/cc2002/cns30.htm ______________________________________________________________________ December 19, 2002 Transmitters We were today advised that the RFP (request for proposals) may be going out to potential third party suppliers of transmitter servicing as of late tomorrow (Friday, Dec 20, 2002). Apparently CBC intends to give the union a copy of this RFP, and some information on the bid by Corporate Directors and Managers to take over this work. We were advised that although no decision has been taken, there are 122 CEP members potentially affected, and CBC would consider this as an outsourcing under article 41 of our agreement. This means that regardless of whether members take jobs with a new company, they would get a full 4 weeks per year severance. As well, should they not want or get jobs with the new company, they have full national bumping and redeployment rights, including the right to turn down redeployments in favour of bumps. These significantly enhanced rights were part of the negotiated settlement during our strike in 1999. And of course our practice has been that maintenance techs can redeploy to other maintenance positions and write the exams some months later, if they are not currently qualified. In addition the exams themselves have not been kept up to date, so we have been routinely waiving the writing of exams. If this outsourcing goes forward, we foresee significant impacts on the Radio and Television operations. Once we have a copy of the information we will be deciding whether it meets the test of the collective agreement. We will be consulting with legal counsel and with transmitter technicians about this information early in the New Year. In Solidarity, Mike Sullivan, National Representative, CEP (via Daniel Say, BC, DXLD) CEP is the techs` union ** CANADA. Hello, This week, [Sat Dec 28], we have a special feature on Quirks & Quarks: The Quirks Question Show. Yes - it's another edition of the award-winning Question Show, where we answer your scientific queries. Find out why snow is white, why bugs are attracted to light, whether dinosaurs had ears, and what would happen if the sun suddenly went out. All these and many more questions, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One (Bob McDonald, Host, Q&Q mailing list via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 760, HJAJ, RCN Barranquilla, Dec 23 0057 - With canned local ID "En el Atlántico, H-J-A-J, 760 kilohertz, RCN Barranquilla", then RCN promo with man saying that this network attracts 75% of the Caracol listenership; a modern version of the "RCN, La radio de Colombia" jingle; followed by "Tiempo de Noticías Banco Popular, Banco Popular --- lo último en suceso" with a report from a narcotraficant in Cartagena and the "Policía de Bogotá". Building signal strength from poor to quite good. + Dec 23 0200+ Very good to fair, in WJR null with Phillips radio pointed at south, with talk-show about Colombia (presumably a part of the "Navidad de (Tendicos?) program); some splash from next-door WABC on 770. Heard this while walking in my Edward Higgins street! + DEC 23 0246 - On the Wootside street noted this excellent with absolutely no interferences at all in a very solid WJR null with a nice X-mas song by a younger child, then man in Spanish mentioning the program "Navidad de (su hijos?)", "tendicos?" or whatever that word is and talking a bit about the competition between various children`s singing Christmas songs from all over Colombia and winning various prizes, then another child song that sounded more like a speech than like a song. About that time, I tuned down to 530 kHz to hear music of more quality! The passants were looking very briefly to us, while hearing Spanish gospel on that radio (from Radio Vision Cristiana, of course; I don't think they knew this either) + Dec 23 0301 good, but quickly lost with signal fading down in strength, with anti drug aid with a child"...jugar" then strong man with "Prevenir consuma, compromiso de Colombia contra la droga", then lost to clutter and WABC-770 het/slop and weaker remains of nulled WJR Detroit; at the time I was glimpsing a coline on the Cérez Park while seeing a Ms with 2 dogs, one of the dogs jumping to Tom (our German shepherd dog) was down near the balanseories (Bogdan Chiochiu, QC, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. [RFPI-Vista] Vista-Online Christmas 2002 December 24, 2002 Dearest RFPI Supporters and Listeners, 2002 has been a year full of challenges and difficulties for RFPI, perhaps the hardest year it has experienced in its existence. However, due to the commitment of our listeners and supporters, RFPI has made it through the year and is now able to enter 2003 in better shape than we would have thought possible. 13 years ago, RFPI was visited by Doctor Harry Bury (a long time peace activist) who helped us plan our vision for our young radio project. He asked us to map out our vision for the first year, the first five years and the first ten years. This we did; by the end of the 10 year plan we wanted to have our own offices and studios (we were based in an area little bigger than a closet at the time) and a high powered shortwave transmitter capable of providing a quality signal with 24 hour programming to our listeners. As we sit today in our offices up on the mountain, with the volcano in the far distance, listening to our 24 hour a day programming, we realize that we are living and operating the vision proposed a decade ago. 2003 promises to be a milestone year and the beginning of the next 10 year vision, some of which has already started and we will build on from 2003. The new Peace Journalism and Progressive Media Through Radio course will be starting on January 27th and running throughout the year. RFPI has trained over three hundred peace journalists in the last 15 years and is becoming a center of excellence for the training of independent international journalists in the areas of human rights, social justice and environmental reporting. Besides supporting the station through funds raised, it creates a trained network of independent journalists who contribute to the station and other independent outlets in the rest of the world on an ongoing basis after completing their training. RFPI has been asked in the past to train indigenous people here in Costa Rica to enable them to make use of the frequencies set aside for their use by the Costa Rican government and is hoping to gain funding to allow us to do this in 2003. RFPI will also run courses for Costa Ricans as part of the push towards facilitating the setting up of other community radio stations here and world-wide. We have long-term expertise in setting up radio stations and managing them on little money, as well as technical knowledge regarding production, transmitter-building, etc which we want to share with independent organizations who want to set up their own radio stations. We recognize that we are living through times where the battle of information, and access to it, information output and control is a critical tool of contemporary political struggle with independent media at its core and we want to play a very active part in dealing with that reality. Within the next two years, RFPI will bring back its Progressive News Network, which was a popular Monday-Friday RFPI-produced world news program, unhindered by corporate involvement. RFPI will work towards the establishment of a Latin America-based independent news agency, (as called for by the McBride report many years ago now, commissioned by UNESCO, identifying the coming "New World Information and Communication Order" as a cause for grave concern and advocating amongst other things, greater support for independent media and the establishment of such news agencies in continents other than North America and Europe.) Directly connected to this, in 2003 RFPI plans to launch a campaign directed at UNESCO which will assess and criticize its failure to fully implement the McBride Report .One World, Many Voices,. culminating in an open letter and report to be signed by independent media all over the world and submitted to UNESCO with proposals for their future role in supporting democratic communications for the new century. Stay tuned for more information on this. RFPI will be adding to our current line up of programming with more independent programs sourced from a wider variety of countries and independent producers from all over the world. We will also be increasing our in-house productions and beginning our Spanish language programming again. Amongst planned RFPI in-house productions will be a history and personal stories from indigenous people in Costa Rica and recordings of the indigenous language local to the area where the radio station is based which is currently dying out, to be shared in projects with local schools, a regular Migration report, as well as a regular report on events in Colombia and the activities of peace movements there. We also plan some innovative programming made by children for children all over the world. RFPI will be on the cutting edge of radio production by bringing you internet interactive radio, thus bringing listeners into the radio show en masse for the live exchange of ideas from one side of the world to the other. We hope to have our 24 hour web-casting service fixed again early in 2003 and are struggling through red tape and bureaucracy in order to make this happen once again. We ask all our members to help support this vision by contributing your own ideas as well as financial assistance. None of these great projects can be achieved without you, and we would not be here today if you had not given us such strong support over the years. This year we ask you to support us as much as ever in this new stage of RFPI`s history and to stay with us and watch the unfolding of our collective dream. Please contact us here at RFPI if they have any questions or comments about Vista Online, our programming, or the station in general. If any of you have comments or ideas on how we can improve our service to you, or you want to send us a donation, enquire about the Peace Journalism course or volunteering with us, please send us a note via e-mail or traditional mail. Email: info@rfpi.org or rfpiradio@yahoo.com Mail: Radio For Peace International PO Box 75 Cuidad Colon, San Jose, Costa Rica Central America Tel. +506 - 249 1821 Fax. +506 - 249 1095 For information on how to make a donation via Pay Pal, check out our website at www.rfpi.org and click on the Pay Pal icon. We wish you a peaceful holiday on behalf of all the RFPI staff. _______________________________________________ RFPI-Vista mailing list RFPI-Vista@boinklabs.com http://www.boinklabs.com/mailman/listinfo/rfpi-vista (via DXLD) ** CROATIA [non]. Hi Glenn, Happy holidays. I was delayed in sending this, but here it is: Radio Croatia International 12/22/02: 7285, 0300-0400 GMT, SINPO 24333. Rebroadcast started 0401 following for Western North America. Announced as "a special two hour broadcast." Broadcast in several languages (including Spanish), a long segment presumably in Croatian dialect of Serbo-Croatian. English ID and Croatian news in English 0345-0350 and 0410-0415. Schedule as announced: (times were announced in local time) [gh rechecked 0400 UT Dec 25 announcement, viz.:] 9925 9:00 PM-11:00 PM Argentine 0000-0200 UT to S. America 7285 9:00 PM-11:00 PM EST 0200-0400 UT to E. NAm 7285 8:00 PM-10:00 PM PST 0400-0600 UT to W. NAm 9470 7:00 PM- 9:00 PM Wellington 0600-0800 UT to New Zealand 13820 7:00 PM- 9:00 PM E. Aust. 0800-1000 UT to Australia This was not a frequency I could find for them published for B 02, although I might just have missed it. None the less, it was coming in well (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Dec 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, 7285 booming in here at 0310 Dec 25 in Croatian, lots of mentions of Hrvatska anyway. English news around 0340, and 0358 recheck had them reciting schedule in Spanish. Cut off at 0359:30 or so for beam switch, back at 0400 with weaker and much flutterier signal, aimed toward west coast, and now adjacent SSB hams could be heard, no doubt pissed at this new affront. 7285 replaces 9925, where nothing remains after 0200, all presumably still relayed by DTK Germany, and outdating the schedule published recently in DXLD 2-199. The Europeans just won`t stop invading the North American hamband. You`d think DTK would know better, if not HRT. Intruder Watch Alert!! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. "Radio Reloj desde Habana Cuba" heard Dec. 24 under the BBC 6195 until that closed at 0759:30 and then in the clear. A good signal until off (noted c0840 re-check). Rolling news read by two male voices - seconds ticks - TC's every minute accompanied by a short burst of CW - ID most minutes including various announcements. Detailed weather forecast noted 0811. Last heard briefly December 16th until off at 0804 (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Dec 24, Cumbredx mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn: I've noted in DXLD the discussion about where RHC is for the 2030-2130 broadcast. I've just been listening to a good signal on 11670. They were announcing 13660 and 13750, but of course neither of those were heard. Season's Greetings! (Harold Sellers, Newmarket, Ontario, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, seem to have settled on 11670, also noted here, at 2030-2130, but STILL awaiting completely updated new schedule (gh, DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. An addendum to my report to you yesterday: After going back and reading George Maroti's report about Radio Bayrak from Dec. 7th (DXLD 2-193), he had heard the Supremes song 'Baby Love' at 2201 on 6150. That is exactly what I heard yesterday (12/22) at the same time, 2201, and at 2206 I heard the song 'Sounds of Silence'. I'm wondering if they have part of that program 'canned', or whether they just have a small supply of records? Best wishes, (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Glen[n], Gerry Bishop's logging on 5009.8 is definitely Radio Cristal. They do, however, relay Radio Pueblo (HIBL 1510) often during our late afternoons and evenings. From my January column, "Your Reports" in "Listening In" - the monthly magazine of the Ontario DX Association - I was fortunate to log them on November 25 at 2257 with lively Latin American dance music, canned Radio Pueblo ID at 2300 followed by a musical interlude, a mention of "Noticias e Informativo" then another ID at 2302 followed by what sounded like "por Radio Cristal, onda corta". (Mark Coady, Ont., Dec 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. NA-test: As informed also earlier SWR's 25 mb beam is now directed towards North-America. This direction is on from 10 PM to 06 AM UT. Please listen and let us know if you can listen this test! Our number for calls and SMS's is +358 400 995 559. Our schedule (25 mb): 10PM to midnight UTC 11720 kHz, 00-02 AM UTC 11690 kHz, 02-09 AM UTC 11720 kHz. Frequencies might change without notice, so please try both ones! Best Regards, (Alpo, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Dec 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Every year, DW's German Service offers a special selection of Christmas programming that--due to a generous use of music and the station's unsurpassed reception quality--is easily accessible even to those who don't understand German. Tune around through the major shortwave bands and you will undoubtedly come upon the station broadcasting to your area during prime listening hours. Good Listening! DEUTSCHE WELLE GERMAN SERVICE SPECIAL PROGRAMMING FOR CHRISTMAS DW works to an 0600-0559 UT daily cycle. For our purposes, the new day starts at 0600. Heiligabend (Christmas Eve) 2205, 0205 - Der Bunte Teller (The Multicolored Palette): Geschichten und Gedichte (Stories and Poems to the Celebration). 2305, 0305 - Christmas Carols 0005, 0405 - Funkjournal (RadioJournal) 0035, 0435 - (A documentary featuring the voices of the homeless) 0105, 0505 - Weihnacht-Gottesdienst kath. (Christmas Service-Catholic) - aus dem Dom zu Munster, Bischof Reinhard Lettmann (from the Cathedral of Munster, Bishop Reinhard Lettman, Principal Celebrant) Weihnachtstag (Christmas Day) 0605, 1005, 1405, 2205, 0205 - Weihnachts-Pop (pop Christmas music) 0705, 1105, 1505, 1905, 2305, 0605 - DW-Weihnachtskonzert 2002 (DW Christmas Concert 2002): St. Gereon, Koln, Weihnachtsmusik des italienischen Barock mit Chor Accentus Concerto Koln (from St. Gereon Church in Cologne, Italian Baroque Christmas music with the Accentus Concert Choir of Cologne). 0905, 1305, 1705, 2105, 0105, 0505 - Was ihr Wollt (What You Want) - (Presumably a Christmas music request program). 26 December (Day After Christmas) 0605, 1005, 1405, 2205, 0205 - DW prasentiert Alfred Brendel: Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven (Classical Concert). Seasons Greetings, (John Figliozzi, NY, ODXA via DXLD) Should be more specials for Sylvester and Jahrwechsel (gh) ** GERMANY. Holzkirchen moved to KUWAIT? q.v. ** HAITI. As reported in a recent Newfoundland DXpedition, Radio Ginen, 1030 (nom. 1050) Port-au-Prince, noted here 12/21 at 1745 EST [2245 UT] with OM in Creole giving a sermon(?) to an audience. As usual reception only good for about 10-15 min. with heavy QRM from the SS station in the Orlando area, nonetheless still there for those who hear something "strange" on 1030 (Greg Myers, Clearwater, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** INDIA. INDIAN STUDENTS CLAIM THE AIRWAVES From The BBC: Friday, 20 December, 2002, 14:37 GMT By Ayanjit Sen, BBC reporter in Delhi The Indian Government is to allow colleges and universities across the country to set up their own radio stations. The decision has been welcomed by many universities as well as students - previously unable to get licences. The government will not charge any licence fees for the new radio stations which will be created at a time when India is opening up radio frequencies for the private sector. Radio broadcasting in India began in 1927 - but it is now seen to be time for the country's university students to tune into something closer to their hearts. Many people argue the time is right for new programmes, more listeners and new presenters - who would be starting their careers while they are young. The university stations will be amongst a number of FM radio stations which are soon going to be launched with educational and entertainment programmes. The Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister, Sushma Swaraj, said all universities, Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Technology and residential schools would be granted permission. Apart from educational programmes... we will also be interested to air traditional and folk songs of the country. She said programmes in local language would help to tap into young talent, who would then get a chance to produce programmes. These FM stations would be set up with half a kilowatt of transmission power which would be able to broadcast in a range of five kilometres. These projects are expected to cost between $8,000 and $16,000. Professor SM Sajid, from the project in Delhi's Jamia Milia Islamia University told the BBC they have already sent a proposal to the government regarding the setting up of an FM station. "Apart from educational programmes like academic discussions, we will also be interested to air traditional and folk songs of the country," said Mr Sajid. He said the idea is to use the radio station as a supplement for academic inputs as well as provide entertainment. Although there will be no licence fee the government said rules for running such stations will be outlined soon. District authorities will keep a watch on programmes broadcast from these FM stations, which would be in accordance with the programming code of the state-run All India Radio. A senior Delhi University official, Shyam Menon, said the university is in the process of preparing a project to set up a station. He said, if implemented, the university will use it as a social medium where students can communicate with each other as well as an educational medium. A Delhi University student, Reshma Thakur, said students will now be able to get news about what is happening in the campus. One of the most famous Indian radio presenters, Ameen Sayani, told the BBC he expects these FM band stations to be very successful. "Since these programmes will be without commercials, it will attract more listeners who are already tired of too many advertisements broadcast on radio," he said. According to estimates, there are radio sets in about 105 million households in the country (via Mike Terry, DXLD) About time; how many people per household? ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. From http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/news.htm TEMPORARY TRANSMISSIONS. Our satellite signal is being currently carried on Hotbird 6. Listeners with motorised dishes can tune to : 13 Degrees East. Transponder 94. 12597 GHz. Vertical Polarity. Symbol Rate 27.5 FEC 3/4. We do not suggest that those with fixed dishes go to the trouble of attempting to get this signal. PERMANENT NEW CHANNEL In the early days of Jan 2003 we will be taking a full time long term channel on a 28 degree satellite. Those currently having dishes pointing at 19.2 should shift them to 28 and use the following information to hear out signal. 11661 GHz. Horizontal Polarity. Symbol Rate 27.5. FEC 2/3 Anyone possessing ' Sky ' equipment will simply have to select the ' other channels' menu and enter the above settings (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Hello Mr. Hauser, Firstly, let me send you and your family all the very best for Christmas and the new year 2003. I am writing to let you know that there are a number of interesting channels available on Worldspace digital satellite radio. I assume that you have already studied this, but I recently purchased one of these receivers and found it to be most interesting and entertaining. The unit itself is a Hitachi KH-WS 1 and is using an outdoor yagi antenna, manufactured by a company in Bombay, India, whose name escapes me. Worldspace makes all its channels available on it, and features Radio Prague, Polish Radio, etc. I am actually receiving the Afristar beam, that covers Europe, Mideast and Africa. Thought that you would be interested in knowing about this. Happy holidays (Christopher Lewis, UK, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. The future of radio is here. I've been listening to something called satellite radio for the past month and I'm convinced that everyone should give it a try. Satellite radio involves getting a special receiver for your auto or home that picks up signals beamed down from outer space. The reception is digitally enhanced and the quality of the programming is superb.... http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/122302/np4.htm?date=122302&story=np4.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Two Newsflashes - POLICE RAID THEN LEAVE ARUTZ 7 SHIP AT SEA From http://www.arutzsheva.org/news.php3?id=36057 13:53 Dec-24-02, 19 Tevet 5763 Israel Police Raid Ship, Close Down Arutz-7 Radio At 1 PM today, Israel Police raided the Eretz HaTzvi ship at sea, and closed down Arutz-7 radio broadcasts. Internet broadcasts are not affected. Arutz-7 officials noted that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of the Likud is the only Prime Minister to ever have given an order to close Arutz-7. Left-wing Prime Ministers Rabin, Peres, and Barak did not see fit to give such orders. 14:20 Dec-24-02, 19 Tevet 5763 ISRAEL POLICE LEAVE ARUTZ-7 SHIP, BROADCASTS RESUME Arutz-7 broadcasts were stopped for over an hour this afternoon when Israel Police raided the Eretz HaTzvi ship at sea. The raid began at 1 PM, the hour of Arutz-7's daily newsmagazine. The police left the ship at around 2:15, and broadcasts resumed (via Mike Terry, DXLD) OFFSHORE : ARUTZ SHEVA EQUIPMENT NOT CONFISCATED DUE TO LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS By Efrat Shalom and Nadav Shragai, Ha'retz Correspondents and Ha'retz Service, Tuesday, December 24, 2002, http://www.haaretzdaily.com/ Police and Communication Ministry officials on Tuesday raided the "Eretz Hatzvi" ship from which the Arutz Sheva pirate radio station broadcasts, though no equipment was confiscated and no arrests were made due to logistical and technical difficulties. The officials, who had search warrants, documented the station's activities, questioned the ship's captain, and recorded his personal details. The captain was warned that he was taking part in a criminal offense. The station's broadcasts were renewed one hour after the raid, the police said. In a deliberation on election propaganda that took place several days ago, the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Mishael Cheshin, instructed police to check whether elections propaganda was being broadcast on pirate radio stations. According to police claims, the raid was not linked to Cheshin's instructions, but was part of ongoing police handling of illegal Arutz Sheva broadcasts, following a Communications Ministry complaint filed in 1997. The "Eretz Hatzvi" ship is situated off of the Tel Aviv coast, outside Israel's territorial waters. However, the broadcasts originate in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, and the ship serves as a relay station. This is the first time police have raided the ship at sea. The ship had been raided while docked at the Ashdod port, and since then it has not anchored at ports in Israel. In the past, police raided the station in Beit El, and findings were transferred to the Attorney General. The police intends to continue the investigation, and at its conclusion, all findings will be presented to a court. The National Union - Yisrael Beiteinu party says Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is "shutting the mouths of the only broadcast station trying to avert a disaster in the state of Israel." During the raid, the Yesha Council called on Public Security Minister Uzi Landau to immediately renew Arutz Sheva broadcasts, which it claims serve as a "national and patriotic shofar." (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ARUTZ-7 SHIP RAIDED, WARNED NOT TO BROADCAST http://www.israelnationalnews.org/news.php3?id=36073 24 December 2002 Israel Police and Communications Ministry personnel raided the Eretz HaTzvi broadcasting ship of Arutz-7 Israel National Radio this afternoon, halting the station's signal for over an hour. The ship's captain was warned not to resume transmission of the broadcasts. The raid began at 1 PM, just as the news magazine hour was about to begin, and ended approximately 2:15. The police photographed equipment and workers, but confiscated nothing. Reports on Israel Radio that the police found only one person on board - the captain - are groundless, and in fact there were close to ten crewmembers on board at the time. Arutz-7 broadcasts from outside of Israel's territorial waters in order to circumvent legislation that prohibits privately-owned radio stations from airing nationwide. A law duly passed by the Knesset granted Arutz-7 a broadcasting license was recently nullified by the Supreme Court. Arutz-7 management noted that this was the first time in the history of Israeli off-shore broadcasting - including 22 years of Abie Natan's Voice of Peace ship, and 15 years for Arutz-7 - that police had ever made such a raid. "Not under the governments of Yitzchak Rabin, Shimon Peres, or Ehud Barak were police ever sent to raid a ship broadcasting from sea," the station said. "Only under Ariel Sharon did this happen. Could it have something to do with our opposition to a Palestinian state?" Condemnations of the apparent blow against freedom of speech came only from the right-wing. Communications Minister Ruby Rivlin of the Likud said today that he was "furious" at the raid, citing in particular its timing during an election campaign. While the raid was underway, the Council of Jewish Communities in Yesha called upon Public Security Minister Uzi Landau - ministerial supervisor of Israel Police - to renew at once the broadcasts on Arutz-7, "which, especially during this period, is a national and patriotic mouthpiece for the struggle on behalf of the Land of Israel." A spokesman for Minister Landau told Arutz-7 that he did not know of the raid in advance, and that it was initiated by the Communications Ministry a while ago. He preferred not to comment on the political aspects of the raid. National Union party leader MK Avigdor Lieberman said that the raid is "nothing more than political scheming, based on election-campaign considerations and as revenge for Arutz-7's clear policy against a Palestinian state." His party colleagues also commented: MK Tzvi Hendel said that this is a case of "political persecution on the eve of elections," and demanded that Communications Minister Rivlin open an immediate investigation into how this occurred. MK Uri Ariel said that the raid is an attempt to "shut mouths." MK Benny Elon said that the authorities of the Supreme Court - which put a freeze on a duly- passed Knesset law legalizing Arutz-7 - must be curtailed "in order to prevent it from making a mockery of Israel's democracy." Blame for the raid is already being freely apportioned. The police say that the Communications Ministry ordered the raid as part of its efforts against unlicensed stations. The Communications Ministry, however, says that the raid came in response to Elections Committee head Hon. Michael Cheshin's call to ensure that unlicensed stations do not broadcast election propaganda. Arutz-7 announced in response that it is more careful not to allow its interviewers and interviewees to speak on behalf of specific parties than are Israel's public stations. Arutz-7's management released the following statement: Announcement By Arutz-7 Management "For 15 years, the State Prosecution and the police have waged a campaign to harm Arutz-7 by "hitting us in our pockets." On two previous occasions, police have smashed and confiscated our state-of- the-art broadcasting equipment, under the pretext that the station's broadcasts are against Israeli law. No court has ever ruled that this is the case, but Arutz-7 has had to pay top lawyers' fees in order to defend itself against these allegations. Police raids like the one today are aimed solely at portraying the station as illegal, thus bringing about an immediate decrease in advertising income. "The Prime Minister, Communications Minister, and Public Security (Police) Minister all denied prior knowledge of and involvement in today's attempt to silence Israel's only radio *voice opposing the establishment of Palestinian state. How, then, did it happen? Raids of this sort happen under right-wing governments because extremist left elements control key government institutions, including the police, the State Prosecution, the courts, and the Israel Broadcasting Authority. They are largely behind the systematic attempts to financially cripple and harm the lone nationalist voice on Israel's airwaves. We turn to our listeners and internet readers to fight this trend in whatever legitimate manner is available. Please speak out, write letters and faxes, and support the station in its continual struggle to survive these blows against our right to champion the Jewish Nation's right to in the Land of Israel." (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN. IRAN BLASTS BUSH BROADCAST ON RADIO FARDA Iran has responded to last Friday's speech by US President George W Bush marking the inauguration of Radio Farda, the new US international radio service for Iran. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi described the speech, in which Bush told Iranians of his support for their "quest for freedom", as "a fruitless and interfering act intended to create divisions between the Iranian people and officials." He added that "the Iranian people have not given Bush the authority to express his opinion as their spokesman." (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 24 December 2002 via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. USA/IRAN: US GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN IRAN NEWS AGENCY OFFICE IN WASHINGTON | Text of report by Iranian radio on 21 December On the instruction of the American government, the bank accounts of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Interests Section in Washington and the local office of the Islamic Republic News Agency [IRNA] in that city were closed down. According to a Central News Unit report from New York, a number of unofficial reports indicate that the closure of the bank accounts of the Iranian offices is related to a recent American court order against Iran. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, in Persian 1030 gmt 21 Dec 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. USA STARTS INVASION OF IRAQ Some purists might object to the headline atop this column, for a couple of reasons. At column deadline time for this month`s issue of The ACE there has still been no actual invasion of Iraq by United States military troops. Further, prior to now, aggressive military invasions of other countries had been lumped into a pejorative category formerly occupied by the former Soviet Union (who invaded a variety of countries over the years), the Nazi regime in Germany (who invaded several adjacent countries in the 1930`s and 1940`s), and similar governments. It has therefore baffled your editor about why it has suddenly become a good thing for the strongest country in the world to formulate and execute plans to militarily invade countries who have not attacked that country. In another comparison, about ten years ago it was considered a terrible thing when the military of Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait. Countries simply do not have a license to aggressively invade other countries. That is, all countries except for the United States are covered by this principle, since being the strongest country in the world entitles the United States to invade anybody they want to at any time that they see fit. I have been baffled by this obvious bit of illogic. I expressed this bafflement to some other ACE members, from whom I received an explanation. I will leave the name of the person who provided me with the explanation anonymous in the column this month. But, here is the explanation: ``When the big dog wants to eat, you get out of the way.`` I was not very reassured about this new principle of international organization, which in fact is not really new, since empires throughout history have been big dogs that decided to eat at various times. Other political entities had to get out of the way of military aggression when those dogs started to develop an appetite. That`s it for the political analysis of the current situation this month. From a clandestine radio perspective, the United States invasion of Iraq has already begun. On or about December 15 the Unites States government cranked up its clandestine broadcasting effort. Its usual mobile radio transmissions from Commando Solo, previously made famous from his widely heard Information Radio broadcasts to Afghanistan and other countries, is on the air once again. USA aircraft dropped leaflets on Iraqi soil announcing the new broadcasts. Both Artie Bigley and Clandestine Radio Watch picked up this story virtually immediately. The station, according to the leaflets and various press accounts, was operating in mid-December on 9715 and 11292 kHz shortwave between 1500 and 2000 UT. In addition, it is using two medium wave frequencies on 692 and 756 kHz. Further, a channel on 100.4 MHz FM is being used for the broadcasts. On DXplorer, Paul Ormandy in New Zealand quickly noted a logging of the station on 11292 kHz at 1846 UT on December 17, although he had a weak signal and did not copy much in the way of programming except for Middle Eastern Music. Obviously all DXers will want to stay up on the latest information about this new operation. The best place to do this is the http://www.clandestineradio.com web site. A copy of the USA leaflet announcing the broadcasts is posted up on this web site. Clearly, even during the winter, these times and frequencies are a little less than wonderful for North American DXers. But, on a good opening to the Middle East, it is conceivable that either of these frequencies might poke through across the Ocean, especially to listening locations in eastern North America. So, if you have not tried to hear this one yet, you ought to turn on your receiver and give it a try, perhaps around 1900 UT or a little later. I have tried for it here in Cleveland, but so far I have heard nothing. Of course, if Saddam Hussein sent airplanes to drop leaflets over Florida announcing his new clandestine transmitter on 11292 kHz, we could expect that J. Eager Heaver would not be the only FCC employee assigned to counter this aggressive act. A full force of the USA military would be quickly deployed and war would be immediately declared. So, as you see, the USA invaded Iraq over the airwaves in mid-December (George Zeller, Clandestine Profile, Jan The A*C*E via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Arutz-7 raid: see INTERNATIONAL WATERS above ** KUWAIT. This is the snail mail address of VOA Kuwait as requested: Attn. Station Manager IBB, U.S. Embassy P.O. Box 77, Safat 13001, Kuwait Regards, Kuwait Master Control (via Ruud Vos, Netherlands, BC-DX Dec 23 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Olle drew my attention on a statement regarding the new 1593 kHz transmitter in Kuwait which can be also read at http://www.dxing.info/community/viewtopic.php?t=653 Well, on the Lampertheim sightseeing tour I also asked about the closed mediumwave transmitter at Holzkirchen and was told that this is a Continental, rated at 150 kW (i.e. not a higher rated unit running reduced power) and of the same age than the shortwave transmitters (they were installed in 1981). This perfectly matches what was stated about the just installed transmitter at Kuwait, also without considering the use of the very same frequency which is just coincidence of course. So I think there is a very good chance that Radio Farda now in fact uses the old Holzkirchen transmitter (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LEBANON [non]. Despite the shrill language in this column so far [IRAQ non], all of the clandestine activity on shortwave is not concentrated only in Iraq. On DXplorer, Ed Kusalik noted a logging of Voice of Freedom/Free Patriotic Movement of Lebanon on 11515 kHz for an hour at *1600 UT on December 21. Ed heard a patriotic anthem at sign-on, with multiple announcers talking about Middle Eastern politics. If Ed can hear this one in Alberta, it certainly is worth a check at your own QTH. Ed notes that this one has a web site, in case you would like more information about the station. CRW #121 noted the appearance of this one with a test broadcast, but we don`t know a great deal about it yet. CRW notes that http://www.radio@tayyar.org {sic} is an apparently valid e-mail address for contact with the station (George Zeller, Clandestine Profile, Jan The A*C*E via DXLD According to their web site, Clandestine Voice of Liberty (FPM) testing period has ended on Dec. 22. Programs are scheduled to restart on the 6th of January 2003. Off air today Dec. 23, I heard *1600-1700* on 11515 an hour of Chinese music! (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Dec 23, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. On 19 December, the transmitting centre in Sitkunai conducted a second test transmission on 1557 kHz (150 kW, ND) in cooperation with Radio Baltic Waves International (Vilnius), in order to determine the coverage area. The programme aired was a Chinese language broadcast of China Radio International at 1800-2000 UT. (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dec 20, MW-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 4725 went off abruptly in mid-sentence at 1230 yesterday (23 Dec), and programme continued on 5040.6. 5985.0 was heard with main sce before 1230 with English lang. lesson, so 3 SW frequencies carrying Myanmar Radio were on simultaneously. 6570 Defence Forces station was heard as usual from 1330 (Alan Davies, Sengigi, Indonesia, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) BURMA, 5040.58, Radio Myanmar, 1202 Dec 24m talk in presumed Burmese, music; // 4725; pretty much faded out by 1245 (Ralph Brandi, AOR AR- 7030 Plus, 250-foot mini-Beverage antenna, Tinton Falls, New Jersey, USA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. 6307.37, Radio Piepzender, 0043 Dec 25, ID spelled out phonetically at 0043 tunein, crazy Dutch schlaeger-like music, address and another ID in English with phonetics @ 0055, e-mail address, web address http://www.piepzender.nl lots more music, lots more IDs (Ralph Brandi, AOR AR-7030 Plus, 250-foot mini-Beverage antenna, Tinton Falls, New Jersey, USA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. JAKADA RADIO INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF HAUSA BROADCASTS | Text of report by Nigerian newspaper The Daily Trust web site on 23 December The Jakada FM which was denied licence in Nigeria by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is to commence broadcasting in Hausa language today from Spain. In a telephone conversation with chairman of Jakada Radio, Ambassador Yusuf Mamman, Daily Trust gathered that the radio will transmit on 125 kHz 25 metre band on shortwave and could also be accessed from the Internet at http://www.jakadaradio.com [as published - the Jakada Radio web site gives the frequency as 12125 kHz.] The Hausa service which commences today will run from 8.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. [1900-1930 gmt] daily on weekdays. Ambassador Mamman stated that the radio station has signed a friendship agreement with the federation of Hausa radio listeners in Africa to enable the programme achieve its desired purpose and reach the target audience. The Jakada Radio which started transmission in Nigeria some time ago ran into trouble waters when the national regulator, the NBC, disowned it, saying it had not granted licence to any station by that name in the country. The commencement of broadcasting activities by the station from Spain has probably brought to a halt the face-off between the station and NBC. [Jakada Radio was first observed broadcasting on shortwave on 1 May 2002. Although programming is reportedly produced in Spain, it is believed that the radio hires airtime on a shortwave transmitter elsewhere in Europe. The Jakada radio web site states that: "Jakada Radio International (JRI) is owned by Oscar Mariano Benjy Inc., a legally registered media company in Europe with offices in London, Madrid and Frankfurt. It is made up of international broadcasters and broadcast investors led by a distinguished Nigerian international broadcaster and Diplomat, Ambassador Yaro Yusufu Mamman. Jakada Radio International is registered with all the relevant broadcasting bodies in the world and has fulfilled all the requirements for the issuance of shortwave broadcasting licence." Mission Statement The web site states that "Jakada Radio International is a non- religious, non-political, commercial radio station. It does not represent any political or ideological tendencies or manifestations. We are committed to fundamental human rights, democracy, rule of law and pluralism. Although African in perspective, we are global in our belief in our committed to the highest level of radio broadcast professionalism and ethics. We have a team of some of the best Africans, Africans in diaspora and other in radio journalism. "Our objective is to air views and opinions that will advance peaceful co-existence among people and NOT to preach hate or promote views and opinions that undermine peaceful co-existence and public peace. As professionals, our team will endeavour to accommodate and give balance, report and account at all times. Our listeners have right of reply, but the station reserves the right to reject comments or expressions inciting violence or that fall short of acceptable language. "We will provide you with news, sports and interviews across the African continent and beyond. Another area that JRI will also promote is the situation of woman and children in Africa. Additionally, we are committed to public awareness on the scourge of HIV/AIDS in the continent of Africa, and the environment. Finally, we would like to always have the comments and views of our listeners on all aspects of the programme aired. Please send us your letters by e-mail to: jakint2002@yahoo.com " Sources: The Daily Trust web site, Kaduna, in English 23 Dec 02; Jakada Radio International web site in English 23 Dec 02 (BBC Monitoring via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. JAKADA RADIO TO BEGIN HAUSA TRANSMISSIONS TODAY Jakada Radio International commences regular broadcasts in Hausa today (23 December). The broadcasts will be on 12125kHz shortwave and on the Internet at http://www.jakadaradio.com at 8:00 pm to 8:30 pm (1900- 1930 UT) Mon-Fri. Test transmissions were first heard in May 2002, and airtime is arranged through the Belgian company TDP. According to the TDP Web site, the station was last scheduled at 0600-0630 UTC Mon-Fri on 15695 kHz, but has been on a "temporary break." HFCC frequency registrations for the current broadcasting period indicate that the transmitter site used is Armavir in Russia. Jakada Radio International describes itself as a non-religious, non- political, commercial radio station. It says it does not represent any political or ideological tendencies or manifestations, and is committed to fundamental human rights, democracy, rule of law and pluralism. The station's chairman, Yaro Yusufu Mamman, is a former Nigerian ambassador to Spain. He is a former chairman of the Nigerian political party Alliance for Democracy. He has also worked as a journalist with the Broadcasting Company of Northern Nigeria and the Nigerian Television Authority (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 23 December 2002 via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** NORWAY. Hi Glen[n], I noticed the following today. BBCWS on Radio Norway's frequencies, presumably Merlin Communications testing, December 24, 2002. 1700 to 1730 UT on 18950 1800 to 1830 UT on 15705 and 13800 1900 to 1930 UT on 13800 All were relays of the Europe stream on 9410 and 6195 and followed by Radio Denmark for the following half hours. At 2200 UT Radio Norway was back as usual on 7530 and 7470. 73 (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Canada, Dec 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Most nights, KOMA 1520 blows the doors off of 1510 and 1530, which brings me to this question: Is KOMA REALLY running 50 kW? This is a blowtorch that is stronger than anything that Kansas City or Des Moines can serve up. I thought I'd once heard that KOMA was fined for running more than their allotted power, perhaps as much as 59 kW. I suspect that they may be up to their old hijinks again (Rick (I need Buffalo!) Dau, Omaha, Nebraska, Dec 22, NRC-AM via DXLD) They`ve always had an outstanding skywave; 59 vs 50 kW would be hard to distinguish; what`s the tolerance allowed on this, anyway? (gh, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don't think KOMA is supposed to throw much signal towards the NE at night. From what I've observed from here near Chicago, I am convinced that they often switch back to day pattern late at night like this and especially on weekends. 73 (Neil Kazaross, IL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Enid`s only local TV station, KXOK, ch 32 (cable 18) is showing some signs of life again, besides constant Dr Gene Scott. On Monday old movies were back, not sure from America 1 or what, along with constant advertising crawlers, but after heavy snow it was back to DGS, even tho their dish was obviously full of ice, and the picture struggled to refresh. For hours on end, mostly it was virtually a freeze-frame, and fuzzy at that, tho his audio kept on going. This made his appearance even less vieworthy, to say the least. We are supposed to visit the KXOK website and register for Big Prizes, but the site (or forwarding to it from `Tuvalu`) is not working: http://www.kxok.tv which forwards to http://www.tv/en-def-f6ab2b906d73/cgi-bin/glob.cgi?domain=www.kxok.tv (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 5080v : see UNIDENTIFIED below and previously ** PARAGUAY. Dear Mr Glenn Hauser: Please accept my sincere wishes for a Happy Christmas and Peaceful New Year! Radiodifusión América has Special Progamming, on 7737 KHZ, and a Special QSL to accompany it. Your reports will be most welcome. With Holiday Greetings, from Paraguay (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay ramerica@rieder.net.py Dec 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. As announced by Mikhail Timofeyev, Radio Gardarika at present broadcasts on 5920 again, noted tonight with excellent audio/modulation but a somewhat weak signal. A report about a station visit can be found on the website of a German school: http://igs- norderstedt.lernnetz.de/schule/projekte/medien/deutsch/gardarika.htm Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 4625 KHZ BUZZER STATION REVEALED Have you heard the buzzer station on 4625 kHz? Here is the full scoop on this military signal. Have a look and a listen at UVB-76. http://www.geocities.com/uvb76/ (DXing.com Newsroom via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) a long file, saying it is 40 km west of Moscow (gh, DXLD) ** RWANDA. 6055, DEC 22, 2100 - caught end of anthem for a brief time after Slovakia signed off. DEC 24, 2104 - Christmas carols "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night", man and woman speaking in French in between selections, more talk over the music as 2130 approaches. Weak but steady, with buzzing static. Thanks to the tip from George-MA the other day, that this stays on later on Christmas Eve (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, Drake R8, 1000' beverage west, 1000' beverage nw, 100' longwire sw, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. CLANDESTINE - 8300, New Star Broadcasting Station, 1400- 1416 Dec 24. S/on routine with YL announcer and some traditional Chinese music, then to the numbers at 1404. Transmission ended at about 1416, but the carrier stayed on. Same sequence at 1500. Checked their former frequencies but no parallels found (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot random wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Nothing on 9890, but brought up VOT`s webcast at 1942 UT Dec 24 for the live Xmas eve call-in, or call-out. First contact was David Crystal in Israel, who only wanted to comment about reception at 0400 on 7240, which had been blocked by Russia, but lately VOT has been on top. They kept trying to get him talking about Xmas, even after he pointed out that he is Jewish and doesn`t celebrate it! It seems Moslem Turks often go to church on Xmas to honor the Christian minority. Second caller was Greg Fisher, Lacrosse WI, who won a VOT trip to Turkey in 1988. There were supposed to be about 16? People lined up, but they only had time for about half of them, with repetitious comments about Xmas, desires for peace, etc. Some other names I recognized were Alokesh Gupta in India, who had to explain that he is a Hindu and doesn`t do anything special for Xmas; and Henry J. Michalenka --- a once active DXer in Rhode Island whose name has not come up in a long time. In an attempt at ecumenism, the host perhaps unwittingly shut out rationalist non-believers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Hello WWDXC topnews, From 1 January 2003 RUI will change its two frequencies: 6020 ---7420 (az. 290 deg.) 9810 ---7375 (az. 314 deg.) (Alexander Yegorov, Kiev, Ukraine, Dec 23, BC-DX via Wolfgang Bueschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) A lonely on SW Ukrainian commercial radio company "ALEX" in Zaporizhzhia has launched into the air its transmitter on 11980 kHz. On December 22 at 10.12, I heard it with transmission of the Ukrainian National Radio channel UR-1. Bad modulation, weak signal (the power presumably is only 250 W). The frequency was shifted around +300 Hz or so. SINPO was 24342. From 1200 CRI began to broadcast on 11980 completely jamming "R.ALEX" (Alexander Yegorov, Kiev, Ukraine, Dec 23, BC-DX via Wolfgang Bueschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** U K [non]. BBC via NORWAY: q.v. ** U K [non]. LATVIA, 5935, Laser Radio, 2253-2300* Dec. 23. Just managed to catch this one just before sign-off. heard musical selections, to anthem played at 2256. ID by male speaker at 2258 with closing words, then musical jingle and some more music played. Music to 2259 whereas I heard the distinctive sound of laser effects prior to sign-off. Signal was gradually building up in strength as I noted this one as early as 2152 with a carrier, but as usual didn't [get] to the receiver in time to get much more details (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Canada, Dec 23, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Dec 23 was Monday. Station is supposed to be on Sundays only. Did you mean to say Dec 22? (gh, DXLD) LATVIA, 5935, Laser Radio, 1915 Dec 22, The Romantics "What I Like About You", Jefferson Starship "We Built This City", ID with web address http://www.laserradio.net and phone number at 1939, Eddie & the Hot Rods, "Only Want To Be With You", another ID at 1956, Elvis Costello "Pump It Up" at 2000, Ian Dury "What a Waste"; // MP3 stream at http://158.223.1.15:12690/listen.pls (Ralph Brandi, AOR AR-7030 Plus, 250-foot mini-Beverage antenna, Tinton Falls, New Jersey, USA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, You may have caught this: Kim Elliot was not on Main Street (VOA) this week. He was on DX Partyline (HCJB) so I guess he traveled to Quito. He mentioned that he will be on VOA with some special programs News Years Day. He will be on 17-18 UT as guest host and 14-15 UT with interviews with radio station big wigs. This will be repeated at 22-23 UT (Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Talk to America, that I will guest-host on January 1 at 1700-1800 UT, will have two extra frequencies: 9775 (Greenville) and 17635 (Delano). 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear friends, Hello from Washington. I miss doing Communications World and our e-mail correspondence. However, this is to let you know that I will back on VOA News Now on New Year's Day, January 1, as guest-host of Talk to America, 1700-1800 UT. In addition to taking calls, I will also *make* calls -- thus saving you some long-distance telephone charges. If you would like me to call you on January 1 between 17 and 18 UTC, please send me an e-mail with your telephone number. If you record any interesting New Year's Eve radio listening, please send excerpts via e-mail, and I'll try to include it in the program. Here's the transmission schedule for Talk to America: To Europe, Middle East and North Africa 1700-1800 UT 6040 9760 15205 To Africa 1700-1800 UT 909 13710 15240 15445 17895 To East and South Asia 1700-1800 UT 1143 1575 5990 6045 9525 9795 11955 12005 15255 To the Americas (special frequencies for January 1): 9775 (Greenville) and 17635 (Delano) RealAudio: http://www.voanews.com/real/live/newsnow.ram Also on Worldnet/VOA-TV, if you can receive it! In addition to Talk to America, I am preparing a program that will be broadcast on VOA News Now between 1400 and 1500 UT. This will consist mostly of interviews with directors and other managers of international radio stations. Here's the transmission schedule for 1400-1500: To Europe, Middle East and North Africa 1400-1500 UT 1197 15205 To East and South Asia 1400-1500 UT 1143 6110 7125 9645 9760 11705 15395 15425 This program will be repeated at 2200-2300 UT (which is actually the morning of January 2 in East Asia): To Africa 2200-2230 UT 909 1530 6035 7415 11655 11975 13710 To East Asia 2200-2300 UT 7215 9770 9890 11760 15185 15290 15305 17735 17820 (+1575 after 2230) RealAudio: http://www.voanews.com/real/live/newsnow.ram I hope you will be able to tune in on January 1. All the best, Kim Kim Andrew Elliott (ex-)Producer and Presenter Communications World Voice of America Washington, D.C. 20237 USA Telephone: +1-202-619-3047 E-mail: ke@voanews.com Website: http://www.trsc.com/cw (via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Again this year, Kim has talked me into doing a SW YEAR IN REVIEW, which used to appear on COMMUNICATIONS WORLD --- this time on his Jan. 1 specials (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Farda has attracted a bubble jammer - noted on 13680 [KAVALA] c0830. The 21475 [IRANAWILA] outlet seemed unaffected (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Dec 24, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Another note on Radio Farda: The RFE/RL tape loop after a Radio Farda transmission heard by Glenn as well as the use of a RFE/RL server for the audio stream http://www.rferl.org/realaudio/c21.ram seems to indicate that the console stands at Prague, so to speak, i.e. it appears that the output originates from the RFE/RL radiohouse, unlike Radio Sawa (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also KUWAIT ** U S A. WRMI has filled daytime Sunday on 15725 with this new show at 1500-2100, as well as earlier that UT Day, Sun 0500-1000 on 7385. From http://wrmi.net : (gh, DXLD) Solid Rock Radio - Welcome to the new home of Solid Rock Radio! We have a lot in store for you in the future, and look forward to hearing from you. WSRR Internet radio was established to accommodate aspiring music artists of the future with a marketing tool for self-promotion. Allowing only unsigned and Indie label musicians to participate, the station provides an Internet location where platinum albums of the future can be heard and visitors to the site can discover these artists. The station features a top-20 list of rising stars and other forms of programming. In 1992, Solid Rock Radio aired its first radio program over several international radio stations, The program was called America's Best Unsigned and ndie Label Artists. Because of the demand from listeners around the world to hear more, Solid Rock Radio increased its programs, then expanded to the Internet. On December 12, 1999, WSRR considered the possibility of giving back to the city of Buffalo, New York by entering into a joint venture with the Pratt Willert Community Center to establish a program for kids that would produce confident children in the community with entrepreneurial skills and the proper attitude and aptitude for business. Because of the increase of students wanting to enter the radio program, we now have moved to the Delavan Grider Community Center. Today we broadcast live over the Internet and FM 104.9 MHz. And don't forget our International Shortwave Broadcast on 7385 kHz from 12 midnight-5 a.m. Eastern time Saturday night (that's 0500-1000 UTC Sunday), and on 15725 kHz from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (that 1500-2100 UTC). We target our broadcast to supporting record companies and to all classes of people in in life. We are always looking for new demo from unsigned and Indie label music artists. Contact us for more information. Mailing Address: c/o WRMI, P.O. Box 526852, Miami, FL 33152. E-mail: beebop@solidrockradio.net A new schedule is dated Dec. 15. What else? We now have an explanation of a previous new addition, UT Sun 0130-0145 on 9955: La Hora de Chibás - ``Un programa semanal del Partido Ortodoxo Cubano en el exilio, presentado por Mario Jiménez. Dirección: La Hora de Chibás, c/o Mario Jiménez, P.O. Box 451132, Miami, Florida 33245-1132, USA.`` Until now, 7385 had only been used on the NW antenna, but now the first half hour of that, 0300-0330 is specified to Carib and Latin Ameica, i.e. the beam normally used on 9955. So it should be interesting to observe what change in signal and/or break in transmission there be at 0330 between R. Prague in Spanish and then in Czech. Excerpted are non-huckster, non-far right programs: (gh) WRMI Schedule/Horario Effective December/Diciembre 15, 2002 Days are local days in the Americas; times are UTC. Días son días locales en las Américas; horas son UTC. MONDAY-FRIDAY/LUNES-VIERNES To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 1100-1130 La Voz de la Junta Patriótica Cubana (español) 1130-1230 Entre Cubanos (español) 1230-1300 Viva Miami (English/español) Note: This transmission from 1000-1300 UTC is temporarily not aired on Tuesday and Thursday. To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 1400-1600 Music [usually classical!, sometimes R. Prague at 1400] 7385 kHz to North America (except as noted)/7385 kHz hacia Norteamérica (excepto donde anotado): Note: The following are Tuesday-Saturday UTC. Los siguientes son martes-sábado UTC. 0300-0330 Radio Praga (español; hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica) 0330-0400 Radio Praha (Czech) 0400-0430 Radio Prague (English) SATURDAY/SABADO To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 1000-1030 Viva Miami (English) 1130-1200 Wavescan (English) 1200-1230 Viva Miami (English/español) To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 1300-2300 Music [what kind? Keep forgetting to check on Sat – gh] 2330-0000 Wavescan (English) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: The following are Sunday UTC. Los siguientes son domingo UTC. 0000-0100 Foro Militar Cubano (español) 0100-0130 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) 0130-0145 La Hora de Chibás (español) 0200-0300 Radio Revista Lux (español) 7385 kHz to North America (except as noted)/7385 kHz para Norteamérica (excepto donde anotado): 0300-0330 Radio Praga (español; hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica) 0330-0400 Radio Praha (Czech) 0400-0430 Radio Prague (English) 0430-0500 Viva Miami (English/español) 0500-1000 Solid Rock Radio (English) SUNDAY/DOMINGO To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 1000-1100 Foro Militar Cubano (español) To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 1300-1400 Viva Miami (English) 1400-1430 Wavescan (English) 1500-2100 Solid Rock Radio (English) 2200-2230 Wavescan (English) 2230-0000 Viva Miami (English) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: The following are UTC Monday. Los siguientes son UTC lunes. 0000-0100 Radio Revista Lux (español) 0100-0115 Radio Vaticano (español) 0130-0230 Radio Oriente Libre (español) 0230-0300 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) 7385 kHz to North America (except as noted)/7385 kHz para Norteamérica (excepto donde anotado): 0300-0330 Radio Praga (español; hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica) 0330-0400 Radio Praha (Czech) 0400-0430 Radio Prague (English) 0445-0500 Radio Vaticano (español) (WRMI website Dec 24 via gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS VIA CHILE - O primeiro dia do ano de 2003 também será importante para a rádio Voz Cristã. A partir desta data, a emissora passará a emitir durante as 24 horas no idioma português. Significa que a emissão, em 11745 kHz, que antes terminava às 0400, vai se estender até às 1100. O programa Altas Ondas, que vai ao ar, nas sextas e sábados, às 1600, em 21500 kHz, lançou um desafio a todos os seus ouvintes: quem enviar 4 gravações interessantes de captações nas ondas curtas poderá ter o seu trabalho escolhido como a vinheta de início do programa. Ela será veiculada durante um ano e o ouvinte que mandou as gravações terá o crédito registrado sempre. As gravações devem ser enviadas, em CD, para o seguinte endereço: rádio Voz Cristã, programa Altas Ondas, Caixa Postal 2889, Miami, Flórida, 33144, Estados Unidos da América (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 23 via DXLD) ** U S A. Couldn't sleep this morning and curiosity made me check 1710 and sure enough an early Christmas present with Lubavitch Radio [NYC] heard with English(!) initially 0433 EST [0933 UT], male announcer with religious talk, mentions of "Holocaust", "Gaza" and "exodus". 0459-0510 Male with talk in presumed Hebrew. Some fading but to good brief peaks on a relatively quiet frequency. No sign of the data QRM usually noted in the early evenings here. A very nice surprise (Greg Myers, Clearwater FL, Dec 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) Actually, I think this would be more properly classified as a late Chanuka present (:-)# (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) Congrats. I think you have the furthest US logging of them, now. I've had them here 35 miles NW of Chicago, but Clearwater is much further away. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) Now that's a band opening, since they are using something like an LPB or radio systems carrier current type transmitter out of a house somewhere in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I can sometimes hear them here in NJ, about 45 miles away. They are not running a lot of power. Every time I`m in that area I try and find them. I know I'm very close. If I had a DF receiver with a loop, I would have found them already. I've got within several blocks of them (Neal Newman, ibid.) ** U S A. George, did WMQM 1600 *really* go on the air, fullpower 50 kW daytime as planned, Sat Dec 21? Haven`t been able to hear it here around sunrise or sunset, but there is a lot of QRM (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Went on the air Saturday. Sounds very good in Memphis (George McClintock, TN, Dec 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AROUND THE DIAL THE RADIO AS RABBIT HOLE: ALICE COMES TO KCRW By Steve Carney, Special to The Times, December 21 2002 The premise sounds as nonsensical as anything from the pen of Lewis Carroll: a storybook's extraordinary illustrations prompting the creation of a play for radio. But the contemporary art by DeLoss McGraw in the 2001 edition of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" made the book so popular among listeners when KCRW-FM (89.9) gave it away as a premium last year that station management decided to stage a dramatic reading of the classic children's story. The two-hour trip down the rabbit hole will air from 2 to 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and at the same time on New Year's Eve. "Given the kind of station we are, we thought it was a suitable Christmas offering. It's edgy. It's unconventional. It's arch and it's playful," said KCRW general manager Ruth Seymour. "There's no sentimentality about this. It's just very crisp. It's mad." Seymour said it was a daunting undertaking. "After all, you're taking on a classic," she said, and "many of us have not looked at it since we were children." She said director Louis Fantasia and his star-studded cast have created an "Alice" meant to appeal to both children and adults. "I think children will read it naively, in the best sense of that word," said Fantasia, who also reviews theater for KCRW. Meanwhile, adults may appreciate not only the fantastic situations but also the subtle, acerbic humor. Harry Shearer, who among many other pursuits has hosted "Le Show" on KCRW for 20 years, narrates the tale. "It's a perfect Harry Shearer story. He has that humor himself," Seymour said. "He's such a wonderful storyteller, and he's got that great radio voice." Alice is played by 26-year-old Vinessa Shaw, who has appeared in such movies as "40 Days and 40 Nights," "Corky Romano" and "Eyes Wide Shut." Seymour said the actress ensures that the title character comes across as youthful but not childish. "Alice is a very sophisticated little girl," Seymour said. "Alice is a skeptic, and she constantly gets into situations where she's appalled by the people around her." Fantasia said he wanted an independent Alice, on a trip of self- discovery. "In the more traditional reading of the story, she seems to be the good girl doing what she's told." He said he also took care not to make the production overly broad or surreal, instead letting the wordplay and curious situations speak for themselves. "We have alienated a lot of the Lewis Carroll fan club. It's not English enough," he said. "I didn't want to make the English garden variety again." "That's precisely why I was interested in being part of it," said actor Michael York, who plays the Red King. "The perfect BBC version - - we've seen all of those." To further set it apart, Fantasia said he consciously featured a cast heavy in Americans, which also set up a collision between York and the other Britons in the royal court and Alice, who, he said, doesn't "surrender to English propriety." The rest of the cast includes Joe Spano as the March Hare, Héctor Elizondo as the Mad Hatter, Rhea Perlman as the Dormouse, Julia Migenes as the Red Queen, Malcolm McDowell as the Gryphon, Orson Bean as the Mock Turtle and John Rubenstein as the White Rabbit. "I'd listen to the thing just to hear Elliott Gould play the Cheshire cat," York said. "Simpsons" actors Yeardley Smith (Lisa) and Dan Castellaneta (Homer) play the Mouse and the Dodo, respectively. Even KCRW public affairs host Warren Olney gets a line. Seymour said the story was the biggest selling point in attracting performers. "Everybody saw it as an opportunity to play, but to play with a great deal of intelligence," she said. "There's not a facile word in all of this. That's why it's lasted all these years." Full of dichotomy, the story plays with relativity and upends notions of time and space. It's "complex and simple at the same time," York said "It's a children's story for children of all ages," he added. "It's a nice little gift to give at this time of year." (LA Times, Harry`s favorite rag, via Brock Whaley for WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) We have some additional times for this in MONITORING REMINDERS (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) ** U S A. Story from ZDNET. WHY UNCLE SAM MIGHT BUY YOU A TV David Coursey, Executive Editor, AnchorDesk, Friday, December 20, 2002 Talk back! How would you like Uncle Sam to help you buy a digital television? Would a $500 government rebate be enough to get you into the store? A TV industry analyst believes that, for many Americans, it would, and that tax credits may be the very best way to solve the chicken-and-egg problem that has stymied acceptance of next-generation digital TV. YOU MAY THINK it odd that the federal government would even consider paying for a hunk of your new TV set. After all, it's not like the government doesn't have other things to do with the money. But money is precisely what this is all about. When the feds authorized digital television, they assumed that existing television stations would abandon their old analog frequencies for the new digital channels. But that hasn't happened, and the 10-year timetable envisioned for the transition is now out the window. It's digital, it's got television... ...but it's not digital TV. HP's Media Center PC is the nicest PC I've used in a while. That's a problem, because the government has already spent the money it raised by auctioning off the frequencies that were to be vacated by the TV stations. They auctioned off those frequencies, in part, to telecom companies who were going to use the spectrum to offer new digital services. Now, we could talk about what a lunatic idea frequency auctions are, and how they haven't worked out nearly as well as proponents promised. But the fact remains that $16 billion in auction proceeds are already included in federal budget projections. IT'S UNLIKELY that money will be in the federal coffers as soon as Congress hoped. Until broadcasters give up their chunks of spectrum and switch to digital, the auction bidders aren't likely to pay up. If digital television adoption doesn't speed up soon, there's the possibility the transition from analog to digital won't be complete for another 20 years. It was supposed to be over and done with by the middle part of this decade. Phil Swann, editor of TVPredictions.com and a frequent guest on my radio program, is the force behind the $500 rebate idea. He thinks it's better to convince people to buy new televisions than to force digital TV tuners on them. That latter plan is just what the FCC has ordered consumer electronics manufacturers to do, beginning with big- screen TVs in 2004. Like many people, I sort of gag on the idea of tax dollars being used to help people buy television sets. I'd rather see the money do something useful, like feed hungry kids or provide decent mental health care. Of course, I'm not the idiot who linked the federal budget to getting people onto digital television, so I'm clearly out of step. OF COURSE, $16 billion isn't much --- especially spread out over several years --- when the federal budget deficit has been predicted by some analysts to top $200 billion (plus the cost of whatever happens in Iraq). But every little bit will help when we're talking about either raising taxes or cutting programs. Should any of that $16 billion be used as rebates to get people to switch to digital TV? Well, at $500 a set, a million digital televisions would cost a half-billion dollars. Twenty million sets --- which you'd think would be enough to jumpstart the transition --- would cost $10 billion. I can't imagine we'd actually spend that much, but the math illustrates just how expensive this program could be. In the digital age, the government could have important new roles to play beyond protecting our shores and delivering the mail. But should paying for television sets be one of them? In order to protect much- needed --- and already budgeted --- revenue, it may have to be. We'll see. Bob Ulm (via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. In today`s Tampa Tribune in the weekly Business and Technology, there is a full pager on eye-bock (can your kill-file parse THAT ??) It is THIRTY column-inches and a 5x7 photo. It is slugged back to the Associated Press with NO by-line. It is quite similar to a story that ran about a month ago, which I did not comment on. Today's piece ran the same photograph as the previous story. This is interesting. The pix caption says "In the sound room of his company, iBiquity Senior Vice President Jeffrey Jury holds up digital audio equipment that will replace the comparatively large box at his side". The new piece of equipment is a circuit board that appears to measure 5 x 7 cm, (perhaps a bit less than 2 x 3 inches) with what are apparently two ASIC chips and a bunch of typical surface-mount components. There appears to be some sort of edge connector on one edge of the board, similar to a PCI bus interconnect on a PC card. The photo res isn't good enough to tell more. The equipment that it "will replace" is a complete receiver shown with the top cover removed. I would estimate it to be about 18 x 15 x 4 inches. Inside the receiver are several circuit boards, at least two shielded assemblies, a number of interconnects with small coax and ribbon cable. On the rear panel of the device is what seems to be a 4 inch thin ferrite rod antenna. The whole thing looks like a 1980's vintage tuner, perhaps a Harmon-Kardon or similar. The whole story has to me, all the earmarks of a plant, with no independent verification of anything presented. There is no mention of any of the technical issues we discuss on this list, for one. I will leave it to others to discuss the ethics of saying a Circuit Board will replace a Receiver, along with a photograph of 'our Best-Case' vs. 'old technology Worst-Case'... Ahhh, Life Goes On (Bob Foxworth, FL, Dec 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. There is a program on the US History Channel on Dec 26 as outlined below. There is a webpage, with a number of links, that looks quite interesting. http://www.historychannel.com/saveourhistory/ Many times these shows end up on Canadian TV eventually. SAVE OUR HISTORY: SAVE OUR SOUNDS Thursday, December 26 at 8pm / 7CT Within the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress are tens of thousands of sound recordings that chronicle the history of America. There is music recorded by legendary artists of the past, speeches of Presidents and other historical figures, news reports that chronicle now historic moments as they were happening. There are slave narratives, cowboy songs, and man-on-the-street interviews recorded on thousands upon thousands of cylinders, disks, and tapes—national treasures, which are rapidly deteriorating. Save Our Sounds chronicles the enormous efforts being undertaken by these two national institutions to preserve these treasures before the sounds of history are lost forever (via Fred Waterer, ODXA via DXLD) ** U S A. ELVING DELIVERS POLITE BUT FIRM REPLY TO AFR Here's the text of the message I sent today to the American Family Network. It seems I have succeeded in getting the FCC to believe what they are doing is illegal. Bruce F. Elving, Ph.D. FM Atlas PO Box 336 Esko MN 55733-0336 (218) 879-7676 FAX (218) 879-8333 FmAtlas@aol.com Patrick J. Vaughn, General Counsel American Family Assn. PO Drawer 2440 Tupelo MS 38803-2440 December 24, 2002 Dear Mr. Vaughn: Thank you for writing and taking note of my e-mails to John Riley. It is not my intention to slander or discredit in any way the AFR ministry. I was rather surprised that my messages had such an impact on you and on certain pastors in Jamestown ND. I understand that one pastor was to have brought up the matter of K214BX *90.7 Jamestown not properly identifying at a ministerial meeting. I was not at any such meeting, nor did I call back and encourage him to discuss the matter. This can only be a partial answer to your letter, since the FCC is studying my charges. Specifically, Trang Nguyen of the audio division, media bureau, spoke to me at length Dec. 23, mentioning that "a lot of stations aren`t doing what they are supposed to do" with regard to identifications, and she said she knows you and tried contacting you, but got the message your office is closed to Dec. 26. She`s asked that I fax my complaint to the enforcement bureau regional office. A person from the Chicago field office may then call me. This could lead to a visit to your translator site to inspect the identification mechanism, the translator output power, and other parameters. Your identifying policies on that translator are clearly deficient. Trang Nguyen, in fact, on Dec. 24 called back and said "obviously this is a rule violation." I pray that you will voluntarily improve the operation, both locally and on your "network," by the expedient of rescheduling the break for local community announcements to immediately follow or precede the WAFR Tupelo MS station identification --- rather than covering that ID. Thus the audience would better know it is a rebroadcaster of a licensed FM station rather than a pure network feed they are receiving. It appears now that Pastor Scott, at First Baptist in Jamestown, is "hijacking" your signal with fill music hourly, even when there is no community announcement. And I`d appreciate your supplying some information about the equipment used to encode the local ID, like is it a Morse code ID done three times daily, or an AM injected signal done hourly? And how might one perceive this signal? Hey, I think we can still be friends. I enjoyed listening, and I believe with a few modifications in your method of identifying, everybody will be pleased. Do let me know if there are to be any corrections in how your translator(s) identify. I do not wish to conduct a vendetta against your fine organization, but do resent any threat to muzzle my freedom of speech. Save your money and don`t write back using certified mail! Sincerely, (Bruce Elving, MN, Dec 24, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. For obvious reasons our main concern in Clandestine radio at the moment is related to Iraq and the United States. But, in my judgment, an even bigger political crisis is taking place right now in Venezuela. The continual political turmoil directed against President Chávez is having a direct impact on the world price of oil, as well as an enormously destabilizing impact in Venezuela itself. Currently there is no clandestine radio activity directed toward Venezuela. As I write this column at 0100 UT on December 23 I am trying in vain to hear the licensed Ecos del Torbes on 4980 kHz. The days when we could hear several Venezuelan domestic broadcasting stations on 60 meters every night are long since gone. So, at the moment, shortwave radio is a medium that appears to have almost no direct impact on the coverage of the political situation in Venezuela (George Zeller, Clandestine Profile, Jan The A*C*E via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. For about the last two weeks I did not notice Zimbabwe on any frequency. This week it reappeared on 5975 with excellent signal, and heard as late as past 0000, so probably a 24 hr. operation. In 0spite of frequent checks, I'm not sure which service it is, only "ZBC" heard mentioned. Mainly in a vernacular, mostly phone-ins and Afro pops. ToH is usually ignored by the presenters (Vaclav Korinek, RSA, DX-plorer via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re the item from Hans Johnson - frequency 5080 was recommended to the PBS [PBC?? -- gh] as a replacement for 7105, due to severe QRM on that frequency. I haven`t heard anything positive at my location, but if it is PAK, the service will be Current Affairs at 1300-1800, and possibly also at 0200-0400. Transmitter API-4 Islamabad 100 kW (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11734 or 11735? Hello, Everybody! Great Christmas for all!! First of all - you the professionals in area DX, therefore probably also I ask to help me. Yesterday December 22 near Moscow with SINPO 34533 since 1938 UT I listened to radiostation, where till 2000 UT music non-stop, namely was transmitted Phil Collins, duet man and woman "Fall in love ...", others songs on English. After 2000 UT similar there was news, and at 2009 music, but already on a national language has begun to sound. Why I ask to help, business that I can not precisely determine frequency of broadcasting of radiostation at all, not that what even to identify it, as Passport 2003 gives on this time three stations, and I in this connection have got confused in its definition. Someone can all the same is capable me to help, and will call precise frequency of broadcasting and title of radiostation, to which one I listened. Thanks!! Yours faithfully, (Vlad ---, Russia, Dec 23, hard-core-dx via DXLD) I myself was listening to Zanzibar in the 2000+ hour the other day, on 11734, a dead giveaway if you can measure the frequency, but they were not playing Western music. Nothing was audible on 11735 at that time. Before 1900 the Methodists are on 11735 via Germany (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES phil bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary November 25 2002 through December 15 2002 Tabulated from email status daily Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Etc. 11/25 137 14 3 no storms no storms 5 26 142 12 5 no storms minor 9 27 143 16 3 no storms minor 9 28 140 15 2 no storms minor 5 29 141 12 3 no storms minor 9 11/30 146 15 2 no storms no storms 7 12/ 1 150 14 2 no storms no storms 3 2 146 11 3 no storms minor 7 3 149 10 3 no storms no storms 7 4 149 11 3 minor minor 5 5 149 8 1 no storms minor 3 6 148 7 2 no storms no storms 8 7 151 15 3 no storms no storms 8 8 154 10 2 no storms no storms 5 9 156 5 2 no storms no storms 4 10 161 7 3 minor no storms 5 11 152 6 1 no storms no storms 6 12 153 6 2 no storms no storms 2 13 167 4 1 no storms no storms 5 14 186 10 3 no storms no storms 7 12/15 203 6 2 no storms no storms 5 ********************************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 28 via DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 25 DECEMBER 2002 - 20 JANUARY 2003 Activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels. Regions 224, 226, and 230 have the potential to produce M-class activity. Region 224, 226, and 230 are due to rotate beyond the west limb on 25, 25, and 30 December respectively. Low-level activity is then expected until these regions return to the visible disk around 08 January. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo- synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 30-31 December due to recurring coronal holes. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels during the forecast period. A weaker recurring coronal hole is expected to return on 27-29 December resulting in unsettled to isolated active conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Dec 24 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Dec 24 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Dec 25 145 12 3 2002 Dec 26 140 10 3 2002 Dec 27 140 15 3 2002 Dec 28 145 25 5 2002 Dec 29 145 15 3 2002 Dec 30 145 12 3 2002 Dec 31 145 10 3 2003 Jan 01 150 8 3 2003 Jan 02 150 10 3 2003 Jan 03 150 15 3 2003 Jan 04 155 10 3 2003 Jan 05 155 8 3 2003 Jan 06 160 8 3 2003 Jan 07 155 8 3 2003 Jan 08 155 8 3 2003 Jan 09 165 8 3 2003 Jan 10 170 8 3 2003 Jan 11 180 10 3 2003 Jan 12 185 12 3 2003 Jan 13 185 12 3 2003 Jan 14 180 12 3 2003 Jan 15 175 25 5 2003 Jan 16 175 15 3 2003 Jan 17 170 10 3 2003 Jan 18 165 10 3 2003 Jan 19 160 10 3 2003 Jan 20 155 12 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Dec 24 via WORLD OF RADIO 1162, DXLD) MORE TRANS-EQUATORIAL LONG-HAUL FM DX +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FREQÜENCIA MODULADA BARBADOS 95.30 16/12 0026 Hot FM, advs. Direct TV, MRP 98.10 17/12 2340 Liberty FM, mx "Talking to me", EE, MRP ILHAS VIRGENS AMERICANAS 97.90 0230 WGOD mx, EE MRP MONTSERRAT 95.50 10/12 0115 ZJB Radio Montserrat, comentários sobre economia, EE, MRP PORTO RICO 92.50 15/12 0132 WORO, mx instrumental, SS, MRP 93.70 24/11 0052 WZNT, advs do px "Lo mejor de jazz tropical", SS, MRP SANTA LUCIA 94.50 10/11 0043 The Wave FM, ID "This is The Wave. Ninety four point five and ninety three point seven FM", EE, MRP 97.30 17/09 0234 Radio Saint Lucia, mx reggae, EE Além dessas emissoras, também estou captando outras ainda não identificadas, em 100,10 MHZ e 105,60 (ambas transmitindo em inglês) e em 88,50 MHZ (transmitindo em língua semelhante ao francês ou talvez no próprio idioma francês). MRP (MRP - Márcio Roberto Polheim da Silva, Jaragua do Sul- SC, Brasil, receptor Sony ICF SW7600 G, @tividade DX Dec 23 via DXLD) DESPEDIDA +++++++++ I wish you all a safe, peaceful and joyous holiday and a sensational, DX-intensive New Year. May the white noise you hear next month be from falling snowflakes... (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-201, December 22, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1161: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Mon 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 -- maybe; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1161.html QUARTERLY ARCHIVE UPDATED: As of Dec 22, all issues through DXLD 2-198 are now at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Glenn, as they say downunder, thanks for an awesome effort, consolidating the international radio scene for us through your digests. As someone who currently gets limited time for DX, I particularly value the ability to stay current with what the active DX community are hearing. We are just about to acquire 5 acres in the country for a retirement project and antenna farm, so I will return to the active ranks eventually. Your efforts are very much appreciated! (Bryan Clark, Auckland, New Zealand, Dec 22) Logs, AOR 7030, 20m wire at Musick Point, Auckland, New Zealand: USA 3210, 0741 22ND December, WWCR, good with Glenn Hauser World of Radio 1161, and pointing listeners to "worldofradio.com" website (David Norrie, Cumbre DX) Thanks to you for another year of great information, more than any of us could possibly absorb. All the best for the holidays and 2003, (Kim Andrew Elliott, DC) Glenn, Thanks for your invitation to EDXP members. I read DXLD every now-and-again and find much useful material in it. Certainly, I would encourage others to investigate if they have not already done so. I have to say, however, that sometimes the sheer weight of material in DXLD is overwhelming. Much of the stuff on radio programs, historical radio station facts, and US MW/FM stations is of little use or interest to us here in OZ. So, wading through all that to get to the good stuff is tiresome at times. I wish there was some way you could present it so that we could go directly to the things that interest each reader, rather than scrolling through thousands of words to get the stuff you really want. If you could improve the layout, I'd visit more regularly. Also, I reckon a little more editorial discretion wouldn't go astray. Some of the guys waffle on too much - increasing the output of useless words even more. The "red pen" should go through some contributions so that the newsworthiness of the material is not lost in a wash of words. However, having said all that (in probably too many words!!) thanks again for drawing our attention to your column. Cheers! (Rob VK3BVW Wagner, Melbourne, Australia, EDXP) I could divide it up into different categories, but there would be inevitable overlap and even more cross-referencing required. The objective is to be comprehensive, in contrast to so many other `specialist` DX publications (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. I have just received information that states that HCJB Australia will commence 0700z January 5th on 11755 from Kununurra WA. Presumably there will be test broadcasts prior to that and the final HCJB broadcast from Pifo will be on the 4th commencing at 0700 and s/off at 1059z (Robin Harwood, VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania, Australia, swl via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 1620 2KM SOLD FROM RADIOINFO -- 19 Dec 2002 As predicted here on radioinfo last month, an Arabic broadcasting group has paid a record price for a Section 40 AM 'off-band' radio licence bought from the NSW Labor Council. The Labor Council sold its AM station 2KM 1620 to World Media for $2.1 million last week. World Media provides ethnic content to Pay TV, including a feed of the controversial Al Jazeera TV channel. The current music format, which plays "all time favourites" from the 1930s to the 1960s, will be dumped and replaced with Arabic programming. Three 2KM staff will be sacked. The station operates under a Section 40 commercial radio licence and, as such, is subject to regulation by both the ABA and the ACA. The Labor Council originally paid $30,000 for the licence five years ago when Barry Unsworth spotted the licence opportunity. The Labor Council sold racing AM station 2KY earlier this year to Sky Channel for $25.3 million. (via Tim Gaynor, Australia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9630.16, R. Aparecida, 2255-0015+ 12.21. Catholic programming in Portuguese; many mentions of Sao Paulo, Palabra de Dios, etc. No IDs or ads the entire time, although there were possibly some announcements of upcoming religious & Christmas events. Good signal and // to 6135.05 which was fair and improving (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot random wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5054.4, Faro del Caribe, trouble again on this transmitter. Just a buzz when checking this morning Dec 22; 31 mb outlet was fine (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CUBA. The RHC sked I gave in EDXP 278 was designed to stimulate some sort of feedback, to illustrate my point about broadcasters failing to publicise there actual schedules, either on-air, on the Web, or anywhere else! The RHC Website is heavy on self-agrandisement and tells us that it is one of the best! Sorry, but I beg to differ. The winter schedules for RHC published in WRTH and the Klingenfuss SW Frequency Guide differ, but both show 13660 and 13750 for French 2000, English 2030. I suspect that 13660 has been changed to 11670, due to SRI-Julich on 13660 at that time slot. For the Spanish service at 2100, WRTH shows 13605 11705 15230 and 15120, whilst Klingenfuss shows 13680 11705 11760 and 15230. I am greatly confused! (Bob Padula, Dec 21, EDXP via DXLD) See also FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT [non] at bottom. Would Arnie Coro deal with this issue? Of course not!::: (gh) ** CUBA. 41 years on the air and soon they will be 42, when on the 24th of February Cuba will celebrate the first day on the air of what was our first short wave broadcast from the Radio Havana Cuba transmitting center... From that date until May day of 1961, the station ID was Onda Corta Experimental Cubana, or Cuban Experimental Short Wave, then on May Day of 1961 the station became known by the name of Radio Havana Cuba .... yes I remember very well when our first just one kiloWatt Gates short wave transmitter running a single 4 dash one thousand in the final modulated by two 833's went on the air using just a dipole antenna that was supported by two power company wooden poles that we had obtained from the local utility!!!! What a difference from today's 4 by 4 and 8 by 4 curtain arrays amigos!!!! Now here is item five of today's weekend edition of Dxers Unlimited... Our ever popular you have questions and Arnie tries to answer them section of the show... QUESTION, sent by a listener in Jamaica.... Neville wants to know why he can sometimes hear our 9820 kiloHertz frequency and sometimes not, while he ALWAYS is able to pick up our 6000 kiloHertz frequency... Well dear amigo Neville near Kingston, this has to do with propagation... Short skip on the 31 meter band is only available under certain propagation conditions, while it seems to be ever present on the 49 meter band via what is known as NVIS or near vertical incidence skywave propagation. Our big 4 by 4 curtain array that I helped to design about ten years ago, does have a small high angle lobe, that is what makes possible for you to hear us every evening so well on 6000 kiloHertz!!!! Although the main beam of the antenna is pointing at 010 degrees azimuth, as registered with the International Telecommunications Union frequency registration .... So keep listening to 6000 kiloHertz amigo, and thank you very much for the nice comments about the program !!! (Arnie Coro, RHC DXers Unlimited Dec 22 via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD ** CUBA [non]. DUDAS E IRRITACIÓN POR CAMBIOS EN RADIO MARTÍ RUI FERREIRA, El Nuevo Herald, Posted on Sat, Dec. 21, 2002 El director de noticias de Radio Martí, Lázaro Asencio, fue despedido hace dos días de sus funciones al cabo de un año en el puesto, una decisión del director de la Oficina de Transmisiones hacia Cuba (OCB), Salvador Lew, quien no quiso hacer ayer comentarios al respecto. El despido, reveló Asencio a El Nuevo Herald, surgió en forma sorpresiva por medio de una carta donde se le aduce su presunta incompetencia para separarlo del cargo, pese a sus 40 años de experiencia profesional. ''Mi despido se produjo el 18 de diciembre con una carta de Lew cesándome en el cargo de director [de noticias] y como empleado de Radio Martí'', dijo Asencio, de 75 años. En marzo de este año, en una entrevista con El Nuevo Herald, Lew, de 73 años, defendió el profesionalismo y la calidad de Asencio, en un momento en que la emisora era blanco de críticas en Washington por parte de congresistas y senadores. ''Puede ser, pero no tengo las pruebas'', dijo el periodista, interrogado sobre si su despido puede estar relacionado con esas críticas. Según Asencio, él ha tenido diferencias con Lew, pero no han sido relevantes. ''Hubo diferencias porque él estaba llevando a cargos importantes a personas que habían puesto demandas contra él. Incluso trajo a un nuevo jefe de personal, Fernando Rojas, que ha asumido distintas posiciones que no corresponden al cargo'', dijo Asencio, refiriéndose a uno de los directores del grupo de exiliados Consejo por la Libertad de Cuba. De todos modos, ''para mí, esto es algo irracional, que no tiene ninguna explicación. Yo tengo las pruebas de que en mi gestión aumentaron las audiencias en Cuba'', añadió Asencio, quien en la década pasada dirigió el departamento de noticias de la emisora por años. Contactado ayer por El Nuevo Herald, Lew se excusó para no comentar el despido, limitándose a confirmar el hecho. La decisión fue, a todas luces, sorprendente para Asencio, quien ayer estudiaba si podía o no cobrar algún subsidio por desempleo. ''Estoy estudiando a ver qué hago'', dijo. Asencio y Lew se conocen desde sus tiempos de estudiantes en la provincia de Las Villas. La amistad siguió cuando ambos vinieron al exilio, y se prolongó durante los años que trabajaron juntos en emisoras de radio de Miami. Lew fue nombrado director de la OCB el 26 de julio del año pasado, y en octubre trajo a Asencio de vuelta a Radio Martí como director provisional de noticias. En enero de este año, el veterano periodista ganó un concurso interno para ocupar el puesto permanentemente. Tras el despido de Asencio, Margarita Rojo, quien trabaja en la estación federal desde sus orígenes en 1984, lo ha sustituido interinamente. Según escribió Lew en un memorando anunciando el nombramiento, Rojo ``por años ha demostrado un firme compromiso en la implementación de la misión de Radio Martí''. Lew ha estado bajo fuego de críticas por el modo en que ha conducido la administración de la OCB. De hecho, el modo como se procedió al cambio en la dirección de noticias de Radio Martí es, en lo mínimo, ''profundamente irregular en el ámbito federal'', según fuentes del Capitolio. De hecho, Rojo fue nombrada al puesto provisionalmente el 5 de diciembre, pero fue el 18 cuando Lew despidió a Asencio. Mientras, el departamento de noticias de Radio Martí tuvo oficialmente un director de noticias fijo y una directora provisional. Lew no quiso comentar sobre el detalle, ni siquiera sobre insistentes rumores, dentro y fuera de la emisora, de que se prepara para abandonar el cargo en enero. ''Yo me voy de aquí cuando me boten, y aún así y todo lo voy a pensar'', dijo Lew a El Nuevo Herald. 73's (via Oscar, Miami, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. CLANDESTINE from USA to CUBA. 9955, WRMI,1105 Dec 20, still enjoying above-jammer reception of the Cuban clandestines via WRMI. Long Spanish talk about Cuba by man, sounded like the Junta Patriótica Cubana program. Ended at 1124 with address, telephone, and fax numbers. Filler music till 1129, then start of Entre Cubanos program, but (Presumed) as jamming had gotten worse by this time and I heard no clear ID. Latest WRMI schedule, dated Dec 15, shows: 1100-1130 La Voz de la Junta Patriotica Cubana (español) 1130-1230 Entre Cubanos (español) Both are Mon/Wed/Fri (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CYPRUS. 6959U, "Lincolnshire Poacher" spy station; 2106-2125 Dec. 22, fair with UK-accented female five-digit numbers, "Lincolnshire" calliope theme a couple of times between numbers group (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. Had a tentative log here this afternoon (12/22) at 2200 UT of Radio Bayrak on 6150. Playing English language pop music. Very poor signal, along with all the other QRM on the frequency (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Glenn, I've got a Dominican on 5009.8, have had for the last three days. Trouble is, I can't get an ID. No doubt it's DR, too much talk about the major league baseball players in Santo Domingo to be from anywhere else. I'd love to call this Radio Cristal and be done with it, but truth is that I can't get an ID. I've logged this at 2300 on Dec 19, 20, and 21, past 0030 each night. And I was searching for HRMI. 73s and Happy Holidays! (Gerry Bishop, Niceville FL, Dec 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. NEW SWEDEN-BASED OPPOSITION RADIO UNHEARD ON 22 DECEMBER | Text of report by Monitoring research on 22 December Please note that BBC Monitoring could not hear the Sweden-based new Eritrean opposition radio, Radio of the Voice of the Eritrean People, on Sunday, 22 December, on 15735 kHz. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 22 Dec 02 (via DXLD) ** GUADELOUPE. 640, Radio Guadeloupe, Pointe-à-Pitre, DEC 22 0317 - Near-excellent signal level with apparently a live program of Christmas Zouk song (one had a repetitious refrain about "Père Noël" - Santa Claus in French). The announcer seemed to speak French Creole, as very little was understandable. At 0321, Venezuelan QRM became intense, and by 0335, WNNZ Massachusetts was strong too, but during the excellent peaks with no QRM, some reception could be had even on a very cheap and very poor Panasonic Dx-D14 (with much poorer and very weak signal, of course), not all the cheap portables are good DX machines, especially considering the very short length of its internal ferrite bar antenna! (Bogdan Chiochiu, DXing from Pierrefonds, Quebec, Sanyo MCD-S830 w/ internal ferrite bar antenna, also using a Panasonic Dx-D14 with a very short ferrite rod ant.! Hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GUAM. HAM RADIO HAS ROLE IN GUAM RELIEF, RECOVERY After a supertyphoon struck the Pacific Territory of Guam earlier this month, an opportunity for hams to step in and provide emergency communications never materialized, mostly due to a lack of fuel on the stricken island. Nonetheless, ham radio is playing a role as Guam residents get back on their feet. "Most of the guys are trying to get themselves back together," said Dick Manns, KH2G, "but one of the main problems immediately after the typhoon was fuel for generators, as the tank farm was burning and no fuel could be brought out and what little was available was being reserved for emergency vehicles." The Marianas Amateur Radio Club has discussed setting up emergency communications systems, he said, but insufficient funding has hampered the effort. Supertyphoon Pongsona hammered Guam December 8. Manns says FEMA, the US military and the nongovernmental relief organizations have been helping a lot in the typhoon's aftermath. But, it would have been nice, he suggested, if local hams had been able to reciprocate with some communications help using portable repeaters and packet radio. Another problem: The storm pretty much devastated amateur antenna systems, he said. Duncan Campbell, KF6ILA/KH2, was one of the few hams able to get on the air in the first few days after the storm hit, felling the island's lone 2-meter repeater tower in the process. Island hams used 2-meter FM simplex as a major means of communication, Campbell said. The repeater reportedly is back up. He was able to make several stateside HF to relay needs, but fuel to run emergency generators for radio use became scarce, and he had to shut down after December 10. Manns said electrical power remains out for most residents and that only about a third of the electrically powered water wells on Guam were functional. Telephone service remains out "pretty much island- wide for varying amounts of time" due to the power outages, he said. It's expected to be several months until electrical power is fully restored on Guam. At one point, despite an active listening campaign, Amateur Radio operators on the air from Guam were simply not to be found. "We have six amateurs engaged in this, almost our entire complement of HF operators," said ARRL District Emergency Coordinator for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Tim Hayes, NH0H, December 15. Amateurs on Saipan monitored the agreed-upon emergency frequency of 7085 kHz almost continuously for a week without hearing a single Guam signal, he said. The Pacific Inter-Island Net on 14,320 kHz also made a special effort to listen for Guam stations. Meanwhile, the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and 28 US Government agencies have combined to provide relief and recovery services. Reports say 1750 homes were destroyed or left uninhabitable by the typhoon. The Salvation Army is operating 12 temporary shelters and housing an estimated 3000 residents left homeless. Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, said SATERN this week established contact between Guam and the SATERN national office in Chicago via an EchoLink connection --- a marriage of Amateur Radio and the Internet. McPherson credited Al Paja, WH2Z, on Guam with helping to set up the EchoLink connection. Campbell, Manns and others have been able to maintain communication to the outside world via the Internet after December 11. The fiber optic line between Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands survived the storm, and local Internet Service Providers were able to reconnect to the backbone. With semi-reliable cellular telephone service available, Campbell was able to post updates on local conditions to several Internet bulletin boards. The Guam Pacific Daily News Web site http://www.guampdn.com/ also has remained active and current. It continues to provide a major conduit for those outside the island to leave messages for friends and relatives on Guam. Amateurs affiliated with the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Emergency Response flew to Guam. "We're very active here with disaster relief and have two sites operational on HF," said Steve "Sid" Caesar, NH7C, the team's communications officer. Others on that team include Satoshi Manabe, WH6CTO, and Jayson Kohama, WH6BXK. Caesar has been in regular contact with amateurs in Hawaii over the past week (ARRL Letter Dec 20 via John W. Smith, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4799.77, R. Buenas Nuevas, 21 Dec 1100, Noted back down here with nice strong signal. So obviously they fixed the transmitter, whatever was wrong with it. Central Americans doing well this morning, but conditions very poor on the whole (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ICELAND. 8 Dec, 1200 - 13865 kHz. Rikisutvarpid, 35443. Schedule gives the following data: 1200-1300, 13865 and 15775 kHz. But in reality 13865 kHz has been suddenly switched on only at 1211, and there was nothing at all on 15775 kHz. Transmission ended at 1300, as scheduled (Sergei Alekseichik, Hrodna, Belarus, SIgnal via DXLD) Sergei Alekseichik is presumably referring to the HFCC entries, but those are only coordination slots. The noon broadcast was always 1215- 1300, and during this season only one frequency (instead of two) is in use for the RÚV relays, at 1215-1300 it is 13865 kHz. This is a live relay of the RÚV main noon newscast which actually starts at 1220. The "odd" start time has a long tradition and goes back to the time when people went home from work for the noon break, and RÚV (which until 1985 was the only broadcaster in Iceland) was waiting 20 minutes with the news so that everybody would have time to reach home, sit at the eating table and switch on the radio. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbre DX via DXLD) How quaint ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. From Radiowaves SUNDAY 22nd DECEMBER 2002 EUROPE: Radio Caroline available via satellite again Radio Caroline can once more be picked up via satellite, this time from one of Eutelsat's Hot Bird fleet at 13 East. Tune to 12597 GHz; vertical polarity; symbol rate 27.5; FEC 3/4. The station have also confirmed that from early in January they will broadcast on a full-time transponder from a 28.2 East satellite, but without a Sky EPG placing. The frequency, which can be added via the other channels menu on the Sky Digibox, is 11661 GHz; horizontal polarity; symbol rate 27.5; FEC 2/3 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN. IRAN IN FERMENT II --- By Jackson Diehl Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2002. Page 12 After an Iranian court sentenced the reformist academic Hashem Aghajari to death last month, the largest and most sustained student demonstrations in years erupted in Tehran. As they grew, day after day, U.S.-operated Radio Azadi, or Radio Freedom, was their favorite medium. Every day, student leaders would call by cellphone from the roiling campuses to the radio's headquarters in Prague and narrate the latest developments live. Each night the radio would broadcast a roundtable discussion, patching together students and journalists in Tehran with exiled opposition leaders to discuss where the reform movement was going. So instrumental to the rebellion-in-the-making did the radio become that pro-regime counter-demonstrators recently held up a placard reading "Who does Radio Azadi talk to?" -- a taunt taken by the station's staff as a badge of honor. more at http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/12/17/006.html (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) Most stories about R. Farda/Azadi are filed under USA ** IRAQ [non]. NPR's Weekend Edition had an interview on Dec 21 with BBC Monitoring about the new Information Radio broadcasts to Iraq. Asked if there was anything unusual about the broadcasts, BBC Monitoring replied: While the broadcasts are in Modern Standard Arabic, the announcers (man and woman) are native-Lebanese, not native Iraqis. Given that this is a PSYOPS station, BBC Monitoring didn't understand the selection of some of the music being played, particularly some of the Western tunes (Hans Johnson, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Here`s the 7-minute item; has actualities off the air, and an ID at the very end: U.S. RAINS RADIO BROADCASTS, PAMPHLETS ON IRAQ Starting Dec. 16, the U.S. military has been broadcasting "information radio" to the people of Iraq, from a special-equipped transport plane outside Iraqi air space. Scott Simon discusses the messages -- similar to those transmitted to Afghanistan in Fall 2001 -- with Mike Linstead of BBC Monitoring, which intercepted the broadcasts.... http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/wesat/20021221.wesat.04.ram (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISLE OF MAN. RADIO MAST FIGHT GOES TO HIGH COURT From http://www.iomonline.co.im/fullstory.asp?storyid=2 SUN DEC 22 2002 A BRIDE resident's petition against the decision by the Communication Commission to award a broadcast licence to the firm proposing a long- wave radio station in the north of the Island will be heard in the High Court. Nick Cussons, of Lambhill, filed a petition of doleance in May seeking an order to have the licence to Isle of Man International Broadcasting quashed and the decision by the commission declared null and void. In a 16-page judgment this week, Deemster Cain decided to allow the petition to proceed to a hearing. IMIB's original proposal to site a radio mast on land at Cranstal, Bride, was foiled by an independent inspector but in December last year the firm unveiled plans to site it five kilometres off the coast of Cranstal. Bride Commissioners and residents have objected to the new plan claiming it will have a detrimental impact on both the view and environment in the area, both of which IMIB contest. An earlier petition from the commissioners against the decision by the territorial sea committee to give IMIB approval to site the mast offshore was heard in November and the judgment is awaited. Mr Cussons says there will be a directions hearing for his petition on February 17 next year (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. Season's message from IRRS/NEXUS-IBA Dear friends of IRRS, For the first time this year we will not be running any special transmission via IRRS-Shortwave around Christmas and the new year. This is to save resources in order to be able to continue to serve our audience in the coming year. However, our regular operations continue Mon-Fri at 0630-0730, and Sat & Sun at 0900-1300 UT on 13,840 kHz. IRRS-Shortwave is run by NEXUS-IBA, http://www.nexus.org a non-profit association which has elected to do something different in the world of broadcasting. Our Shortwave station is built on the premise that profits are not the be-all and end-all of broadcasting. We are an all- volunteer cooperative with less than 15 people giving their spare time to keep us alive. They do this largely because we are a free radio station with no political or religious ties, and because of the free access policies of our operation. Since 1979, when all this began via FM in Milan, anyone with anything halfway sensible to say has been able to access our microphones, even if it meant having to run the risk of criticism. In fact, ours is one of the very few experiments in genuinely free media-accessing in Europe. In addition to Shortwave, we are now also on the Internet, with various services for our members, including live MP3 and ogg-vorbis streaming at http://mp3.nexus.org and http://www.nexus.org/IRN We also offer airtime at a small fee to non-profit, small program producers via IPAR (International Public Access Radio, http://www.nexus.org/IPAR Needless to say, all this is very expensive in time as well as money. We carry no advertising on our stations, and there is no commercial sponsorship except the active support of our volunteers, our Association members, and our listeners. We at IRRS-Shortwave want to continue to provide our services to the global community, and that's why for Christmas this year we're asking for your support by subscribing to NEXUS-IBA. Help and support can be sent online via our secure server at https://secure.nexus.org . Also if you would like to make yourself or a friend a BIG Christmas present, please visit http://www.nexus.org/txsale.htm [not found --- gh] Proceedings from this sale will help us keeping on the air. Stay tuned, and take care until the new year, With best season's greetings from all of us here, 73 de Ron / IRRS & NEXUS-IBA. -- (Ron Norton, NEXUS-IBA support, PO Box 11028, 20110 Milano, Italy e-mail : ron@nexus.org Dec 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Website includes propagation maps, but only for obsolete 3985 and 7120 kHz. Showing them for 13840 would give away where this current transmitter actually be located. Nothing shown in current program schedules (gh, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. VOICE OF THE STRUGGLE OF IRANIAN KURDISTAN reported recently by Rumen Pankov and Dave Kenny. This radio station broadcasts 0300-0400 and 1700-1800 in the frequency range 4260-4290 kHz; the station doesn`t have a constant frequency at present (noted on 4260, 4277, 4281, 4286 kHz). The latest frequency I heard was 4286 kHz for both transmissions on 16/12. Seems this is the same station which was active in 1988-1996: the format of the programmes is identical - 45 min. in Kurdish and 15 min. in Farsi. ID in Kurdish is also the same: "Aira dangi Khabati Kurdistani Irana". A shorter version of the ID is: "Dangi Khabati Kurdistan". (Robertas Petraitis, Lithuania) This station had been on and off throughout the 1990s, my files show it inactive since April 2000 (MK) (who`s MK? Via Cumbre DX via DXLD) {must be Mathias Kropf} ** LATVIA. Laser Radio: see U K [non] ** LIBYA. I just heard Libya (Radio Jamahiriya) IN ENGLISH on 11635 from 2100-2130 GMT 12/20/02. Much huffing and puffing about the revolution, etc. A positive ID just before sign off, then into Arabic at 2129, then abruptly off the air. Signal only pretty fair here in the NW, so I cleaned it up through my Sherwood gizmo which made it very intelligible (Bruce Lindner, Portland OR, Dec 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) a full half-hour in English? Usually it`s just 5 minutes or so of news (gh, DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Re. Sitkunai testing 1557: ``That I have no clue, why they carry Chinese programming is another story.`` -- Well, in light of what goes out on 1440 [CRI via Luxembourg] I could offer a possible explanation why they used this signal, especially why they bothered to obtain it from whatever source. Actually an interesting question from where they got the audio, had they to use a telephone/ISDN codec (would be really interesting!) or is it available on any satellite which can be received in Europe? By the way, Harald Kuhl added that the recording I posted includes an ID not only for CRI but also for Hubei PBS (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. 15335, RTV Marocaine, 1402-1430+ 12/22. Nonstop Arabic music to 1428, then brief announcement by M and back to music at 1429. Fair and improving; was // to 15340, which was fair/poor with nasty splatter from VoTurkey on 15350. Both frequencies off by 1500, having switched to 15345, VG here. Don't know why they use 2 frequencies just 5 kHz apart at the same time (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot random wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Adjacent-channel operation is sometimes done, giving a station a seemingly `wider` signal and thus greater presence on the band, especially on cheap receivers. Current HFCC shows two different sites are used for these, Tangier and Nador, 27 and 110 degrees respectively. It probably wouldn`t work if they were at the same site, producing mixing products, etc. In that case it would be better to run two transmitters/antennas on the same frequency. Better not have a feed/satellite delay between them, either, lest echo. 15335 1100 1500 27SE,28N,28SW TAN 250 27 1234567 271002 300303 D MRC 15340 0900 1500 28S,37E,38 NAD 250 110 1234567 271002 300303 D MRC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5985.00 even! R. Myanmar --- this week they have been off their usual v5986. Noted 1530-1600*, music, sign-off announcement, anthem, weak (Ron Howard, CA, DXplorer Dec 19 via BC-DX via DXLD) 4725, Radio Myanmar once again heard on this channel which was left last summer for 5040.6. What is interesting is that they are still on 5040.6. Weak to fair, but in // at 1243 Dec 20 with music. Not sure if this is a new or fixed transmitter or a readjusted frequency on 4725. Hummy transmitter still on 5040.6, cleaner audio on 4725. Not sure if the 'new' 4725 is ex-5985.8. I can't hear 5985.8 this morning, but I am too far away to hear it consistently and it carries a different program as well. Any additional observations would be welcome (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 5040.59, R. Myanmar, 1245 Dec 21, quite a good signal here, Asian talk by woman, music. Nothing on 4725. MP3 file through top of the hour if any one wants to hear it. Thanks Hans for the tip (Dan Ziolkowski, RX- 320, 100 foot wire Franklin, WI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4725, Radio Myanmar. Heard at 1110 UT Dec 22 with what sounded like local Christmas carols into talk by OM/YL. Parallel 5040 kHz. I agree with Hans' observation that the transmitter previously used for 4725 is now used to carry the program on 5040. The hum on that later can hardly be missed. 5985 is still there carrying the regular Myanmar program (not parallel 4725 and 5040) - at this time, it is heard underneath VOA in English (Richard Lam, Singapore, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Had heard 4725 during the 1200 hour Dec 22. By 1300 this one was off but 5040.6 was still on (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Tuned in this morning Dec 22 at about 1225 UT. Had signal both 4725 and 5040.6. Both weak, but in clear and in parallel. Checked again at 1235 and 4725 was gone. So perhaps 4725 sign off at 1230? I did have a very weak signal on 5985 at 1243, but too weak for any details (Dan Ziolkowski WI, ibid.) I agree with your observation, but 4725 was on air earlier in the evening around 1005 on 21 Dec with the usual poor audio, parallel to 5040.6. 5985.0 kHz was audible in the late evening with the main service in Burmese/English, but not in the early evening. Possibly the same transmitter is used for 4725 and 5985 now but this needs further checking. It's possible that 5040.6 comes from the transmitter that is usually 600 Hz or so above channel on 9730 -- formerly it was also on 5985.6v throughout the evening. Regards from Sengigi, Lombok, Indonesia (Alan Davies, Dec 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. R. Farda on FM! see U S A [non] ** NICARAGUA. I received QSL letter from R. Miskut. 5770 kHz Radio Miskut 57 days for $2. f/d friendly letter, signed by Sr. Lic. Evaristo Mercado Pérez, Director de R. Miskut. The letter was written about [by?] Mr. T. Hirahara (Y. Uemura, Kanagawa, Japan, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. From http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=460430 Officials of the popular radio station known as "P4" claimed over the weekend that they will stay on the air, even though they lost a lucrative government concession to operate Norway's only nationwide commercial station. Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, Norway's Minister of Culture, has been the target of public fury since yanking a popular radio station's government concession. The P4 executives are also threatening to sue the government for billions of kroner after Culture Minister Valgerd Svarstad Haugland handed their concession over to a rival bidder on Friday. Svarstad Haugland has been the target of public fury since announcing that she effectively was pulling the plug on P4. Its concession was up for renewal and she chose another operator, called "Canal 4," which is backed by several Norwegian newspaper including the Christian-leaning Vaart Land. Svarstad Haugland herself hails from the Christian Democrats and claims Canal 4's programming will be "better" than P4's. Seven out of 10 of P4's roughly 1 million listeners disagree, according to two separate public opinion polls. They're big fans of P4's fast-paced, contemporary format that largely mimics American commercial radio stations. Canal 4, by contrast, promises to feature more programming aimed at children, that a full 35 percent of the music it plays will be Norwegian and that it will emphasize news and documentary. P4's managing director, Rune Brynhildsen, who is furious over Svarstad Haugland's decision, says his station has a digital concession that runs until 2010. "No one can take that away from us," he told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). "We will give the Norwegian people their favorite channel for 10 more years, no matter what it costs." (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** PERU. 9504.9 kHz, Radio Tacna, at 1004. After logging this tentatively from Dec 16 thru 19, finally ID'd them on this date with exceptional signal that was still above threshold an hour later (doesn't seem possible power is either the 500w or 180w as listed in WRTH and PWBR respectively). Radio Record not noted at this time but something is very weak on frequency before Tacna signs on- possibly Record fading out being much further east? 1005 time check then two OA songs to 1011 when a barking dog was heard. Then long string of ads and/or personal messages (such as Centro Electrónico in Tacna and Balion Italiano) to a Radio Tacna ID at 1015. Many mentions of Buenos Dias Perú, so possibly the name of the program. Of the 5 days I listened, they were already on by 1005 on 3 of them and signed on 1020 and 1030 on the other 2 days (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, JRC NRD- 515/K9AY & A/D Sloper, Dec 20, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. What I presume is Radio Gaderica is putting in a pretty good signal here at 2110 UT on 5920, probably same site as 6235 VOR which also seems to be around. The Signal is choppy, probably due to disturbed conditions at present, but I suspect the High Solar Flux is bringing it through. Many Thanks to Glenn Hauser for the 'alert' WOR 1161; also to check propagation see http://www.trsc.com http://www.SpaceWeather.com With acknowledgements to NOAA, Tom Sundstrom Mr Alvestead (sorry can`t remember your first name) for the 'propagation'. Yes, Identifying now (2117 UT). The station is expected to continue nightly 2000-2300 UT until 31st December 2002 (Ken Fletcher, 2122 UT 21st December 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5920, Radio Gardarika, 2000 Dec 22 with IDs in English and Russian. Giving address in St. Petersburg, telephone number. Fair reception but I had enough of this loop by 2004 when I tuned out the Javaradio in Sweden (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** RWANDA. 6055, R. Rwanda 2057 12/21. Tail end of s/off and NA after Slovakia s/off. During the past several years Radio Rwanda has stayed on well past its usual 2100* on 12/24 to broadcast a Christmas eve party. Carols in English, French and (presumed) Kinyarwanda language, great local music. At local midnight (2200 UT) there's a countdown, sounds of a big celebration, and Xmas greetings in several languages including English. Good opportunity for NA listeners to hear this station, if the same broadcast is on this year (George, MA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. CLANDESTINE from NORWAY? to SAUDI ARABIA. 7590, Radio Al-Islah (Presumed) *1859 Dec 18 with jamming already in progress. Started suddenly with audio difficult to understand and frequent breaks. All in Arabic, but nothing sounding like an ID or opening sequence; via Sweden Javaradio (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) "In an effort to overcome the current jamming, the following frequency shift and extended transmission is applicable starting Sunday Dec. 22; 9930 *1830-2130* ex 7590 *1900-2100" end. The above is V of al-Islah translation of announcement ...Developing (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Dec. 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Sawt al Islah noted on the new channel of 9930 (9929.96m) kHz at 1854 with a much stronger signal than on 7590, though the bubble jammer has followed them. Still has audio breaks. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, UT Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I also heard the same station (Voice of Reform) Dec 21 on new 9930 at 1833-1857* and again at *2058:53-2127:00*. The same man continued talking in Arabic on the usual 7590 at *1858:50- 2058*, so it is rather obvious that the same transmitter is used, just switching between these two frequencies. Best 73 and season greetings to all of you, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. INDIA EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER BROADCASTING FACILITY FOR TIGERS India has expressed its serious ``concern`` to Sri Lanka over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam acquiring modern equipment for its clandestine Voice of Tigers broadcasting station via Norwegian diplomatic channels, the Sunday Times newspaper reported yesterday. Quoting diplomatic sources, the newspaper said that India`s Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, who was on an official visit to Colombo last week, raised the matter during a meeting with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Despite Sri Lankan government claims that the radio station had only a limited range, India`s ``concern`` has been heightened by the distinct possibility of the equipment being upgraded to reach areas in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Exacerbating these ``concerns`` of the government of India, the newspaper said was the apparent cloak of high secrecy over the transfer of six tons of broadcasting equipment. Although one of the Sri Lankan government`s peace negotiators, Minister Milinda Moragoda, regularly visited the Indian capital before and after every round of peace talks with the rebels in recent months, no mention had been made of the transfer of the broadcasting equipment. India had learnt of the move for the first time only from the opposition party in Sri Lanka. This was after Parliamentarian Anura Bandaranaike, who was a member of a three-member People`s Alliance delegation, briefed Indian leaders late last month. The Sunday Times stated that the questions on how the broadcasting equipment, said to be worth millions of rupees, was procured and handed over to the LTTE without payment of any import duty have become a subject of concern not only for the government of India, but also the opposition. Several questions are being raised. Who raised the funds to procure the broadcasting equipment? Were diplomatic norms and procedures not violated when an embassy in Colombo imports such equipment, clears it without duty and hands it over to a private organisation? Since diplomatic cargo is not subject to Customs inspection, was the container with the broadcasting equipment examined? These were among the many questions that are being asked, the newspaper said in its front-page story (via D. Prabakaran, India, Cumbre DX via DXLD} LTTE`S FM RADIO STATION Sri Lanka has issued a license to LTTE to set up a broadcasting station in the northern town of Kilinochchi and assigned an FM frequency, a weekly newspaper said today. The license was issued to the rebel group`s `Peace Secretariat` ``to maintain and operate a private broadcasting station for which equipment worth more than $100,000 was imported by the LTTE last month, the Sunday Leader said. The newspaper said the Tigers were keen to legalise their clandestine `Voice of Tigers` and had sought a license to ``disseminate news to Tamil people on the ongoing peace process.`` In a communication to LTTE `peace secretariat`, which was reproduced in the weekly, the Mass Communications Ministry secretary has said the ``licensee shall provide broadcasting programmes in accordance with the norms, standards and code of ethics followed by the state-owned Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. The import of the equipment had raised concerns in India as to whether the group, outlawed in India, would use it to broadcast propaganda in Tamil Nadu to gain support for itself. However, India has taken the view that it will not be unduly worried as long as the broadcasting facilities were only for FM transmission, which are only specified frequencies with limited range. An LTTE cultural wing functionary had recently said the rebel radio had expansion plans to cover South India and Singapore (PTI via D. Prabakaran, India, Cumbre DX via DXLD} ** TAJIKISTAN. 4940, Voice of Russia, 1257 Dec 22 with tones, 1300 sign on in language after short music piece. Sounded like woman gave VoR website address. A bit of talk and then music. Mixing throughout with co-channel presumed AIR Guwahati (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Army refuses to relinquish media units The Bangkok Post Saturday, December 14, 2002 The army plans to maintain control over its most popular TV channels and radio stations despite an article in the constitution requiring the media be handed over to the National Broadcasting Commission for frequency changes. http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2002/12.10.2002/Thailand5.htm ARMY REFUSES TO RELINQUISH MEDIA UNITS The Bangkok Post Saturday, December 14, 2002 The army plans to maintain control over its most popular TV channels and radio stations despite an article in the constitution requiring the media be handed over to the National Broadcasting Commission for frequency changes. For the sake of safety and security in military operations, the army would not allow civilians to work at broadcasting stations located within its compounds, army chief Gen Somdhat Attanant said yesterday. "The army must maintain control of media that is crucial to national security,'' he said. "To ensure the public is kept aware of military operations, the major stations must not be affected.'' The army runs a total of 126 radio stations, as well as TV channels 5 and 7. Stations that recently begun airing would be returned to the panel, as required by law, Gen Somdhat said (via NASWA Flashsheet Dec 21 via DXLD) ** THAILAND/VIETNAM. A further example of atrocious frequency coordination is the use of 7285 by Radio Thailand and the Voice of Vietnam, both operating on that frequency to the same target area from 1100-1130. Thailand carries Vietnamese and Khmer Vietnam carries English Thailand formerly used 7260 during A02, but moved to 7285 to clear the channel for Radio Netherlands (Petropavlovsk Kamchatka) 0930-1130. Vietnam has used 7285 for many years but does not appear to be represented at the HFCC. There is ample clear spectrum space available on 7 MHz to eliminate this clash. I believe that IBB in Washington manages the Thailand scheduling, with transmissions coming out of Udon Thani. Regards! (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Dec 21, EDXP via DXLD) ** TIBET. The Lhasa daytime frequencies are now audible at times. 11950 in Chinese is regular here from 0259. This one is beamed to the west. The eastern beam on 11860 is very weak but has been confirmed repeatedly. The Tibetan channel on 9580 suffers much interference but has been confirmed repeatedly - this transmitter is the one that is well heard on 7385 mornings/evening. 9490, also beamed to the east, is weak, but can be confirmed days-evenings (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 20, BC-DX via DXLD) ** U A E. As sometimes happens with BC-DX, a frequency I did not report was inserted when picking up my recent item on Dubai at 1330, ``21597.64`` -- I have not tried to measure it that closely lately, and just say 21598v, but thanks for the precision, however it got there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. SIR JIMMY'S RELUCTANT FAREWELL From BBC News Friday, 20 December, 2002, 14:17 GMT Sir Jimmy Young turned on his BBC bosses in his last lunchtime programme on Radio 2, telling listeners "it wasn't my idea" to leave the show. Young, who is 81, has left his show on Friday after half a century in broadcasting. But his anger at leaving Radio 2, his home since 1973, showed during his final programme, as listeners sent messages to the studio saying how sorry they were to see him go. It's the last programme - it's not what I want but that's what's been decreed so that's what we have to do. "Just so that we're all singing from the same hymn book, it was not my idea to go - I didn't want to leave you at all and I know from your messages that you don't want me to go either," he said. According to the BBC's media correspondent Nick Higham, Sir Jimmy feels humiliated at the way he has been sidelined by executives at Radio 2, who are looking for a younger image for the station. A Radio 2 spokeswoman said: "We were disappointed that Sir Jimmy Young had a change of heart about presenting a new show for the BBC. "We thank him for his great contribution to BBC radio over many years and send him warm wishes for every happiness and success in the future." The veteran broadcaster still manages to achieve ratings of around five million listeners. He had five months off recently after a hip operation, and only returned to his show two weeks ago. As his show finished, he told listeners he was writing his autobiography, and had received offers to appear in a one-man stage show. "There is life after the BBC, of course," he said, before playing his last track - his own 1955 version of Unchained Melody. He ended the show by saying: "The song's fading away and indeed so am I. "It's the last programme - it's not what I want but that's what's been decreed so that's what we have to do. "I'm looking forward to hearing you and seeing you at the theatre. Thank you very, very, much for the last 30 years - I've loved it all. "God bless, take care, and for the very last time I fear, bye for now." Sir Jimmy started working at the corporation in 1949, and was one of the first broadcasters on Radio 1 in 1969, moving to Radio 2 four years later. Sir Jimmy's retirement had been mooted for some time, but the DJ had always extended his contract. He had agreed to leave his 12 to 2pm show to do a weekend programme at the beginning of the year, but then changed his mind and decided to retire from the BBC altogether. On Friday, fellow Radio 2 DJ Terry Wogan said on his breakfast show: "Dear Jimmy Young is leaving us - or so he says. We don't have to believe it if we don't want to." He then read out a poem from a reader: "Goodbye to Sir Jimmy Young/ He's leaving us today/ Broadcasting to us the nation/ On Radio 2 each day/ We're really going to miss him/ But he'll be back somehow/ So all we say is BFN - byebye for now." When he announced his departure, Sir Jimmy said: "I know that my many listeners will understand. "This decision has nothing to do with my recent stay in hospital. My hip is fixed and I am not retiring, far from it - I will be pursuing a number of other interests." Sir Jimmy was replaced by Brian Hayes during his five month break, and the show will feature a new host, former Newsnight stand-in Jeremy Vine, from the new year (uk-radio-listeners yahoogroup VIA PAUL DAVID Chair, BVHG, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. FROM TELEGRAPH TO 3G TECHNOLOGY http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ December 21, 2002 By Dan Sabbagh AFTER a nerve-wracking week of checking and cross-checking, on December 21, 1902, Guglielmo Marconi was sure. Exactly 100 years ago, his Wireless Telegraph Company confirmed publicly that four telegrams had been successfully sent from Canada to Cornwall, across 2,000 miles of ocean. The first one was from Lord Minto, the Governor-General of Canada, "To his Majesty the King, London". It said: "May I be permitted by means of this wireless message to congratulate your Majesty on the success of Marconi's great invention connecting England and Canada." Buckingham Palace replied with a telegram the next day. On behalf of the Edward VII, Lord Knollys wrote: "The King has been much interested by your experiments, as he remembers that the initial ones were commenced by you from the Royal Yacht Osbourne in 1898." The applications of Marconi's inventions changed the face of the new century, heralding radio, television, radar and the mobile phone. But, ironically, radio never succeeded in displacing cables - the first of which was laid in 1866 - as the principal means of transmitting data across the Atlantic. Today 60 per cent of BT's transatlantic telecoms traffic is handled by fibre-optic cable, which offers virtually limitless capacity; the rest is handled by the successor to Marconi's technology, satellites. A report of Marconi's historic transmissions followed in The Times on Christmas Eve. Tucked away on page three, below news of Venezuela's "arbitration question", was an article headlined "Wireless transatlantic telegraph", which reproduced the telegraph messages that were sent and received. The Times played a central role in Marconi's famous experiments. With an eye for publicity, the Italian inventor invited the newspaper in October of that year to take part in his latest round of transatlantic experiments. "I shall be glad for the first Press message transmitted by wireless telegraphy from America to England to appear in your columns," Marconi wrote to the Editor. The previous year Marconi had proved it was possible to transmit radio signals across the Atlantic. On December 12, 1901, he received in Newfoundland a three-dot signal - Morse code for the letter "s" - 1,800 miles from where it was transmitted in Cornwall. It wasn't meaningful communication but it did show that it was possible to communicate without wires far beyond the horizon. The radio waves he used bounced off part of the Earth's atmosphere, the ionosphere, meaning that wireless communication could overcome the curvature of the planet to reach the New World from the Old. Marconi's offer was accepted by The Times, and the newspaper sent George Robert Parkin, its Canada Correspondent, to watch the inventor at work in Glace Bay. Indeed, it was Parkin who actually composed the first message sent across the Atlantic. Marconi, based in Glace Bay, started work in mid November 1902. But the signal strength was poor and it was not until December 14 that the inventor felt confident enough to start proper communications. He invited Parkin to write to his newspaper. "Have honour send through Times inventor's first transatlantic message of greeting to England and Italy," the message read. Over the next week Marconi, who after five years of radio demonstrations was a celebrity, sent three other messages to Edward VII and the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. They were all released after they had been cross-checked on December 21. The transatlantic success increased the demand for Marconi's services. Its military and, in particular, naval applications were obvious. But The Times was interested, too, and in March 1903 persuaded the Marconi company to launch a news service for both itself and The New York Times. Unfortunately, that service lasted only a few days: the antenna at the Canadian station broke under the weight of ice in early April. A commercial service was not launched until 1907, and while it was a great success in terms of the amount of traffic carried, it ran at a loss amid heavy competition - a situation that today's telecoms companies, and in particular the successor to Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, Cable & Wireless, would recognise as all too familiar. Even so, radio quickly became the technology of choice when mobile communications were essential. The Times's War Correspondent of the time, Lionel James, used a wireless telegraph to file reports from the front of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. In what was a mainly naval conflict, James was able to file from a steamer he had chartered, which was out in the Yellow Sea, speeding up the delivery of battle reports vastly. The story of the next hundred years of communications is largely one of increasing proliferation, falling cost and the occasional technological shock. Broadcast radio came in the 1920s, television in the 1930s, the mobile phone in the 1980s and the internet in the 1990s. Fortunes were made and lost as companies either under or overestimated how much money they could make from the changes in technology. Long-distance communications that were barely available to the elite 100 years ago are carried around in the pockets of virtually every adult in Western Europe. Next year, mobile phone operators hope to launch "third generation" services, which will allow two-way video calls on the move. (more on web site). (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K [non]. Latvia 5935: World Bible Radio Network 5935 1700-1759. Nonstop choirs, carols and instrumentals, with ID and frequency given in between. Laser Radio started at 1800. Familiar 60-ies offshore pirate tune. "Well here we are at long last..." program introduced by Jeff Rogers... then Beatles-All You Need Is Love. Info about Latvia and Ulbroka transmitter. Unfortunately at 1800 also start of R. Prague on 5930 (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LATVIA 5935 World Bible Radio Network heard at 1745 tune-in, hymns and choral music with one identification given. 1800 Laser sounds and Man of Action theme tune, start of Laser Radio transmissions with DJ Geoff Rogers, into All You Need is Love by the Beatles. Strong signals but some adjacent channel splatter (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, December 22nd, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Already audible here in New York at 1835 UT tune-in. Talk by OM DJ, then music with OM vocals. Website audio stream is approximately delayed by one minute. SINPO only 23332 at the moment, should definitely improve as darkness approaches (George Maroti, NY, R8B/100 foot long T2FD, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U K [AND NON]. IRISH REPUBLICAN BALLAD NAMED WORLD'S TOP SONG By Sinead O'Hanlon LONDON (Reuters) - The Irish republican rallying cry "A Nation Once Again" was named Friday as the world's all-time favorite song, after a global poll by the BBC. The ballad performed by the staunchly republican group The Wolfe Tones, was among a minority of Western songs in the list and only narrowly triumphed over Indian patriotic song "Vande Mataram," the BBC said in a statement. Group leader Brian Warfield told Reuters from Dublin, "It's marvelous news." "We're absolutely delighted that this song, which has become such an anthem for the Irish people, has got such recognition all over the world. "The song was written to give the Irish people back a bit of spirit and support the fight to overturn (British rule) so I am very happy to see it is still giving us spirit the world over," he said. The poll of BBC World Service listeners attracted 150,000 votes from 153 countries and revealed the diversity of the world's musical tastes. Among the rest of the top ten was a Bollywood movie song, a love song from Nepal, a Tamil Tiger film song and a pop song from Hollywood singer/actress Cher. "A Nation Once Again" was written by 19th century Anglo-Irish army surgeon Thomas Osbourne Davis to support the fight for an end to British rule. It includes the refrain "And Ireland, long a province, be a nation once again." Many famous names contributed to the voting with Bianca Jagger choosing Bob Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door" rather than anything from ex-husband Mick Jagger's band the Rolling Stones. Former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos chose Handel's Hallelujah chorus, while Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey opted for Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife." The BBC said some artists suffered in the voting stakes because so many of their songs were nominated, splitting the vote. The Beatles had 55 songs nominated and Iranian artist Googoosh had 40. Reggae legend Bob Marley had 29 songs nominated, with "No Woman No Cry" topping the list. Europe's favorite song was "Wind of Change" by the Scorpions, a song many associate with the fall of the Berlin Wall. The United States went for "Girl from Ipanema" by Antonio Carlos Jobim while Latin Americans voted for "Solo le pido a Dios" from Argentine singer Leon Geico. Swahili classic "Malaika" was Africa's No. 1 while Australians and New Zealanders voted for both Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC. The final top ten list is: 1. A Nation Once Again -- The Wolfe Tones. 2. Vande Mataram -- various artists. 3. Dil Dil Pakistan - Vital Signs. 4. Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu - Ilayaraja. 5. Poovum Nadakkuthu Pinchum Nadakkuthu - Thirumala Chandran 6. Ana wa Laila - Kazem El Saher. 7. Reetu Haruma Timi - Arun Thapa. 8. Believe - Cher. 9. Chaiyya Chaiyya - A R Rahman. 10. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen. Reuters/Variety 12/20/02 23:59 ET (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) I tuned in near the beginning of this show, only to hear some disgusting lyrics, so promptly tuned out (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WWRB IS NOW TESTING TRANSMITTER GLOBAL FOUR Press Release 12/21/2002 For Immediate Release POC: Peter J. Taggart This morning (December 21, 2002) Radio Station WWRB began low power testing of its fourth transmitter, Global Four. This transmitter, built by Harris, is easily capable of running a full 150 Kilowatts power AM. So far, it has performed flawlessly in tests, far exceeding our specifications, and we are confidently optimistic of adding it to our official transmitter lineup within a few months. With the beginning of broadcasts utilizing this transmitter, we expect to significantly enhance our capabilities and coverage, offering services far exceeding our current capabilities. Radio Station WWRB's management has not yet determined the operational frequencies for this transmitter, however, the low three megahertz is considered an excellent candidate for nighttime operations. WWRB FACILITIES DESIGNATED AS AERONAUTICAL ENROUTE COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY Press Release 12/21/2002 For Immediate Release POC: Rei Hino Recently, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration designated and licensed the parent company of Radio Station WWRB as an Aeronautical Enroute Communications Facility. Radio Station WWRB's transmitter site in Manchester, Tennessee and our receiver site McCayesville [sic], Georgia are equipped with extensive antenna systems perfectly suited for long and short range communications (point to point, ground to air, secure voice, data, and aircraft reservations.) This new venture is in the initial stages of development, we are beginning to receive frequency assignments, and rapid expansion is anticipated as time goes on (WWRB via Dave Frantz, DXLD) That explains the sign on the gate seen months ago claiming WWRB was an aero facility (gh, DXLD) Thought you would like to know the radio call is : "Nashville Radio" (Dave Frantz, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7354.5, WRNO: started checking to see how early they come on. 2348 on Dec 18 there was preaching in English here. Ended at 2351 and then dead air past 0000. On Dec 19 at the same time I heard nothing, not even the hint of a carrier (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. The Charlotte Beers speech at the National Press Club is available on demand at ... http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/ndrive/ter121802_beers.rm (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. NEW ZEALAND. 107.1 FM: Radio Farda's new Persian Service has made a surprise appearance on the FM band here in Auckland New Zealand. While driving around the eastern suburbs of Auckland doing some last minute Christmas shopping yesterday (21 December), I discovered an unidentified Middle Eastern broadcaster on 107.1 FM in stereo. The language wasn't Arabic and the identification sounded like "Radio Fardough". Not having heard Radio Farda before, but given the number of references to Iran, I tried http://www.radiofarda.com and compared the webcast identification with the local FM signal to confirm they were the same, though programming was not in parallel. Then today 22 December I have tracked down a couple of Radio Farda's shortwave frequencies (15290 and 17675 at 0800 UTC) and established that our local FM broadcast is running 1 to 2 seconds behind the shortwave audio. It`s interesting to speculate as to the source of the local signal. Here in NZ, the edges of the FM broadcast band (88.0 to 88.5 and 106.7 to 107.3) are known as 'guardbands' and can be used by enthusiastic microbroadcasters with a maximum transmitter output of 300 milliwatts, that is, less than a third of a watt. Is this just an initiative of a young Iranian living in Auckland, or is there a desire by the organisation behind Radio Farda to entertain the worldwide expatriate Iranian community ? I checked the NZ Immigration Service statistics online and these show 149 Iranians have been accepted for NZ residence in the 6 months ending December 2002, compared with 300 in 2000/01 and 350 in 2001/02. So not sure there's a big Persian-speaking audience around here, and the 300 milliwatts probably has a range of 10-15 miles. Anyone else hearing Radio Farda on local FM? (Bryan Clark, Auckland, NZ, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I listened to 1539 early this morning and was able to sort out R Farda from the Spanish station. R Farda was on 1539.08, so most likely they are using the Sharjah facility, at least for the time being (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Isn`t it odd that R. Farda is running 24 hours on the two MW frequencies 1539 and 1593 from UAE and Kuwait. These could not penetrate very far into Iran in the daytime, at the high end of the band (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Interesting to see they are using 1539 too - maybe the 2 x 50kW at Sharjah? (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Dec 20 via DXLD) IBB frequency table shows DHA = Al Dhabbaya location anyway. I had a look into new WRTH '03, which arrived yesterday at Stuttgart. I guess maybe they-{Americans} made a deal with Sharjah/UAE authorities to use that channel straight northwards at 10 degrees, but with 500 kW of power. I don't believe that the US power would use a 50 kW unit from Sharjah towards Iran! (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) The distance from Sharjah to the nearest major city in Iran is at least 200 km, so the 2 x 50 kW would be of little use. I have not seen a coördination for a higher power. We'll have to wait and see what it sounds like. Sharjah has usually been a little off channel, so if we get to hear a loud signal spot on channel, then it's not Sharjah but Dhabbaya (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX, Dec 21, via DXLD) Radio Farda: I asked about the 7165 and 9835 frequencies, beaming the former Radio Azadi to Europe. Done; they were cancelled, confirmed on Dec 20 check. Re the frequency lists, I understand that VOA Farsi will continue. Otherwise it appears that the FRD outlets replace the RFE circuit 12 transmissions completely since they contain most of the former RFE Farsi (Radio Azadi) frequencies (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "{(Dan Ferguson, IBB, Dec 18, SWBC via DXLD) Not quite identical to: ... " (gh, DXLD 2-199) But nevertheless correct (Dan Ferguson, IBB, SWBC via DXLD) Meaning the other {tentative} version is incorrect ** U S A. Just reviewed a phone message from one of the churches in Jamestown ND, which is a "heavy contributor" to the local WAFR *88.3 Tupelo MS translator. They plan to bring up my charges against the American Family Association (translator W214AX *90.7 there) at a meeting of the local ministerial association. I have no intention at this time to capitulate to the AFR's attorney's demands that I be silent, lest I be sued for slander. In fact, I may be willing to travel the 800 mile round trip to testify at the group's meeting. I might also mention to you that my son-in-law is a pastor in Jamestown, and probably a member of the ministerial association. (He may or may not agree with me; hence my feeling that I should travel to Jamestown to be personally present.) If I go, wish me luck! The problem of a neglected station ID is so sacred to me as a DXer I am willing to go to great expense to protect this right. I hope other DXers agree (Bruce Elving/FM Atlas, Dec 21, amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** U S A. I thought you might want to see this one. The American Free Press, the source of this story, has their own particular bias, which I don't much care for, but I assume the information here is valid. The old saying is coming true more and more that a free press is for he who owns one (John Wesley Smith, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rense.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Media Giants After ABSOLUTE Control Exclusive To American Free Press By Michael Collins Piper 12-19-2 Some populist critics of the major media giants in America say that "The Media Is the Enemy," Well, if other people have their way, the wealth and power of the mass media and its concentration in increasingly fewer hands will be greater than ever before... If you think that the masters of the American media --- men such as Edgar Bronfman, Sumner Redstone, Rupert Murdoch, S.I. Newhouse, Mortimer Zuckerman, Lawrence Tisch and others --- are rich and powerful now, just wait till you see what the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has in store for them. The FCC is considering loosening or doing away entirely with regulations that limit the number of newspapers and radio and television outlets that a single company can own. Americans have until Jan. 2 --- no later --- to register their opposition with the FCC. (See accompanying information on how to contact the FCC on page 20.) Although all of this is being proposed in the name of "the free market," this would be a major boon to the increasingly smaller number of global corporate media giants that are swallowing up once independent local newspapers and broadcast outlets across America and around the world. Such a move would also give expanded political clout to the already immensely powerful lords of the media allowing them-for example-to own a major television station and newspaper in the same town or city, thereby effectively having a monopoly on local news coverage. Advocates of "deregulation" say that because so many Americans now have access to the Internet and can thereby call up many news sources-literally, worldwide-that there is no longer any need for "out of date" regulations. In addition, advocates say that because of the expansion of satellite and cable television, previous concerns about the concentration of media ownership are no longer valid. While it is true that the Internet has provided a communications/ outreach explosion of unprecedented proportions --- just in the last several years alone --- most Americans get the bulk of their news and information from their local "mainstream" newspapers and television and radio which are themselves increasingly being grabbed up by major media monopolies. For example, in the small city of Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, the New York-based Newhouse family controls the major daily newspaper, The Patriot. The Newhouse family's Advance Communications also controls a number of smaller weekly newspapers in both suburban and rural "bedroom" counties surrounding Harrisburg. Most of those people have no idea that their "local" newspaper is actually owned by a national media conglomerate held tightly in the hands of a super-powerful billionaire family. Americans who use the Internet for "other" information tend to frequent the web sites of "major" widely-publicized and "fashionable" newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times. However, what many of those who fancy themselves to be "in the know" because they access multiple "big name" newspapers do not realize is that the owners of The Chicago Tribune, for example, are also the owners of The Los Angeles Times and New York's Long Island-based Newsday and The Hartford (Connecticut) Courant, to mention several in the Tribune Co.'s stable. So many readers who think they are getting "alternative" information from other news sources are victims of the growing media monopoly that prefers to keep its concentration of elite ownership out of the realm of public understanding and discussion. As one would expect from an appointed bureaucrat with high-level political connections, the FCC's chairman Michael Powell --- son of Secretary of State Colin Powell --- is taking a non-committal position on the controversial issue. Unfortunately, the issue is only "controversial" to those who are aware of the issue, since the matter has been largely relegated to the business pages of the major metropolitan dailies. The concept of media ownership and control being increasingly taken into the hands of fewer and fewer families and financial groups is not widely debated or understood. There is something you can do about it: make your voice heard. You have until Jan. 2 to contact the FCC and tell the commissioners that you are opposed to all plans to loosen current ownership restrictions. Urge the commissioners to tighten current standards and restrict the growth of the media monopoly in America. http://americanfreepress.net/12_11_02/Media_Giants_Crave/media_giants_crave.html MainPage http://www.rense.com (via John W. Smith, DXLD) ALTERNATIVE MEDIA CENSORSHIP: SPONSORED BY CIA's FORD FOUNDATION? by bob feldman The multi-billion dollar Ford Foundation's historic relationship to the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] is rarely mentioned on Pacifica's DEMOCRACY NOW / Deep Dish TV show, on FAIR's COUNTERSPIN show, on the WORKING ASSETS RADIO show, on The Nation Institute's RADIO NATION show, on David Barsamian's ALTERNATIVE RADIO show or in the pages of PROGRESSIVE, MOTHER JONES and Z magazine. One reason may be because the Ford Foundation and other Establishment foundations subsidize the Establishment Left's alternative media gatekeepers / censors. PACIFICA / DEMOCRACY NOW / DEEP DISH TV Take Pacifica / DEMOCRACY NOW, an alternative radio network with annual revenues of $10 million in 2000, whose National Program Director was paid $63,000 in that year. In the early 1950s--when the CIA was using the Ford Foundation to help fund a non-communist "parallel left" as a liberal Establishment alternative to an independent, anti-Establishment revolutionary left--the Pacifica Foundation was given a $150,000 grant in 1951 by the Ford Foundation's Fund for Education. According to James Ledbetter's book MADE POSSIBLE BY..., "the Fund's first chief was Alexander Fraser, the president of the Shell Oil Company." Besides subsidizing the Pacifica Foundation in the early 1950s, the Ford Foundation also spent a lot of money subsidizing many other noncommercial radio or television stations in the United States. According to Ledbetter's MADE POSSIBLE BY..., between 1951 and 1976, the Ford Foundation "spent nearly $300 million on noncommercial radio and television." In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Pacifica relied primarily on listener-sponsor contributions to fund the operations of its radio stations. And in the early 1970s, Pacifica also began to accept funds from the U.S. Establishment's Corporation for Public Broadcasting [CPB], according to Rogue State author William Blum--who worked as a KPFA staffperson in the early 1970s. But in the early 1990s, some Pacifica administrators decided to again seek grants from the Ford Foundation and other Establishment foundations. As former Pacifica Development Director Dick Bunce wrote in the appendix to the "A Strategy for National Programming" document which was prepared for the Pacifica National Board in September 1992, entitled "Appendix Foundation Grantseeking National Programming Assumptions for Foundation Fundraising": The national foundation grantseeking arena has changed enough in recent years to make activity in this arena potentially worthwhile—for organizations prepared to be players and partners in the same field as NPR, APR, maybe some others...The foundation funding of interest is in gifts of $100,000 or more a year, for several years...Three of America's six largest foundations (Ford, MacArthur, Pew) have begun to fund public broadcasting, public radio in particular, and evidently intend to continue doing so. Pacifica requested meetings with each of these foundations earlier this year and was treated seriously enough in subsequent meetings to give us some hope of securing funding possibly from all three. A `Report Sheet' on this work is included in Appendix 3. "Beyond these three foundations there are no others among the country's 100 largest which have made substantial grants to public broadcasting. So the second tier of foundation prospects look substantially different from the first tier requiring more work on our part to open doors, establish `standing' and find a workable `fit.' "There are nonetheless a number of interesting prospects--in some cases only because of particular people who are currently involved, or because of formal criteria which we could try to fit. The second tier list includes several from the top 100 --- Rockefeller, Irvine, Surdna, George Gund -- Nathan Cummings -- and a number of smaller foundations, but still capable of 6 figure grants: Aaron Diamond, Revson, Rockefeller Family & Associates, New World, Winston Foundation for World Peace. "Once we drop to the $35,000 to $75,000 grant range, the list enlarges, but these take as long to cultivate as the bigger ones, so it makes sense to start from the top. "Foundation fundraising at this level has extraordinary payoffs--but it takes senior staff time, not `grantwriting' but in communicating. It is therefore expensive, and not successfully done as an afterthought to everything else in the day. It also requires `venture capital visits' to the foundations to open doors and conversations that lead to partnerships. "In initiating three top level contacts in April, May and June, and attempting to capitalize on the opportunities apparent to us, we have already been stretched beyond our capacity to really interface effectively with these funders --- although admittedly much of the problem to date has been due to the fact that we don't yet have a clear business plan for national programming. "Foundation grantmaking will most likely proceed as short-term funding. Funders will want to `fund projects, not operations.' We should presume that we can succeed in raising serious money to launch or establish new programs, etc. but not to sustain them beyond start- up. The standard of self-sufficiency will be required for many proposals we submit, and our own planning will be most successful if we relate to this funding source accordingly. "Short-Run Strategies for Developing a Foundation Grantseeking Program "Seek Development Committee leadership in planning for Foundation grantseeking. "Pursue 3 `anchor' grants to acquire funding beginning in FY'93 from the Big 3 foundations we've already begun to work with. "Long-Range Strategies for Developing a Foundation Grantseeking Program "Initiate an informal `feasibility inquiry' of foundation support for Pacifica's objectives by requesting visits with the dozen top prospects to shape proposals and establish relationships... "Foundation Grants Summary: Late this spring we began our first efforts in national foundation grantseeking on behalf of national programming. We have a good chance of securing six figure grants in the coming fiscal year from any or all of the 3 foundations we're working with, but our approach is still dependent upon our own organizational progress toward a business plan that we are committed to following through on. "The second tier of foundation prospects is more challenging, and will require increased staff resources, a modest feasibility inquiry and active planning with the Board Development Committee. By 1995, billionaire speculator George Soros' Open Society Institute had given the Pacifica Foundation a $40,000 grant. And in 1996, the Carnegie Corporation of New York gave Pacifica a $25,000 grant to launch its DEMOCRACY NOW show. In 1997 came a $13,000 grant from the J.M. Kaplan Fund to Pacifica to provide support for DEMOCRACY NOW. And in 1998 came a $25,000 grant to Pacifica from the Public Welfare Foundation "to report on hate crimes and related issues as part of its `DEMOCRACY NOW!" public-affairs radio program and an additional $10,000 grant to support DEMOCRACY NOW from the J.M. Kaplan Fund. That same year the Ford Foundation gave a $75,000 grant to Pacifica "toward marketing consultancy, promotional campaign and program development activities for radio program, DEMOCRACY NOW." In 1998 and 1999, two grants, totalling $22,500, were also given to Pacifica by the Boehm Foundation, to support its DEMOCRACY NOW show. In early 2002, an additional Ford Foundation grant of $75,000 was given to Deep Dish TV "for the television news series, DEMOCRACY NOW, to continue incorporating the aftermath of the September 11th attack into future broadcasts." Besides being presently subsidized by the Ford Foundation to air Pacifica's DEMOCRACY NOW show, Deep Dish TV, with an annual income of $158,000 in 2000, was also subsidized by the MacArthur Foundation in the 1990s. Between 1993 and 1998, $190,000 in grants were given to Deep Dish TV by the MacArthur Foundation. And one of the members of Deep Dish TV's board of directors in recent years has apparently been a WBAI staffperson named Mario Murillo. Another Ford Foundation grant of $200,000 was given in April 2002 to the Astraea Foundation, whose former board finance committee chairperson, Leslie Cagan, is presently the chairperson of Pacifica's national board. Three other grants have been given to the Astraea Foundation by the Ford Foundation since 2000: two grants, totalling $75,000, in 2000; and a $200,000 grant in 2001 "for general support and subgrants to community-based organizations addressing social, political and economic justice, especially those focused on lesbians and other sexual minorities." The former finance committee chairperson of the Ford Foundation-sponsored Astraea Foundation recently signed a $2 million "golden handshake / sweetheart contract" with the Ford Foundation-sponsored, soon-to-be-privatized DEMOCRACY NOW producer (who has apparently been receiving a $90,000/year salary from Pacifica in recent years for her alternative journalism work). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- original URL for this article: http://www.questionsquestions.net/feldman/feldman01.html (via John W. Smith, DXLD) So? Fortunate that foundations hand out money to public broadcasting (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I haven't seen anything about WWRC using IBOC, but with us heading out of the testing phase and into the real usage phase I assume there's no media splash for many stations. So who knows of a way to track IBOC stations? Are they still required to get a STA or whatever for IBOC? If so, will that be accessible over the web? iBiquity isn't giving names of individual stations (Chuck Hutton, WA, NRC-AM via DXLD) The FCC has added categories "AM Digital", "FM Digital", "FM Translator Digital", and "FM Booster Digital" to their CDBS application search page on http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_sear.htm They seem to be only testing though. Selecting *all* "AM Digital" stations returns only three STAs. (KXNT-840, WSB-750, WKDL-730). Selecting all "FM Digital" stations returns seven FM stations -- and the three AMs. Likewise if you select the FM translators - you get the ten full-power stations (Doug Smith, TN, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. 87.9 MHz FLORIDA (PIRATE) unidentified, Tampa (presumed); I continue to hear this one sporadically since first discovering in early November. The latest reception began on local Friday, Dec. 20th around 8 p.m. and all day/eve the 21st, and still noted Sunday, Dec. 22nd at 11:40 a.m.+. So -- when active (weekends, mostly)-- it is 24- hours. Format continues to be automated with mostly early 60's bubble gum pop, soul and Motown, with a little early 70's pop/rock. Still noting occasional reverbed "nonstop music" singing drops, no slogan "ID" heard yet though. Stereo. In Pinellas county, a better signal in the Countryside area than my central county location. Need to go on another DFing mission, though I'm pretty sure I know who it is (formerly another format and another channel). (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, Tocobaga DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Your digest #2-099 lamented the deterioration of WWLG (calling itself WLG) Baltimore, on 1360 kcs. At this instant I'm copying the station on 1370 via my well-calibrated TenTec RX-320 in Reston, Virginia. Moved 10 kHz? (Charles Gillen, Dec 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 640, YVQO Unión Radio, Puerto-La-Cruz (Anzoátegui state) DEC 22 0323 - One segment of their continuous newscast ended; then man repeating over 20 times "unionradio.com" (their new web-site) and the slogans "Unión Radio, La radio de noticias", "24 horas de información" and simply "Unión Radio Noticias"; then back to news. At 0343 again this repetitive promos, mention of "mil-noventa AM" which is their Caracas frequency (I tried to get this one which would have been a new one for me, but without luck, as WBAL was huge and alone), as well as several FM frequencies - one of them was 90.3 in the (Falcón?) state - back to news again. At 0351 gave 2 items about the Hugo Chávez manifestation. Good to very good reception; often way atop Guadeloupe/WNNZ QRM. I could get trace of this even on a poor Panasonic Rx-D14 portable, just to get an idea of how strong this 10 kW Venezuelan was at my QTH (Bogdan Chiochiu, DXing from Pierrefonds, Quebec, Sanyo MCD-S830 w/ internal ferrite bar antenna, also using a Panasonic Dx-D14 with a very short ferrite rod ant.! Hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Baseball games are suspended for the time being, due to the present political turmoil. As soon as things return to normal, nightly ballgame commentaries will be heard on the AM band. There are two interesting pages showing a list of the Circuito AM Center stations covering all Los Tiburones de la Guairá games http://www.tiburonesdelaguaira.com.ve/circuito.php and a list of the Circuito Radio Venezuela stations covering the Aguilas del Zulia games http://www.aguilas.com/circuito.html Not many of the CRV outlets can be monitored live on the Internet right now, but this morning I was pleased to have a go at "las grandes canciones de navidad" on Mara 900, which can be found at http://www.radiovenezuela.com.ve (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Dec 22, dxing.info via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA [non]. Radio Yugoslavia: Weren't there already rumours about possible CRI relays via Bijeljina some time ago? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5079.8 kHz - 16 DEC 2002 - 1515 UT. Sounded like Radio Pakistan in Dari (Karel Honzik, Czechia, Dec 21, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Hi Karel, If it is Pakistan on 5079.8 I think it will be their Current Affairs programme which is on air at 1300-1800. They have another transmission at 0200-0400. This is via a 100kW transmitter at Islamabad and was using 7105 - or thereabouts. The Dari service at 1515-1545 should be using 5860 and 7375. It was still heard there a few days ago (Noel Green, England, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 5080.3: Reports of Radio Pakistan in this range. Talk here at 1310 Dec 22 in language, carrier heard before 1300, any help most appreciated (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Dec 14 [Sat] 1325, 27735 kHz. Private church station (Ireland?). Songs by children, with piano accompaniment. Long breaks between songs, announcer was not there. S value varied from 1 to 3, and there was much QRM by CB operators. Dec 15 [Sun], 0900, 27335 [sic -- which is it?] kHz. Church sermon in English (Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine, Signal via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT [non] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bob Padula's hard-hitting, "take-no-prisoners" style of editorial on frequency management in the latest EDXP World Broadcast Monitor was right on the ball. Indeed, when international stations use non-technical bureaucrats to plan their schedules, you can be sure that we are in for chaos on the shortwave bands. Surely, with all the technical know-how at their hands, the three major bodies (ABU, ASBU and HFCC) could have sorted out their plans, even before their five day junket in Bangkok began!! Sophisticated propagation modeling software exists, and frequency management software is probably also available for use by the three organisations. For God's sake, even a simple Excel spreadsheet setup would suffice!! However, what Bob does not say in his editorial is that this mess is largely a result of political motivations within and between each organisation. Each group has to appease their own member countries broadcasting aspirations and demands. At the same time, each body is pushing their particular geographical region's broadcasting rights, obligations and desires. In particular, the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) has its own agenda and interests. On the surface, there is harmony and co-operation between the parties. Underneath, I believe, each group is trying to get "its pound of flesh". Add to this the DRM experiments, with their 20 kHz bandwidth signals, plus a few other countries who refuse to coordinate with anyone, and you have a recipe for disaster on the shortwave bands. I have felt for some time now that DRM testing should be allocated to a separate frequency range, well away from the existing analogue service, to minimise interference. This would also allow more realistic analysis of how DRM signals co-exist with each other when every station (......every???) switches over to DRM during the next 10-15 years. Once again, we have the wealthy broadcasters using their muscles to stomp all over the SWBC bands with wide bandwidth DRM signals, and to hell with everyone else. Unless broadcasters in general and frequency management bodies in particular begin to coordinate their activities better, the dwindling SW listener market will give up rather quickly bothering with this mode of broadcasting. Within a short time, the stations could end up talking to themselves! (Rob VK3BVW Wagner, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 20, EDXP via DXLD) 2002 CLANDESTINE ACTIVITY SURVEY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ During the year 2002 the activity of political clandestine stations broadcasting on shortwave has increased by 21 % to 1732 Weekly Broadcasting Hours (WBHs). This is the highest level of activity since 1994 and the third year with increased activity in a row. The clandestine activity now has increased already by more than 50 % from its recent low in 1999. Clandestine activity to target areas on the Asian continent has increased by 20 % to 1312 WBHs and on the African continent by 15 % to 242 WBHs. On the American continent activity has dropped by 8 % to 162 WBHs. In Oceania, which was not active last year, activity is now at 16 WBHs. The number of active target areas (countries) worldwide has increased by one to 22. While Sri Lanka and Colombia are thought to be no longer active; Kazakhstan, Syria and Papua New Guinea are new or reactivated target areas. The three most active target areas worldwide are Iraq with 496 WBHs (+129 when compared with last year - the highest activity to a single target area ever since this survey was started back in 1986), North Korea with 217 WBHs (unchanged from last year) and Iran with 193 WBHs (+43). (unattributed via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX Dec 22 via DXLD) I assume this be the work of Mathias Kropf, as he does every year (gh, DXLD) TIP FOR RATIONAL LIVING, SOLSTITIAL GREETINGS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2002 WINTER SOLSTICE GREETINGS FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS Today at 8:14 PM, Eastern Standard Time, the Sun reaches its southernmost point in its annual apparent journey across the sky. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere know this as the Winter Solstice, marking the official beginning of winter. There is nothing supernatural or mystical about this event. Our planet's axis is tilted slightly with respect to the orbital plane around the Sun, which accounts for our seasons and variations in the length of day and night. Solar rays strike the surface of our hemisphere at a pronounced angle, resulting in less heating. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is summer. The term Solstice derives from the Latin, "solstitium" which combines "sol" or Sun and "stitium," stoppage. This is the longest night and the shortest day of our year. As the months roll by and we head into spring and summer, the days begin to grow longer in their duration. It was no wonder, then, that the ancients perceived all of this as an event laden with profound significance. Solstice events became the nexus of religious and communal rituals throughout the world, and during this time of the year, many of our ancestors celebrated the slow rebirth of the Sun. As Sky & Telescope Editor Alan MacRoberts notes, the Winter Solstice could well be humanity's oldest holiday. It certainly predates the Christian era, as societies and tribal units found cause to celebrate this time of year. Neolithic people knew something of the Winter Solstice, and a number of monuments throughout the world reflect the profound ceremonial significance of this period. New Grange in Ireland, Maes Howe in the Orkneys and other monuments were oriented toward the rising sun on the Solstice Day. The theme of solar rebirth carried over to later Pagan holidays which commemorated the births of numerous god-men and saviors -- Dionysius, Helios, Apollo, Hercules, Horus, Mithra, Osiris, Perseus and others. Under the Roman Emperor Aurelian (270-275 BCE), these were combined into the "Feast of Sol Invicta," or birthday of the unconquered Sun on December 25. This cultural residue with roots in ancient human history survived even into the so-called "Christian era" and the alleged birth of Jesus Christ. Some early Christians celebrated the nativity feast in the spring. The Puritans later eschewed the holiday altogether, considering (rightly) that it was rooted in Pagan sensibilities and practices. Not all Atheists may choose to celebrate the Winter Solstice. For those who do, however, it is an event firmly entwined with the natural world and the motion of our cosmos rather than blind faith and superstition. It is a rational alternative to the often dreary and religion-saturated miasma of the Christmas time, redolent in its themes of blind submission and abandonment of the intellect. Besides, it is also a wonderful and fitting period to party with friends, exchange gifts and celebrate the human experience with all of its potential! And what a year it has been... So, on behalf of all of us at the American Atheists Center, the President, Board Members and Officers of our organization wish each and every one of you a happy Winter Solstice! The Winter Solstice Occurs on Saturday, December 21, 2002 at 8:14 PM EST -- Good Cheer and Good Wishes For the New Year! For more information: http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/seasons.html ("The Solstitial and Equinoctial Seasons," by Frank Zindler) http://www.americanatheist.org/supplement/wintersol-ej2000.html ("What I Want For Winter Solstice," by Ellen Johnson) http://www.americanatheist.org/supplement/wintersol-sun-moon.html ("Winter Solstice: Sun, Moon and Worship," by Conrad Goeringer) http://www.skyandtelescope.com (Web site for Sky & Telescope magazine -- click on December 16, 2002 Press Release link: "December Solstice Signals the Start of a New Season," by Alan MacRoberts) (AA Newsletter Dec 21 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ A few M class flares have been noted since the 16th, and combined with a coronal hole has raised the earth's geomagnetic field to active/storm levels today. The week started quietly but flare activity and coronal holes led to some degradation over polar paths. The current disturbance was originally forecast to hit earlier in the week but appears to have been delayed. IPS Geomagnetic Warning 45 was issued on 20 December and is current for interval 21-22 December. Coronal hole induced geomagnetic activity observed over past 24 hours. Further actviity expected first half of today particular if southward interplanetary magnetic field persists. Minor storm (Major storm periods) expected 22 Dec due to recent mass ejection associated with M2.7 flare. Activity could be extended to 23rd due to M6.8 event, effects expected to be less due to relatively impulsive nature of flare. Prepared using data from www.ips.gov.au Merry Christmas to all (Richard Jary, Australia, Dec 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-200, December 20, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1161: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Eu Sun 0530, NAm Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1161.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Thanks again for your fine efforts throughout this year and years past, and Happy Holidays, as Groucho Marx used to say, to you and whoever you are shacking up with! (Tom Roche) See Also FRANCE ** ABKHAZIA. 9489.4, R. Abkhazia, 1454 Dec 17 with Russian opera, talks by OM in Russian, ID at 1457 "...Abkhaz R" by YL followed by slow music "I will always love you'. Vacant carrier for about 1 min, then sign off. Signal ^-7 with carrier on 9490.0 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. RADIO TRANSMITTER INSTALLED IN AFGHAN GHOWR PROVINCE - IRAN RADIO | Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 20 December An FM radio transmitter has been installed in the [Afghan central] province of Ghowr. According to the [Iranian] Central News Unit from Kabul, Dr Sayd Makhdom Rahin, the Afghan minister of information and culture, said that one of the most important programmes of the Ministry of Information and Culture was to install radio transmitters in all provinces of Afghanistan. Among them, some deprived provinces like Ghowr, Nimroz, Farah, Khost, Bamian, Urozgan and Badakhshan were at the top of the ministry's priority list. It [Ghowr] is the first deprived province of Afghanistan where a radio transmitter has been installed. The Afghan minister of information and culture had promised Herat, Farah and Nimroz provinces this [that they would have a transmitter installed]. The slow pace of reconstruction and non-realization of international assistance have prevented most provinces from getting even one radio transmitter. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Dari 0330 gmt 20 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 12/19/02. As per message received from Mr Ian Williams, start up date for HCJB-Australia broadcasts to India has been delayed till January 7, 2003. Frequencies also currently being reviewed and not finalised yet (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, EDXP via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC/RADIO-CANADA MAKES ARCHIVAL COLLECTION AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE ON THE INTERNET http://cbc.ca/archives http://radio-canada.ca/archives MONTREAL, Dec. 19 /CNW Telbec/ - What images are conjured up when you hear the words "Henderson has scored for Canada" or "This afternoon in St. John's, Newfoundland, a young man named Terry Fox started running and he says that he won't stop until he reaches British Columbia."? Internet users now have access to the bilingual CBC Radio & Television Archives Web Site [as above], making these Canadian memories available online through audio and video clips, with support from Canadian Heritage's "Canadian Culture Online funding program." According to Lucie Lalumière, Executive Director, New Media, more than 1,000 news and current affairs radio and television clips and 1,000 original pages of information are available online, enhanced with texts exploring the historical context surrounding significant events. Says François Boulet, Archives Website Director: "The CBC/Radio-Canada Archives site will double the original content in the coming year, offering all Canadians, especially teachers and students, a unique journey through time to learn about events and rediscover outstanding figures throughout Canadian history." The Archives project has confirmed financial support from Heritage's "Canadian Culture Online" funding program in the amount of $4.6 million, accounting for 75 per cent of the resources required to digitize and operate the site. As a result of this support, the CBC Archives site are now the largest digitized collection in the country. "This is one of the best gifts we could give our fellow Canadians," said Sylvain Lafrance, Vice-President, CBC French Radio and New Media. "The archives of English and French Radio and Television are our collective memory. The project ensures that the historic programming CBC/Radio-Canada has produced over the last 50 years will endure and continue to be enjoyed by the public, who may now access it on the Internet." The "For Teachers" section includes numerous educational class projects that are linked to themes such as war and conflict, politics and economy and disasters and tragedies. These materials are intended to complement the most recent school curricula from all Canadian schools. Educational activities are provided for each topic, organized by grade level, all at no charge. This section was designed by and for late-elementary and secondary teachers, with the objective of providing them with a research and learning tool to help their students discover the people and events that have marked our society. CBC/Radio-Canada has partnered with the National Film Board to promote awareness of Canadian culture and history. Both are recipients of funding from the "Canadian Culture Online" program. They have combined their resources to offer surfers mutual links and complementary references to key events in Canadian history. "The Government of Canada is committed to encourage learning about our history and to provide Internet access to innovative Canadian content that is both interesting and pertinent, in both official languages," said Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps. "The Canadian Culture Online program and CBC/Radio-Canada help breathe life into archives that echo the voices of Canada's previous generations." The CBC/Radio-Canada Archives has been made possible by the Department of Canadian Heritage's "Canadian Culture Online" funding programs. These programs exist to foster a deeper understanding of Canada and its rich diversity by stimulating the development of, and ensuring access to, quality digital Canadian cultural content in both official languages. For further information about the "Canadian Culture Online" funding programs, visit the Web site http://www.canadianheritage.ca/ccop-pcce -30- For further information: Barbara Nyke, CBC New Media Communications, (416) 205-8519, barbara_nyke@cbc.ca or Sonya-Kim St-Julien, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, (819) 997-7788 ==== (via Eleanor Brown, writer-editor- researcher, Montreal, Canada CAJ-list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. Sorry for the late reply. We are all really busy as you can probably imagine. We are getting swamped with emails and telephone calls every day now. I'll do my best to answer most of questions. Our transmitter site is on the 75th floor at First Canadian Place in Downtown Toronto. We have been approved to use 250 watts. However, in a few more months, we will be increasing our power to 2500 watts and using flat panel antenna to increase our footprint in the South East area near Oakville. Our present signal footprint covers most of downtown Toronto with little interference. We have tested the signal as for North as King City. To the east, our signal is interfered with if you are close to the lake. WYRK out of Buffalo still has some Toronto air space. The same goes with in the west. Our official call sign is CFIE. As mentioned with our power increase, we also have applied in Kitchener, Edmonton, and Montreal. We have been given licenses in Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa. Our satellite channel is available 12 hours per day from 9-9. You will require a custom modified receiver and LNB from our Broadcast Partner. MediaNet Communications. We plan to have a channel on a Direct to Home satellite provider soon. (Star Choice or Bell ExpressVu). I hope this email serves you well and thanks for your interest. I knocked off to birds with one stone today as parts of this email our going to the website and an "auto-responder" email next. Once again, thanks. Chris Spence Technical Producer/Director Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. 366 Adelaide St. E., Suite 342 Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3X9, Canada Ph: 416-703-1287 Fx: 416-703-4328 http://www.aboriginalradio.com *** Broadcasting in Downtown Toronto on 106.5 FM CFIE *** (via John Grimley, ODXA via DXLD) ** CHINA. CRI in Russian was 9+10dB on 7255 at 1005, and I could hear additionally the frequency 7245, which I see is registered as only 50 kW. It was not as strong as the other 41m outlets --- including HUH 7110. I think it was TWN audible on top of all else on 7415 around 1020 very strong, but 7105 is a dreadful mess of noise and voice jamming (Noel Green, England, Dec 19, via Olle Alm, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Urumqi went off at 0800; before that 7230 was at fair level. Maintenance at Urumqi thus seems to be Tuesday and Thursday at 0800- 1100. 11975 used for Kyrgyz during the summer has been replaced by 7120. Despite that the Mongolian channel has a break when Kyrgyz is aired, these services use different shortwave transmitters. There is a 5 to 10 minutes overlap between the respective frequencies. The reason seems to be that Kyrgyz is directional, Mongolian nondirectional. NRG, note that 7245 CRI in Russian is listed as 120 kW, 50 deg, not 50 kW. At my location this channel is much weaker than 7255, etc. (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Hi Glenn, I noted the following situation on 9530 today at 1100 to 1200 UT. This is a followup to my 6160 kHz observation of a few days ago. I heard VOA broadcasting in Chinese on 9530 kHz between 1100 to 1300 UT according to PWBR. I also heard a broadcast from China's Central People's BS which is parallel on 5880 kHz which is listed out of Shijiazhuang, China. This station isn't listed on 9530, however. The other day I ran into the same situation exactly on 6160 kHz. The only difference was the frequency, 6160 vice 9530. I wonder if this broadcast from China is intended to block VOA? (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sure, why not; they try to block VOA as much as possible; Shijiazhuang is just one of many transmitter sites carrying the same program ** CHINA. CHINA'S EXTENSIVE, SOPHISTICATED BLOCKING OF WEB SITES DOCUMENTED - REPORT China is successfully preventing the public from accessing a wide range of Internet sites, Harvard-based researchers have found. About 12 per cent of sampled sites were blocked in some form during the test period. The series of tests, carried out from May to November 2002, found that over 19,000 web sites were inaccessible through Chinese internet servers. The results are available in a report titled "Empirical analysis of internet filtering in China". Authors Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman of Harvard Law School, found at least four independently operable filtering systems in operation. They believe that the systems which block web sites are becoming more refined. Many news, dissident, health, educational, religious, Taiwanese and some other foreign government web sites were blocked, they found. The report added that the BBC web site was consistently unavailable and that CNN, Time and some American newspapers were often blocked too. Blocking was not always consistent the report said, but the blocking policy did appear to be updated regularly. It concluded that Chinese internet filtering appears to be an important instrument of state policy and one to which considerable human and technical resources are apportioned. The report is available at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china Source: BBC Monitoring research 19 Dec 02 (via DXLD) ** CUBA. RSF PUBLISHES REPORT ON REPRESSION OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA | Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) on 17 December As the European Parliament today awarded the Sakharov Prize for human rights to Cuban dissident Osvaldo Paya, Reporters without Borders published a report condemning the complete absence of press freedom in Cuba. It called on the European Union (EU) to make Cuban membership in the Cotonou Agreement conditional on the Cuban government ending its media monopoly, legalising independent news agencies and releasing four journalists from prison. It also called on the EU "to give effective support" to independent Cuban journalists. The report - "Cuba, where news is the exclusive reserve of the state" - describes prison conditions for the four journalists: bad food, harassment, humiliating treatment and filthy conditions. The longest- held prisoner, Bernardo Arevalo Padron, was arrested in 1997 and has just been diagnosed with leptospirosis, which is spread by rats. He should have been freed on parole in October 2000, but the government refuses to release him "because he has not co-operated in his re- education programme." The Cuban constitution decrees that the government has a monopoly of the media. Like Arevalo Padron, about 100 independent journalists, grouped in 20 or so agencies that the authorities refuse to recognise, try to exercise their right to inform the public. Because they are censored in their own country, they publish their articles in the foreign press or on the Internet, which are not readily available in Cuba. The report details the constant harassment the journalists are subjected to, including arrests, police summonses, pressure on their families and visits to their homes. They are closely watched by the regime's police. One was even called in for questioning after a neighbour told the authorities she heard him shouting criticism of the government inside his house. About 50 journalists have gone into exile since 1995. "Despite this intimidation, independent journalists say their activities are fairly tolerated these days," the report says, but concludes that in reality this is not so. It says the government's repression has achieved its goal of keeping independent journalists this side of the "red line," which puts out unauthorised news to the general population. President Fidel Castro said on 8 December that Cuba will apply to join the Cotonou Agreement, which allows 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to receive economic aid and better trade terms from member-states of the European Union. Source: Reporters Sans Frontières press release, Paris, in English 17 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. 1098, Radio Bayrak 1st programme in Turkish was heard with distorted audio at 2110-2203 giving ID: "Burasi Lefkosa, Radio Bayrak". QRM Slovak Radio 1098 kHz and Radio Rossii. 6150.04, Bayrak International was heard at 1520-1730 giving "Bayrak International" identifications, playing international pop music. News in English around 1630 and a feature program in English on Northern Cyprus matters at 1700. QRM Radio Singapore International. A Chinese station started at 1730 UT and blocked the reception totally. Both stations were monitored in the beginning of December (Jari Korhonen FIN-82500 Kitee, Dec 18, dxing.info via DXLD) ** FINLAND. CHRISTMAS TRANSMISSION OF SWR - OFFICIAL STATION OF SANTA Howdy how dear listeners, Scandinavian Weekend Radio Christmas Day transmission on 25th December 2002 includes following programme items... Or, of course, if we are exact this transmission began already on Christmas Eve at 22 hours UT... UT Programme 22 Lahjattomat 23 Lasol Hot Hits 24 Lasol Hot Hits 01 SWR Crew 02 SWR Crew 03 SWR Crew 04 Radio Marabu - Dark Beat 05 Suomirokkia kantoaallolla höystettynä by Esa 06 Progressive rock and other strange things by Esa 07 Free Radio News by Esa 08 Letterbox 09 SWR Jouluparaati 10 Radiolehtikatsaus 11 Radiolehtikatsaus 12 Area 48. Paljastuksia Joulupukista.... 13 World Radio Roulette 14 SWR Crew 15 Lasol Hot Hits 16 Radio Marabu - Marabu Christmas 17 SWR Crew 18 Radio Marabu - Marabu Flashback Weihnachtstipps 19 Progressive rock and other strange things by Esa 20 SWR Crew 21 Joulusaunan lämmitys You can find us on 5980, 5990 or 6170 and 11690 or 11720 kHz on 48 and 25 mb SW-dial. More (updated?) details of programmes and frequency- table can be found from our web-pages: http://www.swradio.net NOTE: Because this is a little bit Special transmission day it might be possible that we had to change our frequencies without preforehand notice. IF YOU COULD NOT FIND US ON OUR TABLED FREQUENCY, PLEASE TRY OTHER ONES! We LIKE you to take LIVE-contacts to us during this Christmas transmission. So, do not hesitate to call or send SMS-messages. Our phonenumber is +358 400 995 559. Reminder: Send your reception reports now (November and December transmissions) There will be prizes for most distant listeners for example interesting FM AM-Roulette-CD including station identifications all over the World. Send your reporst with return postage of 2 IRC's/ 2 US-$/ 2 EURO to: SWR, P.O.Box 35, FIN-40321 JYVÄSKYLÄ, FINLAND. Regards, Alpo, Scandinavian Weekend Radio (also via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Hi, I am sorry that I misprinted a frequency in last week's Short Wave Bulletin. As Glenn pointed out I heard TDF-CCETT, France on 25775 kHz and no other frequency. It seems like I`m growing older, not only in the visible parts of me, but also in my brains. Well, it also gave me a good reason to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and a big "Thank you" for all your efforts during 2002! 73 from (Björn Fransson, the island of Gotland, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Re 1557 kHz: ``The TdF transmitter at Antibes Plateaux Fleuris (a.k.a. the Nice site), currently carrying France Info on 1557 kHz, is to be taken out of service within a few weeks. As soon as the new aerial is erected near Fontbonne (a site that TdF took over two years ago from the now defunct Radio Monte Carlo)... (ARC Info Desk)`` Quite interesting, because Fontbonne is in fact the site where the shortwave transmitters used by Trans World Radio are located. However, the headline of http://perso.wanadoo.fr/tvignaud/galerie/am/06fontbonne.htm suggests that TDF constructs an own mediumwave transmitter there while the existing facilities remained in RMC ownership. Otherwhise indeed TDF now transmits Trans World Radio, no longer RMC. Pictures of the doomed Antibes Plateaux Fleuris site: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/tvignaud/galerie/am/06nice.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Remarks on AFN Germany: Relays of US networks are a great part of the AFN programming. Any breaks for commercials within the network programming are filled by AFN with own stuff of the described kind, indeed also by the local AFN outlets, not only the Frankfurt headquarter. Hence these opt-outs are so numerous. Such automated insertions into network programming are also a common practice amongst commercial stations in Germany. With the exception of Aachen all commercial FM stations in Nordrhein-Westfalen have only a few hours of own programming a day. Otherwise they relay Radio NRW, produced at Oberhausen. But you will never hear any "Radio NRW" ID, it is an anonymous network, and local ID's as well as commercials are inserted into the programming by means of remote control. Radio NRW homepage: http://www.radionrw.de/main.php3?id=1000 ----- (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Latest news from the DAB (Eureka-147) disaster in Germany: At Berlin four commercial broadcasters just returned their authorizations for DAB transmissions, stating that a continuation of the service would be justifiable only if the media authority MABB pays all transmission costs. MABB already declared itself as unable to do this, so seven programs will disappear from the DAB bouqets at Berlin. Word is that also the two major commercial networks in Thuringia cancelled their DAB transmissions after the media authority there ceased to sponsor them (I write "word is" because I have no confirmation for an actual removal of these networks from the DAB bouqet so far). A broadcast engineer just told me that he expects a complete DAB shut-down in Saxony and Thuringia for 2004 or 2005. Best regards, Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. The DW on 25740 was providing a "spectacular" signal around 1040 --- I could detect at least three echoes --- which didn`t do much for audibility, though. There was even an echo on RFI 25820 too (Noel Green, England, Dec 19, via Olle Alm, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar flux was predicted at 200 that day (SEC via gh, DXLD) ** GUAM. RESCUE RADIO: SUPER-TYPHOON HITS GUAM; HAMS SAFE AND OPERATING Reports over a popular ham radio website that the territory of Guam was hit by a "Super Typhoon" on Sunday December 8th. And while no stations from Guam have been heard here in the United States, reports over the Internet say that everyone is O-K. We have more in this report: -- Duncan Campbell, KF6ILA portable KH2 lives on Guam. He says over the QRZ website that the typhoon packed sustained winds of 160 miles per hour with gusts topping 190 miles per hour. News reports pick up from there. They say that the storm damaged much of the island's infrastructure including electrical power and knocked out wired and cellular telephone service. And Campbell's posting adds that along with the loss of electricity and water, the port of Guam was the scene of a major fire that destroyed the reserve tanks of fuel used across the island. The blaze started during the storm and the island is now low on gasoline. He says that the sale of the remaining fuel is restricted to emergency vehicles only. With the clean up now underway the good news is that all the Amateur radio operators on Guam are believed to be safe. Campbell says that several hams are known to have lost their antenna systems and the island`s only repeater was also blown off the air. This, the result of the collapse of a nearby cellular telephone tower striking it as it fell. KF6ILA says that some hams are already back on the air handling post storm related communications. All operation is on the high frequency bands centered near 14.310, 21.375 and 28.520 MHz. Another frequency - - 7.085 MHz is supposed to be used for emergencies but so far no stations have been heard. By Sunday December 15th, Andersen Air Force Base and part of hotel row in the town of Tumon had power restored. But news reports say that other parts of Guam could remain blacked out for a fairly long time. And even though it`s almost two weeks since the storm hit, if you hear ongoing emergency or storm related communications please give it priority over any other use you might have for the frequency. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of Q-News Australia. – A little more information comes from the Guam Pacific Daily News. It says that that the Red Cross and Salvation Army are on Guam providing post typhoon relief. Also, that the Red Cross service center has already processed over 200 requests for disaster assistance. Meantime, another poster to QRZed says that he arrived in port at Guam on December 14th. N6HPX says that the repeater is back up and operating on 146.91 MHz, but there is nobody on the air using it (QRZ, Q-News, others, all via Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 20 via DXLD) ** GUAM [non]. GUAM EMERGENCY BROADCAST SCHEDULE The following emergency broadcast schedule will be into effect until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Area Language UTC Time Frequency MB Station E. China Mandarin 1000-1100 15260 19 UAE E. China Mandarin 1100-1400 7180 41 Taiwan E. China Mandarin 2100-2200 11720 25 Taiwan E. China Mandarin 2200-2400 11655 25 Taiwan Indonesia Indonesian 2200-2300 11850 25 Taiwan Cambodia Khmer 1330-1400 11850 25 Taiwan Korea Korean 1200-1300 9780 31 Taiwan Korea Korean 2000-2100 11700 25 Taiwan Japan Japanese 1300-1330 11980 25 Taiwan Updated: 20 December 2002 (from http://www.awr.org/guamsched.html via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Are they still IDing as ``KSDA`` ??? ** INDONESIA. Glenn, 11785, Voice of Indonesia 2000-2026 12/18. English service with ID and mention of frequencies 9525, 15150, 11785. Regional news; commentary on Singapore & Indonesian relations. Tourism program, "Getting to know Indonesia", local music. Checked // frequencies, 9525 a mess of QRM splatter (5 kHz both sides). 15150 was silent; off air? (Scott R Barbour Jr NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 11575, Radio Sedaye Iran, 1635-1640 Dec 17, continuous slow talks in Farsi by OM about Mojahed, Azadi, Talebans, Hamenei, Rafgsanjani. At 1659 with ID 'Azadi Radio Sedaye Iran'. Program continues and after 1700 clear signal with S9+10 db (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also unID 7070 ** IRAN [non]. R. Barabari, [7470??], 1705 Dec 17, YL reading a statement in Farsi, 1717 a discussion /interview with topics on Iran and Islam. Jammer at 1720 completely wiping out Barabari. Not sure if Barabari used another transmitter on 7460 at 1730 as a low level signal (S3 or 24242) has been heard with a YL with talks in Farsi speaking on Balucchistan and a possible ID with Azadi has been heard. At 1740 this frequency has been jammed with the same jammer (7470 is now clear) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 7460, R. Payam E Doost [news from friend/of friendship] 1759 Dec 17 with music, and YL IDing "sedaye Payam E Dost' then talks by same YL 1803 with pop song interrupted by YL and nice slow music in between talks. At 1823 with a Rajasatani pop. Talks about and with doctor Inholi /Tirondol. Programming seemed of a religious type. Also web page (bahairadio.net) coincides with my opinion as a religious radio station. Poor signal 22432 suffered by 7490 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. Information Radio, 9715, 1921 Man seems to ID the station with talks by ?? At 1929 the Titanic is heard. An ID at 1933 then with Arabic song, 1939 with ID? by OM and talks by YL then into Arabic song at 1942 with western pop. At 1951 with clear ID "Idaat al ma'lumat" and talks by YL then with Ghazali song, possibly Arabic. After this station is heavily QRMed by the dominant of this freq QRM: R Mayak with German songs, or DW in Russian. Signal levels: Maximum level found S9+10 (mostly the Russian station) SINPO 32432 till 1951 then 114-1. On 11292 there was a carrier from 1520 of maximum S2 but audio level is very low with just S1 with 10 db preamplification at best (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dec 18 around 1930 the reception on 9715 was real good. Most of the time until their sign-off at 2002 overriding totally DW Russian program. Best on USB. The lower sideband was real weak, allowing DW to be heard there. A short tuning signal of 1kHz was audible when the audio went off at 2002. On Dec 19 at 1930 DW was dominant on 9715, Information Radio peaking up at times. This time both sidebands were equal. On 11292 I have managed to hear only a weak carrier (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Dec 20, dxing.info via DXLD) ** IRELAND. BROADCASTER FOUND GUILTY OF ABUSE 18/12/2002 - 01:02:57 The founder and owner of Radio Dublin, the longest-running pirate radio station in Ireland, has been found guilty in the Central Criminal Court of sexually assaulting four girls in his home. Eamonn "Captain" Cooke (66), with addresses at Heatherview Avenue, Tallaght and Wheatfields Court, Clondalkin, will be sentenced later by Mr Justice John Quirke who said he "hadn't the slightest doubt that the verdicts brought in are the correct verdicts".... http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=57402036&p=574xz74z&n=57402796 (via Ulis Fleming, DXLD) WARNING: Graphic content. As I recall, R. Dublin used to be on 6900. Little did we know what was going on there behind the scenes, like KTBN (gh) ** ITALY. RAI is on strike again. Today (Dec. 20), instead of its regular news bulletins, the External Service carries translated announcements about the strike in its usual languages and Italian songs. Live RialAudio channel: rtsp://live.media.rai.it/encoder/international.rm It's a national strike that includes all Italian journalists, not only those from RAI. They want better social conditions. According to a RIAN report in Russian, RAI journalists has also demanded from the parliament to appoint new leaders for the corporation (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Dec 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. 9925, R. Dat, 1615 Dec 17. OM with news in Russian. Mentions of a professor, problems of Kazakhstan, Nazerbayev. ID as ``Govorit Radio Dat, svobodna radio dlya svobodna Kazakhstana, shlyushate radio Dat`` giving frequencies at 1630 and web address http://www.datradio.com and later with reference to Yeltsin. Signal about S5. On 18.12 with S9+10 and 33433 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. Pyongyang is having problems with the 6100/6070 transmitter. Most days the Japanese service (0900-1250) is on 6071.4v instead of 6070. When on 6100, the transmitter does not show this problem, but the audio level on both frequencies is often shallow to very shallow with absolutely no processing. I believe this transmitter is located near Pyongyang rather than at Kanggye. Last Sunday Kanggye was off for two hours (scheduled blackout?) on 3960, 6398 and 11680, while 6100 stayed on. The kind of problems 6100/6070 is having is also more typical for Pyongyang than for Kanggye or Kujang. Pyongyang 6250/6010 is also having a frequency stability problem of the jitterbug type, sometimes jumping around wildly. On Wednesday the 6015 noise jammer at Kujang was off for many hours. A bubble jammer on the low side was the only countermeasure left. I don't understand why they bother to jam services from abroad as the number of North Korean listeners having equipment to receive those transmissions must be extremely small (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN. The believed Bishkek transmitter on 4050 often has the same 1 kHz pips before their 0230 s/on as 4010 has before the 0000 s/on. I have heard 4050 announcing for each two or three songs played "(something very short) shortwave" by a male voice followed by "(something a little longer) shortwave" by a female voice. The "something" could be two to four letters (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LEBANON [non]. 11515, Sawt Al Huriah, 1612 Dec 17 with ID ``Sawt Al Huriah'- Idaatu Lebanon Radio Tayyar``, then with songs. Full ID again at 1631 with email address radio@tayyar.org (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. Our FM station is in operation, and the shortwave equipment has been delivered. Hope to have that on the air by Jan or Feb, as Voice of Hope, Africa. After that to be upgraded also to serve the Middle East. Working on getting programming on other African stations by mid-03. Some Nigerians are training in Louisville. Seeing all the homeless children in the wake of civil war when we visited a few months ago broke our hearts, so we are also building an orphanage in Monrovia (Doc Burkhart, Dec WJIE Update, monitored Dec 20 at 1330, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. Agreement has been reached with our partner 25 kW MW station here to help in constructing their tower (the rest of the station is already built), in returning for allowing us to build a shortwave station, in one of the best areas we`ve seen (Doc Burkhart, Dec WJIE Update, monitored Dec 20 at 1330, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Station name, location, frequency??? ** OKLAHOMA. RESCUE RADIO: NEW SALVATION ARMY STATION The Salvation Army, and the Oklahoma City Autopatch Association hosted the grand opening of the Salvation Army Emergency Communication Center. It took place in Oklahoma on Saturday, December 14th. The new center is located at the Salvation Army Citadel on SE 44th Street in Oklahoma City. Frank McCollum, N5FM, the station trustee, held the first net from the new facility at 9 am. McCollum helped to establish the first station in 1986, at The Salvation Army's Arkansas Oklahoma and Divisional Headquarters where it remained until two years ago. The new station features very modern gear. It is designed to allow multiple High Frequency, VHF and UHF stations to provide ongoing communications services at the same time (WA6LBU, Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 20 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I think today was maintenance day at Yakutsk as I couldn`t trace any of their 41m transmissions around 0800. Instead, CNR-2 was coming in on 7200 at S5 // 17700. However, I think I could hear YAK later in the morning back on air. A new Rossii frequency was noted at 0750 on 7295 --- I haven`t heard this one before. It was either from northern European Russia or from somewhere in the Siberian region. Signal strength was about 3 to 5 with flutter --- and the flutter got worse as the morning progressed. Except for Yakutsk, the only other Russian frequency normally heard, but not accounted for, was Irkutsk 7440. I wonder if their engineers had forgotten to change frequency? I must remember to check again tomorrow (Noel Green, England, Dec 19, via Olle Alm, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yakutsk was off at 0830, apparently on all four frequencies. I also believe R Rossii 7295 was a problem at Irkutsk since the normally heard 7440 was missing around 0800 here too (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Here's a follow-up to a report on Putin's call-in broadcast (see DXLD 2-196): Sociologists say that more than 70 percent of TV-viewers turned on their boxes Thursday to watch President Putin answer people's questions. The Komkon-media sociological service says, for example, that 72 percent of the audiences of the first and second channels of national television sat glued to TV sets. Three leading radio stations – Mayak, Radio Russia and Voice Of Russia - also broadcast Putin's live Q and A session (Voice of Russia News, 12/20/2002 via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. 7590, Al Islah /MIRA, 1913 Dec 17; checked with Al islah satellite feed and program is totally in parallel. Man with continuous talks in Arabic. Many audio problems over the HF air as well in the satellite with HF gaining in 'fidelity' over satellite. Signal level S9+20 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. 7470 //12015 R ... YL with talks on start of the program, OM with Qur`anic verses 1610 Dec 17. Arabic song 1620 talks with references to community (serikat). Signals on 7470 at S9; \\ 12085 delayed more than 15 secs with no signal... (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN. Glenn, FYI. A QSL and personal letter received via Voice of Tartarstan QSL manager Ildus Ibatullin, informs that as of January 1, 2003 the "Voice of Tartarstan" will be called "New Century". ID in Russian, "Nowyy Wek" and Tatar, "Yanay Gasyr". The frequencies will remain the same (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. 15645, Voice of Tibet *1215-1242 12/19. Intro music and ID. Several recorded speeches, brief musical bits between items with female announcer. Good reception with NO Chinese jammer for once(!), tho CBS, Taipei was audible underneath. Began to rapidly fade at 1238, gone by 1242 (Scott R Barbour Jr NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. PROMS 2002 REPEAT BROADCASTS BBC Radio 3 90-93FM and http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 will be broadcasting 13 Proms between 23 December and 7 January, ranging from swing music by Wynton Marsalis to Bernard Haitink's Bruckner 4. Full details can be found on the Proms website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/broadcasts/index.shtml A series of Proms repeats on BBC Four Television are also planned for some time in January - we'll send you details when the schedule is confirmed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 2003 SEASON The Proms website will be announcing details of the 2003 season at the end of April. We'll send you an email as soon as the concert and booking information becomes available. The 2003 season will run from 18 July until 13 September. SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM ALL AT THE BBC PROMS http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms (BBC Proms mailing list via gh, DXLD) ** U K. They've been building this up all week... including a mention on "World Update" this morning. --- || THE WORLD'S TOP TEN 55 mins | Saturday 21st Steve Wright presents the results of a mega global music poll which will identify the world's favourite talent - local as well as international. BBC World Service has been asking its 150 million listeners from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe to vote for their all-time favourite songs, creating the ultimate World's Top Ten. || West Africa | Sun 0806 rpt 2106, Mon 0206; Europe | Sat 1306 rpt Mon 0206; East and South Africa | Sun 0706 rpt 1906, Mon 0206; Middle East | Sat 1206 rpt Mon 0206; South Asia | Fri 2206 rpt Sat 0506, Sun 1206; East Asia | Sat 0306; Americas | Sun 0506 rpt Mon 0206 || PICK OF THE WORLD SERVICE 30 mins | 21st Every week Daire Brehan and the team make their selection of some of the best BBC World Service programmes. On the 21st there will be a selection of the best of the anniversary week of special 70th Birthday programmes. || West Africa | Sat 2206 rpt Sun 1006; Europe | Sat 2306 rpt Sun 0506, 1306; East and South Africa | Sun 1506; Middle East | Sat 2306 rpt Sun 0806, 2006; South Asia | Sat 0806 rpt 2106; East Asia | Sat 1206 rpt 2306, Sun 0806; Americas | Sat 2006 rpt 2306, Sun 0806 -- (BBCWS Audience Relations via Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Radio Holiday Listening Glenn -- From the Zapsmart mailing list here is a rundown of the best of the music and comedy programming on BBC Radios 1, 2 and 3 during the coming holiday weeks, diligently compiled by our London friend Martin Wheatley. All times given are local London time. [fortunately = UT] Since I have all the info I am going to follow the Radio Times lead and do 2 weeks at one go (besides the chances of it getting done on Boxing Day weren't too high!) Normal scheduling doesn't happen much in this period so I'll try and give an outline where it is different from normal Saturday 12/21 1PM R3 World Routes has a session from North African duo DuOud 2AM R1 Essential Mix is by Carl Cox 4AM R1 Annie Nightingale has mixes from Fluke and Flatliners [=Sun; all the midnight+ listings here are wrong UT day --- gh] Monday 12/23 8PM R1 Lamacq Live is a live from Maida Vale show with Feeder, a mix from Audio Bullys and Noel Gallagher doing an acoustic set Midnight R1 Breezeblock. This is a 4 hour show and is basically a modified repeat of the One Live in Nottingham show with Lemon Jelly. The difference is that it includes the other halves of the mixes by Jacques Lecont and Layo & Bushwacka instead of the parts previously broadcast Tuesday -- Christmas Eve 8PM R1 No Lamacq or Peel tonight. At 8 PM there is a Pete Tong's Essential Selection and at 10PM Sanctified Dance Party 8.30PM R2 A tribute to Spike Milligan Midnight R1 Rock Show is a 4 hour show containing repeats of live performances by Korn from Manchester and 100 Reasons/Amen and Raging Speedhorn from the Reading Festival Wednesday -- Christmas Day 8PM R1 No Lamacq or Peel. At 8PM there is Dance Anthems followed by the Lock Up at 10PM. Gilles Peterson is in his normal position at midnight for those wanting an early night! 8PM R2 All Roads Lead To Lonnie. And how about this - a 1 hour tribute to Lonnie Donnegan on Christmas Day! He never knew he was so important! Thursday -- Boxing Day 8PM R1 John Peel, The Festive Fifty, 5 hour show Midnight R1 One World. This is a 3 hour show and has Nightmares On Wax live and the best of the year`s sessions Friday 12/27 10PM R3 Andy Kershaw has Dorothy Masuka in session. Note the earlier starting time Saturday 12/28 1PM R3 World Routes Documentary about Vietnam 8PM R2 How Ireland Went Pop. First of a 2 part documentary about pop music in Ireland. Thin Lizzy and Van Morrison are in this one (Westlife and Samantha Mumba have to wait till next week!) 2AM R1 Essential Mix is a repeat of the Sasha/John Digweed one from earlier this year (it`s won an award!) 4AM R1 Annie Nightingale has a 1 hour mix from Groove Armada Monday 12/30 8PM R1 Lamacq Live, Best of 2002 Midnight R1 No Breezeblock but a 4 hour Lock Up instead Tuesday -- New Year's Eve 8PM R1 No Lamacq or Peel. Instead standard daytime style progs until the dance progs start 8.30PM R2 First of a 2 part documentary about Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Not much Derek and Clive I suspect! 10PM R2 And Radio 2 are getting on the New Year's Eve bandwagon too. Boy George plays disco tracks until 12.30 11PM R1 Essential Mix with Judge Jules and Agnelli And Nelson live from Belfast 12.30AM R2 Stuart Maconie plays Northern Soul 1AM R1 Col Hamilton/Gleave Dobbin/Scott Bond. Bunch of Irish djs live from Belfast 4AM R1 Annie Nightingale has a 1 hour mix from Armand Van Helden and there is also a repeat mix from Cosmos Wednesday -- 1/1/03 12 Midday R2 Part 2 of the Peter Cook And Dudley Moore documentary 12.30 AM R3 It`s World Music Day on Radio 3 and there`s a different artist about every 25 minutes until 5PM. Full details of the schedule can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/wmdhome2003.shtml 7PM R2 A Tribute to Hank Williams 7.20PM R3 World Music Day is back again 9PM R2 A tribute to Little Richard 9.30PM R3 Andy Kershaw presents a live concert from Dingwalls with the Dhol Foundation, Manecas Costa (from Guinea Bissau) and Ellis Hooks (whose band includes Glen Matlock!) 10PM R1 Peel has a repeat session from the Datsuns Thursday 1/2/03 8PM R1 No Lamacq - the new show starts next week. Instead we get "Tips for 2003" 10PM R1 Peel has a session from James Yorkston And The Athletes Midnight R1 One World is a V Recordings special Friday 1/3/03 10.15PM R3 Andy Kershaw has a repeat of his 1999 session from Gillian Welch Phew!!! martinw (Zapsmart list via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U K. BBC FACES LEGAL THREAT OVER THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Julia Day Monday December 16 2002 The Guardian The BBC is facing legal action over its refusal to allow secular contributors to air their opinions on Radio 4's Thought for the Day. The threat follows a period of mounting pressure on the BBC to change its policy of banning non-religious voices on the two and a half minute slot. The former president of the National Secular Society has set a deadline of Wednesday for the BBC to change its position or face court action under the Human Rights Act. "Around 30% of the population of this country does not hold to any religion, yet this large minority is denied a voice on Thought for the Day," said Barbara Smoker, the author of books on humanism and free thought. Ms Smoker's lawyers believe the ban is a breach of her human rights as a potential contributor and listener. If the corporation refuses to alter its policy, Ms Smoker intends to apply for a judicial review at the high court for breaches of the Human Rights Act. The BBC has refused to comment, saying Ms Smoker's letter of intent is private correspondence. The NSS was one of the groups behind a letter, signed by 100 public figures, urging the BBC governors to open up the two and a half minute slot to secular and atheist thinkers. The letter was signed by former Labour leader Michael Foot, playwright Harold Pinter, broadcaster Sir Ludovic Kennedy and Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins, who became the first ever atheist to deliver an alternative Thought for the Day in August. Thought for the Day has been part of the Radio 4 schedules for decades and the BBC is looking at ways of "refreshing" the slot, broadcast from Monday to Saturday during the Today programme. The BBC's head of religion and ethics Alan Bookbinder, whose appointment 17 months ago caused controversy because he is agnostic, admitted the slot needed "sharpening up". But series producer Christine Morgan insisted the review would not open Thought for the Day up to non-religious voices, saying: "If we include secular voices, we undermine the slot's very distinctiveness." Thought for the Day, which airs at 7.50am each weekday morning, is overseen by the BBC's Manchester-based religious broadcasting department rather than the news division like the rest of the Today programme. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K. DTI OUTLAW PIRATE PARTY http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2586961.stm UK nightclub owners are being warned they could face heavy fines or jail sentences if they host parties for pirate radio stations. A government Christmas crackdown is targeting clubs promoting pirate stations, telling them they face the same punishment as the pirate stations themselves. The campaign claimed its first victory after a club in Manchester cancelled a party for local pirate station Buzz FM, after receiving a warning from the Radiocommunications Agency (RA). One thousand operations were carried out against pirates in 2002 Between 80 and 100 illegal stations are on air in the UK at any one time, according to the RA, who said pirates put lives at risk by interfering with air traffic control and emergency service frequencies. "Pirate broadcasters can cause problems for everybody," Radio and Telecoms Minister Stephen Timms said. "Those who support them, by supplying premises or advertising with them, are just as bad. "We need to make sure that we protect the public from these risks, and cracking down on clubs that help the pirates is a vital part of this." Most pirate stations broadcast dance music to relatively small areas from illegal transmitters, often hidden in tower blocks in and around London. Pirate prosecutions The RA has carried out more than 1,000 "operations" against such broadcasters this year - mostly seizing transmitters - which have resulted in 39 successful prosecutions. Pirate broadcasters and nightclubs promoting them face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison if convicted. In 2001, prosecutions resulted in an average fine of £430. The RA is part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which said pirate stations interfere with vital frequencies - mostly air traffic control - on about 12 to 15 known instances per year (via Andy Cadier, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another version: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2586961.stm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. I was chatting with WDIY-FM's program director earlier today, and he mentioned that NPR was eliminating the World Radio Network ("WRN") from NPR overnight news service as of January 31st 2003. We were discussing various options; the BBCWS is not an option for the station since it isn't a member of PRI and doesn't have the $$ in the budget to become one right now. One option is the WRN1 North American feed; it's free to relay, but they'll need a new dish to pick it up. Another option is Deutsche Welle's satellite-delivered service. Anybody have other ideas? The PD had an interesting take on the role of international broadcasters serving the US market: "It's great to hear about world affairs from a non-domestic perspective, but I don't necessarily want to hear stock market quotes for the Stockholm exchange." Thanks and regards, (Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA, USA, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. LUBAVITCHER RADIO [1710 kHz]: F/D unsolicited, but greatly appreciated, Chabad-Lubavitch info sheet for posting somewhere. Said from a National Radio Club DX News log; HA!. Address 770 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn NY 11212 (Harold Frodge, MI, Free Radio Weekly Dec 20 via DXLD) ** U S A. FREEDOM ON IRAN'S AIRWAVES washingtonpost.com Friday, December 20, 2002; Page A42 The U.S. decision to kill Radio Freedom broadcasts to Iran in favor of pop music programs might seem merely silly were it not a slap in the face to the youths demonstrating for reform in the streets of Tehran ["Casey Kasem or Freedom?" op-ed, Dec. 16]. The Broadcasting Board of Governors said it made the decision in the name of ratings. It cited its Radio Sawa, another pop music station that replaced the Voice of America's Arabic service, as being listened to by 41 percent of a youth sample in Amman, Jordan, as opposed to 10 percent who listened to the British Broadcasting Corp. The board should ask itself which group is more important to the Arab future -- those who tune in to hear Eminem and Britney Spears or the smaller number who seek out the news and thoughtful commentaries of the BBC. The board dismisses the broadcasts of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty during the Cold War as "propaganda." In fact, they were not propaganda, because they reflected reform ideas emanating from the audience, not U.S. government positions. Why not offer the same service to people in the Middle East? JAMES CRITCHLOW, Newburyport, Mass. The writer served with Radio Liberty, the U.S. Information Agency and the Board for International Broadcasting. Contrary to what Jackson Diehl says in his op-ed article, dissident Iranian students remain in close and useful contact with the broadcast efforts the United States is aiming at Iran's young people. As we complete the transition to greatly increased programming aimed at Iran's under-30 audience, the voices of student protesters who use their cell phones to reach us are being heard daily on our broadcasts beamed into Iran. We are giving these brave young people what their own government denies them: a way to speak to their fellow citizens. Our new service will also increase news and current affairs programming by 135 minutes, to 315 minutes each day. Mr. Diehl also did not tell The Post's readers that as of Dec. 18 our broadcasts aimed at Iran's young population -- based on Radio Sawa's success in using popular music to attract a huge audience in the Middle East -- will increase by more than three times and that our signal will become available on AM in addition to shortwave. At the same time, the Voice of America will continue its radio and television broadcasts aimed at Iran's older audiences. The new broadcasts and the programming already in place for the older generation will give the United States round-the-clock audiovisual coverage in a nation that is stirring in dissatisfaction over harsh clerical rule. KENNETH Y. TOMLINSON, Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Washington (© 2002 The Washington Post Company Dec 20 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. You may be wondering about the sites for the now 24h MW frequencies of R. Farda, to Iran: 1539 0000 2400 FRD FRD FA DHA B 010 [UAE] 1593 0000 2400 FRD FRD FA KWT C 005 [Kuwait] While we`re at it, let`s pull out all the Farda listings in the IBB SW schedule as of Dec 20: FA FRD FRD 0000 2400 KWT C 1593 005 FA FRD FRD 0000 2400 DHA B 1539 010 FA FRD FRD 0030 0600 LAM 01 9795 104 FA FRD FRD 0030 0600 BIB 04 9795 105 FA FRD FRD 0030 0400 MOR 01 9585 075 FA FRD FRD 0030 0400 BIB 03 9515 085 FA FRD FRD 0400 0830 KAV 04 15290 095 FA FRD FRD 0400 0600 KAV 02 12015 112 FA FRD FRD 0400 0830 LAM 06 9585 096 FA FRD FRD 0600 0730 KAV 02 17675 100 FA FRD FRD 0730 0830 MOR 01 17675 075 FA FRD FRD 0800 1400 IRA 06 21475 299 FA FRD FRD 0800 1400 KAV 01 13680 100 FA FRD FRD 1400 1700 WOF 04 15410 105 FA FRD FRD 1400 1700 LAM 03 13680 108 FA FRD FRD 1700 1800 IRA 01 11845 315 FA FRD FRD 1700 1900 LAM 02 11705 108 FA FRD FRD 1800 1900 IRA 01 11845 324 FA FRD FRD 1900 2130 LAM 09 11985 104 FA FRD FRD 1900 2130 BIB 06 11985 105 FA FRD FRD 1900 2000 KAV 08 11960 095 FA FRD FRD 1900 2000 DB 07 6140 264 FA FRD FRD 2000 2130 UDO 07 11960 300 FA FRD FRD 2000 2130 UDO 03 9785 300 FA RFE RL12 0000 0430 BIB 04 9795 105 FA RFE RL12 0000 0400 MOR 01 9585 075 FA RFE RL12 0000 0400 BIB 03 9515 085 FA RFE RL12 0400 0430 LAM 06 9585 096 FA RFE RL12 0430 0600 BIB 04 9795 105 FA RFE RL12 0600 1400 BIB 04 15130 105 FA RFE RL12 0800 1400 IRA 06 21475 299 FA RFE RL12 0800 1400 KAV 01 13680 100 FA RFE RL12 1700 1900 IRA 01 11845 324 FA RFE RL12 1700 1900 LAM 02 11705 108 FA RFE RL12 2100 2400 KAV 08 11970 100 FA RFE RL12 2100 2400 IRA 04 11765 324 FARS VOA M1 0300 0400 IRA 04 17855 315 FARS VOA M1 0300 0400 KAV 01 9435 095 FARS VOA M1 0300 0400 KAV 10 7200 105 FARS VOA M1 1700 1900 JUL 03 12110 100 FARS VOA M1 1700 1900 KAV 08 9680 095 FARS VOA M1 1700 1900 KAV 06 6160 105 FARS VOA M1 1800 1900 DB A 972 230 FARS VOA M1 1900 2000 JUL 03 12110 100 FARS VOA M1 1900 2000 IRA 05 9680 316 FARS VOA M1 1900 2000 BIB 02 6160 105 And be on the lookout for jamming, or `frequency conflicts`. Key: BIB = Biblis, Germany; IRA = Iranawila, Sri Lanka; JUL = Jülich, Germany; DB = Dushanbe, Tajikistan; KAV = Kavala, Greece; LAM = Lampertheim, Germany; MOR = Briech?, Morocco; UDO = Udorn, Thailand; WOF = Woofferton, England (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WJIE update: as transition to digital radio proceeds in the US, WJIE hopes to acquire some discarded analog AM transmitters to put back into service overseas. Lots of new programs are being added to schedule; hope to have WJIE-2 13595 on the air in next few weeks from mid- to end of Dec. Our World Prayer Broadcasting Network includes FM stations in Louisville KY, New Washington IN; AM stations in Evansville IN, Norfolk VA, Jacksonville FL. Objective is to bathe every square inch of the world with prayer (Doc Burkhart, Dec WJIE Update, monitored Dec 20 at 1330, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) More under LIBERIA; MARSHALL ISLANDS Merry Christmas and New Updates World Prayer Broadcasting Network Dec 20, 2002 We here at the World Prayer Broadcasting Network want to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! We wanted to let you know that we are now STREAMING our signal over the internet. Now you don't even need a shortwave radio to listen to your favorite programs! Just go our home page http://www.wjiesw.com and click Listen Now! We are still offering churches and ministries the opportunity to broadcast on shortwave radio (and now the INTERNET) with no up-front cost. You will never receive a bill or invoice...we just ask that you support us with a monthly love offering of any amount to help us cover the costs of this international outreach. For more information call 502-968-1220 and ask for Morgan or Doc. Our schedule is also online as well...please check it out! Coming up in January...21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER! Please continue to pray for our ministry.... God bless you, and thank you, Doc Burkhart World Prayer Broadcasting Network---- **WJIE International Shortwave 1 & 2 **KVOH International Shortwave 1 & 2 **Voice of Liberty 102.3FM Monrovia, Liberia **Voice of Hope Africa Shortwave 1 & 2 **Voice of Hope Nigeria (Christian FM Network) **Liberia Children's Project (orphanage and clinic-Liberia) ****and the future! (WJIE mailing list via DXLD) At 1754 UT Dec 20, I found the embedded wm player now runs, but nothing audible, much like 7490 most of the time. You have to click on a crawler to get to it. Schedule at http://www.wjiesw.com/schedule.htm is still a Page that Cannot Be Displayed (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Picking up some of NRC-AM thread on IBOC from a week ago: WOR'S IBOC EXPERIENCE --- I don't think this has been posted....... http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/iboc/01_rw_wor_iboc_install_2.shtml gives Tom Ray of WOR's IBOC summary. Skipping past the installation section, you'll see their attitude is: "We have had a few complaints. One was from a gentleman who was restoring a 1930s vintage Atwater Kent radio, and wanted to let us know he heard hiss when he tuned across WOR on either side of us. Negative comments also have come from a group of AM stereo fanatics in New Jersey. These people live for the day AM stereo makes a comeback. They are not listening on typical AM radios. They have verbally and personally attacked both Kerry and me, as well as the radio station and Ibiquity. This group thinks that AM radio is a high-fidelity medium. They also started a rumor that WOR was operating illegally. The NRSC mask allows emissions to -25dBc from 10 kHz to 20 kHz. IBOC operation puts the IBOC carriers from 5kHz to 15kHz at -30dBc, perfectly legal. The other complaint was from a person who was trying to get WLW(AM). This person lives not all that far from our transmitter. Unfortunately, the IBOC carriers occupy space in the NRSC mask around 700 kHz, and the listener was not able to DX in the near field of the WOR antenna. But because WOR is operating legally, there is not much that can be done for this person. The spectrum on the WOR signal basically was textbook-perfect. The entire signal fits nicely under the NRSC mask and is completely legal. Even with all the detuning aspects of WOR's antenna, the IBOC carriers are symmetrical." So, summing it up, they say IBOC is no problem as it meets the FCC spectral requirements. It's your tough luck when it causes noise problems. It makes me mad when they try and paint this as a problem only for antique radio owners, fanatics and 1 other person. SPIN DOCTORS! Mark my words - since it is "legal" (spectrally) the FCC will approve nighttime IBOC without a thought for interference. It would have already been done except their concern was whether IBOC would function well via skywave (Chuck Hutton, Dec 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) Oh me..now the same rehash of garbage has made it to rwonline! ...Gee, can`t someone there come up with anything new and fresh? Seems like they have their lines written out on toliet paper and it`s kept safe to had out to anyone that wants to print this nonsense. I got the papers Friday as well, and I'm not happy or impressed. They clearly state and admit that there are interference issues in the first adjacent either side of a station running IBOC. To me and others, this is unacceptable. As proven with the latest night time test on 700 and 710, it was a fuzz/hash war. Is this what we want, folks? I don`t think it is. I urge each and every one here on this forum to post comments with the FCC when that time comes available. Don`t look at this from a DXing point --- which is the point of the club and the internet group --- as those type of comments will be dissed as nuts and out of touch with today`s technology. The comments need to be well thought out and consider what it would do to your ability to listen to a local station with a class "B" signal, which a great number of people rely on when it comes to AM reception. Not everyone lives close enough to an AM station to get clear blanketing reception. State examples of the recent night time test. Real world facts with real world everyday common radios is where it is at. How can you compare test results with, as I've seen it put, a piece of test equipment. There are no real digital receivers yet. Reception is with a piece of test equipment, which everyone does not use to listen to everyday radio. I've been in an electronics lab before as part of earning a degree in electronics. You can pretty much do *-almost-* anything and get the results you want in a lab. Mote: I said *-almost-* meaning not everything is possible. I find it hard to believe that the interference issues are as moot as they are. There are claims that test were done with every make and model radio ever made. I've asked for the results of this data in two different forums, question being directed to the individual that made this statement, getting no answers in either forum. My question was right out ignored. Like it wasn`t even posted in one forum --- and the individual unsubscribing a very short time after my posting of the question in another forum! Yes, it really gets me ready to go smash something --- it ticks me off that much. For someone to do something of this nature certainly is NOT a professional. Folks, I in general do not have any problem with digital radio. It is the interference I have the problem with --- even if it is legal to generate such noise on either side of your operating frequency. I think the issues need to be grabbed by the horns and those involved need to get straight with the general radio public and sensibly work on these issues if they want digital radio to have any sort of success (Bob Carter, Operations/Engineering--Max Media Radio Group, ibid.) And now I am doubly sad that I was out of the country when the initial comments were called for, because I love corporate lawyerese. I'll have to do this the old-fashioned, analog way, along with copies to my Senators (my congressman, sadly, is incapable of understanding anything about technology, but apparently thinks anything "new" is automatically "good." He also thinks the RIAA should be allowed to snoop around in anyone's computers for mp3s. He'll be gone in 2004, not a doubt.) IBOC at night? Good or bad for US broadcasters, I think the interference will be a serious cross-border problem. Not that anyone besides the US matters, of course. Just ask anyone in DC these days. (And a lot of Americans don't matter, either, apparently.) Hoping the Pentagon and NSA got this email clearly (Gerry Bishop, NicedayforJefferson'scalendarville, FL, ibid.) To all that will be commenting, just be sure you learn a lesson from the LPFM notices. A flaming letter, name calling, or otherwise disparaging remarks of character will only work negatively against you. The IBOC folks will just paint you as a discontented crank. Remain calm, and when a statement such as "No interference was noted in monitoring tests", you counter professionally such as .... GCA states, "No interference was noted in monitoring tests". I beg to differ on this statement. On 11/21/02 at 9:10PM I noted the tests from WOR-710, and studied the effects on WLW-700. As a listener to WLW, I found the amount of noise objectionable, and distracting. IBOC noise contributed to 50%, or more, of the total modulation heard with programming of WLW. When WOR did not transmit IBOC, the transmissions of WLW were perfect, with less than 2% of noise being attributed to skywave fade. As an LP-1 station for a large region of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, as well as a source of news and information that I use, I feel that ANY use of IBOC would be a disservice to the public. The old news director at our TV station, a charming Irish man named Dunster, always talked about being able to write with Irish Diplomacy. That is defined as being able to tell someone to go to hell, and make them look forward to the trip! Please, when commenting, state facts and be nice. Use key words such as "public service", "emergency information", etc. The slightest amount of negative mud-slinging will only render your comments moot. Remember, many that read this stuff are not DXers or serious radio listeners, so you need to make sure you keep it simple. Anything highly technical should be backed up with facts. Oh, and you guys in Canada also have a stake in commenting as well. However, a friend in Ottawa suggested that you also send a copy of your comments, with a copy of the notice, to the CRTC. If they get concerned, there could be one heck of a battle between radio authorities. And you guys in California and Texas should copy Mexico as well. The CRTC is responsible for content regulation - they don't really get involved with stuff like interference and cross-border coordination. Comments should go to the Spectrum Engineering Branch of Industry Canada (Barry McLarnon, Ont., ibid.) I'm sorry, but I cannot get out my head a terrible what-if? What if WOR had been on IBOC several weeks ago, hashing WLW's signal? Would an observant trucker on I-70 in Maryland have been trying to listen to WLW still, or would he have gone to another station (or tapes)? Would he have missed the description of the car that police were looking for, the car with the DC snipers? Would the snipers have struck again, maybe several more times, because the opportunity was missed? Assume that radio description of the car would have reached the snipers, too, and they'd have ditched the car within hours. I can't help but think that somebody's grandmother or kid might have taken a bullet thanks to conscientiously generated sideband interference. Lucky breaks happen because people are paying attention. No one's going to pay attention to digital hash (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, ibid.) Those are excellent points to make. Intentional radio interference interferes with the public`s ability to react when stations send this information, as well as weather, Amber Alerts, or attacks on our homeland security (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) This is an excellent point, and one getting lost in the IBOC discussion. My mother still lives in northern SC and lost her power in last week's ice storms, from about 4:00 am Thursday until shortly before noon last Sunday. Her only line of communication with the outside world was a GE Superradio I bought for her years ago --- and I'm glad I put in fresh batteries last month when I visited her! WBT-1110 did a fantastic job of serving both Carolinas (her locals WAVO-1150, WBZK-980, and WRHI-1340 were either off the air or continued their satellite-downloaded programming). Thanks to WBT, she knew about emergency shelters, which numbers to call if she needed emergency assistance, progress being made on restoring power, etc. I've seen some remarks in this IBOC discussion to the effect that broadcasters really don't care about listeners outside their primary service area. That might be true, but let's don't lose sight of the fact that broadcasters are using something that belongs to the people of the United States --- the radio spectrum --- for their profit- seeking activities. And if they're using "public property," then they have an obligation to take the public interest into account as well as their business goals. (I wonder how many in broadcasting today have ever heard of "PICON"?) While there are many different opinions as to what constitutes "serving the public interest," I think most of us would agree that providing communications to the public in an emergency qualifies. And in most natural disasters --- ice storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, etc. --- the electric power goes, taking TV sets, PCs (and the internet), many telephones, etc., out. In such cases, the battery-powered radio, AM or FM, is the only way most people in the affected area have to get the information they need. Perhaps someone could please explain how increasing the noise levels on both AM and FM (but especially AM), reducing the effective coverage areas of stations, and rendering all existing AM/FM receivers functionally obsolete will help broadcasters improve their ability to serve the public in an emergency (Harry Helms, AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15, ibid.) The truth is out there on IBOC Remember Leonard Kahn? I can see lawsuits in the future. I can see lots of lawsuits. The interference issues will bring lots of lawsuits. It will be a fiasco infinitely worse than AM stereo ever was. The lawyers are gonna make out big time. Let me give some quotes from page 20 of the propaganda the lawyers sent... They want to fast track this.... "...to compress the timeframe for finalizing the rules and policies that will affect the ultimate success of this service." Then comes the disingenuousness... They think there`s not going to be many harmed. "Precluding the use of IBOC by all AM stations at night because of the circumstances of a few, easily identifiable stations is unnecessary." The disingenuity is repeated again.... "Many AM stations presently operate with facilities which would not cause significant interference to distant stations if permitted to operate with IBOC facilities during night time hours. " Listen to this on page 3 and compare it to the items quoted from page 20.... "Regrettably, both computer models and field tests have shown that night time use of the AM IBOC system can in certain instances, lead to intolerable levels of interference to the ongoing operation of legacy analog broadcasting for first-adjacent channel stations. So what is it? Is it interfering or not a problem. I know the secret, I am sure you can figure it out as well. Just tune in the sidebands and you will know for sure (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) "Its going to get a lot worse before it gets worse" - Lily Tomlin [Kevin`s tagline] Kevin, right you are! How many ways can you spell lawsuit? Now if we were talking about a few stations that would be getting interference, it would not be an issue. How many AM stations do we have in the US, 4800? Something around there. Okey, let`s say 500 or 1000 stations go IBOC. What are the rest suppose to do with the QRM. Remember we are hurting a businessman from making a living. I can see a class action suit covering hundreds or thousands of radio stations. I really doubt the courts will ignore that. In this day, suits are everywhere and the lawyers are also there to pick up $$$$$$$. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside, OR, KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) This would be an excellent story to tell. After all, if your mother could not hear WBT due to WTAM IBOC, would that not be a threat to safety and security. Then again, KMOX would be a double whammie. I don't think that many broadcasters are concerned about PICON, but more for how much they can take out of the community no matter what the consequences. The ones that DO care are clearly in the minority. In my meetings with stations involved in EAS and emergency communication, there is clearly a majority of broadcasters that could really care less if anyone lives or dies as long as they can do a 50 minute commercial free music marathon, then 10 minutes of spots. I would REALLY like to see stations have to report their public service to the FCC and have license renewals based on what they do in the community. IMHO, if stations don't want to participate and go the whole way, let's give the license to someone else and let them run with it. As demonstrated in the tornados in Van Wert back on 11/10, the locally owned and operated stations were clearly in the lead with distribution of emergency information. The ones that were voice tracked and highly automated were sometimes as much as 8 minutes behind the leaders. In fact, one of our stellar chain stations, on a previous series of storms, unplugged their EAS because it "bothered" them (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) ||What is "PICON"? "the public interest, convenience, and neccessity." I think it's from the Communications Act of 1934. It's what every U.S. station was expected to operate in, readers. * *didn't want to end a sentence with a preposition! (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) || This group thinks that AM radio is a high-fidelity medium. Well, I guess Mr. Ray never listened to AM on a good radio. I have a Zenith C845L that will change his mind. || So, summing it up, they say IBOC is no problem as it meets the FCC spectral requirements. It's your tough luck when it causes noise problems. That`s what it looks like to me. Sounds like BS though when I read it. || It makes me mad when they try and paint this as a problem only for antique radio owners, fanatics and 1 other person. SPIN DOCTORS! I wrote Tom Ray and Paul Jellison both about hearing the artifact and also wrote the FCC. || Mark my words - since it is "legal" (spectrally) the FCC will approve nighttime IBOC without a thought for inteference. It would have already been done except their concern was whether IBOC would function well via skywave. Well, the lawyers seem to think so but I can see LOTS of lawsuits before this is over (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) In claiming IBOC is "legal", they are basically taking advantage of a loophole. Yes, the IBOC signal nominally fits under the FCC mask, but of course the people who originally defined the mask never conceived that it might be (ab)used in this way. The mask was designed to limit the levels of transient modulation peaks in the region beyond +/- 10 kHz from the carrier. Nobody thought about the possibility of dropping a relatively high power, constant level signal using a completely different modulation scheme in there. If the regs simply stated that only A3E emissions were allowed in the AM band, then IBOC would be illegal. But what they really should have done in addition is put some reasonable limits on the occupied bandwidth of the signal. Occupied bandwidth is usually defined as the bandwidth containing 99% of the long-term average power transmitted. I'm not sure what the occupied bandwidth of a typical AM broadcast signal is, but I'll bet that it's less than 10 kHz. It would depend quite a bit on the program format, audio processing, etc. When the IBOC digital carriers are added, however, the occupied bandwidth increases to about (back of the envelope calculation) 28 kHz. So, by my reckoning, going IBOC increases a station's occupied bandwidth by roughly a factor of three. Is it any wonder that it causes increased interference? There oughta be a law! I wouldn't be surprised if a careful reading of the FCC rules might turn up something that would challenge the legality of IBOC, but at this point, it probably wouldn't matter - they'd just change the rules to keep the loophole open (Barry McLarnon, Ont., ibid.) This is an excerpt from Tom Ray's comments on IBOC. I'm the person mentioned at the end of the document, trying to get WLW; I suspect this is from my email two-three weeks ago. His response is: "But because WOR is operating legally, there is not much that can be done for this person." If I won't be able to get WLW, it's game over. Anyone still optimistic? (Dave Hochfelder, New Brunswick, NJ, Sony-ICF2010 with Quantum Loop, ibid.) Subject: [NRC-am] The Glen Clark IBOC Petition I finally had some time to read and digest (urp) the Clark petition. Here's my take on it. The case he makes is pretty simple. It boils down to this: 1. By allowing daytime AM IBOC operation, the FCC is affirming that the current daytime protection rules afford adequate protection against interference from stations running IBOC. 2. On a case by case basis, the nighttime operation of stations can be studied to see if they comply with the daytime protection rules. If they do, then it should be okay for them to go ahead and run IBOC at night. Some background: Most AM allotments provide 0 dB D/U (desired-to-undesired ratio) protection in daytime operation to other stations on 1st adjacent channels (i.e., they can put no more than 0.5 mV/m on the 0.5 mV/m protected contour of the other station). For new allotments since 1991, the protection level has been increased to 6 dB (no more than 0.25 mV/m on protected contours of other stations), and this applies to nighttime operation as well as daytime. According to Clark, standard propagation prediction software can be used to determine whether a given station provides 6 dB D/U protection to all stations on the lower 1st adjacent at night. If it does, then that station can run IBOC at full power on its lower sideband. If it doesn't provide 6 dB protection to all lower 1st adjacent stations, but does provide 0 dB protection, then it can run IBOC on the lower sideband, but at reduced power (6 dB lower). If it can't provide 0 dB protection, then there should be no IBOC transmitted on that sideband. The same argument applies to the upper 1st adjacent. There are then five different possibilities for IBOC operation: 1. Full power on both sidebands 2. Full power on one sideband, reduced power on the other sideband 3. Reduced power on both sidebands 4. Full power on one sideband, no power on the other sideband 5. Reduced power on one sideband, no power on the other sideband Let's consider the last two possibilities first. There are no one-sided modes like this in the AM IBOC specifications, and iBiquity has not submitted any test data for such a mode. The FCC Report & Order on IBOC definitely does not permit one-sided IBOC operation. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that iBiquity would want to see any operation like this, since a one-sided IBOC would be very unrobust and would place IBOC in general in a bad light. As for the other possibilities, we have to go back to the initial premise: is the FCC saying that the current rules are adequate for protection against IBOC interference? I don't think so - the jury is still out. The Report & Order appears to anticipate that there will be interference problems in daytime IBOC operation, and it sets out some procedures to deal with them (power reductions, and possibly turning off IBOC if other solutions can't be found). Furthermore, the evidence provided by iBiquity and the NRSC that IBOC won't cause serious interference problems is less than compelling. Interference tests were done on only four different analog receivers (despite that nonsense from Tom Ray about iBiquity testing all available receivers), which is a ridiculously small sample base to draw any conclusions from. And while it is true that all four receivers performed poorly with 1st adjacent interference at 0 dB D/U with or without IBOC, we don't know how they behaved at 6 dB D/U, since there is no test data for that condition. There were tests at 15 dB D/U, though, that showed significant impact from IBOC on most of the receivers, so that's a good indication that IBOC will cause some major problems in the 0-15 dB range. Another thing that bothers me about the Clark petition is that it ignores 2nd adjacent interference completely, dismissing it with a footnote: "2nd adjacent channel stations are not considered, as 2nd adjacent channel IBOC transmission will not affect receivers with a bandwidth of less than 5 kHz". They claim that most AM receivers fit this description, which is probably true in a sense, but it's a red herring. The fact that a receiver's audio response rolls off below 5 kHz doesn't make it immune to 2nd adjacent channel interference! FCC rules for 2nd adjacents allow 0 dB D/U on a station's 5 mV/m contour. In the lab test results from iBiquity, three out of the four receivers had problems with 2nd adjacent IBOC at 0 dB D/U. So, the potential for 2nd adjacent interference from IBOC can't be ignored. To wind this up, I think the Clark petition is half-baked and should be put aside. The IBOC interference issue is still very much an open question, and much more experience is needed with daytime operation before they open up the nighttime floodgates (Barry McLarnon, Ont., NRC-AM via DXLD) Glen Clark says the existing rules for protecting an analog station from another analog station serve perfectly to evaluate the case of protecting an analog station from another hybrid IBOC station. I can't see how in the world they could say that with a straight face. The power level 10 KHz from the carrier transmitted by an analog interferer and the power level 10 KHz from the carrier transmitted by an IBOC interferer are totally different things in both the amplitude and time domains. Puzzled Chuck in Seattle (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Does this petition exist on the internet? Can someone provide a link? Thanks (Gerry Bishop, ibid.) Sure.... Go to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi (the search page for comments) and type "99-325" in box #1 (labelled Proceeding), then hit "Retrieve Document List". When you do that, you'll get all the documents related to 99-325 (the AM IBOC proceeding). They're in chronological order so go down a bit to the stuff from Dec. 12 and there it will be. Now go to bed...... (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) ** U S A. Presumed 1670 Frederick MD on today with only white noise, not an impressive signal given the distance. First noticed at 9:30am, on again at next check, 4 pm. No WTOP or WWZZ (Z104) audio as previously reported. No buzzing noted on 1660 or 1680. However, the buzz is back on 1250 and 1270, straddling WWRC. Does anyone know if WWRC-1260 is indeed an IBOC station? If so, I want a digital receiver asap, so I can get that Suze Orman's stock tips in the finest quality possible! ;) (Blake Lawrence, Washington DC, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Just got a nice phone call from Bob Janney, CE of WBBR-1130, who wants to let DXers know that there is off-time scheduled for his station and for WEVD-1050-NY - and also, possibly, for WWDJ-970-NJ. The stations will be off: Saturday Dec. 28 1:00-4:00 AM [0600-0900 UT] Sunday Dec. 29 1:00-4:00 AM Again, this definitely affects WBBR 1130 and WEVD 1050, and may affect WWDJ 970 as well. New York-area DXers should note that WWDJ is diplexed with WWRV-1330, so there may be downtime on 1330 as well, as an extra added bonus. More details as I get them; in the meantime, many thanks to Bob Janney for thinking of the DX community and passing this along to us.[*] -s (Scott Fybush, NY, Dec 20, NRC-AM via DXLD) {* not explained} In addition to WEVD and WBBR, 970-WWDJ will be off for at least an hour sometime between 2 and 5 am on Saturday morning (Fri night). Bob says there are a lot of people lined up to be there for these tests, so this downtime has high probability of happening as scheduled (Rick Kenneally, CT, ibid.) ** U S A. WSAI, 50 kW on 1530 has a scheduled outage this Sunday morning 3 AM as needed or till 5 AM at the latest [0800-1000 UT]. They will be doing some measurements on their antenna system. So the outage will start a 3A and end when they are done measuring (Paul Jellison, Clear Channel, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. The National Radio Club is proud to announce that Ronald Musco will take the position of C.P.C. Chairman effective immediately. Ron is a member of the National Radio Club's Board of Directors. Ron has been an active member of the club since the early 1960s, and has chaired the position of Membership Chairman since 1976. The C.P.C., or "Courtesy Program Committee", arranges tests of AM radio stations for broadcast band DXers. These tests may be of rare stations that hardly anyone has heard, or stations with facilities that cause the signal to not propagate over a large area where DXers live. These tests are mostly conducted at night, between the hours of midnight and 6AM, when the FCC allows stations to operate in test modes. These test modes can allow a station with a day power of 5,000 watts non-directional and night power of 500 watts highly directional in a certain area, to operate non-directional with 5,000 watt. This allows the station to have a better chance of being heard. Additionally, CW IDs of the station's call letters, siren sound effects, and marching band music is used to stick out of the noise of other stations and static. Since the National Radio Club is a non-profit radio club, Ron is asking for donations of stamps, or funds to buy postage. National Radio Club members may also wish to suggest stations that they feel will be agreeable to conducting C.P.C. tests. Suggested stations could be stations in your own community that you feel might get out well, or stations that you would personally like to hear. Donations of stamps or funds, and suggested stations, can be sent to Ron Musco, P.O. Box 118, Poquonock CT 06064-0118. Ron can also be contacted at ronaldj.musco@hs.utc.com if you have any specific questions about the National Radio Club's C.P.C. program. For information about broadcast band DXing, and the National Radio Club, visit the club's web site at http://www.nrcdxas.org (NRC via DXLD) ** U S A. 1440, KPUR TX Amarillo -- 12/19/02, 2302 Eastern - I've noted this one a good 200 Hz low, putting a NASTY het on the frequency, for several days, maybe longer. Running Amarillo Gorillas hockey last night; no legal ID, just "Amarillo's 1440, The Score." Occasionally atop frequency; otherwise, best recovery of audio in LSB (Randy Stewart/Battlefield (Springfield) MO, using a bedside Sony 7600D & internal antenna, NRC-AM via DXLD) Thank you for the post, Randy. John Wilkins also mentioned this in DXN a few weeks back, measuring KPUR's signal at 1439.7 (v.70 No.7 p.4). Up here in Madison WI I have been hearing a het on 1440 most of the Fall (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, ibid.) ** U S A. Driven to succeed THE HIGHWAY RADIO GROUP TARGETS A UNIQUE AUDIENCE: TRAVELERS ON THE ROADS INTO SIN CITY --- By Susan Carpenter, Times Staff Writer Aside from brush and billboards, there isn't a whole lot to see on the 270-mile drive from L.A. to Las Vegas. There's even less to listen to, at least on the FM dial. It's as much of a wasteland as the desert once you're out on the I-15 heading into Sin City. Listeners can press their scan button as often as they like, but it will only stop on a handful of stations. Chances are those stations are run by Highway Radio. Thanks to a complex system of transmitters, repeater signals and remote-uplink arrays, the tiny Las Vegas radio group broadcasts most of the consistent FM signals between Nevada's gambling paradise and the Cajon Pass -- the adult contemporary Highway Stations on 98.1, 98.9 and 99.7 FM, Highway Country on 100.1, 101.5 and 107.3 FM and, starting Friday, 94.9 and 96.9 FM the Drive, a rock station targeting the growing market of 25- to 34-year-olds now traveling to Vegas. That's a lot of frequencies, but Highway Radio has a lot of space to cover.... The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-wk-alt19dec19,0,6319472.story (via Harry Helms, NV, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Uzbekistan radio - 40 Years of Foreign Broadcasting The Uzbekistan Radio is having department of foreign broadcast and everyday the station is broadcasting the program in twelve foreign languages including English, German, Persian, Turkish etc. Today the Hindi section of Radio Tashkent jointly with the Embassy of India is celebrating 40th year of regular broadcast which began in the year 1962. Radio Tashkent program listeners are not only in Asia but in Europe also which continues to receive several letters from its ardent listeners. etc. Pravda.ru 19 Dec 2002 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA/CHINA. EXTERNAL BROADCASTERS DISCUSS COOPERATION | Text of report in English by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug Belgrade, 19 December: A delegation of China's state International Radio [China Radio International] headed by Deputy General Director Chen Minji conferred Thursday in Belgrade with Radio Yugoslavia Director Milena Jokic and editorial staff on expanding cooperation. The Chinese radio is interested in having its Serbian language programme carried by Radio Yugoslavia. China's state radio broadcasts daily 270 hours of programmes in 43 languages. Radio Yugoslavia hopes that China will take part in reconstruction of its transmitters and in providing new equipment, and the Chinese delegation said they would convey this wish to the broadcasting authorities. A new memorandum on cooperation between the two media is expected to be signed at the end of the talks Thursday, and the Chinese delegation will be received Friday by Yugoslav Information Secretary Slobodan Orlich. Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1806 gmt 19 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Yesterday I've heard an UNID Chinese speaking station on 1557 kHz from tune-in 1850 till s/off at 2000 UT. Powerhouse signal, wiping out co-channel Nice in southern France. Audible even on a very cheap three-band tranny with built-in ferrite antenna! I doubt that this was Family Radio from Taiwan. According to their sked they have Chinese until 1800, then English for an hour and s/off at 1900. This station had a programming sounding like an info-magazine, not like a religious programme. Also the incredible signal-strength is very unlikely for a 300 kW outlet from Taiwan. Station had a rather strong audio-compression. But if it wasn't Family Radio, the question is, what was it then? No ID at s/off. Can anybody confirm the Family Radio schedule? Thanks for any help! Greetings, (Martin Elbe, Germany, Dec 20, dxing.info via DXLD) Tonight Martin Elbe alerted me on something booming in on 1557. The programming was in Chinese, at 2000 the audio was cut inmidst sentence and one minute and ten seconds later the carrier was switched off. Here is a record, if you can handle a file size of 428 kB: http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de/1557_19.mp3 The file includes an excerpt recorded around 1954, the audio cut-off at 2000 and the carrier cut at 2001. Note how co-channel Nice is barely audible in the local noise here to get an impression how strong the signal was. And what you hear in the final two seconds is how I switched on the TFT monitor to stop the record... So, what's this? Something new from Europe (ethnic service somewhere) - or really Taiwan? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Things are cleared up. It was a test of the Sitkunai station in Lithuania, using 150 kW ND and carrying Chinese programming by CRI from 18-20 UTC according to Bernd Trutenau in the Yahoogroup MWDX. That explains the strong signal. That I have no clue, why they carry Chinese programming is another story. 73 (Martin Elbe, later, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. I am daily hearing a very strong clandestine broadcast on 7070 at 2000. It is not a low-powered operation and generator hum is present on the carrier. Slogans and plenty of martial music are heard in this Farsi (Persian) programme which CRW says is the V of the Iranian Mujaheedin. I think it is more likely to be from the Middle East instead of Central Asia. A news broadcast heard one day at 2030 with music bridge between items. CRW says it is Iraq broadcasting to Iran but I am not sure. It is too strong (Robin L. HARWOOD, Norwood, Tasmania, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [IRAN] 7070, V. of Mujahed, Dec 15? 1732, YL with talks in Farsi about Sharia, Bush and Islam etc. Signal level S9 though full of QRM //5650v -5670v (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ RADIO REMEMBERS: STAMP COLLECTING OPERATORS The Radio Stamp Operators Group reminds us that a year ago, on November 15, 2001, the Japanese Postal Service released an 80-yen postage stamp honoring the 50th anniversary of commercial radio and TV in that country. The stamps depict the images of the microphone used when commercial radio broadcasting began, the first monochrome television camera used for commercial television broadcasting, and at television set up for street viewing. More information on radio stamp collecting is on yahoogroups at radiostamps@yahoogroups.com (RSG via Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 20 via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-199, December 19, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1161: WWCR: Thu 2130 9475, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Eu Sun 0530, NAm Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1161.html [from late Thu] ** AUSTRALIA. FROM YOUR EDITOR. GET WELL SOON, CHRIS. I wish to advise that my long-time friend, EDXP member, and radio monitoring hobbyist of 38 years, Chris Hambly, of Mont Albert, the same suburb in which I live, is currently in the high-dependency ward of the Box Hill Regional Hospital, in Melbourne's east. Chris was admitted on Thursday December 12, and until his condition is stabilised, he is not permitted any visitors or contacts, including his immediate family. Relatives, neighbours, associates and friends of Chris have been asked to desist from contacting the Hospital for information about his condition, which will not be made available. We wish Chris a speedy and full recovery, and get-well messages may be sent care of his mother, Mrs. Barbara Hambly, 47 Chessell St, Mont Albert North, Victoria 3129. E-mail messages may be sent to me, and I will forward them to Mrs Hambly. Everyone who knows Chris, either directly or indirectly, whether in Australia or overseas, as well as past workmates from the Victorian Railways from which he retired three years ago, wish him a speedy and full recovery. We look forward to Chris's return to the monitoring community in the very near future (Bob Padula, EDXP Dec 19 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. DIGITAL RADIO BROADCASTING IN AUSTRALIA The Australian Government had indicated in 1998 that digital radio services would commence in 2001, and that the Eureka 147 system would be used, to replace conventional FM broadcasting. It had been proposed that the digital radio services would operate in the L-band (UHF) in urban and suburban areas, and VHF used for rural locations. It was also announced that community radio broadcasters would be able to convert to digital, but being required to simulcast for a period in analogue. Digital Tests are currently being carried out in the Sydney area in the L-band. In reviewing these proposals, the Australian broadcasting Authority has advised that no firm decision has as yet been taken for the official commencement of digital radio. The Government has not yet decided if the migration to digital radio would be on the same basis at that being adopted for the introduction of digital television. It is believed that access to digital radio may be different, and may allow new entrants to community radio whilst maintaining existing analogue services. Access may also enable sharing of multiplex facilities, which may permit community broadcasters to concentrate on content or services, rather than the transmission infrastructure. Details about community broadcasting services and FM radio planning can be found at http://www.aba.gov.au An excellent technical paper titled "Community Radio FM Broadcast Planning in Australia", written by Russ Morris, ABA, was published in the Sep/Oct issue of the Technical Review of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union - ISSN 0126-6209. It's well worth studying if you can secure a copy. (Bob Padula, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. There has been some speculation that "Melbourne Radio 1629AM", using 1629, is now "Radio 2". The station's ownership is unchanged, and it is now carrying feeds from "Radio 2", Sydney's Western Suburban XB station - also known as 2WS, using 1611. That is why Sydney announcements have been heard recently! The Sydney relay is intended to be between 6am-6pm local time in Melbourne - 1900-0700 UT - and commercial spots are featured, with little music. At other times, 1629 carries its usual musical program with the occasional announcement. 1629 has advised that it proposes to relinquish ownership to a Chinese language broadcaster. This would complement the existing Chinese language station in Geelong, using 1341. Interestingly, 1341 is a HPON (High Power Open Narrowcast) broadcaster, 5 kW, serving primarily the Geelong/Bellarine Peninsula area, and giving good coverage into most of Melbourne. 1629 is limited to 400 Watts, with a service area not extending beyond 10 km, even though it is widely heard during daylight hours as far west as Ballarat, north to the Macedon Ranges, south-east into the Mornington Peninsula, and east to the Dandenong Ranges. Due to these changes, I will shortly be concluding technical and/or business support services to 1629 (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, VIC, mwaus via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. - 120 METRE BAND. Licences are currently active for these operations in the frequency range 2345-2410:: 2349.5 Brambles Australia, Whyalla, SA, 100 Watts, land mobile, 2349.5 Dept of Roads and Transport, Port Augusta, SA, 100 Watts, land mobile, 2349.5 Dept of Planning and Infrastructure, Rottnest Island, 100 Watts, land mobile 2376 Dept of Defence, ACT, Australia-wide, 2 kW, land mobile 2387.5 Dept of Defence, ACT, Australia-wide, 2 kW, land mobile 2387.5 Dept of Defence, RAAF, Berrimah, NT, 1 kW, point to multipoint 2400 La Trobe University, Bundroora, Victoria (Radio determination, 2 kW, Space Physics)... also registered for 1780 2816 3399 4455 5480 15000 15902 2400 Dept of Defence, Australia-wide, ACT, 100 Watts 2408 Dept of Defence, Australia-wide, 100 Watts Various modulation types and bandwidths are represented in the above. The frequencies indicated are nominal carrier frequencies. No approved registrations for 2368.5 kHz! (Bob Padula, EDXP Dec 19 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. EDXP NEWSPLUS: AWR "Wavescan" updated schedule Here is the latest schedule for "Wavescan", broadcast on Sundays UTC dates, in English, from Adventist World Radio facilities worldwide. "Wavescan" includes the monthly EDXP reports: "The Australian Radio Scene" and "Global DX Report", alternating fortnightly. Special EDXP full-detail QSLs are offered for correct reception reports for the EDXP features, which should be sent to: EDXP QSL Service, 404 Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert, Victoria 3127, Australia. Return postage is necessary: in Australia - A$1.50, elsewhere - 1 IRC/US$1. 0030-0100 6035 Al Dhabbiya SAs 0100-0130 9835 Moosbrunn ME, 17630 KSDA SAs 0400-0430 9650 Meyerton EAf, 1630-1700 9850, Moosbrunn Eu 0430-0500 12080 Meyerton EAf 9890, Al Dhabbiya SAs, 15160 Al Dhabbiya CAs, 11980 KSDA SAs 0500-0530 6015 Meyerton EAf 1730-1800, 9385 KSDA ME 0600-0630 15345 Meyerton CAf 1000-1030 11705 KSDA SEA 1300-1330 17870 Al Dhabbiya CAs 1330-1400 11755 KSDA NEAs, 15295 Meyerton CAf, 15385 Al Dhabbiya SAs 1600-1630 11560 KSDA SAs, 6055 Al Dhabbiya SAs, 15495 KSDA SAs 1800-1830 5960 Meyerton CAf 0830-0900, 9660 Moosbrunn Eu, 6095 Meyerton EAf, 17820 Moosbrunn WAf 1830-1900 11985 Meyerton EAf 2000-2030 7160 KSDA NWAs 1030-1100, 11900 KSDA NEAs, 11700 KSDA NWAs 2030-2100 5955 Rimatska Sobota Eu 2100-2130 9660 Moosbrunn WAf, 15660 KSDA SEA 2130-2200 11960 KSDA NEAs, 11980 KSDA NEAs Transmitters: Al Dhabiyya (United Arab Emirates), Moosbrunn (Austria), KSDA (Guam), Meyerton (South Africa), Rimavska Sobota (Slovak Republic) Additional broadcasts are carried to a variable schedule over WRMI, Miami, Florida: on 9955 1100-1130, 15725 1400-1430 and 2200-2230. Please tune in to the EDXP segments; let us know how you are hearing us and request our QSL! Regards! (Bob Padula, 404 Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert, Victoria 3127 Australia, Dec 18, via DXLD) ** CUBA. RHC does not participate in the HFCC, and, thus, frequency coordination with other broadcasters is not of a high order. The latest available schedule, provided by the station, shows: SSB transmissions: 9830 0500-0700 English to Eu 11705 2100-2300 Spanish to Eu, 0100-0500 English to Eu 13660 2000-2200 French/English to Eu 13 MHz operations: 13660 2000-2200 French/English to Eu (SSB) 13680 2000-2300 Portuguese/Arabic/Spanish 13750 1930-2230 French/English/Spanish (Bob Padula, EDXP Dec 19 via DXLD) As recently reported in DXLD, the above info totally out of date (gh, DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. R. Bayrak, 6150: Mustafa Tosun is Head of the Transmission Dept. and has this e-mail address: mustafa.tosun@brtk.net (Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.33, R Imperio [sic], Dec 10, best between 2230 and 2330, has made it all the way here recently, meaning probably some improvement in power or antenna as there was no trace of this station here until recently. Poor and very weak signal (Vaclav Korinek, RSA, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 9561.5, R. Ethiopia, Dec 11 *1600-1612, 34433, English, 1600 s/on with IS. ID. Music and talk. //Dec 12 9560.8 kHz. 9704.2, R. Ethiopia, Dec 11 *1459-1507, 34333, Amharic, 1459 s/on with IS. ID. Tree gong. News by man (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6940, R Fana, full data QSL received from v/s: Woldu Yemessel, General Manager. R Fana was founded on Nov 20, 1994 and now transmits 73 hours a week in Amharic, Oromiffa, Afar and Somali. Schedule: 0330-0430 Amharic (Mon-Fri) 0430-0530 Oromiffa (Mon-Fri) 0900-1000 Amharic (Mon-Fri) 1000-1100 Oromiffa (Mon-Fri) 1500-1700 Amharic (Mon-Fri) 1800-2000 Oromiffa (Mon-Fri) 0330-0530 Oromiffa (Sat-Sun) 0530-0730 Amharic (Sat-Sun) 1200-1500 Oromiffa (Sat-Sun) 1500-1800 Amharic (Sat-Sun) Frequencies: 6210, 6940 and 1080 MW. Address: Radio Fana, P.O. Box 30702, Addis Abeba (Bruno Pecolatto, Italy, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) Afar and Somali may be on MW only (DSWCI Ed., ibid.) ** FRANCE. 25755, 6.12 1200 TDF-CCETT via Rennes is sort of test transmitter heard very well in the afternoons. Alternating French and English programs for tourists. Seems to have the same program every day. S 3-5. BEFF (=Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin via Thomas Nilsson, DXLD) Means 25775 where previously reported? (gh, DXLD) {yes} ** GERMANY. Schedule of German Telekom transmitting station Juelich B02 period (27/10/2002 - 29/03/2003) B02web04.TXT Gesamtplan 05.12.2002 [from-to dates are 271002 - 300303; days of week are 1234567 u.o.s.] freq start stop ciraf ant azi type day from to 6120 0000 0100 7,8,9 105 295 216 LRT Backup 5975 0700 1500 28 406 60 106 23456 DRM 5975 0915 1500 28 406 60 106 17 DRM 15715 0900 1700 28,18 308 20 216 DRM 9435 2330 0030 49,41 208 80 218 DVB 6045 0958 1100 27,28 401 ND 926 1 EVR 6015 1830 1859 27 406 200 106 3 070103 300303 EVR* 6015 1830 1859 27,28 401 ND 926 4 271002 080103 EVR* 6015 1830 1859 27,28 401 ND 926 45 090103 300303 EVR* W-tal 125kW 15670 1700 1759 38,39,48 305 145 217 1346 SBO 5985 1000 1059 27,28 104 115 206 1 CHW 15275 1600 1629 48 305 145 217 47 TIS 13855 1830 2000 46,47 305 175 217 RSA 9710 0500 0530 38,39 105 115 217 IBR 9470 2000 2100 37,38 405 175 106 IBR 5840 1645 1715 39,40 111 75 217 IBR 13840 1900 1930 37,38,46 307 200 217 271002 311202 IBR* 13840 1900 2000 37,38,46 307 200 217 010103 300303 IBR* 15120 1730 1745 47,48 106 130 217 IBR 11840 1830 1859 52,53 211 155 216 5 RRP 15275 1600 1629 37,38 406 175 106 1 UNL 9435 0100 0129 41 110 90 217 1 UNL 6015 1730 1759 27,28 401 ND 926 345 UNL 11840 1800 1829 46,47,48 211 155 216 1 UNL 9470 1900 1929 39,40 102 115 217 1 UNL 13810 1300 1400 38,39 103 115 217 TOM 5975 1200 1300 27 406 290 106 TOM 6110 1500 1654 27 406 290 106 7 TOM 6110 1654 1759 27 401 ND 926 7 TOM 9490 0357 0559 47,48,52,53 306 160 216 23456 RTB 9490 0527 0559 47,48,52,53 306 160 216 17 RTB 17580 0600 0812 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 23456 RTB 17580 0600 1059 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 7 RTB 17580 0600 0906 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 1 RTB 21565 1057 1306 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 23456 RTB 21565 1100 1217 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 7 RTB 21565 1157 1217 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 1 RTB 17570 1557 1816 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 23456 RTB 17570 1657 1816 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 7 RTB 5975 0800 0915 27,28 406 290 106 17 071202 300303 BVB 13810 1630 1659 47,48 106 130 217 271002 231202 BVB* 13810 1630 1659 47,48 106 130 217 124567 241202 300303 BVB* 13810 1600 1659 47,48 106 130 217 3 241202 300303 BVB* 13810 1659 1729 47,48 106 130 217 4 080103 300303 BVB* 21590 0900 1000 38,39 305 130 217 6 131202 300303 BVB* 15715 1330 1430 49,50 202 70 218 VOH 15775 1330 1535 40,41 110 90 217 011102 300303 VOH 9860 1530 1729 38,39 105 115 216 011102 300303 VOH 13720 1700 1800 37,38 406 165 106 YFR 9595 2000 2100 39,40 105 115 216 YFR 9815 0400 0559 46,47,52,53 304 160 216 UMC 11690 0600 0800 37,46 305 190 217 UMC 13820 1700 1859 38,48,53 304 145 217 UMC 11735 1700 1859 46,47,52,53 306 160 216 UMC 9925 0000 0159 11-16 202 230 218 HRT 9925 0200 0359 6-10 112 300 216 HRT {changed to 7285} 9925 0400 0559 2-10 119 325 216 HRT {changed to 7285} 9470 0600 0759 59,60 202 230 218 HRT 13820 0800 0959 55,58,59 208 270 218 HRT 15680 1430 1530 41,43,49 218 75 217 GFA W-tal 250kW 15425 1530 1630 40,41 214 90 217 GFA W-tal 250kW 9490 0030 0130 40,41 221 90 217 111102 300303 GFA W-tal 250kW 9765 2300 0030 41,43,49 104 75 217 101102 300303 GFA W-tal 250kW 9470 1900 2000 39,40 119 120 216 7 071202 300303 BVB W-tal 250kW 9470 1900 1930 39,40 119 120 216 6 030103 300303 BVB* W-tal 250kW 7315 0030 0100 41 201 95 216 234567 021202 300303 BVB NAU 250kW FMO (Frequency Managing Organizations) 6140 0600 1900 27,28 405 175 141 DWL 6045 1127 1325 18S,27,28NW 401 ND 926 271002 300303 DWL(RNW2) 13685 0557 0756 27,28,37-40 103 115 217 271002 300303 DWL(VRT2) 5985 0757 0826 27,28 406 265 106 VRT 2 13650 1827 1956 27,28,37-39 111 120 216 VRT 2 5910 1857 2056 27,28 401 ND 926 7 VRT 1 9885 0500 0600 28E 102 115 217 AWR 9840 0600 0730 37,38W 308 200 216 AWR 15195 1000 1100 28W 106 145 216 17 091102 300303 WR 5840 1730 1759 28E 104 115 206 123456 AWR 5840 1730 1759 28E 211 110 216 7 AWR 12015 1800 1900 28E 104 115 206 AWR 11845 1900 2030 37,38W 406 200 106 AWR 13790 0555 0800 37S,38W,46 307 200 216 SRI 9885 0555 0800 37S,38 302 160 216 SRI 9755 1625 1815 28,38E,39 102 115 217 SRI 13790 1625 1815 38,39 103 115 217 SRI 9755 1825 2130 37S,38W,46 308 200 216 SRI 15485 1825 2130 38,48,53W 106 145 217 SRI 13660 1825 2130 47,52,53,57 302 160 216 SRI SOT 17665 0555 0800 47,52,53,57 301 160 216 SRI SOT 21770 0825 1030 47,52,53,57 301 160 216 SRI SOT 15555 1625 1815 38,48,53W 106 145 217 SRI SOT 9885 2155 2400 13-16 202 240 218 SRI SOT 7340 1127 1200 28 111 105 216 7 TWR 5945 1327 1345 28 104 130 206 TWR 5850 1657 1745 28 104 115 206 7 TWR 7180 1657 1745 28 101 125 11 7 TWR 11875 0400 0600 39,40 107 115 217 IBB 6180 1600 1659 39,40 205 70 211 IBB 6055 1500 1600 29,30 111 75 216 IBB 7105 1600 1659 29,30 204 70 212 IBB 17555 1230 1300 29,30 109 80 218 IBB 9785 1800 1900 39,40 110 100 217 IBB 12110 1600 2030 39,40 208 100 218 271002 301102 IBB* 12110 1700 2000 39,40 208 100 218 011202 300303 IBB* 6010 0230 0430 40 108 90 216 IBB W-tal 500kW 21690 0630 1030 40 123 90 217 IBB W-tal 500kW 21690 1230 1430 40 123 90 217 IBB W-tal 500kW 12140 1630 1830 40 111 90 217 IBB W-tal 500kW 5910 2230 0030 40 222 90 216 IBB W-tal 500kW NAU = DTK T-systems Nauen W-tal = DTK T-systems Wertachtal * changes + active on demand # momentary not active AWR Adventist World Radio BVB Bible Voice Broadcasting CHW Christliche Wissenschaft DTK Deutsche Telekom DVB Democratic Voice of Burma DWL Deutsche Welle DLF Deutschlandfunk DLR DeutschlandRadio EVR Evangeliums Radio Hamburg GFA Gospel For Asia HRT Hrvratska Radio Televizija IBB International Broadcast Bureau IBR IBRA Radio Sweden LRT Radio Vilnius Lithuania RNW Radio Netherlands World Service RRP Radio Reveil Paroles de Vie RSA Radio Salama RTB Radio Television Belge de la communaute Francaise SBO Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo SRI Swiss Radio International TIS Tigrean International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy TOM The Overcomer Broadcast TWR Trans World Radio UMC The United Methodist Church UNL Universelles Leben VOH High Adventure Ministries - The Voice of Hope (ex HAM) VRT Vlaamse Radio en Televisie (ex RVI) YFR WYFR Family Radio (05 Dec 2002) (via Wolfgang Bueschel, Dec 18, DXLD) ** INDIA. "FM radio cities to be doubled, SW to be phased out". This story by Nivedita Mookerji in New Delhi, in the "Financial Express", contributed by Alokesh Gupta: "As recommended by the Tenth Plan Working Group, shortwave radio would be phased out in the country. It is in keeping with the global trend of doing away with short wave radio in the analogue mode. To fill in the gap, FM service would be introduced in 125 more cities during the Tenth Plan, according to a senior All India Radio (AIR) official. This is subject to the government's approval of the Tenth Plan. With the FM radio present in 128 cities now, there are plans to double the number of FM cities during the Tenth Plan period, the official said. The medium wave service, which has been the most popular band till the time FM took off in India, would also be expanded, but only in the border areas. High-power medium wave stations would be launched in the border areas of the country during the Tenth Plan period, again subject to its approval. Such high-powered stations would be able to catch the medium wave frequency of other countries as well, thereby making it a very meaningful service for the border areas. Talking of short wave stations, the official said, these would not be shut down right away. Short wave stations would continue to operate as long as their transmitters last, but no new short wave station would be introduced now. Incidentally, the life of a transmitter for short wave and medium wave radio is 15 years, while the FM transmitter lasts for around 10 years. Interestingly, even the private FM radio players have a 10-year licence for operating their service in the country, after which both parties may mutually agree to extend the licence. Similarly, even AIR has signed an MoU [Memorandum of Understanding, I think --- gh] with the private FM operators for sharing of infrastructure for a period of 10 years. This, perhaps, is in keeping with the 10-year life of an FM transmitter. The Tenth Plan Working Group had earlier pointed out that short wave radio broadcasting services in analogue mode should be phased out. Expansion of medium wave, the report of the Working Group had said, should be taken up only for strategic border areas and difficult hilly terrains. Also, FM radio coverage should be achieved for 60 per cent of the population by the end of the Tenth Plan, it had stated." (via EDXP Dec 19 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. 11292U: checking at 1505 on a javaradio in Europe, nothing, anyone hearing it? (Hans Johnson, Dec 18, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Yes, a very faint DSB signal with Arab music at 1530, a bit better than yesterday. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) I'm monitoring 11292 USB from Milano but nothing, as yesterday afternoon. Only some usb civil air messages on 11291 kHz giving some splatter Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, ibid.) No trace on it direct here, from checking before 1500 past 1630. At least two stations were on 9715, hard to tell what. HFCC shows (only those entries before or during this time period): 9715 1500 1800 19,20,29N,31,32 WER 500 045 1234567 271002 300303 D RUSSIAN D DWL DWL 3301 9715 1500 2100 29S,30 WER 500 075 1234567 271002 300303 D RUSSIAN D DWL DWL 3302 9715 1200 1500 41,49 TAC 240 130 1234567 271002 300303 D UZB UZB GFC 3307 9715 1600 2200 39,40 S.P 240 145 1234567 271002 300303 D RUS VOR GFC 3308 (via gh, DXLD) Hi, Hans. Information Radio in Arabic heard on 9715 at 1741 while a female voice reading a 3 minute commentary followed by ID 1752 "Antom tastameon eli masdar ma'lomatikum, Izaa't Radio al-Ma'lomat". SINPO/33232 co channel? Tashkent (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Dec 18, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hi all, wasn't Information Radio on 8700U via Commando Solo much easier to hear than this? Javaradio in Sweden can't match Mauno's setup; still no joy at 1715 on 11292 (Hans, ibid.) In this moment 1945 UT on 9715 I am hearing a program with Arabic music mixed with one in Russian (maybe Deutsche Welle). Till few minutes ago it was covered under the other broadcast; now it is growing up. Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire Milano, Italy, ibid.) Very strong here Dec 18 at 1930 on 9715U with music, IDs and infos. Nothing on 11292 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) ** IRAQ [non]. SUMMARY OF INFORMATION RADIO BROADCAST Clandestine Radio Watch December 18, 2002 By Takuya Hirayama, CRW Japan [Dec 18] U.S. psyop station Information Radio was monitored today broadcasting on both 9715 and 11292 kHz to southern Iraq. Broadcasting with one female and two male native Iraqi announcers the station aired popular Arabic music, including songs by Iraqi and Lebanese artists, and also Western music, including the song "Titanic" by Celine Dione. The music did not immediately appear to carry subversive undertones. Psyop announcements followed the transcripts released by U.S. Central Command on Monday. There did not appear to be new or different announcements. The station identifies in Arabic as "Idha'at Radiyo Al-Ma'ulumat," and occasionally as "Masdar Ma'ulumatikum, Idha'at Radiyo al- Ma'ulumat" (Your Source of Information, Information Radio). Reception on 9715 kHz was better in Japan and various European locations as monitored on JavaRadio.net than 11292 kHz. Summary of transmission: 1502- Iraqi Pops 1505- Another Iraqi pops 1510- ID Announcement Message in Arabic read by a male: "With the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1441, the International Atomic Energy Agency, better known as the IAEA, has been mandated to conduct inspections in Iraq. The goal of the inspection program is to determine the extent of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program with the aim of completing the disarmament process established by UN Security Council Resolution 687.... [transcripts truncated for DXLD; complete at:] http://www.schoechi.de/crw/crw122e2.html 1513- ID Announcement / Iraqi Pops 1519- Western Pops (Female Vocal) 1522- ID Announcement by a female "Idha'at Radiyo Al-Ma'ulumat" / Iraqi Pops 1527- Announcement ready by a male "United States defense officials reported on the biennial military exercise 'Internal Look.' The exercise moves the command and control elements of United States Central Command to the Middle East Region in order to test its readiness for deployment. Its operational concept is focused on joint battle staff war fighting at the strategic and operational level. According to GEN Franks, Central Command Commander, Internal Look is simply an exercise that 'gives us the opportunity to deploy that command post. And the purpose of it is command, control, communications, to be sure that we have the right bandwidth lined up, to be sure that we can talk to our components-by that I mean air component, land component, maritime component and special-operations component.' He also stated that: over the last year 'Central Command has built a deployable command and control capability.' And, 'what that actually means is containers of communications gear, very large communications pipes that we're able put in the back of an airplane, fly it a long ways, land it on the ground and then set up a command-and-control complex.'... 1530- ID Announcement / Iraqi Pops 1538- ID Announcement / Iraqi Pops "Habbaitak" 1542- ID Announcement by a male / A message read by a female "Dear Listeners, the following program is a re-broadcast of remarks given by President George W. Bush and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on the 8th of November 22, 2002, in the White House Oval office regarding the unanimous acceptance by the United Nations Security Council regarding U.N. Resolution 1441, and the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. These remarks are being re-broadcast in their entirety.... 1547- Iraqi Pops with male vocal 1552- American Pops with male vocal 1554- ID Announcement by a male / Iraqi Pops with female vocal 1558- Transmission break 1600- A Message read by two announcers (male and female) Female announcer : "Dear listeners, the following program is a broadcast of the articles of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, which was unanimously approved by the United Nations Security Council on November 8th, 2002. The intent of UNSCR 1441 is to provide Saddam Hussein's regime a final opportunity to comply with the disarmament obligations established by UNSCR 687, in 1991. The following are the articles of UNSCR 1441 in their entirety."... 1614- Iraqi pops (female vocal) 1619- ID announcement by a female / Message read by a male (but not audible) 1620- Iraqi Pops (female vocal) 1626- Theme song of "Titanic" 1630- ID announcement by a female "Your source of Information, Information Radio" (Masdar Ma'ulumatikum, Idha'at Radiyo al-Ma'ulumat) 1631- Iraqi Pops (male vocal) 1637- ID announcement by a male Another message ready by a female "People of Iraq. Throughout the history of the world, mankind has shown a desire to progress and expand. Great leaders have built vast civilizations and empires that spanned continents. These leaders have sponsored education programs, paved vast roads, and built housing for the less fortunate. The leaders of the past have turned deserts into arable land, and created innovations which made life easier for their people. The great leaders of the past are known for their generosity and charity towards their own people, as well as their neighboring lands. In Afghanistan, once the Taliban was removed from power, the standard of living drastically improved. Relief aid is pouring into Afghanistan and is appropriately distributed. Schools are open and people all across Afghanistan are better off. "However, there have been leaders who were not moved by charity and good will. These leaders were motivated solely by greed and power. Josef Stalin was one such leader. Stalin was set on world domination, and it was his regime that began nearly a half-century of brutal domination through Eastern Europe. Stalin oppressed his people as he ruled over his country with an iron fist. During his reign as a dictator, Stalin killed and imprisoned millions of his own people. Millions of others were forcefully displaced and ended up living many miles away from their own homes. This dictator cared nothing for his own people, he merely sought to exploit them to perpetuate his regime and flawed ideology. "In the end, the world has paid a higher price for not stopping men like Stalin when they had the chance. Many millions of people have lost their lives needlessly under these oppressive regimes and in wars started by these leaders. The loss of life and the needless suffering could have been minimized had action been taken sooner. History has shown that appeasement of brutal domineering regimes only brings greater tragedy. Saddam too has a lust for power, and the world will stand up and put an end to the terror he imposes on others, before he destroys Iraq and crushes the hopes of its proud people." 1639- Iraqi Pops (female vocal) (Clandestine Radio Watch extra Dec 18 via DXLD) My take on this: One questions the need for a Commando Solo airborne operation to Iraq. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq is already served by numerous US-controlled transmitters nearby, notably in Kuwait, which could carry out this mission from the ground. But since it *can* be done, it *must* be done, even restricted to Kuwaiti airspace, which is rather limited? Tho of great interest to us DXers, these two little shortwave transmitters would seem to be even less needed, to reach Iraq. But then this gives the military an opportunity to say what it wants to say, rather than US government-sponsored civilian outlets (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1161, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another copy of the story, this one illustrated with leaflet about fibre optic cables: http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/wed/dec18w31.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) BBC news version: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/not_in_website/syndication/monitoring/media_reports/2583893.stm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) PENTAGON PROPAGANDA BROADCASTS TO IRAQ MONITORED IN HILVERSUM Both shortwave frequencies advertised for the Pentagon's Information Radio service to Iraq were monitored in Hilversum on 18 December. The signal on 9715 kHz was clearly audible co-channel with Deutsche Welle in Russian. The signal on 11292 kHz was weak, and the modulation level was extremely low, although it improved briefly just before 1600. The station uses the Arabic ID "Idha'at Radyo al-Ma'ulumat." Transcripts in English of the messages broadcast by the station can be found here: http://www.centcom.mil/News/Misc/radioscripts.htm The programming also includes both Arabic and US pop music. Listen to Information Radio as monitored in Hilversum on 18 Dec at 1635 UTC, 9715 kHz (3'12") http://www.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/rnw/medianetwork/iraq021218.rm The Pentagon launched the much-anticipated broadcasts on 12 December from EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft of the US Air Force. However, news of their existence only became public on 16 December. Leaflets dropped over Iraq: http://www.centcom.mil/Galleries/Photos/leaflets/Iraq_Leaflets/20021216.htm on 16 December give the times of the broadcasts as 1800-2300 (1500- 2000 UT), and mention the additional frequencies of 693 and 756 kHz mediumwave (both are also used for Iraqi domestic services) and 100.4 MHz FM. US officials said that the Commando Solo aircraft are flying "outside the country." Thanks to Nick Grace and Alan Pennington for helping with research (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 18 December 2002 via DXLD) IRAK - NON. Information Radio, the American military propaganda radio that we heard on 8700 kHz in Afghanistan, is now broadcasting on 9715. I heard it from 1945 to 2000 yesterday 18 December 2002 in Arabic with poor to very good signal. Better in USB. At 2000 disappeared and I could hear DW in Russian. I heard Arabic songs, talks about America, UN, and the "Rais", an announcement at 1958, then song till the end 73, (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, Dec 19, hard-core- dx via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. Radio Kashmir, Jammu heard from sign on at 0025 on 4830. The transmitter was noted going off air several times in between the transmissions. 73 (Jose Jacob, dx_india, WORLD OF RADIO 1161, DXLD) Previously reported schedule including 1030-2310: Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window, suggests the end time 2310 may be in IST instead of UT, which should read 1740 (gh, DXLD) e-mail is: airjammu@yahoo.co.in and airjammu2002@yahoo.co.uk (Jose Jacob, dx_india via DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) 4830: On Dec 15 & 16 1520-1702* a very weak signal was heard with talk in unidentified language and fading out in strong atmospheric and local noise. The carrier signed off at 1702 and a heterodyne disappeared. China Huayi Broadcasting Corp. is also scheduled here at that time (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6015, Liberty-1 (presumed), Dec 15, 0749- peaking around 0830, Korean male and female voices and also sentimental style songs over jamming. Usually only the jamming is audible. Signal fair at best (Noel Green, England, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 3902.94, 5.12 1830 Voice of Komala in Kurdish and with several IDs, spoke a lot about "azadi" (which means freedom both in Persian and Kurdish), Iran and Irak. Komala is as well the name of a former Iranian ?Kurdish Communist Youth Movement, which helped set up an independent Kurdish republic in Mahabad in the northern Iran in 1946. The republic was set up with The Red Army as the godfather but existed only for a year before being slaughtered in a big political deal with Russia and Great Britain. S3 BV (=Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin Dec 15, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. FRANCE/LIBYA. According to the TDF, the Voice of Africa, LJB, Tripoli, Libya is broadcasting via Issoudun, France, in Arabic, but with some newscasts in English and French with this schedule since Dec 11: 1000-1100 - 21695 1100-1230 - 17695, 21485, 21675, 21695 1230-1400 - 21695 1400-1500 - 21675 1600-1700 - 15220, 15615 1700-1800 - 15220, 15615, 15660, 17880 1800-1900 - 9415, 11635, 11715, 15615, 15660 1900-2030 - 11635, 11715 2030-2130 - 11635 (Erik Køie, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) ** MALDIVES. [internet] The President says the internet broadcasting service by the V. of Maldives provides to Maldivians living abroad a reliable link to the country. The President calls upon the media to become an edifying and socially responsible instrument. The President today said that the internet broadcasting service of the VOM would be a very prompt and reliable link to the country for Maldivians living abroad. The President made the statement while speaking at the function held this morning at the premises of the VOM to inaugurate its internet service. The President noted that the beginning of the service marked a new step forward being taken by the VOM with the aid of modern technology. He added that the service would be a valuable and reliable resource in enabling Maldivians living abroad to keep in touch with the news and developments in the country. Further, the President said that the service would help Maldivian families residing abroad and students living overseas to maintain and reinforce their links with the nation. Speaking about the central objectives of the media, the President referred to a parable in the Holy Qur`an in verses 24-25 of Sura Ibrahim, and said that the metaphor highlighted what would be the most appropriate motto for the VOM and other media in the country. The President explained that in the verses that he had referred to, a good word is compared to a shady tree whose root is firmly fixed and whose branches reach to the heavens, bringing forth its fruit at all times by the leave of the Almighty. He added that as the parable made it plain, statements that are good must have their roots firmly fixed in the ground, in that they must be based firmly and fairly on the truth. The President emphasised that the media in an Islamic country cannot be based solely on the profit motive, but that they must fulfill a more edifying and socially responsible role. He observed that such a role required that the media focused on national progress and reform, especially on setting the habits, the modes of thinking, and the actions of the people on the path of national progress and reform. The President noted that the media was based on reporting and pointed out that such reporting must be accurate based on the truth and be of abiding benefit to the society and the nation. The President expressed his appreciation to the Minister of Information, Arts and Culture, Mr Ibrahim Manik for his efforts to develop the services of the Voice of Maldives, and to disseminate as widely as possible, accurate news and information and other programs of the service. The President also thanked the management and staff of the VOM for their services. The welcome speech at the function was delivered by Senior Programme Organiser of the Voice of Maldives, Ms. Moomina Ibrahim. She noted that the guidance and the support extended by the President to the efforts to develop and improve the services of the VOM greatly motivated the development of the service. A vote of thanks was proposed by Senior Programme Organiser of the Voice Maldives, Ms. Najma Hussain. She said that the genesis of the internet relay service of the VOM lay within the framework of the strategies to implement the Maldives Vision 2020 formulated by the President. She also thanked the President, on behalf of the management and staff of the VOM for accepting the invitation to inaugurate the VOM internet broadcasting service (via Sarath Weerakoon, Sri Lanka, BC-DX Dec 6 via DXLD) What`s the URL, Sarath? ** MALI. If you live in Europe, get up at 0600 and tune into 4835, it's brilliant! But nothing heard this morning on //4783. At 0800 9635 is usually fair, but compared to earlier this year, modulation has definitely improved (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Schroeder's dark empire, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 7245, RTM, Nouakchott, has been heard regularly during the past week. Most days, it replaces 4845 at a variable time around 0800 - sometimes before - sometimes after - and is audible at very good strength until fading around 0930. However, on Friday, Dec 13, I did not note 4845 before 0800 (Noel Green, England, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) Heard as late as 1150-1410 on Dec 07 here in Portugal with Arabic recitations, tribal songs, 1200 Vernacular news and 1400 French news. 35443 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, ibid.) ** MOLDOVA. R. Pridnestrovye, Tiraspol, 5960, noted on recent Wednesdays *1659-1730*, English program, "Here is Tiraspol, the capital of the Dniester Moldavian Republic", heavily disturbed by R. Netherlands on 5955. Moldova was an Autonomous Republic in the former USSR, but got its independence in 1991. The narrow region between the river Dnestr and the eastern border towards Ukraine is mainly populated with Russians. In 1990 they declared independence from the rest of Moldova which is closely related to Romania, but the "Trans-Dniester Moldavian Republic" (TMR), or "Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika" (PMR) as it is called in Russian, has never been recognized internationally. Heavy fighting in 1992 was followed by a peace agreement in 1997 with a Russian Peacekeeping Force placed between the parties. The official radiostation is Radio Moldova which broadcasts from the capital Kishinev (Chisinau) on MW and FM. Its external service Radio Moldova International uses [sic] SW transmitters in Galbeni, Romania for program in five languages. The former USSR built a powerful SW transmitter in Grigoriopol` which is located east of the river Dnestr and still controlled by Russian authorities. Airtime is rented out, such as to Deutsche Welle and TWR. Thus Radio Pridnestrovye is a separatist radiostation which some people regard as a Clandestine. It uses a 150 kW MW transmitter in Maiac on 1467 and a FM transmitter in Tiraspol. Since last month it has also had an external service in Russian from Maiac on 999 MW (500/1000 kW) and English on 5960. It is unclear whether the latter broadcast comes from Grigoripol` (Anker Petersen, Copenhagen, EDXP Dec 19 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Where are they? I haven't heard 15120 for a while, when I checked at 1900 (19m quite dead) but also at 2200, 0600, 0800... (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Schroeder's dark empire, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, V. of Nigeria, Dec. 14 [Sat] 0640-0710, 34343 in English. Talk and 'Letter Box'. (ISHIZAKI Kyoshiro, Mie, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. CITADEL GETS WKY/OKLAHOMA CITY IN $7.7 MILLION DEAL http://www.radioandrecords.com/Subscribers/TodaysNews/homepage.htm WKY [930] had been owned by Gaylord Entertainment since its on-air debut in August 1928 until it was recently placed under the control of OPUBCO Communications, an entity in with Gaylord enjoys a majority vote. An asset sale agreement for WKY made its way through the FCC on Monday, and as a result Citadel gets a seventh property in Oklahoma City; the company already owns WWLS-AM & FM, KATT, KKWD, KQBL & KYIS in the market. WKY is presently being operated by Clear Channel via an LMA with OPUBCO. It is not known if the LMA will continue once Citadel closes on the station (via Brock Whaley, Dec 18 for DXLD) ** PHILLIPINES. FAR EAST BROADCASTING COMPANY'S HMONG BROADCASTER PASSES AWAY December 17, 2002, La Mirada, CA - On the evening of December 7, 2002, Far East Broadcasting Company's (FEBC) Hmong broadcaster, John Lee, passed away. The cause of death was apparently a massive heart attack. It was Lee's gospel programs that helped create a large Christian movement within Hmong villages across Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam and Laos. He brought thousands to the Lord and helped them escape the bondage of animism that reigns in their culture. "The Hmong community worldwide has lost a great spiritual leader," stated Jim Bowman, president of FEBC. "John loved the Hmong people dearly and his dedication to sharing the gospel with them is both commendable and monumental. I am saddened by the lost of such a dear friend who gave his life and embodied the very essence of what FEBC exists to do - share the hope of Jesus Christ by radio." Lee, along with his wife Pai, served the Hmong people by radio for the past 24 years. Since 1979, they have produced, broadcasted and personally responded --- either by letter or on the air --- to the Hmong listener letters that pour into their office every week. Many of these Hmong listeners, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, refer to him as their pastor. In recent times, Lee's role as programmer and pastor has escalated due to severe persecution that has increased among the Hmong people in Vietnam and Laos. The following is a letter dated November 2002 from a listener in Vietnam that represents the impact that John's gospel programs have had in Hmong villages: "Because of His loving kindness we have come to believe in Him through your radio broadcast. After becoming a Christian we are so happy to get out from the bondage of evil spirits. We don't have to live in fear, but do in peace, joy and contentment through the love of Christ each day. "Our government does not understand what we believe in. They have come to chase all of us out of our homes. They have even arrested many of us and put us in jail. "Pastor, we are human beings. We need freedom to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need all of your prayers to strengthen our daily walk with Christ each day. We want to let you know that your radio broadcast is the only message that all of us can rely on. Keep on sending God's Word to us." Lee was born in Laos and grew up listening to FEBC's Hmong short wave programs, and was encouraged by his mother to aspire to be a broadcaster for FEBC and to share Christ with the Hmong people. Those aspirations came true, and John and his wife have seen many come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through their radio ministry. The first news of any response among the Hmong of Vietnam to the gospel programs came through a surprising source - an article in a Hanoi newspaper in 1992 written by a communist cadre lamenting the fact that many Hmong were becoming Christians. Christian broadcasts from Manila were blamed as attempts by the U.S. government to "undermine the revolution." The contents of the programs were described, and it was apparent FEBC programs were the target. In response to Lee's programs, the Hmong were selling their livestock, going out and buying radios, and tuning in to Christian broadcasts from Manila. More than that, they were turning to the "God of Heaven" and becoming Christians. Government officials estimated that 250,000 Hmong, out of 560,000 in North Vietnam, had become Christians. The Hmong people wrote to FEBC's broadcasters themselves and reported that 300,000 of them had come to faith in Christ in North Vietnam alone. John is survived by his wife, Pai, and four children. Far East Broadcasting has been producing programs for the Hmong people since the mid 1950s, broadcasting 11 hours per week in two dialects - White and Blue. The programs broadcast to Hmong villages throughout China, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. For more information, visit FEBC's website at http://www.febc.org Far East Broadcasting Company, with its United Kingdom-based sister organization, Feba, produces and broadcasts 600 hours of programming daily in 157 languages. Listener response averages more than 84,000 letters, calls and faxes per month (via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1161, DXLD) There are other choices besides animism, communism and christianity (gh) ** RUSSIA. R. Gardarika will be on SW again according to this schedule: December 20-December 31, 2002, 2000-2300 UT daily 5920 kHz (Mikhail Timofeyev, St. Petersburg, Dec 18, hard-core-dx via WORLD OF RADIO 1161, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. B-02 for Broadcasting Service of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia/B S K S A MAIN PX in Arabic HOLY KOR`AN in Arabic 0600-0900 17760 21505 21705 0300-0600 11820 15170 15435 21495 0900-1200 21505 21705 0600-0800 15380 17620 17895 1200-1500 17585 21505 21705 0800-0900 15380 17620 1700-1800 15315 15435 0900-1200 11935 17615 21495 1800-2300 9555 9870 1200-1300 15380 17760 17895 21600 SECOND PX in Arabic (irr. on air) 1300-1400 15380 17745 17760 17895 21600 0300-0600 9578.9 1400-1500 17745 17760 17895 0600-1700 11854.9 1500-1600 11785 13710 17745 17760 1700-2200 9578.9 1600-1800 11785 13710 15205 17560 CALL OF ISLAM in Arabic 1800-2100 11820 11915 11950 15230 1500-1700 15315 15435 2100-2300 11820 11915 15230 FOREIGN SERVICES Bambara 1700-1800 17775 Persian 1400-1600 11745 Bengali 1600-1700 15345 Somali 0400-0500 17760 French 0800-1000 21600 Swahili 0500-0600 17760 1400-1600 21600 Turkish 0400-0600 15275 Indonesian 1000-1200 21670 Turkmen 1400-1600 9730 Pashto 1600-1700 9810 Urdu 1200-1400 15345 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 18 via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. 7590, Voice of Reform, Dec 9, 10, 15, 16, *1900-2100*. On Dec 9, I heard only an open carrier (QSA 3) on 7590 except for a few seconds at 2021 when very weak voices were heard. But on Dec 10, 1940-2057* a strong signal was heard with test messages by a man continuously talking in Arabic with a few words and numbers in fluently English, at times distorted, but most times very clear. He had a few phone talks with other people. Sa`udi Arabia was mentioned. 44544. Already slightly jammed by Sa`udi Arabia from Dec 10. It ceases at 2102*. On Dec 15 the broadcast opened already at 1858 with Arabic talk, Arab songs, the Saudi Arabian jammer was on already at 1854. The program is all talking. No IDs heard (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Sweden International in Swedish eff. from Dec. 16: 0500-0600 Mon-Fri on additional NF 5840 (55555) \\ 6065 and 17505 (17504.2 on Dec.16) (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 18 via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. 9950, Sout al Watan, Voice of Homeland (Cf. DX-Window No. 207), QTH: Bashir Kyle, P. O. Box 7897, Oslo, Oslo 01673, Norway. E-mail: bkyle@post.com which I tried, but it was incorrect (Masato Ishii, Japan, DSWCI DX Window Dec 18 via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 7245, R Tajikistan, Dec 7, *1645-1700*, IS, ID, music, and news. Rather poor reception (Masato Ishii, Japan, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) In English, I assume, when scheduled (gh) ** THAILAND. Greetings Messages - World Scout Jamboree Thailand From http://www.radio.gov.uk/ The 20th World Scout Jamboree will take place in Thailand from 28 December 2002 to 7 January 2003. An Amateur Radio Station will be set up on the Jamboree site, Call sign E20AJ. Normally greetings messages are not permitted to Thailand. For this special event, permission is granted for Full licensees (individual and club) to permit greetings messages in accordance with Clause 1(8) (a) and (b) to be sent to and received from the Jamboree Station E20AJ. Additional information on the frequencies used can be found from http://www.home.zonnet.nl/worldscout/Jota/frequencies.htm. This is similar to TDOA and JOTA arrangements. The Jamboree web page is http://www.worldscoutjamboree20.org It is understood that the Station will be operational for the duration of the Jamboree, 24 hours a day on phone, CW, SSTV and packet. The web site with latest information will be www.qsl.net/e20aj.htm although the site was not operational at the time of posting this notice (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. Voice of Tibet in Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese noted on Dec. 15: 1430-1517 on NF 12145+Chinese music jammer, ex 12025, re- ex 11550, re-re-ex 11975 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 18 via DXLD) Another day, another frequency, tnx to Chicom jamming (gh) ** TURKEY. 6900, Turkey Meteorological R., Dec 17 1600-1643 s/off 44444 Turkish lang. Non-stop local pops. Suddenly s/off without any announcement. Heard in its QTH, Ankara (Oguma Hironao, Cairo, Egypt, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** U K. Additional frequency for BBC in Uzbek: 1700-1800 on 11985 (55544) \\ 9915 jammed by China with Chinese music 9575 strong co-ch Radio Medi1 in Arabic 7385 jammed by China with Chinese music (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 18 via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Farda, a new 24 hours Farsi service from the U.S. is scheduled as follows: 1539 & 1593 kHz MW 24 hours SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES FOR RADIO FARDA EFFECTIVE FROM 0030 UTC DECEMBER 19, 2002 TIME (UTC) FREQUENCIES ----------------------- 0030-0400 9515 9585 9795 0400-0600 9585 9795 12015 15290 0600-0800 9585 15290 17675 0800-0830 9585 13680 15290 17675 21475 0830-1400 13680 21475 1400-1700 9435 13680 15410 1700-1900 11705 11845 1900-2000 6140 11960 11985 2000-2130 9785 11960 11985 (Dan Ferguson, IBB, Dec 18, SWBC via DXLD) Not quite identical to: New tentative 24h schedule for RFE/RL Radio Farda in Persian: 0000-0400 9515 9585 9795 0400-0430 9585 9795 0430-0600 9585 12015 15290 0600-0800 9585 15130 15290 17675 0800-0830 9585 13680 15130 15290 17675 21475 0830-1400 13680 15130 21475 1400-1700 9435 11730 15410 1700-1900 11705 11845 1900-2000 6140 11960 11985 2000-2100 7165 9785 9835 11960 11985 2100-2300 7165 9835 11765 11970 2300-2400 11765 11970 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 18 via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn: The Broadcasting Board of Governors responds to the Washington Post op-ed by Jackson Diehl at .... http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=51&mode=general (No BBG response to the WSJ Jesse Helms op-ed, same day.) The BBG's stratgeic plan for U.S. international broadcasting, "Marrying the Mission to the Market," is available at ... http://www.bbg.gov/bbg_plan.htm 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Happened across a live appearance on C-SPAN (1) by Charlotte Beers, Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, from the National Press Club ballroom (but not an NPR luncheon), in which she exhibited the how-great-it-is-to-be-a-Moslem- in-the-US commercials which ran in Indonesia and elsewhere, and defended present policy, including Radio Azadi changing into Radio Farda. She had been criticised for failing to appear as scheduled previously at the NPC. This started at 1830 UT and ended about 1945. It also repeated the following evening. Check C-SPAN website for possible repeats later in the following few days or weekend (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn, The FCC has posted a new "Final Winter '02 (Schedule) Version 0" this is available at http://www.fcc.gov/ib/sand/neg/hf_web/hfff0w02.txt This is as of 12-16-2002. There are many corrections and changes from the previous "Tentative Winter 02 Version 1". The ones I caught are: KFBS 9855 replaces 9485, 12065 new KIMF 5835 will now begin at 2200 KSDA (when they resume) about half the schedule changed, many new frequencies including 7160 and 13790 KTWR (when they are fully on) delete 9445, 9870, and 11900. Add 9500 and 15365 WBCQ 7415 extended to 1100, 9335 to 0600, 17495 to 2300. 9335 and 17495 now noted as SSB [and 11660 no longer mentioned -- gh] WBOH still not on Schedule WHRA new 17560 WHRI replace 6040 with 9840 WINB add 9320, schedule does not match website, which has incorrect UT WJIE was WJCR on old schedules WWBS now listed as SSB WWCR 15685 deleted, 7560 and 15825 now on schedule WWRB was WGTG on old schedules. now shown at 65 kW, no mention of SSB. new 5050 frequency. 9320 and 12170 now on at 1300 (Schedule still does not show actual 12172) WYFR delete 9705, add new 9725, 15115, and 15400 (Donald Wilson, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Monday, December 16, 2002 MILITARY RADIO HAD ITS BEGINNINGS IN THE DAYS OF THE DOUGHBOYS By Rick Chernitzer, Stars and Stripes Stripes Sunday magazine, December 15, 2002 Although American Forces Network Radio has officially been on the air for 60 years, listeners began tuning in at the end of World War I. A Navy lieutenant in France broadcasted information and live entertainment to troops accompanying President Wilson to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Radio was a novelty then, and little equipment was given to overseas military broadcasting until the United States started gearing up for World War II. Bored soldiers in Panama and Alaska created makeshift transmitters and aired records, according to an Armed Forces Radio pamphlet. The U.S. military was unaware of the broadcasts until celebrities wrote asking how to send the stations recordings. During the first days of the U.S. entry into World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur's staff members set up military radio stations in the Philippines. Their success paved the way for the Armed Forces Radio Service. In May 1942, the Army commissioned broadcasting executive Tom Lewis as a major and assigned him to create a viable military radio network. Its primary goal was to keep morale high, a daunting task when the enemy already was broadcasting to Allied troops, in the personas of the infamous 'Axis Sally' and 'Tokyo Rose.' Playing popular American music, they tried to demoralize troops with talk about missing home. On July 4, 1943, the Armed Forces Network went on the air, using the BBC's London studios. With British and Canadian radio stations, it formed the Allied Expeditionary Forces Program. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted to ensure the stations worked together and all allies were getting the same message. To boost morale, AFRS headquarters in Los Angeles produced shows such as 'G.I. Jive,' shipping them to stations on special 'V-Discs.' By early 1945, about 300 Armed Forces Radio Stations worldwide were broadcasting. Then came peacetime. By 1949, just 60 stations were operating. But broadcasters who remained in Europe with the occupying forces took on a new role. Music and information were broadcast from Bremen to Berlin — giving many Europeans their first exposure to American culture and music. AFN brought jazz, blues, rock 'n' roll and country and western to audiences starved for music. The shows were so popular that when the leftist Greens Party urged Germany to quit NATO in the 1980s and called for U.S. troops to leave, it made one exception. 'The U.S. military should go home, but leave AFN behind,' a Greens leader demanded. When the Korean War started in 1950, AFRS leased several portable trailers and followed the troops as 'Radio Vagabond.' The American Forces Korea Network was established in Seoul later that year. While the organization changed its name to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in 1954, the focus remained on radio. The American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) was established in 1962, during the Vietnam War, mostly for numerous military advisers there. It served as the backdrop for the 1988 movie, 'Good Morning, Vietnam!' But broadcasting to the troops as the war heated up was no day on a Hollywood set. During the Tet Offensive, AFVN studios in Hue City were attacked. The staff fought off the Viet Cong for five days before the station manager and several others were captured. They spent five years in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp. Recently, Armed Forces Radio quickly mobilized for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. A mobile broadcasting van deployed to Saudi Arabia, where the American Forces Desert Network was established in 1991 and broadcast for the first time from Kuwait shortly after the Iraqi occupation ended. Since then, it has become a fixture throughout the region. Tech. Sgt. Mark Hatfield, 36, was 'out in the middle of nowhere -- at a secret base detached from civilization' as a structural maintainer on F-15s, with the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) during Desert Storm. About a month after he arrived, AFDN went into operation. 'I remember when they came on line -- I had my little transistor radio, and sure enough, there it was,' he said. Someone also bought a radio for the hangar. 'We cranked it because news was coming out left and right about the war,' Hatfield added. 'It was good because that was our only source of real information. You get out in the middle of nowhere, you don`t really hear it from the U.S side of things -- uncensored, coming in from the U.S.' Hatfield, now a broadcaster, said hearing news from The Associated Press at the top of every hour was important. `It`s not like you`re hearing the company line from some sergeant or specialist in the field,' he said. Today, American Forces Radio and Television Service operates about 300 radio and television outlets, serving an audience of 1.3 million listeners and viewers on every continent and U.S. Navy ship at sea. Setting up broadcasting operations in Afghanistan and other areas involved with Operation Enduring Freedom has been discussed, but no firm plans exist, said Air Force Master Sgt. Tracie Adams, operations superintendent at AFN Tokyo. 'That`s driven by the fact that operations are not expected to be long term,' she said. Broadcasters could move in once peacekeeping operations begin, as in Bosnia, she said, where U.S. radio and TV have existed since 1995. 'When we landed there, we used what we call `radio in a box,` our mobile radio system,' Adams said. 'Now, we have a permanent building, and people rotate through on four-month tours.' She said some staff members from Tokyo and Okinawa have been sent to Bosnia, where operations will continue until the last servicemember leaves. 'As long as there`s military there,' she said, 'we`re going to be there.' (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Another AFN story under JAPAN, 2-198 ** U S A [and non]. Hi Glenn: This article compares certain Web sites to some shortwave clandestine stations of WWII. 73 (Kim Elliott) http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=26&ID=75454&r=0 (might not work) Canton (Ohio) Repository ROGUE WEB SITES SPREAD THREATS By JIM HILLIBISH, Repository new media editor Your computer has become a front line in the worldwide Islamic terrorism campaign. Al-Qaida now is using rogue Web sites to spread their terrorist threats to the media and anyone else who can find them on the Net. The sites enable propagandists to reach an audience directly, without filtering by governments or the news media. They are similar to World War II German and Japanese short-wave radio propaganda that directly reached audiences in Allied nations. The drill is to build a site on a host offering free or low-cost public service. Threats then are posted until the Internet provider realizes what's happening and deletes the site. Recently, two sites appeared, their warnings made news stories and then the sites went down. The sites are relatively easy to find with Web searchers and are monitored by news reporters and authorities. Some of the sites use sophisticated Web programming to stream audio of what is purported to be messages from Osama bin Laden. Web surfers should realize that anybody can post a site. Its authenticity cannot be guaranteed. The average surfer does not possess the background intelligence information that may confirm or deny the information. As happened in World War II, governments may offer disinformation to counter the propaganda using the same delivery system. The Net is just another way to reach an audience, although in this case, the audience potential is huge, interested and readily available. In the last six months, an apparent al-Qaida site has appeared on Internet provider servers in Malaysia, Texas and Michigan. The FBI investigated and viewed the site as authentic and a component of bin Laden's terrorism propaganda campaign. One of the messages warned Americans to convert to Islam or face death. Al-Qaida is taking advantage of a network technology that's the foundation of the Internet. The Net was devised by the U.S. military in the 1970s as a way to keep communications links open in the event of nuclear war. The ability to easily shift information between servers and keep it live despite servers' going down was the result. Al-Qaida sites sometimes last for days, sometimes for minutes or hours. When the providers or governments find them, they are shut down. Then al-Qaida simply sets up a new site and issues more threats. In one case, an Associated Press reporter found a site and reported it to the FBI. The same server-switching technique has been used by Web child pornographers and purveyors of other illegal schemes, such as financial scams and personal information gathering. Al-Qaida's Web sites may go beyond threats. Some include e-mail systems and could be used to contact cell members in the United States and elsewhere and send coded messages. The threat texts themselves may include secret wording that's being passed through the news media. The Web may be used to transfer encrypted data that is difficult or impossible for authorities to decode. A technique called steganography enables the embedding of secret messages inside common e-mail that is invisible to readers who do not know it is there. The software costs $22. Rogue sites are set up anonymously or through misuse of organization names, such as the ``Center for Islamic Studies and Research.`` It has appeared for the past six months on Web servers in Lansing, Mich., Bedford, Texas, and Malaysia. Each time, the Web provider, realizing what was happening, shut down the site and informed authorities. Within hours, it appeared again, elsewhere. There actually is a Center for Islamic Studies and Research. It is the title of a Saudi Arabian cultural site posted under the name of King Faisal. On Dec. 6, in an Associated Press story, our Repository Web site, cantonrep.com, posted an al-Qaida story with a terrorist threat from http://www.mojahedoon.net That site soon went down. Word wars on the Web are becoming more common. On April 1, 2001, a U.S. Navy spy plane was forced to land in China after a collision with a Chinese fighter. This sparked dueling Web sites in China and the United States. Palestinians in Israel also mount Web sites pressing their side in the conflict with the Israelis. In any case, Web surfers should view this information as they would any other information they receive. They must consider the source before drawing any conclusions. Still, it's compelling to find a Web site that may have an Islamic terrorist furiously typing away on the other end. http://www.cantonrep.com (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. VOICES OF WORLD WAR II: EXPERIENCES FROM THE FRONT AND AT HOME - KMBC RADIO The project (under development) will demonstrate best practices and standards for digitization of archival sound materials selected from the Marr Sound Archives and access to bibliographic information for 100 digital objects by creating metadata (Dublin Core, CORC) and MARC cataloging records in the MERLIN/MOBIUS Missouri online library consortia systems, and in the OCLC international online information system. The proposal was submitted by Marilyn Carbonell, Assistant Director for Collection Development, and Robert Ray, Special Collections Librarian. The $11,000 award covers an eight-month period, January-August 2002. The project content will be delivered in a Website created to focus on World War II and will be based on 100 rare and fragile transcription discs (16-inch glass & metal acetate discs) from the Arthur B. Church-KMBC Radio Collection. The nucleus of the project will be these unique archival sound recordings supplemented by manuscript materials, including still images and oral histories, to showcase how WWII was experienced in Kansas City through the popular media - KMBC radio - the local CBS affiliate station. Plans for the Website include seven sections: 1939-1941: Rumors of War - The War before Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor: Day of Infamy - December 7th, 1941. Europe & D-Day: D-day and the War in Europe. Home Front: How America Heard the War. Pacific Theater: War in the Pacific. Post War World: Looking Ahead: The Post-War World. The Project: Project Information and Sources for Further Study, including Links to Resources and Programs at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library. The Truman Presidential Museum and Library will partner with UMKC by contributing public programming and archival research materials. The project, "Voices of World War II: : Experiences from the Front and at Home - KMBC Radio,`` is funded in part through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Missouri State Library, Secretary of State's Office. Five pilot projects in Missouri libraries were funded in 2002. These pilot projects are intended to improve the public's access to cultural heritage collections and to gather experience that can provide the State Library with models for future replication and support. The grant awards, funded under the federal LSTA will demonstrate best practices and standards for the selection, digital capture, storage, and Web-delivery of documents. The UMKC Libraries project planning team includes: Marilyn Carbonell, Brenda Dingley, Jennifer Eigsti, Mike Harrell, Chuck Haddix, David Lazarus, Moses Ong, Robert Ray, Wendy Sistrunk, and Kathleen Schweitzberger. Dr. Ted P. Sheldon is the Dean of the University Libraries, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr. Michael Devine is the Director of the Truman Presidential Museum and Library. The Harry S. Truman Library, the first Presidential Library to be created under the provisions of the 1955 Presidential Libraries Act, was established to preserve the papers, books, and other historical materials relating to former President Harry S. Truman and to make them available to the people in a place suitable for exhibit and research. Another facet of the Library's activities is its museum exhibit program. The Library has about 35,000 objects in its museum collection. Though its public programs unit the Library attempts to reach a diversity of people and organizations by sponsoring conferences and research seminars, by conducting special tours of the Library's museum for school classes and educational groups, and through a wide range of other activities, including extensive web delivery of information. The Truman Library is one of ten presidential libraries operated by the Federal government. See also http://www.umkc.edu/lib/spec-col/ww2/index.htm (via Kim Elliott, and Mike Terry, DXLD) KMBC was on 980, but many years ago now, changed to KMBZ while the original calls stayed on TV channel 9 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. AFR mad at FM Atlas Is American Family Radio trying to intimidate? I e-mailed Joh Riley in Tupelo saying that I did not believe K214AX *90.7 Jamestown ND did not properly ID, and that instead of carrying any ID of the primary station, WAFR *88.3 Tupelo MS, the Jamestown translator covers the ID period with local fill music. This I contended, in messages to several churches in Jamestown, might be illegal under FCC rules. Now Patrick J. Vaugh, general counsel, American Family Network e-mails from Tupelo: "I recognize that interests of your hobby and business you prefer that broadcast stations give audible station identification. However. . . AFR employs an encoded translator identification announcement, as allowed by FCC rules. Your e-mail. . . contains the admission that you contacted several churches in Jamestown ND and 'left the message that I believe not carrying the ID of the primary station, WAFR Tupelo MS, might be illegal under FCC rules'. As you are aware, AFR is a Christian ministry that depends on the trust and support of churches and the Christian audience for its existence. Your slander of AFR to churches by suggesting that AFR operates illegally is causing damage to this organization that we will not continue to tolerate. "Dr. Elvig (sic), you must cease and desist from slandering the American Family Association, Inc. and American Family Radio. Please respond in writing within 10 days providing assurances that you will no longer allege to churches that AFR is operating illegally by using encoded translator identification. Failure to provide such assurances will require AFR to seek the protections from slan der and deframation provided by law." Now, I turn to you, dear readers. How would you respond? I honestly feel that AFR is operating their translator in Jamestown, and possibly other locations, illegally as a network feed of AFR, not as a translator of WAFR Tupelo MS. And must I take their word that they have a legal (but not audible) ID? I have about 15 minutes of their translator programming (with lack of ID) recorded before and after 1 p.m. on a Friday, ready to send to the FCC, but told AFR I would wait for their response before doing so. I am not one to walk away from a good fight, and think that I could win on this point with the FCC. It is not my intention to harm the AFR ministry, but I should point out in fairness to DXers on this list, many of whom are gays, that AFR is very opposed to homosexuality, and you can read their publications or discover from their website how they are fighting "rights" the government otherwise tries to protect. (Brucey Elving, amfmtvdx et al. via DXLD) I say . . . "Give 'em Hell, Harry!!!" It sounds as if they are trying to intimidate you with 'lawyer speak'. Can they legally ID using this method? I must plead ignorance on the subject of "encoded translator identification" as have never heard of this. How does anyone know it's working if you can't hear it?? (Bill Hale in Fort Worth, ibid.) My reactions are as follows: 1) This is a hobby, and not a crusade, IMHO 2) Sexual orientation has nothing whatever to do with ID'ing of translators and raising it only weakens ( and cheapens ) whatever case you have 3) You had better have some solid evidence that what they claim is legal is not 4) There are far further right-wing Christian broadcast groups than AFR 5) I don't know what good the statements of other DX'ers would do your case, this seems to be single-threaded - either their ID practises comply with FCC rules or else they do not. 6) Given that legally, you instigated this fight, I agree with Mike that you probably need a lawyer (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) Here are the FCC rules ******************************************************************** Sec. 74.1283 Station identification. (a) The call sign of an FM broadcast translator station will consist of the initial letter K or W followed by the channel number assigned to the translator and two letters. The use of the initial letter will generally conform to the pattern used in the broadcast service. The two letter combinations following the channel number will be assigned in order and requests for the assignment of particular combinations of letters will not be considered. (b) The call sign of an FM booster station will consist of the call sign of the primary station followed by the letters ``FM'' and the number of the booster station being authorized, e.g., WFCCFM-1. (c) A translator station authorized under this subpart shall be identified by one of the following methods. (1) By arranging for the primary station whose station is being rebroadcast to identify the translator station by call sign and location. Three such identifications shall be made during each day: once between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., once between 12:55 p.m. and 1:05 p.m. and once between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Stations which do not begin their broadcast before 9 a.m. shall make their first identification at the beginning of their broadcast days. The licensee of an FM translator whose station identification is made by the primary station must arrange for the primary station licensee to keep in its file, and to make available to FCC personnel, the translator's call letters and location, giving the name, address and telephone number of the licensee or his service representative to be contacted in the event of malfunction of the translator. It shall be the responsibility of the translator licensee to furnish current information to the primary station licensee for this purpose. (2) By transmitting the call sign in International Morse Code at least once each hour. Transmitters of FM broadcast translator stations of more than 1 watt transmitter output power must be equipped with an automatic keying device that will transmit the call sign at least once each hour, unless there is in effect a firm agreement with the translator's primary station as provided in Sec. 74.1283(c)(1) of this section. Transmission of the call sign can be accomplished by: (i) Frequency shifting key; the carrier shift shall not be less than 5 kHz nor greater than 25 kHz. (ii) Amplitude modulation of the FM carrier of at least 30 percent modulation. The audio frequency tone use shall not be within 200 hertz of the Emergency Broadcast System Attention signal alerting frequencies. (d) FM broadcast booster stations shall be identified by their primary stations, by the broadcasting of the primary station's call signs and location, in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 73.1201 of this chapter. (e) The Commission may, in its discretion, specify other methods of identification. [55 FR 50699, Dec. 10, 1990] ********************************************************************** You may not be able to identify the translator when IDed buy some of these methods, but the FCC can (Bill Frahm, ibid.) I used to ask stations questions or tell them that they left the power and antenna on day pattern for a week. For it I got ripped much the same way that Dr. Elving did. Now I just send off an email to some people I know at the FCC and let them handle it. It doesn't pay to be nice to some of these people. All the AFR guy had to say is that we do a subcarrier digital ID as allowed by FCC regulation and if he wanted to be nice, quote the Part 73 paragraph. Then he could have said, thank you for your question as it`s one we get all the time. Well, they didn't and now its all over the net and AFR lost a few more people who were at least neutral towards them. I can understand why Dr. Elving asked. Heck, I have asked because most satellators NEVER audibly ID. I would love to see the subaudible ID done away with unless it`s RDS (Kevin Redding, ibid.) ** U S A. From the Chief Engineer at WCCO Happy Holidays, and greetings from the frigid North I did a "Partial Proof" field study this fall, and it appears that although there is a slight decrease in the ground wave field from measurements made in 1987, the decrease is fairly insignificant about 5%. I am beginning to think the problem, may be more of a ground system deterioration problem resulting in higher vertical radiation angle, If the vertical angle has increased, the skywave will land at different location. From the comments, it appears that the problem is folks not receiving it in locations where it used to be fairly consistent. To support my theory, it would be interesting to see some comments from areas that are now receiving WCCO where it has never been useable in the past. We still get calls at night from all over the country (Doug Campbell, WCCO, via Mark Durenberger, Out West, NRCAM via DXLD) ** U S A. WMQM 1600 Memphis: Check site for more details. New target is Saturday Dec. 21, 2002. Testing is complete. Just the railroad crossing turning on when on 50 kW. Working with the railroad repair contractor (George McClintock, TN, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re IBOC discussion: GCA does contract work for Ibiquity. They produced a report last January, commissioned by Ibiquity, that made the amazing claim that "conversion of 100% of the AM stations to the IBOC AM system would result in negligible impact on the ability of listeners to continue to receive conventional analog AM on existing receivers". You can download it from. I've read it, and in my opinion, it is flawed on many levels... or to sum it up in two words: totally bogus. The ball is currently in Ibiquity's court to present new data from night testing (which, at last word, would not be completed until sometime in 2003) to make the case for night operation. It would be astonishing for the FCC to suddenly turn around and short-circuit that process... but then again, nothing surprises me these days (Barry McLarnon, Ont., Dec 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) I also received the 21-page petition, tables, graph, and 7-page service list of commenters' names and addresses. Like the FCC Report and Order, it'll require a few re-reads to grasp, but here are the highlights: All expanded band stations should be given immediate authorization for nighttime IBOC operation, as they all conform to new nighttime operation standards and thus no expanded band station would cause interference. Details of various criteria (referred to as the five-rule test) for approving nighttime IBOC operation over the rest of the band follow. This includes detailed night studies of 610 WFNZ, 1320 WJAS, and 790 WMC. Applying the nighttime criteria, 610 WFNZ would operate full power IBOC, 1320 WJAS would reduce IBOC by 6 dB, and 790 WMC would only be able to operate IBOC on the lower side. (This suggests IBOC modes in which both sideband would not be necessary to receive the digital signal.) Stations that wouldn't meet the criteria would still be able to enter mutual-interference agreements (Bruce Conti, Nashua NH, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. Listo sabotaje a señales de TV en Venezuela CONFLICTIVIDAD // La acción se asignó a Compañía de Comunicaciones del Ejército. Listo sabotaje a señales de TV. Las antenas de transmisión de CMT, Televen, RCTV, Venevisión, Globovisión, Meridiano Televisión y Supercable corren el riesgo de ser tomadas, asaltadas y desmontadas por la Compañía de Comunicaciones del Ejército. Este plan secreto de sabotaje da instrucciones para neutralizar la señal por tres horas. Lista para su ejecución se encuentra la toma, control y sabotaje de la estación El Volcán, donde funcionan las antenas de transmisión de los canales Televen, Globovisión, CMT, Meridiano Televisión y Supercable. Un documento secreto del Ejército obtenido por El Universal da cuenta de que la operación ha sido asignada a la 3431 Compañía de Comunicaciones de Combate, al mando del teniente (Ej) Hugo Pacheco Salazar, con la participación de 22 soldados y tres sargentos técnicos, cuya misión consiste en someter a los vigilantes y guardias nacionales encargados de la custodia, violentar el acceso, retirar la alimentación eléctrica, invertir los cables de audio y video y colapsar por completo las transmisiones.... http://buscador.eluniversal.com/eudcontent/viewArticle.do;jsessionid=buscador.eluniversal.com-28cf%3A3e020ce5%3A4ad4bd28d05c8ad7?articleId=1168140 (El Universal Dec 13 via Jorge Garcia, Venezuela, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4695, 13.12 2125, unID in English language with news and features. A mail address sounded the same as Radio Sawa`s. They also were called National Broadcasting.... and with an address for a P.O box. Music sounded as coming from Balkans. Closed at 2200 after a pause signal. The call sounded like 7125 and 9570 among others. An international station and probably a mixing product, heard on different antennas both on the NRD and ICOM. QSA 1-2 and lots of splatter. JE/RFK (=Jan Edh/Ronny Forslund, Sweden, SW Bulletin via Thomas Nilsson, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. (Ethiopia/Niger): Observing 9705 +/- 1 at around 1800, there is often a het plus weak signal(s) from Africa. Seems that Ethiopia and Niger transmitter are heavily fighting out who's stronger. Maybe they don't really like to but in Niamey they are unable to move their only and unstable transmitter to a more suitable frequency? (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Schroeder's dark empire, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FREQUENCY PLANNING [non] ++++++++++++++++++ ANALOGUE BROADCASTING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FREQUENCY MOVEMENTS. The B02 season is barely six weeks old, and there continue to be major changes to scheduled frequencies by many international broadcasters. This is due, in part, to flawed frequency coordination and planning processes, brought about by administrations attempting to set up schedules months in advance, by using dubious computer propagation modelling programs which are highly theoretical, and of little practical benefit! That software relies heavily on accurate projected solar activity forecasts, where that data is subject to constant fluctuation and churn. The frequency planning whole process is further affected by the obvious ignorance by some administrations of practical, real-life propagation situations. Many people, with no formal technical or engineering qualifications or background, declaring themselves to be "Frequency Planners" fail to understand that HF signals do mot travel in straight lines (like the Lines of Nazca Plains or laser beams!). For the current season, there are hundreds of avoidable frequency incompatibilities, mainly due to the incorrect use of a given frequency by two or more broadcasters, servicing the same general target area, at the same time. Furthermore, it is not readily understood that transmissions on the same frequency for DIFFERENT target areas often cause severe interference! In August 2002, frequency managers of the world's three coordination groups - the ABU-HFC, ASBU, and HFCC met in Bangkok to coordinate their B-02 schedules. There was an incredible array of managers attending, representing 57 broadcasters, which is about 85% of the world's SW broadcasters. This group endeavoured to coordinate frequency requirements of over 7600 daily transmissions, over a five-day working period. The results of that work were revealed in a reduction of up to 15% of frequency incompatibilities, and one mast surely ask what happened to the other 85%? Other outcomes of the meeting included: - the need for Heads of Engineering of ABU members to enhance their level of participation in coordination activities - a new group was set up to consider issues related to providing greater autonomy to the coordination process - development of a new frequency incompatibility system taking into account REAL interference effects, - development of enhanced technical tools Study of the HFCC Public and Internal operational files for B02 shows an enormous number of frequency assignments which are not in use! Thus, these various coordination meetings are trying to coordinate frequency assignments for imaginary operations, where some administrations are putting up requirements for a range of channels, which they will never use. That of course is one reason why some frequencies in the international bands are "vacant", yet others suffer from mammoth congestion! The situation is exacerbated when it is known that several large government broadcasters do not participate in the meetings, such as North Korea, Taiwan, and Cuba. As a communications engineer myself, I would have great trepidation in hiring or sub-contracting unqualified/non-engineering people to drive the technical planning process of any broadcasting enterprise. Neither would I prepare, or endorse frequency allocation requirements based only on a "general purpose" propagation software modelling program, without validation that key operational requirements had been satisfied. Until the entire process is improved, customers of international broadcasters (meaning listeners) will continue to be aggravated by trying to tune in to HF channels which are either not propagationally suitable, or are buried under transmissions for the same or other target areas. The continual variation of frequency usage, due, so we are told, to "poor propagation" is a weak excuse for failure of administrations to professionally and efficiently take into account all key parameters when setting up advance schedules; the simple expedient of typing in a few numbers into a software program is only the first stage of what ought to be a highly iterative process - not the final outcome! Should the customer's needs come first - perhaps not for international broadcasting...! (Bob Padula, EDXP Dec 19 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MUF/LUF CHART Henry and Glenn, I managed to find and repair a MUF/LUF Chart Java Applet I wrote a long time ago [1996]. I put it on the web at http://www.superlink.net/~pec/muflufjava.html (Pete Costello, NJ, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MUF, OWF AND FOT For those who have wondered what the abbreviations, "MUF," "OWF" and "FOT" mean, here's a bit of an explanation. You may find the current FOT (OWF) predictions between some common points on the Earth at my OWF table http://hfradio.org/latest_chart.html - and you may also see the predicted Smoothed Sunspot Numbers for 2003 at http://prop.hfradio.org/#FOT There are two definitions for the abbreviation, "MUF." The International Telecommunications Union ITU-R (Recommendation P.373-7 10/1995, in force) recommends two definitions for MUF: 1. Operational MUF (or just MUF) is the highest frequency that would permit acceptable operation of a radio service between given terminals at a given time under specific working conditions (antennas, power, emission type, required S/N ratio, and so forth), and, 2. Basic MUF, being the highest frequency by which a radio wave can propagate between given terminals by ionospheric propagation alone, independent of power. The difference in frequency between operational MUF and basic MUF is in practice from ten to thirty-five percent. In most prediction software and in amateur radio and shortwave listening references the MUF refers to the first definition. On each day of the month at a given hour, there is a maximum observed frequency (MOF) for a mode. The median of this distribution is called the MUF. In other words, the MUF is the frequency for which ionospheric support is predicted on 50% of the days of the month, i.e. 15 days out of 30 days. So on a given day communications may or may not succeed on the frequency marked as the MUF. To ensure a good communication link between two locations, the operating frequency is typically chosen below the predicted MUF. A commonly used formula for finding the optimal operating frequency for a given path is to calculate between 80 to 90% of the MUF. Depending on what model you use for determining MUF and OWF, this percentage of usable days may be 50% or 90%. VOACAP uses 50%, for example. Synonyms for the optimal operating frequency are FOT (frequency of optimum traffic), OTF (optimum traffic frequency or optimum transmission frequency), and OWF (optimum working frequency). So, as an example, if you find that the MUF is 23 MHz on a day with a Smoothed Sunspot Number of 130, over a path between you and some far off point, you would find the OWF as between 18.4 MHz and 20.7 MHz. You might be able to work 15 meters to that distant point. Most likely, you would find better conditions on 17 meters. There are more factors involved in finding the "right" frequency to use between two points. These include absorption by lower regions (like the D layer), the "take off angle" of the radio signal from the originating antenna, and so forth. The ionosphere is made up of several regions. The ionosphere is that part of the atmosphere, extending from about 70 to 500 kilometers, in which ions and free electrons exist in sufficient quantities to reflect and/or refract electromagnetic waves. These regions are the F2 region (250 to 400 km above the Earth), the F1 region (160 to 250 km), the E region (95 to 130 km), and the D region (50 to 95 km), under which is the Troposphere and so forth. When a radio signal (an electromagnetic wave) propagates into the ionosphere, it might be absorbed, attenuated, refracted, or it might shoot right through and out into space. If a signal makes it through the lower regions, a redirection will occur for those signals whose frequencies are at or below a "critical" frequency (that being the frequency just below those that punch through the F regions and out into space). The redirection is a bending by a complex processing involving reflection and refraction. Depending on the angle of the radio wave (or, "angle of incidence") as it enters the region where it is redirected, the signal will be "reflected" back to the Earth at some variably distant point. Think of a flashlight beam that you shine at a mirror. When you shine on the mirror straight on, you have the beam of light coming almost straight back at you, but if you angle the light beam, the reflected light will move further away from you. The amount of radio wave bending depends on the extent of penetration (which is a function of frequency), the angle of incidence, polarization of the wave, and ionospheric conditions, such as the ionization density. The Lowest Usable Frequency (LUF) is that frequency in the HF band at which the received field intensity is sufficient to provide the required signal-to-noise ratio for a specified time period, e.g., 0100 to 0200 UTC, on 90% of the undisturbed days of the month. The amount of energy absorbed by the lower regions (D region, primarily) directly impacts the LUF. If a signal at 5 MHz is totally absorbed by the D region, but a signal at 6 MHz makes it through without a lot of loss, and the E or F layer refracts the 6 MHz signal, the LUF will be near that 6 MHz part of the spectrum. The MUF might be 12 MHz. The OWF (optimum working frequency) will be somewhere between 6 and 12 MHz, probably around 10 MHz. Frequency of Optimum Transmission (FOT): In the transmission of radio waves via ionospheric reflection, the FOT is the highest effective frequency (or best working frequency) for a given path that is predicted to be usable for a specified time for a percentage of the days of the month. You may find more about propagation at my propagation page http://prop.hfradio.org and in my monthly columns in CQ Magazine and Popular Communications. For those who might be interested, I was interviewed by Hap of the RAIN REPORT. The interview is split into two parts. Part one is now available this week, and part two will be available Friday, this week. You can find the Rain Report at http://rainreport.com/ In the interview, I talk a bit about this current Solar Cycle. 73 de (Tomas, NW7US // AAR0JA, Hood, swl via DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 18 DECEMBER 2002 - 13 JANUARY 2003 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate. M-class activity is possible during the first half of the period from Regions 224, 226, and 229. These regions are also due to return to the visible disk late in the period resulting in M-class potential after 08 January. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo- synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 21-22 December and again on 28 - 29 December due to recurring coronal holes. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels during the forecast period. A positive polarity coronal hole is due to return to a geo-effective position on 18-19 December and is expected to result in active to isolated minor storm conditions. A weaker recurring coronal hole is expected to return on 25-28 December resulting in unsettled to isolated active conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Dec 17 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Dec 17 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Dec 18 200 20 4 2002 Dec 19 200 20 4 2002 Dec 20 195 15 3 2002 Dec 21 195 15 3 2002 Dec 22 190 15 3 2002 Dec 23 190 12 3 2002 Dec 24 185 12 3 2002 Dec 25 175 12 3 2002 Dec 26 170 12 3 2002 Dec 27 160 12 3 2002 Dec 28 155 12 3 2002 Dec 29 150 10 3 2002 Dec 30 150 10 3 2002 Dec 31 150 12 3 2003 Jan 01 150 8 3 2003 Jan 02 150 10 3 2003 Jan 03 150 15 3 2003 Jan 04 155 10 3 2003 Jan 05 155 12 3 2003 Jan 06 160 12 3 2003 Jan 07 155 10 3 2003 Jan 08 155 10 3 2003 Jan 09 165 10 3 2003 Jan 10 170 10 3 2003 Jan 11 180 10 3 2003 Jan 12 185 10 3 2003 Jan 13 185 10 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Dec 17 via WORLD OF RADIO 1161, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-198, December 17, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1160: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Wed 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1160.html WORLD OF RADIO 1161 FIRST AIRINGS: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415, 17495 Thu 2130 on WWCR 9475 Fri 1930 on RFPI 15039 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Per your comments in DXLD 2-196 on Merlin's dramatic music, "sure wish we had the real name for it...", in absence of the source for that loop, I call it "Fanfare for the Common Afghan". Apologies to Aaron Copland! (John Cobb, Roswell, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. RADIO TIRANA DUMPS MARXISM, GETS RELIGION UK Reuters Mon Dec 16,12:58 AM ET, By Linda Spahia TIRANA (Reuters) - Before the collapse of communism in 1990, about the only things travelling abroad from highly isolated Albania were propaganda messages. They reached far and wide thanks to Chinese-built transmitting stations, which made Radio Tirana on short wave one of the clearest signals in the region despite coming from a country which was one of the poorest and smallest in Europe. These days, ironically, the state that banned religion during its years of hardline communism relies on rebroadcasting Christian stations to keep the Radio Tirana service going. In its heyday, the station tried hard to convince the world to follow Albania's example -- in 22 languages from English to Indonesian and with more than 80 hours of programming a day. "Luckily the world did not hear," said New Zealander June Taylor, one of the many foreigners who worked at Radio Tirana as announcers and translators. Radio Tirana painted a rosy picture of how everybody was happy, healthy and working so hard for the good of the country that Albania had become self-sufficient, Taylor said. It portrayed big evil capitalist countries where most people were unemployed and could not afford to send children to school while youngsters lay in the streets drunk on Coca Cola and Pepsi, two beverages Albanians only tasted after 1990. "The Socialist economy does not know anarchy or crises in production. It does not throw workers onto the street because of bankruptcy or enterprises closing down," proclaims one transcript of a story broadcast in August 1979. What the stories did not mention was that Albania was a poor and repressive state which denied its citizens basic freedoms and shot dead many who tried to travel abroad. WESTERN FANS But to many people who knew Albania only from what they heard on Radio Tirana, the country was an island of hope. Taylor's father, a dentist from Auckland, was one of them. He volunteered to stay for two years in Albania, where his medical skills and help in translating the books of communist dictator Enver Hoxha were most welcome. They ended up staying longer after Taylor fell in love and married a local man. As a native English speaker, she was hired in 1974 to read and translate news and stayed at the radio station for 19 years. "News arrived at the very last minute. The quality of translation left much to be desired and they were packed with boring slogans," Taylor said. Phrases like "the army and the people are one and indivisible", or how the "working collective of the Enver Hoxha tractor combine fulfilled the plan three months ahead of schedule" were among those she read out for years. Still, the station received thousands of letters from all over the world. A Swede learnt Albanian just by listening to the radio. Others wrote to commend speech programmes and folk music. An English farmer in 1979, after hearing about an earthquake (news - web sites) that hit northern Albania, wrote a letter saying he wanted to come and help with his tractor and his family, Taylor said. "Many Marxists from Western European countries came to Albania convinced it was a state run by its people. But it was enough to walk out of the radio to realise that it was not true," Taylor said. DISTORTED NEWS As part of Radio Tirana's efforts to tell the world what was right and wrong, Janka Selimi, a Bulgarian national married to an Albanian, had the unenviable duty of criticising her home country for being servile to the Soviet Union. "We said that they were turning bourgeois for owning a car and their apartments. Any time I read that news, I felt like I was betraying my country," said Selimi, now 58. Not that she or any other journalist at Radio Tirana had much of a choice. Their job was just to read and translate reports that came from the official news agency ATA or straight from the Central Committee of the Communist party. "During the war in Vietnam, one of us added up all the numbers of the killed American soldiers we had been reading every day and it turned out we had wiped out the whole U.S. army at least twice," Taylor said. But no one dared to tell their bosses. MARX MAKES WAY FOR JESUS In the mid 1960s, Albania broke with the Soviet Union and allied itself with China. The Chinese then built radio stations in Albania in order to make their voice heard in Moscow and Washington, Irfan Mandia, the radio's technical director said. Two transmitting stations -- one for AM and for short wave -- were built in isolated locations, heavily guarded by the army and equipped with anti-aircraft defence. The powerful signal of Radio Tirana reached out to the world, challenging even the BBC. Engineers now admit it was not just because of the strength of their signal that Radio Tirana was heard so clearly. "Before 1990, we broadcast on the band of frequencies reserved only for radio amateurs, where there was not much interference," Mandia revealed. Although the technology of Radio Tirana looks very out of date in the digital era, the equipment is still up and running -- to the astonishment even of the Chinese engineers who built it -- thanks to dedicated local maintenance staff. After communism collapsed and "it became clear we were no shining lantern for the world", the foreign radio service was cut to seven languages and just three hours a day, Mandia said. "Now we had free space, the equipment and no programme. So we offered our services to international radios," Mandia said. Religious broadcaster Trans World Radio became the main client of Radio Tirana's foreign service and its saviour from bankruptcy. Mandia said the services Radio Tirana now offers to third parties, which also include Voice of America of the United States and Germany's Deutsche Welle, have made it profitable. But he knows that soon it may be harder to find spare parts for his Chinese transmitting station than new clients to serve. (via Artie Bigley and Mike Terry, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB`s new facility at Kununurra WA will not begin broadcasting until 5th January 2003. Due to technical difficulties, the December 22nd launch has had to be delayed (HCJB mailbag Program 14/12 via ADXN via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. SYDNEY - HOBART YACHT RACE John Wright has passed on this information from Ian O`Toole concerning radio communications for this event. HF Frequencies expected to be used are: 6627 - Should be primary 6516 - New frequency 4483 - Used during previous events VHF channels 16, 72, 73 & 81 Between 15 & 21 December all entrants are to carry out radio checks on both 6 MHz frequencies with Penta Comstat between 0800-1800 local. The radio schedules for the race are yet to be finalized but will be available on the web closer to the race start under `Sailing Instructions` http://from www.cyca.com.au (Dec ADXN via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. VMC/VMW VMW is now transmitting on 12362 (formerly 12353 and originally 12536). This means it now uses an adjacent channel to VMC on 12365. A check from this QTH at 2040 on 29/11 with both sites on air showed VMW at S 7 and VMC at S 9 + 5db on the R5000 S meter. The first change was due to concerns expressed by ZLM Taupo Radio. VMW voice schedules are now broadcast over the FAX stations 0315-0300 UT each day; there is no indication of the VMC voice schedules being included although there are slots available. Frequency changes from day to night frequencies and vice versa are: VMC 1900/0900 UT. VMW 2100/1100 UT (Dec ADXN via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4716.63t. Radio Yura reactivating? 2340 to 0000, very weak! (Robert Wilkner, FL, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. A rádio San Miguel é uma emissora da cidade de Riberalta, no estado de Beni. Emite em 4925 kHz. Ultimamente, tem sido sintonizada em 4929 kHz, o que facilita a recepção da rádio Educação Rural, de Tefé (AM), que está em 4925 kHz. A San Miguel, conforme estudo de Luis Ramiro Beltrán e Jaime Reyes, publicado em www.felafacs.org, é uma emissora educativa de destaque na Bolívia. Além disso, luta para organizar e fortalecer os agricultores de sua região (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 14 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4929.98, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, Dec 2002 - 0040 UT. Before my 4-month stay in Sweden Radio San Miguel had a long period with serious transmitter problems, very distorted audio and frequency drift. Now it seems that this is repaired and both audio and stability are without any remarks. Religious program and close down at 0112 UT. 5995.60 UNID LA Dec 2002 - 1045 UT. Maybe Radio Loyola, Sucre, Bolivia --- possibly a "Sucre" was heard but I am not at all sure. Radio Melodía was heard at the same time on 5996.69 kHz. UT -4 (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 15, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 3365.00, Radio Cultura, Aranguara, Dec 2002 - 0010 UT. Nonstop music with short IDs between the tunes up to the big ID at 0010. 4925.07, Radio Educação Rural, Tefé, Dec 2 2002 - 0002 UT. Decent signal but heavy splashed by Radio Quito. Listed on 3385 kHz so maybe a new frequency? [yes, move reported several times in DXLD gh] "Radio Educação Rural, Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil" is a clear ID where also MW 1270 and SW 4925 (not listed) kHz was mentioned (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 15, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. 11940.3: V. of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. In English 1159, signed on with opening music, ID, schedule information. 1201 Asian music and talk. Strong signal but bad audio, 8/12 (Takeno, Japan, Dec ADXN via DXLD) Very tentative, 1226-1245 9/12, exotic vocals and instrumentals, unID language talks. Haven't seen any other reports for this recently. Is Cambodia on the air? Very poor reception with extremely deep fades. (Rich D`Angelo, PA, ADXN via DXLD) ID and opening announcements in French 1213, though on since 1200 with muffled programming, mainly music. Haven't heard this for a while, 11/12 (Craig Seager, Australia, ADXN via DXLD) ** CANADA. Re RCI 5970 DRM QRM to BBC 5975? I would presume that there's a chance, but since BBC WS isn't targeting NAm, they may not have taken that into consideration. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, RCI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non?]. 12025 HCJB via Ascension. Christian religious talk in Arabic giving Malaga address, good 2115 on 8/11 (Frank Agius, Vic., ADXN) 12025 R. Ibrahim, Cyprus via Ascension. Discussion in Arabic (or similar) at 2127 tune-in. Music played is cross between European and ME types. Mention of `Limassol` and `Stockholm` in TOH announcements with address in Stockholm. Still on air at 2205. Operating this day beyond the reported 2130–2200 time slot. Good strength and readable signal. 2127 8/12 (Charles Jones, NSW, ADXN) HFCC says HCJB via Skelton here 2100-2230, so some question on the correct site. I assume the ``Ibrahim`` thing is part of the HCJB transmitter time -cs (Craig Seager, ADXN editor) 12025 RCI-Wertachtal. Arabic to N. Africa *2100 ID, fair, 14/11 (Ted Carter, Tasmania, Dec ADXN via DXLD) These loggings from the latest Australian DX News do not take into account our more recent reports that 12025 at 2100-2230 is now HCJB via Sackville! But maybe the November log was before changes were made. I was processing this item at 2225 UT Dec 17, so punched up 12025, and yes, it`s still very strong, obviously North American origin, not European. Whether there be a connexion between Ibrahim and HCJB, I don`t know; but in the final 5 minutes of transmission in Arabic, much of which was innocuous secular-sounding vocal music, there was **no** mention of ``Ibrahim`` --- nor of HCJB! Just the Apartado in Málaga, Espagne. RCI bilingual ID squeezed in just before transmitter cut at 2129 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6030, CKMX (SW relay) Calgary, 0930, After Sudwestrundfunk started to fade with daylight in Germany, yet before R. Martí and the Cuban Jammer obliterated the frequency, I had very nice reception of this 100 watt SW relay of CKMX. I'm not sure of the SW call letters, perhaps CFVP? Excellent modulation. Respectable S7 signal peaks with a little flutter due to the effects of a some what elevated solar wind from a weak coronal hole. Program consisted of nice Christmas music. "Little Drummer Boy" was playing when I tuned. At 0932 I caught the following canned ID: "Our holiday music is almost as fun as tearing open Christmas presents. AM 1010 CKMX." Then into a remake of "Blue Christmas". By 0954 recheck, there was a 20 over 9 unmodulated carrier, presumably from Martí on top (David Hodgson, TN, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {This is possible UT Monday only when Martí rests} ** CANADA/CANARY ISLANDS. 6715 USB, "Halifax Military", Dec 13, Should read 2205 not 1605. I put it in Central Standard Time instead of GMT, sorry (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Hi Glenn, Noted on 6160 kHz both VOA and China broadcasting in Chinese at 1200-1300. I am assuming that China is here to jam the VOA broadcast because I don't have any references of this freq being used by China at this time? Anyway VOA is broadcasting from the Philippines while I think that it is the Central Peoples Broadcasting System from Shijiazhuang broadcasting here too. I searched for a parallel broadcast of the China station and came up with Shijiazhuang on 5880 kHz. At the moment China is winning the battle of dominance here. Thanks (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, Dec 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 3479.99H, Ondas del Orteguaza, Florencia. Nov 20 2002 - 1037 UT. Great signal and transmission intended for farmers up early in the mornings: "Amanecer campesino". I have earlier heard the station on its 2-nd harmonic 2319.72H. Harmonic from 1160 kHz (3 x 1159.96). (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 15, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** CUBA. Re: No sign of RHC on 6195... Glenn, I've found R Havana tonight at 0400- on 6275, badly FMing. Cuba, 6275, R Havana, 0400 Dec. 15, Badly FMing extremely distorted in AM, but nice and clean in FM mode. Also, there is a distorted spur 75 kHz up on 6350. Popular music px with Cuban rap groups during the time I listened. R Havana ID at 0425 by announcer (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) David, I assume you mean in English? Will be interesting to see if they stay there. And if Arnie Coro starts promoting their FM service! Also the frequency for the 2230 broadcast is normally different from those used after 0100. 73, (Glenn to David via DXLD) No, it was in Spanish. There were a enough similar sounding words to figure out the basic meaning of the program content. Then of course, there was the actual ID (Hodgson, ibid.) See also VENEZUELA non ** CUBA. Estimado Glenn: Te informo que sigo en el espacio DX de Ventana Rebelde los domingos (lunes 0430 UT) por los 6120 kHz, y En Contacto de RHC donde en enero haré un concurso por los aniversarios de las emisoras Radio Rebelde, Radio Reloj y Radio Habana Cuba. Felices fiestas y buen año para tí (Manolo de la Rosa, Cuba, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ve lost track of current times and frequencies for En Contacto; used to be a quarter-hour Sundays around 1335 and 2200~ (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB`s website http://www.hcjb.org has been redesigned. On my way to find latest DXPL audio, which, it turned out, was not yet there, I noticed they have a link to the day`s World Newscast, with the emphasis on Latin America, an 8.3 minute ram file. At 1552 UT Monday this was from 1200 UT, apparently the same date judging from references, tho date was not announced. But how can you live in South America and not know how to pronounce `Chávez`?? Real news lasted only 6.3 minutes, then ``Mission Network News`` for the remainder. At least they keep this separate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA Glenn: For the past several days been listening to a station, strong, sometimes heavy QSB, on 9650 kHz from about 7 PM to 9 PM PST, or 0300 to 0500 UT. Language appears to be Spanish, music and talk, but during the last half hour 0430 to 0500 UT, they have an English program, news articles, etc., spoken very slowly and distinctly as if they were teaching a class or like the "Special English" the VOA uses (but with a British accent). Right after the English program, they sign off with a Spanish sentence or two. Nothing in my 2002 Passport. Any ideas? Thanks, Gordon I know HCJB`s Spanish service has moved to 9650 this season. Hadn`t noticed the English teaching show then, but I have heard it at other times on HCJB Spanish frequencies (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [and non]. First of all I want to congratulate SWB for having published 1500 issues! Fantastic, it is a great honour for me to contribute to this jubilee-issue! In August my wife returned to Quito and she felt it was good to get rid of the hottest summer ever and to enjoy the relative ?cold? in her native country Ecuador: 22 degrees the year round. I returned back in November and felt it was nice to change the Swedish winter cold to these 22 degrees! We stayed in Sweden for some weeks at my dad`s place on the small island "Smögen" on the Swedish west coast and happened to experience one of the worst thunderstorms ever; parts of the west Sweden were declared as catastrophic area. We are quite experienced in Quito with exploding volcanoes, heavy earthquakes, etc. but this almost took our breath away --- we stayed trembling in our small bed at ten in the evening. The Ecuadorian people really take their Catholic religion seriously and my wife begged a long prayer requesting help from `above`. We listened at the same time to the programme "Karlavagnen" where listeners phoned in to speak about the theme of the evening "thunderstorms"! Very good timing from the Swedish state radio. One of those phoning in to "Karlavagnen" that evening was our member JOE/John Ekwall, who works as a meteorologist at SMHI and at once we did not feel that bad. 2240.00H, Radio Positiva, Quito, Dec 2002 - at 0000. It started when my wife did not find her favourite program on 860 kHz/Radio Visión --- a medical program that every Sunday morning treated a special theme with experts invited and questions by phone in from their listeners. Some weeks later I was on the frequency 2240.00 where obviously a local Quito-station among others advertised for a company with the address "Avenida la Prensa y Vaca de Castro", that is where I live! I don`t know of any "Radio Positiva" in Quito but the explanation is simply that "Radio Visión"-860 kHz now is called "Radio Positiva". I can`t figure out why the station can be heard so well on 2240 kHz. I don?` think it is a real harmonic. Close down 0003 UT with ID: "Desde Quito capital del Ecuador transmite Radio Positiva 860 kHz en amplitud modulada, una voz ecuatoriana para el mundo" then followed the NA. Sometimes with closedown later in the evening. 2700.78H, La Voz de Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Dec 2002 - 0205 UT. Located in the same province as Quito (Pichincha). Sometimes ads for local companies here in Quito. Close down 0215 UT. Santo Domingo de los Colorados or "Santo Domingo of the coloured" got its name from a nowadays very small Indian tribe where the woman are bare breasted and the men mainly use "achiote", a substance from a tree, to get their hair coloured red. I sometimes use to mix in some anchiote powder in soups and other food. Here in Quito they use to say "Santo Domingo de los Colombianos" due to the fact that a lot of people from Colombia live there! 6579.80H, Radio Centro, Ambato, Nov 27 2002 - 1100 UT. Of the few HC- stations still active on SW this is my favourite with good news reporting and nice music. Harmonic from 3289.90 kHz. Congratulations to Radio Centro who this year celebrates their 35-year jubilee. Nowadays they are covering the whole country not only by the SW transmitter but also from cooperation with "Bonita FM" and all their transmitters in Ecuador. Björn Malm, c/o Susana Garcès de Malm, Avenida la Prensa 4408 y Vaca de Castro, Quito, Ecuador. Tel: +593 2 598 470, email: bjornmalm@yahoo.es rx: NRD-535, Loewe HF-150 samt Sangean 808ATS. Ant: 12 m lw Ö/V, 24 m lw N/S + Lw Magnetic Balun + MFJ1025 phaser [More of his loggings in this issue under: BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, COLOMBIA, EL SALVADOR, PERU] (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 15, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.36, Radio Imperial, Sonsonate, Nov 30 2002 - 2335 UT. When I logged YSDA in March this year it was on 17833.83 kHz with very weak modulation. Is now quite on frequency but with much better modulation. Now they also announce the frequency 17835 kHz which they did not previously. Nonstop Mexican music, ID and ads. (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 15, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** FRANCE. Hi, RFI's Persian service puzzled me up in past days. I couldn't hear any of the given registered channels of RFI Persian 1800-1900 7350*[exc Mar], 9430, 11650**[spring]. A look to the RFI Persian website showed the following entries only: 1600-1630 6015 [DUS] 6035 [SNG]; 1800-1900 6145 [DHA] 6185 [TAC] maybe brokered by Merlin MNO too. The 1600 UT portion was mentioned in DX press in past weeks as Pushtu/Dari service. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Dec 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 7265, Sudwestrundfunk, 0650, Very nice copy of this domestic broadcaster, with signal peaks hitting 10 to 20 db over S9 in the southern USA. Pop music with male DJ. Commercial format. Ad for what sounded like "Media Mart" around 0659. News at 0700. Very nice audio quality. // 6030 which was running around S7 here. These two transmitters both put out 20 kW into flat top antennas but the one on 7265 is facing E/W and the one on 6030 has the lobes running N/S, so I'm right in the null of the 49 meter outlet (David Hodgson, TN, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. KSDA is usually audible here at 2100 on 11980 and/or 11960, but no sign of it Dec 15 when the much-publicized JSWC anniversary special was to run; still typhooned off? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. KTWR-Trans World Radio's SW station on Guam suffered extensive damage to their antenna field as a result of Super-Typhoon Pongsona. On Sunday Dec 8 the typhoon lashed the island with 150 mph winds and 180 mph gusts. The typhoon went up the entire east side of the island, keeping it in the eyewall of the typhoon. The KTWR staff has been able to get antennas 2 and 5 together to have two transmitters on the air by Thursday Dec 12th. Work is ongoing, and further assessment is yet to be made (George Ross - KTWR Guam, WWDXC Dec 14 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRAN. TEHRAN, Iran, Dec. 17 - Iran's reformist-dominated parliament approved a bill Tuesday to lift restrictions on the public's access to most satellite television channels. While the proposal reflects a majority of Iranians' wishes for a more open society, it still must be approved by the hard-line Guardian Council before becoming law. More on http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/ap12-17-081928.asp?reg=MIDEAST (AP via MSNBC via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. AIRBORNE RADIO STATION BEAMS MESSAGES TO IRAQ U.S. MILITARY URGING SOLDIERS TO STOP SUPPORTING SADDAM WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military is using aircraft to broadcast radio signals into southern Iraq, encouraging Iraqi military forces to stop supporting the regime of President Saddam Hussein. The signals are coming from a type of modified Air Force transport plane known as "Commando Solo," which saw similar action over Afghanistan when personnel aboard broadcast messages that urged the Taliban to surrender. These are the first such broadcasts to the Iraqi region by the U.S. military since the recent escalation of tension began between Washington and Baghdad, a Pentagon official said Tuesday. The radio programming is transmitted during flights of EC-130J aircraft operated by the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, based near Middletown, Pennsylvania. The flights began Thursday, and the signals are to be transmitted between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time in southern Iraq every day, depending on the weather. The planes remain in Kuwaiti airspace. Military officials said the broadcasts include songs in Arabic and English to encourage Iraqi soldiers to listen. U.S.-backed political messages are also played. Officials said the themes of the broadcasts include: • Saddam's diversion of money intended for food to weapons production, and previous Iraqi "intransigence" on U.N. Security Council resolutions • Saddam's use of chemical weapons on his own people • Saddam's previous military "misadventures," and his "squandering" of money on personal pursuits such as palaces The U.S. military has used "Commando Solo" aircraft before as tools of "psychological operations" or propaganda, defense sources have confirmed. Some of the signals sent to Afghanistan last year were monitored by short-wave radio hobbyists in the United States. [with illustrations, links:] http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/12/17/us.iraq.radio/ (CNN via Artie Bigley, DXLD) VOAnews version: PENTAGON BEGINS AIRING PROPAGANDA BROADCASTS TO IRAQ http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=9F1B4D59-367D-47AE-806D788DD1E57798 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) PENTAGON BROADCASTS PROPAGANDA OVER IRAQ The Associated Press, Washington, Dec. 17 The Pentagon has launched a radio propaganda war in Iraq, broadcasting anti-Saddam Hussein messages officials say are aimed at weakening his support among his people and his military. "People of Iraq ... the amount of money Saddam spends on himself in one day would be more than enough to feed a family for a year," said an English translation of one radio broadcast released by the U.S. Central Command. "How much longer will this corrupt rule be allowed to exploit and oppress the Iraqi people?" "Soldiers of Iraq. Saddam does not care for the military of Iraq," said another of several radio messages. "Saddam uses his soldiers as puppets ... for his own personal glory. "Saddam also sacrificed thousands of soldiers during the Iran/Iraq war ... When the Iraqi soldiers that were taken prisoner were returned, Saddam ordered their ears to be cut off as punishment for being captured." Transmitted five hours a night from American planes flying outside the country, the broadcasts are the first of their kind since those used in the 1991 Persian Gulf War when Iraqi forces were ousted from Kuwait, defense officials said. The broadcasts of Arabic music and anti-Saddam messages began Thursday, said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Daniel D. Hetlage. But the program only became known Monday when the Central Command said it had dropped 480,000 leaflets over the southern no-fly zone in Iraq, including some alerting the Iraqis to radio frequencies and times to tune in to the American broadcasts. The radio programs aim to "dissuade the Iraqi military from supporting Saddam," said Hetlage. Other versions include ones on Saddam's past use of weapons of mass destruction and explaining the world's view of weapons inspections now under way in Iraq. They are being transmitted from an Air Force EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft, according to another official. Leaflets dropped Monday to advertise the broadcasts feature a map of Iraq and two radio transmitters, with a message saying "Information Radio" can be heard from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., at five frequencies. The mass drop of nearly half a million leaflets was the seventh distribution of flyers over southern Iraq in three months and the largest. Leaflets were dropped over six locations and also included messages warning Iraqi military not to shoot at coalition aircraft monitoring the restricted zones, saying the zones are set up to protect the Iraqi people. Officials said other drops have had little effect in getting Iraqi forces to stop harassing British and American planes that have been monitoring no-fly zones set up a decade ago over the country. The northern zones protect the Kurdish minority and the southern zones protect the Shiites. Saddam considers the zones a violation of his sovereignty.... (via Mike Cooper, DXLD; also:) http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20021217_784.html (via ABCNews.com via Artie Bigley, DXLD) INFORMATION RADIO, DAILY 9715 11292 KHZ AT 1500-2000 UT "Information Radio" broadcasts to Iraq from US Central Command Psyops are now being broadcast daily on 5 frequencies according to this item from Associated Press in the Guardian: extracts below - full story at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2251241,00.html [same AP story as elsewhere] ``...the broadcasts are the first of their kind since those used in the 1991 Persian Gulf War when Iraqi forces were ousted from Kuwait, defense officials said.`` [but what about their operation in Afghanistan?? - Alan Pennington] According to the US Central Command public information website: http://www.centcom.mil/Default.htm which pictures the leaflets dropped at http://www.centcom.mil/Galleries/Photos/leaflets/Iraq_Leaflets/20021216.htm the 5 frequencies used "1800-2300 daily" (= 1500 to 2000 UTC) are: 693 and 756 kHz mediumwave 9715 and 11292 kHz shortwave and 100.4 MHz FM Transcripts of the messages broadcast are also on this site. So worth checking these shortwave frequencies 1500-2000 UTC!! (Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Of the frequencies mentioned, 11292 kHz looks like an interesting choice. A quick search on the Internet revealed that this frequency has in the past been used by Radio Iraq International - as well as by a so-called spy station broadcasting in Arabic, // 6645 or 6647 kHz. Anyone hearing the station on 11292 or other frequencies? (Mika Mäkeläinen, dxing.info via DXLD) I monitored 11292 for most of an hour around 1700 Dec 17, but nothing at all heard here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [and non]. ANALYSIS: US RADIO PROPAGANDA BROADCASTS TARGET IRAQIS | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 17 December The US has stepped up psychological operations against President Saddam Husayn of Iraq with the start of radio broadcasts targeted at military commanders as well as civilians. The broadcasts, launched on 12 December, are transmitted by US planes flying over southern Iraq. They urge the Iraqi people not to support their president, and accuse him of diverting revenue from oil sales from food to weapons purchases. And in the seventh leaflet blitz over southern Iraq in three months, coalition aircraft dropped half a million leaflets warning Iraqi forces not to repair damaged communications facilities hit in air strikes on Saturday 14 December. Overthrow Saddam, US broadcasts urge The American radio broadcasts comment that "Saddam lives like a king, while his soldiers are underpaid and underequipped... Saddam does not wish the soldiers of Iraq to have the honour and dignity that their profession warrants." They urge the Iraqi armed forces: "Do not let Saddam tarnish the reputation of soldiers any longer." The broadcasts, which feature Arabic music as well as anti-Saddam messages, aim to "dissuade the Iraqi military from supporting Saddam," said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Daniel D. Hetlage. Other broadcasts, directed at Iraqi civilians, point to the many monuments and portraits of Saddam Husayn dotted around the country. Saying the cost of the leader's ego trip would be better spent on the welfare of his people, the US broadcasts ask: "How much longer will this corrupt rule be allowed to exploit and oppress the Iraqi people?" Specialist US psy-ops unit Leaflets printed in Arabic and English dropped over Iraq say the American "Information Radio" broadcasts are on the air from 1500-2000 gmt on five separate frequencies in the FM, mediumwave and shortwave bands. The frequencies listed are: 693 and 756 kHz mediumwave, 9715 and 11292 kHz shortwave, and 100.4 MHz FM. These are all frequencies that have been used at some stage by Republic of Iraq Radio. The broadcasts come from Commando Solo aircraft operated by a specialist US psy-ops unit. The EC-130E Commando Solo is a modified four-engine Hercules transport aircraft that can broadcast simultaneous high-power mediumwave, shortwave, FM and TV signals. The planes can also jam or override local transmissions, in an effort to persuade listeners to tune to the propaganda frequencies. Over the years, the unit has carried out missions in Vietnam, South Korea, Panama, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Persian Gulf and Serbia. Most recently, it was in action over Afghanistan, broadcasting propaganda messages to the local population and Taleban fighters. As well as the airborne broadcasts, the US has the use of ground transmitters in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf to beam anti-Saddam programming to the Iraqi people. "Bombs will do the talking" The aim of the propaganda broadcasts is "to isolate the Iraqi leadership who are hiding in bunkers," John Pike of the US think tank Globalsecurity.org told the Washington Post newspaper earlier this year. But not all American military analysts are convinced that psychological warfare will succeed. William Arkin, a former army intelligence officer and now a military analyst, said in remarks published in the Baltimore Sun in November that if the United States invades Iraq, "bombs are going to do the talking," rather than any psychological operation that attempts to influence the entire country. Source: BBC Monitoring research 17 Dec 02 (via DXLD) [Dec 17] The psyop war has begun. Commando Solo, according to leaflets being dropped on southern Iraq and released to the media by U.S. Central Commando on Monday, is broadcasting Information Radio with the following schedule: *1500-2000* 756, 693, 9715, 11292 kHz, 100.4 MHz. http://www.ClandestineRadio.com/intel/iraq.htm A copy of the leaflet can be viewed at: http://www.ClandestineRadio.com/dossier/iraq2003/2002_1217_leaflets.htm Tip per Jay Novello on chat #swl on Starchat (via David Ross, DXLD) [Log:] 11292, 1846 Dec 17, CLANDESTINE, Commando Solo psyops to Iraq presumed the weak signal with ME music here, barely readable in USB mode. Thanks to Nick Grace, CRW for the tip (Paul Ormandy, NZ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Iraq: U.S. Centcom Press Release, December 16, 2002 COALITION AIRCRAFT DROP LEAFLETS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ MACDILL AFB, FL -- Coalition aircraft dropped 480,000 leaflets at about 4 a.m. EST today over southern Iraq. Leaflets containing six separate messages were dropped at six locations, including near communications facilities that were damaged or destroyed by Coalition aircraft flying Operation Southern Watch missions on December 14. Leaflets dropped at those locations warned Iraqi forces that the Coalition has targeted fiber optic cables for destruction and that repairing the facilities place Iraqi military lives at risk. Other leaflets: • referred Iraqis to radio frequencies where they could hear broadcasts by Coalition forces providing information • warned Iraqi air defenses that targeting Coalition aircraft or tracking them with radar could result in Coalition air strikes • stated that Coalition aircraft enforce the no-fly zones to protect the Iraqi people, and that threatening Coalition aircraft may result in air strikes This was the seventh leaflet drop over southern Iraq in the last three months. Broadcast transcripts: http://www.centcom.mil/News/Misc/radioscripts.htm (via Nick Grace, Clandestine Radio Watch Dec 17 via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. IOMBC - "objections crumble in court" (Maybe 2003 will see the start of "MusicMann 279" (working title) following this encouraging news from http://www.longwaveradio.com/News.html posted on 1 December. I am pleased to note there will be a "draft judgement as quickly as possible, probably shortly before Christmas" - Mike). Half a dozen objections to the award of a Siting Licence for the LW transmission facility were withdrawn when the case came before the High Court in Douglas at the end of November John Wright, the advocate for Bride Parish Commissioners said he would not now be proceeding with allegations of bias, secrecy and other complaints against the Department of Transport. "I shall now pursue only that it was unfair of the Department not to consult with my clients before awarding the permission," he told Acting Deemster Jeremy Storey, a leading UK silk. He also said that he would not now be relying on the evidence of Mr Cussons. The Petitioners claimed that the Hon. Tony Brown, now Speaker of the House of Keys, but until last November the Minister responsible for the Department of Transport, had acted unfairly in not ensuring Bride Parish Commission members were consulted when considering awarding a Siting Licence to Isle of Man International Broadcasting plc for the facility to be located on a platform at sea, adjacent to the Bride coast. 'The applicants for the licence, Isle of Man International Broadcasting plc, engaged professional environmental scientists, Watermans, to consult a large number of potentially affected parties," explained the Government Advocate, Stephen Harding, on behalf of the Department. "This included not only the relevant Government Departments, who in turn consulted experts, but also non Governmental bodies too, who might be affected. They particularly included environmental organisations, shipping and fishermen's organisations and followed their advice when selecting a location." Bride's concerns were all addressed at the previous 'land based' planning inquiry and the only grounds for rejection were found to be Land Use and Visual Impact. By moving the facility onto a platform and locating it several miles out to sea, the visual impact of the antenna, less than 100 feet tall, is considerably reduced, becoming no more than a small feature on the horizon. The Minister had clearly considered this point carefully and spelt out his reasoning in his affidavit, which was read to the court. He had taken particular note and been consulted by the Director of Harbours on this point as he was not only a former Minister of DoLGE, thus responsible for planning, but had been a Member of the Council of Ministers which only recently had examined and considered the Report of the Planning Inspector. Bride's concerns of fuel spillage and the potential for pollution had been carefully addressed by the Director of Harbours, Captain Michael Brew and were the subject of a professionally produced Oil Spill Contingency Plan which showed there to be a negligible 1% chance of fuel coming ashore, due to the ease with which diesel evaporates and the location chosen for the platform. Further, it had been agreed that tender trips to resupply the facility would only take place under calm conditions, considerably reducing the prospect of any spillage. As a result of the withdrawal of so many of the objectors' arguments, the hearing was cut dramatically short before the end of the second day. Its start had been delayed from July as the Petitioners had suggested there was so much evidence it would take three days to hear and a suitably lengthy window was not available. The Petitioner's advocate requested a further delay of the judgement until the New Year, as was taking two weeks holiday in December, however Seth Caine objected saying his clients were "chomping at the bit and keen to get on." The Acting Deemster said he would circulate a draft judgement as quickly as possible, probably shortly before Christmas. 1 December 2002 (PS the website says "We believe the 279 Long Wave signal will reach as far as Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, but plan to boost reception still further by broadcasting on satellite and short wave to other parts of the world.") (via Mike Terry, Dec 15, DXLD) ** ITALY. RECEPTION REPORT FROM FINLAND December 16th, 2002 Station: Studio X, Momigno Frequency: 1584 kHz medium wave Date : Friday-Saturday night, December 14th, 2002 Time: 00.51 – 01.28 Italian time What a lovely feeling to discover that Your station can be heard all the way over here in Finland. I was listening to the frequency of 1584 kHz when I heard a voice in American English, who was Glenn Hauser and World of Radio. After this I heard nice music, with inserts of Studio X announcements inbetween the music records. I hope that this report will be of use to use. I enjoyed hearing the music, very good, nowadays mostly talk programs on medium wave. There was not much interference either, just a little bit from a Spanish Station. You are doing just a perfect job. I hope I will reach you with this letter. From what I could hear Studio X in interesting also in long distance reception reports, you have a nice and informative program called World of Radio. Here are some details from what I heard: 0051 DX-program / World of Radio Edition 1158. "Sign off at 1958 or 1959. This is.. unusual for Ramadan ..Propagation to East Africa was excellent" ... ... 0126 Male announcer: "To be a great Music Station, It's not just what you play, it`s the way you play them, And we play them better than anyone else --- Oh Yeah! --- 1-5-8-4 Studio X" into disco music. This must be an incredible catch! I am glad to hear this station on 1584 kHz medium wave, where other stations actually also are broadcasting. I use a Japanese communications receiver, NRD 525 from Japan Radio company and I have a 500 meter long "beverage" antenna. This antenna consists simply of a copper wire 1000 meter in direction to the area and station I want to hear and it is very selective for other stations outside this direction. Thank You very much indeed for this fine moment in front of my radio set. I hope to hear the same station again sometimes, when reception conditions permit. ---I would like to send my greetings to the male announcer, whose voice traveled this distance. Perhaps you can recognize this person. I would very much like you to comment on this program, so I can learn more about your radio. Your verification answer would be very much appreciated as a memory of the contact. Best regards, Mr. Per-Ole Stenman, JAKOBSTAD, Finland (via Massimiliano Marchi, Radio Studio X, DXLD) ** JAPAN. NHK domestic relay Osaka 2, very weak 15 DEC at 1235 UT on 3373.5 USB, listed as 300 watts. Also Tokyo 1, not \\, slightly stronger on 3607.5U. Off 1300 (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, R75 and 80- foot Windom w/L-C tuner, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Hi, JAPAN PREMIUM readers. We, KDXC, release frequency and address list of Japanese radio stations incl FM. Please visit, http://www10.plala.or.jp/azwave/ Thank you. -- _/_/ (IWATA Gaku. Chiba, JAPAN. editor of JAPAN PREMIUM via DXLD) ** JAPAN. AFN RADIO SERVES DIVERSE AUDIENCE WITH DIVERSE PROGRAMMING By Joseph Giordono and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes Stripes Sunday magazine, December 15, 2002 What do you get if you cross Metallica with Faith Hill, with running commentary by Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura? AFN Radio. AFN Eagle 810 AM radio broadcasts across the Kanto Plain to 50,000 listeners at Yokota Air Base, Yokosuka Naval Base, Camp Fuji, Camp Zama and Atsugi Naval Air Facility. Other stations bring the sound of home to U.S. bases from Okinawa to Iceland. And because they have to be all things to all people, regional military radio stations face programming challenges unlike any commercial station, industry figures say. Eagle 810, the American Forces Network station that serves bases around Tokyo, ended a three-week hiatus in mid-October, touting a revamped format focusing on news, popular music and individual DJs as radio personalities. Radio programmers in Japan and the United States say that, with such a diverse and large audience, Eagle 810 and other military stations have to make conscious choices about which audience they most want to reach. 'It has elements of a sports station, a news station and a music station. It covers many genres. It`s elusive,' said Shigeru Yamamoto, head of programming at Inter FM, one of just two Japanese commercial stations in the Kanto Plain area that broadcast predominantly in English. 'When there weren`t many FM stations in Japan, I think Japanese people tuned in to listen to music,' he said, referring to AFN. 'But recently, Western music isn`t hard to find,' noting that stations such as MTV Japan are the trendsetters. American radio programmers also said Eagle 810 faces unique choices. 'The trend in radio has always been to be a niche station, to be known as the place for country or adult contemporary or R&B,' said Christopher Parks, a programming executive in Los Angeles for one of the largest commercial radio ownership groups in the United States. Parks said programming one station to serve an entire community would be almost impossible. 'They're between the proverbial rock and a hard place,' Parks said, who hasn't listened to Eagle 810. 'You have to offer different formats to satisfy the different demographics of the audience, but if you break things up too much, you lose everyone.' But Parks said some advantages come with being a radio station playing to military audiences overseas. 'The bottom line is that they don't have to sell themselves to advertisers. When you've got a captive audience, like they have, there isn't bottom-line pressure to sell time,' he said. 'If they're the only station that gives American news, American sports and American music, then no matter how many listener complaints they might get, those listeners are going to keep listening.' David Allen contributed to this story (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** KASHMIR. Dear Noel, What you heard is the new transmitter of Radio Kashmir, Jammu on 4830! Congratulations! (Thanks to info from Alok Das Gupta in Kolkata) The old SW transmitter at Jammu was taken off the air some years back. This must be the new 50 kw one. Look out for other frequencies on 6 / 7 MHz. In the past they were using 3345, 5960 and 7160 (Jose Jacob, India, dx_india via DXLD) RADIO KASHMIR JAMMU RETURNS TO SHORTWAVE The All India Radio (AIR) station in Jammu, identifying as Radio Kashmir, has returned to shortwave. According to Jose Jacob in India, a new 50-kilowatt transmitter was inaugurated on December 11. The schedule is as follows: 0025-0445 4830, 0630-0930 5965, 1030-2310 4830 The schedule can be extended for special occasions. Radio Kashmir Jammu can also be heard on 990 kHz mediumwave. Reception reports can be sent to: Station Engineer, Radio Kashmir (All India Radio), Palace Road, Jammu 188001, Jammu & Kashmir, India. The station can also be reached by email (DXing.info, December 15, 2002 via Mike Terry, DXLD) The new 50 kw BEL SW Transmitter of Radio Kashmir, Jammu is having some teething problems and is now off the air. It is expected to be back on air with more tests in one or two days. The schedule is as given in my previous messages (Jose Jacob, Dec 16, dx_india via DXLD) Radio Kashmir, Jammu was heard while I checked just now at 1235 UT but it went off suddenly at 1246 UT. Signals were good (Jose Jacob, Dec 17, ibid.) ** MAURITANIA. 7245, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott. Poor-fair though in the clear with Koran recitation 0815 (Paul Ormandy, NZ, ADXN) Heard nightly, though s/on varies - sometimes 0800, occasionally 0830. Mostly Arabic programming, lots of chanting. Hangs on late, often till past 1000, a characteristic of our summer long path reception from W. Africa/Europe. Gone by 0945 on 14/12 (Craig Seager, NSW, Dec ADXN via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5040.6 is heard regularly now, but with the transmitter hum. The AIR transmitter in Jepore has regular problems and some days Myanmar is in the clear. I suppose old timers will remember Burma using 5040 for its service now on 5985.6 (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, DXplorer Dec 9 via BCDX via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. NBC seem to have left 90 mb altogether; whenever I checked they were on 49 mb only, so probably 24 hr. operation on 6060 and 6175 (Vaclav Korinek, RSA, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 15070, R. Pakistan, 1345-1410 Dec 15, Local music with wailing vocals by M. Nice flutes and percussion. M announcer with muffled audio briefly around 1355, then more music. Same announcer again at 1359, instrumenal music bridge to ToH, very brief anouncement by differnet M, then news by W in mid-east language starting with ID. W audio was stronger and much clearer. Kind of weak with quick fades (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. 4834.85, Radio Marañón, 1112-1130 Dec 15, Noted mainly comments at beginning of listening, then at about 1115 canned ID from a woman. This followed by ad and then a radio drama. I don't know if the drama was religious (it's Sunday) or not? Signal was fair during the entire period. This surprised me because Peru has been in Daylight since about 45 minutes ago. My QTH however, is just at the gray line point. Gone at 1130 UT, but came back briefly at 1132 at a poor to threshold level. The ionosphere fascinates me. Yesterday prior to and during this time period, the entire 4 MHz band was covered by QRN. It was suggested that it might have been the Northern Lights causing the problem? There were others that reported experiencing the same problem (Bolland, Chuck, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 2662.69, Frecuencia (Dos)*, unknown QTH (Peru) Dec 12 2002 - 1050 UT. Without being to sure I got the feeling that the station has been on air for 5 days. The only geographical clue I got was greetings to someone in "Amazonas" and "todos los caseríos en el norte" and a place with two words, the last was ".... Grande". The programming was live music from a studio and greetings. If it is a real 120-mb station and not a harmonic it is almost a small bomb. *I am uncertain if they say "Dos"; it might be "Dios" as well -- music was type of semi religious "Boleros". Also heard evenings. 6020.08, Radio Victoria, Lima, Dec 2002 - 0145 UT. As usual with their extremely unpleasant ``milagro``-program. Said 780 and 6020 kHz. Does it mean that 31 mb Frequency now has finished? (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 15, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. BACKGROUND ON MOVEMENT FOR ISLAMIC REFORM'S RADIO | Excerpt from report by London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia in Arabic on 10 December about the movement's Sawt al-Islah [Voice of Reform] Radio; sub-headings as published .. The movement has made many efforts to deliver its message through more effective means than faxes and the Internet. It has tried to implement a broadcast initiative to achieve this aim. But such a project is far from easy, especially since we oppose a state, with its great capabilities and international support. After many patient efforts, we have succeeded, thank God, in beginning broadcasting. We ask God to grant us success in delivering the word of truth, fulfilling the obligation of spreading the message, and allowing all members of the [Islamic] community to participate... . Broadcast content The most important content will be direct dialogue with the movement's official spokesman or with individuals selected by the movement to speak with listeners. Broadcasts will also include other cultural, social, historical, news and press materials, as well as contributions from listeners and letters to read on the air, God willing. The air will always be open for listener suggestions. How can listeners participate? By phone, fax, and e-mail - the station's address is radio@islah.org; through the movement's web site http://www.miraserve.com which has a special window for radio comments; through the radio section of the discussion forum; through the al-Islah room in PalTalk http://www.paltalk.com open every day between 2200 and 2400 hours Mecca time [1900 to 2100 gmt] for secure participation. The listener can participate electronically and ensure complete security by employing easy-to-use voice alteration programmes available on the Internet.... [Question] Why did the movement choose HotBird [European broadcast satellite at 13 degrees east] ? [Answer] The movement did not choose HotBird. It was compelled to choose it, as the other satellites that broadcast to the region are controlled by agencies that prevented the movement from using them. The movement is prepared to switch to another satellite if it is guaranteed secure service... FAQ [frequently asked questions] on broadcast content [Question] What programmes does the station offer? [Answer] The most important programme content offers direct dialogue with the movement's official spokesman, or with individuals selected by the movement to speak with listeners. There will be open dialogue on all subjects relating to our country, our [Islamic] community, and especially current problems and future dangers. [Question] Are there any limitations on broadcasts? [Answer] There are absolutely no limitations aside from a prohibition on insults, abuse, foul language, or attacks on religion and personal dignity. Additionally, European governments impose certain limitations. The movement will be careful to heed them. There are no limitations, other than those mentioned above, on discussions of politics, society, government, or rulers... [Question] How will the movement compete with other media in its programmes? [Answer] The movement does not aim to compete with other media. Broadcast content is intended to further the movement's aims. The movement feels that, in essence, this project has no competition. As far as we are aware, there is no organization capable of delivering the unvarnished truth and opening a free space for vital discussion beyond the bounds set by the ruling regime. Participation FAQ [Question] How can I call without the destination of the call becoming known? [Answer] You can do this by using an international calling card such as AT&T, MCI, or by using a "Call Back" system. In the latter, you dial a number in Europe or the United States, hang up the receiver, and then get a call that provides an international line. These methods, however, do not guarantee security if the individual's phone is tapped. What applies to the telephone applies to the fax as well. Perhaps the only means to avoid wiretapping, even if the phone is tapped, is by using internet telephony systems such as "Net-To-Phone." This is an affordable system that provides good voice quality and makes it impossible to trace the call. [Question] Is written communication with the movement safe? [Answer] Yes, written correspondence with the movement, whether by e- mail or the Web site forum, is completely secure, God willing. There is no way for anyone to trace the electronic path back to the person who sent the letter or message. [Question] Will the movement pay attention to what it receives? [Answer] Yes, the movement will read everything it receives. We cannot, however, guarantee that all questions and comments will be read on the air. A comment may be inappropriate, or we may receive too many comments, or there may be other reasons. We ask that anyone who wants his comment to be read as is kindly provide clear reasons why this should be done. [Question] How can I participate using PalTalk [an online chat system]? [Answer] The movement will open a PalTalk room each day from 2200 to 2400 hours. The room will be connected to the broadcast so that you can hear what is happening in the room on air. People will be able to enter the room to participate in the broadcast with a virtual microphone. According to the information we possess, it will be virtually impossible to perform an electronic trace on participants. [Question] Will participants be able to alter their voices? [Answer] Yes, there are many programmes available on the Internet for secure voice alteration. They make it virtually impossible for the state to restore the original voice.... Source: Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia web site, London, in Arabic 10 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. TWR Sri Lanka (882 kHz) is noted back on air this morning (16 Dec 2002) after being off air for 3 days (Jose Jacob, Hyderabad, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. On 10th December, Mr. Tamilselvan, Jaffna news reporter working for the clandestine IBC-TAMIL, was severely assaulted by soldiers of the Sri Lanka army and members of EPDP. At the time he was attacked, the journalist was covering a mass demonstration in Nelliyadi town against EPDP and its unlawful activities. EPDP is a pro-government Tamil outfit, funded and armed by Srilankan military, now fights alongside government troops against the LTTE. During the incident, more than 50 civilians were also assaulted by the soldiers. Several human rights organisations and Tamil political parties condemned this brutal act of army. In the worst press freedom violation of the year 2000, on 19 October, Mariyadasan Nimalaranjan who worked for several local newspapers in Srilanka, radio and TV stations like IBC-TAMIL, and was also a regular contributor to the BBC's Sinhala and Tamil services, died after being shot by members EPDP, in his home, which was very near to a [garble]. Sri Lankan authorities prevented Colombo-based journalists from attending the funeral of Nimalaranjan. On the basis of reports within Sri Lanka, the defence ministry had given clearance for four journalists to travel to the town of Jaffna from the capital but later withdrew permission. The reports were later confirmed by the defence ministry who failed to provide a reason for the volte-face (via Prabakaran, Tamilnadu, India, DXLD) PA QUERIES VOICE OF TIGERS -- ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka The PA expressed its opposition to the government for allowing the Voice of Tigers to take the radio transmission equipment to Wanni. The customs has allowed some transmitters and other equipment gifted by Norway to take to Wanni. PA spokesman Dr. Sarath Amunugama said the action of the government was against customs procedures and telecommunications regulatory authority act. He said the action of Norway raises many doubts about the neutral role of Norway in the peace process. Dr. Amunugama said the equipment has been cleared by PM's secretary without any customs inspection and taken to Wanni without any checking. Tigers have said they wanted the equipment to expand their broadcast which earlier started as a clandestine radio (via D. Prabakaran, Tamilnadu, Dec 16, DXLD) What`s PA???? LTTE GIVEN LICENSE FOR FM RADIO STATION source- THE HINDU- Tamil daily from India The controversy over broadcasting equipment imported for the ' voice of tigers' has deepened with media reports that the LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM was granted a temporary license for a private FM radio station. The LTTE was given the license last month to broadcast at a frequency of 98 MHz subject to condition that the station would be at Kilinochi [a rebel held town at northern Srilanka], with a coverage of 20 km radius and an altitude of 75 mts. With Kilinochi around 120 km [??????- d.p] as crow files, from southern India, the relative ease with which repeaters can be installed, the existing VOT network and the fact that signals are stronger across seas, could still [make] it possible for the LTTE broadcasts to reach South India. The temporary license was to broadcast educational, sports, entertainment and foreign news along with local news. The equipment imported includes transmitters, antennas, amplifiers, a 20 channel audio mixer and speaker systems. The consignment, which was handled by Norwegian embassy, was then sent with government escort and handed over to the LTTE (via D. PRABAKARAN, METTUPALAYAM, TAMILNADU, INDIA, Dec 16, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Hello Glenn - I remember reading your report in the December 4th edition of DXLD that Radio Ukraine International would begin improved broadcasts to North America next year. Last night (UT Dec 17, 0100 and 0400), I tuned into their broadcasts on 9810, and was very impressed with their signal, especially on a night which in general exhibited poor to average propagation. They must have run their Mykolaiv transmitter at full power from 0000 to 0500 UT, with English at 0100 and 0400. The signal approached that of local stations at times. It's good to hear RUI with such a nice signal on shortwave again (Fred Newlin, New York, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RUI TO USE 7375 IN JANUARY 2003. Glenn, Against my monitoring recommendation, RUI will change from 9810 kHz to 7375 kHz in January 2003. Reason for my negative impression of 7375 is mainly due to the jammer on and around 7375 as shown in the following monitoring log. 0000 UTC SSB talk around 7375 kHz. R. Marti on 7365 NOT causing QRM to 7375 kHz. 0030 UTC jammer causing severe QRM to 7375 kHz 0045 UTC same as 0030 UTC 0050 UTC tone begins on 7375 kHz. Still have jammer QRM. 0100 UTC BBC, positive ID, on 7375 kHz. Also severe jammer QRM. 0115 UTC same ast 0100 UTC 0130 UTC BBC transmission ends. Still have jammer QRM. 0145 UTC same as 0130 UTC. 0200 UTC same as 0130 UTC. 0215 UTC same as 0130 UTC. 0230 UTC same as 0130 UTC. 0245 UTC same as 0130 UTC. 0300 UTC jammer on and around 7375 kHz causing severe QRM. Radio Rossii, Moscow (positive ID) on 7380 kHz NOT causing QRM to 7375 kHz. 0315 UTC same as 0300 UTC 0330 UTC same as 0300 UTC 0345 UTC same as 0300 UTC 0400 UTC same as 0300 UTC 0415 UTC same as 0300 UTC 0428 UTC jammer on and around 7375 kHz causing severe QRM. Voice of America begins using 7370 kHz causing slight QRM to 7375 kHz. 0445 UTC same as 0428 UTC. In my opinion RUI can probably handle the BBC and VOA QRM on 7375 kHz. However, IMO, RUI will lose to the jammer on and around 7375 kHz. 73, (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC Krist, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. UAE Radio, Dubai, has finally moved on from ``Saladin, Hero of Islam`` to ``Welcome to Islamic Traditions thru the Ages``, Dec 17 at 1334-1346 on 21598v. This one was about the art of calligraphy, and how Arabic lends itself to near mirror-imagery. Closing credit for writer sounded like ``Michael Muslim Mills``! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UK. BBC`s 70th anniversary bash, which seems deliberately devoid of any classical music, started off fine, after 1700 UT as I was listening to the European webstream, tho a few minutes late, until well after the first musical performance was underway, at 1710 it suddenly switched to this loop: ``Due to restrixions imposed by the rights-holders, BBC World Service is unable to offer the current programme on the internet``. !!!!! It did continue on the special SW frequency 15190, and on the American webstream. What is going on here? How embarrassing, that BBC doesn`t have the rights to its own celebration in Europe?? Spot checked during the next two sesquihours and the same situation continued. Since the Americas webstream can also be accessed in Europe, what is the point of all this? The special ran about 5 minutes past 2000, but 15190 stayed on. There was a rather abrupt transition to the newshour at 2005, and 15190 still stayed on. Just as BBCWS chief Mark Byford, who does not speak the Queen`s English, was asking what the future holds for the WS, he was chopped off at 2029:30 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In response to Glen[n]'s original posting let me offer the following guess as to what happened with the Internet Feed. Usually BBCWS broadcasts Sunday Sports World at 1700 GMT which of course we cannot hear in the 'new world' because 15190 has gone off and because none of the BBC WS live sports material is webcast. SO someone likely forgot to change the system that turns the feed off during the regularly scheduled sports show. Just a guess (Sandy Finlayson, swprograms) No, as I said the birthday bash started off fine, and only after a few minutes did we get the blocking message on the Europe webstream (gh, DXLD) ** U K. Re: DXLD-2197 "When BBC7 arrives on Sunday, only 120,000 radio sets will be able to pick it up". That's true, but what the article doesn't mention is that so will more than 6 million TV sets, as the service will also be available - like the other BBC digital services - on the Sky digital platform via the Astra satellite. The BBC does a poor job of marketing its existing digital services. BBC 5 Live's jingles and ID's refer to its mediumwave frequencies of 909 and 693, never to its digital ones. UK listeners don't need a Sky subscription to access the BBC services. The same call centre that handles Sky viewing cards also issues free viewing cards to any UK household with a valid TV licence that asks for one. In addition to the BBC, this picks up other UK channels including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky News (which is not encrypted), the ITV News Channel, CNN, EuroNews, a whole bunch of shopping channels and oddities such as Abu Dhabi TV which are free to air. It's therefore erroneous to say that 'BBC digital broadcasts are available in only 65 per cent of the country', since anyone from the north of Scotland to the Channel Islands can pick them up with a 60 or 80 cm dish and a digibox. Now, if the argument is that they can only be picked up by spending extra money, that's different. Everyone, regardless of income, has to pay the same amount for a TV licence, which funds these services. But not everyone can afford the extra for the equipment to receive them. But the article makes no mention of the fact that, if you have digital satellite TV, you don't need to go out straight away and buy a digital radio. Nor do you need your TV set on to listen to radio, as the digibox has an audio output that can be plugged into your hi fi. The only problem is that the digibox doesn't have a frequency or channel display, so you either need to know the channel number of the station, or select it first via the EPG on TV screen. The author of the piece, Ray Snoddy, is a very experienced media analyst, but I have often found his pieces to be lacking in research. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Radio Farda (Tomorrow Radio) starts its broadcast in Persian (Farsi) 24 hours from studios in Washington, DC and Prague, CZ. to Iran on Thursday Dec 19.2002. Its website will be http://www.radiofarda.org and will be in operational sometimes in JAN 2003; at present time redirect you to the http://www.radioazadi.org web site. Also on Satellite, Internet and on AM 1593 kHz on 24 hours basis. Time UT: 0030-0400 9515 9585 9795 0400-0600 9585 9795 12015 15290 0600-0800 9585 15290 17675 0800-0830 9585 13680 15290 17675 21475 0830-1400 13680 21475 1400-1700 9435 13680 15410 1700-1900 11705 11845 1900-2000 6140 11960 11985 2000-2130 9785 11960 11985 2130-0030 1593, Satellite, and Internet Only Sincerely (Pete Mohazzabi, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I noticed that R. Farda`s posted schedule has gaps in it, hardly 24h, so clicked on the webcast ending at 1700 UT Dec 16. After that, the webcast went to loop ``This is RFE/RL, Praha``... (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Wall Street Journal, 16 Dec 2002: COMMENTARY WHAT'S 'POP' IN PERSIAN? By JESSE HELMS Iran seethes with protests over a death sentence given to a professor for disagreeing with the government about who is allowed to interpret the Koran. Iranians are now questioning the decisions of their religious, political and judicial leaders. The sentence has been appealed, making the coming weeks crucial to Iran's internal debate over freedom. There has never been a greater opportunity for U.S. public diplomacy to assure Iranians of our solidarity and to tell the story of liberty and limited government. Unfortunately, we won't be able to, because the most successful U.S. broadcasts into Iran have been shut down. And it wasn't the mullahs who shut down these broadcasts. We did. Until Dec. 1, Radio Azadi (Persian for freedom) delivered 11 daily hours of news and discussion of social and political issues. Beginning in 1998, it earned the trust of Iranian students and dissidents. During the 1999 student protests, Azadi broadcast a call from the wife of a dissident at the very moment the regime's goons where beating down the door of her apartment. In November, as students took to the streets to protest the professor's death sentence, Azadi broadcast roundtable discussions between student leaders, other dissidents and the exile community, providing one of the only means of communication between democratic forces inside and outside the country. Its death prompted this protest from a listener: "At a time when the need for democratic forces and two-way communication with the outside world has increased and become ever more critical for the very survival of those forces, the most effective means of achieving that end has been discarded." The role earned by Azadi -- as facilitator of conversations between exiled Iranians and democratic forces inside Iran -- was what Congress had in mind in 1996 and 1998 when funds were set aside for broadcasting into Iran. Congress based that legislation on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcast messages of hope into Eastern Europe during the Cold War. It's a major understatement to say that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty played a crucial role in rolling back communism. Adding insult to injury, Azadi was replaced yesterday by a new format that specifically excludes any description of U.S. foreign policy and any discussions with dissidents, either inside or outside Iran. Instead, the U.S. taxpayer will finance the broadcasting of "Top 40" American and local pop tunes delivered with a spoonful of headline news content. This format, which hasn't been approved by Congress, is the creation of a bureaucracy called the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which, until recently, was controlled by Clinton appointees. This ill-advised format is based on the hope of boosting listenership through pop music. No doubt, some will listen to this network, but to what end? It's difficult to believe that the Bush administration has agreed to support this shift from a proven program of serious policy discussion to a teeny-bopper music-based format. Nevertheless, Radio Farda was unveiled yesterday. It likely will insult the cultural sensitivities of Iranians, as well as their intelligence. Meanwhile, the brave professor sits in jail cell awaiting execution, students plot protests, and the regime struggles to hold the line against the will of the people. And the U.S. will be spinning Britney Spears discs? Mr. Helms is a Republican senator for North Carolina (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. CASEY KASEM OR FREEDOM? By Jackson Diehl, Monday, December 16, 2002; Page A25 Washington Post After an Iranian court sentenced the reformist academic Hashem Aghajari to death last month, the largest and most sustained student demonstrations in years erupted in Tehran. As they grew, day after day, U.S.-operated Radio Azadi, or "Radio Freedom," was their favorite medium. Every day, student leaders would call by cell phone from the roiling campuses to the radio's headquarters in Prague and narrate the latest developments live. Each night the radio would broadcast a roundtable discussion, patching together students and journalists in Tehran with exiled opposition leaders to discuss where the reform movement was going. So instrumental to the rebellion-in-the-making did the radio become that pro-regime counter-demonstrators recently held up a placard reading "Who does Radio Azadi talk to?" -- a taunt taken by the station's staff as a badge of honor. The protest movement, now five weeks old, rolls on, spreading from students to workers and from Tehran to other cities. Some see parallels to the popular movements that overthrew the Communist regimes of Europe in 1989 -- with a big dose of help from U.S.- sponsored Radio Free Europe. In this case, however, the tottering dictatorship has gotten a big break: Two weeks ago, Radio Freedom abruptly disappeared from the air. Iranians were no longer able to hear firsthand reports of the protests or the nightly think tanks about their country's future. Instead, after two weeks of virtual silence, the broadcasts are being replaced this week with tunes from Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston and other soft-rockers. How did the mullahs pull off this well-timed lobotomy? They didn't: The U.S. government, in the form of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, did it. In an act that mixes Hollywood arrogance with astounding ignorance of Iranian reality, the board has silenced the most effective opposition radio station in Iran at a time of unprecedented ferment. In its place, at three times the expense, the United States now will supply Iran's revolutionary students with a diet of pop music -- on the theory that this better advances U.S. interests. Even the name of the station has been sanitized. Instead of "Freedom" -- regarded as too political by the programmers -- the radio will be called "Farda," meaning "tomorrow." Never mind that "freedom" is what thousands of young Iranians have been risking their lives to shout every day on the streets. "The assumption of the people who did this back in Washington is that Iranian young people, like young people in most places, don't want to hear news," says Stephen Fairbanks, the ousted director of Radio Freedom. But this is not most places -- this is Iran, where young people are leading a rebellion against a dictatorship that has stifled opposition media. The student leaders who used to phone in, Fairbanks says, now tell him that "they are losing their voice." The "people back in Washington" Fairbanks referred to are led by Norman Pattiz, a Los Angeles-based commercial radio mogul and generous Democratic contributor who was rewarded by President Clinton with an appointment to the broadcasting board. As the chairman of the board's Middle East committee, Pattiz initially focused on the Voice of America's Arabic service, which he deemed out of touch in a region where there is growing popular hostility to the United States. His solution was to replace what he called the "old-style propaganda" of VOA with Radio Sawa, a pop-music station that debuted last March. Sawa broadcasts five minutes of news twice each hour, along with Whitney, Britney and a few Arabic balladeers. The jury on Sawa is still out. The good news is that the station seems to have captured a fairly large audience in countries such as like Jordan and Dubai, where American culture is popular even if American policy is not. But Pattiz and his Washington-based program consultant, Bert Kleinman -- a former producer of Casey Kasem's hit countdown -- have yet to prove that they can sustain the audience while "layering in" more news. In fact, they have yet to deliver on promises to Congress that the news programming will be significantly increased. Their argument that young Arabs in cities such as Amman and Beirut are more likely to be captured by American music than by canned documentaries is not unreasonable. What's inexplicable is the extension of that logic to mullah-ruled Iran. Yes, Jordan's young population, governed by a pro-American dynasty, is angry at the United States; but in Iran, where an anti-American dictatorship is clinging to power through sheer brutality, the United States and its policies are wildly popular, especially among young people. So was America's radio station, until recently. "This is not the Cold War era, where oppressed people were under the thumb of tyrants, and they would stand with one foot in a bathtub holding a wire hanger to hear what we would say," Pattiz smugly told the Boston Globe. Maybe not in Egypt, but that's exactly what was happening in Iran -- until Washington pulled the plug. "We made extraordinary inroads," says Fairbanks. "Everyone started to see us as a forum. Each day there were students who would report live to us from their mobile phones. It's a measure of how bold they have become that they would do that." "Or did." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59781-2002Dec15.html © 2002 The Washington Post Company (via Kim Elliott, Harry Helms, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Airborne PsyOps against IRAQ begin: see IRAQ [non] ** U S A. New York Times (magazine, I think) December 15, 2002 POP-AGANDA By PAUL TOUGH Why do they hate us? According to a theory being tested this year by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an arm of the United States government, they hate us because we haven't been playing them enough J. Lo. In March, the B.B.G. addressed that shortfall by budgeting $35 million to start Radio Sawa, a 24-hour radio network broadcasting from studios in Washington to FM stations in Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar; it's also piped into Iraq, past Saddam's scramblers, via Kuwait. Radio Sawa is the brainchild of Norman Pattiz, chairman of the Westwood One radio network. Soon after President Clinton appointed him to help oversee the government's foreign broadcasting efforts, Pattiz took a fact-finding trip to the Middle East, and he came back with two observations: there is a ''media war'' going on in the Arab world, and the United States is losing. The Arab-language all-talk Voice of America, also under the control of the B.B.G., wasn't up to the fight, Pattiz concluded. It was boring, especially to the younger generation Pattiz wanted to target. Radio Sawa, by contrast, is lots of fun: an upbeat mix of contemporary Western and Arabic pop (J. Lo segués quite nicely into the Egyptian heartthrob Hisham Abbas, it turns out), no ads and two brief news segments each hour, presenting the events of the day with a gently pro-American spin. Pattiz recruited Arab journalists from Al Hayat (a London-based newspaper) and ''Nightline'' to write the news briefs. Officially, the reports are balanced and objective, seeking the truth from all sides. But critics charge that Radio Sawa presents the American point of view more explicitly than Voice of America did. For example, the V.O.A. was criticized in Washington late in 2001 for broadcasting excerpts from an interview with the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammed Omar; the news director of Radio Sawa, by contrast, told reporters that he wouldn't have broadcast Omar's interview, nor would he broadcast the voice of Saddam Hussein. President Bush's June 24, 2002, speech calling on Palestinians to replace Yasir Arafat, however, was broadcast live in its entirety, translated instantly into Arabic. The message comes through in the music, too -- like Casey Kasem, the D.J.'s on Radio Sawa introduce each song with a story about the artist. ''When we play a song by Jennifer López, we talk about all the difficulties she has overcome,'' Pattiz explains. ''Those are great stories about the kind of things that can happen to you when you live in a democracy.'' Though reliable ratings figures are sometimes difficult to come by, so far indications are that Radio Sawa (sawa means ''together'' in Arabic) is getting through: Pattiz says that 80 percent of 18- to 30- year-olds in Amman are regular listeners. And the network is expanding; this month, the B.B.G. plans to start a Radio Sawa-like service that will broadcast in Farsi to Iran. The main problem, so far, is that the network's young Arab listeners seem to like the pop a lot more than they like the news: Avril Lavigne, yes; Condoleezza Rice, no. One Jordanian listener told the BBC that he listens to the music on Radio Sawa all the time but turns the dial whenever the news comes on. ''It's like listening to Israeli radio,'' he said. ''It's biased.'' (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. PENTAGON DEBATES PROPAGANDA PUSH IN ALLIED NATIONS By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 — The Defense Department is considering issuing a secret directive to the American military to conduct covert operations aimed at influencing public opinion and policy makers in friendly and neutral countries, senior Pentagon and administration officials say. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has not yet decided on the proposal, which has ignited a fierce battle throughout the Bush administration over whether the military should carry out secret propaganda missions in friendly nations like Germany, where many of the Sept. 11 hijackers congregated, or Pakistan, still considered a haven for Al Qaeda's militants. Such a program, for example, could include efforts to discredit and undermine the influence of mosques and religious schools that have become breeding grounds for Islamic militancy and anti-Americanism across the Middle East, Asia and Europe. It might even include setting up schools with secret American financing to teach a moderate Islamic position laced with sympathetic depictions of how the religion is practiced in America, officials said. Many administration officials agree that the government's broad strategy to counter terrorism must include vigorous and creative propaganda to change the negative view of America held in many countries. The fight, one Pentagon official said, is over "the strategic communications for our nation, the message we want to send for long- term influence, and how we do it." As a military officer put it: "We have the assets and the capabilities and the training to go into friendly and neutral nations to influence public opinion. We could do it and get away with it. That doesn't mean we should."... http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/international/16MILI.html?ex=1040706000&en=3132532d70106b87&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. December 15th - 2328 UT - tuned in to find (I *think* this time) W R N O on 7355 with a strong signal, still a bit low on modulation. Programming in English is a man talking about economic changes - almost sounds like the same individual I heard a number of days ago. Not waiting for Station ID before reporting - last time I waited 1 hour 19 minutes for one - only to have them sign-off shortly thereafter (almost 0300 UT on a Monday) If you need WRNO, here's a chance. SINPO in Ohio is 44434 (Bill Matthews, Columbus, Ohio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked at 0020 UT Dec 16, and a pretty strong carrier, but modulation very low; not enough to avoid bubble jammer bleedover from 7365, or SSB 2-way on low side; stayed on 2.5 hours, but unlistenable (gh, OK, DXLD) ** U S A. Ran across ``Imagination Theatre`` as it was about to end at 0600 UT Mon Dec 16 on KFAB-1110 Omaha, caught website http://www.transmediasf.com which in turn leads to a station list for this weekly hour: http://www.transmediasf.com/itstat.html Unfortunately the listing for KFAB itself is wrong, just `Sat 6 pm and midnight`, zone not specified, presumably local UT-6. Some 150 stations are claimed including some other biggies, such as WCCO, KKOB, KPNW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re WMQM running 50 kW on 1600: This is a very remarkable change of the FCC policy. 1600AM was used as a low power AM channel. This station might cause a lot of interference in the areas of low power stations during nighttime. Nevertheless WMQM has more or less a clear channel. Best regards (Eric PA2REH, BDXC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Eric, Not really. For many years now FCC has allowed more than 5 kW on regional channels, on a case by case basis. Same company already accomplished this several years ago with their 1300 in Nashville, WNQM, 50 kW. DAYTIME, if there are no stations close enough to be interfered (or if applicant can buy off/close down such stations, as was done with 1600 and 1300). You apparently haven`t seen my other reports about this. Night power is only 35 watts. Of course once they are on the air, they might be able to get this changed, or heaven forbid, ``forget`` to power down as so many stations do, without consequences. And then there`s the prospect of digital... 1600 is anything but `clear` with dozens of other stations in the USA, day and night. KATZ St Louis tends to dominate here. WMQM has apparently been delayed again. Not heard Dec 14 or 15. 73, (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) WMQM IS ON THE AIR! For Immediate Release 14 December 2002 POC: George McClintock (615) 255-1300 The "On-Air" date for WMQM, 1600-AM, Memphis, Tennessee's newest Christian Radio station has finally arrived. Several unforeseen delays have finally been overcome and the station officially began "on-air" testing on Saturday evening, 14 December 2002. The station will continue testing on Sunday and is expected to begin regular programming on Monday, 16 December 2002 (via WWCR website) Kept checking 1600, and Mon Dec 16 in the 2200+ period there was no particular station dominating the skywave mélange, but at 2238 caught an ID for KCRG in Iowa. Surely if WMQM were on yet at full power it would be making an appearance before LSS at 2245. Not till 2248 did KATZ fade up, with a traffic report for I-55 and I-70. Also checked Tue Dec 17 from 1303 to 1330, and nothing identifiable as WMQM; occasional dominants were something in Spanish, and KATZ again with St. Louis traffic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For Immediate Release 16 December 2002 WMQM, 1600-AM, Memphis, Tennessee's newest Christian Radio station has arrived. Several unforeseen delays have finally been overcome, with only minor problems still existing. The station officially began "on- air" testing Saturday evening, 14 December 2002. The station will continue testing throughout this week and is expected to begin regular programming shortly. Currently the station is off the air, due to interference being caused to a local railroad crossing sign. The railroad officials are working on the situation and should have it solved shortly (via WWCR website Dec 17, via DXLD) ** U S A. Received a post card from Gary "Jax" Jackson in today's mail. It reads: "Talked to owner KHPY Moreno Valley, CA 1670 kHz. He stated they had not been testing only one hour so far. But would be on air on a regular basis after first of year." (Art Blair, Folsom, CA, Dec 17, IRCA via DXLD) {omit the `not` for this to make sense} ** U S A. There are 3 days left to comment to the mailing from the lawyers requesting night IBOC on AM. Sorry, I understand that this is an FM forum but I believe IBOC is important enough to post this. Thanks for your patience. (Kevin Redding, WTFDA) Commissioners, Gentlemen, I am writing in reply to the recent request on 99-325 by Mr. John Wells King of Garvey Schubert Barer to have IBOC allowed at night. Sirs, I am taking this opportunity to request as a end user that this NOT be allowed. I live in Arizona far from much of the testing that has been done with IBOC. I have had interference from the digital sidebands that cause me loss of service and difficulty in hearing regularly heard stations at my home. At present, although the interference, which sounds like rushing water on each side of the center frequency which is testing, it can be heard here. Not only is the interference with United States stations, it also interferes with international frequencies. In the early December testing with WLW running IBOC, I was unable to listen to sports programming from Southern California that I commonly listen to, without interference, from XETRA. The digital artifact was quite destructive to XETRA. During the later testing between WLW and WOR, considerable interference was noted between WOR`s IBOC upper sideband signal and KDWN from Las Vegas. This would cause secondary listeners, in a case of national emergency such as occurred on 9/11, would be rendered unable to retrieve information concerning the emergency. The same would be if there was an EAS message to be broadcast. The general public uses analog radio and the interference would possibly cause many listeners to be rendered unable to receive life saving notifications because of an increased noise floor due to the sideband digital transmission. In the petition on page 3 its noted "...computer models and field tests have shown that night time use of the AM IBOC system can in certain instances, lead to intolerable levels of interference..." If this interference is going to be intolerable in many cases, at least extrapolating what could be from what I have heard, then why cause the public to lose their service and notification of emergencies in any case? With the significant skywave that is observed on MW frequencies, I am of the opinion that digital will not work well, especially in the hybrid IBOC mode and will be destructive to the AM analog band in a way that will cause listeners to flee to other bands or entertainment venues. I disagree with the petition on page 4 that states, "...the number of stations which would cause interference is small." I believe that all stations not running IBOC would receive detrimental interference if I can hear the sidebands on the other side of the country from the testing. This interference has been noted also in California. It is for this reason that I believe that even the digital stations would interfere with one another in the IBOC hybrid mode. I would like to see further testing with several adjacent frequencies with stations such as 1060 KDUS, KNX 1070 kHz, KSCO 1080 kHz or some such clustered arrangement be tested. Furthermore until testing is done with 8 or so stations on a graveyard frequency such as 1230 and 1240 clustered in a fairly close proximity, then the true effect of IBOC will not be understood. It`s for the reason that I feel testing is not only complete, but I believe that real world testing has not even been accomplished, that I am against the night time use of IBOC on MW frequencies at this time. Thank You Commissioners for your time in this matter. (Kevin Redding, Mesa, Arizona, Dec 17, via WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Mike, RAIN has learned that the "Small Commercial Webcaster" license for the performance of sound recordings on Internet radio - an optional license that can be elected by qualified small webcasters in lieu of the statutory license if they so choose - has been signed by parties representing both sides and was submitted to the Copyright Office on Friday afternoon. Read all about it -- including a message from one of the smaller commercial webcasters who participated in the negotiations -- in today's issue of "RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter," which is available online now at http://www.kurthanson.com (via Mike Terry, Dec 16, DXLD) ** VATICAN. VATICAN RADIO EMISSIONS "WITHIN THE LAW" In an official statement, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that electromagnetic emissions from the transmitter site of Vatican Radio at Santa Maria di Galeria are "now within the safety limits set by the Italian law." This follows problems last year when readings taken on behalf of the government had confirmed that radiation exceeded the permitted maximum at 11 of the 14 locations subjected to checking. The inhabitants of the area around Santa Maria di Galeria, north of Rome, claim that local cases of leukaemia were caused by pollution from Vatican Radio´s transmitter site. Vatican Radio reduced the power on some frequencies and moved certain transmissions to other sites (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 17 December 2002 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Checking the weekly Aló Presidente via Cuba, Sun Dec 15 at 1440, surprised to find that 15570 was not parallel to 17750 and 15230, which were parallel to each other. Some had music, others talk. So two different transmitter sites and/or different feedlines? But at 1445 recheck they had merged. As usual, the other two reported frequencies, 11715 and 6140, were inaudible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA. Zanzibar tuned 11734.1 at 1935 UT, fair signal with US/Euro soft rock music and female DJ who was making announcements in what sounded like English, last number ran past TOH; into Swahili talk at 2000:30 with mentions of Zanzibar and Pemba. Local Mid-East style music followed. 73, (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, R75 and 80-foot Windom w/L-C tuner, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11734.1, 3.12 1648, Radio Tanzania Zanzibar med s/on kl. 1648 UT, arabisk lignende messende sang, fra 1700 UT meget stærk QRM fra Radio Africa Int'l på 11735 med 'Goodevening Africa' (amerikansk metodist radio via Jülich) 3 SHN (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, SW Bulletin via DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ BROADCASTS IN ENGLISH WINTER 2002 EDITION The Winter 2002 edition of Broadcasts in English is now available from the British DX Club. It was compiled by Alan Pennington and includes details of all currently known international broadcasts in English on shortwave and mediumwave for the B-02 schedule period (Winter 2002 in northern hemisphere). As usual it is in time order throughout and covers all target areas. Transmitter sites are listed where known. This edition of Broadcasts in English is incorporated in the special January edition of BDXC's monthly bulletin "Communication" which has just been posted to all BDXC members. It also includes: - Guide to DX and Media programmes in English - Complete listing of all active UK Low Power AM stations - latest shortwave, mediumwave and UK radio news - WorldSpace Afristar / WRN EuroMax / IBB mediumwave schedules and other features.... Copes of this 60 page booklet are available while stocks last at the following prices (postage included): United Kingdom - 2 pounds sterling Europe - 5 Euros or 5 International Reply Coupons Rest of World - 5 US dollars or 6 International Reply Coupons. UK cheques/postal orders should be payable to "British DX Club". Payments in dollars or euros by cash only please. All order/enquiries to: British DX Club 126 Bargery Road Catford London SE6 2LR UK Full details also on the BDXC web site: http://www.bdxc.org.uk (via Mike Terry, hard-core-dx via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ AURORA This is most certainly a radio related subject. To obtain an explanation and up to date data. http://www.spaceweather.com Home page, this will often (but not always) mention auroras (aurorae?). At any rate then scroll up to link NOAA Space Environment Centre and double click this. Click Online Data on the next menu. When this comes up scroll to SEC User Groups and double click Aurora (Ken Fletcher, UK, 1326 UT 15th November 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-197, December 14, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1160: WWCR: Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WBCQ: Mon 0545 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1160.html MONITORING REMINDERS: Our calendar is filling up with holiday specials as well as regular programming, and for the season we have accumulated near the top, links to 38 special holiday programming pages so far, mostly US webcasting public radio stations http://worldofradio.com/calendar.html ** AFGHANISTAN. NEW RADIO TRANSMITTER STARTS FUNCTIONING IN CENTRAL AFGHAN PROVINCE - IRAN RADIO | Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 14 December A new radio transmitter started functioning in Jabal os Saraj city, Parwan Province, yesterday [13 December]. According to the [Iranian] Central News Unit from Kabul, a France-based international association for the defence of freedom donated the radio transmitter set to the Radio Voice of Peace in Jabal os Saraj, Parwan Province. The 500 MW transmitter's range capability is in excess of 100 km. The transmitter replaced the old one which had 200 MW power and 30 km range capacity. [sic --- see below] It`s worth mentioning that radio transmission started [there] two years ago, and its programmes are aimed at raising the level of knowledge among people, the rights of women, families, children and human rights. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Dari 0330 gmt 14 Dec (via BBCM via DXLD) Certainly not 200 to 500 megawatts, nor even kilowatts. I suppose the ranges mentioned, if on mediumwave, would indicate mere watts, but, WTFK?? (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Re DXLD 2196: Glenn, Contrary to the item under Radio Australia, noted on an "unregistered" freq, please be advised that this channel is in fact registered with the ITU, and is in use 0900- 1100 to Pac, 1100-1330 Asia, 1700-2200 to Pacific. [11880] This usage was advised in the RA schedule I distributed some weeks ago, and was introduced on Oct 27. RA refuses to publish its current composite schedule on its Website, or anywhere else for that matter, exacerbating the growing alienation with hordes of SW listeners in its prime coverage areas, most of whom have no facilities to migrate to satellite or RealAudio reception. RA sees its main audience across Asia/Pacific being serviced through rebroadcasting or relays via local AM and/or FM stations, satellite, and the Internet, and to heck with direct HF delivery! The Domestic "Newsradio" network of the ABC, available on AM, FM, and RealAudio across the nation, continues to shroud itself in mystery, consistently refusing to state the locality of the program origination studio! This network has the lowest rating of any domestic broadcaster in Australia, with coverage of "news" being frequently pre-empted by interminable broadcasts of Federal Parliament (when in session). At those times, listeners are invited to retune to the Internet for the full 24-hr "Newsradio" coverage. Sorry, ABC, but I don't have a PC in my car! It offers continuously updated news, weather, sports, and business reports. At other times, it carries BBC, Radio Netherlands, RCI, NPR, and DW, but only when Parliament is in recess. It also runs BBC World Service overnight in parallel with several other non-ABC domestic broadcasters on AM and FM. Here in Melbourne, we are offered BBC overnight on several of these stations! This week, Parliament was running to a 24-hour schedule itself, sitting all night (!) which pre-empted the normal overnight BBC coverage over Newsradio. Australia - Station X. Contrary to misinformed comments I have seen, no Apparatus or Broadcast licences have been issued by the ACA for HF operations on 2368.5 kHz for this Queensland proposal. Off-band broadcasters: All Channels from 1611 to 1701 are primarily allocated for Low Power Narrowcast Narrowband stations, power limited to 400 Watts, and approved service area no greater than 10 km. Antenna mast heights are limited to 10 metres. These stations are intended for purely local audiences with very limited appeal, including ethnic, sporting and community services. Some operating on 1638-1701 kHz make available special receivers or converters for existing receivers, particularly the stations servicing the Indian and Arabic communities on 1701 and 1638. These stations are not regarded by ACA/ABA as "broadcasting stations". There is a concentration of such stations on 1611, 1620, and 1629, as that is the general limit of coverage of car radios available in Australia, regarded by the operators as the prime audience. The station in Melbourne, on 1629, is 24 hours, no announcements, playing music from the 1950's continuously. Licencing requirements do not require these stations to ID, except at the beginning and end of transmissions. Thus, if there is a carrier break during the 24-hr cycle, an ID must be given (mandatory) when transmission resumes. Regards! (Bob Padula, Victoria, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. RN Media Network this week reported: RCI, Sackville will broadcast DRM transmissions beamed to Scandinavia & Western Europe from Monday 16 Dec to Friday 20 Dec at 2300-2400 UT on 5970 kHz, beamed 47 degrees (DRM power 80 kW). Any chance that will spill over onto 5975 BBC Antigua? (Ricky Leong, QC, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CFIE 106.5 the new native station in Toronto ... a.k.a. Aboriginal Voices Radio Network, is stronger at Burnt River than WYRK Buffalo and the Owen Sound ON station. It's even stronger than most full power Toronto FMs. What in tarnation is going on? This means they may be Dxable for people outside the city... (Saul Chernos, Dec 13, WTFDA via DXLD) The Industry Canada database does show CFIE 106.5 Toronto as directional, 304 m, and 350 watts h & v. It does not say which way the array is aimed (Bruce Elving/FM Atlas, ibid.) note corrected call ** CANADA/CANARY ISLANDS. 6715 USB, "Halifax Military", {2205} Dec 13, While listening to the Las Palmas Church I noted for the first time a strong signal from Halifax Military, which I assume is a military aviation channel. Male voice: "Tango two sierra, tango two sierra; this is Halifax Military, do you copy? This went on several times then he said radio check, all with no response. After that, there was a strong data burst from what I assume was the same transmitter. Also noted other SSB traffic in SS (I think), and distant a RTTY signal. Las Palmas church was in there with the usual gospel type music at low level. My guess is that this Las Palmas Church transmission is unauthorized and essentially a pirate operation. I have a hard time believing that the government of Spain would license such a broadcast on this frequency (David Hodgson, TN, Dec 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CANARY ISLANDS, 6715U, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, 2255-2320 Fri Dec 13. Church service with talk by man and religious music. Very poor signal, just above the noise, in and out. Occasional utility interference. Faded out before the scheduled 2330 sign off. My first log of this station (Evans, TN, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Take note of our new mailing addresses. To reach the Oregon business office with contributions, T-shirts orders, etc, write RFPI, PO Box 3165, Newberg, OR 97132-3165 or e-mail radioforpeace@yahoo.com Send information requests and reception reports to RFPI, PO Box 75 - 6100, Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica or e-mail info@rfpi.org (RFPI Weekly Update Dec 8-14 via DXLD) Around 1100 UT Dec 14, 15040 was inaudible, and 7445 was well atop Taiwan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RFPI is experimenting for a week with running DEMOCRACY, NOW live into the 15040 transmitter as it comes in at 1400 UT M-F, besides the regular airings at 2200 and 0400. Listener response will determine whether this early airing continues (James Latham, RFPI Mailbag Dec 14, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. No sign of RHC on 6195, checked at 2250 UT Dec 13, as reported for English to Caribbean --- nothing but BBC, and it would not be a good idea for RHC to be here, tho they may have tested it. A quick scan around the 49mb did not find RHC on any other frequency at this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. An e-mail from Mustafa Tosun confirmed that it was Bayrak International that I heard on December 7, and that Arabic is one of the languages used in the 2200-0400 UTC time period [6150] (George Maroti NY, EDXP via DXLD) ** EGYPT. Re Spur on 15035: Spurious 125 kHz apart matter at ABZ Abu Zaabal EGY 30N16 031E22 0300-0030 15285 19 VOICE OF THE ARABS ARAB GULF 1230-1330 15160 19 PERSIAN TADZHIKSTAN 15160 1230 1330 30S ABZ 100 60 0 146 EGY ERU ERU 15285 0300 0030 39 ABZ 100 120 0 805 EGY ERU ERU (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. FW: [mwc] French MW stations... I tried to make an educated guess at the frequencies that might be awarded to the various new MW stations here in France. Well, today the CSA released the actual frequency plan. Some of my guesswork was accurate, some was not. Here is the plan... --------- The country is divided into five areas --------- 1. The Paris area: Six channels with 5 kW each, with a possibility of 10 kW daytime if the CSA gets clearance from the ITU. The channels are : 981, 999, 1062, 1080, 1314, 1575 kHz. --------- 2. The Rennes area: Brest 1485 kHz (1 kW), Nantes 1584 kHz (1 kW), Brest or Saint-Brieuc, or Rennes or Lorient: 1071 kHz (160 kW) --------- 3. The Toulouse area: Montpéllier 1071 kHz (300 kW), 1584 kHz (1 kW) Nîmes 1602 kHz (1 kW) Perpignan 1584 kHz (1 kW) Toulouse 1161 kHz (160 kW), 1485 kHz (1kW) --------- 4. The Nancy area: Metz 1584 kHz (1 kW) Mulhouse 1584 kHz (1 kW) Nancy 1485 kHz (1 kW), 1350 kHz (160 kW) Reims 1485 kHz (1 kW) Strasbourg 1584 kHz (1 kW), 1161 kHz (1 MW, 63 kW at 90 -130 ) --------- 5. The Marseille area: Ajaccio 1161 kHz (20 kW) Bastia 1071 kHz (20 kW) Marseille 675 kHz (1000 kW), 1485 kHz (1 kW) Nice 1350 kHz (2.5 MW, 300 kW at 220-230 , 100 kW at 80-100 ) Toulon 1584 kHz (1 kW) All outlets on a given high power channel will carry the same programme. This plan reflects almost exactly the situation we had before France Inter left the MW band. Only the low-powered stations are new. Whether they will find applicants for the big boys is another story. For instance RMC Info would certainly like to use 160 kW on 1071 in Rennes or 1161 in Strasbourg or 1350 kHz in Nancy... But if they apply for 1071 they will also have to use it in Bastia and in Montpellier, which are already served by the LW transmitter, if they take 1161 they will also have to use it in Toulouse, also served on LW and FM, if they take 1350 in Nancy they will have to use the 2.6 MW station in Nice, which duplicates the LW transmitter exactly... Also, and strangely enough, two channel that might have been used, 963 in Paris and 585 in Marseille have not been awarded. The original plan mentioned 30 channels and not 28, so I guess these might be added... Anyway, don't expect anything on the air before next summer at the earliest... This leaves you hardcore DXers plenty of time to hunt for stations on the newly awarded frequencies, and me time to think about which of the 6 presets on my car radio to reassign to the new programmes... ;-) (Remy Friess, Medium Wave Circle email list via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** GUAM. See JAPAN [non] ** INDIA. I am currently hearing a new AIR station on 4830 at 1530 carrying the news at nine any ideas which outlet this is? (Stuart Austin, Blackpool, England, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) All India Radio heard with a music recital on 4830 in parallel with many other outlets on 60m including 4760 4775 4895 and 5040 etc. Music terminated at approx. 1801 and was followed by announcements - including frequencies - and close down on 4830 at 1804. Is the site of this transmitter known? Signal strength was very good. The same recital could also be heard mixing with the Urdu service on 4860 - maybe due to a faulty feeder. Regards... (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, dx_india Dec 14 via DXLD] see KASHMIR! ** IRAQ [non]. RADIO HURRIAH AXED BY STATE DEPARTMENT By Nick Grace, CRW Washington with additional reporting by Robert Petraitis, CRW Lithuania [Dec 14] While Washington diplomats ponder the future political landscape in Iraq, the U.S. government has quietly axed funding earmarked for the resumption of a pro-democratic radio station that could play a crucial role in reinforcing peace and stability in the country's post-Saddam era. Radio Hurriah, CRW has confirmed from sources within the Iraqi National Congress (INC), will not take to the airwaves. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a high-ranking INC official said that planning and support for the group's radio station under the guidelines of the Iraqi Liberation Act of 1998 reached the highest levels of the Bush administration. The Department of State, however, overruled the National Security Council, which was in favor of the station, and notified the INC during a meeting last May that Radio Hurriah would not be funded. "(They) informed us in a letter in May 2002 the things they are willing to fund," the source revealed. "Radio was not on the list. When we asked in a meeting, they responded by saying that there are already enough radio stations that reach Iraq." Indeed, Iraq is targeted by approximately 27 clandestine radio broadcasts in addition to the handful of Arabic-language international outlets aimed at the Middle East. The bulk of the clandestine stations, however, operate above-ground in Iraqi Kurdistan and represent the competing ethnic and political interests of their sponsors. At least three broadcast stations, al-Mustaqbal, Voice of the Brave Armed Forces, and Radio of the Two Rivers (Radio Mesopotamia), have been tied to a covert American-run transmitter in Kuwait. The loss of the INC's radio station, coupled with Washington's closure of Hurriah TV, the INC's satellite channel that ceased operation earlier this year, is considered a major impediment for the promotion of democracy in Iraq. Said the official, "Television and radio stations would be very significant in getting the message of democracy, human rights and a better future to the Iraqi people. Additionally we could be sending messages to military commanders that they will be held accountable for WMD (weapons of mass destruction) use or human rights violations." Unlike the programs and radio stations that are currently on the air, INC broadcasts planned to reflect a political platform and democratic ideals already agreed upon by a majority of the political parties vying to replace Saddam and his regime. Additionally, the INC's track record of getting its message out over the airwaves is a successful one. Its clandestine broadcasts during the mid-1990's over Radio Hurriah and the Iraqi Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) were widely listened to within Iraq and were even responsible for convincing the Iraqi flag bearer during the 1996 Olympics to defect to the United States. He appeared on international television to explain his defection and express solidarity with the INC - without having ever communicated with a member of the organization. Washington's track record of support for the Iraqi opposition, however, is less than perfect. The Clinton administration not only abandoned the INC after encouraging its forces to engage Baghdad's military in the 1990's but it lacked the foresight to prepare solid evacuation plans for its contacts in Iraq in the event of trouble. The entire local IBC staff was caught and executed in 1996 when the Iraqi military overran opposition forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, sending CIA case officers to literally flee for their lives. The policy being pursued by the Bush White House is, in fact, a continuation of the Clinton legacy. President Bush, himself, reaffirmed the government's position during the major policy speech he delivered in Cincinnati on October 8. "If Saddam Hussein orders ('cruel and desperate measures') his generals would be well advised to refuse those orders," he said. "If they do not refuse, they must understand that all war criminals will be pursued and punished." His message was carried into Iraq over the Voice of America's Arabic-language service Radio Sawa and also over the American surrogate outlet Radio Free Iraq. White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer went further a few days before Bush's speech, explaining, "The cost of one bullet, if the Iraqi people take it on themselves, is substantially less (than the cost of war)... There are many options that the President hopes the... people of Iraq will exercise themselves that gets rid of the threat." Two of the clandestine radio stations operating with covert U.S. funding, al-Mustaqbal and Voice of the Brave Armed Forces, articulate Washington's goals for a military coup d'etat on a daily basis. In the eight years since the stations hit the airwaves, however, Saddam Hussein has not yet been assassinated by someone from within his inner circle. The third station, Radio of the Two Rivers (Radio Mesopotamia), remains an enigma within the Iraqi opposition. Its programs are virtually unknown outside of short wave [sic] radio monitors. CRW's Robert Petraitis in Lithuania, who speaks Arabic and listens to the station regularly, notes that its programs are "moderate" in relation to al-Mustaqbal and Voice of the Brave Armed Forces and do not seem to target a military audience within Iraq. The pro-coup stations, meanwhile, continue to broadcast as United Nations weapons inspectors comb through Iraqi facilities and as the Pentagon proceeds with its build-up in the region - leading to suspicion that hope lingers within the Washington Beltway that America's show of force will act as a force multiplier to the broadcasts and lead to a so-called "zipless coup" that lies at the core of the Iraqi National Accord's platform. The Accord, headed by military defectors, is supported by the CIA and operates al-Mustaqbal. Few Iraqis are holding their breath. Rather, many wish that the Bush administration would reconsider its position on Radio Hurriah and by extension TV Hurriah (CRW Dec 14, also via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Fwd: The final JSWC 50th anniversary program Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2002 9:45 AM Dear Sirs, The final special broadcast in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC) in 2002, will be held as follows: Station: Trans World Radio - KTWR from Agaña, Guam Language: Japanese (Partly in English) Date, time (UT) and freqs: 28 December 2002 / 2100-2130 / 11690 kHz 29 December 2002 / 1200-1230 / 9465 kHz Program host: Mr. Nobuyoshi Nakagawa, Ms. Nahoko Keida Guest: Toshimichi Ohtake (JSWC member) According to Mr. Ohtake, the recording at KTWR studio was completed this week, and the program was produced so that a non-Japanese speaking listener would be able to enjoy. So please try to receive it as the very final broadcast from our club this year. The next information on AWR is a repeat of my previous e- mail letters to most of you. Station: Adventist World R from Agat, Guam Language: Japanese and English Date, time and freqs: 15 December 2002 / 2100 UT / 11960 11980 16 December 2002 / 1300 UT / 11755 11980 Program host: Mr. Masaru Kawagoe Guest: Mr.Toshimichi Ohtake (JSWC member) Program contents: Since our club`s special broadcasts have already taken place 3 times by the Japanese service of AWR so far, we have received many reception reports for the second broadcast on 19 August from all over the world. So this time, these reports will be introduced during the regular Monday progran by Mr. Kawagoe, with a guest Toshimichi Ohtake, a senior member of JSWC. It is a special bi-lingual, an approximately 20 mins-long program just after the opening ID at 2100/1300 UT. A special QSL card from JSWC will be issued for correct reception reports including practical description about the segment for JSWC. The address for reception reports is: Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC), 50th Anniversary Committee, P. O. Box 138, Yokohama Port, 231-8691 Japan. Please write your report in English and enclose 1 IRC or U.S. 1 dollar bill. Finally, we would like to express our deep gratitude to all of you who have heard our messages, as well as the broadcasters kindly cooperated to convey them in this anniversary year. And we hope your continuous support of our club activities even in the future (Source of all the above information: Toshimichi Ohtake, a member of JSWC) With kind regards, Nobuya Kato, A volunteer staff of JSWC 50th anniversary project e-mail: jswc50@par.odn.ne.jp Dec 14 (via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) All assuming, that both stations will have recovered sufficiently from the typhoon Dec 8 to follow thru these plans, even be on the air (gh) ** KASHMIR. I am currently hearing a new AIR station on 4830 at 1530 carrying the news at nine any ideas which outlet this is? [see INDIA] [Later:] The station on 4830 noted in parallel with other AIR outlets broadcasting a concert. The station IDed as Radio Kashmir at 1801 and 1803, then off. Good signal; is this a punch up error for 4950 or an entirely new outlet, I wonder? (Stuart Austin, Blackpool, England, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. El Servicio Español de KBS Radio Corea Internacional brinda una nueva alternativa para los oyentes latinoamericanos que quieran ahorrar costo de franqueo aéreo en el envío de correspondencia postal. A partir de enero de 2003 quedará habilitada la Casilla de Correo 950, Código Postal 2000, Rosario, Argentina (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {provided by RGM?} ** LATVIA. Excellent reception of this new Riga-based transmission here in the capital area of Finland, as of 0700 UT this morning. Non stop German music, jingle ID during the s/on (Hannu Tikkanen, Espoo, Finland, Dec 14, hard-core-dx via DXLD) A new pest is born. Very strong signal in southern Sweden at 0900 UT on 945 kHz with test in German with old old pops. Will be regular from March, 03 acc. to info (Bengt Ericson, MW-DX via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]: Translation of Michel Aoun's Speech on Voice of Free Lebanon --- By Achraf Chaabane, CRW North Africa [Dec 3] The Voice of Free Lebanon, which began test broadcasts on November 22, carries a speech by the Free Patriotic Movement's head, Michel Aoun, of much significance: "Today is the memorial Lebanon's Independence Day. I say "memorial" because independence is dead. We lost this day ever since the Syrian army occupied Lebanon to impose its political choices, its economic choices, its desired presidents, and to delete our liberties. The Syrian army tries every day to replace our system with their system. "In mid-August, during the annual summit in Paris, we recognized that in Lebanon they censor economic news and news related with Syria. They force journalists and reporters to avoid subjects related to our economy and Syria. During the summit, we planned to develop radio programs to talk freely about the economic situation in Lebanon but then we decided instead to talk about the liberties in Lebanon. We knew that there will be a time when the free Lebanese TV and radio stations will be stopped. "So we sought to create a Lebanese voice targeted to the Lebanese people that would speak about our true situation. Since our people can only hear lies from the Syrian-controlled media our station will offer to be the Voice of Freedom - the Voice of Free Lebanon. "We start, therefore, with a limited budget and a test broadcast for one hour. It is an hour of objective news and programs. We ask every Lebanese - no matter where they are - to help stop Syria's lies by supporting our operations financially. "[Long] Live Lebanon." (Clandestine Radio Watch Dec 14 via DXLD) Al-Hayat was able to ask the French Foreign Ministry about the issue? [transmitter site] They should better ask a radio club next time they make a report about radio broadcasts (BDXC or WDXC ? both in the UK). Very strange that journalists sometimes 'forget' to ask those who should know more about the matter they are reporting about (M. Schöch, Dec 10, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** MEXICO. No sign of R. Educación on 6185 when checked before and after 1100 UT Dec 14. Supposed to be on until 1200* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. VO1MRC, the Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland club station, has received experimental authorisation to transmit CW and upper sideband on seven spot frequencies around 5.3 MHz for three four-day periods. The next session is from the 20th to 23rd of December inclusive and the frequencies that VO1MRC can use are 5260, 5269, 5280, 5290, 5319, 5329 and 5400 kHz. The experiment is to look at the differences in ground wave and sky wave propagation on 3.5, 5.3 and 7 MHz (RSGB via Mike Terry, DXLD) Incorporated 7 November 2001: the centenary year of Marconi's first transatlantic wireless experiment. Objective: to promote science, engineering, technology and traditional amateur radio through the Marconi communications legacy. The Marconi Radio Club is enthusiastic about experimentation on 60 metres. Members have been monitoring the band for several months, listening for UK stations. An experiment was proposed by J. Craig, and with the assistance of Dr Ken Pulfer VE3PU and Jim Dean VE3IQ, and the endorsement of RAC, was approved by Industry Canada, the national regulatory body. Updates will be posted on the web page. Authorised Dates: 22-25 November 2002, 20-23 December 2002, and 20-23 June 2003. Authorised Frequencies: 5260, 5269, 5280, 5290, 5319, 5329, 5400 and 5405 kHz (From http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jcraig/5megex.html via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 8000 kilometres east of Moscow is the Jewish Autonomous Region, an area near Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, created by Stalin in the 1930's as a national homeland for Soviet Jews. An audio clip of the local state radio, GTRK "Bira" (named after a local river), can be heard on the Interval Signals Archive at http://www.intervalsignals.net along with other new clips of radio stations in Siberia and the Russian Far East (Dave Kernick, UK, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. Re V. of Reform, 7590: ``probably within the WRN bouqet, or elsewhere?`` No bouquet, but an own, digital downlink: HOTBIRD 13 E - 11.096 GHz H, MPEG2, Symbol rate: 27500, FEC 3/4, Audio PID: 74. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On Dec 9, *1900-2100*, I heard only an open carrier (QSA 3) on 7590 except for a few seconds at 2021 when very weak voices were heard. But on Dec 10, 1940-2057* a strong signal was heard with test messages by a man continuously talking in Arabic with a few words and numbers in fluently English, at times distorted, but most times very clear. He had a few phone talks with other people. Saudi Arabia was mentioned. 44544. Already slightly jammed as from Dec 10. That ceased at 2102*. It is remarkable that Norkring/Kvitsøy had dropped 9980 on Dec 10 for its broadcasts in Norwegian and Danish during that specific period, probably to make this transmitter available for a Merlin broadcast! Both Kvitsøy transmitters were back for the Norwegian broadcast from R. Norway at 2105 on 7490 and 9510 (A. Petersen, Denmark, Dec 9, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) 7590 Voice of Reform 1900-2100 Program jammed by bubble jammer. The signal was very strong but the audio quality wasn't very good and had many breaks. The announcer apologized for the technical problems and said that they are completing the installation of the equipment (A. Chaabane, Tunisia, Nov 16, 2002 for CRW) VOICE OF REFORM JAMMED, By Achraf Chaabane, CRW North Africa [Dec 10] After four days of clear broadcasts, the Voice of Reform (Saw al- Islah) began being jammed with a bubble jammer on December 10. The jammer continued throughout the broadcast under the station's signal and then for four minutes after the broadcast ended. Audio of the jammer as monitored in Tunisia can be heard at: http://www.clandestineradio.com/audio/sarabia_reform021210jam.ram Jamming was also noted by CRW contributor Rajesh Nambiar with weak signals underneath the Voice of Reform's carrier on December 12 and also by Cumbre DX's Hans Johnson, who listened to the broadcast over the Internet via Javaradio.net on December 11. Also noted by Kouji Hashimoto from Japan on Dec. 10. Hi, From the United Arab Emirates !! Monitored Sout al eslah on 10.12.2002, 1900-1930 UT [on 7590 kHz]. At roughly 1900, strong carrier, then a distinct Arabic tape recording of a Sa`udi male went on with frequent breaks; I believe it was recorded. Was trying to figure out the commentator`s message with frequent words like "Naass" meaning People, "Al etehad"- union, etc., etc. Overall signal report for this station is 555 (SIO). The carrier was little rough. The audio was OK, little noise behind the tape recorded commentary (of political nature). The Sa`udi Arabs and citizens in the Gulf in general stay up late at night watching TV, etc., so I guess this might be the reason why they selected this time schedule; it`s 10:00 PM in Sa`udi Arabia and 11 here in Dubai. The democratic reforms in Bahrain and the events in Iraq may have something to do with these broadcasts. The Sa`udi Jammers will surely get hold of 7590 and we can expect a frequency change soon. Will keep you updated. P.S Bubble jammers were heard yesterday (11.12.2002) but faint (R. Nambiar, UAE, Dec 10-12, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** SPAIN. SPANISH MW STATIONS LIST Hi! A new update of Spanish MW Stations List was uploaded at: http://www.aer-dx.org/listas/eaenom.htm The list is compiled by Martín Estévez, ee@aer-dx.org, and edited by Pedro Sedano, editor@aer-dx.org; both are members of AER Asociación Española de Radioescucha (= Spanish Radiolistening Association) http://www.aer-dx.org The data of every station are: QRG, Name, Location, Network, Kw, Observations, Tx Location, QSL, Address, Tel. and Fax. Next: web & e- mail. There are 3 PDF files sorted by frequency, by location and by network. What's new inside this update? - New postal address of SER R Valencia. Till next one! (Pedro Sedano, Madrid, Spain, AER via hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Friends, TWR Puttlam, Sri Lanka on 882 kHz is not heard since the morning of yesterday december 13, 2002. Has it anything to do with the new political developments there (or any technical problems?) (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India, Dec 14, dx_india via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. PERMITTING LTTE UPGRADE RADIO STATION RIDICULOUS RESTORE WANNI SEVAYA — OPPOSITION -- by Shamindra Ferdinando The opposition wants the government to restore the special radio service which was closed down following a ceasefire agreement with the LTTE, particularly as it recently allowed the LTTE to acquire state- of-the-art equipment to boost its clandestine Voice of Tigers (VOT) broadcasts. The government station — "Wanni Sevaya" — was set up for the benefit of the police and the security forces deployed in the Wanni theatre. The new equipment will allow the LTTE to greatly expand VOT coverage which was previously limited to the Wanni. The station — "Wanni Sevaya" — was closed down on March 31, subsequent to the ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE reached in February. "The government must restore the station," a JVP spokesman said, accusing the government of closing down the station to make the 'Tigers' happy. The station was set up on a directive of the then President Ranasinghe Premadesa as a part of the strategy to counter the VOT. The station also gave families of officers and men deployed in the region an opportunity to send messages to their men on the front. "There were a lot programmes for the listening pleasure of the troops," a security official said, adding that the station was also used to keep the Tamil civilian population informed of government stance on key issues including the peace process. The opposition on Wednesday (11) queried whether the equipment brought by the Norwegian embassy and handed over to the LTTE recently would be taxed. "Will the customs apply the law?" MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardene asked Finance Minister K. N. Choksy in parliament. SLFP frontliner Anura Bandaranaike told the Island that the government should not have permitted the LTTE to upgrade its clandestine radio broadcasts. "It was a ridiculous situation," he said, accusing the government of allowing the LTTE to take advantage of the so-called peace process. Bandaranaike blasted the government for permitting the Norwegians to bring down radio equipment sought by the LTTE. The station was situated within a key security forces base in Vavuniya. Wanni Security Force Headquarters made representations to the government through the Army Headquarters. The office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has been informed of the situation. The opposition was convinced that the government should restore the Wanni Sevaya that was put to use by successive adminstrations to reach the Tamil speaking people living in the LTTE-held areas. A spokesman for the office of the president said that President Chandrika Kumaratunga was deeply concerned over the decision to close down the Wanni Sevaya and permit the LTTE to upgrade its clandestine radio network. He blamed the government for legalising a clandestine radio Service while terminating its own broadcasts (source not given, via D. Prabakaran, Tamilnadu, Dec 14, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Voice of the Tigers FM Frequency. LTTE's VOT is using 102.6 MHz FM in addition to SW (D. Prabakaran, Tamil Nadu, Dec 2, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) Sure it is really on SW now? WTFK? ** SYRIA [non]. 12120, The Arabic Radio, 1600-1630. The frequency 12115 has been changed to 12120 kHz. Also announces 9950 but instead broadcasts on 9955. No jamming noticed. The station broadcast a program call "Love of the Nation," which speaks about the human rights violations of Syria's domestic intelligence services (A. Chaabane, Tunisia, Nov 15, 2002 for CRW Dec 14 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. New Star/Star Star is not often heard here but was definitely logged on Nov 8, 2002 from 1410 to 1419* on 9725.0 with a weak but fair signal. Haven't really tried since (V. Korinek, RSA, Dec 10, 2002 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. Voice of Tibet via Uzbekistan, 1430 UT is still on 11975, not 12025 as Observer stated. Shortly after start of program, Chinese musicjammer (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. On Christmas Eve, TRT is going to go live as is the case with all Tuesday nights. TRT will much appreciate you giving us a ring if possible to enrich the phone-in segment of their broadcast. TRT will also be delighted to call you provided that you e-mail your phone number to them in time. Hoping to meet on the air on Christmas Eve, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That Would be 1940-2020 UT Dec 24 on 9890 plus webcast ** U K. With more objectivity about the subject than most broadcasters can muster, I rerecommend BBCWS` REPORT ON RELIGION. I ran across most of it Dec 14, Sat 1030 UT on 6195; among the topics: Cambodians against mention of `God` in text books since that is contrary to the state religion Buddhism --- and how pushy ``rice-bowl`` Christians and Moslems are a menace; concern in Japan about renewed nervegas attacks by Aum Shinrikyo as its convicted leader and former SW broadcaster and verie-signer Shoko Asahara is about to be sentenced. Arab Christian and Moslem comedians in New York feel their religions are OK to make fun of... Thanks to BBC On Air for December, which finally has an alphabetical index of programmmmes in the back, we quickly find its listing on page 21 showing all the airtimes: WAf Sat 1030 Eu Sat 1030, Sun 0330, 1930 E&SAf Sat 1030 ME Sat 1030, Sun 0330, 1230 SAs Sat 0030, Sun 0330, 1930 EAs Sun 0330, 0930, 1930 Ams Sat 1030, Sun 0330, 1930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Full list of 70th anniversary BBCWS programmes with links to frequencies at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/features/seventy/complete_guide.shtml (BDXC-UK via DXLD) STARS GO GLOBAL FOR RADIO PARTY --- From BBC News Friday, 13 December, 2002, 12:15 GMT A week of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the BBC World Service kicks off on Sunday with a live broadcast from five concerts in cities around the world. The BBC World Service Global Party will take in shows beamed from Dakar, Mumbai, Kabul, Mexico City and London, featuring stars including Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal and Ms Dynamite. "It's one of the most creatively and technically challenging events ever undertaken by the BBC World Service," said 70th anniversary project editor David Stead. The show, hosted by DJs John Peel and Emma B in London, will be heard from 1700 GMT. "It will show the World Service at its best and will set the tone for the rest of the week," Mr Stead said. Opening the party at Bush House in London, the home of BBC World Service, will be Senegalese sensation Youssou N'Dour. Globally famous for his 1994 duet with Neneh Cherry, Seven Seconds, he will perform in a huge marquee in front of an audience of 500 invited guests and selected World Service staff. The party will then move around the world. In the Senegalese capital Dakar, Baaba Maal will mix his acoustic sound with international dance music. Thousands of miles east, in Mumbai, Indian composer Trilok Gurtu will perform alongside classical pianist turned jazz and pop star Adnan Sami. In Mexico City, ten-strong band of former students and activists Los de Abajo (Those from Below), will perform what they term as "tropipunk". They will represent modern Mexico, playing a combination of Latin rhythms, reggae, funk and hip-hop. Ms Dynamite won this year's Mercury Music Prize Meanwhile in Kabul, where a little over a year ago music simply wasn't heard, artists previously silenced by the Taliban will perform live to the world. Performers including Sulam Logari, Gul Zaman, Ghulam Hussain, Safadar Tawakuli, Mashinai and Taj Mohammad will sing in local languages Uzbek, Pashto and Dari. The finale will take place back in London, where British singing star Ms Dynamite will perform tracks from her album, A Little Deeper. Having recently emerged from the vibrant UK garage scene, the singer - real name Niomi McLean-Daley - describes her sound as "trying to bring positivity to people... while encouraging people to think". (via Mike Terry, DXLD) don`t get caught dead with anything classical here (gh) ** U K. As soon as that`s over, retune on the internet as BBCR7 launches, Sun Dec 15 2000-2300, the first two hours also on BBCR4 (gh) YES, BUT IS ANYONE LISTENING? December 13, 2002, Times online, By Raymond Snoddy When BBC7 arrives on Sunday, only 120,000 radio sets will be able to pick it up JENNY ABRAMSKY, the director of BBC Radio, could not be more enthusiastic about her latest network, BBC 7, which will be launched this Sunday by Paul Merton. "It's going to be wonderful, a joy," she says of the digital station, which will plunder the BBC archive for the best comedy, drama and book readings, and will make a courageous attempt to revive original children's programming on radio. The small number of listeners with access to digital radio will be able to hear books such as The Shipping News, many of the 300 episodes of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Alan Partridge before he became famous, and classic series such as Little Dorrit. The new station, which is costing £4 million a year, is the first to exploit the extensive BBC archive in a systematic way. But "what we thought would be the easiest channel (to launch) has turned out to be the most difficult," says Abramsky. Every programme had to be listened to, re-timed and digitised. Then the BBC had to sort out the rights. The corporation hopes that BBC 7 will attract a new audience to digital radio, which is just beginning to make an impact after years of gloom. BBC 7 is the fifth new BBC digital station to be launched this year, at a total cost for the first year of £19 million. "Five new radio networks in one year. It took more than 70 years to do the first five," Abramsky says. The other new BBC networks are Radio 6 Music, for the more mature rock/indy generation; the Asian Network; Five Live Sports Extra; and 1Xtra, a black music station. It is too early to measure impact. A study is under way to see how many people are listening to the new stations on digital satellite. More than 165,000 people a month are accessing 1Xtra via online audio streams, with 6 Music attracting about 155,000. The radio industry hopes that by the end of the year there will be 120,000 digital radio sets in use. It is early days, but at least new content has been created, and not just by the BBC. The commercial sector has been even more courageous - with its own money - launching new stations such as Planet Rock, The Arrow, Smash Hits and Oneword, a station specialising in plays, books and comedy which will compete directly with BBC 7. Problems still abound. The Christmas market this year has been largely missed because the radio industry, despite its best efforts, failed to persuade sceptical manufacturers to make enough sets in time. The latest estimates suggest that there will be only 58,200 sets available for sale by Christmas, and all the signs are that demand is outstripping supply now that the price has come down to £99.99. The first on the market at that price, the Evoke, has now been joined by new sets from Goodmans and what is claimed as the first hand-held battery-operated digital radio, Perstel, selling at about £129. There are hopes that some of the biggest players in the market, such as Sony, may enter the fray and drive the price down further. BBC digital broadcasts, however, are available in only 65 per cent of the country, with commercial radio closer to 85 per cent coverage. At least there has been no fight over rival technologies. Radio has not repeated the battle of digital TV. The industry knew that without the fullest co-operation, digital radio was doomed. So the Digital Radio Development Bureau is chaired by Ralph Bernard, executive chairman of the GWR commercial radio group, and the vice-chairman is Abramsky. But will notoriously conservative listeners be prepared to turn their dials in search of the new networks? The experience of the past is not encouraging. Research carried out for the Radio Advertising Bureau found that a third of drivers with existing analogue radios never changed stations, and of the remainder, 50 per cent changed only once or twice. Only on long journeys did significant numbers change stations frequently. One of the pleasures of digital radio is the ease of finding stations: the listener simply turns a dial and the name of the station comes up on a display. The need to remember frequencies is a thing of the past (digital car radios rely on the traditional "pre-set" buttons that analogue listeners are used to). But will listeners become more promiscuous and tune in to the wider range of choice that digital offers? Nobody knows the answer for sure at the moment, although the first research results suggest that owners of digital radios listen for longer periods and quickly become enthusiasts. Everyone recognises that next year is make or break year for digital radio, with a target of 500,000 sets. (more on web site) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA BURMESE BROADCASTER WINS HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2002 -- Doris Hla Hla Than of the Voice of America's (VOA) Burmese Service received the Human Rights Community Service Award today from the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA). The Association presented the award to Ms. Than "in honor of her remarkable work on behalf of the women of Burma." Ms. Than has extensively covered human rights issues in Burma -- particularly illegal trafficking in women and girls -- since joining VOA in 1989. Today, she hosts the 10-minute weekly Burmese-language program "Women's Corner." The program focuses on women's rights, empowerment of women, participation of women in peacekeeping efforts, women as victims in armed conflicts, impact of AIDS on women, freedom of the press, and the plight of political prisoners in Burma. Ms. Than has received seven VOA East Asia and Pacific Division Excellence in Programming Awards in recognition of her outstanding reporting. Notable among the numerous interviews she has conducted are those with democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, 2002 Ramón Magsaysay Award Winner Dr. Cynthia Maung, and Dr. Sima Samar, the current head of Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission and former Women's Affairs Minister. UNA-NCA and its members work with foreign policy makers, political decision makers, schools, colleges and universities, and non-profit and other organizations in the Washington, D.C. area to build knowledge, understanding, informed opinion, and new ideas, on the United Nations and its specialized agencies. VOA broadcasts one sesquihour daily in Burmese via shortwave and on http://www.voanews.com/burmese (VOA Press release via DXLD) ** U S A. WJIE website http://www.wjiesw.com has a new LISTEN LIVE button but its link to http://216.248.52.55:1072 does not yet work. Also not yet up is their new program schedule (Glenn Hauser, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Monitoring for the startup of the new WMQM, 1600, Memphis TN, Dec 14 at 2130, KUSH-1600, my nearest (but not too near) 1600 station in Cushing OK continued to dominate the frequency with mostly country music and occasional IDs, promos (NOT \\ WWLS-640 sportstalk as 100000watts.com claims), but by 2137 some co-channel developed, presumably incipient skywave, could be KATZ or anything, with SAH of about 280/minute = 4.67 Hz... Rolled a tape as skywave built up, but don`t think I`ll find WMQM on it yet; nothing from there in the 2235- 2245 period before nominal powerdown. Guess they didn`t make it today, but should be on soon. BTW, the WMQM Programming Links already lists several ministries, and surprise to me, WORLD OF RADIO, at a time to be determined. As of Nov 7, WNQM-1300 Nashville lists WOR Sat at 3:55 am CT (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, some 725 km from WMQM, Dec 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. December 9, 2002 BOB STEELE DIES AT 91, By SCOTT FYBUSH http://fybush.com/nerw.html The man who defined morning radio in CONNECTICUT for fifty years died last Friday (Dec. 6), ending a radio career that spanned seven decades at just one station. Bob Steele came to WTIC in Hartford in 1936, as a junior announcer fresh from the motorcycle-racing circuit, where he had announced the races at a local arena (and, earlier, on KGFJ in Los Angeles.) The Missouri native was hired on a probationary basis and urged to work on his accent. Within a few months, Steele was announcing sports broadcasts on WTIC - and in 1943, he took over the "Morning Watch" show. Before long, "Morning Watch" became the Bob Steele Show, and Steele became a WTIC institution, waking up generations of Nutmeggers with the "Word for the Day," birthday announcements, and general good humor until his retirement from daily broadcasting in 1991. And even then - at the age of 80 - Bob Steele was far from finished at WTIC, moving to a Saturday-morning slot that eventually became a monthly feature on the station. In recent years, Steele was on the air only from May until November, but still proudly claimed his title as the longest-running regular program host in New England, and probably the entire country. When he turned 90 last year, Steele was quoted as saying he might consider retiring "when I turn 100." Sadly, he won't get that chance; Steele died in his sleep sometime Friday morning, a month or so after what turned out to be his last WTIC broadcast. It was a run that's unlikely to ever be equalled, from a man who'll be widely remembered as one of the class acts in this business, and he'll be missed. (WTIC did a special four-hour broadcast Sunday morning to remember Steele; we hear the station even cut carrier for 15 seconds at the end of the show in Steele's memory.) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Another major public radio station quits NPR:: WFPK Radio Louisville 91.9FM --- WFPK Programming Changes Effective this week, WFPK will undergo programming changes. WFPK Program Director Dan Reed explains in more detail: WFPK listeners: As many of you know, we at the Public Radio Partnership have been forced to really tighten our belts around here. The economic situation locally and nationwide has affected all of us, WFPK included. In order to make ends meet with our programming budget, we have decided to drop our affiliation to National Public Radio effective this week. This means that two long-standing weekend programs will no longer be heard on WFPK - Thistle & Shamrock and Marion McPartland's Piano Jazz. Also gone from the schedule is Jazz Profiles, a show that NPR will continue to distribute but will not be making any new programs for, and Jazzset, which was totally dropped from the NPR schedule. Jazz From Lincoln Center has been picked up by another distributor, and we're happy to announce that show will continue to be heard on WFPK at its usual time. Thistle And Shamrock will be replaced with a new Celtic music show, "Celtic Brew", hosted by New Albany, Indiana's Colin Cordy - a lifelong Celtic fan. Colin plans to include plenty of local concert info, local Celtic music, and even a weekly "brew of the week" feature. The show debuts Saturday December 14th at 7 AM [EST, = 1200 UT] The Sunday 1-3 PM hours [1800-2000 UT] will be filled with jazz music from the satellite network Jazzworks, and, on 5 PM Sundays [2200 UT] starting December 15th, WFPK presents "The Sinatra Songbook", a year- long feature on Frank Sinatra's music and legacy, with many, many wonderful performances and special guests. We hope you enjoy the new programming. I'm sincerely sorry to those of you who are inconvenienced by these changes, but we feel that this was the fiscally responsible thing to do. I'm always available to you via e-mail, and I look forward to hearing from you about the changes. Sincerely, Dan Reed, WFPK Program Director (WFPK Website Dec 13 via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. CLASSICAL IS BACK, AND IT`S AT 1360 A.M., By Jan Stucker Classical music is back on Miami radio 24 hours a day. Radio station WKAT, owned by Spanish Media Broadcasting, made the switch from Hispanic to classical music when partners Herb Levin, Christopher Korge and Adib Eden realized the need to nourish the arts in South Florida. ``We want to position ourselves to be the cultural heart of South Florida,`` said Harry Gottlieb, WKAT`s media consultant. ``There`s been a huge void here since WTMI went off the air.`` WKAT owners believe they can make money with the classical music format and re-capture the audience that once belonged to WTMI, which dropped the format in favor of a more contemporary sound. ``WTMI did very well financially,`` said Levin. ``But it had a single owner, which is very rare, and he was offered $110 million by Cox Communications for a piece of paper that says you can broadcast – not for any buildings or equipment. Who wouldn`t take that?`` Cox Communications promised the community that WTMI would retain a classical format, but instead jumped quickly into the trendy pop-party music scene, leaving what classical music lovers said was a tremendous void in the city. WKAT, at 1360 on the AM radio dial, expects to make those 300,000 weekly listeners happy since its signal will reach well into Collier, Broward and Monroe counties, in addition to Dade. ``We`ll have a very significant audience,`` said Levin. ``We have a big, fat, non-directional station reaching up into Palm Beach.`` General manager Andrew Korge adds that WTMI had about a 3.6 percent share of the market. ``It was the eighth highest ranked station in the nation,`` he said. ``Since Cox paid $110 million for it, it had to generate $12 to $14 million a year. We have totally different dynamics – we don`t need that.`` One of the issues of going classical is that WKAT 1360 is an AM station. ``We can`t pretend it`s going to sound like an FM. But we`ve done everything technically possible to enhance the sound by putting in all new equipment including a solid state digital ready transmitter,`` said Levin. ``And both AM and FM stations are about to go digital, with something called In Band On Channel (IBOC) on the horizon.`` IBOC will be introduced later this year and be in full swing in 2003. ``You`ll need a new radio receiver and all cars that are 2004 models will have it either standard or as an option,`` said Levin. ``The issue of `can I listen on AM` will be pretty much resolved by this.`` WKAT 1360 AM also will be streamed on computer just in case you don`t have good reception in your building. Just turn your computer on and listen. ``We`ve got Dee Silvers as WKAT`s new program director,`` said Levin. ``She`s the former morning voice on WTMI and hosted the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on Saturday afternoons. A few of the familiar program segments that listeners will immediately recognize include the Detroit Symphony broadcasts, arts interviews and show calendars.`` Originally licensed in 1934, WKAT is the second oldest AM station in South Florida and was the area`s original classical outlet. Many believe this is the ``last chance`` for classical music in Miami. ``The community has been very supportive, including the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs and Judy Drucker, president of the Concert Association of Florida,`` said Gottlieb. For more information, please call 305-503-1340 or log on to http://www.classical1360.com (Miami Community Newspapers via Artie Bigley, Dec 11, DXLD) Whence: Due to popular demand we are currently developing a section where you can listen to WKAT over the internet. We anticipate launching this feature shortly, but in the meantime you can still find us at 1360 on your AM dial (WKAT website via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW COMPETITION FOR AN OLD FORMAT -- KLAC'S SWITCH FROM TALK BACK TO POP STANDARDS ANGERS A STATION WITH A SIMILAR PLAYLIST. http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/radio/cl-et-carney13dec13,0,7946969.story?coll=cl%2Dradio AROUND THE DIAL, By Steve Carney, Special to The Times, December 13 The new approach to adult standards that KLAC-AM (570) took to the airwaves Thursday may be fun and hip, but it's not cool, according to a cross-town competitor. KLAC flipped from all-talk to what management is calling a "martini format," a recipe that mixes the likes of Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald with newer artists such as Norah Jones and Harry Connick Jr., performing their own songs as well as classics by Cole Porter and the Gershwins. KLAC's new incarnation, "the Fabulous 570," launched at noon Thursday with Rod Stewart performing live at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills. The success of Stewart's multimillion-selling new album, "It Had to Be You ... The Great American Songbook," convinced executives at parent company Clear Channel Communications that the Southland was ripe for an updated standards format. "My God, the music on a station like this speaks for itself. It's great music," said Roy Laughlin, vice president of Clear Channel-Los Angeles. "We don't see ourselves as an oldies station, or a standards station, or a nostalgia station. We see ourselves as a completely new mix of music." But the mix is anything but new, nor the invention of Clear Channel, contends Saul Levine, who says it's the same format he's been broadcasting since March from "The Surf," at KSUR-AM (1260) and XSURF (540). KLAC had been airing standards until switching to talk last year, but had taken the more traditional approach to those songs -- with a "music of your life" format, for listeners closer to the end of theirs than young hipsters. "There's a substantial audience of people 50-plus who wanted to hear this and they dumped them. They decided to heck with it. There wasn't enough money in it," Levine said of KLAC's decision to drop that format last year. Their backpedaling angers him. "These people over there at Clear Channel, who are really beyond words, saw the possibility of the format and decided to come in and take it away from us," he said, calling the situation a case of an "800-pound gorilla attacking L.A.'s last mom-and-pop radio station. I don't like being threatened. I'm taking this personally. We're going to let the people decide." "We're going to do whatever it takes to let justice be done," Levine said, including making his station commercial-free for at least the next three months. "It isn't a matter of money for me. It's a matter of principle." Levine added that his independence and his corresponding freedom to make such moves give him an advantage over a corporate behemoth such as Clear Channel, which owns more than 1,200 stations nationwide and the FCC maximum of eight in Los Angeles, including KBIG-FM (104.3), KHHT-FM (92.3), KIIS-FM (102.7), KOST-FM (103.5), KYSR-FM (98.7), KFI- AM (640) and KXTA-AM (1150). Clear Channel has to make money and show a profit for stockholders, Levine said. "So they've got to run every last [commercial] spot that they can." But what Levine criticizes as size and muscle, Laughlin cites as an economy of scale that will help KLAC succeed. "We don't have to make the station survive exclusively on its own," he said, but can tout it on the company's other stations, and bring to bear an army of advertising sales people, promoters and artists. "I have resources that a stand-alone station like this could never tap into. It would never have the kind of glammed-out, gakked-out presentation we can bring to it." For this battle, both sides have pulled out the biggest gun in the genre's arsenal: Frank Sinatra. The new KLAC debuted on what would have been Sinatra's 87th birthday, and planned 24 hours straight of his music after Stewart's performance Thursday, while KSUR has been airing the top 100 Sinatra songs as voted by its listeners. "They think they're going to pick up a much younger audience, and they're not going to get it. Younger people are not going to listen to music on AM," Levine said, citing his own research: the tastes of his college-age son and daughter. But Laughlin said the new KLAC is banking on attracting younger listeners, and believes that the swank, Vegas-style lounge trappings that the company is draping on the station will lure them in and that the music will keep them. "It has to be so compelling that 35-to-44-year-olds say, 'This is cool. Now that's music,' " Laughlin said. Off the air The format change at KLAC had one effect before it even took place. Southland talk-radio fixture Michael Jackson was off the air, again. The talk pioneer, who was at KABC-AM (790) for 32 years until he left in 1999 after being relegated to weekends, had his second station change formats out from under him in two years. After leaving KABC, he landed at what was formerly talk station KRLA-AM (1110), but was forced off when ABC/Disney bought it in 2000 and changed it to all- sports KSPN. He moved to KLAC and praised his colleagues there as he left the air Wednesday. Talking to author Gore Vidal, his final guest, Jackson said he'd speak to him again on the air, "Lord willing." Although he has nothing new lined up yet, Jackson scotched any suggestion that he'll retire. "Yes, I need to work. Yes, I want to work. I've got so much more I want to do," Jackson said after his final show. "I am yearning to get back on the air. I've been off for several hours now." He noted that with most talk radio hosts speaking from conservative viewpoints, the airwaves could use a more liberal voice, such as his - - especially with the looming prospect of war with Iraq. "Shouldn't we -- even on just this one subject -- be hearing alternative views?" Jackson asked. The only local talents on KLAC station were Jackson, morning drive host Gil Gross and evening host Leslie Marshall; the station's other programs were syndicated. As yet, Clear Channel has no plans to move any of them to sister station KFI. "They have a good fan base," Laughlin said. "We're still trying to find ways of incorporating them into the cluster." Jackson said he'll keep fans apprised through his Web site http://www.michaeljacksontalkradio.com (via Brock Whaley for DXLD) ** U S A. EXPERIMENTAL GRANT MENTIONED IN CGC #551 APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO A PIRATE BROADCASTER I have done some research into the Experimental grant mentioned last week (WC2XZV). The license was granted by FCC's OET (instead of the Audio Services Division) and specified operation in a 50 km radius centered on Rosamond. The application claims that they want to run Eureka 147 digital, yet they give the specs for the Ibiquity IBOC FM- DAB system (yet they have only been authorized 20 kHz of bandwidth). I have discovered many more flaws with the application and choice of frequencies for the experiment. Information from the application and attempts to reach the licensee have confirmed that this Experimental operation is related to a specific pirate FM operator in the SE Palmdale area. The conditions of the grant require them to coordinate their experimental operations with the SCFCC. For more information, visit our LPFM page at: http://www.recnet.com/lpfminfo (Rich Eyre for REC Networks, via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. KC3XSH, *100.3 MHz experimental, Benicia CA, no paramaters given in an FCC grant; Comsearch. Won`t be in the FM Atlas (FMedia! Dec via DXLD) If it ever be published ** U S A. The New Mexico Department of Transportation has let its 530 kHz TIS stations all over the state atrophy, so that I doubt any of them are still operational, tho signs and masts, some with solar cells, may still be spotted along highways. All they ever did was run continuous loops of ``Welcome to New Mexico`` spiels by Ricardo Montalbán, interesting little historical/tourist info pieces lasting but a few minutes, but once you`ve heard one, hardly of any further use. Now it appears DOT is ready to restart this service on FM, let us hope with more ambitious `programming` as a larger number of LPFM outlets, 28, have been granted as follows, per FMedia! for December, first rearranged into frequency order: 92.7: Chama 94.7: Clayton 96.9: Taos 101.1: Moriarty, Tucumcari 101.7: Cuba, La Mesita Negra 102.5: Carlsbad 103.7: Aztec 104.1: Clovis 104--: Fort Sumner 105.5: Roswell 106.1: Santa Rosa 106.9: Alamogordo, Carrizozo, San Jon, Vaughn 107.1: Lordsburg, Ratón, Rowe 107.5: Deming, Grants 107.9: Artesia, Gallup, Silver City, Socorro, Springer, T or C Alphabetical order by town: 106.9, Alamogordo 107.9, Artesia 103.7, Aztec 102.5, Carlsbad 106.9, Carrizozo 92.7, Chama 94.7, Clayton 104.1, Clovis 101.7, Cuba 107.5, Deming 104--, Fort Sumner [lost the decimal place] 107.9, Gallup 107.5, Grants 101.7, La Mesita Negra 107.1, Lordsburg 101.1, Moriarty 107.1, Ratón 105.5, Roswell 107.1, Rowe 106.9, San Jon 106.1, Santa Rosa 107.9, Silver City 107.9, Socorro 107.9, Springer 96.9, Taos 107.9, Truth or Cónsequences 101.1, Túcumcari 106.9, Vaughn A few of the other LPFM grants in NM, which appear NOT to be religious fronts: Alamogordo, 95.1, Southwestern Trails Cultural Heritage Assn Dixon, 96.5, Embudo Valley Community Library Ratón, 95.7, Shuler Restoration Assn [who`s Shuler?] Ruidoso, 102.3, Fort Stanton Taos, 97.7, Taos Insitute of Arts (FMedia! Dec, excerpted by Glenn Hauser, for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 920: WPDE847, Detroit Metro Airport with test broadcast. "You're listening to a test broadcast operating on 9-20 kilohertz AM from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. This is a test broadcast. WPDE847." Heard from Brighton the next day with usual info, just like before the test (Liz, Cameron 5 Dec from Belleville, 6 Dec from Brighton, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. More catching up with NRC-AM`s IBOC Thread, as of Dec 7: I dunno, David... IBOC radios are fairly complex beasts. For the economies of scale to kick in to the extent you're hoping for, production quantities would have to be enormous. That won't happen unless there is a strong demand for the product, and it's hard to see that developing. Maybe, just maybe, there would be a demand if IBOC actually offered something new, instead of an old product in a new package. But it can't do that, since it's just a digitized simulcast of analog services, with some text labels added for window dressing. After all, wasn't it new programming that finally helped FM differentiate itself from AM and pull ahead? The Eureka DAB experience should be an object lesson for the IBOC folks. First demo'ed in 1988, standardized in the early 90s, officially launched by several countries in 1995, lots of investment by broadcasters in infrastructure... and it's still barely created a ripple. No big demand from consumers, no economies of scale... receivers are still expensive. The portable DAB receiver recently introduced in Canada is something of a price breakthrough, at about $200 USD. Still an order of magnitude or more above the cost of AM/FM portables. Ah, but the car manufacturers are onboard with IBOC, you say? Wait 'til the rubber hits the road... they aren't stupid, it's the bottom line that counts. Eureka has them all signed up, too. Last year, GM announced that DAB receivers would be available in many of their 2003 models in Canada. The receivers weren't vaporware either - they showed them off in demo cars. But this year, they quietly backed away from DAB, presumably because their market research showed that the demand wasn't strong enough, and the economics didn't look good. C'est la vie. On the other hand, a country that can successfully market a "product" like George Dubya can probably market just about anything, so IBOC might have a chance after all... (Barry McLarnon, Ont., Dec 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) IBAC guys, it`s your turn --- This is a question for all of those who are proponents of IBAC. This question is given in all sincerity. If you can answer it, you will at least cause me to pause and think about whether this is a good idea or not. All I know is that I have heard it in action on the band, at present, obviously I don't like what I hear. Here`s the question for the IBAC proponents... How will IBAC improve the plight of the DXer and those who don't live in a major city? What will be the killer app for the consumer outside a major metro area? (Kevin Redding, AZ) HD will not improve DXing. It will add sideband noise that is a constant, as opposed to variable excursions... the difference between a packed digital stream and AM modulation. As HD rolls out nationally, it is likely that smaller markets will be the last to adopt it on AM. FM is cheaper and almost a given. I can't think of many commercial stations that would not want to say "digital" in their promotions. Small AMs, whether they be bottom feeders in large cities or simply small market stations will have to make a decision at some point as to whether the investment is worthwhile. Since it appears that the HD chipset is analog/digital compatible, stations can stay analog forever. Keep in mind that the digital HD signal can drop out; if it does, the HD chipset defaults to analog. So a station must have an analog component. This is not a transition to all-digital, but, rather an additional add-on (pardon the redundancy) to the existing service for those who want to buy the receiver. I've heard both FM and AM HD as recently as August on prototype manufacturing-ready receivers. The FM sounded cleaner than regular FM, in part because there is less need for processing. The AM was not 100% satisfactory due to artifacts in speech; I'm told this is an algorithm thing and will be perfected by the January start of the 6-market roll out. Music on AM sounded superb when compared to AM analog... speech is not ready for prime time as of 8/02. What do I see? A chance for AMs to do niche music formats on facilities that are inherently less costly to buy. A nice AM in Phoenix could be had for under $5 million, while a nice FM would be $70 million today. At those prices, formats like adult standards, 50's and 60's oldies, real jazz, Black/Urban in markets with small Black populations, etc., could all be done in competitive quality and draw music listeners. Add in other music options like gospel, contemporary Christian, etc., and there will be a way for marginal AMs to make a nice niche play (David Gleason, CA) The bottom line is whether we buy the radios or not. Here`s the major issue. Joe Six-Pack has difficulty paying more than $25 for a radio. Yes lots of CCRadios and GE Superadio IIIs have been sold but they are not the common purchase. I personally believe that Joe and Joan Six- Pack are going to have a hard time swallowing the cost of a IBAC receiver if it`s going to be $200 or more. We have seen people have difficulty with consideration of purchasing a CCRadio at $160. The cost is what killed AM stereo. The cost may kill XM, Sirius and IBAC. AM stereo radios were rather pricey when they initially were sold. We can see where AM stereo is today. || But it can't do that, since it's just a digitized simulcast of analog services, with some text labels added for window dressing. FM has this NOW! NOW with RDS. We can see how people aren't clamoring for radios with RDS. If we have this NOW then what makes manufacturers think people will want to pay way more for a digital receiver that does what they won't buy today in an analog version. || After all, wasn't it new programming that finally helped FM differentiate itself from AM and pull ahead? We have beat this drum to death with no result. The only thing that has changed AM is Rush Limbaugh. He is not enough. || The portable DAB receiver recently introduced in Canada is something of a price breakthrough, at about $200 USD. This is above the price threshold for Joe Blow. $50 is pushing it for a portable. || Ah, but the car manufacturers are onboard with IBOC, you say? The car manufacturers went big with AM stereo. This didn't help AM stereo much. There`s a lot of truth in what you say, Barry (Kevin Redding, AZ) Not that I'm an advocate or proponent of IBOC (just being optimistic), I will enjoy hearing FM-quality audio from specialty AM formats unavailable on FM; Spanish tropical, big band, and Real Country. I'm sure that's what many of the AM stations around here are banking on. As a DXer, I can see renewed interest in QSLing by those stations that are the first on-board with IBOC. If the digital noise carries as far as some have indicated, then maybe I'll be able to receive IBOC signals from the west coast before too many go digital. If the display indicates the station call letters or nickname, then it becomes another method of identification instead of waiting for the top of the hour. I don't see any added benefits on FM though. I'm quite satisfied with FM technology as is, and have little interest in FM IBOC if the programming remains the same. Ultimately, it's the programming that will bring people away from their TVs and computers to listen to the radio. IBOC ain't gonna fix that (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH) IBOC car radios are supposed to cost about the same as regular ones... however, the idea as always in car dealers is to get people to trade up. The profit is not from the car, it is from the accessories. IBOC portables will have a chip that is in the $2 range now and will be in the pennies range soon. The idea of CE manufacturers is to obsolete existing $30 mini-boom boxes and get them to buy new ones. The gear will be competitively priced. Remember, the early adopters are driven by sound. Digital FM is a hot item among those who buy high-end car gear and large, obnoxious boom boxes. I talked with a national buyer at Best Buy recently and she said that by far the higher end boom boxes outsold the cheap, $39 dollar ones. RDS is a European system whose main goal was to allow synchronous network stations to be listened to across geographic areas, and the data is secondary and minimal. It was really set up so you could seamlessly listen to Europe 2 as you drove across France, never knowing you had listened to 5 different frequencies in 2 hours. (David Gleason, CA) || This is not a transition to all-digital, but, rather an additional add-on (pardon the redundancy) to the existing service for those who want to buy the receiver. || Not true. The goal is to eventually be all-digital, no analog. The bandwidth required for analog will be needed to provide all the proposed extra services. Radio stations would eventually drop analog entirely. The hybrid IBOC is meant to be temporary. The DRM group is doing the same thing in Europe, starting with a hybrid mediumwave service, eventually transitioning to all digital (Bruce Conti, Nashua NH) I have not seen mention of an all-digital system in the near future. All discussions and that includes the IBOC panel at NAB in Seattle, showed that the present goal is a digital piggyback with analog fallback. A future all-digital system would be a leapfrog development. Get all receivers to be IBOC compatible, then drop the analog and sell another round of digital receivers with additional features. That is 20 years away (David Gleason, CA) True, Bruce, that is the goal. But when? The FCC says that people are suppose to have digital TVs, and I'm suppose to turn off WLIO-NTSC Channel 35 in 2006. I don't think that's going to happen till 2012 to 2015. Based on the set sales, and the person buying the sets, it will be a long time before analog TV is gone. You can bet me a diet coke, and one of us can collect at a future NRC convention ... my guess will be that analog radio won't completely die till 2035 or more. There are just too many people with analog. Also, while addressing the receiver issue, I don't see any politician that wants to be put in the position of telling people on limited incomes that they have to buy digital or loose what they have. At some point that card will be played, and it could get ugly. DRM is different, as I've seen them open up to allowing the technology to be experimented around by a few people. The DRM folks seems to be taking the same tact that Dolby did in the early 70s where they will license the chipset/software to a manufacturer. In fact, you can, (if you pass their criteria) so some limited beta testing of DRM. There is an investment, but I see DRM as being marketed better than IBOC (Fred Vobbe, OH, NRC-AM Dec 7 via DXLD) [lots of NRC remarx still need to be edited and included; but now skipping ahead to a new development --- gh] RE: [NRC-am] IBOC night filing This came from another board, and I have not seen the actual filing. But it would certainly affect DX. Garvey, Schubert, Barer (D.C. law firm) filed a Petition for Reconsideration this week on the AM IBOC issue. They want the FCC to DROP the night-time ban on AM IBOC and consider interference complaints on a case-by-case basis. Those stations that are found to have interference problems can be individually restrained, but everyone else should be able to run IBOC 24-7. This Petition was filed Dec. 10, and there's 10 days on which to file Reply Comments, if anyone is so inclined (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) It would more or less eliminate DX'ing. It would also render the AM band useless for only a few metro area or areas where you are actually close to an AM station to have more than 10 m/mv (Powell E. Way, ibid.) Does anyone know what interests this law firm represents? Are they Ibiquity's attorneys? I find it hard to believe, after hearing about the night tests, that this could be slipped in without evaluating the tests (Gleason, ibid.) Actually if you were one of those people who went to the FCC website early on and typed some comments on IBOC, you got a copy. I did and it sure surprised me. I got it yesterday. Just looked it over briefly, but it's in plain English and I could understand it. Well, FWIW, this petition was submitted on behalf of Glen Clark and Associates. Page two says GCA is a consulting engineering firm based in suburban Pittsburgh and that Gen Clark is a communications consulting engineer directly involved in the study and development if digital transmission in the AM broadcast band. Again, FWIW :) (Mike Bugaj, CT, Dec 14, all: NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. We seldom mention longwave beacons in DXLD, so here`s the exception, an exhaustive, but I suppose incomplete, listing of beacons monitored by MARE members over the past few months: WHAT MARE's ARE HEARING Following is a compilation of logs appearing in the MARE Tip Sheets during September-December 2002. Errors and typos in the Tip Sheets are corrected here where known. Logs listed here are all from listening posts within 250 miles of the Michigan border. All frequencies are in kHz and times/dates UT unless otherwise noted. Two-digit time indications for logs means the station was logged during that UT hour. 198 DIW Dixon NC; 23 Oct (KZ), 03 Nov (DT) 200 UAB Anahim BC; 12 Dec (DT) 200 YAQ Kasaboinka ON; 23 Oct (KZ) 201 GV Greenville TX; 05 Oct (DT) 201 MNE Minden LA; 04 Nov (DT) 201 MNN Marion OH; 23 Oct (KZ) 201 U London ON; 23 Oct (KZ) 205 CQA Celina OH; 23 Oct (KZ) 205 XZ Wawa ON; 23 Oct (KZ) 206 GLS Galveston TX; 02 Nov (DT) 206 LA Lansing MI; 11 Oct (KZ) 206 QI Yarmouth NS; 02 Nov (DT), 11 Oct (KZ) 206 VNC Venice FL; 04 Dec (DT) 207 YNE Norway House MB; 12 Dec (DT) 208 YSK Sanikiluaq NU; 03 Dec, 11 Nov (DT), 23 Oct (KZ) 209 CHU Caledonia MN; 18 Nov (DT) 209 DKB Dekalb IL; 11 Oct (KZ) 209 GDW Gladwin MI; 23 Oct (KZ) 209 MT Chibougamau QC; 23 Oct (KZ) 212 BY Beechy SK; 12 Dec (DT) 212 JX Jackson MI; 12 Nov (KR), 23 Oct (KZ) 212 MPZ Mt. Pleasant IA; 13 Dec (DT) 212 TS Timmons ON; 23 Oct (KZ) 212 VP Valpariso IN; 04 Dec (DT) 215 UIZ Detroit MI; 23 Oct (KZ) 216 CLB Wilmington NC; 03 Nov (DT), 23 Oct (KZ) 216 YFA Fort Albany ON; 23 Oct (KZ) 219 OQ Indianapolis IN; 23 Oct (KZ) 219 TO Toledo OH; 23 Oct (KZ) 223 CDI Cambridge OH; 04 Oct (DT) 223 DM Detroit MI; 22 Oct (KZ) 223 FS Fort Smith AR; 03 Nov (DT) 223 MW Middletown OH; 23 Oct (KZ) 223 YYW Armstrong ON; 22 Oct (KZ) 224 GVA Henderson KY; 02 Oct (DT) 227 TNZ Walnut Ridge AR; 03 Nov (DT) 230 BU Columbus OH; 22 Oct (KZ) 230 VQ Detroit City A/P; 22 Oct (KZ) 233 BWP Wahpeton ND; 03 Nov (DT) 233 GAK Sioux City IA; 03 Nov (DT) 233 PDR Ottawa OH; 22 Oct (KZ) 233 QN Nakina ON; 22 Oct (KZ) 234 RYD Green Cove Springs FL; 02 Nov (DT) 235 CN Cochrane ON; 22 Oct (KZ) 236 4L Chatham ON; 22 Oct (KZ) 236 J Toronto ON; 11 Oct (KZ) 237 EZF Fredericksburg VA; 11 Nov (DT) 239 HKF Middletown OH; 22 Oct (KZ) 239 LNC Lancaster TX; ? Nov (DT) 239 TCU Tecumseh MI; 04 Dec (DT), 12 Nov (KR), 22 Oct (KZ) 239 VO Val d'Or QC; 02 Nov (DT) 242 GM Milwaukee WI; 11 Oct (KZ) 242 MEZ Mana AR: 04 Dec (DT) 243 OZW Howell MI; 22 Oct (KZ) 244 DG Chute des Passes QC; 03 Oct (DT) 245 FS Sioux Falls SD; 03 Dec, 11 Nov (DT) 245 YZE Gor Bay ON; 11 Oct (KZ) 247 ILT Albuquerque NM; 12 Nov (DT) 248 HZP Zionsville IN; 11 Oct (KZ) 248 PQF Mesquite TX; 04 Dec (DT) 248 WG Winnipeg MB; 03 Nov (DT) 251 AM Amarillo TX; 04 Dec, 11 Nov (DT) 253 DD Columbus OH; 11 Oct (KZ) 253 OC Nacogdoches TX; 04 Dec (DT) 253 YTF Alma QC; 03 Oct (DT) 254 HLB Bateville IN; 23 Oct (KZ) 254 RA Rapid City SD; 03 Dec, 11 Nov (DT) 256 HBZ Heber Springs AR; 02 Nov (DT) 256 SW Stillwater OK; 04 Nov (DT) 257 DT Denton TX; 04 Dec (DT) 257 FWC Fairfield IL; 12 Dec (DT) 257 MB Freeland MI; 11 Oct (KZ) 257 PEA Pella IA; 12 Dec (DT) 257 PLD Portland IN; 11 Oct (KZ), 12 Dec (DT) 257 SQT Melbourne FL; 02 Dec (DT) 257 XE Saskatoon SK; 11 Nov (DT) 260 AP Denver CO; 04,11 Nov (DT) 260 BL Milwaukee WI; 03 Dec (DT) 260 BVQ Glasgow KY; 04 Dec (DT) 260 BYN Bryan OH; 11 Oct (KZ), 12 Nov (DT) 260 HAO Hamilton OH; 04 Dec (DT) 260 JH Jackson MS; 02 Nov (DT) 260 UFX St. Felix de Valois QC; 03 Oct (DT) 261 GD Goderich ON; 11 Oct (KZ) 263 JSO Jacksonville TX; 02 Dec (DT) 264 HN Shawnee OK; 04 Nov (DT) 266 ADU Audobon IA; 04 Nov (DT) 266 AGO Magnolia AR; 04 Nov (DT) 266 IN Indianapolis IN; 02 Dec (DT) 268 VKN Montpelier VT; 03 Nov (DT) 272 MLK Malta MT; 04 Nov (DT) 272 PIM Pine Mountain GA; 05 Oct (DT) 272 TYC Campbellsville KY; 05 Oct (DT) 275 IKV Ankeny IA; 01 Dec (DT) 275 PEZ Pleasanton TX; 05 Oct (DT) 275 RF Rockford IL; 01 Dec (DT) 276 TWT Sturgis KY; 03 Nov (DT) 277 OT Worthington MN; 03 Nov (DT) 278 ADG Adrian MI; 12 Nov (KR), 13 Oct (KZ), 18 Nov (DT) 278 GWR Gwinner ND; 11 Nov (DT) 280 MPG Progreso, Mexico; 03 Nov (DT) 281 DEQ DeQueen AR; 03 Nov (DT) 283 IML Imperial NE; 03 Nov (DT) 283 PT Pount Pelee ON; 02 Oct (JM), 13 Oct (KZ) 284 AUV Ardmore OK; 03 Nov (DT) 284 GPH Mosby MO; 04 Nov (DT) 284 OXV Knoxville IA; 02 Dec (DT) 284 PQN Pipestone MN; 03 Nov (DT) 284 RT Rankin Inlet NU; 03 Dec (DT) 284 VIV Vivian LA; 03 Dec (DT) 287 MKP McKeesport PA; 13 Oct (KZ) 290 YYH Taloyoak NU; 03 Dec (DT) 291 9Q Amos QC; 03 Oct (DT) 299 HW Wilmington OH; 13 Oct (KZ) 299 TV Turner Valley AB; 11 Nov (DT) 300 YIV Island Lake MB; 03 Nov (DT) 303 MRT Marysville OH; 23 Oct (KZ) 303 YPP Parent QC; 23 Oct (KZ) 305 RO Roswell NM; 11,12 Nov (DT) 311 DVK Danville KY; 12 Oct (KZ) 315 AT Dayton OH; 23 Oct (KZ) 317 VC La Ronfe SK; 03 Oct (DT) 319 UR Covington KY; 02 Oct (DT) 320 HTN Miles City MT; 04 Nov (DT) 323 UWP Argentia NL; 03 Oct (DT) 326 BHF Freeport, Bahamas; 01 Oct, 02 Nov (DT) 326 MA Midland TX; 11 Nov (DT) 326 PKZ Pensacola FL; 01 Oct, 02 Nov (DT) 326 VV Wierton ON; 03 Nov (DT), 23 Oct (KZ) 326 YQK Kenora ON; 23 Oct (KZ) 328 YTL Big Trout Lake ON; 23 Oct (KZ) 329 BEQ Bastrop LA; 02 Dec (DT) 329 CH Charleston SC; 04 Oct, 05 Nov (DT) 329 TAD Trinidad CO; 11 Nov (DT) 329 YEK Arviat NU; 03 Dec (DT) 330 CZM Cozumel, Mexico; 04 Dec (DT) 330 GLE Gainesville TX; 02 Nov (DT) 332 XH Medicine Hat AB; 12 Dec (DT) 335 CNC Chariton IA; 03 Sep, 04 Dec (DT) 335 COQ Cloquet MN; 04 Dec (DT) 335 FEP Freeport IL; 03 Dec (DT) 335 K Kitchener ON; 12 Sep (DT) 335 LUK Cincinnati OH; 03 Sep (DT) 335 MDZ Medford WI; 03 Sep (DT) 335 MEY Mapleton IA; 04 Dec (DT) 335 OPL Opalousa LA; 02 Dec (DT) 335 YLD Chapleau ON; 03 Sep (DT) 336 BV Quebec City QC; 00 Sep (DT) 336 LF La Salle MB; 03 Sep (DT) 337 FF Fergus Falls MN; 04 Sep (DT) 338 DE Detroit MI; 03 Sep (DT), 12 Oct (KZ), 18 Dec (DT) 338 GFZ Greenfield IA; 13 Nov (DT) 338 GY Greenville SC; 05 Dec (DT) 338 HE Sheboygan WI; 03 Sep, 18 Dec (DT) 338 LH Lancaster OH; 04 Sep (DT) 338 LM St. Louis MO; 03 Sep (DT) 338 MRK Rayville LA; 02 Dec (DT) 338 UMP Indianapolis IN; 03 Sep (DT), 12 Oct (KZ), 18 Dec (DT) 338 VTI Vinton IA; 01 Sep (DT) 338 ZEM Eastmain River QC; 03 Sep (DT) 339 MKR Glasgow MT; 04 Nov (DT) 340 BOG Bogota, Colombia; 04 Oct (DT) 340 YY Mont Joli QC; 03 Sep (DT), 23 Nov (HF) 341 CCJ Springfield OH; 04 Sep (DT) 341 CQN Chattanooga TN; 04 Nov (DT) 341 DB Dubuque IA; 21 Sep (DT) 341 EGV Eagle River WI; 05 Oct (DT) 341 LDM Ludington MI; 04 Sep (DT) 341 MYZ Marysville KS; 04 Dec (DT) 341 OIN Oberlin KS; 04 Dec (DT) 341 PRG Paris IL; 04 Sep (DT) 341 SB South Bend IN; 04 Sep (DT) 341 YYU Kapuskasing ON; 03 Sep (DT) 342 ST St. Cloud MN; 04 Sep (DT) 343 DMD Carrizo Springs TX; 03 Nov (DT) 344 BKU Baker MT; 03,05 Nov (DT) 344 CL Cleveland OH; 04 Sep (DT), 12 Nov (KR) 344 ES Escanaba MI; 04 Sep (DT) 344 TV Tallulah LA; 04 Dec (DT) 344 UNU Juneau WI; 04 Sep (DT) 344 YC Calgary AB; 11 Nov (DT) 344 YGV Havre St. Pierre QC; 04 Sep (DT) 344 ZIY Grand Cayman, Cayman Is.; 03 Nov, 04 Oct (DT) 345 BGI Adams, Barbados; 04 Oct (DT) 346 YXL Sioux Lookout ON; 03 Sep (DT) 347 AFK Nebraska City NE; 04 Oct (DT) 347 AIG Antigo WI; 00 Sep (DT) 347 ANQ Angola IN; 03 Sep (DT) 347 MKV Marksville LA; 02 Dec (DT) 347 TKB Kingsville TX; 04 Oct (DT) 347 YG Caherlottetown PEI; 03 Oct (DT) 347 YK Yankton SD; 03 Dec (DT) 348 M Montreal QC; 05 Sep (DT) 348 VLX Mountain View AR; 01 Nov (DT) 349 APG Aberdeen Proving Ground (US Army) MD; 02 Sep (DT) 349 FV Indianapolis IN; 03 Sep (DT) 350 CBG Cambridge MN; 04 Sep (DT) 350 CP Cahokia MO; 03 Sep (DT) 350 D7 Kincardine ON; 04 Dec (DT) 350 DF Deer Lake NL; 00 Sep (DT) 350 IUI Blytheville AR; 03 Nov (DT) 350 ME Chicago IL; 03 Sep (DT) 350 OKT Yoakum TX; 03 Nov (DT) 350 RB Resolute Bay NU; 03 Dec (DT) 350 RG Oklahoma City OK; 04 Nov (DT) 351 YKQ Waskaganish QC; 03 Sep (DT) 353 DI Dickinson ND; 04 Dec (DT) 353 DV Davenport IA; 03 Sep, 19 Dec (DT) 353 DWL Gothenburg NE; 03 Nov (DT) 353 FOA Flora IL; 03 Sep (DT), 04 Oct (KZ) 353 ICL Clarinda IA; ? Dec (DT) 353 JUK Brunswick GA; 03 Oct, 04 Dec (DT) 353 LI Little Rock AR; ? Dec, 12 Sep (DT) 353 LWT Lewiston MT; 04 Nov (DT) 353 PG Portage la Prairie MB; 04 Sep (DT) 353 QG Windsor ON; 03 Sep, 19 Dec (DT) 353 UHG Holguin, Cuba; 02 Dec (DT) 353 VV Greensboro GA; 04 Dec (DT) 354 MKS Moncks Corner SC; 03 Oct, 04 Dec (DT) 354 Z Sept Iles QC; 03 Sep (DT) 355 TGU Tegucigalpa, Honduras; 04 Dec, 05 Oct (DT) 356 AY St. Anthony NL; 00 Sep (DT) 356 ME Meridian MS; 05 Dec (DT) 356 ODX Ord NE; 03 Nov (DT) 356 RCX Ladysmith WI; 03 Oct (DT) 356 YBG Bagotville QC; 04 Oct (DT) 359 SDY Sidney MT; 04 Nov (DT) 360 KIN Kingston, Jamaica; 04 Oct (DT) 360 PI St. Petersburg FL; 03 Oct (DT) 362 AWN West Memphis AR; 04 Nov (DT) 362 CYW Clay Center IA; 04 Nov (DT) 362 EE Ames IA; 04 Nov (DT) 362 SC Sherbrooke QC; 02 Dec (DT) 362 SUR Fitzderald GA; 11 Nov (DT) 363 RNB Millville NJ; 00 Nov, 10 Oct (DT) 364 TZ Winchester VA; 11 Nov (DT) 365 AA Fargo ND; 03,11 Nov (DT) 365 DYB Summerville SC; 04 Oct (DT) 365 FKV Gainseville GA; 03 Nov, 04 Oct (DT) 365 HQG Hugoton KS; 03 Dec (DT) 365 JN Muncie IN; 04 Dec (DT) 365 PBC Columbia TN; 03 Nov (DT) 366 EIK Keokuk IA; 18 Nov (DT) 366 KIN Kingston, Jamaica; 03 Nov (DT) 367 FVX Farmville VA; 11 Nov (DT) 368 BEQ Bessemer AL; 05 Nov (DT) 368 EU Murray KY; 04 Nov (DT) 368 IFA Iowa Falls IA; 04 Nov (DT) 368 L Toronto ON; 03 Oct (DT) 368 ROQ Ruston LA; 03 Nov (DT) 368 RRJ French Lick IN; 04 Nov (DT) 368 SIR Sinclair WY; 11 Nov (DT) 368 SOY Sioux Center IA; 04 Nov (DT) 368 VX Dafoe SK; 11 Nov (DT) 369 CXU Camilla GA; 03 Nov (DT) 369 HDI Cleveland TN; 03 Nov (DT) 370 VOF Covington GA; 11 Nov (DT) 370 YBV Berens River MB; 04 Nov (DT) 371 FQW Murfreesboro TN; 04 Nov (DT) 371 ITU Great Falls MT; 11 Nov (DT) 371 TZT Belleplaine IA; 11 Nov (DT) 372 CQD Erie PA; 00 Nov (DT) 372 UQN Vidalia GA; 11 Nov (DT) 373 AEA South Hill VA; 00 Nov (DT) 374 EE Alexandria MN; 02 Dec (DT) 375 7B St. Thomas ON; 11 Nov (DT) 375 AT Savannah GA; 11 Nov (DT) 375 DW Tulsa OK; 12 Nov (DT) 375 RYB Raymond MS; 04 Nov (DT) 375 SPH Springhill LA; 04 Nov (DT) 376 ZIN Great Inagua, Bahamas; 04 Oct (KZ, DT) 377 AIZ Ozark Lake MO; 04 Nov (DT) 377 GUA Guatemala City, Guatemala; 02 Nov (DT) 378 LXV Leadvlle CO; 11 Nov (DT) 378 UX Hall Beach NU; 03 Dec (DT) 379 DL Duluth MN; 04 Nov (DT) 379 FSK Fort Scott KS; 04,05 Nov (DT) 379 OW Owatonna MN; 04 Nov (DT) 379 RUE Russellville AR; 04 Nov (DT) 379 TL Tallahassee FL; 02 Nov (DT), 04 Oct (KZ) 379 UNE Creston IA; 04 Nov (DT) 379 YPQ Peterborough ON; 03 Oct (KZ) 380 ALU Alliance NE; 03 Nov (DT) 380 BBD Brady TX; 02 Nov (DT) 380 GC Gillette WY; 03,11 Nov (DT) 380 LQ Boston MA; 03 Nov (DT) 380 OEL Oakley KS; 03 Dec (DT) 380 UCY Cayajabos, Cuba; 03 Oct (KZ), 04 Nov (DT) 382 AL Waterloo IA; 04 Nov (DT) 382 BM Bloomington IN; 03 Nov (DT) 382 CR Corpus Christi TX; 03,04 Nov (DT) 382 POS Port-o-Spain, Trinidad; 03 Nov, 04 Oct (DT) 382 SP Springfield IL; 03 Oct (KZ) 382 VCY Valley City ND; 03 Oct (KZ) 382 XU London ON; 03 Nov (DT) 382 YPL Pickle Lake ON; 03 Nov (DT) 385 EMR Augusta GA; 03 Oct (KZ), 04 Nov, 05 Oct (DT) 385 GYB Giddings TX; 02 Nov (DT) 385 HO Hot Springs AR; 02,03,04 Nov (DT) 385 HYX Saginaw MI; 03 Oct (KZ) 385 JD Belleville IL; 18 Nov (DT) 385 LN Lincoln NE; 03 Nov (DT) 385 TKL Santa Elena Tikal, Guatemala; 02 Nov, 04, 05 Oct (DT) 385 X Toronto ON; 00 Sep (DT) 386 BTN Britton SD; 03 Nov (DT) 386 SGR Hull TX; 04 Nov (DT) 386 SYF St. Francis KS; 04,05 Nov (DT) 387 CAV Clarion IA; 03 Nov (DT) 387 PV Providenciales, Turks & Caicos; 02,03 Nov (DT) 387 SPP San Andrés, Colombia; 02 Nov, 04 Oct (DT) 388 AM Tampa FL; 03 Oct (KZ) 388 DT Detroit MI; 03 Oct (KZ) 388 H7 Manitowaning ON; 03 Oct (KZ) 388 JUG Seagoville TX; 02 Nov (DT) 388 MAO Marion SC; 11 Nov (DT) 388 OFZ Fort Sill OK; 03 Nov (DT) 388 OYD Rome GA; ? Nov (DT) 389 CSB Cambridge NE; 03 Nov (DT) 389 IL Willmar MN; 11 Nov (DT) 389 LCG Wayne NE; 05 Nov (DT) 390 JT Stephenville NL; 03 Oct (DT) 391 CM Columbus OH; 03 Oct (KZ), 18 Nov (DT) 391 DDP San Juan PR; 02 Oct, 03 Nov (DT) 392 BAJ Sterling CO; 04 Nov (DT) 392 CVX Charlevoix MI; 03 Dec (DT) 392 JNM Monroe GA; 04 Nov (DT) 392 ML Charlevoix QC; 03 Oct (KZ) 392 VEP Vero Beach FL; 01 Nov, 02 Dec (DT), 03 Oct (KZ) 392 XVG Longville MN; 04 Nov (DT) 394 DTE Dayton TN; 03 Oct (DT) 394 MK Jackson TN; 03 Oct (DT) 394 YB North Bay ON; 03 Oct (KZ) 395 OS Oshkosh WI; 02 Nov (DT) 395 XEN Xenia OH; 03 Oct (KZ), 18 Nov (DT) 396 CQB Chandler NE; 02 Nov (DT) 396 CRS Corsicana TX; 01 Nov (DT) 396 GOI Fort Knox KY; 01 Oct (DT) 396 IEW Winters TX; 05 Nov (DT) 396 PH Inukjuak QC; 02 Nov (DT), 03 Oct (KZ) 396 UV Martinburg VA; 01 Oct, 10 Nov (DT) 400 CI Sault Ste. Marie MI; 01 Oct (DT) 400 EWP Newport AR; 03 Nov (DT) 400 HHF Canadian TX; 04 Nov (DT) 400 MDS Madison SD; 03 Dec (DT) 400 MS Madison WI; 18 Nov (DT) 400 PTD Potsdam NY; 02 Oct, 03 Nov (DT) 400 ROB Waco TX; 12 Nov (DT) 400 SLO Salem IL; 18 Nov (DT) 400 UWI Dalton GA; 00 Nov (DT) 400 XW Flemingsburg KY; 01 Dec, 03 Oct (DT) 401 AHQ Wahoo NE; 12 Dec (DT) 401 GGK Mayfield KY; 03 Oct (DT) 401 OLF Wolf Point MT; 10 Oct (DT) 401 TRX Trenton MO; 04 Nov (DT) 401 YPO Peawanuck ON; 03 Oct (KZ) 404 BAV Bolivar TN; 01 Oct, 02 Nov (DT) 404 BMW Winder GA; 03,11 Nov (DT) 404 CKI Kingstree SC; 04 Oct (DT) 404 OLF Wolf Point MT; 04,11 Nov (DT) 404 SG Springfield MO; 03 Nov (DT) 404 ST St. Louis MO; 02 Nov (DT) 404 YSL St. Leonard NB; 01 Nov (DT) 404 XCR Little Falls MN; 04 Dec (DT) 405 LR Laredo TX; 12 Nov (DT) 405 UTX Jupiter FL; 03 Oct (DT, KZ), 04 Dec (DT) 407 AD Dallas TX; 03 Dec (DT) 407 AQ Appleton WI; 01 Dec (DT) 407 BNW Boone IA; 01 Dec (DT) 407 CM Champaign IL; 01 Dec (DT) 407 CO Columbia MO; 03 Dec (DT) 407 HAI Three Rivers MI; 01 Dec (DT) 407 HRU Herington KS; 03 Dec (DT) 407 IBU Statesboro GA; 03 Dec (DT) 407 IE Natchidoches LA; 03,11 Dec (DT) 407 IL Wilmington OH; 01 Dec (DT) 407 RXW Watersmeet WI; 03 Dec (DT) 407 ZHU Montreal QC; 03 Dec (DT) 408 JDM Colby KS; 03 Dec (DT) 408 LQK Pickens SC; 01 Nov, 03,10 Oct (DT) 408 SN St. Catherine ON; 03 Oct (DT) 409 TM Tiffin GA; 03 Oct (DT) 410 BA Columbus IN; 03 Oct (KZ) 410 GDV Glendive MT; 04 Nov, 10 Oct, 11 Nov (DT) 410 JU Jefferson NC; 03 Oct (DT) 410 MK Milwaukee WI; 18 Nov (DT) 410 MSB Iola KS; 05 Oct (DT) 410 OIP Eastland TX; 10 Oct (DT) 410 TIQ Paris TN; 01 Oct (DT) 410 XBR Fort Rucker AL; 05 Oct (DT) 411 HDL Holdenville OK; 03,04 Nov (DT) 411 VFU Van Wert OH; 03 Oct (KZ) 412 JHH Griffin GA; 02 Nov (DT) 413 MC McComb MS; 04 Dec (DT) 413 YHD Druden ON; 03 Nov (DT) 414 3U Gatineau QC; 04 Dec (DT) 414 IEB Lebanon MO; 04 Dec (DT) 414 JUE Lebanon TN; 01 Oct (DT) 414 LK Louisville KY; 01 Oct, 04 Dec (DT) 414 MNA Mansfield LA; 02 Nov (DT) 414 ZRG Regina SK; 04 Dec (DT) 415 CBC Cayman Is.; 03 Nov, 04 Oct (DT) 415 HJM Bonham TX; 02 Nov (DT) 415 SLS Salinas, Ecuador; 03 Nov (DT) 415 VINI OH; 03 Oct (KZ) 416 BKL Cleveland OH; 02 Oct (KZ) 417 HHG Huntington IN; 02 Oct (KZ) 417 HQT Coats NC; 03 Nov (DT) 417 IY Charles City IA; 03 Nov (DT) 417 SLP Shelby NC; 02 Nov (DT) 418 CW Lake Charles LA; 02 Nov (DT) 419 RYS Grosse Ile MI; 02 Oct (KZ), 18 Nov (DT) 420 CEK Crete NE; 02 Nov (DT) 420 FQ Fairmont MN; 02 Nov (DT) 420 TU Tupelo MS; 02 Nov (DT) 421 EF McKinney TX; 03 Nov (DT) 423 AU Auburn AL; 04 Dec (DT) 424 RVJ Reidsville GA; 02 Oct (KZ) 426 FTP Fort Payne AL; 02 Nov (DT) 426 IZS Montezuma GA; 02 Nov (DT) 426 UV Oxford MS; 02 Nov (DT) 428 POH Pocohantas IA; 18 Nov (DT) 428 SYW Greenville TX; 02 Nov (DT) 429 IKY Springfield KY; 02 Oct (KZ), 03 Nov (DT) 430 AYB Auburn NE; 02 Nov (DT) 430 VA Varder, Cuba; 02 Nov (DT) 432 IZN Lincolnton NC; 02 Oct (KZ) 432 MHP Mettier GA; 02 Nov (DT) 435 IIY Washington GA; 02 Oct (KZ) 450 PPA Puerto Plata, Dominican Rep.; 02 Nov, 04 Oct, 05 Nov (DT) 516 YWA Petawawa ON; 02 Oct (KZ) 515 OS Columbus OH; 02 Oct (KZ) 515 PKV Port Lavaca TX; 02 Nov (DT) 524 HEH Newark OH; 02 Oct (KZ) 524 HRD Kuntze TX; 02 Nov (DT) 526 ZLS Stella Maris, Bahamas; 01,02 Oct (DT, KZ), 03 Nov (DT) REPORTERS: (HF) Harold Frodge, Midland MI (JM) Joe Miller, Troy MI (KR) Karl Racenis, Manchester MI (DT) Dave Tomasko, Downers Grove IL (KZ) Ken Zichi, Williamston MI Be sure to send your loggings and other contributions to *MARE* for the next issue! 73 \ If you are not a member of Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts, Inc., / | send for more information from: MARE, Inc, PO Box 200, Manchester, | | MI 48158. Enclose a Self Addressed Stamped envelope for | / information, US $2 for a sample of the bi-monthly newsbulletin. \ \ Any MARE member with an E-mail address may receive this / |Tip-Sheet Summary at no additional cost. You can contact MARE, Inc.| | at MARE_Inc@hotmail.com to start your subscription to the | | Tip-Sheet if you are a MARE member. (Non-MARE members may receive | | a few Tip-Sheets as a "tease" to entice membership, contact | | MARE, Inc. at either of the above addresses. For more information | / on the club. check <http://mare.radio.tripod.com> \ (MARE Dec 13 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. Here is the reply from Patrick Nkula, ZNBC. Dear Mr. Swopan, Thank you very much for the e-mail and the interest shown in our station. I will arrange for the program schedule to be sent to you as soon as possible. But I will tell you briefly about our station. We have one TV channel and three radio channels. The radio channels are named 1, 2 and 4. Radios 1 and 2 are on FM and shortwave. The frequencies are 6265 kHz for radio 1 and 6165 kHz for radio 2. The transmitters for our SW are 26 km east of the capital LUSAKA. They are both 100 kw each. You can learn more about ZNBC and ZAMBIA on http://www.znbc.co.zm Kind regards, PATRICK NKULA (via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ DAVE`S AIRCHECKS Dave Freeman has a new website providing online listening to classic DJs and station promos, such as WPLJ 95.5 New York, WHVW 97.7 Hyde Park NY, WCFL (AM) Chicago: http://www.davesairchecks.com/ (Dec FMedia! via DXLD) SHEIGRA DX-PEDITION NOV 2002; DX & MEDIA PROGRAMMMES The full report on the recent Sheigra DXpedition to northern Scotland (2-15 November 2002) by Dave Kenny and Alan Pennington is now available on the British DX Club web site, including the full mediumwave logbook. Although conditions were very poor during the two weeks, we still managed to hear some interesting DX at times. BDXC's Guide to DX and Media programmes has also just been updated on the web site. Both of the above can be found on the Article Index Page of the BDXC-UK web site at http://www.bdxc.org.uk (Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK Dec 14 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ AURORA SPECTACULAR? Reports and some smashing pictures on BBC News this weekend, suggest that this winter the Aurora Borealis, more popularly known as the Northern Lights, will give a more spectacular and widely visible display than for many years past. It is claimed they may even be visible as far south as the equator. I wonder whether any of our "amateur experts" might care to come on to the list to predict the possible effect of this on international listening conditions, if indeed there is any? Waiting to hear from you (MARK SAVAGE, Eastbourne, (just east of 0 degrees longitude, but no idea which latitude!) BDXC-UK via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-196, December 13, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1160: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WBCQ: Mon 0545 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1160.html ** AFGHANISTAN. WOMEN STILL LACK ACCESS TO BROADCASTING A conference was held in Kabul on 9 December to commemorate the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948, Radio Free Afghanistan reported on 9 December. A female participant of the Kabul conference identified as Palika told Radio Free Afghanistan on 9 December that "women cannot even broadcast" on radio and television stations in Kabul, which she said "is a clear violation of their human rights." Palika added that women are absent from the decision-making levels of the Afghan government, "other than one or two who have more of a symbolic value," RFE/RL's Afghan Service quoted her as saying. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 10 December via RFE/RL Media Matters 13 December via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Merlin`s 24-second loop of dramatic music --- sure wish we had the real name for it --- was back on 18940 via Norway when checked Dec 12 at 1428, and still going past 1440, which is about all my brain could take of it. You`d think by now they would have developed a more reliable feed routing. What a waste of resources (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {See 2-198} ** ALBANIA: B-02 schedule for Radio Tirana: English to NAm - Tue to Sun (cont.) Albanian to Eu - Daily 0330-0400 6115 CER 100 kW / 305 0900-1000 7110 CER 100 kW / ND 7160 CER 100 kW / 305 1500-1800 7270 CER 050 kW / ND German to Eu - Mon to Sat 2130-2300 7295 CER 100 kW / 305 1830-1900 7185 CER 100 kW / 350 Albanian to N Am - Daily Greek to Eu - Mon to Sat 0000-0430 7270 CER 100 kW / 305 1815-1830 6130 CER 100 kW / ND English to Eu - Mon to Sat French to Eu - Mon to Sat 1945-2000 7210 SHI 100 kW / 310 2000-2030 7210 SHI 100 kW / 310 9510 CER 100 kW / 305 Italian to Eu - Mon to Sat 2230-2300 7130 SHI 100 kW / 310 1900-1930 7240 CER 100 kW / ND 9540 CER 100 kW / 305 Serbian to Eu - Mon to Sat English to N Am - Tue to Sun 2215-2230 6135 SHI 100 kW / ND 0245-0300 6115 CER 100 kW / 305 Turkish to ME - Mon to Sat 7160 CER 100 kW / 305 1800-1815 6130 CER 100 kW / ND (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia in English noted: 0800-1100 on additional unregistered 11880 (43443) (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. (Correction c.f. OBSERVER #229): Voice International in English effective from Dec. 12 11685 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1700-1900, ex 1630-1900 13690 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1300-1700, ex 1300-1630 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. In a recent mail received from Mr Ian Williams, Frequency Manager of HCJB-Australia (wil-@netcon.net.au): HCJB-Australia is planning to start test transmissions to India on December 22 as follows: 1230 to 1430 on 15,130 MHz, 1430 to 1730 on 15,135 MHz These frequencies are tentative at the moment and may change if better frequencies become available (Moses Vasanthan Thambu, Dec 11, EDXP via DXLD) ...The new 100 kW transmitter was designed and built at the HCJB Engineering Center near Elkhart in northern Indiana. Shipment of the unit from California was delayed by the recent dock strike though it is hoped that the transmitter can still be installed and activated in time for a Christmas launch. Station HCJB has an exellent reputation as a reliable verifier and they have already indicated that they plan to verify reception reports on the programming from their new station in Australia. It is anticipated that these QSL cards will be issued from their offices in Melbourne, Victoria. According to Swopan Chakroborty in India, the introductory schedule shows four different segments beamed in two different directions. They are planning on ten hours daily, with five hours to Asia and five hours to the Pacific. When the Australian station is activated, the parent station HCJB in Ecuador will drop its programming directed to the Pacific. Here is their tentative introductory schedule, and you may want to start checking these frequencies in order to catch them when they first begin test transmissions: 0700-1200 11755 25 kW 1230-1430 15130 100 1430-1730 15135 100 1730-1800 15430 100 (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Dec 15 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Is anybody listening to X band anyway? The notable turnover in stations in the X band and the fade out for many after less than a year suggests there isn`t the support or resources to sustain a viable operation --- let alone how many domestic receivers cover the range. Sharing their views on the website of the Australian MW Group http://home.iprimus.co.au/onleyd/mwoz/ it is suggested that the reason most of the survivors cling to 1611, 1620 and 1629 is that most conventional receivers probably ``stretch to that range``. With FM well and truly established x-band stations will struggle. It is noted that Hot FM has moved to SW on 2368 after being `railroaded` off 1656 (David Onley/John Wright MWOZ via NZ DX Times via DXLD) Radiowise have put together an email list of Australian stations at: http://www.radiowise.com.au/radio_stations.htm Also DMG have a list of their stations at: http://www.dmgradio.com.au/map.html (David Onley MWOZ via Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN RADIO SCENE - BOB PADULA O. A. M. In recent weeks there have been many significant developments in the domestic radio scene across Australia. You should also note that the websites of the Australian Broadcasting Authority at http://aba.gov.au and the Australian Communications Authority http://aca.gov.au contain extensive information with the latest frequency lists of most AM, FM and TV stations throughout the continent. However, these websites do not contain listings of the FM tourist stations nor the new limited power X-band stations. New X-band stations have been noted on 1674 kHz and reported in the eastern states at various times. It appears that there may be more than one station using this channel, with locations suggested as New South Wales and Queensland. The FM tourist stations operate with low power in the frequency range 87.5 - 88.0. Applications have been invited for five open narrowcasting radio services in outback areas, at Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Yulara in the Northern Territory, and at Woomera in South Australia. As reported recently, the guy wires supporting the main tower for the commercial radio station 4BH in Brisbane were deliberately cut by an unknown assailant. Manager Spurway states that automatic equipment shut down the main transmitter and switched the programming over to the standby transmitter and the second tower. Shortly afterwards the second tower was felled and the station went off the air. It was a deliberate and well orchestrated act of vandalism, states the station manager. The station received 3,652 calls in 8 hours to their main switchboard from people trying to find out what happened, and about the same number called in to their studio phone line. Soon after the untoward event, station 4BH returned to the air with 1 kW from another site, the location of which is kept secret to avoid a further act of vandalism. More recently, a new 2.5 kW transmitter was installed at the temporary emergency site. And that completes our feature on the Australian Radio Scene, sponsored by the Electronic DX Press for which QSL cards can be obtained from Bob Padula at his address in Melbourne (Bob Padula, AWR Wavescan Dec 15 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.80, Radio Santa Cruz, CP32. Full data PPC's, signed and stamped, plus verie/information letter, with decals and stickers in 14 months, 3 months after sending a postal follow-up, previous to that an e-mail inquiry in which no response came back. v/s Ma Yolanda Marco Excobar, Secretaria de Dirección (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 2380, R. Educadora, Limeira SP, 0130-0305 UT Dec 12. Weak signal with sport, religious, news and (after 0300) musical programming. Finally got an audible ID at 0300 UTC, when the station switched to the night program. SIO 133. The reception was done in Curitiba PR, Brasil, using an Icom R75 and a home-brew T2FD. The distance to Limeira is maybe 500 to 600 km and the weak signal strength is almost certainly due to the facts that R. Educadora transmits with only 250 watts and my T2FD being only 4 meters above the ground (Rik van Riel, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4836.6, R. Dif. Roraima, 0945-1001 13 Dec, Live remote w/ talk by M in Portuguese with mentions of São Paulo, Brasil, companhia, and possibly Natal. 0958 lively ZY Pop song, 1000 program promo, then full canned ID by M with MW and SW frequenciess and whistling at beginning and end. Decent strength but way off frequency and very distorted. Couldn't really hone in on a carrier. Seemed variable too. (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. MINISTER COPPS CITES NATIONAL HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF MARCONI, EARLIEST "WIZARD OF WIRELESS" --- Anniversary radio signaling events at National Historic Sites of Canada OTTAWA, Dec. 11 /CNW/ - The Honourable Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage, today reminded Canadians of the national historic significance of the earliest "wizard of the wireless" in Canada, Guglielmo Marconi. December 15, 2002 will mark the 100th Anniversary of Marconi's first complete trans-Atlantic message from Table Head, Glace Bay to Poldhu, England. As well, December 12 marks the 101st Anniversary of Marconi's receipt of the first wireless signal from Poldhu to Signal Hill, St. John's. "National Historic Sites of Canada tell of our past - the events, the places, and the people, like Guglielmo Marconi, that helped shape Canada," said Minister Copps. "Marconi's experiments at Signal Hill and at Table Head, and beyond, were a new beginning for global telecommunications." "Marconi had a keen sense of scientific enquiry, enlightened by a spark of genius and, to top it off, a finely-tuned business sense," she added. "The Government of Canada is pleased to join Canadians in celebrating his achievements." The events taking place at both Signal Hill National Historic Site of Canada in St. John's Newfoundland on December 12 and Marconi National Historic Site of Canada in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia on December 15 will recreate Marconi's first wireless signals and messages using Morse Code. Amateur radio operators at both sites will share signals with other amateur radio operators around the world. As well, on December 16 at Bridgeport School, Glace Bay, Parks Canada will launch a new Marconi interactive website offering an animated three dimensional model of Marconi's station at Table Head, circa 1902. The site features an historic image gallery of Marconi's experiences in Cape Breton at the turn of the century, and an explanation of the scientific principles which Marconi used to send his signals across the ocean. Parks Canada wishes to thank the community partners and heritage supporters who have made this week's Marconi celebrations possible including: the Sydney Amateur Radio Society, the Glace Bay Historical Society, the University College of Cape Breton- Information Technology Innovation Centre, the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs and local representatives of the Italian community. There are over 800 national historic sites across Canada, in every province and territory. Parks Canada administers 145 of these sites. This initiative connects the roots of our past to the promises of our future and Canadians to each other. For further information: Kerry Edmonds, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, (819) 997-7788; Dave Taylor, Parks Canada - Eastern Newfoundland, (709) 772-0285; Mark Sajatovitch, Parks Canada - Cape Breton, (902) 733-3545, (Available on the Internet at: http://www.parkscanada.gc.ca under What's New.) (from Canada Newswire Dec 11 via Wade Smith, NB and Eric Flodén, BC, DXLD) Somewhere I remember reading someplace that the ham radio club in Glace Bay could not muster enough interest in this event to man up the demonstration ham station. Maybe things have changed. I visited the Glace Bay site while on vacation on Cape Breton Island a few years ago. The park service has a nice building with good displays and, at least on the day I was there, a knowledgeable docent to explain things. He told an interesting story about why Marconi moved his communications facilities from St. John's Newfoundland to Glace Bay. The ham radio station was pretty impressive with a nice tower, multiband rotary beam for HF and another beam that could be pointed to amateur satellites. They let you wander around the grounds. I found several concrete footings which once supported the towers. I recommend this place as a nice place to visit for anyone with an interest in radio. Since I was there, the big coal mine that provided employment to many in the Glace Bay/Sydney Nova Scotia area has closed. Last I heard unemployment was really high. Maybe the reason there are few hams around to operate the station is that they have all had to move to find work elsewhere. With that nice antenna farm located right on the north coast of Cape Breton, it could be an interesting SWL DX-pedition site for those who don't want to deal with the ferry to Newfoundland. Anybody interested? You can learn more at: http://www.gb4imd.co.uk/glacebay.htm ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** CANADA. CRTC okays CBC increase in power to LPRT station in B.C. Improvement in AM infrastructure. What a novel thought! (Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CRTC web page: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2002/db2002-432.htm The Commission approves the application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to amend the broadcasting licence for the radio programming undertaking CBU Vancouver in order to change the frequency of its transmitter, CBRU Squamish, from 1260 kHz (Class LP) to 1270 kHz (Class C), and to increase its transmitter power from 40 watts day and night to 400 watts daytime and 200 watts night-time. The changes will significantly improve both daytime and night-time coverage in Squamish and the surrounding communities (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CHILE. Adolfo Jankelevich Garfunkel, pioneer in Chilean radio and television died Wednesday November 13 at the age of 87 years. Though dentist as profession he started his career in broadcasting in 1932 at R. La Nación. Later he worked also with R. Universo, R La Americana and R. Agricultura. There, in 1941, he was the first announcer in the famous news program ``El Repórter Esso``. Later he was Director of R Cooperativa Vitalicia till 1956. Later on he had a career also in television. All according to an article in El Mercurio November 14. (Gabriel Iván Barrera via Lista ConDig via Thord Knutsson, ARC Info Desk via Tore Larsson via DXLD) ** CHILE. 6010, Radio Cooperativa, (via Parinacota), 0807-0820, December 12. Spanish transmission. Bulletin news. Ann. & ID: "...por Cooperativa". Weather report: "15 grados es la temperatura en la capital". After, romantic music in Spanish. A female present the songs. Interview to local singer. 32432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5958.21, Caracol Colombia (assumed Villavicencio), 1016- Dec 13. Just caught end of ID by M "...Caracol, mas compañía", then into a jazzy LA version of "The Little Drummer Boy", W and M announcers at 1018 with world news. Ad at 1023, another news story ending with timecheck, another ad, more local HJ news with actualities by men IDing as Caracol (QTH). Very nice strong clear signal!! (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. I`ve heard WRMI 15725 several more times relaying R. Prague in English at 1400, but not Dec 13, when Xmas music was playing. Website schedule is still dated Oct 28 and has never admitted to carrying Prague at 1400. From one who may update his MONITORING REMINDERS calendar several times a day with no problem, it is hard to understand why SW stations don`t keep their own program schedule absolutely up to date (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB is having some problems reaching Europe in the evening, in English, Russian, Spanish and German. There is a very narrow window for such propagation. Sunspot numbers have been lower than expected and there have been flares causing more absorption than expected, necessitating higher frequencies than are in use. Reception reports are needed, along with suggestions about clear frequencies (Doug Weaver, HCJB frequency manager, on DX Partyline Dec 7, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) No specifics of which frequencies need to be replaced. See also AUSTRALIA ** EGYPT. 15035, Radio Cairo, 5 Dec, 1255-1325*, SIO 232, in Farsi. Horrible modulation. By the way, this frequency is not in WRTH; probably it could be a combination from 15160 kHz, which went in parallel. SIO on 15160 kHz was low, too: 322 (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal Dec 10 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6209.9, R. FANA, 0334 Dec 13. Heard several male voices in an Arabic like language (Amharic or Oromo?) with occasional utility interference to weak signal. Stronger parallel on 6940. However 6940 had a strong RTTY utility cochannel 6940.9, R. FANA 0340 Dec 13. Heard several male voices in an Arabic like language (Amharic or Oromo?) with strong RTTY interference. A much weaker parallel on 6209.9. However 6209.9 had just an occasional utility noise cochannel (Pete Costello NJ, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** FRANCE. 1557: The TdF transmitter at Antibes Plateaux Fleuris (a.k.a. the Nice site), currently carrying France Info on 1557 kHz, is to be taken out of service within a few weeks. As soon as the new aerial is erected near Fontbonne (a site that TdF took over two years ago from the now defunct Radio Monte Carlo), Antibes will cease transmissions and will be dismantled after 67 years of service. Antibes Plateaux Fleuris started broadcasting in 1935, carrying Radio Méditerranée. During WW2 it was leased to Radio Monte Carlo until that station had completed a transmitter of its own at Fontbonne, on the slopes of Mont Agel (Rémy Friess via MWC e-mail news 27.11.2002) This sounds interesting and would make 1560 a little bit easier hi! (Barry Davies via MWC e-mail news 28.11.2002) No, it won't. Fontbonne will take over from Antibes on 1557 kHz as soon as the new mast is operational. There won't be any disruption (Remy Friess via MWC e-mail news 28.11.2002) (all via Olle Alm, ARC Info Desk via DXLD) ** FRANCE. The CSA, the French radio regulatory body, has announced that it is soon to release information about the upcoming MW stations in this country. The stations concerned have already been informed that they will be awarded a license. This was not to be made public but some information has leaked already: - There will be 30 licenses issued, six of them for the Paris area, two in Marseille, two in Strasbourg, two in Montpellier and two in Toulouse. Other cities will receive a single license. There is no mention yet of stations getting access to the air in more than one area (Ciel AM and RMC Info, among others, have asked for several outlets). - Among the new licenses will be some high power stations (the powers mentioned are radiated power, not transmitter power): Nice will receive a 2.6 MWatt station. A station in Marseille and another in Strasbourg will be allowed 1 MWatt. The stations in Paris will get 5 kW, but the CSA is looking into the possibility of granting 10 kW. - Frequencies were not mentioned but my guess is that the Paris frequencies will be 585, 963, 1062, 1080, 1404 and 1494 kHz. The Marseille stations will be 585 and 675 kHz (with the high power outlet on the latter channel) and the stations in Strasbourg should be 1161 and 1350 kHz, with the high power station on 1161. The Nice outlet can only be 1467 kHz (Rémy Friess, France, Medium Wave Circle email list via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Radio Georgia notified me that their schedule will not change in the near future. In the summer season all broadcasts, except those directed to Armenia, will shift an hour earlier. Direction to Oslo: 11805 kHz 0600-0630 Russian 0630-0700 English 0700-0730 German 11760 kHz 1930-2000 English 2000-2030 German 2030-2100 Russian Direction to Munich: 11910 kHz 0800-0830 French 0830-0900 English 1800-1830 German 1830-1900 English Direction to Tel Aviv: 11910 kHz 0930-1000 English 1000-1030 Georgian 6180 kHz 1630-1700 English 1700-1730 Georgian Direction to Iran: 6080 kHz 0500-0600 Georgian (Tu,Th) 1600-1700 Georgian (Sa,Su) Direction to Turkey: 6080 kHz 0630-0800 Georgian (Tu,Th) 1730-1900 Georgian (Sa,Su) Direction to Armenia: 4540 kHz 1515-1545 Armenian 1600-1630 Azeri (Vasily Gulyaev, Astrakhan, Russia, Signal Dec 10 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Some frequency changes for Deutsche Welle effective from December 15: 0100-0150 Bengali del 9720 WER 500 kW / 090 deg 0200-0245 English del 7285 WER 500 kW / 090 deg 0900-0945 English NF 11965 KIG 250 kW / non-dir, ex 11785 0900-0945 English del 17800 KIG 250 kW / 295 deg 1000-1050 Swahili NF 11965 KIG 250 kW / non-dir, ex 11785 1430-1515 Urdu NF 13810 NAU 500 kW / 090 deg, ex 13605 1500-1900 Russian del 5945 IRK 100 kW / 263 deg 1515-1600 Hindi NF 13810 NAU 500 kW / 090 deg, ex 13605 1600-1645 English del 13605 NAU 500 kW / 090 deg 2200-2400 German NF 15455 P.K 250 kW / 147 deg, ex 15250 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. AFN: In the recent past, AFN always made it a bit harder to contact them by not publishing phone numbers or having a decent presence on the internet. That seems to be changing as different AFN affiliates now have their own web sites and local e-mail addresses; clearly styled & updated by local webmasters.(see below) I also sense that the affiliates are making more use of local IDs & inserts probably because they now might have computerised studio facilities. With out too much difficulty I've heard local PSAs & IDs from AFN. 873 http://www.afneurope.army.mil/frankfurt/About%20Us.htm Web site has names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses for staff. FAX 329-4403. ID = AFN Hessen. Local shows: Monday to Friday 6-9 AM; 3- 6pm. 1107 http://www.afneurope.army.mil/Kaiserslautern/index.htm - afn.kaiserslautern@ramstein.af.mil 1107 Kaiserslautern (2340 UT) on 6 & 7th Nov and AFN Bavaria with IDs and local news at 2147 & 2151 (We rock, Big Gun AFN Bavaria") on 8/11. 1107 and 1485 AM 1107 (Graf, Vilseck, Amberg); 1143 and 1485 AM: http://www.afneurope.army.mil/wuerzburg/index.htm 1143 http://www.afneurope.army.mil/heidelberg/index.htm - afn@afn.heidelberg.army.mil 1485 Hohefels, Regensburg http://www.afneurope.army.mil/bavaria/index.htm Here's how you can contact us at AFN Bavaria: DSN: 476-3172. Comm: 09662-83-3172. Fax: 476-3171. E-mail: requests@afn.bavaria.army.mil Local shows: Mon-Fri 0600-0900; 1100-1300; 1500-1800 local time (Steve Whitt via MWC e-mail news 8.11.2002) Followup to Steve: You`re are right about the websites, but the details given on the sites vary, and I have tried to investigate this further, and many of the published e-mails are not active! (Mails are returned.) But what is clear, besides the announced broadcasts (most seem to have a few hours local at morning and afternoon) there are numerous options for the Networked shows to "fire" local jingles, IDs, PSAs etc. I believe there are options of up to a dozen or so within one hour, and at most hours, and as far as I have been able to find out there is really no definite times that are used all days. So it's just a matter of spending some "quality time" on a channel. This is also the case for many other stations, e.g. in Spain, and probably the same with networked British stations as well. The computer systems are so sophisticated that it's no longer a problem for the network studio to have full control of everything. I've had good results listening with two receivers on parallel frequencies, with a pair of headphones connected with one ear on each receiver. Then you will immediately notice when split programming occurs! (Bernt Erfjord via MWC e-mail news 8.11.2002) (all via Olle Alm, ARC Info Desk via DXLD) ** GUAM. Initially it was thought that KSDA suffered minor damage compared to KTWR (see USA - WJIE), but apparently not so (gh): Note: Due to a typhoon on Guam on Sunday, December 8, our Guam transmitters will be off the air until further notice. Our apologies for any inconvenience. For further details and progress reports please click here [see below]. We will resume normal service as soon as possible. In the meantime please try an alternative transmitter site or listen to Wavescan via the links below... (AWR Wavescan website Dec 14 via DXLD) LATEST NEWS FROM GUAM On Sunday, December 8, Guam suffered the forces of Super Typhoon Pongsona as 250 kph (155 mph) winds and torrential rains pounded the island. By late afternoon, wind gusts reached 300 kph (185 mph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center on the island. The island suffered extensive damage to its electrical distribution system, especially in the southern part of the island where the Adventist World Radio shortwave radio station is located. Many power poles carrying electricity snapped, leaving most island residents without power, including the radio station. During the initial storm front on Sunday, the station was able to broadcast most of its morning programs, but for safety reasons, transmissions were suspended by early afternoon. Repair work to the antennas began on Monday morning and by Tuesday evening the station was back on the air with one antenna and with the help of an emergency generator. Government officials predict it could take more than a month to restore power to the island. Another tragedy stuck on Thursday morning, December 12, when the emergency generator experienced non-repairable mechanical failure, knocking the station back off the air. Every effort is now being made to locate emergency power generators to get the station back on the air. Please remember the needs of the AWR station as the engineers work to restore regular scheduled broadcasts. AWR apologizes for any inconvenience that these interruptions in broadcast may cause. For up-to-date information on what is happening with restoration work on Guam, visit the Guam Pacific Daily News at http://www.guampdn.com (from http://www.awr.org/guamnews.html Dec 13 via DXLD) ** GUAM. TWR GUAM TYPHOON --- TRANS WORLD RADIO STAFF ON GUAM WORKING TO RESTORE MINISTRY TO ASIA AFTER TYPHOON HITS CARY, N.C., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- As local residents on the Pacific island of Guam begin piecing their homes and lives together after a devastating typhoon struck this past Sunday, Trans World Radio's recovery is also in full-swing. The international Christian broadcaster has been airing evangelistic and Bible teaching programs to Asia from Guam via powerful shortwave transmitters for 25 years. KTWR, Trans World Radio's shortwave operation, is currently off the air but staff are tirelessly working to resume limited broadcasts this week, possibly as early as Wednesday or Thursday. TWR has nine missionary families serving there -- eight were on the island when the typhoon came ashore, with the other family back in the United States on furlough. All are safe and report no appreciable damage to their staff homes. Typhoon Pongsona hit Guam -- an unincorporated U.S. territory approximately 1,800 miles southeast of Hong Kong -- with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and gusts to 184 mph, essentially flattening parts of the island. [what`s the point of relating it to Hong Kong??? --- gh] TWR operates five shortwave transmitters on Guam. The antenna array suffered severe damage; although, thankfully, all the towers remained erect and apparently undamaged. Three of the five antenna curtains were "shredded" according to TWR's staff there. The other two were damaged, but are hoped to be repaired and re-installed later this week. These two provide service for Northeast Asia (primarily for China), and Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and southern China). Significant programming rearrangement will be made to maximize the use of the available transmitters to best serve the listeners. The long-term general outlook on Guam is not good at this point, according to news sources. Some government estimates indicate that the commercial power grid may be down for up to a month. While KTWR does have emergency diesel generators, the fuel supply for them is also a problem, as fuel storage facilities on Guam suffered severe fire damage. Much of the island's infrastructure (water, power, etc.) is totally inoperable, and emergency services severely hampered. President George W. Bush has declared Guam a federal disaster area. Further, the roads to the south end of the island, where KTWR is located, are still blocked by snapped concrete power poles, trees, and erosion damage. Two of TWR's staff members presently are isolated at the station. A similar situation took place in 1990 when Typhoon Russ, and its 145-mph winds, caused a five-day interruption of TWR's Asian broadcasts. A man in China wrote then on Christmas Day, "When we can't get these broadcasts, we're very upset because thousands of Christians depend on radio for God's Word." TWR requests continued prayers on behalf of its staff and ministry, and also for the listeners whose daily "ray of hope" will be temporarily extinguished in many places. SOURCE Trans World Radio Web Site: http://www.GuamPDN.com (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** GUINEA BISSAU. RSF PROTESTS BAN ON PORTUGUESE BROADCASTER Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has protested at the suspension of Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) in Guinea-Bissau. The Portuguese public broadcaster's operations in the country were suspended for an indefinite period on 1 December 2002. In a letter to Deputy Information Minister João Manuel Gomes, RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said "This decision is unfair and unacceptable. RTP does nothing more than fulfill its mission of informing the people of Guinea-Bissau of events that have marked their country's history." According to an official press release, the authorities in Guinea- Bissau accuse RTP of broadcasting "information that is likely to tarnish the good image of Guinea-Bissau outside the country and may stir up anger inside the country." On 30 November RTP broadcast a programme marking the second anniversary of the death of General Ansumane Mané, who led an attempted coup d'état against the country's elected president, Kumba Yala. The RTP bureau chief in Guinea-Bissau. According to RSF, two journalists were arrested and detained in June following the airing of information about the president of Guinea-Bissau. On 5 August, a radio announcer was also fined for criticising on the air the concentration of power in the hands of members of the head of state's tribe (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 13 December 2002 via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 17510, KWHR Dec 4 2305, EE, 444, YL with a newscast on Iran/Iraq. Music then ID by OM 2308. YL with comments on Hawaii and why one should visit Hawaii! (Stewart WDX6AA MacKenzie, Japan Premium via DXLD) How about that! Was not aware they did any `local` programming (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Hans Johnson's log, DXLD 2-195, led me to recheck my logbook for this one. 4930v, Radio Internacional, 2334-0002 12/11. Hoping to hear Radio Barahona, instead heard Spanish ballads and pop music with brief announcement (ID?) by female between selections. At 0000 a jingle with ringing telephone mention of "Radio Internacional" noted. Poor, choppy signal at this time (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Saludos, colegas diexistas. Esto me llegó de La Voz de La Rep. Islámica de Iran (José Elías Dáaz Gómez, Venezuela, Dec 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Apreciado hermano, Unas breves líneas para informarle los cambios de nuestra tabla de frecuencias así como solicitarle que nos comunique su opinión acerca de la calidad de recepción sobre las nuevas frecuencias. Sin otra en particular, nos despedimon fraternalmente. En espera de su pronta respuesta, Atentamente... LA TABLA DE LAS FRECUENCIAS E.Mail: spanishradio@irib.com Spanish@irib.com 20:30-21:30 ESPAÑA 7130 9570 00:30-01:30 AMERICA DE SUR 9570 6015 9555 01:30-02:30 AMERICA DE SUR, CENTRO AMERICA Y EL SUR DE AMERICA DEL NORTE, AMERICA DE SUR 9555 6175 9570 02:30-03:30 CENTRO DEL AMERICA DEL SUR (NORTE DE BRASIL, PERU Y BOLIVIA) 5960 05:30-06:30 SUR DE EUROPA, EUROPA 15320 17590 (VOIRI via Díaz, Cumbre via DXLD) 9555 highlighted in turquoise as the new one ** IRAN [non]. Clandestine from Lituania to Iran: 7470, Radio Barabari via Sitkunai *1700-1735* Dec. 8. Noted with melody signature tune at s/on, with clear IDs for Radio Barabari, followed with news bulletin, political interview and commentary. Iranian string music was featured towards the end of the broadcast, closing news headlines, gave web site http://www.barabari.net and the same signature tune repeated at sign-off. Initially the signal was fair but gradually improved to a point where it was good to very good at times, and a full s5 to s6 level (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Clandestine from ? to Iran: 7460, Radio Payam-e Doost 0242-0315* Dec. 12. Noted with Iranian string musicals, followed with interview commentary in Farsi. Rest of the broadcast featured music (violas/strings) gave an address (Virginia, USA) and schedule at the close with frequency mentioned (7460) and off with trumpet fanfare music. Signal was best in LSB ECSS detection to avoid the interference on 7465 [WWCR] with very good copy at times with signal peaking to s6+ at times (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. FOREIGN JOURNALISTS GET THE GRAND TOUR The Iraqi government took reporters on a tour this week of what it said was an insecticide plant at Falluja that had been wrongly stamped a weapons factory, continuing a diplomatic and public relations campaign to combat allegations it is stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, AP reported on 13 December. The United Nations has said the plant is suspect, and wants trained inspectors to have full access to any site it deems suspicious. An expert on chemical and biological weapons at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Jean Pascal Zanders, told AP on 11 December that Falluja was "a name that has recurred time and time again in the context of chemical weapons in Iraq." Zanders said taking journalists to alleged weapons sites was "an exercise in trying to influence world opinion, possibly to avert U.S. military action." (AP, 13 December) PENTAGON TO DEPLOY ARMY OF JOURNALISTS In a departure from policy in past military actions, the Pentagon is planning to deploy hundreds of print reporters, photographers, and television journalists with front-line U.S. units if there is a war with Iraq, the "Los Angeles Times" reported on 4 December. Faced with the round-the-clock news cycle and the prospect that President Saddam Hussein will mount an effective media campaign of his own, Pentagon officials have concluded that reporters "embedded" within military units will be more credible witnesses to history than military briefers. Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke won't say yet how often, for how long, and with what units reporters might be deployed - - although she says the Pentagon is contemplating attaching them to air as well as ground troops, and in the "first wave" of any attack. "We are absolutely convinced the more news and information that comes out of Iraq -- if there's military action -- the better off we'll all be," the "Los Angeles Times" quoted Clarke as saying. Captain T. McCreary, public affairs advisor to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard B. Myers, said that Afghanistan changed many military minds about media coverage. "Afghanistan was the watershed event," he said. "We had an enemy with a strategy designed to put out false stories in the Arab media. We were always fighting to keep up. If we don't do this, we will always be losing the information game. Reacting from Washington to the enemy in theater is painful." ("Los Angeles Times," 4 December) REPORTERS' BOOT CAMP PREPARES FOR WAR COVERAGE Many U.S. news organizations are ordering staffers to attend either private, week-long boot camps or one offered by the Pentagon, "USA Today" reported on 11 December in an article titled "Boot Camp Prepares Journalists for Iraq." The courses are designed to teach people who sit at computer terminals, shoot photos, or anchor from TV studios everything from how to blend into a crowd and how to stop a wound from bleeding to recognizing different kinds of artillery and reacting to a chemical-weapons attack. CNN anchor Aaron Brown attended CNN's war camp near Atlanta this week, "USA Today" reported, among 400 staffers who have participated in a course that the cable outlet contracted through the AKE Group, a British company staffed by former commandos. Last month, the Pentagon sponsored a safety and combat- readiness course that drew 57 journalists from 31 news organizations to the Marine Corps training base in Quántico, Virginia, and then to Norfolk Naval Base. ("USA Today," 11 December; all via RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 13 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. A document just released by the ITU http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2002/ge75_109.pdf lists a few requests for coordination: 549 kHz Dundalk 70 kW, 140 m antenna height 846 kHz Galway 100 kW, 90 m antenna height The details of the longwave station on 252 kHz have been slightly modified: Location: Summerhill IN87. Coordinates: 006W40 53N27. Power: 500/100 kW. Antenna height: 295 m (ITU via Olle Alm, ARC Info Desk via DXLD) I meant to query the previous item about RTE using the 252 kHz LW mast for improving 4 domestic services. The story was pretty vague: are they talking about using its 295m height to mount FM antennas on it, or some kind of multiplexing on LW/MW, or what? (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non?]. EUROPEAN MUSIC RADIO -TO THE--DX CLUBS Dear sir, I am sending you some information about EMR which I hope you will find of interest. EMR transmits via the Italian Radio Relay Service, on 13840 kHz to Europe and the world. EMR will only transmit between October to March due to better propergation conditions in the winter months. The next EMR transmission is on the 14th and 15th of December from 0930 until 1030 UT. Please could you mention this information in your DX news. Thank you and good listening 73s (Tom Taylor via Rudolf W. Grimm, radioescutas via DXLD) ** KIRIBATI. KIRIBATI FINALLY GETS PRIVATE RADIO STATION Kiribati's founding president, Ieremia Tabai, is celebrating the award of a licence for his own private FM radio station. Mr Tabai has been trying to get a licence for four years, and the government has persistently refused to grant him one. What probably swung it was when Mr Tabai started legal proceedings against the government. The case was due to be heard within the next few weeks, but instead of being in court, Mr Tabai will be getting his station ready for its launch, which he says will probably be on 1 January 2003. The station will offer news bulletins, talkback shows and music. Mr Tabai told Radio New Zealand "what we are trying to do is offer the people, the public, the listening public, an option as to what they can listen to. And we will be a better service than what's been provided by the government and you know we have a competitor ....but in my view it is going to be an exciting period, because it is the first time in our history that a private radio station has been on the air." (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 11 December 2002 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 17885, R. Pinoy via R. Kuwait, Dec 7 *1000-1008 35333 English and Tagalog, 1000 s/on and ID. National anthem. Full ID and SJ [??]. Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Due to a time conversion error in the original source, the schedule for tomorrow's test transmissions (published earlier on this mailing list [and in DXLD 2-193]) has to be amended one more time. Radio Gold 945AM will be on the air on Riga 945 kHz (20 kW) on Saturday 14 December from 0700 to 1900 UT. The amended test schedule will be as follows: 0700-1000 - German schlager 1000-1300 - Old Good World (songs from 60's) 1300-1500 - Prime Time Radio (Saga's national digital radio station) 1500-1600 - Tourist Radio Riga (Laser 558 memories from Steve Master) 1600-1900 - Henry Choice (classic rock) Radio Gold 945AM will start regular transmissions in 2003 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dec 13, MW-DX via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. VOICE OF FREEDOM OFFICIAL BROADCAST NEXT WEEK The clandestine Voice of Freedom is to launch its official broadcast from France targeting Lebanon and the Middle East next week, said the station manager Mr. Simon Abby Rmya [sic] to some source recently in Paris. Voice of Liberty, as they prefer to call their station, has been test transmitting since Nov. 22 daily at 1600 on 11515 for one hour. The station was not heard last Sunday; I got instead voice of France international in Persian *1600-1630*. Lately I noticed a minor ID change "Sawat al-Horria, Izaa't Lobnan al-mowahed al-Mostaquel, wa Saout al-Moqawama al-Lobnanyh". Developing... (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Dec. 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) CLANDESTINE from SITE to LEBANON. 11515 Voice of Free Lebanon (tentative), 1631 Dec 12, Arabic music, but heavy jamming and a weak signal left no chance for an ID (Hans Johnson, Javaradio Sweden, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. FRANCE/LIBYA: New frequency schedule for LJB via Issoudun effective from Dec. 11: 9415 1800-1900 17695 1100-1230 ||||| extended, ex 1100-1130 11635* 1800-1900 17695 1500-1600 ||||| deleted 11635 1900-2130 17880 1700-1800 11715 1800-2030 21485 1100-1230 ||||| new freq 15220 1600-1800 21640 1100-1130 ||||| deleted 15615 1600-1900 21640 1500-1600 ||||| deleted 15660 1700-1800 21675 1100-1500 15660** 1800-1900 21695 1000-1400 * till March 1, 2003; ** from March 2, 2003 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. LLEGARÁ A MÉXICO RADIODIFUSORA DE DISNEY miércoles 11 de diciembre, 10:03 PM (CNI en Línea) Walt Disney parece no tener límites en América Latina, primero lanzó su negocio a través de la televisión, luego en la Internet y ahora en la radio, con nuevos planes de expansión. La empresa de entretenimiento, que el año pasado lanzó Radio Disney en Argentina y este año en Paraguay, anunció que planea iniciar operaciones en México y Brasil, los dos mayores mercados de América Latina. "México y Brasil son prioritarios porque son mercados masivos y la radio es la mejor forma de llegar al público masivo", dijo a Notimex el vicepresidente de Walt Disney Company-Latin America (TWDC-LA), Luis Pérez. El ejecutivo señaló que en el caso de México, Disney está en el proceso de identificar un socio local, y sólo adelantó que es "un grupo ejecutivo muy involucrado en el negocio de la radio". "Tenemos la esperanza de iniciar transmisiones en México en un plazo de 12 a 18 meses", afirmó Pérez, cuya oficina se encuentra en Miami, en el estado de Florida, Estados Unidos. Para México y Brasil, Radio Disney operará en FM y su formato estará dirigido a captar un público mediano entre 16 y 18 años de edad, a diferencia de Estados Unidos, donde está dirigido a un público infantil. La programación de 24 horas incluirá talento local, música pop, bandas sonoras del cine y televisión, así como entrevistas con personalidades del momento, invitados especiales, concursos y nuevos formatos de entretenimiento interactivo. En la estación también se programará música producida por Walt Disney Records (el brazo discográfico de la firma) como el tema "Estrellas que me dan vida", creada por el grupo chileno La Ley. (MPG-Con información de Notimex via Héctor García Borjorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Note that unlike in the US where R. Disney is predominantly on AM, for children, in Brasil and México it`s on FM (WTFK???), for an older demographic, 16-18 (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Una vez más les recordamos que el viernes 13 de diciembre es el último Radio Enlace del 2002. En nuestra programación especial de Fin de Año, Radio Enlace regresará con un reportaje especial desde el Fin del mundo, la Patagonia argentina que se transmitirá el martes 24 de diciembre con repetición el viernes 27 (RN Radio Enlace via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. The Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs will be operating for a 24 hour period December 12, 2002 marking the 101st anniversary of the reception of the first trans-Atlantic signal at Signal Hill in St. John's. A special QSL card has been available for contacts with VO1AA during the past year and including the December 12th operation. QSL via VO1HE with an SASE (from http://www.sonra.ca/ via Wade Smith, NB, VE9WGS, UT Dec 13 0100 via DXLD) see also CANADA ** NEW ZEALAND. The USAF is building a HF transmitter facility here in New Zealand, one which, according to the Minister of Defence, can be heard by SW enthusiasts using receivers costing as low as NZ$30. It`s part of a Combined Communications Electronic Board network designed, so it`s claimed, to fill in world-wide gaps in military radio coverage, in this case between Hawaii and Antarctica. The NZ Defence Forces are said to have complete access to the gear, which will be located in Auckland, central North Island or Christchurch. This CCEB includes NZ, USA, Canada, UK and Australia. Shades of ECHELON perhaps. I wonder if the transmitter will be digital and capable of sending other data streams which will need more than a NZ$30 receiver. It`s nice of the Minister to acknowledge that the utility bands are a happy hunting ground for DXers, but we doubt a $30 receiver would suffice. Whenuapai is considered most unlikely by Barry Hartley in view of proposals to close the base, and with the main Radio New Zealand medium wave transmitter site only 5 km away. Weedons is more likely with existing HF facilities there, but Barry`s pick is Waiouru in the centre of the North Island. The main NZ Army training base is there along with the associated main HF communications for the NZ Defence Forces. The transmitting facility is located right alongside State Highway 1, the main route throughout the country running from north to south. [Log Periodic, Rhombic and Log periodic and rhombic antennas just north of Waiouru. September 2001 Photo credit. Bryan Clark] Other antennas are clearly visible as you drive past. The Royal New Zealand Navy`s receiving station called ``HMNZS Irirangi`` is also clearly visible about 1 km off State Highway One. Barry suspects it is the primary receiving station for the other armed services as well. As these facilities already exist, he thinks Waiouru is the likely site, unless communications with the Antarctic are the main objective, which would make Christchurch a strong contender (Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PERU. 1415.5, OAU2R, R. Cajamarca, ex OAX2D ex 1346.4, heard by TIN when visiting Cajamarca in September 2001. The station was on November 28, 2000 newly licensed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to broadcast on 1420 kHz. The station broadcasts on medium wave Mon-Fri 0800-0200, Sat, Sun 0800-0300. New address: Jr. Revilla Pérez 194, Cajamarca. The station now also broadcasts on FM 105.1 MHz (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, in Relámpago DX via RNM via ARC Info Desk via DXLD) A bit stale, but LA splits are always of interest, increasingly rare. Where are they now? (gh) ** PHILIPPINES. PHILIPPINES: FM RADIO INDUSTRY TO BE OPENED UP TO DRAW IN INVESTMENTS | Text of report by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes entitled "Government to allow more FM radio stations" published in English by Philippine newspaper The Philippine Star web site on 12 December The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to open the country's FM radio industry to more players in a bid to fully optimize the use of limited radio frequencies and draw in investments. A draft memorandum circular has already been prepared to amend the existing rule on FM technical standards. The FM radio sector is presently governed by a regulation that sets a frequency separation of 800 kHz between stations. The regulation was issued based on guidelines submitted by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas [Association of Philippine Broadcasters] (KBP) to prevent transmission interference between stations. Right now, there are at least 26 FM stations separated by 800 kHz. For instance, the station 88.3 is followed by 89.1, then by 89.9, 90.7, 91.5, 92.3, 93.1, to name a few. The commission's plan is to reduce the frequency separation to 400 kHz, which means that the current number of FM stations can easily double. The NTC noted that new technology now allows a closer frequency separation without interference. "Due to the advances in technology, digital or hybrid sound broadcasting systems of high quality have been made available permitting greater spectrum efficiency than conventional FM sound broadcasting," the NTC said. The NTC is amenable to allowing a frequency separation of 400 kHz on the FM spectrum for broadcasting stations using digital or hybrid technology. "FM broadcast stations using digital and/or hybrid technology shall be allowed to operate in the same city or nearby cities with a frequency separation of not less than 400 kHz," the NTC said in the draft circular. Should the new standard be approved and adopted, the NTC may start allocating FM frequencies again. This is expected to boost investments in the radio industry as more stations are expected to open. FM stations in the country currently transmit on analogue technology. Digital or hybrid technology allows a simultaneous transmission with analogue wherein the digital signal is placed within the analogue signal. This means stations transmitting through digital technology can still use the existing broadcast infrastructure that is based on analogue technology. The NTC's move comes on the heels of the adoption of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the use of hybrid technology last October. Countries like Singapore and Thailand have already adopted a shorter frequency separation standard between 400 and 500 kHz. Source: The Philippine Star web site, Manila, in English 12 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) !! They`ve got it backwards. Analog maybe could accommodate reduced separation [in a single market, they should point out] to 400 kHz, but IBOC, if that`s what they mean by digital, spreads out more than analog. Now is *not* the time to reduce spacing, if that be in the offing (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. 1080, During the late evening hours on 4 December, test transmissions have been conducted via the Koszecin mediumwave transmitter in southern Poland, owned by Polish Telecom (Telekomunikacja Polska). According to observations by Ronny Forslund in Sweden, the programme that was aired identified as "Pan European Radio" with address P. O. Box 10386, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, USA and email address paneuropeanradio@hotmail.com The transmitter site has confirmed this test broadcast which it classified as coverage test, the power was 350 kW (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ARC Info Desk via Olle Alm, DXLD) Previously an unID here ** POLAND. CONTROVERSIAL CATHOLIC RADIO STATION APPLIES FOR POLISH TV LICENSE. Ultra-Catholic Radio Maryja, headed by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, has applied to the Polish National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (KRRiTV) for a license to launch a satellite-television channel called Trwam ("I abide" in Polish), PAP reported on 9 December. The application specifies that Trwam is to be a commercial station and, in contrast to Radio Maryja, will air advertisements. KRRiTV spokeswoman Joanna Stepien said a decision on the application should be expected no sooner than in two to three months. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 10 December via RFE/RL Media Matters via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. RUSSIA: Winter B-02 schedule for Radio Mariya via Samara 0600-0815 Mon-Sat; 0700-0900 Sun on 12060; 1600-2300 Daily on 7400 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** QATAR. BROADCASTING THE OTHER OPINION --- December 13 2002 To most Westerners who have heard of it, the Arabic news network al Jazeera is a mouthpiece for Islamic extremists, the station Osama bin Laden contacts when he wants to threaten the West. But as far as the Arab world is concerned, al Jazeera is nobody's tool. Since its launch six years ago, the Qatar-based satellite station has earned a formidable reputation among the world's 250 million Arabic speakers as the first Arab news outlet to report on the region objectively, critically and - perhaps most importantly - entertainingly. Instead of screening interminable news reports about what the emir/president did that day, al Jazeera has broken new ground by airing pieces that are openly critical of regional governments, by interviewing Israeli politicians and civilians and by dealing with taboo subjects such as sexuality, polygamy and corruption in the Arab world... http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/12/1039656168718.html (Melbourne The Age via John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. PRESIDENT RETURNS LAW ON ROMANIAN LANGUAGE TO PARLIAMENT President Ion Iliescu returned the recently adopted Law on the Defense of Romanian Language to parliament for further debate, Mediafax reported on 10 December. The controversial law, nicknamed the "Pruteanu law," after its main proponent, Senator George Pruteanu, stipulates that foreign words displayed in public places must be accompanied by translation into Romanian. Presidential Councilor Serban Nicolae on 10 December said Iliescu asked parliament to remove from the bill the levying of fines for the incorrect use of Romanian language in advertisements, and to add to the exceptions to the law the use of foreign words in sports-related texts, as many of these words cannot be translated. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 11 December via RFE/RL Media Matters via DXLD)) ** RUSSIA. PRESIDENT PUTIN TO APPEAR IN A LIVE CALL-IN ON DEC. 19 MOSCOW, December 11, 2002. /From RIA Novosti correspondent/ --- On Thursday, December 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin will appear live on Russia's First [TV] Channel and Rossia [TV] Channel, where he will answer questions from all over the country, reported the president's press service. The call-in will also be aired live on Mayak and Radio Rossii radio stations. According to the press service, the hot line will be set up with the help of mobile TV stations working in regional centers, towns and villages all across Russia. First Channel and Rossia Channel will be collecting the questions and selecting the most interesting ones, which will then be posed to the president during the live call-in, said the press service. Source: http://www.rian.ru (via Sosedkin) Note: according to RIAN report in Russian, Putin's call-in show will be on the air Dec. 19, starting from noon MSK (0900 UT). Most likely it will last for an hour. The usual SW frequencies for Radio Russia during that time are 4485, 6085, 5930, 6125, 6150, 6160, 7200, 7220, 7250,7440, 9720, 11990, 12005 (from 0930 UT), 13705, 15355, 17600 kHz. Possible Radio Mayak/Radio Russia relays from Belorussia: 4246, 4541, 4982, 5134, 5256 kHz (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 9972 and 10020, RWM (Russian time signal spurs), 1125 Dec 13. This morning I observed symmetrical spurs 24 kHz above and below the fundamental frequency of 9996. Fundamental strong, spurs were fair to weak (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Moscow ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. RUSSIA/LITHUANIA: Excellent signal in Bulgaria for new clandestine V of Reform in Arabic: 1900-2100 on 7590 (55555) tentatively via ARM 100 kW / 285 deg or SIT 100 kW / 259 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) oh yeah? See below 7590, V. of Reform, Dec 10 *1858-1936 24432 Arabic, Talk by man. ID at 1935. 1936 Jamming (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium, via DXLD) The new 7590 station started today with sudden audio cut-in inmidst sentence at 1858. All I heard so far was a presenter receiving listener calls, no music bridges, no jingles, just talk over and over. The whole thing sounds quite amateurish, and this applies also to the audio quality. The reported breaks sounds very similar to transmitter breaks but are disruptions on the program audio; the transmitter itself works perfectly. Here in eastern Germany 7590, booms in with an enormous signal. Obviously this is a single-hop signal and I am within the main lobe of the antenna. So this is definitely no German site; it is also evident that this is no CIS site. Sitkunai and Issoudun are very unlikely either. It could be England, but my suspicion is that the name of the site includes an ø. Enclosed two characteristic cuts: One of the telephone audio disruptions, sounding like a carrier break but not being one, and the presenter taking over from a caller. So that's what the BBC report describes as ``by using an internet phone service - known as Paltalk - listeners can take part in the programme and say what they like``. And, by the way, there is something we have to ask Kenneth: ``The station started a 24-hour broadcast Saturday via satellite.`` On Eutelsat Hotbird, probably within the WRN bouquet, or elsewhere? Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7590 had a weak and very fluttery signal here at 1900. 99% chance that this is Norway as other CIS and continental stations did not behave like this (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When will TDP --- and for that matter, legitimate broadcasters like NRK, go too far in handling clandestine broadcasts, which are really terrorist? Sounds like this one comes close, endorsing Bin-laden (gh, DXLD) I have been hearing the clandestine Radio Alisalah, (Sawt-al-Islah) around 1915-1945 on 7590khz. Reception has been quite good and programming in Arabic. I sent them an e-mail report and received a very prompt verification but with no transmitter site details as I had requested. E-mail address for this one is info@islah.org (Ian Cattermole, New Zealand, Dec 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA. I know nothing more about Brother Stair and haven`t had the time or energy to check. He`s still on 5070 and other frequencies, but I don`t know if he`s cut back or not. There is no indication whatsoever on the show itself that anything is amiss. (He, by the way, gets ornery when anyone calls his show a show. he has no ``show,`` he says. He merely preaches the word of god on the radio. It`s not a show.) (Robert Arthur, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. OPPOSITION CRITICISES GOVERNMENT FOR SUPPORTING VOT The Sri Lankan opposition has strongly criticised the government for its decision to permit an upgrade of Voice of Tigers (VoT), operated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The opposition says that the government should re-start its own service to the region, Wanni Sevaya, which was closed down on 31 March 2002 following a ceasefire between the government and the LTTE. Wanni Sevaya carried personal messages from the families of police and security forces deployed in the region. It also informed the civilian population of government policies on key issues. President Chandrika Kumaratunga is said to be 'deeply concerned' at the government's decision permit the LTTE to upgrade its radio station while closing down Wanni Sevaya. (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 13 December 2002 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. Tamil Radio & Television (TRT) The service will be known as Tamil Radio & Television (TRT). The licensee will provide information and music for the Tamil community in Europe. It will be transmitted for 24 hrs/7 days/week. --- ORIGINAL AIR DATE 11/07/01 /LICENCE EXPIRY DATE: 10/07/06. 5/7 Rue Emile Zola, 93120 La Courneuve, FRANCE. Tel: 0033 153 208 745. Fax: 0033 153 204 180. e-mail: hamedegnato@dtss.fr Director Sireetharan SELLATHURAI --- (Sakthi Vel, India, Japan Premium Dec 12 via DXLD) WTFK??? Satellite only? ** SYRIA [non]. 7470, Arab R., Dec 7 *1600-1610, 35433, Arabic, 1600 s/on and ID. Opening music and opening announce. Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 1359, Unofficial station Feng Lin Tientai off the air from September 13, reactivated from October 9. As of October 28, unofficial stations are heard on 1026, 1233, 1242, 1359, 1368, 1440 and 1503 (T. Gima, ABI October, November issues via Y. Kato, via ARC Info Desk via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. Frequency changes for Voice of Tibet in Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese: 1213-1300 NF 21635 TAC 100 or 200 kW / 131 or 132 deg, ex 21525 1430-1517 NF 12025 TAC 100 or 200 kW / 131 or 132 deg, ex 11550, re-ex 11975 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) {Constantly changing due to Chicom jamming} ** TRINIDAD. GOVERNMENT TO RESTRUCTURE STATE-OWNED BROADCASTER | Text of report by Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) news agency on 12 December Port of Spain, Trinidad: The Trinidad and Tobago government is seeking to divest the state-owned National Broadcasting Network (NBN), which is said to be in debt by 22m TT [Trinidad and Tobago] dollars (3.65m US dollars). Public Administration Minister Dr Lenny Saith told reporters the state enterprise is also operating at a loss of 1.5m TT dollars (250,000 US dollars) per month. He said bankers were not willing to provide the network with any credit, unless government provided a letter of comfort. As a result, the minister said government plans to restructure the company and is moving to construct a seven-storey building in Port of Spain to house a new Government Information Service. However, Dr Saith said that NBN's properties in the city would be retained by the state. The minister said government would know in three months time what the precise divestment process would be. The NBN operates a television station and at least three radio stations here. Source: Caribbean Media Corporation news agency, Bridgetown, in English 2348 gmt 12 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U A E. UAE Radio, Dubai, 21598v, English at 1330 normally ends about 1348, but Dec 12 tuned in at 1354 to find yet another episode in the endless series, ``Saladin, Hero of Islam`` in progress. Someone must have missed stopping the tape/switching back to Arabic service, because at 1404 yet another episode started, but it was cut for Arabic by 1408. Next day Dec 13 back to normal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. 11695, Gospel for Asia/Athmeya Yathra (Spiritual Journey) via Al Dhabayya. Full data PPC's, signed plus a information/response letter indicating that my report will be forwarded to the India address for their response and interest. Used my SASE via the Stoney Creek address in Ontario. v/s Wendell Leythem (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. LaserRadio.net launches its regular Sunday broadcast on December 22nd from Ulbroka, Latvia at 1800-2300 UT on 5935. Programmes will feature items of interest for SWLs and Radio Hams blended with good music. Also to be heard on 5935 from 1700 UT each Sunday is Religious broadcaster World Bible Radio Network. Listen to Laser Radio at http://www.laserradio.net (Andrew Yeates, Laser Radio Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AP World Politics U.S. GOVERNMENT RADIO FACES STATIC OF MISTRUST IN APPEALING TO ARAB LISTENERS Tue Dec 10, 7:36 PM ET --- By ALAA SHAHINE, Associated Press Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - An editorial read out the other day to Arab listeners was laced with criticism of the latest American-backed Security Council resolution on Iraq -- hardly the expected fare for a U.S. government radio station. "It's enough to know that America has submitted the resolution and Britain has supported it to consider it a biased, bad and prejudiced resolution," said the commentary from Al-Thawra, the newspaper of Iraq's ruling Baath Party. Clearly that opinion doesn't jibe with U.S. policy. But it is in line with Radio Sawa's pledge to present more than just canned American views along with the hip music it broadcasts in hopes of luring a young Arab audience. Still, the new station will have to fight to be heard above the static of mistrust aired about the United States in the Arab media. The challenge is especially daunting as President George W. Bush (news - web sites) threatens Iraq with war. Arab media regularly point to the U.S.-led war on terrorism and American animosity toward Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) as evidence of an anti-Arab stance. This only adds to long- standing distrust of the United States for backing Israel. But Joan Mower, spokeswoman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees U.S. international broadcasts, says that eight months after its launch, Radio Sawa is gaining respect. A survey in Amman, Jordan, said that among 17- to 28-year-olds, 39 percent identify Radio Sawa as "their most accurate and trustworthy news source," compared with 21 percent who named state-run Amman FM, she said. "We pride ourselves on being balanced and accurate," Mower told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Washington. Radio Sawa sometimes provides news ignored by state-run Arab media. It reported the Iraqi Parliament's vote urging rejection of the tough new U.N. resolution on Iraqi weapons inspections. Iraq's official media omitted that news, and eventually the Iraqi government accepted the U.N. resolution. Radio Sawa -- Arabic for "Radio Together" -- was born out of a realization in Washington that following the Sept. 11 attacks and the America-hatred it exposed in the Arab world, the U.S. viewpoint wasn't being promoted aggressively enough. One of the station's guiding principles, says its Web site, "is that the long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly in Arabic with the peoples of the Middle East by radio. Radio Sawa seeks to win the attention and respect of listeners. In reporting the news, Radio Sawa is committed to being accurate, objective, and comprehensive." But Hazim Ghorab, an Arab media expert, said any success Sawa enjoys now will fizzle once "the United States takes its next aggressive step in the Middle East." "The U.S. government has a legacy of anti-Arab policies. ... Media won't change people's attitude toward an issue like this, but a change in policies would," he said. Radio Sawa began broadcasting from Washington via relay stations in Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in March and plans to expand operations. The station has entered a region where the airwaves were once ruled by official broadcasters delivering an official line. Things began changing when the Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera, initially financed by the Qatari government but claiming editorial independence, went on the air six years ago with its mix of Western-style news and lively and popular public affairs programs. These often feature guests railing against the United States, but also air differing viewpoints -- in itself a big change that has won Al-Jazeera a large following. Satellite services remain out of reach for many Arabs, either because they are banned or are too expensive. When it comes to news on the radio, Sawa gets stiff competition from more established voices like the BBC and Radio Monte Carlo, to which many in the region have long turned for uncensored information. Ibrahim Helal, Al-Jazeera's editor in chief, said he has never listened to Radio Sawa, but formed a negative opinion of it after U.S. officials who recently visited Qatar described the station's mission to him. "I find it offensive to compare us and a station that has a political agenda," Helal told AP from Doha, Qatar. "If they (Sawa) imitate Al-Jazeera's style in covering Arab stories to achieve political goals rather than journalistic ones, then they are opportunistic people." Norman Pattiz, a member the U.S. broadcasting board and the chief inspiration behind Radio Sawa, believes the station is popular even among Iraqis. "We are unable to conduct surveys to measure our success in Iraq ... but we can tell we are popular because the Iraqi government sometimes jams our transmission," he said. E-mails from anonymous Arab listeners provided to AP by Sawa praise the stations' news coverage. "Some people are blinded by the lies other channels spread say that your station sides with the United States," wrote one listener in the United Arab Emirates. But Sawa also has its detractors. "I sometimes listen to Radio Sawa at night, although I don't trust what they say. They always give priority to anti-Iraq statements by Western officials," Ahmed Khalil, a 20-year-old student, told AP in Baghdad, Iraq's capital. Louay Sayyaf, a 24-year-old Syrian doctor in the United Arab Emirates, said Radio Sawa pays little attention to such issues as the hardships U.N. economic sanctions impose on Iraqis. "Radio Sawa broadcasts what the U.S. government wants us to know about Iraq and other issues, or else why would they launch a station that airs popular hits without even commercials?" Sayyaf said. Radio Sawa's formula does emphasize music, a mix of Western and Arab hits meant to draw listeners 30 and under -- 60 percent of the Arab world's 280 million people. The music ranges from Egypt's Amr Diab, Iraq's Kazim al-Sahir and Lebanon's Nawal al-Zoughby to Western singers Bryan Adams and Jennifer López. Each hour, the station broadcasts two newscasts totaling about 15 minutes. In its Iraq coverage, the station presents both countries' views, as well as a daily roundup of Iraq-related news, including editorials from the American and other foreign press. Radio Sawa even has correspondent Fadel Mashaal in Baghdad, an Iraqi accredited by Iraq's government, who has been reporting in recent days on the arrival of U.N. weapons inspectors. "We are not a platform for U.S. policy makers," said Mower, the U.S. spokeswoman. Khalil Fadel, an Egyptian psychiatrist, said Arab views of Radio Sawa may have more to do with listeners' "pre-assumed impression" of America -- and the station's choice of words -- than with what news stories it chooses to broadcast. "When, for example, Sawa or CNN describes Palestinian attackers as 'suicide bombers' and not as 'martyrs,' this triggers automatic rejection from people to all that the station airs," Fadel said. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub in Iraq contributed to this report. On the Net: Radio Sawa: http://www.radiosawa.com (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 9535//11730//15410, Radio Farda 1540-1615 Dec.8. Noted with lively pop variety music ranging from gothic type to hip hop at times. Noted with IDs for Radiyo Far-da (echoed) and gave a web site information at 1606 as http://www.radiofarda.com Of the three frequencies heard, 15410 (Woofferton) was the best heard, with 9435 (Kavala) being the poorest, and 11730 (Lampertheim) being fair to good (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM FOR INDONESIAN YOUTH Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2002 -- The Voice of America's Indonesian Service will launch a new, fast-paced program for Indonesia tomorrow called VOA Direct Connection (VOA DC). Aimed at the 60 percent of Indonesia`s population under the age of 30, the new show will feature popular music as well as news and information on the latest developments in pop culture around the world. In announcing the new program, VOA Director David Jackson stressed that VOA DC is part of Voice of America`s broader effort to reach out to younger audiences around the world. In many places where the U.S. has strategic interests, he said, "young people form the majority of the population, and we need to do more to attract them." The new program builds on VOA's highly successful Indonesian broadcasts, which include 25 hours of radio broadcasting and 1.5 hours of television programming in that language every week. VOA DC will be launched on December 13 at 9:30 p.m. local time in Jakarta [1430 UT] and will be hosted by two young VOA disc jockeys with extensive experience in Indonesia. More than 80 satellite affiliates will receive the program for local rebroadcast, and audiences can also listen to VOA DC via shortwave (VOA press release Dec 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. Hello friends, I will be host of VOA's Talk To America on New Year's Day, January 1, 2003, 1700-1800 UT. The program will be repeated at 2200-2300. I'll be taking calls from friends in the shortwave listening/DXing community around the world. Another VOA News Now slot is available at 1400-1500 UT, if I can think of something to do with it. Suggestions welcome. I could feature New Year's Eve listening excerpts, but I doubt I'll do enough successful listening on my own to fill the hour. All the best, (Kim Andrew Elliott, Producer and Presenter of the former Communications World, Dec 12, swprograms via DXLD) It is a day to celebrate Auld Lang Syne. Assuming the VOA vault has still got some tapes from 50 years ago, an interesting show could be made from programs, signature tunes, and ID's of that era. As I remember, the VOA still used leased transmission facilities from places like Schenectady, NY; Bound Brook, NJ; and Bethany, OH. Or maybe you could involve the audience by running a VOA call-in trivia contest. See if anyone can remember the name of the signature tune whose acronym is CTGOTO. It later was switched to IAYDD if I remember correctly. See how many listeners can identify the companies that owned the leased transmitter facilities? Who was president of the USA on January 1, 1952? Even better, who was Vice President? What job did CBS's London war correspondent, Ed Murrow, have later at VOA? Who was amateur radio operator Bill Leonard, W2SKE, and what was his connection to VOA? What were the call letters assigned by the FCC for those leased transmitter facilities? I can hear it now, "We'll take the third caller on 1-202-VOA-NEWS." How about a finger-dexterity contest for listeners? You name a country and the first listener to call in from that country would win a prize. Prizes could be simple like autographed pictures of the host. Or, if that is too scary, how about fast-track student visa application forms from the State Department? You could instantly find out if anybody in important VOA target areas was listening. You could use the contests as a way to do some audience research. As folks call in, you could engage them in conversation and maybe learn something about who is listening out there. I would find that interesting but then I'm not supposed to listen to VOA. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** U S A. WRNO New Orleans, LA, 7355, 0146-0208 12/12. Continuous religious talk by the "Good News World". Announcement, "End of this side, please flip tape to side 2" and GNW contact info with Texas, USA QTH, followed by ID at 0207; "WRNO World Wide, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA". Religious program continued. Fair with QRM chatter. First log on any listed frequency since last winter (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7354.6, WRNO, 0238 Dec 12 [UT Thu] fair with religious program in English. Gone at 0252 recheck. Same pattern as before, station signing off for night rather than switching to listed 7395 at 0300. Irregular operation, thanks Matthews' tip (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Looked for it Dec 13 around 0250 but nothing; maybe too late (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9465, WMLK had problems with the storm yesterday, but back on today. 1715 OK signal but quite muddy modulation. WINB is still without power (Hans Johnson, Ralabs Radio NY, Dec 12, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. WJIE finally has a new Update on the air, Dec 13 at 1330 on 7490; I know it is no longer the Oct 23 production since Doc Burkhart refers to the Guam typhoon, which was just last Sunday Dec 8, putting KTWR off the air. He says KSDA Guam and KHBN Palau suffered minor damage. Also mentioned WINB being down. And the Brother Stair situation still unresolved, but could have impact on a number of SW stations. Still expecting WJIE-2 to reactivate 13595 soon; keep monitoring for it. New programs have been added and a new schedule will soon be posted at http://www.wjiesw.com I tuned in a few minutes late, so if he said anything about Liberia or other projects, I missed it. No doubt this will be repeated indefinitely M-F at 1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On Dec 7 I talked to Lori Wallace after her show. During the phone call she mentioned that Preacher Otwell is no longer on right after her, and this happened because she ``prayed for`` it. Feigning ignorance, I asked why. And she said because he has been blasting me for months. But the Lord is with me, she said. So then I asked her if she would be expanding into the next half hour. And she said WWCR won`t let her! I asked if she`s willing and able to pay for the time, and she said yes, but WWCR won`t let her. Part of the next half hour on Dec. 7 included the show ``Ask WWCR``. [Lori Wallace: Keep Standing for the Truth, UT Sun 0230-0300 on 5070; Ask WWCR at 0315] [Richard Wiles: American Freedom News, M-F 1400-1500 on 12160; Tue-Sat 0200-0300 on 5070] --- WWCR posted schedule On Thanksgiving and the next day, Rick Wiles played pre-recorded broadcasts so that he could have 4 days off. In both of them he allowed falsehoods to be aired. On Thursday he read a proclamation from Governor Bradford, dated 1623, ordering the Pilgrims to attend Thanksgiving services on ``Thursday, November 29, 1623.`` This document has been known since the 1920s to be a fraud. For one thing, November 29 of 1623 was not a Thursday on either the Julian calendar (which the Pilgrims used at the time, being rather anti-Catholic) or the Gregorian. Also, it refers to the folks as ``Pilgrims,`` a term which was not used for them until the 1880s. There`s other internal evidence of fraud. Anyway, that`s not the part that angers me `cause everyone makes mistakes. What angers me is that when I sent Rick an e- mail telling of his error, he totally ignored it, and never corrected his mistake the following week. He normally responds to my e-mails, you should know. Then on Friday, he had a guest on. As is often the case, they were pushing conspiracy theories. And the guest suggested that Paul Wellstone`s plane going down during the election was too convenient to have been an accident or coincidence. Then the guest said that Wellstone was the only Member of Congress to vote no on the fascist and un-American ``USA Patriot Act``. So I sent Rick Wiles a message telling him that Paul Wellstone voted YES on that act, and that 39 members of Congress voted no, of whom 3 were Republicans. Again, the guy totally ignored my e-mail, though it can be researched in the Congressional Record (which is now on-line so one doesn`t need to go to the library like in the olden days). And he never bothered to correct his error. That guy`s credibility is quite low as far as I`m concerned. He`s really an arrogant don`t-bother-me-with-the-facts kind of guy. He has not lately mentioned the status of the lawsuit between himself and the radio people. Last I heard (about a month or more ago), is that his listeners have coughed up all the money needed for the legal bills, but that he still needs more money for the accountants he needs to concoct the proof he needs. Dunno more than that (Robert Arthur, Dec 9 0741 UT, J.D. 2,452,617.82066, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC RAIDS BERKELEY LIBERATION RADIO by major minus • Wednesday December 11, 2002 at 04:14 PM Oakland, Calif.: A volunteer at Berkeley Liberation Radio reports that FCC agents came to the studio this morning and took away all their equipment. BLR is an unlicensed community radio station serving the East Bay at 104.1 FM. Needless to say the station is off the air. More information as it becomes available (via Mike Terry, UK, DXLD) More comments at: http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/12/1549744.php by facts on BLR by Joe Monday -- Wednesday December 11, 2002 at 10:21 PM There is no "frequent candidate for mayor bottom-lining the station." DJs pay $20 a month dues, which is over 90% of our income--the rest is listener donations, fundraisers. Missing equipment: transmitter, mixing board, 2 CD players, 2 cassette players, 2 turntables, fader for turntables, computer, monitor, 2 radio receivers, etc. We are having a community meeting Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Long Haul on Shattuck, 2 blocks south of Ashby, across st. from La Pena. We need to get the word out to the media. We would like to get the TV stations to take footage of the effects of the raid, cover the story. Our current run of troubles started 4 days after 9/11 at our last studio. Now this, as the government readies its (further) attack on Iraq. We cannot help but feel that at the very least a low-level gov. operative decided this move on us would jibe with the "war on terrorism." Proposals for action in response to the FCC raid on Berkeley Liberation Radio --- by Gerald Smith of Slave Revolt Radio • Thursday December 12, 2002 at 06:54 AM gersmith@jps.net The attack on BLR should be for what it is: A vicious assault on the Freedom of Speech. In this context we have the potential to win over allies and build unity in our struggle to EXIST as a community radio station. We having an emergency meeting 7PM Thursday, 12-12-02, at the Long Hall/InfoShop (across the street form La Peña) all who support BLR are welcome. The question for us at BLR is: TO BE OR NOT TO BE. If we offer no resistance to this tyranny it will make it easier for the FCC to attack hundreds of other Micro Radio Stations across the country. WHAT YOU DO MATTERS! I am offering the following motions for you consideration: 1. BLR supporters will reoccupy our studio in its present location and go back on the air as soon as humanly possible. 2. BLR supporters will organize a demonstration/rally at the Federal Building in downtown Oakland no later than next Wednesday (via sf.indymedia via DXLD) ** U S A. Sunday, December 15, 2002 - WILM-1450, Wilmington, DE will conduct a test from 1:00-2:30am EST [0600-0730 UT]. The test will include special music, Morse code, and special effects noises during WILM's regular programming. Reception reports may be sent to: Mr. Allan Loudell, Program Director WILM Radio 1215 French St. Wilmington, DE 19801 A few phone calls may be taken during the test: (prepaid only) 302-656- 9800. (Arranged by Allan Loudell for the NRC CPC-thanks Paul Swearingen, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) Programming content will include identification in Morse Code, the sound of a siren, animal sounds, easily identifiable songs, and unusual sounds. Reception reports are invited and all that is necessary is to identify some strange sound. Return postage is requested. Station WILM is printing a special QSL card for the event which also honors their 80th anniversary. WILM 1450 kHz 1 kW Sunday morning (USA) December 15 1:00 am - 2:30 am Eastern Time, 0600-0730 UT. Mr Allan Loudell, Radio WILM, 1215 N French St, Wilmington, Delaware 19801-3213 USA. Phone 302 656 9800 (Dr Adrian M. Peterson, DX Editor - Wavescan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KSCO-1080 Santa Cruz silent periods Dale Park in the current DXN's DDXD-W mentioned this, so I checked KSCO's website. Sure enough, their daily program schedule has "off the air" for midnight to 6 on Sunday, as well as midnight to 5 on Monday. If any other 24-hour AM station still has a weekly (biweekly?, hi) silent period, I'm not aware of it. When KDWN-720 dropped their Monday SP last winter, I thought there were none left, so this is encouraging news. Sorta doubt it'll catch on elsewhere, but a man can dream ... (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, Dec 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. WMQM "On-Air" Date Delayed For Immediate Release - 6 December 2002 POC: George McClintock (615) 255-1300 The "On-Air" date for WMQM, 1600-AM, Memphis, Tennessee's newest Christian Radio station has been delayed. Due to an unforeseen accident the tower man could not meet the original projected on-air date of October 1, 2002. The power is on and a new projected "On-Air" date is December 14th. WMQM expects to bring the 2.5 kW transmitter up by 12-Noon on the 14th and the 50 kW transmitter by 3:30PM the same day. A back-hoe operator crushed the transmission line that goes from the transmitter to the tower. This prevented us from turning on either transmitter on the 5th. New transmission line will be shipped from the factory on Mon, Dec 9th, to arrive at the transmitter site on Tuesday, Dec 10th. We expect the transmission line to be buried in the ground within several days, thus permitting us to turn on the transmitter on the 14th. WMQM, 1600-AM, 50,000 Watts in Memphis, is the sister station to WWCR. World Wide Christian Radio serves Europe, Middle East and Africa on Shortwave from Nashville, Tennessee (WWCR website Dec 13 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. X BAND AT A GLANCE - December 2002 1610 CJWI Montreal QUE FF Caribbean music. 1620 WPHG Atmore AL Rel/Gos. (but silent) possible resurrection as WPNS WDND South Bend IN ESPN Radio 1620 KOZN Bellevue NE ESPN Sport .``The Zone`` WTAW College Station TX `Newstalk 16-20 WTAW` CBS Nx KBLI Blackfoot ID SS ``Radio Fiesta`` KYIZ Renton WA Urban/Contemporary Soul KSMH West Sacramento, CA Rel. EWTN Global Catholic radio WDHP Frederikstad, VI Variety. ``The Reef`` //WRRA 1290 & WAXJ 1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA Hot AC /Classic Rock KKWY Fox Farm WY C&W AP nx KNAX Ft Worth/Dallas TX SS. Radio Vida/ Radio Dos Mil Dos. WTEL Augusta GA `Newstalk 1630 WTEL` x WRDW 1640 WKSH Sussex WI Disney KPBC Lake Oswego OR Black Gospel//KKSL. (soon to Disney) KDIA Vallejo CA Talk/ `Business Radio 1640` KBJA Sandy UT SS/Radio Unica EE ID on hour 1650 WHKT Portsmouth VA Disney KDNZ Cedar Falls IA Talk/ Sport ``The Talk Station``//KCNZ KWHN Fort Smith AR `Newstalk 1650 KWHN` KBJD Denver CO Contemp Christian. ``The Beat` KFOX Torrance CA Korean/ EE ID on hour 1660 KTIQ Merced CA Sports/Sp News `The Ticket`` WWRU Elizabeth NJ PP & SS Radio Unica/R. Portugal WCNZ Marco Is FL `Newsradio 1660` AP nx. WQSN Kalamazoo MI Sports/talk ESPN// WKLZ 1470. KRZX Waco TX ``Newstalk KRZX`` (off 6.p.m.-12 NZST) KQWB West Fargo ND Standards ``Star 1660 is KQWB AM` CNN KXOL Brigham City UT ``Oldies radio`` (60`s rock) KXTR Kansas City KS `Classical 1660` WGIT Canovanas PRico SS oldies ``El Gigante`` 1670 WRNC Warner Robins GA Urban Gospel ``1670 The Light`` WTDY Madison WI Sports/Talk. ``1670 WTDY`` ``The Team`` KHPY Moreno Valley, CA Rock/AC ``KHPY Moreno Valley 1670`` KNRO Redding CA ``Redding`s ESPN Radio 1670 KNRO` 1680 WTTM Princeton NJ Ethnic - Hindu WTIR Winter Garden FL ``Travel Information Radio`` WJNZ Ada MI Urban/AC KAVT Fresno CA Disney/SS KRJO Monroe LA Gospel. ``Gospel 1680`` 1690 KDDZ Arvada CO Disney KSXX Roseville CA SS rel. /Radio Tricolour/ & Asian. EE ID on hour. WPTX Lexington Park Sporting News Network. 1700 WJCC Miami Springs FL SS/Rel/``Radio Luz`` WEUV Huntsville AL Black Gospel. ``Music of your Life.//1600 WEUC 1kw KTBK Sherman TX Sporting News Radio KBGG Des Moines IA `The new AM 1700 KBGG``. CNN KQXX Brownsville TX Oldies (880 watts night) (Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** U S A. I'm frustrated with stations that don't power down or s/off when they should. But there are two sides to this issue. On the one hand, nearby stations that do this block DX from emerging. On the other, distant stations that do this create great DX opportunities for those of us who live some distance away. So I'm trying to remain tolerant, thinking the good offsets the bad. But I made an exception with daytimer KKGR-680 in Helena, in my back yard. I phoned the CE of KNBR twice and he phoned KKGR to request they stop running at night. This cleared up the problem for several weeks. But in mid-November, KKGR again began to broadcast illegally. So I phoned the manager and told him if I hear it once more after dark interfering with KNBR, I'll notify the FCC, adding that I've made tape recordings to back up my complaint. I also called KMTX in Helena and advised the manager of KKGR's illegal operation, pointing out that businesses advertising on it after dark are taking away revenues from the legitimate operators. Hopefully this will solve the problem (Larry Godwin, Missoula, Montana, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. CLANDESTINE from MADAGASCAR to ZIMBABWE. 7120, Voice of the People (Presumed) 0332 Dec 12 with talk in language and mentions of Zimbabwe. UNID co-channel making things tough; was much easier last summer on 7310 (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ EUROPEAN MEDIUM WAVE GUIDE, online Dear all, I am happy and also proud to announce the activation of the full on-line version of the European Medium Wave Guide. Until today you could already consult the LW, Addresses, DRM and link section of the EMWG. Now the MW section can also be consulted. This on-line version will be kept up-to-date and should therefore reflect the current situation on this band in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The PDF version will not be neglected, and will be put up-to- date every few months. As usual I am counting on you, not only to spread the news about this on-line EMWG, but also to send me any corrections/additional information you may have. From now on, you will have a reliable source of information as far as long and medium wave is concerned. Make www.emwg.info you start page and don't miss anything of the current MW situation. 73 Herman. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: emwg-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ BELL+HOWELL 9-BAND RADIO --- plays AM/FM, TV & 7-band SW Broadcasts #94654, Our price $9.99 [unID ad] Glenn, in case you see other ads for this little radio --- I bought one to give it a try. It is really ridiculous, Works OK on MW and FM but SW sucks. No vestige of accuracy in dial calibration, and it only picks up a few SW signals. I got a few RCI and some US religious junk signals, but at random spots on the various SW bands. The TV audio coverage is only a few channels at the low end of the FM band, and the dial calibration is just plan wrong, showing ``CH 5`` BETWEEN ``88`` and ``96`` MHz! Also shows ``CH4``, ``CH3`` and ``CH2`` between ``76`` and ``88`` MHz! I hear channel 5 audio when the needle is between ``CH4`` and ``CH 3``; that is clear. Channel 4 audio is barely detectable among images of other stations, and video-carrier hum. Channel 2 audio is also tune-in-able, but poor quality. FM signals actually sound OK, and it does have a stereo-headphone jack. (Mono audio only). MW only goes up to 1060 kHz on the dial --- not much range beyond that when tuning. All I get is the local 1600 kHz signal, no X-banders. I`m tuning SW as I write this around 0245 UT and I actually am hearing the BBC, probably 5975 kHz, and it is around the right place on the dial! First time that happened! Taiwan on 5960 via WYFR, and a few other SW signals amidst a sea of MW-station images and various noise. This might work OK (to a degree) outside an urban area, but most people will find it not even worth the $10 price. I`ve had other cheap analog SW radios that are *far* better performers (Will Martin, St. Louis MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Squinting at the illustration, it looks like the SW dial calibrations are really odd: you would want to read them horizontally, but actually each of the 7 bands reads vertically, with these nominal limits: 5.90- 6.90, 6.90-8.10, 9.30-10.30, 11.60-13.50, 13.00-15.00, 14.80-16.50, 17.10-19.10. I`m not at all sure of the first digit after the decimals (gh, DXLD) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ Quite a number of readers also enjoy collecting radio related stamps and covers, and an interesting website is that of Bart Lee, San Francisco CA http://www.antiqueradios.com which includes an article on Radio Stamps. The United Fruit Company had one of the earliest radio networks to connect its Latin American operations and in 1910 they began issuing their own wireless franks, or kind of stamp. As radio became popular in the early 1920s, the EKKO Stamp Company started up business. They sold a postage like stamp featuring an eagle in the design, plus call letters to many hundreds of new US radio stations, and a similar stamp with a beaver for Canadian Some stations used their own designs, and WHAS Louisville KY wrote: It gives us great pleasure to send you our Verification Stamp No.1. Incidentally, we have five such stamps, respectively, for each successive report. There is, of course, no charge for these. We shall be most interested to see you collect the entire series, and wish you luck. [captions:] EKKO Stamp 1934 WCKY `The Voice of Cincinnati`, Eric Shackle Collection, NZRDXL Archives © WHAS Verification Stamp No.1, 1934. Eric Shackle Collection, NZRDXL Archives © The eagle design was also used in Cuba. EKKO also issued its own stamp albums and collectors kits, and today these stamps are regarded as `cinderella` items by stamp collectors and are highly sought after as collectibles. We`ve also come across a similar stamp used by the Tokyo Central Broadcasting Station in mid-1933 as part of a QSL card issued for JOAK. In fact, Japanese radio stations were prolific QSLers in the 1930`'s, issuing well designed cards (in English) which made attractive additions to any DX collection of the era. If you`re interested in art and design, you'll also know that `radio art` has closely followed the trends of the time, with many Art Deco logo designs (and studio buildings for that matter too) in the 1930s, moving into the `streamlined` look of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the psychedelic designs of the late 1960s and early 1970s for example. These are reflected in bumper stickers, posters, Top 40 charts, QSL cards, letterheads and station promotional materials. Some of these can be seen in `The Art of Radio` © in the Radio Heritage Collection © at http://www.radiodx.com where you`ll also find a growing number of other interesting radio articles (Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Solar activity was fairly low for most of the week; however, the geomagnetic field was quite disturbed due to coronal hole activity around December 7. MUFs were enhanced slightly until this period when they became depressed on Dec 8 when things returned positive again. MUFs should be near normal apart from depressed on Dec 17. A flare producing region was due to return Dec 12 which may cause elevated geomagnetic activity from Dec 14-15 with a coronal hole possibly becoming geoeffective at this time. Produced using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, Dec 14, cumbredx via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-195, December 11, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1160: WWCR: Thu 2130 9475, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WBCQ: Mon 0545 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1160.html [from Thu] MUNDO RADIAL, nueva emisión para diciembre/enero, a partir del 13 de diciembre en WWCR, 9475, los viernes a las 2215v, miércoles 2200. Y: (Corriente) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0212.ram (Bajable) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0212.rm (Guión) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0212.html [desde jueves] ** ARGENTINA. SIDEBAND --- What! I can hear you saying! How come SSB is ``allowed`` for SWBC articles? These days you can hear the programmes of a number of domestic stations from this country, relayed over an SSB transmitter. This is presumed to be near the capital city of Buenos Aires and is probably a military station being utilised to carry the various domestic MW stations to farther points in the nation. One suggestion has been that this is the General Pacheco Radio, but I`m not sure. In any event, it is possible to log (and QSL) several stations on such frequencies as 29810, 20276, 15820, 9115, 4588 kHz and others. Broadcasts are erratic, but if you keep checking you are likely to pick up a sideband transmission (usually LSB, but I`ve heard both sidebands simultaneously on rare occasions, with a different station on each!) Here in Ontario, reception seems to be best in the evenings, after say 2300 UT. The most frequently heard station is R. Continental 590 AM which often carries sports commentaries. Others include R. Rivadavia 620, and Radio Diez 710, the latter styling itself as ``the most powerful Radio in the country``! (altho its listed power on the broadcast band is 10 kW!) [As consultant David Gleason frequently points out on the NRC list, it`s actually 100 kW, directional, necessary just to cover Gran B.A. on 710 versus all the manmade noise ---gh]. Programming on these stations is varied, with music, sports, news, and phone-in shows. All the above have QSLed to yours truly at various times with nice cards. They are located in B.A. and reports can be sent to the addresses given in WRTH. It has been suggested in the past that this type of relay is used to send programmes to the Argentine Antarctic community; however, they have their own broadcast facility, R. Nacional Arcángel. A good time to listen might be when there are political moves afoot, such as a speech by the President, which I heard this year. Be aware that from time to time an unidentified station may be aired (one such example was Radio Planeta in May 2001, possibly an FM music station). So you see, here is a pathway to new experiences, a change from tuning the external service RAE. Good listening! (Tom Williamson, Station Profile, Dec ODXA Listening In, retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. RAE`s Actualidad DX ``un programa de Gabriel Iván Barrera``, confirmed around 2315-2325 UT Tue Dec 10: 15345 clear of QRM but very heavy flutter made copy difficult. The sound of the flutter overrode the modulation. I was able to tell the announcer was talking about SW stations, frequencies and schedules. \\ 11710 also seemed to be there, but under heavy QRM; 6060 not audible in splash of something. Switching 15345 to USB helped a little. Good thing it`s not any closer to R. Martí Delano blaster on 15330, which at times cross- modulated, overloading the receiver. Separate Suplemento is Fri at same time; both also in morns at 1220 on 15345 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. 21590 0900-1130 BBC Arabic via Moosbrunn site (NWDXC Dec 8, BC-DX via DXLD) Let`s see, is this the first time BBC have used Moosbrunn site? Hard to keep track (gh, DXLD) ** BELARUS`. The bubble carrier on 7106v is modulated with Minsk FS \\ 7210. They have had frequency generator problems in the past, so now we are there again. As I reported already last evening, the wobbler on 7106 was the Minsk-Kalodzishchy transmitter with a technical problem (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Dec 8 via DXLD) Viz.: Heavy Bubble JAMMING from an unknown site observed Dec 8 at 2000 UT onwards on v7105 kHz (Wolfgang Bueschel, ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. 4716.91, Radio Yura seemingly back with much reduced strength noted *0958 to 1021 GMT Dec 11. Transmitter problems? Has been AWOL for ten days or more (Bob Wilkner, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4930. RADIO SAN MIGUEL. Riberalta, Bolivia. 2320-2345 Dic. 6. EX - 4925v ??? Música salsa. Luego un mensaje de Navidad y varios anuncios con campañas en contra de la violencia familiar, Defensoria del Pueblo. ``...4925 khz onda corta, San Miguel; formar e informar es nuestra meta...Red ERBOL, revolución en la radio de Bolivia...`` Luego de las 2330 el programa La Voz de mi Comunidad. La señal era muy estable en los 4930, tanto así que me fue posible escuchar la señal de Rádio Difusora de Tabauté en 4925 (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DXLD) See also HONDURAS, another 4930 ** CANADA. RCI in French at 1705 Dec 11 on 2nd harmonic 43130. This was quite weak and fading, while fundamental 21565 was very good (Ron Trotto, IL, WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Radio IDs in Canada Hi Glenn, I did some surfing and found a document pertaining to all radio stations EXCEPT broadcasting stations. A PDF is attached to this e-mail. I haven't yet found anything pertaining to broadcast IDs. Radio stations in Montreal rarely use their legal ID. Radio Ville-Marie is CIRA 91.3 Q92 is CFQR 92.5 Radio Énergie is CKMF 94.3 Mix 96 is CJFM 95.9 CHOM Ninety-seven-seven is CHOM 97.7 (they drop the decimal point in the ID) COOL-FM is CKOO 98.5 Radio Classique is CJPX 99.5 FM Rythme FM is CFGL 105.7 CITE Rock Détente is CITE 107.3 There are exceptions: - News-talk stations CJAD 800 and CKAC 730 use their call signs in their monickers - All-news stations CINW 940 and CINF 690 use their official call signs right before the top and bottom of the hour - CKOI 96.9 uses its official calls as its name - Most community stations use their official call signs as their name In Montreal, the CBC (Radio One) provides complete station IDs for Montreal and Quebec City (together) at about 4:57 a.m., after the national anthem. This info contains call letters, frequency, studio addresses, transmitting antenna location and transmitting power. That is followed by a list of all the AM and FM repeating stations in the province. I've only heard a full station ID for Radio Two only once before -- and I was half asleep at the time. During hours of national programming, CBC Montreal gets its own IDs (This is/You're listening to CBC Radio One, 88.5, Montreal; CBC Radio Two, 93.5, Montreal). Radio One outside Montreal is identified as the Quebec Community Network, almost never with a specific location and frequency. Radio Two Sherbrooke and Quebec City get a combined ID, which sometimes gets cut off by the computer because it's too long! (CBC Radio Two, 89.7 Sherbrooke and 96.1 Quebec City). CBC also uses what I like to call "super-regional" identification in the Eastern provinces: "This is CBC Radio One in the Maritimes." I've heard this on weekends and after the "super-regional" weather following the 10 p.m. news, weeknights on CBA Moncton. Cheers, (Ricky Leong, QC, Dec 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Had an e-mail back from the CBC today confirming that I was hearing Regina's Z-99 over CBKF1 yesterday. Apparently CBKF1 picks up the program feed over the air from the Regina FM transmitter. The CBC was working on that transmitter and with no signal, the receiver at Gravelbourg locked onto the next strong signal up the dial, which turned out to be Z-99. It wouldn't surprise me if the CBC techs in Regina had totally forgotten about 690. This situation existed until sometime this morning, so if anyone was hearing some unexpected pop music on 690, that could be why. 73, (Nigel Pimblett, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Dec 9, IRCA via DXLD) Ha! When will stations learn not to use scanning/searching/seeking receivers for relay purposes??!! Same problem KXMS Joplin had several times with input to their webcast, now defunct (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4000.08, 0957-, R. Nei Menggu, Dec 9. Female heard in Mandarin language with long talks. S2 signal level. Presumed ID at toh but not really sure as Male announcer heard at that time with lower modulation (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) toh = top of hour ** CHINA. CHINA'S JAMMING OF U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING From http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=50&mode=general Washington, D.C., December 09, 2002-- The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is the independent federal agency that oversees all U.S. nonmilitary international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). Our mission, quite simply, is to "promote and sustain freedom and democracy by broadcasting accurate and objective news and information about the United States and the world." In China, however, we face a serious problem in fulfilling that mandate because Beijing is working hard to prevent the news we report from getting through to the Chinese people. Even as China is actively trying to expand its role in the global marketplace, it is isolating its people, cutting off the free flow of information and denying citizens reliable and credible news from the United States, among other places. The BBG, which monitors jamming with the assistance of the Federal Communications Commission, knows that virtually all of VOA's and RFA's shortwave radio transmissions directed to China in that country's languages are jammed. VOA broadcasts in Cantonese, Mandarin and Tibetan. RFA broadcasts in Cantonese, Mandarin, Tibetan and Uyghur. Unfortunately, jamming seems to be on the rise, despite increased commercial and diplomatic contacts between the United States and China. In Lhasa, Tibet 's capital city, for example, it is impossible to receive a good signal for VOA Tibetan, even though the service is on three or five frequencies, depending on the time of day. As has been widely reported, the Chinese government also is determined to censor the fast-growing internet by blocking sites, including those of VOA http://www.voanews.com and RFA http://www.rfa.org Researchers at Harvard Law School recently concluded China has the world's most censored internet, with the government blocking up to 19,000 websites. Additionally, email subscription services are blocked. The BBG - along with, we hope, all Americans -- is concerned about the Chinese government's actions for a number of reasons. First, it's a human rights issue: Everyone is entitled to factual, uncensored information. Second, the Chinese people know woefully little about the United States - and that's not good. Surveys show a disturbing 68 percent of urban dwellers in China consider the United States their country's number one enemy. By controlling outside media, the Chinese government has manipulated the news and stopped the United States from telling its side of the story. As a result, some 1.2 billion people are ill- informed about our people, our culture, our democracy, our freedoms and our government policies. Not only are the Chinese government's actions wrong - they're unfair. While China jams VOA and RFA, the United States allows China's government television, CCTV, on many cable systems across the country. China Radio International, China's government radio, broadcasts unjammed on shortwave and on a number of affiliated AM and FM radio stations in the United States. Of course, as a country that support a free exchange of views and ideas, we wouldn't have it any other way. At the same time, the U.S. government has granted more than 40 journalists from China's state-run media permission to live and work in the United States without restriction. The same cannot be said about China where American journalists work under more stringent restrictions. Moreover, the Chinese have refused to increase from two the number of correspondents working for U.S. international broadcasting in China. So what can be done? At a minimum, the issue needs to be brought to the forefront of the public agenda. Top administration officials already have promised to raise the issue with the Chinese through diplomatic channels and other discussions so we're hopeful that there might be some movement on that front. The BBG also has filed complaints of "harmful interference" with the International Telecommunications Union monthly since August 2000, claiming Chinese jamming violates radio regulations. China first acknowledged receipt of the complaints in July 2002, and again in August 2002. Failure to acknowledge complaints is itself a violation of radio regulations. China insists, implausibly, that what we hear as jamming is merely an accidental overlap of broadcasts on the country's highly congested airwaves. The BBG believes these responses are duplicitous at best. Chinese officials have not responded positively to a U.S. request to discuss frequency management. To overcome jamming, the BBG generally broadcasts on different frequencies to reach a broad geographic region. U.S. international broadcasting spends about $9.5 million annually to transmit about 100,000 hours of RFA and VOA programming to China. Costs could be slashed about 25 percent if China ceased jamming. China spends a comparable amount to counter U.S. transmissions. Finally, both VOA and RFA continue to research and experiment with proxy servers and mirror internet sites to circumvent the bamboo curtain. But the bottom line is this: the United States, now engaged in a global war on terrorism, cannot afford to have 18 percent of the world's population misinformed about our country. We need a concerted strategy involving Congress and the Executive branch to grapple with this problem - and to stop the jamming. For more information, contact: Joan Mower (202.260.0167 or 202.401.3736), jmower@ibb.gov or go to http://www.bbg.gov (via Mike Terry, Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Re jammer but no Falun Dafa on 5925, DXLD 2-194: FDWR via Sitkunai [LITHUANIA] has been on 6035 from 2100 since the beginning of B02. I do not know what the Chinese are jamming on 5925 at the same time. 6035 is also being jammed (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 1613.1, RADIO IDEAL. Umbita. 0020-0100 Dic. 7. Música popular, anuncios de Bicicletría Bernalli y Restaurante Los Paisas. ``Escuche todos los sábados a partir de las 7 de la noche por Radio Ideal el mano a mano musical, una cortesía de Bicicletría Bernalli de Umbita...`` Nueva emisora sin licencia operando desde Umbita en el departamento de Boyacá; no es transmitiendo en la banda ampliada sino deficiencias del transmisor ya que mencionan como frecuencia nominal los 1600 kHz; mencionan QTH en Calle 16A No. 3-58 Umbita, Boyacá. 6960, ONDAS DEL ORTEGUAZA. Florencia. 1125-1140 Dic. 7. Armónico (6 x 1160). Música popular ``...en la internacional Ondas del Orteguaza su compañera inseparable...`` Anuncios de Depósito de drogas HyB, bicicletería el Rey. ``...Ondas del Orteguaza de Todelar, la estación amiga de los caqueteños...`` (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Hi Glenn, You'll appreciate this. Washington Times story mentions Voz de tu Conciencia in Colombia, and actually gives the frequency: 6010. (OK, it doesn't mention that it's variable.) http://www.washtimes.com/world/20021210-85797464.htm (Kim Elliott, DC, Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: IN COLOMBIA, A MISSION FOR PEACE By Steve Salisbury, THE WASHINGTON TIMES VILLA DE LA PAZ, Colombia --- With prospects for peace in Colombia as remote as at any time during the nation's 38-year-old civil war, hope is being kept alive by a most unusual mediator — an American missionary who has known the Marxist rebels since they kidnapped him almost two decades ago. Russell Martin Stendal, 47, a Protestant missionary from Minneapolis, had been working in Colombia as a rancher and operating a two-Cessna flying service for about eight years when he was taken captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in August 1983. He was released five months later, making him more fortunate than some of the 120 Americans who have been kidnapped in Colombia, mostly by guerrillas. In 1999, FARC rebels kidnapped and killed three American activists who were building a school for an Indian tribe. The FARC later called the slayings a "misunderstanding." Instead of fleeing Colombia, Mr. Stendal, his Colombian wife, Marina, and their four children continue to live in the country. They spend much of their time at a countryside home on the edge of the grounds of the defunct Lomalinda Translation Center, near Puerto Lleras in Meta province. Despite a State Department warning that the FARC extorts from, kidnaps and kills U.S. citizens in Colombia, Mr. Stendal and his younger brother, "Chaddy," have acted as an informal "back channel" and sometimes as mediators in Meta among the FARC, the vigilante United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), local communities and the Colombian army. The brothers do this as part of their efforts to evangelize all the warring parties. "Divine providence put us in the situations where we have had trajectories for many years with both sides that has led to the trust that there is now," Mr. Stendal said. In 1964, the year the FARC was founded, the Stendal family moved from Minnesota to Colombia. Russell Stendal was 8. His father, Chad Stendal Sr., a civil engineer, was among the founders of the Lomalinda Translation Center of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in Meta. SIL was set up by Wycliffe Bible Translators to translate the New Testament into Colombia's Indian languages. According to Russell Stendal, the Lomalinda center grew to have nearly 100 households and 300 volunteers — mostly Americans. But in the mid-1970s, SIL became the target of unsubstantiated rumors that it was a U.S. government entity, and in 1981, one of its members, Chester Bitterman, was kidnapped and killed by guerrillas of the now- disarmed and legalized April 19 Movement. Another American missionary was kidnapped by the FARC in the mid-1990s, and SIL's Lomalinda center closed about a year later, Russell Stendal said. "It is astonishing we are all still alive," his father said. "Of the 23 closest personal friends of Chaddy, 20 were killed and three fled the country." Russell Stendal and his brother bought five small houses at Lomalinda, and there Russell Stendal started his first radio station in Colombia, Marfil Stereo at 88.8 FM. That was nearly four years ago. Eighty percent of the station's broadcast content is secular, and 20 percent religious, Russell Stendal said. He later added Radio Alcaraván, 1530 AM , and a short-wave station, the Voice of Your Conscience at 6010 on the 49-meter band, which can be heard in the evening in North America and Europe. These two stations are primarily religious. "Our programming isn't typical Christian programming. It is not trying to get people into our church and not into somebody else's church," Russell Stendal said. "We are trying to bring people into a personal relationship with God, no matter to what group they belong," said his mother, Patricia Stendal. "We produce programs that have solid values, and that deal with attitude and a change of heart, of being tolerant of other people's views and ideas," Russell Stendal said. Mr. Stendal's broadcasting career grew out of his writing his first book, "Rescue the Captors," which he began while a captive of the FARC. The Stendal family said it paid $55,000 for Russell Stendal's freedom, down from the $500,000 ransom demand. The Stendals say they also "donated" a year later more than 80 percent of Chad Stendal Sr.'s 74,000-acre cattle ranch in Meta to landless Indians and peasants — an action that gained the family good will from the guerrillas. Russell Stendal's story reached President Reagan, and he was invited to the White House. Mr. Reagan's director for domestic drug abuse policy met with him and opened doors for Mr. Stendal to make an anti- drug documentary and a two-year speaking tour of American high schools and colleges. In the 1980s and early '90s, the late Rev. Rafael García Herreros, a Colombian priest and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, enlisted Russell Stendal in joint Protestant-Catholic outreach efforts toward outlawed groups. Mr. Stendal tells of driving Father García to secret meetings with the late Medellín cocaine cartel leader Pablo Escobar, where the priest persuaded Escobar to surrender. Except for rustling Stendal cattle in the past two decades, the FARC and the AUC have not bothered the family, Russell Stendal said. That's "because they see we are not political," said Chad Stendal Sr., who lives with his wife in Bogota. "And they also see that we physically help a lot of people, no matter who they are. We have helped a lot of wounded while they were dying." Last month, Villa de la Paz, a community of about 600 people nearly 50 miles south of Lomalinda in an area dominated by the FARC, held a "Forum for Peace." Villager Hilberto Sáenz says the Stendal brothers agreed to help organize it. Residents complained of a deteriorating situation. Some accused the AUC and soldiers of collaborating in a campaign of killings against FARC sympathizers in nearby towns, and they feared it would reach Villa de la Paz. "We cannot deny that there are guerrillas here," said the village treasurer, a 58-year-old man who asked not to be named. "But we are not guerrillas. So, we would like the government to allow the food, medicine and things necessary to live to enter town." Some observers question the need for such a lightly inhabited area, where coca is heavily cultivated, to receive frequent, large deliveries of gasoline, which can be used to extract unrefined cocaine. One villager said the gasoline tankers also smuggle out the coca alkaloid in liquid form. Villa de la Paz was founded in 1986 by peasants and coca growers, under the watch of the FARC --- Colombia's largest guerrilla group, with an estimated 14,000 to 17,000 troops --- and this has put its residents in the FARC-AUC-and-army cross fire. In May, say villagers, laundress Luz Dari Caiceido was killed by government helicopter gunfire on the edge of Puerto Toledo, 18 miles south of Villa de la Paz. Three guerrillas were said to be on the outskirts, but "bullets were hitting the town," said Edilma Marín, who was working at Puerto Toledo's communal pharmacy that day and says she saw Miss Caiceido's bullet-riddled body. Mrs. Marín said the victim was a destitute single mother who left five young children and a tar-paper shack. Perhaps 5,000 people came to Villa de la Paz during the Nov. 23 peace forum, including truckloads of unarmed FARC guerrillas in civilian clothes. It was a hot, sunny day just north of the equator. About 400 people packed a tin-roofed village hall, and hundreds more filled the nearby streets. The smell of veal roasting on spits filled the air. The hall's pink concrete walls were adorned with anti-government and anti-Plan Colombia banners. Speaker after speaker denounced abuses by the army and the vigilantes, but not by the guerrillas. After one old man criticized the United States as the greatest human rights violator in history, a village leader close to the FARC took the microphone to reply. "The United States has two classes," he said, "the exploiters and the exploited. We have Americans with us here, and we honor them." Russell Stendal, who was introduced as one of "the exploited," then took the mike. "Someone told me, 'If our enemies are fearsome, then we are going to be more evil,'" he said. "Instead of being a contest of who can be the worst, why not see who can do the most good?" His listeners applauded when Russell Stendal mentioned his belief that the FARC's 43rd Front, which controls the area, didn't have a policy of kidnapping during the past five years — unlike the FARC in general. After the forum, people crowded around the American's red Chevy Suburban, where assistants passed out some of the 7,000 religious books and Bibles given away that day. Marxism is atheist, but many of the FARC's rank and file were raised as Catholics or Protestants. Nacho, 27, an officer of the FARC's 43rd Front, received Russell Stendal and others just outside Villa de la Paz two hours after the peace forum. He sat with the visitors in plastic chairs under a thatched roof near a small wooden house. Trucks occasionally roared by, raising dust from an adjacent dirt road. Accompanied by about 10 armed guerrillas in camouflage fatigues, Nacho said the idea of a regional peace forum was something to be considered. Three years of virtually fruitless national peace talks between the FARC and the previous Colombian president, Andrés Pastrana, collapsed 10 months ago. But Nacho, who said he is a 10-year FARC veteran, dismissed Russell Stendal's idea that each warring group give up 150 rifles to be melted into a peace monument. "We need the rifles," he replied, laughing. His coppery face frowned in evident disagreement when Hámilton Castro, president of the private Pro-Colombia Foundation, said: "Sincerely, if the FARC commits terrorist acts, then it is terrorist. If the state commits terrorist acts, then it is terrorist." Nacho responded that it is a time of war, and that the FARC has a right to act against its enemies, through means such as bombings and executions. "We are not terrorists," he said. "We are fighting for the people." He said it would be hard to renew peace negotiations as long as the FARC was designated as "terrorist" and U.S. extradition orders were pending against its leaders. Getting into the driver's seat of a green sport utility vehicle, Nacho smiled and shook hands, saying he enjoyed the visit. Mr. Stendal handed him a camouflage-covered Bible. The next day, Russell Stendal's team left Villa de la Paz. At an army checkpoint en route to Puerto Lleras, a soldier snatched a small peace pennant affixed to Mr. Stendal's side mirror. When Mr. Stendal complained, a sergeant ordered the soldier to give it back. Later, among the riverside ruins of Puerto Lleras, a soldier named Alex searched Mr. Stendal in a routine security check and recognized his ID card. Alex pulled out a well-worn copy of Mr. Stendal's book — "The Beatitudes, God's Plan for Battle" — and asked him to autograph it (Washington Times (Moony), Dec 10 via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 11690, 0155-0200, R. Okapi, Dec 9. Very weak audio heard but is that of African music at tune in. Fades above and below noise floor. ID is presumed. S1 signal level. Did not hear an ID at toh (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI`s new QSLs have finally arrived after a year or more, and priority is being given to verifying reports and/or follow- ups. 15040 is now 24 hours, and 7445 runs from 2100 to 1200 or 1300. [I am rarely awake before 1300, but I hear something else there, contrary to current HFCC which shows only: 7445 1500 2200 29,38,47,48,52 SRP 250 159 1234567 271002 300303 D RUS VOR GFC 2254 7445 0000 0800 1-4,6-11 CRI 60 30 1234567 271002 300303 D English CTR RPI RPI 20025 R. Peace The last comprehensive schedules we had from TAIWAN admitted they don`t participate in HFCC! So allowance must be made for that. Checking DXLD 2-186, we see TAIWAN on 7445 as follows: 1100-1200 English to SEAs 1200-1300 Indonesian 1300-1500 Variety Network 2 (Chinese) 1500-1600 Thai 2200-2400 Thai So from 1100, RFPI may as well not be on there, unfortunately. Tho aimed at SE Asia, Taiwan signals are quite strong here with a favorable nighttime propagation path. I left 7445 on this afternoon (not a time I usually listen to it), and RFPI faded in around 2200, no QRM. But a few minutes before 2300, pretty heavy co-channel developed, presumably Taiwan. Maybe RFPI has better luck further east (or maybe not) ---gh] Still working on resuming high-speed internet access, streaming; could take one to four weeks more, to work out details, but it *will* happen (James Latham, RFPI Mailbag heard Dec 10 at 1930 on 15039, with co- host Kevin Moore, musician; see his site http://www.chromakey.com --- notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Whence: DEAD AIR FOR "RADIO FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL"? Added on 10-27-2002 Kevin is currently volunteering full time at a shortwave station called "Radio for Peace International", just outside of Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica. RFPI is located on the campus of the United Nations University for Peace. Currently the University is trying to evict the station from its land. For more information, you can listen to this report by Freespeech Radio News, broadcast last Wednesday (October 22nd, 2002). Below is the text that introduces the FSRN report. "Last week, the University for Peace, a United Nations project located in Costa Rica, cut off Radio For Peace International's high speed internet connection and disconnected phone lines, ceasing the station's ability to broadcast programs like Democracy Now!, Free Speech Radio News, and Counterspin. Radio For Peace International, the only shortwave radio station dedicated to promoting peace, has also lost its web casting capabilities. The station has been receiving increased hostility from the University, and received an official eviction notice in July. Pauline Bartolone reports." (via gh, DXLD) See site for link to FSRN audio; gist: So-called Universidad para la Paz, which originally welcomed RFPI onto its grounds in 1987, thanks to its then president Rodrigo Carazo, is now under different administration, and has become increasingly hostile to RFPI; an eviction notice was served in July. James Latham says no explicit reason has been given, but suspects it`s because of connexions Maurice Strong has with large corporations, while RFPI broadcasts reports on the anti-globalist movement. The latest in two years of harassment by the university administration. Strong serves as president of the university council, on the board of World Economic Forum, numerous corporations, special advisor to president of World Bank. UPaz Dean Edmundo Ericsson says relations with RFPI have not been close for some time; RFPI and the university are going their separate ways, tho he wishes them well. Latham says university has recently held gatherings of School of the Americas alumni, and is now guarded by armed men in a country without an army. The university`s actions against RFPI amount to attempting censorship (gh`s summary of Freespeech Radio News piece, for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.76, 1030-, R. Cristal Internacional, Dec 9. Station signed on with NA then to general announcements and ID at 1030 by male announcer in Spanish. Then right to music at 1032 (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.3, RADIO IMPERIAL, Sonsonate. 2225-2350 Dic. 7. Gracias a la información de Glenn Hauser en Radio Enlace, intenté y logré la escucha de esta emisora salvadoreña transmitiendo música de alabanza en diferentes ritmos (salsa, norteña, balada) conducción por una locutora enviando saludos a oyentes en Santa Helena y mencionando número telfónico 4593337. ``...para El Salvador y el mundo entero, Radio Imperial...`` Mencionan Sonsonate y propaganda para una ferreteria. ``... Radio Imperial, 810 AM con la palabra de Dios...`` (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6005, 0748-, DeutschlandRadio, Dec 10. ID by female announcer at 0800 in German. Was playing some very nice music before toh. Some progressive and pop music. Excellent selections and great sound quality. S6 signal level with slight fades and QRM till after toh (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. As usual with SW stations, except for BBC, it`s difficult to get any advance info on holiday special programming, so a look at what DW did last year (gh): An Xmas special aired on Dec 24 in English from 0900 onward, and on 25th through the 0600 English release. One version aired Dec 24 at 09, 11, 16 and 19 UT; the second edition Dec 24 at 20, 21, 23 and 25th hourly from 01 to 06, including the North American releases at 01, 03 and 05. Also, DW aired a New Year`s special on Dec 31 and Jan 1 using the same approach described above. DW`s 24-hour German language service has always programmed a wide variety of Holiday music on Xmas Eve, Xmas Day [Boxing Day too –gh], New Year`s Eve and New Year`s Day. With one of the most powerful signals in North America, you should have no trouble locating them on the dial (John Figliozzi, Easy Listening, Dec NASWA Journal via DXLD) One doesn`t need to know German to appreciate good music! (Richard Cuff, ed., ibid.) ** GUAM. KTWR took quite a hit from a typhoon over the past weekend. All transmitters are off the air presently, and the five curtain antennae are a wreck. We hope to have a couple of them back and running (at lowered power) by week's end, but the others are severely damaged enough that new parts will need to be shipped in. This info from Bill Damick, TWR (Bob Padula, Dec 10, EDXP via WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DXLD) How ungrateful of a god to do that to them / let that happen. Could TWR theology be all wet? Even this won`t convince them (gh, DXLD) From: The Business Journal http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2002/12/09/daily23.html 15:49 EST Tuesday TYPHOON TEMPORARILY SHUTS DOWN TRANS WORLD RADIO'S GUAM OPERATION KTWR, the shortwave operation of Cary-based [North Carolina] Christian broadcasting network Trans World Radio, is currently off the air due to damage in Guam caused by Typhoon Pongsona. The typhoon hit Guam -- an unincorporated U.S. territory about 1,800 miles southeast of Hong Kong - on Sunday with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and gusts to 184 mph. Trans World Radio staff hopes to resume limited broadcasts this week, possibly as early as Wednesday or Thursday. TWR has nine missionary families serving on Guam. Eight were on the island when the typhoon came ashore, with the other family back in the United States on furlough. All of the families are safe, Trans World Radio said. Cary-based Trans World Radio has been airing evangelistic and Bible teaching programs to Asia from Guam via powerful shortwave transmitters for 25 years. TWR operates five shortwave transmitters on Guam. The antenna array suffered severe damage, although all the towers remained erect and apparently undamaged. Three of the five antenna curtains were "shredded," according to TWR's staff on the island. The other two were damaged, but the staff hopes to be able to repair and re-install them later this week. These two provide service for Northeast Asia (primarily for China), and Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and southern China). Significant programming rearrangement will be made to maximize the use of the available transmitters to best serve the listeners, TWR said. Trans World Radio is a Christian broadcasting network that broadcasts more than 1,800 hours of Gospel programs in over 180 languages and dialects from 13 super-power transmitting sites and by satellite. It also airs programs via more than 1,600 local stations and transmitters. The nonprofit has about 1,000 staff worldwide, including about 70 in Cary. © 2002 American City Business Journals Inc. (via Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham UK, and via Artie Bigley, WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DXLD) The Pacific island of Guam is still reeling after being hit head-on by a devastating supertyphoon this weekend. With sustained winds of up to 150 miles an hour, Trans World Radio's http://www.gospelcom.net/mnn/media/group.php?agencyAb=TWR equipment collapsed under the storm's battering. TWR's Rich Greene: "Three of our five antennae curtains, which operate short wave to Asia were completely shredded. [And], we are now off the air trying to repair the other two antennas in order to, Lord willing, be, in a limited way, back on the air broadcasting the good news of Christ by Wednesday or Thursday." Greene says the two surviving antennas provide service for China, and Southeast Asia. "We need prayer that the Lord would enable our staff, all of whom are safe, to [be able to] give them the strength to weather this devastating time." Pray too for the listeners whose daily "ray of hope" will be temporarily extinguished in many places (From Mission Network News, December 11th 2002 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 4930.6, Radio Internacional, Reactivated; last LA-DX log as Sept 2001. Dec 11, 1240 open carrier, 1250 sudden talk by man, mentions of Internacional, su radio. Seemed to be news program that ended at 1300. Seemed to have canned slogan of "Millennium [Force]" (as heard in English). Nice signal and modulation. ID at 1256 as FM Internacional and mention of San Pedro Sula. Mention of shortwave and Radio Internacional at 1303 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DXLD) See also BOLIVIA for another new 4930 ** ICELAND. Glenn: The last few days we've had quiet geomagnetic conditions with the planetary A currently at 7. I decided to give LW a try and heard a number of the more powerful European broadcast stations including Iceland. 189, Utvarp Reykjavik (ras 1), 0633 Dec 11, LW service was relaying channel 1. Classical music program. The signal was poor at the best. Not a good enough copy to understand any of it, but I did hear a woman announcer reading the weather. The signal dropped down after 0700, which seems to correspond to an increase in the estimated planetary K index around that time. In December it does not begin to get light in Iceland till well after 1030 (David Hodgson, TN, WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 3985, 2332-2345, Islamic Republic of Iran, Dec 8. Male and female announcer in Arabic language. Continuous exchange of comments then to music at 2338. Frequent mentions of Iraq. Tentative canned ID heard at 0000. Difficult copy at this time. S3 signal level. Female announcer on occasion with English. Apparently is an English lesson. Interludes of music to break up the lessons. Interesting (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. This logging is all mixed up: NOVOSIBIRSK is not a country. The station on 7460 at 0228 is certainly not IBC Tamil, but, as the website cited implies, the Baha`i station, Payem-e Doost in Farsi, as previously reported in DXLD, and in Cumbre by Hans Johnson (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NOVOSIBIRSK 7460.0, 0228-, IBC Tamil, Dec 10. Test tones noted at 0224 till 0228, then just carrier noted. Music started at 0230, YL with ID as Tamil with talks in unknown language till 0233 then to very pretty tune. Back to talks with music in background at 0234. E-mail address [sic] at 0236, http://www.bahairadio.org Then to Tamil tune sung by male vocalist. S8 signal level with only slight fades. Female with talks at 0240 and then another tune in back ground while she speaks. Female with very pleasant voice speaking in calm manner. Occasional interludes of music. Washington DC mentioned at 0246. Possible ID heard at 0247 and again mention of Washington. Second female with comments at 0248. God Bless heard at 0257 by one of the female announcers. Continued thru top of hour with out ID. George Bush mentioned at 0300. At 0303 a tune played, male vocalist. Gone by 0315 (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. MANX RADIO'S FUTURE HAS BEEN SECURED From: http://www.manxradio.com/ 11 December After a three and a half hour debate Tynwald overwhelmingly supported a set of proposals, from Treasury Minister Allan Bell, which will lead to a significant increase in government funding for Manx Radio. With immediate effect, share capital will be increased by £300 thousand, to £750 thousand. And the government subvention will more than double, to £570 thousand, from next April. With effect from the financial year 2004 to 2005 the subvention will be £840 thousand, with an annual increase of 3.3% thereafter. There will be a review of the station's progress from the financial year 2006 to 2007. Tynwald also supported the second part of an amendment, from Speaker of the House of Keys Tony Brown, that Manx Radio should have a statutory charter, as the Isle of Man's national broadcaster. During the debate there was general support for what the station was doing, with a keenness for better services in the future. And all the above means the £400 thousand strategic review into Manx Radio's future has been approved, with minor amendments in relation to the method of funding (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 6971.06, 2330-, GALEI ZAHAL, Dec 9. Noted not on regular frequency but dropped down. Came on earlier and has not drifted but stable on this freq. Language is Hebrew. Recheck at 0305 and back on 6973 (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. [UNID country]. 6280.00, 0213-0301, IRRS Relay station, Dec 9. Rebroadcast of a version of the 'Two Bobs' from Swiss Radio international. I [ID??] was given at 0225. Then to Christmas music. S10 signal level. Some slight fades. Full program in English. 0237 Swiss award for Swiss Cheeses. 2001 Swiss Cheese awards. Back to music at 0241. ID as SRI at 0246. Another 'Two Bobs' program on scanners. Merry go round program and provided address for SRI. Best of 73 from the two Bobs. ID as IRRS Relay station. Then to music at 0256. More Christmas music. Overall, excellent audio quality. ID again at toh as IRRS Relay station. off air at 0301 (Bob Montgomery, DX- pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. SAMARA [sic --- not a country], 11515.0, 1630-, Arabic, Voice of Freedom, Dec 9. Continuous pop music heard at tune in. S2 signal levels with deep fades to near noise floor. Male announcer heard at 1633 in Arabic. Arabic tune at 1634. ID is presumed. Too weak to get a positive ID (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MALAWI. Re the recently reported weak reception of MBC in Namibia on 3385: I am sure this is a mistake. There is no trace of MBC on SW, and what is audible on 3385 is a spur of BBC on 3255. It is not too strong here, so in Namibia it would be a DX catch, but alas no Malawi! (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Dec 10 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Publicado en el diario Milenio en viernes 6-Dic. CAMBIO DE FRECUENCIA - FERNANDO MEJÍA BARQUERA ROCHA, RADIO INFANTIL Y RADIO CIUDADANA EN EL IMER Hace unos días, la directora del Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER), Dolores Beistegui, conversó con este comentarista para aclarar cuestionamientos e intercambiar puntos de vista en relación a la entrega de Cambio de frecuencia publicada el 22 de noviembre (``IMER empobrece y renta la 660 a Rocha``). El convenio con la agencia Detrás de la Noticia, mediante el cual ésta adquiere el derecho a programar una de las frecuencias pertenecientes al IMER (660 de AM en el Valle de México), pero sobre todo el proyecto radiofónico que la nueva administración de esa entidad planea desarrollar fueron los temas de la plática cuyos puntos medulares se presentan a continuación. SIETE MILLONES AL AÑO El acuerdo con Detrás de la Noticia da continuidad, con algunas variantes, al convenio que esa empresa, dirigida por el periodista Ricardo Rocha, firmó en mayo de 2001 con la administración anterior del IMER para difundir un noticiario matutino en dos frecuencias, la mencionada 660 de AM y 94.5 de FM. Al iniciarse la gestión de la señora Beistegui, Rocha conversó con ella para ver las posibilidades de renovar el convenio. Dada la estrechez presupuestaria del IMER, se consideró conveniente mantener la relación con la agencia de noticias para no cerrar una fuente de ingresos. El convenio, que durará mientras permanezca en funciones la actual administración del IMER, establece un pago de siete millones de pesos al año por el alquiler de la frecuencia 660 de AM, cifra que estará supeditada a las variaciones que puedan registrarse en los índices de inflación, o sea que si éstos aumentan la cantidad a pagar variará en la misma proporción. Además, Detrás de la Noticia se compromete a que los programas que difunda a través de esa frecuencia habrán de ceñirse en todo momento el Código de Ética del IMER. NORMAS ÉTICAS Y es que el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio se ha sumado al grupo de medios de comunicación que cuenta con un Código de Ética mediante el cual rige sus programas. Consta de 16 puntos: ``1) imparcialidad; 2) veracidad; 3) integridad; 4) independencia; 5) derecho a la privacidad; 6) sobriedad; 7) promover el uso correcto del idioma; 8) respetar los estándares de gusto y decencia; 9) desalentar las conductas antisociales y criminales; 10) desalentar la cultura de la violencia; 11) salvaguardar el bienestar de los niños; 12) dar una visión completa y justa de las personas y las culturas; 13) brindar una posición justa y respetuosa frente a los entrevistados; 14) pluralidad; 15) mantener plena independencia de los intereses comerciales; 16) respetar y promover los valores que sustentan a la democracia: la libertad, la igualdad, la justicia, la solidaridad, la tolerancia``. Es plausible que el IMER tenga un Código de Ética, sin embargo, no estaría de más una explicación sobre algunas de las 16 normas, pues varias de ellas no tienen un significado incontrovertible. Por ejemplo, el punto 8: ¿qué debe entenderse por ``estándares de gusto y decencia``? RADIO CIUDADANA Un proyecto interesante cuyo éxito o fracaso habrá de verse en el curso de 2003 es el de convertir a la XEQK (1350 de AM en el Valle de México), la tradicional emisora de ``La Hora Exacta``, en ``La Radio de los Ciudadanos``. El IMER planea que a partir de la tercera semana de enero próximo la ``QK`` transmita programas generados (en su diseño y contenidos) por organizaciones de la sociedad civil, organizaciones políticas registradas ante el IFE e instituciones de educación superior. Para tal efecto se lanzó el 22 de noviembre de este año una convocatoria para que las organizaciones interesadas presenten sus proyectos. Un jurado formado ex profeso decidirá cuáles son los proyectos susceptibles de ser producidos y difundidos a través de la XEQK. Estos concursos serán cíclicos. ``La Radio de los Ciudadanos`` tendrá un Cons ejo Consultivo de Programación, instalado por el secretario de Gobernación el miércoles de la semana pasada, cuyas funciones son ``analizar y evaluar`` las propuestas de programación para la XEQK, así como ``recomendar diversos contenidos para enriquecerla``. Forman parte de él ciudadanos a título personal y organizaciones civiles. Para el desarrollo de este proyecto, Gobernación, a través de la Subsecretaría de Desarrollo Político, aporta 4 millones de pesos con el fin de apoyar la producción de programas, así como una cifra cercana al millón y medio de pesos para modernizar el transmisor de la emisora y permitir que eleve su potencia de 5 mil a 10 mil watts. Por cierto, sigue el desorden administrativo del IMER: depende formalmente de la SEP, en los hechos de Gobernación, y recibe dinero de una y otra secretaría. RADIO INFANTIL Otro de los proyectos de la actual administración del IMER es resucitar ``Radio Infantil``, concepto que, como el lector recuerda, el propio instituto impulsó de 1986 a 1991 cuando fue cancelado por el entonces director, Alejandro Montaño. Si el argumento de Montaño para desaparecer a la que se conocía como ``Radio Rin`` fue que nadie – mucho menos los niños– escuchaba la emisora, el de Dolores Beistegui es que hay un público infantil interesado en contar con una opción radiofónica, conclusión a la que ha llegado después de encargar a entidades especializadas varios estudios de audiencia. Seguramente somos muchos los que estamos de acuerdo en que ``Radio Infantil`` reviva, pero lo preocupante es que no hay en la radio estatal una directriz clara acerca de los públicos a los que ésta debe atender; por lo tanto, mientras al director del IMER hace diez años los niños no le interesaban como radioescuchas, a la directora actual sí le importan. La casa de la nueva ``Radio Infantil`` será la frecuencia de 710 AM en el Valle de México que hoy difunde música ranchera. Sin embargo, la resurrección habrá de esperar hasta el 19 de agosto de 2003, cuando se inicie el ciclo escolar correspondiente a ese año, pues aún faltan detalles que afinar. MÁS CAMBIOS Estos cambios en el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio, nos ha dicho la directora Dolores Beistegui, corresponden a una primera fase. Falta evaluar a profundidad el trabajo de las 12 emisoras que operan en diversos estados en el país, las cuales necesitan inversión para producir programas y mejorar sus condiciones técnicas. Al respecto habrá noticias más adelante, aunque se puede adelantar una: el aumento a 100 mil watts en la potencia de la emisora XEFR [sic! XERF as in Radio Frontera ---gh] (1570 de AM) que opera el IMER en Villa Acuña, Coahuila, con el fin de cubrir un amplio territorio en Estados Unidos y llevar mensajes a los mexicanos residentes ahí, proyecto que requerirá una inversión de 650 mil dólares. Fernando Mejía Barquera (via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Quite a lot of interesting plans above concerning government-funded `public` IMER stations, including: Raising power of XERF-1570 to 100 kW, in order to cover much of the US [as it once did, 250 kW?], but would cost $650,000; 710 in Mexico City would change from ranchera format to kids, R. Infantil, but not until another school term begins next August. XEQK-1350 in Mexico City, which has been `La Hora Exacta` timesignals and PSAs forever, would become R. Ciudadana, with a much more ambitious format costing 4 megapesos; and its power would be doubled, from 5 to 10 kW. As reported before, the 660 frequency in DF is being `rented` by IMER to a news organization, Detrás de la Noticia (in Mexico, Guatemala and some other countries, radio news providers operate independently of broadcasting stations and contract to service specific stations or groups) for 7 megapesos a year, subject to inflationary adjustments. That news is also to air on IMER`s Opus 94.5 classical format station (Glenn Hauser`s quick summary of above for WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [non]. DEL RIO TO HONOR WOLFMAN JACK By John MacCormack San Antonio Express-News "He introduced himself as Bob Smith, and he wanted to know who was the owner of radio station XERF," recalls González, 94, who at the time sold advertising contracts in the United States for the super-powered station in nearby Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. "I said 'What can you do?' and he said 'I'm a radio announcer and I can sell whatever you have to sell.' And I think he was on the radio station that same night, selling baby chicks — 100 for $2.98," Gonzalez said, chuckling. Once on the air, the mild-mannered, clean-cut Smith became howling, growling Wolfman Jack, and the rest, as they say, is rock 'n' roll history. Now, nearly 40 years after he left XERF for another super-powered station in Tijuana, Mexico, and seven years after his death from a heart attack, the Wolfman is coming back to Del Rio. If all goes well, at this time next year, a larger-than-life bronze statute of the great caped howler will loom over a downtown intersection. A Wolfman Jack museum and a music festival will be in the works. During his six months in Del Rio, the late-night XERF DJ mesmerized teenagers across America and beyond with his radio antics, ultra-hip delivery and anything-goes playlist. His border broadcasts were powered by a 250,000-watt transmitter — five times the juice allowed on the U.S. side. "Wherever ya are, and whatever ya doin', I wancha ta lay ya hands on da raydeeoo, lay back wid me, and squeeze ma knobs. We gonna feel it ta-night. ... OOOOOO WWWWOOOOOoooo. This is Wolfman Jack down here with da donkeys. Gonna get you some soul," he would howl. "Get naked, blow da evil weed, kiss your teachers. Wolfman play the best records in the business and then he eat 'em," growled the lupine mystery man, according to the book "Border Radio," by Gene Fowler and Bill Crawford. The Wolfman was an instant sensation. González recalls that soon after he hit the airwaves, hawking everything from chickens to virility pills, advertising sales boomed, and he had to hire another dozen young women to handle the flood of orders. "He was bringing in a lot of money, and when he left, sales went way down," he said. But in the grand visions that Del Rio mover and shaker Jay Johnson has for this dusty border city, the Wolfman can still make cash registers ring. "Del Rio deserves to be a hotshot town, and it will be, and Wolfman Jack will seal the deal," he said. "This thing is going to be flat-out explosive. Wolfman Jack was really the catalyst who pulled together the world of rock 'n' roll. He was heard in Australia, in Asia, in Europe and Canada," said Johnson, who owns a bed and breakfast and several restored buildings here. So far, all systems are go. A nonprofit foundation is being formed, and Del Rio officials have signed on to the project, as has the Wolfman's widow, Lou Smith of North Carolina. "I'm just tickled pink that they want to do that. Del Rio is the place where Robert W. Smith became Wolfman Jack," she said. Michael Maiden, a nationally known sculptor, is already at work on a model, and former Wolfman publicist Mike Venema is looking up old buddies from James Brown to Alice Cooper to help out. Three weeks ago, Venema and Maiden, who is based in Oregon, came to Del Rio and met with Johnson and other local boosters. Both came away sold on the project. "We're committed to Del Rio. It's the perfect place, and Acuña was fantastic as well. It was very reminiscent of an earlier time," Venema said. Maiden, appropriately best known for his wildlife sculptures, grew up on a ranch near Walla Walla, in eastern Washington, and had his first encounter with the Wolfman when he was 13 or 14. "I'd listen to him late at night on my little Montgomery Ward transistor radio. He would fade in and out," recalled Maiden, 52. "And I thought he was a black man. Most people did, and he kind of perpetuated that. He was one of the DJs who made black music popular," he said. "Until late in his career, no one knew what he looked like. I most certainly didn't until 'American Graffiti,'" the 1973 hit movie by George Lucas in which the Wolfman played himself. The sculptor is coy about exactly what the bronze Wolfman will look like. "My job is to try and make this icon recognizable. He was a wild and crazy guy, and kind of a whimsical character, and he's not going to be standing straight up and down like Jefferson Davis," he said. Both Maiden and Venema say they are confident the $130,000 needed for the sculpture will be easily raised once the word gets out. For Del Rio, a quiet border city on U.S. 90 known to most travelers as no more than a gas stop on the way to West Texas and the Big Bend National Park, a hip tourist attraction is sorely needed. With mild sarcasm, some locals refer to Del Rio as "the gateway to Ciudad Acuña," the much larger Mexican city across the river that offers a more glamorous nightlife. The Wolfman project has surfaced just as Del Rio is launching a revitalization of Main Street, a dowdy thoroughfare of retail shops and fading classical buildings. The city recently won backing for the Main Street project from the Texas Historical Commission, and coordinator Ginger Lyons said Wolfman Jack fits right in. "Including him in our Main Street plan is vital. We could use any tourist attraction we can get. Everyone here knows the story of Wolfman Jack, and we're very proud of him," she said. If Wolfman Jack does for Del Rio what another rock icon has done for Lubbock, the project could prove a real magnet. Each year, 35,000 to 40,000 people visit the Buddy Holly museum, which opened in 1999. "Many people come here because Buddy Holly was from here. They make pilgrimages to Lubbock, Texas, for that reason alone. We get people from Britain, Australia and all over Europe," said Connie Gibbons, museum director. The official launch of the Wolfman Jack project in Del Rio is set for March 15, and at that time a model of the statue of rock 'n' roll's most famous DJ may be unveiled. The museum would feature Wolfman artifacts and photos to tell his life story. But given the Wolfman's love of invention and hyperbole, exactly what happened here 40 years ago may never be known. In his autobiography, "Have Mercy," the Wolfman gives a lurid, action- packed account of his arrival at Del Rio and his armed takeover of XERF, later known as "The Wolfman Jack Radio Shootout Saga." According to this somewhat apocryphal account, the Wolfman and a buddy arrived in Ciudad Acuña to find XERF in receivership, and quickly engineered a coup to reclaim it from hostile hands. With guns and bribes, lawsuits and hustle, according to the Wolfman's tale, he took over XERF. He then remade its programming from a loony collection of huckster preachers and hillbilly music (the original Carter family, "Johnny Cash's future in-laws," had broadcast to the nation from Ciudad Acuña's high-powered towers) to become the hottest rock station in the world led by the most notorious underground DJ. "I was truly glowing in those days on XERF, because I was a young buck doing my thing right where I always wanted to be, hitting the airwaves with gale-force blues, rhythm and blues, and the most soulful rock 'n' roll, all sent your way through the treetop tall platinum-coated driver tubes of the most powerful commercial station on the planet," Wolfman wrote. According to the book, the final battles for XERF were won in a shootout in a cheap Del Rio hotel between the Wolfman and "Montez," the evil Mexican who wanted to reclaim the station, and a follow-up ambush in the Coahuilan desert. "I've still got a little crease on the end of my nose from that first bullet. The second one dug into the back side of the van's door frame, six inches behind where my head had been," wrote the Wolfman about the late night ambush. Lou Smith also has vivid memories of Del Rio as a cowboy town with a Spanish flavor. She said the men who met her husband on the Mexican side of the bridge wore guns and cartridge belts crisscrossed on their chests. And much of what the Wolfman wrote about actually happened, including problems with rival factions and the federales, and a late night on- the-air cry for help from XERF, Smith said. "We were staying in the Del Rio Hotel, and as we were falling to sleep, listening to the radio, they broke right into the show and started yelling 'pistoleros, pistoleros.' They were calling for the police and for help," she recalled. "Wolf jumped up and went over there to help those guys, and I don't know exactly what he did." Arturo González only chuckles when told of such accounts. Forty years later, he remembers no lawsuits, no shootouts and no armed takeovers, only a polite and reliable guy named Bob Smith who, when seated behind the microphone, became a jive-talking crazy man. "If you met him, you probably wouldn't think that much of him, but on the radio he brought out a lot of excitement, and a lot of people were happy to listen to him," he said. "He was very impressive, very dedicated and very reliable. We believed everything he would tell us. That's the kind of relationship it was," he said. And, said González, a Del Rio memorial to the Wolfman is long overdue. "He was my friend, and I think he deserves it. He put Del Rio on the map. And he was a good man. If he could help someone he would. That's the kind of man I remember," he said. http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=883030 [includes a photo of Wolfman] (San Antonio Express-News Dec 2 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI has a second source of audio on the net. In addition to the widely-known audionet.co.nz RNZI`s audio-on-demand is carried on XtraMSN (yes, Microsoft`s NZ portal). The audio quality is good. Pay attention to the extra commas and punxuation herein -- http://xtramsn.co.nz/musicandvideo/0,,6151,00.html --- and there is video from TV3 (Tom Sundström, Net Notes, Dec NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Application from existing facility: 1210 KGYN OK Guymon: amend application for move to Oklahoma City to show 50000/50000(10000 during CH - critical hours) U4 (Buffalo K. Foonman and his imaginary friend Jerry Starr, AM Switch, NRC DX News Dec 9 via DXLD) ** OMAN. The island of Masirah (ma-SEE-ra) is a picturesque, though quite barren island, just 15 miles off the coast of Oman (o-MAHN) on the south-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula. The island was named "Masirah" by Admiral Nearchos (nee-AR-kos) who was a fleet leader with the armies of Alexander the Great. The island itself is pear-shaped, just 40 miles long and 10 miles wide, with the narrowest point just 5 miles wide. The island is sandy and barren though there are scenes of beauty inland. There is an abundance of wildlife on Masirah with unique turtles and tortoises and birds, and also a spectacular coral reef just offshore. The island was un-inhabited right throughout history until military installations were constructed less than 100 years ago. At its full potential, there can be a population as high as 30,000 personnel on the island. This unusual island, which is little more than a military staging facility, was bought from the government of Oman by the British government specifically so that the BBC could establish a large international radio station on it. In earlier times, the BBC had established mediumwave stations on Perim Island Aden, and at Berbera in Somalia. However, both of these stations were closed due to changing political circumstances in the area. There was need for a large BBC station to cover the Gulf region and so work began on the construction of a two transmitter facility on the island of Masirah. The first transmitter was placed into regular service on June 1, 1969, and the second unit became operational a few months later, early in the following year 1970. These two transmitters, each rated at 750 kW, radiated BBC programming in English, Arabic and other regional languages on two widely separated mediumwave channels, 700 & 1410 kHz, with at times slight variations. At one stage, test broadcasts were also radiated on 1320 kHz. On June 13, 1977, a hurricane swept through the area lasting four days, and damaging at the BBC station mainly the antenna systems and buildings. It took six months to re-activate the 700 kHz transmitter, and another year again to re-activate the 1410 kHz transmitter. During the interim period, additional shortwave transmissions were beamed into the coverage areas from BBC facilities at other sites. However, at the time when the devastating hurricane struck the area, work had already commenced on a large new shortwave station some five miles distant. A total of four transmitters at 100 kW were installed at this facility, the first of which was inaugurated in September 1978. The additional units were progressively phased into service and the station became fully operational early in the year 1979. The shortwave station was operated under remote control from the mediumwave station. Initially, programming was provided to the BBC Masirah on large tapes sent out by ship & by plane, and by off-air relays from the BBC station located on another island, Cyprus in the Mediterranean. The BBC receiver station on Masirah was located at an electrically quiet area some distance from both the mediumwave and shortwave transmitting stations. A program feed by satellite from London was implemented in 1981. In more recent time, a replacement radio station, both mediumwave and shortwave, has been constructed in Oman on the mainland, and the transfer of programming from the old station on Masirah Island to the new station on the mainland began in August earlier this year. According to an email news item from Wolfgang Bueschel (BUSH-el) in Germany, the final broadcast from the BBC Masirah was concluded at 21:59 UTC on October 7. The last transmitter was on the air on 6030 kHz for its final broadcast. The loud voice of the BBC Masirah is now silent, the station is off the air. It has been replaced by the new station on the Omani mainland. Masirah will be remembered by millions of listeners in the Gulf areas, and by multitudes of DXers around the world, some of whom are fortunate enough to hold QSL cards and letters from this now silent radio station. In our program next week, we will present the story of the big new BBC station located on the Omani mainland (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Dec 8 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4747, 1017-, R. Huanta 2000, Dec 9. Male announcer in Spanish. S1 level. Talks about the day`s programs. Nice signal for a 300 watt station. Apparently they just signed on. Nice clear copy. Excellent modulation. 9504.78, 1021-, R. Tacna, Dec 9. Interesting music. Male announcer in Spanish with long talks with music in background. Tentative canned ID heard at 1023. S4 signal level. ID heard at 1024. Station drifting down from 9504.8 to 9504.7 by 1025 (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. THE RUSSIAN SCENE Sergey Kolesov in the Ukraine provides this fascinating look at the flourishing pirate scene in the Russia and the neighbouring republics. Sergey writes: ``Below is some info on pirate activity in CIS. Hope, it would be of interest``: Working frequencies: 1610-1800, 2850-3150 (2890-2930 usb), 3900-3930, 6600-6660 usb, 10450-10470 usb. Majority of stations are going on air in order to establish contact with similar stations. Some of them are working in group: a few stations from the same region are standing by on one frequency, most powerful one is calling all stations and when contact is established, head station gives microphone to other group stations to have a contact one by one. Outstanding stations are Radio Samorodinka working by fixed schedule and a few more stations like Russian Roulette, Natalie etc working on 3900-3930 with programmes sounding like Western European pirates. Below are some logs from 31.10.2002: 10460 usb 1429-1443 Radio Taktica 2920 usb 1554-1610 Radio Kantemir (tent.), Belgorod 3030 1619-1634 Radio Ryabina, Poltava (group: Radio Resonans, Radio Blokha; both Poltava) 3085 1634-1649 Radio Piramida, Orel with group 3118 1701-1716 Radio Skvoznyak, Kursk (group: Istoric, Orel; Dedushka, Sigareta) 3075 2020-2035 Radio Student (group: Mercuriy) 3117 2037-2053 Radio Avtobus, Voronezh (group: Turbina, Voronezh; 45, Voronezh; Atom, Saratov; Festival) 01.11.2002: 3077 1719-1734 Radio Partizan, Lipetsk with group 3135 1727-1742 Radio Sigareta, Kursk 2930 usb 2030-2045 Radio Ugolyok. This is Christian station. They are preaching Gospel on 6660 usb too. 3100 2058-2103 Radio Mercuriy 3924 2108-2125 Radio Samorodinka, Moscow 3100 2135-2150 Radio Dozhdik, Kursk 3145 2156-2211 Radio Dvoika, Maikop (group: Vertolyot; Rodina, Belgorod; Melodia; Snezhok; Ispania) 3101 2217-2232 Radio Cristall, Kursk with group 02.11.2002 6660 usb 1820-1835 Radio Diplomat, Lugansk 3055 1837-1852 Radio Batareya, Tula 3125 1938-1953 Radio Volna, Voronezh 3090 1955-2010 Radio Sigareta, Kursk 1769 2129-2133 Radio Udacha 2980 2151-2205 21, Voronezh (group: Salut, Kursk) 2994 2209-2224 Pauk, Tambov 3000 2229-2230 Radio Cometa, Lugansk 3005 2238-2253 Radio Svoboda, Tambov 03.11.2002 10460 usb 0816-0840 Dinamit, Kursk 10460 usb 0858-0907 Controller 10460 usb 1040-1055 05, Lipetsk 3090 1952-2007 Radio B52, Voronezh (group: Vodopad, Regulator, both- Voronezh) 3075 2026-2041 Radio Rodnik, Moscow 3040 2140-2155 Radio Filin, Southern Ukraine, with group (Radio Without Licence, Dec World DX Club Contact, via editor Paul Watson, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. Re Woodpecker antenna site not working: Click instead http://www.briz.ru/zoom.asp?ID=86&Pos=1 (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. SAUDI OPPOSITION GETS RADIO VOICE Dissenting voices have been silenced before now By Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/2560313.stm A new radio station run by a Saudi opposition group has gone on air in Europe. The group behind the service said Radio Al-Islah was a 24-hour satellite service but was also available on short-wave radio and can be heard in the Middle East as well as Europe. The Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia said Saudi citizens can now for the first time criticise the Saudi regime publicly with total impunity because of modern technology. Radio stations run by opposition groups are a rare occurrence [sic] in the Arab world, and the launch marks a dramatic breakthrough in a region where public broadcasting is tightly regulated by governments. The new satellite station Sawt Al-Islah - which means Voice of Reform - is using the latest internet technology to help disgruntled Saudis voice their criticism of the royal family. Talk shows A spokesman for the Movement for Islamic Reform In Arabia told the BBC that by using an internet phone service - known as Paltalk - listeners can take part in the programme and say what they like without risking arrest or harassment. Saad al-Fagih said the bulk of the station's schedule was talk shows. The topics discussed, he said, included lack of transparency in the Saudi system, corruption, poverty and failure to implement Islamic law. Saudi authorities had in the past succeeded in foiling previous attempts to launch opposition broadcasts from exiles in the West using their financial clout. Mr Fagih said as Radio Al-Islah operated out of a European country, the Saudis could not put the pressure on. He declined to disclose which country was the base. Royal connections There are few opposition stations in the Arab world, where all radio and television channels are either owned by the state or companies associated with the ruling elites. There are several Saudi satellite television channels based abroad, but most of them are either owned by members of the royal family or companies close to them. Radio Al-Islah began broadcasting last week. If it survives any future attempts by Saudi authorities to silence it, the emergence of modern technology will have proved a decisive factor in the struggle between freedom of expression and censorship (BBC News online Dec 10 via Martin Gallas, DXLD) SAUDI DISSIDENTS LAUNCH RADIO STATION TO CHALLENGE ROYALS, PUSH FOR REFORMS --- By ALAA SHAHINE, Associated Press Writer http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021210/ap_wo_en_po/me_gen_saudi_opposition_2 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Saudi dissidents have launched a radio station to challenge the Gulf state's ruling royals and spark reforms within the secretive country, a group spokesman said Tuesday. Saad al-Faquih said the station — Sawt al-Islah, Arabic for "The Voice of Reform" --- will try to mobilize ordinary Saudis to push for political, economic and social reforms within the oil-rich kingdom. "We want to spread awareness among people of the many problems caused by the regime and grant them the freedom of expression they don't enjoy at home," al-Faquih, from the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform, told The Associated Press office in Dubai in a telephone interview. Sa`udi Arabia's ruling Al Sa`ud family maintains close ties with the United States, but its government has had to fend off international criticism that it blocks freedom of expression and prevents Saudis from playing effective roles in political life. Sa`udi society is dominated by strict Islamic law, where alcohol is banned and women must be veiled from head to toe. The state also tightly controls media outlets. The country was also the birthplace of 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was also a Sa`udi citizen until the government stripped him of his citizenship. Al-Faquih said the new radio station allows Sa`udis to participate in "live audio discussions through the Internet, where they can publicly criticize the government without fear of being tracked." The station started a 24-hour broadcast Saturday via satellite. It can also be heard on short-wave radio for two hours a day, al-Faquih told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from London. The Sa`udi dissident, however, refused to reveal the location from which the station was broadcasting, nor did he mention the name of the company that gave the group its broadcasting license. "The station is based somewhere in Europe," he said. "What we can say is that we don't broadcast from England in order not to cause any embarrassment to the British government." Sa`udi dissidents formed The Movement for Islamic Reform in 1996. On its Web site, the group says it opposes the royal family's policies and calls for the "unification of all opposition powers in the kingdom to push for comprehensive reform programs." Al-Faquih said the Sa`udi government, along with financial problems, had thwarted previous attempts to launch the station. _____ On the Net: Sawt al-Islah's website http://www.islah.org (AP Dec 10 via yahoonews via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Right now (at 1950 UT) I'm listening to 7590 kHz, which could be the new program (probably not really a station) of the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, opposed to the government of Sa`udi Arabia. The movement has a website at http://www.islah.org/ No station identification heard so far; I missed the presumed start of the transmission at 1900 UT because of working late. The signal is strong, but there are transmitter problems. Most of the time the audio is audible 60-70 seconds at a time, followed by a silence of 10-15 seconds. There is also a jammer on the frequency. "Sawt al-Islah" (Voice of Reform) probably broadcasts from somewhere in Europe or the Middle East, but does anyone have more info on the transmitter location? (Mika Mäkeläinen, Finland, Dec 10, dxing.info via DXLD) Yes CLANDESTINE from SITE? to SA`UDI ARABIA. 7590, Radio Al-Islah was mentioned at the bottom of the Fox News screen headlines tonight, first time I recall a clanny drawing this kind of attention. Checked them on a javaradio in Europe earlier today and noticed that there is now a co-channel bubble jammer, something our initial DX reports from Dec 6th didn't mention. Not able to listen long enough on the javaradio to determine if radio program matches pro-bin Laden stance that the website has (Hans Johnson, TX, Dec 11, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. Re Sawt al-Qarn missing from 21550: GAM -- IBB ceased that entry now, on both Nairobi and Luanda monitoring logs ! : GAM - Millenium Voice / R Voice of Horn. (IDHAAT SOUT AL QARN), Sudanese Arabic 1330-1430 21550 WOF I see only an UNM - UN Radio? entry at 1030-1130: it`s Tuesday only ..T.... 11:08:07 S UNM VARI 21550 AM DHA 19 RA28 [as in UNMEE ---gh] ex: United Nations Mission in ETH and ERI (UNMEE) Tues and Fris in English, Oromifa, Amharic and Tigrinya 0430-0530 Tues (ex-15215) 15235 DHA (Wolfgang Bueschel, Dec 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Hi all, this afternoon at 1645 I had a tentative 3rd harmonic of Thailand's "Radio in the first army area in Suphanburi" on 4212 (3 x 1404). I had extreme QRM problems from various utilities 1 kHz either side, so no ID today. Thanks to Willi Passman's latest tropical band list for the tip; I would never have even considered trying for something like that! Signal was stronger than expected, but as I mentioned the main problem is ute QRM. I know what frequency I'll be tuned to tomorrow afternoon! Good DX and 73 (Tim Bucknall, UK, Dec 10, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** UGANDA. 4976, 2053-, R. Uganda, Dec 9. Very nice signal with male announcer in French. Nice music with some slight fades. Excellent reception. Off air at 2100 (Bob Montgomery, DX-pedition to French Creek State Park, PA, NRD535d, long wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Our website has been updated after almost 2 weeks of being too busy with other things. Please note the special programming we're planning and the small vacation we will be taking when you visit out website; http://www.dorsai.org/~bigsteve ("Big Steve" Coletti, A Different Kind Of Oldies Show on WBCQ, 7415 kHz Shortwave, Saturday Evenings at 8:00 ET, 0100 UT-Sunday, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WINB off for the moment as an ice storm in the area has knocked out the electricity. Not sure when they will be back on; a lot of lines are down in the area. Worth checking nearby WMLK in the morning on 9465 to see if they got knocked off as well (Hans Johnson, TX, Dec 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 5015 & 5120, WWRB (transmitter mixing products), 2320 Dec 10. Fundamental frequencies of 5050 and 5085 mixed to produce spurious emissions 35 kHz above 5085 and 35 kHz below 5050. Audio from both transmissions audible on the spurs. Strong level around 70 miles from transmitter site (David Hodgson, TN, WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** USA [non?]. AFRTS relay noted 11 DEC at 1050 UT on 4278.5 USB with sports program, CBS network ID, then NPR "Morning Edition" at 1100. Strong but QRM from multiplex RTTY tones. 73, (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably Key West ** U S A. THE MEDIA MAMMOTH THAT STOLE THE AIRWAVES Jeff Perlstein, December 4, 2002 Can you name a Texas-based multinational company that is facing a Department of Justice investigation, lawsuits for inappropriate business practices, a flurry of criticism in the mainstream press, and a bill in congress to curb its impact on the industry? Did you say Enron? Try again. This 800 lb. Texas gorilla has spent $30 billion since 1996 to become the world's largest radio broadcaster, concert promoter, and billboard advertising firm. It's a major player in American television and Spanish-language broadcasting. Clear Channel Communications of San Antonio may not be a household name yet, but in less than six years it has rocketed to a place alongside NBC and Gannett as one of the largest media companies in the United States. The mega-company has gained a reputation for its ugly hardball tactics. Clear Channel has played a leading role in destroying media diversity in the United States. And yes, it is the same media company that allegedly "blacklisted" certain songs following September 11, including Cat Stevens' Peace Train and John Lennon's Imagine [Clear Channel sent a list of 150 "questionable" songs to their affiliates suggesting they not be played].... http://www.guerrillanews.com/media/doc879.html (Guerrilla News Network via John, WTFDA, via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Haven`t spent much time listening to R. Sawa, but taxpayers who would like to monitor it in the US may tune this emission: 9665 0400 0600 VOA MRN1 ARAB MOR 02 084 which on Dec 11 I found booming in at 0545 with extremely brief news headlines over continuous musical bed, stingers between items (as if that somehow makes the news more credible, interesting?? Norm Pattiz knows best, he assures us), then back to music, first some rock song in English, then one in Arabic. And so it went, until 0559 when in the middle of a full ID giving satellite, internet, FM and MW frequencies, if not SW, they were rudely cut off at precisely 0559:30. Even VOA can`t get its act together to coördinate programming with transmission timing --- but then, SW is just an afterthought/leftover for Sawa, so who cares? This was so strong, I was sure it was Greenville until I looked it up. Turns out that the *only* Greenville usage by R. Sawa is 17740 at 1900-2100, 67 degrees. For reasons unknown, on M-F it`s the Greenville-B site, Sat & Sun Greenville-A (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Bedtime tuning around landed on 9840 at 0600 UT Dec 11, for some lively talk in Arabic, punxuated every few minutes by some wild Spike Jonesish percussion! The alternating M&W worked themselves up to some big laughs before it ended at 0615. What could this be? I should have figured it out immediately, since the opening as well as closing theme was ``Never On Sunday``. Ended with AWR IS and ID, address in Cyprus. Gotta admit, those Arabic Seventh Day Adventists have a sense of humour! Details, from link via DXLD 2-188: 9840 100 DTK1 Julich Germany AA FF Tachelhit 0600-0730 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos Glen[n]. En esta oportunidad te hago llegar las palabras del Presbítero José Palmar de la Red de Emisoras Comunitarias en el Estado Zulia, quién protesta la usurpación de su frecuencia 94.1 FM por una emisora que se hace llamar Bolivariana Stereo 94.1. Espero sea de utilidad para tí. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, Dec 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. EMISORA BOLIVARINA 94.1 FM INVITA PARA QUE ASALTEN A GLOBOVISIÓN Saludos colegas diexistas. He aquí informaciones sobre la radio en Venezuela. Tomado de Globovisión Atte. José Elías Díaz Gómez. Desde emisora bolivariana invitaron a tomar Globovisión Zulia Durante la noche de este lunes, la Emisora Bolivariana 94.1 en Maracaibo invitaba, de manera exaltada, a tomar las instalaciones de Globovisión Zulia. "Taxistas, ayúdennos, vamos a tomar esa verga (...) vamos a buscar a Globovisión (...) vamos a agarrar a Globovisión", decía incesantemente el locutor al reportar que eran las 11:31 minutos. Globovisión Zulia fue una de las sedes más dañadas durante la madrugada de este lunes cuando varios medios de comunicación en diversas partes del país fueron atacados de manera simultánea. A Globovisión Zulia entraron rompiendo cámaras y televisores y causando un severo daño a la infraestructura. Por esto, en la concentración de oposición que se vive cada día en la avenida 5 de julio en Maracaibo la sociedad civil y distintos periodistas brindaron su respaldo a Globovisión Zulia. Igualmente el diputado del MAS a la Asamblea Nacional por el estado Zulia, Julio Montoya, obsequió, como gesto simbólico, un aparato de televisión nuevo para reponer uno de los que fueron destruídos (via Elías, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I thought Cumbre list was strictly SWBC, but people keep sending it MW, FM and TV news too (gh, DXLD) Saludos colegas diexistas. Esta información me la hizo llegar el colega diexista Luis Paz Nelo. Atte: José Elías Díaz Gómez. 5:08 pm - RADIO LIBERTAD FUERA DEL AIRE Nuestra radio, 90.7 FM (Radio Libertad), activada las 24 horas al día desde la Plaza Altamira, ahora está fuera del aire. El gobierno está creando "jamming"; todo tipo de interferencia. Obstruye nuestra señal para evitar que nuestro mensaje llega a ustedes por radio. 6 de diciembre de 2002 (via Díaz, Dec 11, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. Re GERMANY, DXLD 2-194: I guess they mean Chan Troi Moi or New Horizon. Nice on 15715 today at 1330, but nothing on 17555 or 100 kHz up or down from it. Perhaps just a test? (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Dec 11, Cumbre DX via DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ DERMLIFT This is what radio's good for: tightening sagging facial skin. http://www.mittelmangreene.com/pages/new.htm 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ...One treatment with this new radio frequency device can safely improve looseness of skin around the jaw line and neck. Usually, three treatments provide more optimal results. The DermLift(TM) can also elevate the position of the eyebrows when the forehead is treated... (via gh, DXLD; WTFK???) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ ROUTING INDICATORS GUIDE & DATABASE WUN's Special Topics Report #8 is now online. It is a new version of the "Routing Indicator Guide" which replaces Report #6 from September 1997. We also updated the Routing Indicator database which is also on our website. Download your copy at: STR #8: http://www.wunclub.com/wunstr/wunstr0208.html Database: http://www.wunclub.com/archive/files/ridbf.zip Corrections and additions are always welcome. Enjoy! (Ary and Paolo, BDXC via DXLD) KLINGENFUSS Dear Glenn, just got your note via wb. Your 9580 BBC is of course included in our 2003 products and we do not "suppress tx sites" because we do not accept censorship, not even communist Chinese pressure against Radio Free Asia transmitter sites! For latest screenshots of WAVECOM Digital Data Decoders see our hotfrequencies webpage updated D A I L Y . Worldwide terrorist networks extensively use HF e-mail - see our website! Best wishes - 73, C Strap Klingenfuss Publications Hagenloher Str. 14 D-72070 Tuebingen Germany Phone ++49 7071 62830 Fax ++49 7071 600849 E-Mail klingenfuss@compuserve.com Internet http://www.klingenfuss.org New products for 2003: HF e-mail and worldwide terrorist networks! Dear friends, all new products - 2003 Super Frequency List on CD-ROM - 2003 Guide to Utility Radio Stations - 2003 Shortwave Frequency Guide have been published by 05 December 2002. Hundreds of advance orders have already been mailed this week - well in time for the Christmas holiday and monitoring season. Detailed product descriptions, sample pages, database screenshots and the very latest references can be found at our website http://www.klingenfuss.org Alternatively, you may ask for our free 24-pages 2003 catalogue to your postal address. The 2003 Super Frequency List on CD-ROM features three gigantic frequency lists of broadcast and utility radio stations with nearly 40,000 entries. It again includes an unique collection of 215 interesting new colour screenshots in full size from the world leader in advanced digital data transmissions and teleprinter systems monitoring and decoding. The International Committee of the Red Cross situation reports from its HF stations at Baghdad, Dushanbe, Faizabad, Herat, Jalalabad, Islamabad, Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e Sherif, Peshawar, Sulaymaniah and so on are of particular interest. For your convenience, more than 200 screenshots are reprinted in the 2003 Guide to Utility Radio Stations as well. Traditional broadcast publications continue to say "No transmitter info available" or - even worse - reprint totally outdated schedules again and again. Unlike such bad products, our new 2003 Shortwave Frequency Guide covers the full schedules of e.g. Radio Free Afghanistan with all its sites at Briech and Dhabayya and Holzkirchen and Iranawila and Lampertheim and Udon Thani and Wertachtal, or Radio Free Asia with all its sites at Agingan Point and Almaty and Dhabayya and Dushanbe and Gavar and Holzkirchen and Iranawila and Naalehu and Palau and Tinian and Ulanbataar. Latest schedules of clandestine broadcast stations such as the anti-Chinese Fang Guang Ming Radio, and the anti-Zimbabwe Voice of the People, are included as well. So this is definitely the most up-to-date worldwide shortwave radio handbook available today! New HF e-mail networks, services, and stations now emerge virtually on a weekly basis. See e.g. http://www.bernradio.ch http://www.bushmail.co.za http://www.bushnet.net http://www.cruiseEmail.com http://www.euraf.com http://www.globewireless.com http://www.kielradio.de http://www.maf.org http://www.maflink.org http://www.marinenet.net http://www.online.net.pg http://www.pentacomstat.com.au http://www.pinoak.com http://www.sailmail.com http://www.schuemperlin.com http://www.seawave.com http://www.techserve.org http://www.twiga.com http://www.uconnect.org http://www.uuplus.com http://www.winlink.org http://www.worldcom.nl for latest details on new stations and frequencies that are perfectly listed in our new 2003 products. Apart from these, another must read is the excellent SailMail primer (updated yesterday 06 December 2002!) at http://www.sailmail.com/smprimer.htm After their dramatic failure in the 11 September 2001 disaster, the inefficient N.o S.uch A.gency and similar "organizations" are finally - one year too late! - starting to realize that there may be "secret" systems of global communication beyond transoceanic cables and telecom satellites: worldwide terrorist networks extensively use HF e-mail! See http://www.klingenfuss.org/terror.htm E-mail via shortwave is "terrorist-proof" - in both senses: a mobile communication station using a cheap laptop computer, connected to a radio transceiver operating from a car battery and feeding a simple wire antenna, is much less vulnerable to an unlawful attack than high- tech telecom switchboards, cellphone-repeater antenna farms on roof- tops of high-rise buildings, and satellite ground stations with large dish antennas. So far, the immense potential of HF e-mail has not been monitored - let alone realized! - by any other author and publisher. With 34 years of experience in this field, we predicted already in 1999 that HF e- mail will continue to spread rapidly. In the meantime, it has developed into the major application of modern digital HF techniques that we have marketed - and USED! - for years. Only the new 2003 Klingenfuss products mentioned above take this fascinating new trend into full consideration - NOW! We - who else? - provide hundreds of brandnew HF e-mail frequencies and screenshots. The pertinent analyzers/decoders have been supplied by us to dozens of intelligence, radio monitoring and secret services worldwide: see our website for a never-ending list of professional customers and references, and for the latest hotfrequencies screenshots updated DAILY from our continuous real-time monitoring! The chaotic Internet becomes more and more unreliable. We work continuously between October and April every year. If you place an order via e-mail, you should normally receive our confirmation within one day. If you did NOT receive a reply from us within a few days, something has gone wrong and we did NOT receive your order. Please remember to send PLAIN TEXT ONLY. Do not e-mail formatted Word documents and do not encrypt or pack your message. What's more, the Net becomes more and more insecure. Forget about "secure" messaging systems such as that ridiculous SSL et al. How to hack that is perfectly described on the Net; a keyword search on Google for cmaster4.zip and related software throws up dozens of sites! The Visa credit card company in particular experiences widespread fraud. As from 1 January 2003, these guys increase their so-called "service charge" from about 2 EUR per mail order to more than 6 EUR, and the transaction should be executed - believe it or not! via that horribly insecure and infamous Microsoft Internet Explorer on a SSL link ;-)) As a matter of fact, YOU will not accept that drastic price increase, and WE will not accept that complicated and time-consuming procedure. By consequence, we - and many other small and medium companies worldwide! - will refuse to accept Visa card payments after 20 December 2002. Thank you for your understanding. As an alternative, do NOT send cheques, because these cost another 15 EUR bank "service charge", even if made out in EUR! Please use your AmEx, Eurocard or Mastercard instead, or that of a friend. Talking about friends, remember our discount rates for the new 2003 products: 2-5 copies 20 percent, 6-19 copies 30 percent, 20-49 copies 40 percent, 50 and more copies 50 percent! After the dramatic crash of the EUR against real money such as CHF, GBP, HKD, JPY, SGD and USD, our products currently are up to 15 % cheaper for our customers in America, Britain, Canada, Japan, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Enjoy! Best wishes, (Joerg Klingenfuss, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Klingenfuss Publications Klingenfuss Radio Monitoring Hagenloher Str. 14 D-72070 Tuebingen Germany Phone ++49 7071 62830 Fax ++49 7071 600849 E-Mail klingenfuss@compuserve.com Internet http://www.klingenfuss.org I must be missing something. HF E-mail may be ``terrorist proof`` in that one is not dependent on a wired network, but how can it possibly be more secure from interception, transmitted over the airwaves, than via the internet, or satellite?? (gh) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 11 DECEMBER 2002 - 06 JANUARY 2003 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate. Isolated low-level M-class activity is possible during the period. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to exceed event threshold on 21-22 and 25-26 December due to recurring coronal holes. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels during the forecast period. A coronal hole is due to return on 18-19 December and is expected to result in active to isolated minor storm conditions. Weaker recurring coronal holes are expected to return on 26-28 December and again on 03-04 January resulting in unsettled to isolated active conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Dec 10 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Dec 10 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Dec 11 160 10 3 2002 Dec 12 165 10 3 2002 Dec 13 170 8 3 2002 Dec 14 170 8 3 2002 Dec 15 165 10 3 2002 Dec 16 165 12 3 2002 Dec 17 160 12 3 2002 Dec 18 150 20 4 2002 Dec 19 150 20 4 2002 Dec 20 150 15 3 2002 Dec 21 145 15 3 2002 Dec 22 140 15 3 2002 Dec 23 140 12 3 2002 Dec 24 140 12 3 2002 Dec 25 140 12 3 2002 Dec 26 140 12 3 2002 Dec 27 145 12 3 2002 Dec 28 145 12 3 2002 Dec 29 145 10 3 2002 Dec 30 150 10 3 2002 Dec 31 150 12 3 2003 Jan 01 150 8 3 2003 Jan 02 150 10 3 2003 Jan 03 150 15 3 2003 Jan 04 155 10 3 2003 Jan 05 155 12 3 2003 Jan 06 160 12 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Dec 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1160, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-194, December 10, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1159: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1159.html WORLD OF RADIO 1160 FIRST AIRINGS: WBCQ: Wed 2300 7415, 17495-CUSB WWCR: Thu 2130 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930 15039 ** ABKHAZIA. 1350, 8.12 0400-, Abkhaz R, Sukhumi. //9490. Worse reception on SW, but surprisingly dominant on MW frequency that morning (Jari Lehtinen, Maakeski DXpedition, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) See also GEORGIA ** ARMENIA. TWR Central Asia noted via Yerevan Kamo on 5855 and MW 864. 1655-1810 UT daily, 1810-1840 Sundays. En daily 1710-1725. Ru Tue 1655-1710, Mon-Fri 1740-1810. The other languages are Korean, Kazakh, Turkmen, Uzbek, Persian (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 3, BC-DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Minor amendment in the timing of a band change for Voice Inter in English: 11690 DRW 2500 kW / 303 deg 1300-1700, ex 1300-1630 13770 DRW 2500 kW / 303 deg 1700-1900, ex 1630-1900 (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 10 via DXLD) {sic, sic; must mean 250 kW} ** AUSTRIA. RADIO AUSTRIA INTERNATIONAL TO STOP BROADCASTING? With savings needed, the board of ORF has been asked to present a plan for the closure of ROI short wave, with programmes to go out on the Internet only. It is possible that international programmes on short wave may stop altogether in March 2003. Short wave frequencies would then carry a few domestic programmes in German only. However the ROI management have told the AIB: "A decision will now be taken in March 2003. In the meantime the board has asked management to pursue other options for funding ROI including approaching the government for separate funding and an increase in license fees. We are hopeful that this will secure the long-term future of our international broadcasting. In the meantime we appreciate the expressions of concern that have been pouring in from around the world." http://roi.orf.at/english/welcome.html (AIB Newsletter, Dec, via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. RVI LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE AIB member Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal (RVi) have put their new web site on line. The new site offers news, in text, images and audio, about Flanders, Belgium and Europe, in Dutch, English, French and German. There are also a number of links to all kinds of organisations that carry useful information about Flanders and Belgium. In addition there is a "community" section (in Dutch only), where travellers abroad are invited to post their stories, tips, reactions, etc. RVi are not planning to give up international radio broadcasting, but see this new website as a useful complement to radio programming. They hope that in the future we will see a mutual interaction between radio and internet. http://www.rvi.be (AIB Newsletter, Dec via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Correction R. Bulgaria DX program in Spanish: 1745-1755 [not 1945-1950] Sun 9700 SoEu 11700 SoEu 2215-2220 Sun 6000 SoEu 7300 SoEu 0015-0020 Mon 5900 SoAm 11600 SoAm 0215-0220 Mon 5900 SoAm 7500 CeAm 11600 SoAm. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 3, BC-DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. CRI Beijing B-02 schedule in Russian from Dec 1st: To Siberia and FE Russia 2300-0057 Russian 5970 7110 1521 0100-0157 Russian 1521 1000-1057 Russian 9695 7245 7160 7110 5915 1116 963 1100-1157 Russian 7245 7110 5915 1521 1323 1116 963 1200-1257 Russian 7245 1521 1323 963 1300-1357 Russian 7245 7160 6140[hetting DW En] 5990 5915 1521 1323 963 1400-1457 Russian 1521 1323 963 1500-1557 Russian 5990 5915 1521 963 1600-1657 Russian 1521 1700-1757 Russian 1521 1800-1857 Russian 1521 2300-0057 Russian 5970 7110 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX, Dec 3 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. RFA AND 'DISIDAI' The Chinese authorities have detained a Communist Party elder suspected of leaking secret information about Party personnel decisions to the author of a landmark book on China's leadership transition, AIB member Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports. The man is aged 70 and described as a "highly respected" person. Zong Hairen, pseudonym of the the Chinese author of "Disidai" ("The Fourth Generation"), which gives an inside account of China's ongoing transition to a new generation of leaders, wrote to RFA's Mandarin service: ``The detained man is suspected of having disclosed Party and state secrets. These suspicions are completely unfounded`` says Zong Hairen. The Chinese government has increased jamming of RFA radio signals since October 1, when the Mandarin service began broadcasting excerpts of "Disidai". (Dec AIB Newsletter via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Hi, Glenn. Just something for DXLD: LITHUANIA / CHINA: 2136 hrs UT, 5925 khz: Falun Dafa World Radio was not audible on Sunday 9th December [sic] due to a jammer being in operation on this frequency. I gave up after waiting several minutes. I think it is safe that the Chinese were responsible for the jammer. I wonder where FDWR will go next in terms of frequency - Best 73s, (DXDave, Bristol, England, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {Answer: 2-195} ** COLOMBIA. ACTIVAN CARGA EXPLOSIVA CONTRA EQUIPOS DE TRANSMISIÓN DE CARACOL CUCUTA.---En el tercer atentado contra un medio de Comunicación, en un mes en Cúcuta, desconocidos hicieron estallar una carga de quince kilos de amonal, en los equipos de transmisión de dos estaciones de cadena radial Caracol en esta ciudad.- Reportas de la policía informan que el hecho fue cometido contra la torre instalada en el barrio Parados del Este sin ocasionar muertos o heridos pero sí daños materiales, que produjeron la salida del aire las Emisoras Radio Reloj, y la Cadena Básica, en los MIL 90 AM. Germán González, transmisorista de Caracol y residente en el lugar del atentado explicó que previamente no se notó la presencia de extraños en esas inmediaciones y sólo se enteraron de la agresión cuando explotó el artefacto contra los equipos.- Los ingenieros y técnicos al servicio de Caracol lograron estabilizar la señal y la transmisión de la Cadena Básica, que ya se encuentra prestando servicios.- Las autoridades, los estamentos sociales gremiales se solidarizaron con la empresa radial y sus empleados y rechazaron lo que consideran un nuevo atentado contra la libertad de expresión de información en Norte de Santander.- Conéctese a la actualidad Colombiana en http://www.caracol.com.co Caracol ... Más Compañía. (via Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, Dec 10, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 11690, Radio Okapi; 0545-0602+, 7-Dec; Afro vocals plus Bésame Mucho in SS. "Okapi" SID @0553. M&W in French at 0559:50, ment. Republic Democratique du Congo. Program notes? 0601 over music. SIO=232+ (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE-ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. 11690, *0600-0800* daily, R Africa International, Julich. We big white hunters were chasing okapi, but instead of it, out of bushes came a group of African Methodists. Oh well, back to camp, Ernest (Jari Lehtinen, Maakeski DXpedition, Finland, hard-core- dx via DXLD) ** CUBA. Hola Glenn... Saludos desde Catia La Mar. -Radio Habana Cuba ha anunciado una nueva frecuencia por estos días. 6195kHz, por donde se difunden los servicios en creole, francés e inglés, en horas de la tarde. El transmisor es de 100kW y la antena es una direccional Dipolo-Faseado, totalmente diseñada y hecha en Cuba. Se esperan informes de recepción. Buen DX y 73's... (Adán González, VENEZUELA, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. 6150, 7.12 0215-, Bayrak R Int. Reception improved as the dawn was approaching, and after 0400 UT one could even listen to the program. Announcements (in English) in a very random manner. Nor full neither half hours play a role here. Disco and pop nonstop. Heard also in other nights, but always suffering splatters from neighbouring frequencies (Jari Lehtinen, Maakeski DXpedition, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 4959.85, Radio Cima; 0014-23+, 8-Dec; M in Spanish with SS tunes. Ad string including "Banco Popular". Simple "Cima" ID. SIO=443 (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE-ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Frequency change for HCJB in Russian effective from Dec.6: 0330-0430 NF 9760 (55444), ex 9775 (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 10 via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Abkhazia back s-on at 1400 daily on v9490 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 1, BC-DX via DXLD) See also ABKHAZIA ** GERMANY. Voice of Hope in Vietnamese via DTK JUL noted on Dec. 8: 1330-1430 on additional NF 17555 from 1400 totally blocked by R. Norway \\ 15715 New additional transmission for Bible Voice Broadcasting Network via DTK: 1900-2000 Sat only 9470 (55555) WER 250 kW / 120 deg to ME in English (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 10 via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. New revised B-02 schedule of Radio Budapest effective from December 16: Croatian to Eu 0500-0513 Daily 6025 ||| CANCELLED 2100-2113 Daily 6025 ||| CANCELLED English to Eu 1600-1628 Sun 6025 11680 ||| NEW TXION 2000-2028 Daily 6025 7135 7175* ||| *ADDIT FREQ 2200-2228 Daily 6025 English to SoAf 2200-2228 Daily 11885 ||| NEW TXION English to NoAm 0200-0228 Daily 9835 0330-0358 Daily 9835 German to Eu 1300-1358 Sun 6025 11925 1500-1558 Sun 6025 9735 1800-1858 Sun 3975 6025 1830-1858 Mon-Sat 3975 6025 2030-2058 Mon-Sat 3975 6025 French to Eu 0530-0543 Daily 6025 7115 ||| CANCELLED 1700-1728 Daily 3975 6025 ||| NEW TXION 2100-2128 Daily 6025 9800 ||| EXTENDED, ex 2115-2128 Hungarian to Eu 0500-1158 Sun 6025 (Kossuth R) >> EXTENDED, ex 0600-1158 0500-1658 Mon-Sat 6025 (Kossuth R) >> EXTENDED, ex 0600-1658 1200-1258 Sun 6025 1400-1458 Sun 6025 1900-1958 Daily 3975 6025 2300-2358 Daily 6025 Hungarian to NoAm 0100-0158 Daily 9835 0230-0328 Daily 9835 2200-2258 Daily 9825 Hungarian to SoAm 2300-2358 Daily 9580 11990 0000-0058 Mon 9580 1199 Hungarian to AUS 1200-1258 Daily 21560 1900-1958 Daily 6130 Italian to Eu 0545-0558 Daily 6025 7195 ||| CANCELLED 1730-1758 Daily 6025 9655 ||| NEW TXION 2130-2158 Daily 6025 7215 ||| EXTENDED, ex 2130-2143 2230-2243 Daily 6025 7215 ||| CANCELLED Russian to Eu 0400-0428 Daily 3975 6025 1630-1658 Sun 6025 7135# ||| #ex 11680 1800-1828 Mon-Sat 6025 7130 2030-2058 Sun 6025 7130 Romanian to Eu 0445-0458 Daily 6025 ||| CANCELLED 1600-1613 Sun 6025 ||| CANCELLED 1715-1728 Daily 6025 ||| CANCELLED Serbian to Eu 1745-1758 Daily 6025 ||| CANCELLED Slovak to Eu 0515-0528 Daily 6025 ||| CANCELLED 1615-1628 Sun 6025 ||| CANCELLED 1730-1743 Daily 6025 ||| CANCELLED Spanish to Eu&SoAm 0430-0458 Daily 3975 6025 ||| NEW TXION 2145-2158 Daily 6025 7215 ||| CANCELLED 2245-2258 Daily 6025 7215 Ukrainian to Eu 0430-0443 Daily 3975 6025 ||| CANCELLED 1700-1713 Daily 6025 11745 ||| CANCELLED 73 from Ivo and Angel! (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 10 via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. POLICE HELP CLOSING FAR-RIGHT RADIO STATION | Text of report by Hungarian radio on 5 December Pannon Radio is again in the hands of its majority [owner] shareholder. The area office of the Broadcasting Inspectorate [Hungarian: Hirkoezlesi Feluegyelet] has disconnected the minority owner's transmitter, which, in the inspectorate's view, was being used illegally by the minority owner. The inspectorate, with the participation of the police, removed the transmitter. [Pannon Radio] editor and presenter, Tibor Franka, said that commandos had invaded the station, which he and his associates view as unlawful. The raid had been preceded by a permission, requested by and granted to Pannon Radio's majority owner, Gido Media Kft, to move to a new transmitting location. This meant, by the same token, that the previous location, at Meredek Street in 12th District in Budapest, ceased. However, the minority owner did not vacate the site and has continued to transmit from there without permission until now. [The minority owner is the Free University for Istvan Bocskai Foundation set up by Istvan Csurka, chairman of the far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party. Pannon Radio had been repeatedly criticized by left-wing and liberal parties and social organizations and the Hungarian media watchdog, National Radio and Television Body, for anti-Semitic and racial incitement and violation of the country's broadcasting law. Following the election victory of the Socialist Party and liberal SZDSZ, the head of Gido Media Kft has decided to change Pannon Radio's editorial policy, precipitating a clash with Csurka.] Source: Hungarian Radio, Budapest, in Hungarian 1400 gmt 5 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) FAR-RIGHT RADIO BROADCAST ON INTERNET AFTER STATION CLOSED DOWN | Excerpt from report by Hungarian radio on 6 December Good morning, it is 0630 hours [0530 gmt], you are listening to the original Pannon Radio... Here are the news in detail: There were protests at a number of places in the capital yesterday, following the disconnection of the Meredek Street [in 12th District of Budapest] transmitter of Pannon Radio. The demonstrators took to the streets carrying flags and banners. The police arrived, checked the demonstrators' IDs then called on them to disperse. All demonstrating groups of obeyed... As has been reported, the Broadcasting Inspectorate [Hungarian: Hirkoezlesi Feluegyelet], supported by 50 police officers, had seized the transmission equipment of the Meredek Street station of Original Pannon Radio and thus made impossible for the radio to continue its terrestrial broadcasting... Currently only Gidofalvi's [head of Gido Media Kft] pirate Pannon Radio can be heard in the ether, while the original Pannon Radio continues its programmes on the Internet... Source: Hungarian Radio, Budapest, in Hungarian 0530 gmt 6 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. MEDIA BOARD REGISTERS RIGHT-WING TV The National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) on 26 November registered the right-wing news channel Hir TV, which will begin broadcasting on 2 December, "Magyar Nemzet" reported. Board Chairwoman Judit Kormendy-Ekes, as well as the opposition FIDESZ and Democratic Forum appointees to the five-person board, voted for the registration. The Socialist member voted against (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 November 2002), and the Free Democrat representative abstained. The ORTT also suspended broadcasts by the television stations TV-2 and RTL Klub for 30 minutes after ruling that both networks recently broadcast unacceptable sexual scenes on their "reality TV" programs. In other news, President Ferenc Madl on 26 November appointed Matyas Vince head of the Hungarian news agency MTI for a five-year term, beginning on 1 December ("RFE/RL Newsline," 27 November, via RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 6 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 15149.82, Voice of Indonesia; 2000-11+, 7-Dec; "This is the VoI". ID/sked to 2002+ then news to 2010 feature. All in EE. SIO=342. Nothing audible on reported //9525 (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE-ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAN. VoIRI additional Russian: 0500-0527 [not -0557] 12025 15530 21480 21610. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 3, BC-DX via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [and non]. On Nov 29 at 0330 UT heard V. of Iranian Kurdistan in Persian on 3975 (x3985). Radio Kurdistan in Arabic on 4140 (ex-4130). Voice of the Kurdish People in Arabic on 4025 and new 4400 kHz. V. of Khabadzi Kurdistana Iraqa in Kurdish on 4260 kHz. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 1, BC-DX via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Partial data QSL letter from Myanmar R & TV. Signed by Ko Ko Htway, Director (Broadcasting) with programme and frequency schedule. Address: Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Information, Myanmar Radio & Television (M.R.T.V), Pyay Road, Yangon. Phone: 951-532814, Fax: 951-525428 (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Dec 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. {See USA - IBOC thread below} ** PAKISTAN. News in English heard 1600-1615 on 4790 11570 15070, not on 15530, 17725 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Nov 22, BC-DX via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. RADIO PA`I PUKU IS ``THE ONLY MASSIVE CATHOLIC MEDIUM`` IN THE GREAT PARAGUAYAN CHACO Teniente Irala Férnandez, Dec 1 (CRU) --- The Great Chaco of Paraguay in the northwest of the Paraguay is a vast land, hot, dry, and scarcely inhabited. Called the Gran Chaco in Spanish, it sweeps from Argentina north through Paraguay into Brasil. In Paraguay it takes up 60% of the country but has less than 5% of the population. It is the hottest and driest part of the nation, a land of coarse grasses, scrub forests and thorn bushes, broken by occasional forests of the quebracho tree. The rivers overflow in summer`s heavy rains but dry up in winter. There are some Mennonite farms in central Chaco and scattered Guaraní tribes, but most of the Gran Chaco is uninhabited. In this vast land, two vicariates apostolic (sort of embryo dioceses) and the Diocese of Benjamín Aceval founded ZP17 Radio Pa`i Puku 720 AM in 1996. ``It constitutes the only Catholic mass medium in the zone,`` says the ``Historia`` page of the station website. ``The Diocese of Benjamín Aceval and the Vicariates of Pilcomayo and Chaco Paraguayo had decided to launch an apostolic work in connection with the coming of the third millennium, by means of the Fundación Monseñor Pedro Shaw. Radio Pa`i Puku is a station of educational, evangelical, popular, and participative character in the line of service to the culture and to human progress.`` Running 25,000 watts day and 5,000 watts night, the station covers the two vicariates apostolic and part of the Diocese of Benjamín Aceval, and part of the territories of Bolivia and Argentina along their frontiers with Paraguay. Radio Pa`i Puku reaches an audience of 400,000 people, ``among which the native Americans of 13 ethnic groups who live in the Chaco stand out, in addition to Paraguayan Creoles and Mennonite immigrants. The relevance of the station responds to the social, climatic, and geographic characteristics of the Chaco,`` says the website. The Foundation that holds title and license to ZP17 Radio Pa`i Puku is named after Bishop Pedro Shaw, known popularly as Pa`i Puku —``high priest``— not because of his ordination as bishop but because of his imposing stature. Born in Belgium on September 6, 1925. he entered the Oblates of Mary Immaculate at a tender age, was ordained and was sent to work as a missionary in the Paraguayan Chaco. On April 22, 1981, he was ordained Bishop of the Vicariate Apostolic of Pilcomayo. On the last day of fall, June 21, 1984, while driving down the Transchaco Highway to Asunción to win a radio station for his beloved Chaco, he suddenly died. The station website does not indicate whether by auto accident or heart attack. In any event, the idea of a radio station then lay dormant until 1996, when the three ecclesiastical jurisdictions decided to move forward on it. At the request of the people, the station was named for their beloved Bishop Pedro Shaw. The station divides its objectives into a general one and specific ones. The general objective is ``to reform the social cloth of the region by the adequate use of the mass media in the service of the evangelization and in the indigenous and Paraguayan cultures.`` Specifically, Radio Pa`i Puku seeks ``to accompany the evangelizing work of the Catholic Church for the strengthening of the Christian faith and the formation of ecclesiastical communities.`` It seeks to ``revalidate the indigenous peoples, the greatest population in the Chaco, and of all the Chaqueño people, by respecting their history, legends, traditions, and supporting their legitimate aspirations.`` Third, it seeks ``to promote the integral formation of Chaqueño men and women by means of a formal and informal education on health, the family, advancement of women, and civic and sociopolitical education.`` Lastly, it tries ``to promote and accompany programs and projects of social, religious, economic, and ecological development in the region.`` ZP17 Radio Pa`i Puku has a simple but effective website at http://www.radiopaipuku.org.py There is the home page (Principal), the Historia page, Programación, Staff, and Contactos. The staff is impressive, from the three bishops who serve on the Foundation board to Señor Ramón Zavala, the general manager, to the administration of laymen, and seven members who are the station`s journalists and engineers. Named also are the control room operators, those in charge of production and programming, and those offering general services. In addition to its offices and studios in Teniente Irala Férnandez, a small community in the heart of the Paraguayan Chaco, there is an office in the capital, Asunción. The programming schedule is a riot of color. Broadcast hours run 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, with Sunday sign-on at 6 a.m. and sign-off at 6 p.m. Indigenous programs are heard at 5 a.m. (``Kay`uhape Nemongueta``), 2:30 p.m. (``Mundo Indigeno``), ``Terere Hape`` on Sundays from 9:30 a.m. till noon. There are programs for the young (``Discoteca Juvenil`` on Sunday afternoons, for example), and religious programs (``Una Catequesis para la Vida,`` weekdays at 5:30 p.m. until 6 p.m.; the ``Family Rosary,`` 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 5:30 p.m. on Sundays; ``La Iglesia Responde`` (The Church Responds) from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Saturdays; and Holy Mass on Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. There are entertainment programs (``Panorama 720,`` heard weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., for example), and two half-hour newscasts on weekdays, at 6 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., from the National Radio Network. The station does its own newscast weekdays from 5 to 5:30 p.m. There can be no doubt that this Gran Chaco powerhouse, ZP17 Radio Pa`i Puku 720 AM, is close to the people it serves. They named it, they program it, they run it, and they listen to it. Radio Pa`i Puku, built to honor a man who gave his life to the people of Paraguay`s Gran Chaco, it is a member of a small elite of Catholic Radio stations around the world that do yeoman service for the indigenous people among whom they operate. Database Teniente Irala Férnandez: ZP17 Radio Pa`i Puku 720 AM (25,000 watts días, 5,000 wats noches). Fundación Monseñor Pedro Shaw. Estudios: 25 Leguas, Chaco. Tel: (595 0492) 2360, (595) 0424 349. Oficinas en Asunción: Avda. Boggiani 4317 c/ Mariano Molas. Tel: (595 21) 606 114 or 605 754; fax (595 21) 606 204. E-mail: admin@radiopaipuku.org.py (o) director@radiopaipuku.org.py Señor Ramón Zavala, director. Monseñores Lucio Alfert, Zacarías Ortiz, y Candido Cárdenas, Obispos. Website: www.radipaipuku.org.py (Para el Vicariato Apostólico del Pilcomayo y la Diócesis de Benjamín Aceval) 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily (6 p.m. Sundays). (Dec 9 Catholic Radio Update, Dec 7 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. [cf. BC-DX 598] According to RRI's printed schedule: Arabic 1300-1356 17775 (not 11830) Bulgarian 0500-0526 not on MW 756 kHz English 0200-0256 9625 (not 15270) French 1500-1556 17790 (not 11940) (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 3, BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 6005 [7325 in A-02] Monday 1800-1900 in Adygean, Arabic, Turkish; and Friday 1800-1900 in Adygean by Adygean Radio Maycop. Wed, Thu, Sun 1830-1900 in Kabardin/Balkarian(?) by K.B. Radio Nalchik, heard on Oct [sic] 27, all on 6005 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 6, BC-DX via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. SA`UDI OPPOSITION RADIO USES $19.95 SOFTWARE TO ENCRYPT VOICES The Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, the Saudi opposition group behind the new radio station Sawt al-Islah (Voice of Reform), says it is using the latest voice encryption technology on its Web site http://www.islah.org as well as its radio programmes. Saudi dissident Saad al Faquih told the Reuters news agency that "Sawt al-Islah is designed to establish a direct dialogue with the Saudi people by using new technologies, including the Internet, to talk freely and without inhibitions." A link on the Web site reveals that the software in question is a freely available shareware program called AV Voice Changer Software http://www.audio4fun.com that costs US$19.95 to register (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 10 December 2002 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. Re Sawt al Qarn 21550 at 1330-1430 Mon & Fri: Nothing noted here today or last Friday or Monday. If they were on I think I would have heard them. Mike Barraclough, UK, Dec 10, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RTI English from Nov 25th: English 0200-0300a 11740 9680 5950 NoAm CeAm 11875 15320 SoEaAS b 15465 NoEaAS 0300-0400b 5950 9680 NAm 15320 SoEaAS 0700-0800a 5950 WeNAm 1100-1200a 11985 N CHN b 7445 SoEaAS [??MW 585] 1200-1300a 9610 7130 NoEaAS AUS NZL 1400-1500a 15265 SoEaAS 1600-1700a 11560 INDIA S CHN (x11550) 1700-1800b 11560 INDIA S CHN (x11550) 1800-1900? 3955 EUR (prog a/b shown on sked!) 2200-2300a 9355 EUR (delete 5810) Mailbag xx'30 1st program on Suns. 2nd program on Sats. Russian 1300-1400 still on 11745 WeCIS [but announced 11935 instead]. Repeats at: 1700-1800 9955 WeCIS. 0400-0500 7355 EaCIS. 0900-1000 11985 EaCIS (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 3, BC-DX via DXLD) ** TOGO. 5047, 5,6,7,8.12 -0004*/0510- R Togo, Lomé. The modulation quality improved almost daily, until 8th Dec the reception was excellent. Welcome back! (Jari Lehtinen, Maakeski DXpedition, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** U K. If you saw the schedule for the BBCWS 70th Anniversary activities Glenn H posted in DXLD 2-193, you saw that the "Global Party" hosted by John Peel and Emma B on Sunday the 15th airs at 1700- 2000 GMT to all regions. 15190 kHz (presumably from Antigua) will be kept open to "the Caribbean and Central America" from 1700 through to 2000 that day. That signal has a decent chance of reaching parts of North America as well. This information straight from the corridors of Bush House... Also, don't forget that Mark Byford is taking questions live on Thursday the 19th in a special edition of "Talking Point" at 1400 UT. Bush House is expecting that we'll be calling in from North America with questions for Mr. Byford that day... Regards, (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Dec 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. THE BBC WORLD SERVICE IS 70 THIS MONTH December 07, 2002 Times online http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ Still making waves --- The BBC World Service is 70 this month. Vanora Bennett surfs the static looking for its voice of sanity YOU'RE alone in some grim hotel room, thousands of miles from home. Your only link with the familiar world is a tiny, hissing shortwave radio. And across the airwaves comes that comforting mantra: "This is the World Service of the BBC ..." It's a moment of pure delight - and of great reassurance. And it happened to me hundreds of times in the ten years when I worked in the remoter bits of Asia, Africa and the former Soviet Union. Often, listening for more than a couple of minutes involved no small inconvenience. Maybe the broadcast broke up and mysterious arguments raged in Farsi or Basque. At the very least, I was likely to find myself with the aerial stuck out of the window as I surfed the wavebands with the tuner. Whatever the difficulties, it was worth it. I was one of millions of people across the globe hooked on a daily dose of reason in a baffling world. Today the World Service has 150 million listeners, from Afghanistan to Albania, tuning in to programmes in English or in the 42 other languages in which it broadcasts, and all of us will be wishing it well as it turns 70 this month. The birthday will be celebrated with two weeks of razzmatazz. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, addresses listeners next Wednesday. There will be a global "party" on December 15, broadcast from London, Dakar, Kabul, Mexico City and Bombay. On December 19, the actual birthday, the World Service will present programmes live from Table Mountain in South Africa, the site of its first re-broadcast overseas. If the service is feeling pleased with itself after all these years, it can be excused. Its latest settlement with the Foreign Office, which provides the finance, netted an extra £48 million over three years - a belated birthday present after many lean years under the Tories. And, thanks to new digital technology, more people inside Britain can catch the World Service (which is not intended for domestic consumption) on their computers, satellite TV services or radios. "People have begun to realise that, to understand world events, you have to understand the world globally," says Phil Harding, the head of English-language programming. "They're realising the importance of a broadcaster that can not only tell us about events but also explain them, answering the questions 'who' and 'what', and also 'why', in a way that's objective, truthful and impartial and brings together all the different viewpoints." Significantly, on September 11 an emotionally charged worldwide phone- in to discuss the terrorist attacks of a year ago received so many calls - 50,000 in an hour - that the system almost crashed. Listening figures in the United States have doubled. What else do listeners to this venerable institution get? The grumblier kind of British expat may lament that there's less news from home than in the old days (interminable county cricket scores and features on the cheesemakers of Wensleydale no longer figure quite so large), but most listeners appreciate the more detached worldwide political analysis that has replaced it. What the World Service is like today is a more serious version of Radio 4, without all of those knowing, Just A Minute-style middle- class cacklefests. There are serious, in-depth documentaries: Alan Little analysing the state of international diplomacy since September 11, the excellent four-part series on people-trafficking that starts next week. If you're in Africa or Asia, detailed regional news and current affairs come tailored for you in magazines such as Focus on Africa, or East Asia Today. There's thoughtful religious programming, and a wealth of English language-teaching: Grammar Zone, Madonna's Music Speaks, Language In Focus, The Reading Group, or Means of Exchange, all in English, as well as English lessons in other languages, from Albanian to Bulgarian to Chinese. People in troubled times can discover what is going on in their own country (unless the service is jammed, as in China today, or behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War). Tens of thousands of South Africans were regular listeners during the days of censorship and minority rule, and in the Soviet Union the imprisoned Mikhail Gorbachev used the World Service to keep up with the collapse of the coup against him in 1991. British listeners tend to tune in during the night, when Radio 4 switches over to the World Service. It's a great help to the insomniac, providing intelligent companionship through the dark watches. Ellie Parker, who runs New Theatre Works in Hereford, leaves the radio on low all night in the bedroom of her farmhouse. While her husband David sleeps, she drifts along to "soporific, gentle talking that takes your worries away". There is, too, a devoted core of fans on the Costas and among caravanners - despite problems with reception. Bryan Davidson tells how he infuriates his wife by spending half an hour before breakfast searching for the elusive voice from London at their holiday home in Languedoc. "Reception in the south of France seems particularly poor," he says. "I have to plough through dozens of stations, from Helsinki to Hilversum, before I can listen to the news in English." Neither of them, I'd be prepared to bet, are fans of the clunking soap opera Westway, set in a West London health centre. I've never met anyone with a kind word for it, although it is apparently followed by millions. Despite such minor gripes, the service is proud of a record that goes back to 1932, when the Empire Service, the overseas arm of the BBC, began life with a high-minded prayer by the Chairman of the Governors that "nothing mean or cheap may lessen its value and that its message may bring happiness and comfort to those who listen". Happiness and comfort might have figured on the agenda then, but the editorial independence which has always characterised its programme makers was soon ruffling feathers. Its first foreign-language service, the Arabic service, upset officials in London with "off-message" reporting; in the same tradition, years later, after September 11, an interview with the Taleban's Mullah Omar had much the same effect in Washington. What is the future for the voice of a middle-ranking country in increasingly crowded international airwaves, however grand its history and revered its traditions? Everywhere its monopoly is being challenged. In Nairobi, for example, there were only three FM stations two years ago - now there are 15. In India, fewer than 20 per cent of people had television a decade ago. Now 68 per cent of Indians can watch TV, and all radio listening has plummeted as a result. The World Service audience in India has fallen 45 per cent in the past seven years, to 14.6 million. Despite gains elsewhere, the total number of listeners is down three million this year from a peak of 153 million. There is a fightback strategy: trimedia, in BBC-speak. That means getting more broadcasts out on FM and switching over to digital editing and transmission technology. There will be more language websites, already the big success of the past five years, that let not only the people in a country but also diasporas across the globe catch regional programming. And a new global news division has, since last Sunday, taken under its wing the loss-making BBC World TV channel. What needs to change most, according to Phil Harding, is a style that has irritated some listeners into complaining about an old-fashioned and distant manner, as if the BBC was lecturing rather than broadcasting. "We've got to work now at sounding more contemporary," he says. Contemporary is a heady idea. Today the soaring London headquarters of an organisation with more respect than money looks splendidly dated. The one concession to modernity, a Ritazza coffee cart, seems out of place on a faded landing still graced by antique metal post chutes. (more on web site!!) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY. GFA Gospel For Asia, http://www.gfa.org/ US address: 1800 Golden Trail Court, Carrollton TX 75010 USA Information: info@gfa.org Phone: Toll Free: 800.946.2742; 972.300.7777. Canada Address: 245 King St. E., Stony Creek, ON L8G1L9 Canada Information: infocanada@gfa.org 250 kW 85 degrees 2330-0130 6145 Al Dhabbaya Abu Dhabi 1230-1330 15170 Al Dhabbaya Abu Dhabi 1600-1630 9785 Al Dhabbaya Abu Dhabi (wb Nov 22) GFA 0030-0130 9490 WER 250 kW GFA 2300-0030 9765 WER GFA 2330-0130 11680 WER GFA 1530-1630 15425 WER GFA 1430-1530 15680 WER (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Dec 6, BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A. I used to think Empire of the Air was solid work. I even was moved by the book, and a speech by Tom Lewis is what sparked the "Pioneer Profiles" series, and the http://www.oldradio.com web site. We're working to keep the momentum with "What is This Thing Called Broadcasting?" However, I am unsure Ken Burns "got it right." While there is a lot of fine video, the facts are not always straight. For example, although the book shows Fessenden was the first to broadcast voice, the TV show repeats the story that D Forest got there first. ... Ralph Edwards (?) announcing that the first human voice in history was on De Forest's station. De Forest (or de Forest ... the initial "D" was sometimes upper, sometimes lower case ... as could be seen on the TV show) ... well, he just sat and accepted credit for it all. At least the TV show noted that when he couldn't overcome Armstrong with his own patent, he just decided to claim Armstrong's patent should have been his ... he was too busy to get it at the time. I will have to review the program in its entirely ... before I say any more. Regards (Barry Mishkind, AZ, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Q. What does `QSL` mean? Since I have been in charge of "QSL" duties at WSM and WSM-FM for almost 20 years, perhaps I'm among the best qualified to answer. The QSL designation dates back to the earliest days of radio, when (ham) operators exchanged written verifications of their QSO's (contacts) with each other. QSL stands for verification...or verification card or letter. Such a document is issued in response to a reception report. There are quite a few other Q abbreviations, among them: QSY - change frequency QSB - fading QRM - man-made interference (generally other stations) QRN - noise/static QTH - geographical location etc. The practice of QSL exchange spilled over to DXers who weren't licensed amateurs who heard stations of various sorts across the spectrum; but, of course most widely applied to AM and shortwave (and later FM and TV) broadcast stations and sought their QSL materials as a sort of prize. Many stations had special cards printed --- some had form letters --- some had certificates suitable for framing --- most enclosed coverage maps and station data --- some had special postage-like stamps --- and these artifacts became collectors items. In the very early days the DXer reports were useful insofar as they helped stations of all types know where their signal was being heard. As a result, the practice was encouraged and almost 100% participation was achieved. In almost all cases the Chief Engineer or a member of his staff handled the QSL details. Over the years, as antenna designs, propagation characteristics, etc. became better understood...and eventually relegated to routine rather than novelty, the usefulness of QSL reports (in particular to broadcast band stations) declined. For many years stations continued to respond to reception reports as a matter of courtesy; but in the past 15 or 20 years a number of factors have seen the degree of difficulty in obtaining a QSL increase dramatically. Among the problems --- no resident engineer on duty, no perceived value to the station, budget and staff cutbacks, lack of interest, lack of knowledge, lack of courtesy. Based on WSM figures, reception reports/requests for verification have declined dramatically. When I started handling the task there were about 100 a year received for the AM station and 1 or two for FM. While I don't keep an exact count, I'm going to estimate that in the entire year of 2002 I sent less than 15 QSL cards --- and notes to about 5 others that they did not supply adequate information to merit verification. If I'm allowed guesses as to WHY the drop in requests, I'll speculate that it links directly with a lack of AM listenership, less interest in DXing as a hobby, a switch of listening interests to on-line sources, increased interference of all types, and the poor rate of return experienced by those who continue to report reception and ask for verification. More generalizations here --- the average initial request is probably ignored or discarded by 90% of stations. A followup won't fare much better unless it's preceded by a phone call to the station which results in a staff member agreeing to be on the lookout for your report and actually taking time to respond. At best, even with followup reports and/or phone calls, I don't think that more than 25% of US or Canadian stations can be persuaded to respond. Maybe a personal visit to the station would up that percentage somewhat --- but it's not often that anyone can put in a personal appearance to nail down a QSL. In the case of WSM, QSLing is a slow process. The station holds reports until there are 4 or 5 before mailing them to me. I process them here at the house (calling back to the program department in the event that I need help verifying programming details). That means that I only see the requests every three or four months. I usually try to process them within a week of when I get them --- but have been known to get a month or two behind. That means that it could take as long as 5 or 6 months for a DXer to get a WSM QSL. The positive side is that the station continues to send them out because it's "the right thing to do". As far as a campaign to educate station personnel --- I consider it "mission impossible" --- particularly when a great many of the new breed of engineers don't know diddly about Es and Tr propagation --- and don't care; plus the task of getting information to, for example, the receptionist level, would be almost nil. Another factor is that the expense of personpower, material and postage to handle a QSL is viewed as an unjustified expense. It has no potential of producing revenue (non-commercial stations exempted), thus is viewed by management as a total waste and thereby widely discouraged. A final note of interest --- I don't recall getting a report from overseas for at least 5 years. 20 years ago there were regular reports (several a season) from DXpeditions in Scandinavia and New Zealand along with scattered posts from South America and Western Europe. That's probably more than you expected (or wanted to know) about QSLs --- but I thought that as long as I was at it I might as well cover the entire spectrum. BTW --- I have a hunch that some of the guys might dispute my estimated percentages. I'd be interested to see their comments. It's a good possibility that some of the most persistent get better results (Tom Bryant / Nashville, ex-WSM, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. More from the IBOC thread on NRC-AM: Enough with the lame examples... let's look at the big picture. Every time another station goes IBOC, it's like two new stations coming on the air... stations that play all noise, all the time, and never pause to take a breath. That can't be good for DXing, or for AM listening in general (Barry McLarnon, Ont., Dec 6) Well since October, WCHB (1200) has been running IBOC here. It has been on day and night causing all kinds of white noise from 1180 thru 1220. There is no chance of hearing anything on those adjacent frequencies here. I live west of Detroit and it has been reported in the paper and the local message boards that WCHB has been running IBOC. If and when all the local stations get this up and running, its going to be wall to wall white noise here. [someone undecipherable] Ya know, even if there wasn't this problem with the ****loads of slop, I would still say IBOC, and digital radio in general, is doomed to fail. There's just no compelling reason to junk your old radios. Why? To hear Howard Stern, the I-Man, or the motley crew of right-wing windbags in glorious digital fidelity? It's not a must-have technology that's on the point of going ballistic, like, say, AM broadcasting in 1922, television in 1948, or even the telegraph circa 1848. 73 (Mike Brooker Toronto, ON) Here's why Digital Radio will work: 1. Most radio listening is done in vehicles. 2. The entire fleet of vehicles pretty much turns over in 12 years 3. Since the car radio manufacturers are on board with IBOC, within 15 years, all meaningful radio listening will be digital.... Yes, there will still be some of us, that will have our analog radios, but we are not what advertisers are looking for. In the 70's car manufacturers screwed up and lost a good portion of the car audio business to aftermarket vendors because the factory radios were junk. They have really learned their lesson. The car radio I had in my 62 Ford had some of the best fidelity that I ever heard, but that was before NRSC II.... Today even on the cheapest car, a factory radio has a fairly good AM receiver in it. Albeit maybe a little narrow on the bandwidth, but nevertheless a good radio. Unlike AM stereo, this time the car radio folks are also on board. You will see IBOC radios on next year`s higher end models and within a 5 year period, all car radios will be IBOC. I do believe that a conscious decision has been made to scrap any distant audience the big boys may have in favor of the digital signal in their primary service area. And that means the associated interference that will go with it. Not what we as DX'ers want to hear, but I'm afraid that's what's going to happen. Personally, I believe it`s a good business decision. From a DX'ers point of view, it's a bad one. Just my $0.02 worth (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida http://www.amtower.com) Per Ibiquity's web site, the ONLY auto manufacturer committed to IBOC receivers in new cars is Ford. There are several aftermarket receiver manufacturers committed, but Ibiquity will need far more car manufacturers --- especially the Japanese --- before IBOC can really fly (Harry Helms AK6C, Ridegcrest, CA DM15) One correction: the US average is that about 28% of listening is done in cars. Even in long-commute LA, it is under 30%, and in cities with fewer cars like NY, or cities with very short commutes, it is far less. Your analysis of car usage is correct. Actually, at-home listening is first, followed by at-work, and then in-car. Last, with only a few percent, is "other" which means "beach" "Park" etc. Keep in mind that in LA, the average commute is around 45 minutes. That would be a total of 7 1/2 possible hours a week of listening; the average LA listener spends 21 hors a week listening to radio, so the in-car is just about a third of the potential listening. According to the Census, commute times in some markets are less than 20 minutes on the average... so the amount of in-car time in the commute is less. Of course, there is incidental car use, but most of us think that that listening never gets recorded as it is too "irregular." (David Gleason) That's exactly what ticks me off about IBOC - if they really are only interested in local listeners, then why do they have to take our precious MW band to do that - can't the FCC find them some VHF or UHF spectrum that they can use for this, and just leave our MW band alone? (Brian Leyton) As I gather more data for myself about this system, and how it came to pass, I can't find a lot of information about how this ITU and other treaties are affected. There's been some discussion here about the interference to Canadians. How about Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas, the rest of the Caribbean when IBOC comes to fore in Puerto Rico and the USVI? Colombia, Venezuela, Central America, too, when propagation is right, and I'm sure the various agreements call for limitations on interference. Or have the members of the FCC gone aggressively arrogant about the treaties and agreements? What will they do when the digital hash gets across the ocean, and disturbs broadcast radio in the Azores, Canaries, north Africa, and western Europe? If that discussion happened, I certainly missed it, and apologize here for any redundancy. I'm sure IBOC will turn out to be a good thing for broadcasters in major markets, a so-so non-event for the rest of us here in flyover America. And when it's all said and done, I'll have an outstanding collection of memorabilia, and a clear story on how the hobby didn't die, but was killed by technology. Thanks, (Gerry Bishop) Remember, the radios coming out are AM & FM IBOC. Whether you care about AM, you will get AM IBOC as it is part of the total AM/FM IBOC package. There will be no AM only IBOC radios. My understanding is that the first quarter conversions in 2003 that are already licensed and committed to will cover just around 16% of the US population. By year end, IBOC markets will cover 40% of the population. It does not take many markets and many stations to get to around half the US population. And it only takes about 25% of the stations in any market to cover about 60% to 75% of the listening (Davvid Gleason) As I understand it, IBOC is not yet approved for nighttime operation. I'm assuming these recent nighttime test are to judge the interference levels of IBOC at night. I'll bet that listener complaints to affected stations right now, during these early tests, will carry more weight and might actually delay the speed of nighttime adoption. Complaints now will probably be more effective than the formal "FCC commentary" that some of us submitted some months back. And, as long as AM radio stations must turn off IBOC at sunset, my guess is they won't be in any rush to adopt it. It's a lot of expense for something they can't use in the evenings. So, send those emails and make those calls. But Brian, you're missing the bigger picture. You can also send other stuff over the IBOC digital signal. Imagine if every AM radio had a little area that displayed scrolling text or pictures. IBOC would allow you to send text or simple images to the radio for display. It opens up whole new avenues of advertising! Constantly refreshed billboards on your car dash - who wouldn't want that? (Rick Kenneally, CT) It can also store traffic reports in memory, print coupons on demand as you hear ads, provide instant weather, etc. The money in this kind of ancillary or on demand data is thought to be huge (David Gleason) We've all heard about recent attempts by various states and localities to ban cell phone use while driving on the grounds that it's distracting and unsafe. And you may have heard about California's recent interest in auto RDS receivers because the text displays are "distracting" and presumed dangerous. Now IBOC promises scrolling text and images in autos --- gosh heckamighty, not to mention print-in-car coupons, as some have assured us. Anyone want to bet that eventually some suits will be filed against Ibiquity because of accidents "caused" by a distracting IBOC radio display? Or maybe there will be attempts to regulate IBOC displays, at least until contributions are made to appropriate politicians? (I know I have Gray Davis's number around here somewhere. . . .) Calling all state legislators!! Calling all tort attorneys!! IBOC is coming!! If we can't DX, maybe we can become expert witnesses? (Harry Helms AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15) The internet has proved once again that 'technology is cool' ... but the internet has made things like 'spam' possible. If the motivation behind ANY digitization of AM or FM or TV is another venue to bombard consumers with commercials, I - and I suspect about 99% of all consumers - are VERY MUCH against it! If, however, the 'little area' you describe is used for emergency information, that's a very good potential use of digital radio. I think the same could be accomplished through mobile phone technologies that are ALREADY digital however. I would hate like hell to 1) lose a hobby or 2) pay more for a radio just so advertisers could reach me via a new venue. I must be honest though and point out that I work for a USG broadcaster and so my 'revenue stream' comes almost entirely from Congress and my interests in all of this may be a bit skewed from those of you who actually work in the commercial broadcast industry. (Bill Whitacre, DC) Heh. Yeah, I'd probably enjoy that just about as much as I liked that text message on my cell phone from Cingular yesterday, telling me about the exciting offers I can get from their affiliates. If I don't want the messages, then all I have to do is reply with "No" in a text message. Now I've been working with computers, phone systems and other technology for oh, 20 years or so, and it took me a few minutes to figure out how to reply. How many people do you think were not able to figure out how to reply, or didn't bother? I'm sure my wife didn't... I suppose that if you look at IBOC as the poor man's XM, then maybe it makes some sense. But if we're not paying a subscription fee, then the money's got to come from somewhere. If the AM broadcasters aren't making enough money today, then just how do they think they're going to justify charging their advertisers more (to pay for the IBOC equipment and licensing fees)? I know your comment was tongue-in-cheek, but how long do you really think it will be before that becomes reality? Just look at any Major League ballpark today, and you can hardly see a square foot of vertical space that's not plastered with some message. I like to listen to KFI during drive-time, but have you ever listened to the Bill Handel show? In a given hour it's maybe 30 min. of news and talk, and another 30 minutes of commercials - if I'm exaggerating, the not by that much. This is probably one of the more successful stations in L.A. To be honest, if I were given a choice of scrolling ads on the screen of my car radio, or regular commercials, I'd take the scrolling ads any time - they're much easier to ignore. If IBOC is going to be successful, then they're going to have to figure out a way to milk it for more advertising $$. I think it's unlikely that they'll actually provide any truly interesting programming that's not available already elsewhere, so the money's going to have to come from somewhere else. Hey - here's a scary thought - does IBOC allow for addressable receivers? Maybe they're just planning on shutting down our radios if we don't pay subscription fees? I guess I'm just getting more & more cynical as I get older... (Brian Leyton) Take another look at the FCC report and order. IBOC AM has already been given the go-ahead for pre-sunrise and post-sunset operation. (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH) || Internally, we used to refer to IBOC as, "It's Beyond Our Comprehension." "It Beats Open Carrier" "Imbeciles Believe Our Claims" "I'm Betting On Conti" OK, we see how one acronym can summarize the three main positions on this thread! ;-) (Harry Helms AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15) It Bleeds Over Channels It Bilks Only Consumers (Powell E. Way) It Barfs Out Coupons (Keith McGinnis) See? It's all about benefit TO the station. The station feels no obligation to serve those listeners who don't provide a direct revenue return. There no longer is any reason to even license these big stations since there is no interest on their part to provide the public service to those distant areas (over 50 miles). Just make them all local area coverage, since the model of Public Interest has been thrown out. Do I have it now? (Bob Foxworth, FL) There has been a big change in radio since the 60's. First, FM developed as a viable medium, and in larger cities doubled and tripled the number of voices. The FM table of allocations provided FM service in towns that never had radio before... Beulah, MI, Leland, MI, Kalkasca, MI are examples of towns outside the good coverage of the Traverse City AMs of the 60's thst got FMs. So rural areas started to have their own stations. Then, in the 70's, the FCC broke down the clears (in '64 or '65, they definitely turned down high power clears with up to 750 kw). That added lots of secondary stations on clears. Then, in the 80's, Docket 80-90 came into being, allowing well over a thousand new FMs, mostly in non-metro areas. The US no longer needed clears and large coverage stations on AM. Every crossroads got an FM or two. On the other hand, by the 80's we saw light dimmers, medical equipment, PCs and other devices that created vastly more ambient noise than ever before found on the AM band. Stations that could claim listeners out to the 2 mv/m contour found that the 5 mv/m contour was the limit... and then, in big cities, the 10 mv/m contour has become the practical threshold. Most top 100 market 5 kw stations don't put an adequate field strength over the metro survey area to compete. Many directional 50 kw stations don't, either. I have heard engineers claim that big cities like LA need even more power than currently licensed. In my experience, metro Buenos Aires is covered well by only one AM, Radio 10 at 710. That station is 100 kw into a 5/8 wave antenna, and it is directionalized by a parasitic 1/4 wave tower so that about 140 kw shoots over Buenos Aires. BA has many 50 kw stations. There are big areas where car reception is noisy, and inside buildings, impossible. It takes over 100 kw to serve this city due to man made noise on the AM band. It's unfortunate that the FCC originally created very low classes of stations and never anticipated urban growth. When I grew up in Cleveland in the 50's and 60's, there was only one AM that consistently covered the eastern suburbs, WKYC (Now WTAM). All the other stations had interference; the city has grown at least 20 miles farther east now and that leaves on single AM for day and night reception for perhaps 300,000 residents (David Gleason) From what I've been hearing and reading...WOR hasn`t received any complaints except from someone restoring an old radio and the masses here on the internet radio list. Seems god awful funny to me that the "average" listener hasn`t said anything...but of course maybe we haven`t been told about those people. What I hear is the same ol lines coming from the same ol people. Heck, the write up in this month`s Radio World was a rehash of what`s on WOR`s website and major attacks on us internet radio list folks. Needless to say, I wasn`t impressed with the write up just as I'm certainly far from impressed with IBOC. That`s a great idea, but one major problem. The FCC hasn`t made any official decisions on what and when AM broadcasters can do anything like this. All this hype with IBOC reminds me clearly of the AM stereo days --- about half of the plan has been put together, but without a concrete plan to fill in the other half. IBOC is destined to fail just like AM Stereo, but at a greater cost. You will probably get a reply, if you haven`t already, stating that the problem is with "-YOUR-" radio --- gotta love it when you send an interference complaint to some folks listening with a digital spectrum analyzer, with iBiquity stamped on the case, the great pocket sized portable IBOC receiver! ...LOL ...dump it in the trunk and keep on trucking...or is that dump it in the NYC harbor and say good riddance! Lol. Don`t hold your breath! ..12 to 15 years is a lot of time to get the newest and lastest digital crap craze to the general public. Compared to the number of analog receivers out today, and with what is on radio today, people aren`t going to be rushing out to buy the new digital radio to listen to someone cough, burp, pass gas and ramble on in your ear in digital artifacty sound. Most people are turned off for radio anyways and are listening to MP3, CD, cassette players in their cars or are busy yappin away on their cell phones. The means of delivering programming isn`t broke --- it`s the programming that needs fixing these days (Bob Carter, Operations/ Engineering, Max Media Radio Group, WGAI et al.) Dave continues: "The US no longer needed clears and large coverage stations on AM. Every crossroads got an FM or two." Crossroads that used to be able to support good local radio with good local advertisers, such as Denton, Gainesville, Sherman, Denison, Corsicana and McKinney, Texas, lost their FM and AM stations as they became Dallas/Fort Worth rimshot programmers. Even Wichita Falls lost two of its three AM'ers to Dallas-Fort Worth. (Well, three, if we go all the way back to 570's move.) The real rural crossroads, cities of license like Pilot Point, Sanger, Howe, Bowie, Decatur, Muenster all are cities of license for FM signals but the only time residents of the city of license hear the name of their town is at (or near) the top of the hour. An Ardmore, Oklahoma, rimshotter, licensed to Healdtown, Oklahoma, (population 2,786) is moving its city of license to Krum, Texas (population 1,979). When that move is made, a single, 2,000-foot tower closer to the Red River than to Dallas/Fort Worth will house stations licensed to Krum, Flower Mound, Azle and Muenster, Texas. (Look 'em up on your map.) Another Oklahoma station, KJON-850 in Anadarko, will soon become a Dallas-Fort Worth rim-shotter, city of license Carrollton, transmitter site between Celina and Prosper, a good 25 miles north of Carrollton. KJON will join seven AM and five FM stations already providing religious programming to the saints and sinners of the Metroplex. Another point by Dave: "On the other hand, by the 80's we saw light dimmers, medical equipment, PCs and other devices that created vastly more ambient noise than ever before found on the AM band. Stations that could claim listeners out to the 2 mv/m contour found that the 5 mv/m contour was the limit... and then, in big cities, the 10 mv/m contour has become the practical threshold." Congress over the years allowed the manufacturers of electrical and electronic items to subvert, submerge, subjugate, override and/or ignore limits on RF radiation from their well-advertised, consumer- gouging gadgets with planned obsolescence built in. In a way, AM broadcasters were victimized by corporate greed for many years as the ability of their signals to cover their markets was eroded. Wasn't it Lee DeForest who showed, back in the '30s, how beautifully FM could be programmed. Where might broadcasting be today if ... back when there were only 700 AM stations on the air in the U.S. ... a 200- channel FM band had been established? We can cry, moan, stamp our feet in disgust, label IBOC everything from panacea to Pandora's box and all points in between (as if we haven't already). If worst comes to worst, I still have hours of DX tapes from the '60s, '70s and '80s to process and I can tune below 530 kHz where, so far, there's been no attempt to digitize the airport marker beacons. For that matter, the programming is about as entertaining! I had intended to remain silent this particular IBOC cycle ... but if I had, I might lose my identity as (The Krumudgeon [John Callarman]) IBOC will screw up us broadcasters serving those communities along the edge of our primary coverage areas. Remember the majority of the American public does not live within most primary service areas of AM stations in this country. What about those people?...most I would be safe to say do not have a clue about IBOC or what it will do to there analog listening. Those are the people that need to have there voice in this...after all they are the working heart of this country....so yes whether you are a hobby DXer or just an average radio listener...every voice counts. Spread the word about what`s happening with radio. Educate your neighbors with regard to what you've heard from the test on the air, and then explain that if the local station 25 miles away goes digital --- it may wipe out the station they listen too 30 miles away. Not everyone is listening with a "spectrum analyzer" "receiver" with the name iBiquity stamped on the case of the receiver (Bob Carter) Check out the Slashdot site http://slashdot.org (news for nerds, stuff that matters) Scroll down near to the bottom of the main page for the story slugged "despicable conduct from Disney" (if you wait till tomorrow it will be in the old news section, after that you'll have to search for it). That's because the news rolls over that fast. Slashdot is a news/comment board with broad content, much of which is technology related. It seems the FCC is taking public comments until today on the Broadcast Flag issue, i. a. and a Disney Vice President, Phil Lelyveld, 48, has submitted comments to the FCC ---without mentioning his 'day job' – urging the Commission to ignore comments from an advocacy group, while inaccurately characterizing this group as "two dot.com millionaires". The story on Slashdot details this and then provides a lot of posted followup comments You may really want to do more research on how the entertainment industry, Disney, RIAA, MPAA et. al. are getting legislation through that severely restricts the right of consumers (you and me) in regard to fair use of broadcast media product. And this is one example, albeit a small one on it's own, of how underhanded techniques are used to fool or mislead regulatory agencies. When you dig around in the links (EFF is one) you'll discover what the Broadcast Flag is (disabled VCR copying for home use) along with other such things as, when digital TV appears (probably around 2006) it will be illegal to have an analog aux output; that such TV sets will be made tamper-proof and that it will be a Federal crime for the end user to modify such sets. This is all being for restriction of content access by consumers. Disney of course is at the forefront of such efforts to totally control media access and use by ordinary end- users; the VP referred to above is in this 'department'. Links to his Comment are in the article. How is this relevant to this list? This is all about Digital TV. And what, you ask innocently, has been Number One on this list for weeks? Ah yes it's Digital Radio. And Digital Radio provides ...ah yes...Content! For a related subject, look at http://www.2600.com 2600 magazine published on their web site a LINK to a site that provided source code for a DVD descrambler. Despite your thinking, as everyone did, that this is protected speech, the RIAA got a court in NY to convict them and get it shut down. The court documents are on that site. Never hurts to be informed about where YOUR rights are heading... (Bob Foxworth, Tampa, Florida; ALL: NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. AMERICA`S FIRST FULL-TIME DIGITAL RADIO STATION USES OMNIA AUDIO PROCESSING The installation of an Omnia-6dab audio processor marked a historic event as Susquehanna Radio's WYGY-FM became the US`s first full-time IBOC (In Band, On Channel) digital radio station. After FCC approval of iBiquity Digital`s "HD Radio" format, WYGY acted quickly to install a new Omnia-6dab processor, the final link in their DAB airchain. WYGY staff completed installation of their Omnia-6dab in just 20 minutes (Dec AIB Newsletter via DXLD) WTFK? and even what`s the city, Kenneth? That would be 96.5 in Hamilton OH, per 9th edition M-Street Directory (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. GAO ISSUES REPORT ON DTV TRANSITION NAB TV TechCheck 12/9/02 (OCR from Press Release) On December 2, 2002 the Government Accounting Office (GAO) released a report titled, "Additional Federal Efforts Could Help Advance Digital Television Transition". The study was conducted at the request of Representative Edward Markey who asked the GAO to assess issues related to the DTV transition. The GAO examined seven issues in the study. They considered the implications of turning off NTSC in 2006, attempted to understand consumer adoption issues and to gauge consumers awareness of the DTV transition, looked at the role of cable and satellite carriage in the transition, assessed the availability of DTV programming, examined copy protection matters and reviewed issues related to DTV tuner mandates and other equipment issues. To understand the benefits and implications of turning off the analog broadcast signals, the GAO reviewed relevant studies, statutes, and FCC proceedings on the topic, and they spoke with officials at the FCC and the N-RA as well as officials in other counties that are going through a digital television transition. To understand consumer adoption of DTV, they analyzed data from the consumer electronics industry and other sources on DTV equipment sales and projected trends. To obtain anecdotal information on retail practices in marketing and selling DTV products, the GAO visited 23 retail consumer electronic stores that sell DTV equipment in several locations: Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts; Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, California; and the Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. During their visits, they posed as shoppers and asked sales staff a standard set of questions designed to gauge their knowledge of information that would be important to a potential consumer of DTV equipment. They also interviewed senior executives at the corporate offices of 4 consumer electronics retailers. In addition, to gauge consumer awareness and understanding of the DTV transition, the GAO commissioned a telephone survey regarding the DTV transition. The survey contained a set of 10 questions that asked respondents general questions about their television use (such as how they receive their television signal) and some questions specifically designed to gauge their knowledge and familiarity with the DTV transition. The questions were closed-ended, with response options read to the respondents. A total of 1,009 adults in the continental U.S. were interviewed between November 29 and December 2, 2001. In order to understand the status of DTV copy protection issues, they interviewed representatives of broadcast networks and television producers as well as representatives of consumer electronics manufacturers. They also spoke with representatives of trade associations and other organizations that are concerned about copy protection issues, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In addition, they reviewed relevant legislation and court proceedings. For DTV tuner mandate and other equipment issues, GAO spoke with representatives of four consumer electronics manufacturers, two industry standards organizations, three industry trade associations, and a consumer advocacy organization. They also toured the facility of a large DTV manufacturer. After considering all of the information gathered in the study, the GAO concluded that there are numerous factors impeding the progress of the DTV transition, making it unlikely that 85 percent of households will be able to receive DTV signals in many markets by December 2006. Some of those factors are: • Few consumers own digital television equipment. Only about I perr- ent of television equipment sold in 2001 could receive digital signals. This is largely because digital television sets and tuners are expensive and high definition programming is limited. • Many consumers are unaware of the DTV transition. The household survey found that 40 percent of respondents had never heard about the transition; only one in five were 'very aware' of it. In addition, the quality of information that consumers receive about DTV products at the retail level may be inconsistent. In visits to 23 DTV retailers, GAO found that sales staff sometimes provided inaccurate or incomplete information about DTV equipment and programming. • Cable and satellite digital carriage is limited. The great majority of American households receive their television via cable or satellite. However, cable carriage of local digital broadcast channels is very limited. Furthermore, satellite providers currently do not carry any markets' local digital broadcasts. A copy of the report can be found on the GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-7 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. BATTLE BREWING BETWEEN A RADIO GIANT AND WSVN-TV By Patrick Fraser http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/S9562/ MIAMI -- At the center, a radio tower that is in bad need of repairs and could pose a danger to people in one South Florida community. They sat side by side for decades...a radio and tv station sharing a unique piece of property... Ed Ansin, President of WSVN-TV, says "this has always been perceived to be the most beautiful broadcasting facility in the country." The radio station was so proud WIOD stood for "Wonderful Isle Of Dreams"---- But today WIOD's towers have become North Bay Village's nightmare.. Irving Heller, Interim City Manager, says "According to what we are reading and seeing.....that thing can topple either immediately or in the very near future." The two towers transmit the radio stations signal across South Florida... One at 300 feet stands right over Channel 7 with three guy wires holding it in place... Over the last few months...it has begun to deteriorate---with a piece of the tower..falling off and hitting a car..... "We are very concerned about the situation...they are putting our building at risk...putting out employees at risk......the tower simply has to be maintained." Its not just the Channel Seven owner who has that opinion... WIOD's owner, Clearchannel, hired an engineering firm to inspect the towers- Their findings were stunning..... This photographic report says...... at the base of the tower by Channel Seven.. 'anchor bolts have rusted away on four of the six bolts'... Another picture reveals ..'tower base has heavy rust around the base'. The engineers found ...'the lighting system is heavily corroded and conduit and boxes are falling apart' Also 'lighting boxes are held together with tape and wire'... at the base of one of the wires holding the tower up... The inspector found 'main pin has heavy rust'... He wrote...'repairs to this need to be made ASAP'...... When the repairs were not made... Channel Seven filed suit to try and force Clear Channel to maintain the tower... "What Clear Channel is doing is grossly negligent...in many ways........" Clear Channel's Vice President David Ross would not appear in this report... Telling us quote...this is being handled in the courts and I respectfully decline to comment... But its clear why Clear Channel is not fixing the towers... They claim it could cost 200,000 dollars...money they don`t want to spend... The reason....they have moved their WIOD studio off the property, would like to move their towers and then sell their share of the island ...to a condo developer... At least that`s what they say in their own corporate e-mails... In this e-mail this summer to fellow Clear Channel employees David Ross wrote..... we need to fix whatever we can for low dollars...and feel that the tower can withstand a hurricane.... He then added ..if we move we forget about the 'fix' Ross did defend the safety of the towers telling Channel Seven's management...quote.....the towers are in excellent shape... But the next month he wrote Clear Channel staffers ...I am concerned about the existing tower..Channel Seven is right below this tower...if this baby goes over...we're finished..... Frustrating for Ed Ansin to read He says, "you have to walk under that tower to get to work every day....and we're sitting in this room as is everybody else in this building.....and a storm comes up and we're at risk....." Now worried the tower could collapse .. The city has stepped in..... North Bay Village hired an engineering firm to inspect the tower..... Alan Dorn, Mayor, North Bay Village, says "We'll do whatever is necessary to get their attention....our primary concern is life and safety......to make sure nobody gets injured or worse.." Its possible...if Clear Channel won't fix the WIOD tower...it could be condemned and torn down... And if a piece falls and hurts someone...Clear Channel could face criminal charges... Meantime drivers pass by ...employees walk by what`s becoming a tower of trouble... (via Mike Terry, DXLD) I fervently wish people would eliminate all these dots from their writing styles! They just lean on the period key at the end of every phrase, so they don`t have to think about any real punxuation. Above story has so many that I am not going to take the trouble to replace them by dash, comma, semicolon or period as conventional style would require. Three dots are supposed to mean something was omitted, nothing else (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 2480 (2 x 1240) WGVA Geneva NY; 2242-47+, 6-Dec; "12-40 WGVA Geneva and 14-90...", "Finger Lakes Forecast", "Finger Lakes News Network", SIO=3+53-/QSB fair to zilch. Heard same time next day (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE- ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) This is a perennial harmonic, reported for years ** U S A. LUBAVITCHER RADIO (presumed): 1710, 0023-30+, 8-Dec [UT Sun after Sabbath]; M&W in Hebrew and instrumental music. Poor with occasional peak (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE-ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA, PRESIDENT'S SUPPORTERS SURROUND SEVERAL TV STATIONS | Text of report in English by Venezuelan pro-government VENews web site on 10 December 10 December: An amazing sight: Thousands of people have surrounded the headquarters of five commercial television stations (RCTV, Globovisión, TVS, Meridiano TV, Venevision) and are treating them to one hell of a cazerolazo (pot-banging). They are shouting 'medios golpistas!' (putschist media) and 'terroristas!' The channels have stopped (probably only briefly) broadcasting anti governmental propaganda and are at last giving some pro governmental demonstrations some coverage. The television commentators keep reminding their audience of the grave threat to their lives and their profession. The OAS secretary general, César Gaviria, who is here to 'mediate' negotiations between the government and the opposition, just made a declaration in which he condemns these "assaults on press freedom" (this phone declaration is being broadcast over and over by the TV stations that are surrounded by demonstrators). But these declarations somehow fall flat when you see the images of the demonstrators: many women, old men (banging away impressively for their age), very ordinary looking citizens, many still in their work clothes - no sticks, no guns, no people trying to climb over the fences and walls of the establishments. Just peaceful groups of citizens saying: we've had enough, how about showing a little bit of us now instead of always showing rich folks demonstrating in the east of Caracas and instead of trying by any means possible to make your audiences think that this government is undemocratic, dictatorial, and 'Castro-communist.' These people are of course being depicted as mobs of uneducated, bloodthirsty Chavistas that dream of savagely attacking journalists. On previous nights the well-bred eastern 'caraqueños' were doing their own pot-banging in front of Channel 8, the state-run television station that broadcasts 'Aló Presidente,' Chávez's weekly radio/TV show. This received no coverage from the commercial media and provoked no comments from César Gaviria. Source: VENews web site in English 10 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) CHAVISTAS ATACAN MEDIOS Los actos de violencia se suceden casi a diario en Caracas. Cientos de seguidores del presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, atacaron las instalaciones de varios medios de comunicación ubicados en Caracas, la capital del país. La manifestación se realizó frente a las instalaciones de Radio Caracas Televisión, Venevisión, TVS Maracay y Globovisión, entre otros medios. La huelga general fue extendida a su noveno día. El secretario general de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), César Gaviria manifestó su rechazo a las acciones y dijo que ellas "ponen en grave riesgo la libertad de expresión en Venezuela". Los directivos de los medios de comunicación rechazaron la violencia e hicieron un llamado a la oposición para que mantengan la calma y permanezcan en sus hogares. "Guerra psicológica" El corresponsal de la BBC en Venezuela, Carlos Chirinos dijo que desde hace varios días Chávez ha insistido en que los medios de comunicación privados mantienen una guerra psicológica contra su gobierno. "El presidente ha insistido en que los medio tratan de deformar la verdad en apoyo a este paro cívico y como parte de un supuesto complot golpista", expresó Chirinos. La oposición ha solicitado al gobierno que proteja las instalaciones y respete a los comunicadores y las personas que ahí se encuentran (BBC Mundo.com 10/12/2002 via Jorge García, DXLD) "CHAVISTAS" RODEAN MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN VENEZUELA, SIGUE PARO. Por Silene Ramírez CARACAS (Reuters) - Cientos de "chavistas" rodearon las sedes de los principales canales de televisión privados de Venezuela el martes mientras el gobierno del presidente Hugo Chávez denunció un plan para derrocarlo, intensificando las tensiones en el noveno día de un paro general opositor. Con la vital industria petrolera y gasífera parcialmente paralizada, los bancos trabajando a media máquina, la mayoría de colegios sin clases y muchos comercios e industrias cerrados, la oposición ha incrementado progresivamente --desde que inició el paro el 2 de diciembre-- la presión para que Chávez renuncie y convoque a elecciones anticipadas. Pero el mandatario del quinto exportador mundial de crudos se niega aceptar las demandas de sus enemigos, mientras algunos representantes de su gobierno tratan de buscar un acuerdo electoral con la oposición en una "mesa de negociación" auspiciada por la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA). En medio de la inquietud política, un grupo de seguidores de Chávez tomó el canal TVS de Maracay --ciudad central del país-- en la noche del lunes, mientras otros miles llegaron en bandada y casi simultáneamente a los canales de la capital Radio Caracas de Televisión, Globovisión, Venevisión y Televen y a otros del interior de Venezuela. Las pantallas de la televisión, la mayoría controladas por opositores, son los principales campos de batalla de la lucha verbal y a veces violenta desatada en el país, altamente dividido social y políticamente. "¡Golpistas, digan la verdad!", gritaban los chavistas, que en la madrugada del martes seguían en los canales. LIBERTAD DE EXPRESION EN RIESGO Mientras sucedían los hechos, un grupo de dueños de medios de difusión estaba reunido con el secretario general de la OEA, César Gaviria, quien actúa como facilitador de las negociaciones que, aún sin éxito, buscan una salida electoral a la crisis. Gaviria expresó su preocupación por "las acciones intimidatorias" y su "enérgica condena a tales actos que ponen en grave riesgo la libertad de expresión en Venezuela". Pero el gobierno justificó las acciones de sus seguidores para defender la democracia, como lo hicieron en abril cuando en medio de manifestaciones que pedían su regreso, tropas leales restituyeron al mandatario en el poder, 48 horas después de haber sido depuesto por un grupo de civiles y militares. "Cientos de chavistas" se agolparon a las puertas de ... Radio Caracas Televisión y Globovisión en protesta ante la actitud golpista, la censura y la campaña de terrorismo a la que están sumados los medios de Venezuela", dijo el martes un comunicado del palacio presidencial de Miraflores. Al llamado "urgente, urgente, golpe de Estado en Venezuela", el comunicado denunció que los "medios golpistas" iban a difundir un vídeo sobre un pronunciamiento militar dentro de un plan que preveía sacar del aire a los estatales Venezolana de Televisión y Radio Nacional de Venezuela. "Se sospecha de un plan comando de asalto (paramilitares) en contra del Palacio de Miraflores", dijo. La oposición acusa a Chávez, un teniente coronel retirado con casi cuatro años de mandato, de haber sembrado el odio y una división de clases en la nación de 23 millones de habitantes, con su discurso de corte izquierdista y de confrontación hacia los medios y los sectores que lo adversan. Esa es una de las razones por las que justifican el paro, que dicen también está dirigido a acabar con un gobierno corrupto, de tendencias autoritarias y dictatoriales y culpable de la aguda recesión económica y el alto desempleo en el país. MAS ADHESIONES AL PARO Chávez ha calificado el paro de un "fracaso" y ser parte de una conspiración en su contra, con el apoyo de los medios, que en su mayoría han apoyado el paro cambiando su programación regular y sin transmitir cuñas. Para contrarrestar el paro, Chávez ordenó desde el lunes la toma militar de los centros de distribución de combustibles, cuyos trabajadores se sumaron a la huelga comprometiendo el suministro doméstico de gasolina. Además de las compras nerviosas de combustible, que también se han observado en algunos expendios de alimentos, el gobierno, con la ayuda de las tropas, logró despachar gasolina hacia algunas zonas del país que estaban desabastecidas. En otra acción militar, el fin de semana ordenó la toma de un buque cistena, cuya tripulación se sumó al paro generando una reacción en cadena en otros barcos, trabajadores en los puertos y empleados administrativos de la estatal Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), paralizando desde hace una semana los embarques de crudo del país hacia el exterior. En vista de que el crudo venezolano se mantiene en tanques de almacenamiento que están llegando a su tope, PDVSA se vio obligada a recortar en más del 50 por ciento de su producción --que en noviembre fue de 3,1 millones de barriles diarios-- y a reducir al mínimo sus actividades de refinación. Las ventas de crudo de Venezuela al exterior representan el 80 por ciento de sus ingresos por exportaciones y más del 50 por ciento de su presupuesto de ingresos. Los líderes empresariales, sindicales y políticos opositores no dieron señales de levantar el paro y más bien el lunes se vieron fortalecidos al sumarse los trabajadores de las principales plantas de producción de gas de PDVSA, lo que amenaza con afectar a las industrias básicas del país. También anunciaron su adhesión los bancos, los pilotos de la principal aerolínea de Venezuela y algunos transportistas. REUTERS SR WSQ/ (via Jorge García, Dec 10, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. 5905, Voice of Vietnam (relay?); 0107-15+, 8-Dec; M&W news to 0110 then feature on Ho Chi Minh City Communist Congress. 0113:45 Review of developments in VN this week. All in EE. SIO=423- (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE- ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) Likely originating from 6175 Sackville, mixing with another Sackville relay at 0100-0145, DW in English on 6040, halfway between (gh) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. 1620, 6,7,8.12. 0230- WDHP, Frederiksted, VI. Most nights the only signal across the Atlantic; one night, 7.12 at 0210, Dr. Gene Scott, Anguilla was also heard on 1610. Maakeski DX pedition #25: Listeners: Pauli Holm, Jari Lehtinen ja Juha-Matti Rantanen in Maakeski, Padasjoki, Finland 5-8.12.2002. Receivers: 2 x Yaesu FRG-100 & FRG-7700. Antennas: 500 m 300 o, 400 m 60 o, 400 m 45 o, several 100 metres long wires. 73's (Jari Lehtinen, Maakeski DXpedition, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. UNKNOWNIA: 4400.5, 0350-0401+, 7-Dec; M&W in Arabic-like language. Male commentary to 0357 somber instrumental music. 0358:50 M&W alternating with music bumpers. Slight het at 0500 but no audio. SIO=2+52 (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE-ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) See KURDISTAN [non] above! UNIDENTIFIED. 5009.8, 1123-1210+, 8-Dec; M&W in Spanish with wide variety of music; Xmas, rock, tropical and campesino. Mentioned campesinos couple of times. Religious program after 1200. SIO=333/ute QRM. R. Cristal this time of day? (Harold Frodge, Brighton, MI, MARE DXpedition, Drake R8B + 1000' NE-ish unterminated bev + 65' TTFDFV, via Cumbre DX via DXLD) More like HONDURAS UNIDENTIFIED. In the night from December 9th at 0303 UT I`ve heard at 5796 kHz an UNID station only with instrumental Andes-Music. SINPO was here in Karlsruhe (south west of Germany) 2 4 3 3 2. Fade out was 0337. Have any one an idea? RX was AOR AR7030 / 20 mtr. longwire with MLB. Best 73 and 55 (Willi Stengel, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM +++ I just had an opportunity to check out the current DRM tests, at least the ones from Sines and Jülich. The Sines tests on 15440 contains the English program of Deutsche Welle, altogether with an audio delay of 9 (nine) seconds compared with 6140. They used a bitrate of only 14.5 kbit/s, consequently the audio quality was quite poor with lots of artifacts especially on speech. Repeatedly reception disruptions occured despite although the signal was quite strong (50 db/µV or, if you prefer that, S 9 +20 db). Jülich transmits on 5975 a Fraunhofer test programme with 17.8 kbit/s audio and in addition 3.1 kbit/s data, the advertised "multimedia", in fact logos and other graphics. The audio quality was somewhat better than on the Sines test but still not satisfying. There were severe reception disruptions, exceeding 30 % percent of the time (signal strength: 40 db/µV). To summarize the findings of this listening session: The audio bitrate was noticeably lower than the one on the well-known DRM audio samples. Of course the audio quality with only 14.5 kbit/s is far from being "almost FM quality", and despite the use of this robust mode (at least the available white papers would suggest that this was in fact an especially robust mode) the reception was spoiled by drop-outs a real- world listener would hardly accept. And 5975 was from a real-world point of view a complete failure. Perhaps the PC decoding is to blame for the poor reception stability. But the bitrates are a parameter of the transmissions. Is it worth the trouble to replace the noise on AM signals with the cacophony of artifacts from audio encoding with less than 20 kbit/s? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Response to Andy Sennitt's comments in DXLD 2-193: In DXLD 2-193 Andy Sennitt wrote: "As for broadcasting 'smut', that's a rather cheap shot....`` It was not my intent to imply that major public broadcasters in Europe or elsewhere would broadcast offensive pictures via digital shortwave technology. I apologize to Andy and anyone else I have offended for giving that impression. All the internet and pay TV channels I know of which broadcast such material are driven by commercial profit motivation. Given that many commercial stations in the United States are not at all shy about renting their facilities for propagation of hate messages cloaked in a fog of biblical legitimacy, I do not find it very far fetched to assume they will also figure out a way to profit by renting their facilities to visual porn purveyors. Scrambling techniques would be used to keep the transmissions legal and receivable only by paying customers just as they are today via satellite transmission. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, Dec 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ DRM PATENT POOL SOLICITATION Story Filed: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 8:30 PM EST SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 4, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- At the request of the Digital Radio Mondiale(TM) (DRM(TM)) Consortium, Via Licensing Corporation is pleased to issue the following call for essential patents reading on the DRM Audio standard: Digital Radio Mondiale is a new, worldwide specification for over-the-air broadcasting. With near-FM quality sound that offers a dramatic improvement over analog AM, DRM promises to revitalize the AM broadcasting bands below 30 MHz in markets worldwide. DRM is the world's only nonproprietary, digital system for short-wave, medium-wave, and long-wave radio with the ability to use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. DRM has been endorsed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which published its DRM Publicly Available Specification (PAS 62272-1) earlier this year. DRM has also received the endorsement of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which last month approved a recommendation (BS1514-1) of the DRM system for all broadcasting bands within the frequency range of 150 kHz to 30 MHz. The DRM system is expected to launch at the World Radiocommunication Conference, which convenes from June 9 to July 4, 2003, in Geneva, Switzerland. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has published a technical specification of the DRM system. This document is called ETSI ES 201 980, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); System Specification. A copy of this specification is available for free download at the ETSI website at http://www.etsi.org (Search for "DRM.") Any company that believes it has patents essential to the DRM Audio standard, and wishing to participate in the DRM Audio patent pool, is invited to submit its patents and supporting documents to the patent evaluator, identified below, along with the evaluation fee and a statement confirming its agreement with the objective of this process. -- The objective of this process is to establish a pool of worldwide patents essential to the practice of the DRM audio standard in order to provide all DRM users with fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to this technology under one license. -- Essential patents will consist of those that are necessary for compliance with the DRM Audio specification. -- An independent expert ("evaluator") will evaluate the patents for essentiality to the DRM Audio standard. For each patent submitted, an evaluation fee of US $6,500 shall be paid to the evaluator. -- The evaluator will notify each company deemed to have an essential patent. The submitting company will be invited to contact the evaluation administrator in order to participate in upcoming meetings of the essential patent holders. -- The evaluation administrator is charged with publicizing the patent submission process and convening meetings of the essential patent holders. Evaluation Administrator: Via Licensing Corporation 999 Brannan Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: (415) 645-4777 Fax: (415) 645-4400 Email: DRM.Audio@vialicensing.com Evaluator: Mr. Gaetan Prince Brouillette Kosie Prince 1100 Rene-Levesque Boulevard West, 25th floor Montreal (Quebec) Canada H3B 5C9 Phone: (514) 397-6725 Fax: (514) 397-8515 Email: gp@bcf.ca (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ DX RECORDINGS FROM THE 1960S AND 70S Hello If you have ever wondered, what did the DX stations sound like some 40 or 30 years ago, here is your chance: http://www.sci.fi/~pst/dx/mp3/listen.html On that page I have uploaded short MP3 recording of some 80 stations which I listened to in the 1960'es and 1970's. Most are from Latin America, but you have also quite many from the South East Asia and Western Pacific. There is, for example, Dili from Portugese Timor (1973) and Radio Gelora Surabaya, to name a few. The Latins are not so extraordinary, but I still get good vibrations from listening to some of the oldies, Radio Tawantinsyo (1964), or La Voz del Minero, Llallagua (1964); or XERH Radio Tricolor (1970). Now, it's your turn: what do you think of this kind of sound pollution? 73 Pentti Stenmann, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-193, December 9, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1159: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1159.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL: see PARAGUAY ** ARGENTINA. A Rádiodifusão Argentina para o exterior transmite, aos sábados, a partir das 2230, o programa Conversando com o Presidente. São 20 minutos de entrevista com o mandatário daquele país, pela freqüência de 15345 kHz. A dica é do Paulo Roberto Michelom, de Porto Alegre (RS). (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 8 via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Glen[n], RADIO WORLD is back on RVI after the 4 month hiatus caused by the host's accident 4 months ago. He was on the air over the W/E. Horay! (Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I notice that Mr. Vossen, who had been out recovering from an injury, is back in today's WMP webcast from the RVI.BE website. I believe I checked last week and he was still out (Joel Rubin, Dec 8, swprograms via DXLD) Nice to hear Frans again. Interviews Juhani Niinistö on why YLE R. Finland is keeping Russian --- they get quite different listener response from that neighboring country; and the head of English department at V. of Turkey. Used to be a real file, now wm (gh, DXLD) ** BOLÍVIA. A Rádio San Gabriel, de La Paz, é uma emissora identificada com a comunidade aimara daquele país. De acordo com estudo de Luis Ramiro Beltrán e Jaime Reyes, publicado em http://www.felafaes.org a emissora desempenha um papel de organização, condução e instrumento de influência para a democratização da comunicação na Bolívia. Através de campanhas, a emissora educa os agricultores aimaras. O trabalho na emissora é feito por meio de um rodízio. Os agricultores fazem de tudo, evitando a alienação. Em 1991, a San Gabriel levou o prêmio Bartolomeu de las Casas, concedido na Espanha, por seus 35 anos de frutífera dedicação aos camponeses aimaras em busca da superação do subdesenvolvimento e fazer justiça. O ouvinte de ondas curtas é um privilegiado, pois pode acompanhar a Rádio San Gabriel, pela freqüência de 6085 kHz, em 49 metros. O sinal chega razoável no Sul do Brasil, por volta de 0830 (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 8 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. O acordo entre o programa Mundo na Guaíba e a Seção de Língua Portuguesa, da rádio Romênia Internacional, jamais saiu do papel. A emissora de Bucareste não enviou, até hoje, a autorização para que a Guaíba pudesse retransmitir alguns programas feitos naquele país. As informações são do jornalista Rui Strelow, que produz e apresenta o programa Mundo na Guaíba, que vai ao ar, nos domingos, a partir de 0900, em 720, 6000 e 11785 kHz. BRASIL - De Salvador (BA), Antônio César Rossett informa que, no momento, nenhuma emissora daquele estado emite em ondas curtas. Uma pena! Na década de 70, a Bahia era ouvida, no Brasil e no mundo, através da rádio Sociedade da Bahia, que emitia em 11875 kHz, em 25 metros, e 15125 kHz, em 19 metros. Outra que estava nas ondas curtas era a rádio Cultura da Bahia, que transmitia em 15225 kHz, em 19 metros, e em 9595 kHz, em 31 metros (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 8 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. RÁDIO NOVO TEMPO: A emissora brasileira escutada em 2460 kHz é o harmônico de 1230 kHz em Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais. Acir da Cruz Camargo informa que a Rede Novo Tempo, que pertence ao sistema adventista de comunicação, tem sua cabeça de rede em Nova Friburgo no RJ. Confira http://www.novotempo.org.br/rnt/historiarnt/historiarnt.cfm (@tividade DX Dec 8 via DXLD) O sinal da Radio Novo Tempo em 2460 (identificada com auxilio sendo de Governador Valadares), faz-se presente fortemente as 0536 em ambos os receptores (Rudolf W. Grimm, Jacareí, São Paulo - 6/7 Dezembro, radio- escutas via DXLD) ** CANADA. Slight clarification: Ontario Morning is heard in all of southern Ontario, except Ottawa, Toronto and Windsor. Northeast (Sudbury) and northwest (Thunder Bay) Ontario have their own weekday local morning shows. Furthermore, London, Ont., has their own morning newscasts inserted into Ontario Morning. Cheers, (Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CBC Radio One IDs: At approximately 0458 ET, after "O Canada", CBLA-FM 99.1 does give legal station ID and transmitter/antenna power info. On roughly the half hour they often ID as "You're listening to CBC Radio One, 99.1 FM in Toronto". While CBC Toronto is properly identified at 0458, the other stations in the Ontario network are acknowledged simply with a long list of towns and the FM frequency serving them. On roughly the half-hour one particular station is identified, e.g. "CBC Radio One, 98.7 in Peterborough" (Mark Coady, ODXA Bridgenorth Field Office, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Something that the CBC stations will also do in some areas, is load individual IDs for the entire provincial network, including LPRTs, but the IDs then will fire randomly, particularly on the evenings and weekends. So, for instance, you may hear "This is CBC Radio, 9-70 in Fredericton" on the Boiestown FM LPRT; and you may also hear "This is CBC Radio, 96.5 FM in Doaktown" on the Fredericton 970 frequency. These IDs are almost exclusively after the weather at 5 minutes past the hour, as previously stated. I'm not sure about other provinces, but there are actually three English language network feeds within New Brunswick. The Moncton feed (1070) covers all of the surrounding communities up to and including Campbellton in New Brunswick's north. Fredericton's (970) feed covers up to Edmundston in the northwest, and Saint John's feed (91.3 FM) does the Fundy coast and extreme southern New Brunswick. I'm not sure what the other regional networks do, but in my (Fredericton) area the Radio One network does full IDs of all stations on the LPRT network at 5:30 am just after the national anthem, including town of license, frequency and full call letters (e.g. CBZD, Doaktown, 96.5 FM...). Also beware of Newfoundland NOT being on the half hour for certain programming. CBC feeds the entire country at the same time; not a special :30 minute feed for Newfoundland. So the "World at 6" may be heard in Newfoundland at exactly the same time as everywhere else in Atlantic Canada, except the clocks in Newfoundland at that time say it's 6:30 (Brent Taylor, NB) I believe radio stations in Canada are only required to provide a full "legal" ID once every 24 hours. (Canadian DXers - Is this true?) So you'd have to know when each station IDs, which can be any time of day or night. I've heard these legal IDs before, and they are usually very complete, providing license info including call letters, facilities details and ownership. 640 CBN usually does this around sunrise on the half hour (I forget the exact time), announcing AM and FM relays. It might be worth compiling a list of stations and when the legal IDs are typically broadcast, or listing known ID times in the NRC AM Radio Log. Brian Smith - Does 740 CHWO ever announce a full ID? (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, NRC-AM via DXLD) AM 740 does give the "CHWO, AM 740, Prime Time Radio" ID once an hour. The problem is that it can vary each hour. They have been trying to keep it in the final five minutes of each hour and generally it does appear then. However, it can also appear 15 minutes after the hour. The jingle for AM 740 does appear at least 5 times an hour. Of course the full ID will be part of the DX test next month (Brian Smith, ibid.) ** CANADA. All about Toronto`s new Aboriginal Radio on 106.5: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035775341280&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154 (Toronto Star via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** CANADA. Scanning the dial late this afternoon, I was surprised to find an English language pop music station on 690. Eventually I heard some slogan IDs as "Zed-99", and ads for Regina businesses. It would seem that, for reasons unknown, CBKF1 is rebroadcasting a Regina FM station rather than the French language Radio-Canada programming. Reception on 860 was pretty rough, but I heard traces of French talk, so apparently CBKF2 was carrying normal programming. As I type this 690 is still carrying English pop, with the Rick Dees countdown program. 73, (Nigel Pimblett, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Dec 8, IRCA via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. ILHAS CANARIAS. 6715 (USB) 29/11 2147 Full Gospel Church - Las Palmas. Músicas evangélicas cantadas por OM em Coreano e pastor em coreano pregando (interferência ocasional da estação militar Halifax Radio na mesma frequencia e às 2229 interferência de RTTY que cobriu a transmissão). 34333 (meu rádio pais 177). MTA (Marcelo Toníolo dos Anjos, Greenvale NY, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** CHILE? Na frequência de 3290, entrou mui fortemente às 0515 UT uma emissora falando em castelhano. Por incrível que pareça, ouvi por mais uma vez referências à 'Esperanza', Temuco e também Chile. Nunca tinha ouvido a Radio Esperanza (nem em 6090), e muito menos em 3290. Preciso de ajuda. Hoje leio que Caio Fernandes Lopes recebeu um QSL da Radio Voice of Guyana, e se por lá transmitem em espanhol, creio que a situação fica bastante confusa. Temuco transmite, ou já transmitiu em 3290? (Rudolf W. Grimm, Jacareí, São Paulo - 6/7 Dezembro, radio- escutas via DXLD) Guyana em espanhol? Acho que não (gh, DXLD) Rudolf, Muito interessante suas escutas; sobre 3290 é extranho, aquí nesta frequência tenho uma só em espanhol, é R. Centro, Ambato no Equador que escutei em 07/12/02 0401 44444, ads e jogo basquete Guayo x Esmeralda. Nunca escutei nesta frequência alguma coisa do Chile; estarei atento. Um grande abraço (Rogildo Aragão, Cochabamba, Bolivia, ibid.) ** CHINA. 10000, BPM (time signal), 1030 Dec 9, Clearly audible under WWV with narrow receiver bandwidth setting. Nice multiple IDs via Morse code then voice announcements by Chinese speaking woman, though the woman sounds a bit canned, like a computer generated voice (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. What is believed to be the Mongolian service of Nei Menggu - Hohhot is being heard regularly on 6195. On Dec. 9 a signal was traceable shortly after 0830, gradually improving by 0900, when a TS is heard, and ID, and what appears to be a news bulletin. The Chinese service is listed on 6045 from 0905, and a signal is regularly heard to come on air then, but too weak for identification so far. 73's, (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, UK, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. Greetings to all the EDXP members from Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia. Received a pleasant surprise today from The Voice of Straits in Fuzhou, Fujian, P.R. of China, a medium sized envelope with lots of nice Chinese stamps on it sent by airmail for a report sent to them on September 20th, 2002 at 0930 UT (radio broadcast stated 7:30 pm Beijing time and they stated 5:30 Beijing time) on 11590 kHz. Received a letter typed confirmation with full details and stamped but not signed. Also received a very nice letter from Hailing (English name Penny) who is the female English language presenter (along side of male presenter Zhenyi) explaining what the Voice of Straits is all about requesting further info about the quality of their English, broadcasts and reception, enclosing some stamps and a colour brochure on The Voice of Straits, only it is in Chinese, which also gives the photos of all the staff (all very nice looking young people, Chinese of course). They are very nice people who seem to want to please and want to know how to improve their programmes and broadcasts. Frequencies listed: 4940 - 6115 - 7280 - 11590, English Thursdays and Fridays 0930 UT Address: Focus on China, The Voice of Straits, Box 187, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350012, People's Republic of China. Best wishes to all! (Michael Stevenson, Dec 9, EDXP via DXLD). 5050, 2235-2335(fade out) Voice of the Strait, Fuzhou 30-11 & 01- 12 Chinese ID 2243 & 2300: "Haixia zhi Sheng Guangbo Dientai", nonstop light music e.g. "Edelweiss" and "Jingle Bells", 2255 ads, time signal, talk 35444 // weak and distorted 4900! (11331) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) Another 5050 below: ** CHINA. More logs, all from Tainan, Taiwan, with SONY ICF-SW7600G, telescopic antenna. Guangxi BS on Dec 7: 1038 UT: 5050 (33333) // 9820 (32432 under co-ch. Chinese station) 1307 UT: 5050 (55333) // 9820 (33322) Voice of Strait on Dec 7, 2002, 0655 UT: 6115 (45344) // 873 (53443) 11590 (55555) // 666 (54554) 7280 (45544) Frequency change in the late [local] evening: 6115 changes to 4900 (55544) at 2200 LT = 1400 UT 7280 changes to 4940 (54544) at 2210 LT = 1410 UT but with the 11590 program // 666. 11590 signs off at 1400 UT. PBS Fujian on Dec 7, 2002: 4975 (55434) // 5040 (54444) // 558 (32432) Heard at 0957 UTC and later, BUT NOT 0930 and 1030! Either faulty transmitter or quite short program. Further checks. Nothing heard on 2340. Voice of Pujiang, Shanghai, on Dec 7, 2002: 1310-1400 UT: 3280 (35322) // 4950 (44323) // 5075 (54433) MW 900 and 927 not heard here. Close-down significantly later than listed 1400. Clearly ID'd: Pujiang zhi-sheng guangpo dientai (POOH- dzhang zhee-sheng GUANG-poh DYEN-tai) (zhi sheng = Voice of, guangpo dientai = radio station) China Huayi BS on Dec 7, 2002, 2220 UT: 4830 (55444). Does anybody know this station's background? They often mentioned Taipei. After several days of trying without success I dare say that CNR 5 and CNR 6 (Taiwan 1 and Taiwan 2 programmes) are no more on shortwave. At least I can't hear a thing, which should not be so in the target area. I can hear them, though, very well with IDs on mediumwave (Eike Bierwirth, NCKU, Tainan, R.O.C., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. BAND FREQUENCY/MODE UTC/GMT TIME (frequencies/hours subject to change without notice) [note expanded hours on both] 40 meters: 7.445 MHz (AM): 2100-1300 19 meters: 15.040 MHz (AM): 24 hours And streaming live on the Internet in MP3 at http://www.rfpi.org (RFPI Weekly Update Dec 8 via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. GLENN: Here the Address of Radio Martí: P. O. BOX 52-1868, MIAMI, FLORIDA 33152 USA 4201 N.W 77th AVE. MIAMI, FLORIDA 33166 USA PHONE: (305) 437-7116 WEB: http://www.martinoticias.com (inside mail) 73's (Oscar, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. CYPRUS NORTHERN. 6150, Bayrak Radio International (presumed), Dec 7, 2156-2229. After CRI signed off at 2156, I could hear a ballad, with the usual QRM from Brazil. "Baby Love" by the Supremes at 2201, at which point Brazil was almost inaudible. Some more pop songs until 2216 when a YL spoke. From her cadence, it could have been English, but the only thing I could understand was "Bayrak (pronounced as 'buy-rack') International". An OM then spoke briefly in what sounded like an Arabic type language, followed by more pop songs. By 2229 the signal was almost completely gone. SINPO was 33333 at best. Presumed to be them for now, until I can get a better ID, or confirmation from Mustafa Tosun (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 4929.97, R. Barahona (tent.), 7 Dec. 1120, Talk by soft-spoken W announcer in Spanish at tunein, brief deadair, then into easy religious-sounding song with woman vocalist and chorus. Talk by M announcer, and more music. Already fading when I tuned in, so I couldn't copy any significant details. Since Barahona hasn't been positively identified in a long time and since the programming didn't really seem to fit Barahona`s, I call it tentative (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.3, R. Imperial (presumed) 2155-2258 Dec 8. Carrier with audio in and out, just above the noise. Generally religious music with a Latin American flavor. Occasional brief announcements in Spanish by a woman. Heard on 12/6 from 2235 to 2240, faded in and then out. Heard on 12/7 from 2155 to 2258 with the music format plus religious talk by a man at 2217. Extremely difficult copy, could tell it was there only about 75% of the time. Listened on 12/8, but nothing heard. Last log of El Salvador was in 1982 (Evans, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 17835v, Radio Imperial heard throughout the day; anyone in Europe hearing this yet? (Hans Johnson, TX, Dec 6-9, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. New 21715 *0900-1000*, UAE, 01-12. UNMEE via Al Dhabayya. Vernaculars/English Same programme in four languages about a UN Conference about more support to Eritrea and Ethiopia. Only broadcast on Sundays. 35433 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) English at 0945? Impressed you understand them all (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 7480, CLANDESTINE (IRAN) Radio Payam-Doost 1801-1821 12/03. YL w/ talk in Persian and musical breaks. ID at 1815. Talk with mentions of "Associated Press" and "New Age Voice Magazine". Poor with deep fades (S. R. Barbour Jr, NH, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) New 7460.0 *0230-0314* CLANDESTINE, 05-12, R Payam-e Doost, Farsi. Several ID's, inspirational talks with interludes of Iranian string music. Song and light instrumental music, frequency ann at close. New broadcast at this hour. Mentioned a P. O. Box in Virginia, USA. 35444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** IRELAND. 6219, Laser Hot Hits, 0825 Dec 9, Best reception so far this season with signal peaks up to the fair to good level. American R&B and Rap type music with UK male announcer. Promotional announcement for station tee shirts. Mentioned mailing address in Canada. Many reference to Laser Hot Hits. 75 and 41 meter outlets were only weak carriers (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [and non!]. IRRS/NEXUS-IBA articles on Monitoring Times + test on 6280 kHz Dear friends, You may want to know that Monitoring Times http://www.monitoringtimes.com a leading magazine on Shortwave radio and communication published in the USA, will be having a special two part article on NEXUS-International Broadcasting Association and IRRS on their January and February 2003 editions. This is the first time that a full story on our broadcasting organization, as well as several pictures get published ever. Among the technicalities and curiosities related to the early days, you will find news about our Shortwave and Internet relay services, that just recently have been increased from 10 kW to 50, 100, 250 and 500 kW and may cover now the greatest part of the globe. "Welcome to Nexus-IRRS: In 1988 a new shortwave radio station took to the airwaves in Europe after being conceived a mere 6 months before. Its two adventurous founders set out to create something quite different from traditional Cold War broadcasting. Alfredo Cotroneo was the front man for the Italian Radio Relay Service, but few folks knew that his partner was Bob Zanotti of Swiss Radio International. This is the first time the full story has been told. Part 1 gets us on the air: Part 2 will tell about keeping an independent shortwave station going -- an entirely different matter! On the cover: On the roof overlooking the Po River Valley while performing antenna repairs. Inset: Alfredo Cotroneo at the gate to "the IRRS farm." See: http://www.monitoringtimes.com/mttocnext.html or a check for a paper copy at your local news-stand." I take this opportunity to inform you that we will run a special Xmas program on 6,280 kHz with 250 kW on Monday Dec 9, 2002, from 0300-0400 UT (11 PM EST on Sunday evening Dec. 8 in the USA). Reception will be possible in Europe and on the Eastern part of the USA. Please send reception reports to the usual address (IRRS-Shortwave, PO Box 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy), or preferably via e-mail to: reports@nexus.org More info on our schedules and services at : http://www.nexus.org With best season's greetings, 73, de Ron -- Ron Norton, NEXUS-IBA support, PO Box 11028, 20110 Milano, Italy e-mail : ron@nexus.org (also via Mike Terry, DXLD) see also SWITZERLAND [non] ** KAZAKHSTAN. LAUGHING AT A DICTATOR, By Catherine A. Fitzpatrick Something curious happened on 26 November at the annual International Press Freedom Awards dinner -- this even honors courageous reporters and benefits the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) -- at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. This popular event on the charity circuit is usually a somewhat somber occasion, where about 1,000 journalists, media executives, and philanthropists from the media- capital elite gather to honor their persecuted colleagues and to view a clips of horrific scenes of reporters being shot at in combat zones from Palestine to Chechnya in a documentary created specially for the event. It is not a time for levity, beyond the light banter of the master of ceremonies, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, as he introduces his brave colleagues from around the world who have encountered violence for practicing their profession. Yet, this year's footage revealed the work of Irina Petrusheva, editor of the Kazakh business newspaper "Respublika," the audience began to chuckle. They were soon roaring with laughter as they heard Petrusheva's touchingly simple portrayal of censorship in her country. "The media is not supposed to cover certain taboo subjects, like the president's own businesses," she said. "But no matter which topic you pick -- aluminum or oil or failure to pay taxes -- you will run up against taboos, because the president and his family are involved in so many of the country's businesses," including the media market, she explained. The audience was howling by the time the film reached a scene showing an airplane taking off. A voice-over described how President Nursultan Nazarbaev's eldest daughter Dariga, herself a media owner, had ordered the removal of ordinary passengers from an aircraft in order to commandeer it for a family vacation. Abruptly, the guffaws of the black-tie crowd changed to horrified gasps as they watched the film's next scenes of a decapitated dog hanging from the windowsill of "Respublika's" editorial offices in Almaty, skewered with a note warning, "There will be no next time." The dog's head was later dumped near Petrusheva's home with another threat. Her printer also announced he was quitting after finding a human skull on his doorstep. The reality of journalism "in the stans" suddenly hit home for Americans, particularly those who had visited the region but then safely returned to their desks in New York. Facing renewal of a suspended court case on alleged business violations along with these grisly threats, Petrusheva hired a bodyguard for her children and moved herself and her staff to Moscow to edit the paper. (The newspaper can be viewed on the Internet at http://www.respublika.kz ) The sound of a crowd of journalists laughing at a dictator -- a proven remedy in many societies seeking press freedom -- was not something she hears in her native Kazakhstan, Petrusheva acknowledged in an interview with "RFE/RL Media Matters" following the CPJ dinner. "Americans must find all this pretty wild," she surmised. The lack of a similar type of event in Kazakhstan is not, however, because such occasions are explicitly forbidden. "Journalists just don't gather in this way and don't form such organizations [as the CPJ] in quite this fashion," she explained. While there are some media groups, including those formed with help from Western democracy- assistance grants, a high-profile and effective group similar to the CPJ or its counterparts in neighboring countries has not come together in Kazakhstan, and not only out of fear of punishment. "There is a lack of corporate spirit" in the formation of the journalistic profession itself, Petrusheva said. "There is a poor understanding of what journalism is, and it is viewed as a kind of office work," where obedience rather than principled civic positions are valued, Petrusheva added. "We have to do what they tell us for fear of losing our jobs," Petrusheva finds her colleagues admitting to her. While groups like the Moscow-based Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations and other local human rights groups cover press freedom in Kazakhstan, "it is just monitoring and cannot stop the repression itself, especially in the regions," she said. "We need to create our own internal organization to defend ourselves on the scene." Petrusheva recounted the time she was stopped by security police and managed to call prominent attorney and human rights campaigner Yevgenii Zhovtis. "He walked me through very specific instructions on how to respond, from getting into my car and locking my windows and refusing to be searched without a warrant," Petrusheva said. Timely intervention with such defense can prevent a situation from escalating -- "once journalists are in detention, it is often impossible to help them," she said. Responding to accolades for her bravery in her acceptance speech at the CPJ dinner, Petrusheva said she did not consider herself a hero but had stuck to her last because she feared for herself and her sons being forced to live "in a totally corrupt society." In a reflection of the view of the media's social role commonly found in the newly independent states, Petrusheva expressed her wish that Kazakh society would "welcome the honest and professional fulfillment of individual responsibility which benefits the people" and for the media "to be the fourth estate, rather than a government lackey." Finding an audience under difficult publishing conditions can be a challenge. While "Respublika" appears only in the Russian language, not only ethnic Russians read the paper. "Most Kazakhs in urban centers speak Russian" and look to Russian media for more information and analysis than can be provided in local media and view it with tolerance, she said. "Any ethnic hatred between the two groups is artificially incited [from] above," Petrusheva said. One of the problems in developing more competent media is the lack of investment. Indigenous Kazakh businesses do not appear to be prepared to invest or buy ads in Kazakh papers, she said. Meanwhile, a business elite has emerged in Almaty and other cities; many of them are in their 30s or 40s, Russian-educated, and prepared to sponsor Russian- language media. "Their mentality comes from [Moscow State University]," she said. Most ordinary people in Kazakhstan, especially in the hinterlands, do not read newspapers but listen to radio instead -- they listen to Radio Tochka or the state-sponsored, Soviet-era cable radio system still available in many homes on cheap receivers. This is the main source of news for rural elderly people, whereas young people tune into Radio Rossiya and focus mainly on FM music programming. Such issues of format, medium, language, and audience could all be fine-tuned under better working conditions. The chief obstacle to building a durable free press in Kazakhstan is the National Security Committee, Petrusheva said. She believes it is responsible for the firebombing of her office and for attacks on other media outlets and reporters. Responding to a query on the debate as to whether independent media in Central Asia should be organized on a business model or directly subsidized as alternative press, Petrusheva said, "I always thought newspapers should be done as a business project" with business plans and the sale of advertising. Yet facing state-organized violence and technical problems related to printing outside state-controlled presses, she now concludes that the press requires outside support. U.S. training programs for journalists should concentrate more on survival under actual harsh conditions and less on one-size-fits-all training about how to write, for example, on environmental issues or on how to cover elections, she said. While Kazakh journalists would not benefit directly from a project to create a U.S.-sponsored independent publishing venture in neighboring Kyrgyzstan due to custom controls, a similar plan would also be beneficial for Kazakhstan. For that to succeed, the international community must hold Kazakhstan's government to account for violence against the media and to secure the protection of journalists. The laughter of 1,000 journalists along with their serious international award is a start toward that goal (RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 6 via DXLD) ** KENYA. HOW A FREE KENYA BROADCASTING CORPORATION WOULD FREE US ALL The Nation (Nairobi), November 24, 2002, Posted to the web November 25, 2002 Philip Ochieng, Nairobi Just before its dreadfully unjust treatment of the opposition on Monday, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) pleasantly surprised us by what looked like a change of policy.... http://allafrica.com/stories/200211250012.html (via NASWA Flashsheet Dec 8 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. I heard the Voice Of Komala (TDP brokered) on 7560 at 1700-1800. This one is Sundays only. Via CIS transmitter (test tone...) ID as 'Ira Dengi Komala'. (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Radio Gold 945AM, a new private station in Riga, will conduct test transmissions on 945 kHz (20 kW) on Saturday 14 December at 0500-1700 UT. The test schedule will be as follows: 05:00 - 08:00 - German schlager 08:00 - 11:00 - Old Good World (songs from 60's) 11:00 - 13:00 - Prime Time Radio (Saga's national digital radio station) 13:00 - 14:00 - Tourist Radio Riga (Laser 558 memories from Steve Master) 14:00 - 17:00 - Henry Choice (classic rock) (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dec 9, MW-DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO [non]. "BORDER RADIO" COMES TO BOB BULLOCK MUSEUM 12/7/2002 5:50 PM By: News 8 Austin Staff The stage adaptation of the book "Border Radio," about stations along the border, brought back memories for some Austinites. Texas Border Radio history came to life for museum visitors Saturday at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. "Always someone in the audience will get up and say, 'Oh yeah, I listened to that station. And I can remember that from my youth. And that's what people really love, is to connect with something in their own history," said Angela Davis, Education Programs Director. The show looks at the different influences on radio from the Texas- Mexico border in the 1930s. It's part of a temporary exhibit called "Country Music and the Lone Star State." The next performance by the Border Radio troupe is on Jan 4 (News8 Austin via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** MEXICO [non]. martes 3 de diciembre, 04:36 PM AMPLIA AZTECA AMERICA SU COBERTURA EN EU CON ESTACION EN NUEVA YORK México, 3 Dic (Notimex).- Azteca América sumó una nueva estación afiliada en la ciudad de Nueva York sin costo financiero asociado para la compañía, con lo cual se estima que la señal de la televisora llegue a 53 por ciento del mercado hispano en Estados Unidos. El presidente y director general de Azteca América, Luis J. Echarte, resaltó que con una antena localizada sobre el edificio Citicorp en Manhattan, la señal de la empresa llegará a más de 10 millones de personas, 2.5 millones de las cuales son hispanas. ``Con la adición de WXNY Canal 39 en la ciudad de Nueva York, Azteca América llega a 53 por ciento del mercado hispano de los Estados Unidos``, reiteró el directivo. El área de cobertura de la televisora incluye los cinco barrios de la ciudad de Nueva York, así como algunas comunidades adyacentes en Nueva Jersey. De acuerdo con el Censo 2000 de Estados Unidos, los hispanos comprenden 27 por ciento de la población total de la ciudad de Nueva York, reveló TV Azteca en un comunicado. ``Nueva York nos lleva a nuestro objetivo de convertirnos en cadena nacional con un mes de anticipación al cierre de 2002,`` comentó a su vez el director general de TV Azteca, Pedro Padilla. La nueva estación se agrega a la lista de afiliados de Azteca América en Albuquerque, Austin, Bakersfield, Fresno-Visalia, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Palm Springs, Reno, Sacramento-Stockton- Modesto, Salt Lake City, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Santa Bárbara, West Palm Beach, Ft. Pierce y Wichita. TV Azteca es uno de los dos mayores productores de contenido en español para televisión en el mundo y opera dos canales nacionales de televisión, a través de más de 300 estaciones en México. La compañía también opera un canal nacional de televisión en El Salvador, y sus afiliadas incluyen a Azteca América Network, Unefon y Todito.com (via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA/PREDNESTROVYE. New 5960, *1659-1730*, 04-12, R Pridnestrovye, Tiraspol, English. "Here is Tiraspol, the capital of the Trans-Dniester Moldavian republic" (TMR). National hymn. News about what the TMR President and the TMR Supreme Council has been doing the past week including talks on withdrawal of Russian troops from TMR. A letter to the President of Moldova asking for selfdetermination of TMR. Comments and closing ann. 43443 heavily disturbed by R Nederland on 5955 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. BURMA. 5986.0, R. Myanmar, English program, 1514 Dec 6, marching music, news. Years ago, when this was well heard here, I regularly listened to their news and 99% of the stories pertained to the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Today all the items where about the activities of the State Peace and Development Council. ID, "This news comes to you from R. Myanmar, Yangon," following the news heard political slogans (kind of like a pep talk about development). At 1531 non-stop music (classical, waltz and tango), at end of program a list given of all the music played, ID as "This is Myanmar Radio, Yangon . . . the Engineer-in-Charge is . . . We have come to the end of our . . . signing off for the night." 1600*, fair-poor. It's very nice to hear this at a decent level after so many years. (Ron Howard, CA, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. RadioTVWorkingGroup@cox.net (Jack Bowen = foxman49@aol.com ) (Bob Nichols = bobnichols@cox.net ) Nathaniel Batchelder writes: To succeed, this grassroots message must be forwarded to friends of the "Radio Free Oklahoma" concept. Courageous, progressive, liberal truth-teller Jack Bowen has a dream: that a radio-talk format station could broadcast "real news" and "real information" to counter the spurious lies of "Conservative Entertainers" (including Rush Limbaugh, Michael Reagan, Gordon Liddy, etc). A business plan to purchase radio time on an available cross-Oklahoma station can be prepared by industry professionals for $3000 ($1,900 of that has already been contributed) Experienced planners suggest that pledges could support several hours every evening of talk and dialogue ("Radio Free Oklahoma" is suggested theme) and that, if this is successful in attracting pledges, advertisers, and sponsors, the purchase of a radio station to become "People's Radio" is possible. Meetings to discuss this have taken place in several cities, and interest is growing. Jack Bowen and passionate organizer Bob Nichols have deep personal integrity, and a vision of justice and sustainability for our society. Checks to express support for the launch of "Radio Free Oklahoma" (at least to get this business plan funded, and to start a subscribers' data-base) should be made out and sent to: "RadioTV Working Group" "RadioTV Working Group" % Bob Nichols, 2613 NW 114th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73120-6604. Bob Nichols writes: "We got a big boost this afternoon in Tulsa. Mr. Doug Dodd is now the attorney for the Working Group. There are very few actual media lawyers in Oklahoma Doug is one them and, of course, the best. This listserv is for announcements and discussion by Green Party members in Oklahoma. For more info about Green Parties of Oklahoma, see http://www.greens.org/oklahoma/home.html http://groups.yahoo.com/group/okgreens (via gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. After several months of trying, I'm finally hearing something on 7737.13 kHz. Amazing that I haven't heard anything before since I'm in Curitiba, Brazil, which is relatively close to Paraguay. 7737.13 (presumed) Radio América, Paraguay, 0130-0145, December 8. Choral music, regularly interrupted by a male announcer, weak signal and very heavy noise level, SIO 122 (Rik van Riel, radioescutas via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Hi Mr. Hauser, My name is Ernesto N. Hernández, I am a regular reader of your DX Listening Digest, which I find always useful and is my main source of information for DXing. This is just to let you know that I am hearing right now (0825 UT) Radio Nacional del Paraguay with South American style music. I heard a positive ID at 0820. I am using an old Radio Shack DX-350 analog radio, so I assume it is on 9735 kHz, at least it is around it, and that is the frequency announced on the air. I am located on Mexico City. Greetings and thanks for your hard work (Ernesto Hernández, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Con motivo de la celebración de la fiesta más importante de la comunidad católica paraguaya, hoy Radio Nacional del Paraguay estará todo el día en el aire en su frecuencia de onda corta de 9737.35v, emitiendo desde Caacupe. Yo la reporté desde su apertura de transmisiones a las 0900 UT con muy buena señal. 55's (Arnaldo Slaen, Dec 8, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 9737.35, Radio Nacional del Paraguay, Asunción, 2303-2340, December 7. Special transmission for the peregrination to Caacupe. Messages to the travellers: "no coman alimentos que se venden en el camino, a la vera de la ruta. Es un consejo muy importante para la gente que va a Caacupe". Message from Conatel (Telecommunications National Council) about the local illegal FM stations. Folk music. Catholic message. ID and ann.: "Está usted en la caminata de nuestro pueblo, allá, por los senderos de Caacupe... desde Radio Nacional del Paraguay, acompáñenos paso a paso en esta marcha de la esperanza....". 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 9737.35, Radio Nacional del Paraguay, Asuncion, 0900-, December 8. S/on. National Anthem. Message of Pope: "Compartiremos la oración del Padrenuestro con su Santidad, el Papa Juan Pablo II". Catholic meditation. Special transmission from Caacupe city for all day!. ID and announcement: "Nacional del Paraguay en el aire... Estamos junto a los compañeros instalados en el Km. 54 para la Santa Misa. Buenos Dias Paraguay...". 44444 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, ibid.) ** PHILIPPINES. Radio Veritas Asia, will reduce their budget by 10% in the year 2003. Source: RVA Bengali DX programme "Ajker Ganamadhyam", 9/Dec/2002 (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. RIGHT-WING LAWMAKERS ATTACK DOCUMENTARY ABOUT CATHOLIC BROADCASTER... Thirty-four lawmakers from the right-wing League of Polish Families, Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland, and the Catholic-National Circle have protested the airing of a documentary, "Father Rydzyk's Empire," about the Catholic radio station Radio Maryja and its head, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, by state-owned Polish Television on 25 November, PAP reported on 26 November. The documentary alleged that Father Rydzyk was involved in major tax evasion while setting up and running Radio Maryja. The protest slams the television station, saying the documentary was an action to besmirch "the good name" of Radio Maryja and its director. Radio Maryja is an influential, radical Catholic media outlet claiming a regular daily listenership of 1.4 million and a weekly audience of 5.9 million. The station is known for spreading strongly worded anti-EU and xenophobic messages. Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, has sought to diminish the clout of Radio Maryja among believers by banning the operation of its bureaus at parishes in Warsaw Diocese. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 27 November) ...AS TAX INSPECTORS TO PROBE RADIO'S FINANCES... Polish tax authorities said last week that they will investigate the finances of Radio Maryja following accusations of unlawful financial activity, Reuters reported on 28 November. "Our job is to find out whether laws are being broken and by whom and to stop it," Deputy Finance Minister Wieslaw Ciesielski told journalists. Poland's chief prosecutor Karol Napierski said Radio Maryja avoided paying import taxes on cars by saying they were donations, failed to obtain a permit to remove large amounts of currency from the country for foreign equipment purchases, and made large public collections for nonreligious purposes, AP reported. Father Rydzyk has refused to comment on the allegations of financial misdemeanors, saying only that he will pray for his accusers. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 2 December) ...AND BROADCASTING AUTHORITY TO SCRUTINIZE STATION. The National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) on 3 December decided that it will monitor the programming of Radio Maryja and re- examine the station's financial reports for last year, PAP reported. The KRRiT will also analyze the documentary about the radio aired by Polish television containing allegations of financial misdealings. The KRRiT said it was prompted to adopt a stance toward the station and the documentary by a request from state officials, including President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Deputy Finance Minister Waclaw Ciesielski. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 5 December, all via RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 6 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Russian public television is launching Russian-language broadcasts beyond the Russian border. The deputy chairman of the All- Russian Public TV and Radio Company Aleksei Malinin said, in a Via-A- Vis With The World broadcast of the Voice of Russia that people of practically all countries of Europe, North Africa and Israel could be able to watch Russian-language features of the New TV channel. People in the United States will start watching Russian-language broadcasts of Russia's public television in January. Negotiations are held with Australia, and Latin America (Voice of Russia News, 12/06/02, from VoR.ru via Sergei Sosedkin, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Regional broadcasting. New frequency from 27 November 2002: New / Old / kW / UTC / Transmitter 6030 / 5290 / 5 / 0100-1600 / Perm 6085 / 5290 / 50 / 2200-1800 / Krasnoyarsk 6150 / 4825 / 50 / 2000-1600 / Yakutsk Kamchatskaya oblast. GTRK "Kamchatka". Programme "Kamchatka rybatskaya" (for fishermen). 0000-0100 Sun. Tx. Elizovo Winter / Summer / kW / Azimut 5910 / 5910 / 100 / 263 7360 / 7365 / 100 / 244 11975 / 11980 / 200 / 064 (Nikolai Rudnev, Belgorodskaya obl., RUS-DX Dec 8 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. I have checked this (6235) at 1920 UT on Sunday 8th December 2002, although reception is poor it seems to be in parallel with 5950 English. I will check again, on a weekday in case this is Sat/Sun Only, however I believe it is 1900-2200, UT rather than 2100-2200, as in dxld 2192, however. I am interested to hear that the Transmitter Site is St. Petersburg. I also noticed yesterday that 1.323 MHz (Germany), which comes in here at this time of year, apparently changed its beam at 1600 UT after English for German. Most Russian Transmitters take at least 30 Minutes to switch over, but this is 1 Minute one. Interesting? (Ken Fletcher, 1931 UT 8th December 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just Listening to News in ENGLISH from St. Petersburg on 6235 at 1905 UT. I have monitored the last hour (1800-1900) in GERMAN. This seems to me to confirm that the Schedule is:-. 1800-1900 German and 1900- 2200 English as Glenn ORIGINALLY stated in DXLD, 7 Days a Week. It`s probably going to be Late January or Early February before I can confirm a 2200 Close Down, due to on-going patchy Propagation Conditions. May I 'Ask Again'(?!) if anybody knows if this transmission is reaching USA?. Thank You (Ken Fletcher, UK, 1910 UT 9th December 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. Dec. 8. Al-Islah on 7590 from 1900 UT. ID and bit of a chaotic start to the program (tape not edited?). Speech mentioning Al-Qaeda (Silvain Domen, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SAUDI OPPOSITION STATION ON SHORTWAVE Article below from http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=3559 9 Dec. I presume the shortwave broadcast referred to on "39.35 metres between 1900 and 2100 GMT" is the station mentioned in Glenn Hauser's DXLD 2-191 under Saudi Arabia (non) - R Al-Islah on 7590 kHz? Although "39.35 metres" is about 7625 kHz (Alan Pennington) SAUDI OPPOSITION LAUNCHES RADIO STATION TO KINGDOM Emigré opposition inaugurates its first radio broadcasts to kingdom to allow Saudis to express themselves freely. DUBAI - Saudi Arabia's banned emigré opposition inaugurated its first radio broadcasts to the kingdom late Saturday from an unspecified "European country". Listeners across the Arabian peninsula can tune into the Arabic- language "Voice of Reform" station launched by the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) on the 11.096 MHz frequency on the Hotbird satellite. The satellite channel will be operated 24 hours a day and will be supplemented by daily short-wave broadcasts on 39.35 metres between 1900 and 2100 GMT, MIRA spokesman Saad al-Faqih said. Programming would include "live phone-ins with the movement's spokesman and other personalities, particularly Saudi ones, as well as news and cultural broadcasts," said Faqih. "It's the first time that the opposition has been able to speak directly to the Sa`udi people." "The last Sa`udi opposition radio dates back to the 1960s when a programme run by Arab nationalist Dhahayan al-Dhahayan ... was broadcast from Egypt in the days of president Gamal Abdel Nasser." Faqih said he was unsure how Washington would react to the new station, given its unhappiness with Riyadh's efforts to clamp down on terror financing since the September 11, 2001 attacks. "Perhaps Washington will appreciate it given the Saudi authorities' hesitancy about fully cooperating in providing the United States with information about the activities of Islamist groups in the region," he said. "Or maybe they'll be apprehensive about broadcasts which carry the hallmarks of the Islamic opposition." "But it's the Saudi government which will be really uncomfortable about programmes which allow Saudis to express themselves freely and without comeback by taking advantage of new technologies such as the Internet." MIRA was formed in 1996 after a split in the Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights established by dissident Muslim clerics three years earlier who accused the Saudi regime of corruption and authoritarianism. The CDLR was immediately banned in the kingdom and its leader Mohammed al-Masari fled first to Yemen and then London. The Saudi authorities have long made strenuous efforts to stop the two opposition groups getting their message across inside the kingdom, putting strong pressure on broadcasters around the region not to give them a platform (via Alan Pennington, UK, DXLD) OPPOSITION MOVEMENT LAUNCHES SAWT AL-ISLAH RADIO Qatar-based Al-Jazeera Television carried the following report in its evening news bulletins on 8 December: "Sawt al-Islah [Voice of Reform] Radio, the mouthpiece of the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia [MIRA], began its round-the-clock Arabic transmission from an unidentified place in Europe on the HotBird Satellite." Citing Sa'd al-Faqih, spokesman for the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, Al-Jazeera says "that the radio transmits its programmes for two hours daily on a shortwave," adding that "the station can be heard in Europe, the Arabian Peninsula, northern Africa and most countries in the Middle East." The MIRA web site at http://www.miraserve.com reports that the station was launched at 1900 gmt on 7 December. It also provides the following information on the station: Name: Al-Islah Satellite: HotBird 6 at 13 degrees East Transponder: 129 Frequency: 11096 MHz Polarization: horizontal Symbol Rate: 27500 Forward Error Correction (FEC): 3/4 Audio Programme Identification (PID): 74 The MIRA web site also states that the radio station can also be heard between 1900-2100 gmt on the shortwave frequency of 7590 kHz. Source: Al-Jazeera Television, Doha, in Arabic 8 Dec 02; BBC Monitoring research 8 Dec 02 (via DXLD) SAUDI ARABIA: VOICE OF REFORM LAUNCHES By Nick Grace, CRW Washington [Dec 9] Saudi Arabia returned to the target list of clandestine broadcasting on Saturday, according to BBC Monitoring, by a London- based Islamist opposition group called the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA). The station identifies as Sawt al-Islah and broadcasts on satellite with a simulcast on 7590 kHz between 1900 and 2100 GMT. Headed by Dr. Saad al-Faqih, MIRA seeks to promote pro-democratic reforms and freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia. It broke off with another Saudi opposition organization, the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights, in the late 1990's when al-Faqih sought to keep his group's focus on Saudi Arabia and not to promote the burgeoning pan-Islam movement, which is extremely popular among the Saudi populace. MIRA is well known for taking advantage of modern technology to get its message out, including anonymous faxes, Web sites that frequently change addresses to keep one step ahead of Saudi censors, and now a radio program. Al-Faqih speaks frequently to the Western press about the Middle East, bin Laden and the War on Terrorism. Sawt al-Islah (Voice of Reform) MIRA, BM Box: MIRA, London WC1N 3XX, UK http://www.miraserve.com *1900-2100* 7590 kHz (Clandestine Radio Watch Dec 9 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Seguidamente, una información que tiene que ver con el acuerdo alcanzado entre el Gobierno de Sri Lanka y la guerrilla de los Tigres Tamiles, acuerdo que en consecuencia, llevaría al fin de las operaciones clandestinas de la emisora LA VOZ DE LOS TIGRES (ver Conexion 140, pagina nr. 20) y el próximo Conexion 141. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Dec 6, Conexión Digital via DXLD) SRI LANKA 19 AÑOS DE GUERRA CIVIL --- Acuerdo histórico del Gobierno y los rebeldes tamiles para un modelo federal en Sri Lanka. OSLO.- El Gobierno de Sri Lanka y la guerrilla rebelde de los Tigres de Liberacion de Tamil Eelam (LTTE) han alcanzado un acuerdo para establecer un modelo federal, que pondria fin a 19 años de guerra civil en el pais. El acuerdo fue alcanzado en Oslo, donde el pasado lunes se inicio una nueva ronda en las negociaciones de paz entre ambas partes, bajos los auspicios del Gobierno noruego. Representantes de ambas partes coincidieron en calificar de historico el acuerdo, que abrira las puertas a una solucion pacifica al conflicto entre el Gobierno y la guerrilla tamil (Fuente: Agencia EFE, 6/12 via GIB, Conexión Digital via DXLD) NEW VOICE OF TIGERS WITH SRILANKAN GOVT. APPROVAL The Srilankan government last month granted approval to the LTTE to clear six tons of equipment to set up a modern Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio broadcasting station. Representatives of the LTTE cleared the container load of cargo from the Colombo Port on November 26 on their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's birthday. The next day, an armed Police team led by an inspector escorted the sealed container load from Colombo to Omanthai. Army personnel at the check-point had wanted to examine the container when the inspector had objected. He had produced a letter from Defence Secretary Austin Fernando. Thereafter the trailer carrying the container was permitted to cross over to LTTE held Omanthai entry point to Wanni [Tamil Eelam region] at 11.30 pm on November 27 - Maveerar's Day commemorated by the organisation and Tamil peoples. The Sunday Times learns that the equipment arrived in Colombo consigned to the Norwegian Embassy, which in turn, had gifted it to the LTTE. Thereafter, the government had granted clearance with a duty waiver. The Norwegian Embassy avoided repeated calls from The Sunday Times while the Sri Lanka Customs declined to comment. According to highly placed Customs sources, a team of Security Forces communications experts, backed by representatives from the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation had studied the technical specifications. They were of the view that the equipment would enable the LTTE to only broadcast on the FM frequency to a limited area though other technical sources told The Sunday Times their transmissions could be heavily enhanced through boosters to reach areas outside Sri Lanka. A high ranking government official had asked Customs to allow security authorities to examine the equipment at the Colombo port and seal it before it was transported to the Wanni. These sources told The Sunday Times the cleared equipment included FM transmitter, backup transmitter, MPX Clipper Generator, FM Antennas, headphone, patch panel, loudspeaker, microphone, microphone holder, MD recorder, CD player, cables, antenna cables and RDS audio. The LTTE had originally planned to clear the equipment early to enable their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, to make his annual "Maveerar Week" (Heroes Week) address through the new Voice of Tigers radio station. However, procedural formalities had entailed delays. In a separate report, our Trincomalee Correspondent Sinniah Gurunathan states the LTTE is making preparations to expand the reach of the Voice of Tigers radio to Southern India and Singapore. He quoted LTTE's Arts and Cultural Section head, Puthuvai Ratnathurai, as saying that VoT expansion plans for this purpose were ready. The new VoT broadcasting station is to be located in the Wanni. According to Ratnathurai, its programmes are to reach out to entire Sri Lanka. (source- Sunday Times 8-12-2002 via D. Prabakaran, Tamilnadu, DXLD) (Also very similar story in Gulf News Dec 8 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) (Also a very similar story, which adds:) The VoT had already started a Sinhala Language Service a couple of years ago from the Wanni targeting the government soldiers manned on the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs). They were also reportedly making preparations to expand the reach of the Voice of Tigers Radio to Southern India and Singapore (Deepikaglobal.com via Artie Bigley, DXLD) And more background: LANKA ALLOWS LTTE TO UPGRADE RADIO BROADCASTS http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=30651266 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) INDIA'S REACTION ON FRESH CONSIGNMENT OF RADIO TRANSMITTING EQUIPMENT FROM NORWAY TO TAMIL MILITANTS Asked about the reports that the liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam had acquired a fresh consignment of radio broadcasting equipment from Norway, Mr. Kanwal Sibal, foreign secretary of Indian government said that 'jury is out' on whether it was an FM, with short range capability, or a longer range shortwave, capable transmitting into South Asia. If it was of longer range '' we will evaluate it differently'' he said (source - THE HINDU - daily newspaper-9-12-2002 via D. Prabakaran, Tamilnadu, DXLD) Tamil tigers has not shown any reaction on these news. However, there may be widespread expectations among media that Indian government will not be serious on LTTE'S intention to extend their shortwave radio coverage beyond Srilanka, since the Tigers had already used shortwave facilities for South Asian coverage so many years (up to 2000y). Also the Indian coalition government was supported by some pro-LTTE parties like Samata Party (its leader - George Fernandes, Defence Minister], MDMK, DMK, PMK etc. (D. Prabakaran, Tamilnadu, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Strong spurious of All Asia Service of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corp. noted on 7020 now at 1000 UT Sunday. The original frequency of 7115 is also heard but at weaker level. On 9th Nov. 2002, they were noted on 7049. The sked is: 0020-0400, 0800-1530 Indian languages (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad, Dec 8, dx_india via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from UK to SUDAN, 21550, Sowt Al-Qarn untraced on Friday at 1400 and same again today [Monday]. Not even a carrier, was pretty easy just a few weeks ago. Gone? Next time they are scheduled to be on is Friday, any help from Europe would be appreciated (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Dec 6-9, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND [non]. I'm getting a kick of out listening to 20 year old broadcasts of "The Two Bobs" of Swiss Radio International over IRRS. They're putting in a strong signal this evening, since 0207 UTC, on 6280 kHz, here in Central NJ. This appears to be an unscheduled broadcast, at least as far as I can tell by looking at their website http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/ (Dan Srebnick http://swradio.us UT Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC R7 starts Sun. Dec 15th, with their on-air launch party that day 8-10 PM (I guess UT 2000-2200), featuring Hancock's Happy Christmas, Dr. Who and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. May be included in MR, if you wish. 73, (Ivan Grishin, Ont., Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. MANY VOICES, ONE WORLD BBC World Service was launched 70 years ago to become one of the best respected of all international broadcasters. David Stead looks back at its beginnings and forward to the special programmes to mark the anniversary. 9.30 am on Saturday 19th December, 1932 – with scant financial backing, a skeleton staff and barely a handful of gramophone records to play – Lord Reith launched the BBC Empire Service, the forerunner of what we know today as the World Service. It had taken years of wrangling to reach this point, but Reith`s opening speech, broadcast on air, was a confident assertion of the huge possibilities of international radio. ``Radio``, he said, would become ``a connecting and co-ordinating link between the scattered parts of the British Empire. ``The service as a whole is dedicated to the best interests of mankind.`` Only later did he confide to his diary that after delivering this statement live to five different parts of the world, he was heartily sick of his own words. ``I was very bored with it,`` he noted at the time. Yet in many ways it is Lord Reith`s description of the aims for the service that we are celebrating 70 years later – namely the ability to connect listeners around the globe, and make a difference to people`s lives. The starting point for our anniversary is the World Service Global Party. Anchored by John Peel in London, this live concert transmitted simultaneously from Dakar, Mexico City, Kabul and Mumbai will bring together some of world music`s greatest stars – Youssou N`Dour, Trilok Gurtu, Los de Abajo, Baaba Maal and the young British musical sensation Ms Dynamite. Four days later we will be on top of Table Mountain overlooking Cape Town to re-create one of the most historic moments in World Service history. In 1933, just a year after the start of the Empire Service, one of the first ever re-broadcasts from the dominions back to London came from the top of the mountain courtesy of the Africa Broadcasting Company. It was transmitted by Post Office beam telephone and recorded in London before being distributed to Canada and other parts of the Empire. So on Thursday, 19 December, we will be remembering that moment, and – perhaps more importantly – showing how far we have come, creatively and technically since then. Presenters Ben Malor and Heather Payton will be hosting a day of live broadcasts from the top of the mountain, using the latest in satellite technology to ``take the pulse of the world``, celebrating the diversity both of our listeners, and of the World Service itself. From the time the sun rises above the Indian Ocean until it sets over the Atlantic, they will be linking up with our main re-broadcasting partners around the world, taking listeners` emails and interviewing guests brave enough to make the journey by cable car. The anniversary will also be marked by special news, sport, arts and science programmes – all reflecting a sense of the past, but very much balanced by the challenges the World Service – and the World itself – faces in the next 70 years. PROGRAMMES AND TIMES (GMT; all dates December) || TALKING POINT SPECIAL – Tony Blair answers your questions 38 mins | Tuesday 3rd/Wednesday 4th You can put your question on international affairs – from the situation in the Middle East to European Union enlargement or famine in South Africa – to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in this very special World Service 70th Anniversary edition of Talking Point. Ask your question by going to the web site http://www.bbcnews.com (click on `Talking Point`), or email talkingpoint@bbc.co.uk right up to the end of the live webcast. You can also telephone +44 20 8749 5353 in advance (leaving a phone number where you can be contacted). || Live webcast on Talking Point web site: Tuesday 3rd 1630. || On BBC WS: West Africa | Tue 2206 rpt Wed 0006, 0806; Europe | Tue 1906 rpt Wed 0006, 0806; East and South Africa | Wed 0006 rpt 0606; Middle East | Tue 1906 rpt Wed 0006, 0706; South Asia | Tue 1906 rpt 2106, Wed 0406, 0806; East Asia | Tue 1906 rpt Wed 0106, 0806; Americas | Tue 1906 rpt Wed 0006, 0806 || THE BBC WORLD SERVICE 70th BIRTHDAY LECTURE 55 mins | Wednesday 11th The World Service 70th Birthday Lecture will be given by UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan on 10th December at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, in front of an invited audience. It will be broadcast on the World Service on Wednesday 11th. The 20-minute lecture will be followed by a Question and Answer session hosted by Robin Lustig. More details will appear on the Talking Point website (see above). || West Africa | Wed 2206, rpt Thu 0006, 0806; Europe | Wed 1306 rpt 1806, Thu 0006, 0806; East and South Africa | Wed 1206 rpt Thu 0006, 0606; Middle East | Wed 1606 rpt Thu 0006, 0706; South Asia | Wed 1206 rpt 2106, Thu 0406, 0806; East Asia | Wed 1206 rpt 1806, Thu 0106, 0806; Americas | Wed 1306 rpt 1906, Thu 0006, 0806 || WORLD SERVICE GLOBAL PARTY 180 mins | Sunday 15th Hosted by John Peel and Emma B in London, the World Service Global Party is a live broadcast from five concerts in cities around the world – Dakar, Kabul, London, Mexico City and Mumbai – with an all- star line up. The show opens in London with Youssou N`Dour, then travels to the other parties where acts will include Baaba Maal in Dakar, Trilok Gurtu and Ranjit Barot in Mumbai and Los de Abajo in Mexico, as well as many other big-name performers. Britain`s fastest rising star, Ms Dynamite, will be closing the show back in London. || All regions | Sun 15: 1702-2000 GMT || LIVE FROM TABLE MOUNTAIN 14 hours | Thursday 19th In one of the most ambitious and technically challenging outside broadcasts ever attempted by the World Service, we`ll be marking our birthday with a 14-hour special programme from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. The broadcast recreates an event in 1933 when one of the first ever re-broadcasts from the `dominions` back to the Empire Service in London was from the top of the same mountain. Presenters Ben Malor and Heather Payton will be on air as the sun rises over the Indian Ocean and continue sharing the day with audiences across the world until the sun sets over the Atlantic. Taking the pulse of the world, they`ll be interviewing star guests and hearing from listeners. As part of the celebrations a Talking Point Special will give you a chance to question, live on air, the Director of the World Service, Mark Byford (see Talking Point Special above for contact details). The day will also include `A Day In The Life Of The World`, short segments which highlight the work of people who are in some way connected with the BBC, from the engineer who looks after the Ascension Island transmitter to one of the stars of World Service soap opera, Westway. || All regions | Thu 19: 0400-1800 GMT || PLAY OF THE WEEK SPECIAL 60 mins | Sunday 15th A drama showcase, recorded in front of an invited audience at the Café Royal in London, which highlights some of the seminal moments of world drama over 70 years. Star guests, including Patricia Routledge and Saeed Jaffrey, recreate scenes from past World Service drama productions, and poet Lemn Sissay will read a specially commissioned poem. Gary Yershon, whose compositions are frequently heard on the World Service, will be providing the music. || West Africa | Sun 0001 rpt 1501; Europe | Sun 0001 rpt 1601, 1801; East and South Africa | Sun 0001 rpt 1001; Middle East | Sun 0001 rpt 1501, 1801; South Asia | Sun 1501; East Asia | Sun 1130 rpt 1801; Americas | Sun 0001 rpt 1601, Mon 0630 || LISTENERS` TALES 5 mins | Thursday 12th - Saturday 20th Five-minute stories which will be broadcast across the schedule throughout the anniversary. Celebrities and other listeners talk about how the World Service has affected their lives. Former hostage Terry Waite, recalls how he was able to listen to the Service while incarcerated in a Beirut prison, and a Sri Lankan listener tells how he almost electrocuted himself mending his aerial so he wouldn`t miss `Sports International`. || All regions | Daily || THIS IS LONDON 15 mins | Monday 16th - Friday 20th Key turning points during 70 years of BBC World Service, including the launch of the Arabic Service and the BBC`s role during the Cold War. `This Is London` will also highlight the impact of changes in the technology of conflict reporting, from the Korean War to the ``war against terror``. || All regions | Daily Mon 16-Fri 20: in place of Analysis, Off The Shelf and the 15-minute editions of From Our Own Correspondent (see main Networks for times) || THE WORLD`S TOP TEN 55 mins | Saturday 21st Steve Wright presents the results of a mega global music poll which will identify the world`s favourite talent – local as well as international. BBC World Service has been asking its 150 million listeners from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe to vote for their all-time favourite songs, creating the ultimate World`s Top Ten. There`s still time cast your vote, online at http://www.bbcworldservice.com/70 or by post to: PO Box 36835, London WC2B 4WZ (closing date 12th December). || West Africa | Sun 0806 rpt 2106, Mon 0206; Europe | Sat 1306 rpt Mon 0206; East and South Africa | Sun 0706 rpt 1906, Mon 0206; Middle East | Sat 1206 rpt Mon 0206; South Asia | Fri 2206 rpt Sat 0506, Sun 1206; East Asia | Sat 0306; Americas | Sun 0506 rpt Mon 0206 || PICK OF THE WORLD SERVICE 60 mins | 14th; 30 mins | 21st Every week Daire Brehan and the team make their selection of some of the best BBC World Service programmes. But this month they`ll be highlighting not just the regular programmes, but also some of the most memorable programmes from the past 70 years! They`ll delve into history for some of the great World Service moments in drama, sport and music – from broadcasts in English and other World Service languages. [14th]. || West Africa | Sat 2206 rpt Sun 1006; Europe | Sat 2306 rpt Sun 0506, 1306; East and South Africa | Sun 1506; Middle East | Sat 2306 rpt Sun 0806, 2006; South Asia | Sat 0806 rpt 2106; East Asia | Sat 1206 rpt 2306, Sun 0806; Americas | Sat 2006 rpt 2306, Sun 0806 And on the 21st there will be a selection of the best of the anniversary week of special 70th Birthday programmes. || West Africa | Sat 2230 rpt Sun 1030; Europe | Sat 2330 rpt Sun 0530, 1330; East and South Africa | Sun 1530; Middle East | Sat 2330 rpt Sun 0830, 2030; South Asia | Sat 0830 rpt 2130; East Asia | Sat 1230 rpt 2306, Sun 0830; Americas | Sat 2030 rpt 2330, Sun 0830 || NEWSHOUR 120 mins | Monday 16th - Friday 20th During the special week of celebratory broadcasting Newshour will be extended to a two-hour programme including a daily in-depth interview with a key international geopolitical or cultural figure. || All regions | Mon-Fri 1200-1400 GMT || FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT 30 mins | Saturday 14th From Our Own Correspondent re-visits five BBC correspondents` reports on major world events. Kate Adie, Brian Barron, Mark Tully, Mike Wooldridge and Mark Brayne reflect on some their past dispatches, encompassing events from the fall of Saigon to the release of Nelson Mandela. With the benefit of hindsight, did they get their analysis right? Was there something they missed or now wish they`d said differently at the time? || West Africa | Sat 2106 rpt Sun 0230, 1630; Europe | Sun 0230 rpt 1506, 2006; East and South Africa | Sat 2230 rpt Sun 0230, 0806; Middle East | Sat 2006 rpt 2230, Sun 0230, 0806; South Asia | Sat 1806 rpt Sun 0230, 0806; East Asia | Sat 1806 rpt 2230, Sun 0230, 0806, 1506; Americas | Sat 2230 rpt Sun 0806, 1506 ********************************************************************** YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! This month BBC On Air is giving away five special 70th Birthday giftpacks containing a T-shirt, pen and illustrated souvenir brochure looking back at seven decades of broadcasting. For your chance to win email on.air.magazine@bbc.co.uk with `December Network - Birthday Giftpack` in the subject heading. Entries should be received by the end of December. ********************************************************************** Copyright BBC On Air Magazine 2002 (BBCWS Audience Relations via Richard Cuff, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. From an interesting site run by Roger Parsons at http://anotherviewengland.tripod.com THE ULTIMATE IRONY ? Way back in the 1960's Britain was surrounded by Pirate Ships - Pirate Radio Stations that is, at a time when this mode of radio was, whilst not exactly 'playing the game' with the British Government and other neighbouring governments, considered far more acceptable than the land-based totally unlicensed therefore totally illegal as far as H.M. Government are concerned, 'pirates' of today . The vile Marine Offences Act brought in more out of ignorance than reason in 1967 scuppered all but the brave crew of M.V.Caroline , and as we all know DJs Johnny Walker and 'The Admiral' Robbie Dale played on past the midnight of the 14th August when the Bill became law which made it impossible to service the ships from the U.K. and therefor, even though at a high cost it was 'possible' to carry on , such stations as Radio London off Frinton-on-sea, Radio Scotland off Fife Ness and Radio 270 off Bridlington, Yorkshire closed down for ever on the 14th August 1967 a day that will bear witness to the lack of understanding , which continues, between the people of the United Kingdom and those who seek to govern it. The resultant 'dummy' pirate station set up reluctantly by the BBC - with the remarkably inaccurate (and rather unimaginative) name of Radio 1 only managed to get an audience by grabbing such well known and popular star DJ's as Tony Blackburn and Dave Lee Travis - both had worked on Radio Caroline , the only pirate still retaining a massive audience in the remaining months on 1967. 'Caroline never lost its audience whilst the station was on the air and has continued to this day in various forms but regrettably only heard in a fraction of the reception area it enjoyed (and we enjoyed) on 259 Metres Medium Wave in the 60's. However, of late it has been receivable, albeit with satellite radio receivers, throughout most of the British Isles. Regrettably, now it seems the signal has been 'scrambled' and a subscription charge is payable to listen to Radio Caroline which seems the ultimate irony as the main theme of the radio pirates in the '60s was whilst in the U.K. a radio license, 50% of the price of which went straight to the BBC, was £1and 5 shillings (£.1.25) at a time when a VERY good wage was £25 to 30 a week - they, the commercial offshore radio stations were FREE to the listener. However, had the then Labour government with little or no protest from the Conservative official opposition and the Liberal Party members of parliament, really considered how little it would have cost and how much happiness it would have given to the many , many listeners if they, the Government, actually instead of making Radio Caroline, Radio London, Radio Scotland, etc., illegal and destroying the pleasure of millions, had invited the various organisations to build studios and erect masts on land as fully licensed stations, as any reasonable democracy would have done; we in Britain would not have the boring mess of broadcasters , all doing the same with only token localisation we have today. (End of Sermon) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) "RADIO FREE CAROLINE TO COMMENCE LATE NIGHT AM TESTS NEXT MONTH" (Well of course I don't know exactly how much truth there is in this Caroline Community Website story concerning a Radio Free Caroline project, but some other news stories on this website have certainly come to fruition. Also don't forget Radio Caroline is already licensed in Luxembourg. - Mike Terry) From http://www.carolinecentral.com/news/47.html The latest version of Caroline, Radio Free Caroline, has declared an intention to commence late night AM test broadcasts during the early part of 2003. The transmissions are intended to cover Europe in a similar way to the original offshore version of Caroline. Apparently born of disgruntled volunteer workers involved in the Maidstone, Kent (UK) version of Caroline, a Radio Free Caroline spokeswoman stated, "In its hey day Radio Caroline represented Freedom. Unfortunately under the 'care' of Peter Moore the present day Radio Caroline represents everything but Freedom. Presenters and all volunteers have been told to effectively 'be quiet and do as they are told' or be expelled from the landbased operation." Radio Free Caroline claim to be founded by some of those staff that have now been forced out of Moore's operation after its relocation to temporary studios in London. Their spokeswoman added, "We do not want to cause problems or upset to those remaining with the landbased operation, however we say enough is enough. We cannot sit back and allow the present dictatorship continue without an organised opposition." With a warning to be taken seriously, she concluded, "We want to state very clearly ' We shall NOT be silenced' by Peter Moore and his cronies. We are planning the re-launch of Caroline in a totally free environment, free from the restrictions and control of the Archway Impostors." Radio Free Caroline suggest they should appear on Medium Wave with test programming in January. Caroline Central Newsdesk newsdesk@carolinecentral.com Saturday, 7 December 2002 10:24 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. LONDON'S LBC TO CLOSE FOR THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS Britain's oldest commercial radio station, LBC, is to go off the air on Christmas Eve and will not return until 6 January 2003. This unprecedented move, which required prior permission from the Radio Authority, is all part of a plan by the station's new owners, Chrysalis, to relaunch the talk station on the FM band, swapping dial positions with its sister station News Direct that will be re-named LBC News. During the 12 day break, the news service will be simulcast on 1152 kHz and 97.3 MHz, while a new team of broadcasters hired for the revamped LBC will be conducting off-air 'rehearsals', a procedure known in the broadcasting business as 'dry running.' The temporary absence of LBC, which has an audience of just under half a million that the new owners hope to double within three years, is a potential bonus for the BBC's troubled FM service BBC LDN 94.9. The BBC station, which has seen its own audience slump to below 300,000, is the only other one specifically serving London that has a high proportion of speech programming (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 6 December 2002 via DXLD) ** U S A. 7355, W R N O Radio, 0130-0249, heard on UT Monday Dec 9, from tune-in at 0130 until they finally gave a full station identification at 0249 UT. Programming consisted of a minister speaking in English about a coming economic collapse and steps to be taken to avoid total loss of assets. I thought I had read that WRNO was 'gone' - but not so. SINPO for the entire period in my location was 34443. Programming modulation varied a bit, but generally on the low side. The last time I heard them a long time ago was also in the early UT hours of a Monday, which equates to Sunday evening in North America local time (Bill Matthews, Ohio, USA, EDXP via DXLD) ** U S A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD FILES INFORMAL PETITIONS AGAINST 18 CATHOLIC LPFM APPLICATIONS Washington, Dec 2 (CRU)— The National Lawyers Guild, a New York City- based group of activist attorneys, has filed informal petitions to deny against some 40 LPFM applications today, 18 of which are Catholic. The group filed earlier this year against another cluster of LPFM applications (Catholic Radio Update #173, May 6, 2002). The applications filed against were the following: Clovis Educational Assn., Clovis, NM 105.9 FM Catholic Fellowship Educational Assn., Miles City, MT 100.5 FM Immaculate Heart of Mary Educational Radio Assn., Kearney, NE 104.1 FM San Antonio de Padua Educational Assn., Peñasco, NM 100.9 FM San Francisco de Asis Educational Assn., Ranchos de Taos, NM 102.7 FM San Miguel del Vado, Ribera, NM 98.9 FM St Rose of Lima Educational Assn., Santa Rosa, NM 103.1 FM Padre Pio Educational Assn., Barrigada Guam 99.9 FM St Therese Radio Assn., Clinton, NM 93.7 FM St Patrick Educational Assn., Chama NM 95.1 FM. St Gertrude the Great Educational Assn., Mora, NM 105.5 FM St Alice Educational Assn., Mountainair, NM 101.1 FM St Joseph's Educational Assn., Springer, NM 99.5 FM. St Anne Educational Assn., Tucumcari, NM 101.1 FM. San Juan Nepomuceno, El Rito, NM 100.7 FM St Therese Educational Radio Assn., Benson, NC 99.7 FM St Therese Radio Assn., Goldsboro, NC 99.9 FM St Therese Radio Assn., Wilson, NC 103.1 FM (Dec 9 Catholic Radio Update, Dec 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Radio Friend, The latest Shortwave Report (December 6) is up at the website http://www.outfarpress.com/outfarpress/shortwave.shtml in both broadcast quality 13.6 MB) and quickdownload or streaming form (3.4 MB) (29:51). This program will not be aired on Friday evening at KZYX/Z Philo CA due to fundraising. There are several other streams that work better- http://members.cruzio.com/~frsc/ Freak Radio Santa Cruz (96.3 fm) streams this program on Friday at 5:35 pm (PST) and on Monday at 9 am PST. Also check out LavaLamp Radio (Japan)- http://www.rinku.zaq.ne.jp/bkaec205/ streaming the SWR, check out the schedule. [0430, 1230, 2030 UT – daily? Used to run late often] And the Partytown streams are great and informative- http://www.partytown.com/radio I was recently interviewed on a radio program called RISE- the topic was "The End Of The Age Of Oil," talking about living and producing radio off-the-electrical-grid. Kellia Ramares produces the show, which may be found at- http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=5835 All that plus times and frequencies for listening at home. I hope you'll listen and air this if you're connected with a radio station. I am still wondering how to get financially compensated for the 25 hours I put into this program weekly- any ideas are appreciated. Any stations rebroadcasting this (or listeners) are welcome to donate for production costs. You can do so through the website. Many thanks to those that have donated! No Guilt! link for broadcast edition- http://www.outfarpress.com/outfarpress/swr_12_6_02.mp3 (13.6 MB) link for smaller file and streaming- http://www.outfarpress.com/outfarpress/shortwave.shtml ¡FurthuR! Dan Roberts [tagline:] --The capacity to combine commitment with skepticism is essential to democracy. - Mary Catherine Bateson (via Rachel Baughn, DXLD) ** U S A. December 8, 2002 Week In Review: I SEEING THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY --- NYT, By GEOFFREY NUNBERG Every new form of journalism announces itself with a new syntax, which subtly shifts the sense of what news is. Full Story: [registration required] http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/weekinreview/08NUMB.html?tntemail0 WHY THE RIGHT RULES THE RADIO WAVES --- NYT, By JOHN LELAND At a time when the public is pretty evenly divided politically, conservative talk radio continues to grow. Full Story: [registration required] http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/weekinreview/08LELA.html?tntemail0 (via Deborah Jones, CAJ list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** U S A. IN SETTLEMENT WITH KMOX, CHARLES JACO DROPS EFFORT TO KEEP JOB AT STATION -- By DIANE TOROIAN Post-Dispatch 12/07/2002 10:27 PM Radio personality Charles Jaco could return to the local airwaves as soon as Feb. 18 under a settlement reached Friday. Jaco, the cerebral and acerbic talk show host, lost his job at KMOX-AM last month over behavior that the station described as "gross misconduct." Jaco had contested his firing but now has agreed to leave the station. He and KMOX did not reveal financial details. Jaco, 52, earned $122,500 a year at KMOX. On Friday, KMOX released Jaco from a contract provision that would have kept him from working at another radio station for six months. Jaco acknowledges he has been contacted by station KTRS-AM, which is looking to fill an evening time slot. KTRS owner Tim Dorsey "has made some very interesting statements," said Jaco. "I'm sure we'll be talking." As part of the settlement, KMOX agreed to issue a statement that Jaco's behavior at the station was neither immoral nor illegal. Jaco said the term "gross misconduct" had tarnished his reputation. KMOX described the phrase in its statement as "a legal term ... that permits immediate termination of employment." "The use of the term 'gross misconduct' was not intended to convey any belief that Mr. Jaco engaged in conduct that was illegal or immoral," the statement declares. KMOX management never explained why it dismissed Jaco. However, Jaco acknowledges he wrote rude e-mails to some listeners. He also had a confrontation with another KMOX employee in the newsroom. KMOX stood by its decision to fire Jaco. "KMOX-AM has not and will not reinstate Mr. Jaco, as the station and (KMOX owner) Infinity Broadcasting maintain that his dismissal was warranted," the statement says. Jaco said he would like to stay in St. Louis and plans to continue work on a doctoral degree and a book on oil. However, an industry publication, "Inside Radio," has reported that Jaco has a tryout in the works with KIRO-AM in Seattle. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/9F571301FBBF810E86256C88004C6523?OpenDocument&Headline=In+settlement+with+KMOX,+Charles+Jaco+drops+effort+to+keep+job+at+station+ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. [editor`s note: a GREAT many further posts on IBOC testing have appeared on the NRC AM list, making it so huge, that we may never get all the way thru it, as happened the last time this subject arose] I believe it [WOR 710 IBOC test] is currently off at night. The tests ran 3 nights from what I can determine and they claim, on the NYC Radio Message Board, that they will release their wealth of findings on the testing. BUT....the IBOC they are running right now, daytime, is much milder than what they were running on at least 2 of the 3 nights. Toronto 740 had a good signal Tuesday AM when WOR was on only analog. It was nearly totally terminated when WOR hit the IBOC mode. Today, I could get on 730 without much of a problem, which was formerly covered during by IBOC during the daytime. What's going on here? See the post I'll be making later (Joe Fela, NJ, Dec 8, amfmtvdx via DXLD) [Later:] The background: on Tuesday morning, I monitored the WOR-710 night time IBOC testing and found IBOC hash stretching from a mix of stations on 680 and extending to 750, getting into WSB's Atlanta signal. (The analog signal didn't affect anything other than 700 and 720 in comparison). I let it go at that, that they had turned-up the IBOC exciter compared to what I have heard during the daytime. Two days later a post on the NYC Radio Message Board from a person in Manhattan complained that WOR's IBOC transmissions had gotten wider, making Long Island on 740 unreadable. The reply to him from Tom Ray, WOR's Corporate Director of Engineering, was that WOR's IBOC sidebands do not extend more than plus/minus 15 kHz from the carrier and, according to their spectrum analyzer, that they were not and never were splashing beyond that --- and that "receiver overload" was the cause of the 740 interference. However, a follow up post by the writer who complained about the 740 interference took exception to the WOR post and claimed after he made the claim, the IBOC on WOR was, in effect, turned down and 740 was now clear of the digital hash. Well, I heard the digital hash down to 750 Monday night and take exception to being told I'm not hearing what I am hearing. Checked the mileage and I'm 22 miles from the WOR towers so receiver overload seems like a stretch. And according to the coverage map on Radio Locator, I'm in a side, not major, pattern lobe. But my 1996 NRC pattern book shows a completely different pattern. Radio Locator: major lobe going SE from NYC. NRC: sort of a figure 8 going NE/SW Which is right? If the NRC book is right, it still sounds like a stretch for receiver overload at 22 miles. Checked the WOR IBOC this morning, at 8 a.m. Sunday, to check its strength. Found I could easily get on 730 - which I couldn't get near before - which had the VA station near DC coming in (got an ID from it) and 740 and 750 were completely clear. So something was changed. But if WOR was never splashing 740, according to them, then why the change??? This was too much. Because of this and other WOR posts claiming they are not causing interference, fired off an e-mail to Tom Ray. A frank e-mail about my reception of digital hash down to 750 and questioning the validity of the tests (are they bogus --- window dressing --- will selective results be given to the FCC?). His reply was that they are not causing interference (according to his $45,000 recently calibrated and certified HP spectrum analyzer --- and only spectrum analyzer results are accepted by the FCC --- but that analyzer didn't show what I was hearing unless there is a lack of truthfulness here). He also didn't think much of DXers, who are anti-IBOC (says we should get off our high horses and back to the real world --- but I haven't DXed AM in at least 12 years and don't plan to again). Also claims there is no regulation that WOR protects the skywave reception of other stations (referring to WLW and WGN). Wonder if that also includes people trying to listen to either in MA or NC. I suggested WCHR-1040 Flemington, NJ, WEVD-1050 NYC, and KYW-1060 Philly should all run IBOC if a real test is to be made of IBOC and what interference is generated. Want to bet the chances of that happening before IBOC gets its final approval? More to come I'm sure. By the way, with IBOC, there are two sidebands, one on either side of the analog signal. Are both required to decode the digital signal? Is one a back-up for the other. Or can a station run two separate digital programs (one on each sideband) plus an analog program under this scheme? Just wondering (Joe Fela, NJ, ibid.) Follow-up. Received an e-mail from Tom Ray who now says that, YES, a stronger version of IBOC (more power) was used Monday and Tuesday during the night time tests. So I wasn't imagining things. The e-mail states that this stronger version is actually the NORMAL version. He states the version now being used and used prior to Dec. 2nd is -6dB in power and was being used at that level at the request of iBiquity. The full strength version was being used at the request of the FCC and NAB to see what happens at night. Further, he states that conjecture is (and is only conjecture at this point) that the normal (stronger) version of IBOC will be used on AM during the daytime hours with the -6dB version to be used at night. That sounds very close to a done deal, no? He adds he is not part of these talks and this is only what he hears (Joe Fela, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA [non]. The first hour at least of Aló Presidente via RHC, Sun Dec 8 from 1400 was mostly music fill, but that`s not unusual. At 1500, as I listened to the nice new signal on 15570, these frequencies were announced: 17750 (also good), 15230 (poor), 11715 (blocked by KJES during this hour), 11875 (inaudible), 61{4}0 (inaudible) --- but no mention of 15570 where I was listening! Typical. Hugo finally started addressing the people around 1508, but it was back to music and chatter from the RHC studio a few minutes later. At least it sounded like him; didn`t pay much attention (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US [and non]. As The KV4FZ Returns In the early 90's I came upon 14313/14315 kHz as one of the strangest collection of amateur radio operators engaged in a type of personal radio warfare I had never heard. Along with a cacophony of unidentified QRMers, Maritime Mobile Net'ites, Inter-Continental Traffic Net'ites, and various camp followers, was the voice of the main protagonist and lightning rod Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ, and the anti-Herb, WB2OTK, Richard Whiten of South Carolina. The attacks and battles were not limited to on-air shouting matches and QRMing. Whenever a vulnerability was uncovered full advantage was taken. A family member would have a brush with the local police and details and fabrications that would put the National Inquirer to shame were aired on frequency over-over-again. Employers would be contacted on the phone or by mail alerting them of the terrible person they had in their employ. Local governments were notified about any and all possible, probable and improbable infractions of rule and law that may have been revealed over the radio. Of course the FCC would be passed "tapes" of the goings on. Herb appeared to me to be a very intelligent individual. The fact that he openly aired his opinions on politics and the questionable practices and activities of the ham nets that "shared" the frequencies made him controversial. Controversy is a place where Herb appeared to always want to be at the center. He was the host of a local Virgin Island talk show, for example. However, Herb had a major Achille's heel; he spent years in a court fight over phone access codes used to make calls without owners' permission/knowledge. The intrigue surrounding the court case and the ham "fraternity" would slowly come out over the years with claims and counter-claims on both sides. Including testimony by local island government official(s) that would later be shown to be fraudulent. It was a real soap opera on 20 meters drawing in new listeners and participants every day. Eventually, Herb's ham license would become the final holy grail. Herb went to Washington, DC to fight for it. Also a contingent of ham detractors would also make the trip to be in attendance (with tape recorder as I recall). The administrative law judge ruled against him for his "alleged lack of candor during subsequent FCC hearings". An attempt to get the US Supreme Court to hear his case, failed and Herb lost his license in 2000. In July of 1999 the anti-Herb, WB2OTK, suddenly left the frequency. FCC attorney Riley Hollingsworth, got word via e-mail from WB2OTK, that Whiten wanted to leave amateur radio and wanted to turn in his license, Hollingsworth obliged. Later Richard would claim that the e-mail was sent in error. He has not been on air heard since. Based on the information at the FCC web site, Herb has his Extra Class ticket back as of late last week. I also heard directly that he has indeed returned and working 160 meters contesting this weekend. Time will tell if this is the end of the soap opera or just the return of a major actor to the show. Stay tuned (Pete Costello, NJ, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM +++ Hi Glenn, Re John Figliozzi's comments in DXLD 2-192, while John's point is well taken, I suspect the rollout timetable is governed as much by technical considerations as marketing ones. For whatever reason Juelich and Sines were chosen as test sites for DRM, and are therefore equipped and ready to go. It so happens that these sites do not serve North America. No doubt the future rollout timetable of DW takes all sorts of factors into account, such as the age and condition of existing equipment, whether it can be modified for DRM or has to be replaced, etc. as well as the potential audience. And being a large broadcaster with a number of relay stations, planning these changes must be no easy task. Joe Buch is of course right when he says that content is the key to the success of digital shortwave. It's something we at Radio Netherlands have been saying for years, and perhaps that's why we continue to win international awards for programming, as do our colleagues at Deutsche Welle. Neither of us have, to my knowledge, devoted airtime in the recent past to 'tractor production statistics.' As for broadcasting 'smut', that's a rather cheap shot. In my experience, the majority of 'smut' on the Internet originates in the United States itself. To imply that European public broadcasters such as Radio Netherlands would even consider such a thing suggests that Joe has no respect for us either as professionals or as individuals. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Dec 9, standard disclaimer, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oh, I think he was just bemoaning a general societal trend (gh) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-192, December 8, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1159: WBCQ: Mon 0545 7415 WWCR: Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WRN: North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1159.html NOTE: due to intermittent internet outages for ``upgrade`` the last few days, and other commitments, we`re a bit behind. Some of the info in this issue may pre-date that in the previous 2-191, where we tried to give priority to the most recent info at time of release. Please pay attention to the dates (gh) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Dear Glenn, thank you for DXLD and keep up the good work! (Lars Åström, Malmö, Sweden) ** AFGHANISTAN. Geneva, 4 December, 2002 --- The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will provide emergency support to the government of Afghanistan in its efforts to restore its heavily damaged telecommunication and broadcasting infrastructure. In a two- year project document signed between His Excellency Mr Masoom Stanekzai, Afghanistan`s Minister of Communications and Hamadoun Touré, Director of ITU`s Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU will strengthen Afghanistan`s institutional competence to govern the sector. The Minister stated, "Afghanistan has moved backwards toward the stone age at a time when we need to enter the digital age and we need the assistance of an impartial international organization like ITU to ensure we again move forward in telecommunication development." A national framework is needed to "help Afghanistan leapfrog to the digital age and create an environment that will ensure our people have the right to access communications," added the Minister. The flight of qualified persons during 24 years of war has resulted in a severe shortage of skilled staff in the country and ITU`s timely assistance will pave the way for a restructuring of the Ministry of Communications, equipping it to deal with governance issues on a day- to-day basis during the emergency phase and beyond. In readiness for a large-scale deployment of wireless communication services, ITU will also play a role in the orderly planning and management of the national frequency spectrum, develop a national frequency plan, install a spectrum management system and put in place coherent licensing and assignment procedures. "There is a great urgency in restoring domestic and international telecommunication services in Afghanistan, as they represent an essential input to all other rehabilitation and reconstruction activities taking place in the country," explains Ismet Hamiti, ITU Coordinator for Asia-Pacific and focal point for Afghanistan. "However at the same time, the rapid deployment of wireless-based services also highlights the importance of managing the radio spectrum efficiently." "The confidence in ITU expressed by the government of Afghanistan to carry out fundamental reform and reconstruction in Afghanistan is proof of ITU`s role as a source of top-quality, unbiased and cost- effective expertise in telecommunications and ICTs," said Hamadoun Touré, Director of ITU`s Telecommunication Development Bureau. "ITU is committed to ensuring that assistance and support to the government of Afghanistan is as effective as possible." The project is funded by ITU with a contribution of over half a million dollars from the ITU Telecom Surplus. One of the objectives of this fund, which derives from surplus income from the ITU Telecom exhibitions, is to reach out to countries in special need, helping them to rehabilitate their networks. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has joined forces with ITU to provide experts to Afghanistan on a cost-sharing basis. ITU is also inviting other partners to provide integrated support to the Afghan government. Project Details To help boost the key ministry functions, ITU will help establish internal working procedures and practices for the effective functioning of the Ministry; assist in drafting a telecommunication sector policy and a Telecommunication Act; propose a regulatory structure tailored to the specific needs of the country and prepare a programme to develop competence within the Ministry of Communications in policy, regulation and legislation. To help Afghanistan better plan and manage its frequency spectrum, ITU will establish an equipped and operational Frequency Management Unit within the Ministry of Communications and will prepare a table of frequency allocations; update the national administrative regulation; assess present and future spectrum requirements; work out a country- wide coverage map for MW, FM and TV broadcasting; elaborate a guide for spectrum monitoring and station inspection; establish a computerized frequency management system and training for local staff in frequency spectrum planning and management activities. Afghanistan`s Ministry of Culture and Information, which is responsible for frequency assignment for broadcasting use, will also be a beneficiary of this project (some good news from ITU to share, via Lars Åström, Malmö Sweden, Dec 7, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4930.0, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta. *0908-0920 good on Dec. 7. QSY from 4924v kHz. 0909 ID as "¿Qué tal? amigos, señoras y señores muy buenos días .. hora 6 de la madrugada con 12 minutos .. sintonía Radio San Miguel .." then Takirari music program "Musica boliviana" was heard (Hideki WATANABE, Saitama, Japan, duvel@j- wave.net RADIO NUEVO MUNDO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re CBC legal IDs: Hi Glenn: Recently I was listening to CBC 540 Regina around local 5 to 5:30 AM time slot [1100-1130 UT] when they played the national anthem and gave a full sign on including the call letters CBK 540 Watrous. I am not sure if this is daily but I will try and tape it. If I remember right it was about 5:15 after CBC Overnight and before the local CBC Saskatchewan morning show. 73 (Mickey Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [non]. RUSSIA. INTERIOR MINISTRY REMOVES CHECHEN FIGHTERS FROM THE WEB... There is not a single "Wahhabite" Internet site operating in Russia, strana.ru reported on 4 December. Dmitrii Chepchugov, head of the Moscow Interior Ministry department for combating high-technology crime ("Department R"), told journalists that as part of the antiterrorism measures adopted following the 23-26 October hostage taking in Moscow, his department has identified all the websites associated with Chechen fighters. An unspecified number of domestic sites have been shut down, and the Foreign Ministry has sent formal complaints to all foreign countries hosting such sites, acting on information provided by Chepchugov's office. Chepchugov said that the website Kavkaz-Tsentr was registered in Canada and was shut down following a Foreign Ministry appeal to the Canadian government, ITAR-TASS reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 4 December) ...AND SAYS 'TERRORISTS' FUNDED BY PORN SITES. At the same press conference, Chepchugov said that the profits generated by pornographic websites worldwide play a significant role in the financing of extremist and terrorist organizations, strana.ru reported on 4 December. He estimated that a child-porn site can bring in as much as $30,000 per month in illegal revenue. Since March, Chepchugov's office has been tracking 3,000 websites and has launched 14 criminal cases. He said that, in addition to pornographic sites, his agency monitors sites "with extremist tendencies." ('RFE/RL Newsline," 4 December via RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 6 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. CLANDESTINE to/from COLOMBIA: 6175, Voz de Resistencia: been trying for this at 1030 based on Mark's tip, but no joy here, only hearing what sounds like Malaysia (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo, Texas, Dec 4-5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hola Glenn... Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. -CLADESTINA: escuchada en los 10 Mhz (10000 kHz), la estación "Viva Bolívar", de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia. La Cadena Radial Bolivariana, autodenominada como "La Voz de la Resistencia", fue captada el 5/12, desde las 2043 UT hasta su despedida a las 2108. Transmitía música revolucionaria y comentarios contra la oligarquia colombiana. Modulación en Upper Side Band. El locutor se identificaba como miembro de los bloques José María Córdoba y Caribe. La segunda escucha fue hoy sabado 7/12 a las 1545 UT, en la misma frecuencia de 10 MHz (Upper Side Band), con la lectura de un comunicado de las FARC sobre la situación de Venezuela y el fracaso del paro general. Señal clara y fuerte en ambos casos (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. ENCUESTA DEMUESTRA LA IMPORTANCIA DE RADIO MARTI Edel José García Díaz, de CNP. La Habana: Una encuesta que se efectuó en 12 provincias de Cuba, reveló que el 100% de los entrevistados escuchan la emisora Radio Martí, para estar bien informados. Esta emisora, que transmite para Cuba, radica en la Florida y el Gobierno cubano, hace lo imposible para bloquear la entrada de sus ondas a la Isla, no obstante la interferencia, muchos la escuchan diariamente. Los entrevistados seleccionaron os cinco mejores programas, que son en primer lugar los noticieros, Sin Censores, ni Censuras, Las noticias como son, Tempranito y de mañana, estos que son los que se transmiten de lunes a viernes, mientras que los fines de semana seleccionaron A Cuba es su música, Mundo Médico, Sin pedir permiso, El Cubano y su Fe, y Guateque campesino. De los 343 entrevistados, 333 que representan el 97.08% dijeron, que la escuchan para enterarse de lo que pasa en la Isla, y el 94.46% lo hace para conocer la situación internacional, mientras que el 61.22% dijo, estar satisfecho con la cobertura que realiza la emisora en cuanto a noticias nacionales y el 75.80% con las Internacionales. Por otra parte, 319 de los encuestados, calificaron de muy alta credibilidad la emisora, y que su labor es muy importante, contestaron 293, para el 85.42% de los encuestados. La encuesta se efectuó entre el 5 de julio y el 31 de octubre del 2002, y abarcó las 12 provincias con excepción de Villa Clara y Guantánamo, las edades de los encuestados sobrepasa los 18 años, 197 eran hombres y 146 mujeres, e incluyó a estudiantes, obreros, profesionales, técnicos medios, amas de casa y jubilados. Entre las observaciones que hicieron los entrevistados, sobresalen la que propone la ubicación de un transmisor de Radio Marti en la Base Naval de Guantánamo, para que se escuche con mas claridad y aumentar la potencia de la señal para evitar la interferencia, del Gobierno realizar una programación que profundice, sobre los supuestos logros de la educación y la salud, aumentar los noticieros, los fines de semana, y priorizar las noticias sobre Cuba. Reportó: Edel José García Díaz, para Cuba Free Press (Desde Dentro de Cuba. Distribuido por Cuba Free Press, Inc. 27 de Noviembre del 2002 http://www.cubafreepress.org via Oscar, DXLD) Re: Postal address of Radio Marti Hello Mr. Suess, Thank you for your interest. Radio Marti's mailing address is: 4201 NW 77th Avenue, Miami, FL 33166 [USA] (IBB External Affairs Nov 27, 2002 via H. Süss, Austria in A-DX) Im WRTH steht zwar Miami, aber eine falsche Hausnummer. Im S&F steht noch Washington, was ganz falsch ist. Nur zur Ergänzung (H. Süss, Nov 27, 2002 in A-DX) ClandestineRadio.com has Radio Martí, USIA, 330 Independence Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20547, USA. The QSL Info Pages do have QSL logs from Nov 1999 with this address: QTH : 5325 N.W. 77th Avenue, Miami, FL 33166. That is probably the address used in the WRTH. As it seems, the other addresses are not wrong, they are simply different or ex- addresses [M. Schöch-CRW] Nur: Warum sollte man in so einem Fall mit snailmail rummachen? martinoticias@ocb.ibb.gov ist schneller, billiger und einfacher (M. Elbe, Germany, Dec 2, 2002 in A-DX --- all via CRW via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 4930, R. Barahona, Santo Domingo, December 7th, 0000-0015, Spanish, advertisement, jingles, many IDs, local news, SINPO 24222. Saludos (Michael Schnitzer, Hassfurt, Germany, hard-core- dx via DXLD) I believe this one is quite irregular, so get it now (gh, DXLD) ``La Voz de la Liberación`` on R. Pueblo, 5009.4: See VENEZUELA ** EUROPE? Hi there George, good news for you. I have plans for a broadcast on Sunday. Freq will be 21.895 MHz. Hopefully there will be some conditions so that you will be able to get some traces from my signal. Well all the best for you. Greeting (Rinus, Cupidradio, Dec 7, via George Maroti, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Sounds Dutch Additional info that I received is that they'll be on the air around 1300 UTC with 25 watts of power (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Next Transmission of Sensation AM (WESTERN EUROPE) is planned now Sunday, December the 8th, TIME: 0700 UT, FREQ: 15.730 (or 15.725) The E-mail is during the transmission open, RR's most welcome!! Probably "down under" has some reception possibility.. Winter has fallen into europe so radiation is coming up from our frozen antenna. The antenna is still pointed to USA, at the end of the winter we pointed the antenna to Sweden / Finland. So reception will there and down under 5 till 10 dB's stronger (we hope). Greetings Sensation AM (from chilly WESTERN EUROPE) (via Jem Cullen, ARDXC via DXLD) ** FINLAND [non]. It is prime DXpedition season in the Northern Hemisphere, and some interesting DXpedition reports and logs have recently been added on the site. You can find them at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/ - including one from Lemmenjoki, where I spent Nov. 23-30, and added the report on the site today. Be in touch by email, if you'd like to share your DXpedition results with fellow hobbyists on DXing.info. 73s (Mika Mäkeläinen, DXing.info, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They were disappointed in the results due to propagation conditions and antenna breaks, but it`s still pretty impressive to us non- Arcticans; some nice photos in the report (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. RFI APPOINTS NEW AFRICAN SERVICE HEAD | Excerpt from press release by Radio France Internationale on 3 December Paris, 3 December 2002: Alain Le Gouguec was today appointed head of RFI's African service and assistant chief editor... To coincide with Alain Le Gouguec's appointment, Madeleine Mukamabano, a leading RFI commentator on African issues, has been appointed Adviser for Africa to Chief Editor Jerome Bouvier. She will continue with her journalistic activities in the African service where she presents "Debat Africain" [African Debate]... Source: Radio France Internationale press release, Paris, in French 3 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re DW`s DRM SW rollout timetable: Curious that they would introduce DRM broadcasts to NA last--and then only after determining that "market conditions allow"! The first receivers are likely to be quite expensive and it would seem that NA consumers (apart from Europeans) would be in the best financial position to spend that capital. Looks to me like another case of an international broadcaster misreading the potential of the NA market and misconstruing a saturation of channels with a panoply of perspectives and ideas. (Hint: we have the former, but lack the latter.) (John Figliozzi, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. RUSSIAN RADIO STATION TO START BROADCASTING IN GERMANY | Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Moscow, 5 December: The Russian state radio broadcasting company Golos Rossii [Voice of Russia] has become the first domestic Russian radio station to obtain the official right to broadcast on German territory. A company statement received by RIA-Novosti says that the Berlin- Brandenburg authorities on Thursday [5 December] handed over an appropriate licence for a period of five years to the head of the Voice of Russia radio company, Armen Oganesyan. The licence enables the company to broadcast on medium wave across the whole of Germany. Programmes will go out in German, Russian and English, 18 hours a day. "This event is extremely important to the promotion of domestic radio broadcasting in Europe," Armen Oganesyan noted. "The new information opportunities which have opened up in front of us are in many ways the result of the noticeable progress in Russian-German relations." Voice of Russia's main partner in implementing its broadcasting project will be the German company T-Systems, part of the Deutsche Telekom concern. Source: RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1404 gmt 5 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INDIA. INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S BROADCASTING DAY AIR stations will broadcast special programs in connection with the International Children's Broadcasting Day on Decemeber 8, 2002. AIR back on 9950: AIR External Service which had suspended transmissions on 21 November 2002 on 9950 at 1730-2230 UT etc., due to harmonics [non-harmonic spurs -- gh], is now noted back on air -- without any harmonics of course (Jose Jacob, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. AT0NG, National Games The 32nd National Games of India is held in Hyderabad from 13 to 22 December, 2002. A special event Amateur Radio station with the callsign AT0NG (Alpha Tango Zero November Golf) is operational from National Institute of Amateur Radio the whole of this month. I will be operating this station often. Special QSL cards will be issued. To find out any current activity of this special station, please log on to http://hamcall.net/cgi-bin/dxspots.exe and enter at0ng in the search phrase (Jose Jacob, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. WRC-03 CONFERENCE PREPARATORY MEETING EXPANDS 40-METER OPTIONS Paul Simon sang of 50 ways to leave your lover, but participants at the just-ended Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) for World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 heard just five ways to fix 40 meters, plus a sixth that would just leave things as they are. "The five options for change all represent improvements in the amateur band, although two fall short of fulfilling the 300-kHz worldwide requirement," said ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. He attended the Geneva gathering in his role as International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) secretary. "All six options maintain the existing 300-kHz exclusive amateur allocation in Region 2." The objective of the CPM was to complete work on a 700-plus page extensive technical CPM Report, which outlines methods to address the more than three dozen items that are on the WRC-03 agenda. As for amateur issues, Sumner says 7-MHz realignment or harmonization "is one of the most difficult issues facing WRC-03." As he explains the situation, three major interests --- amateurs, shortwave broadcasters, and users, mainly military, of the fixed and mobile services --- have a stake in the outcome. The IARU is on record as supporting a 300-kHz worldwide amateur allocation in the vicinity of 7 MHz. Sumner said achieving this would require the fixed and mobile services to make room for broadcasters and for the broadcasters to change their operating frequencies. The five methods for change the CPM Report describes include a variety of transition schedules to ease the impact on these other services. * Method A would shift Region 1 and 3 broadcasters up by 200 kHz to 7300-7550 kHz in two stages and would provide the same band for broadcasting in Region 2. * Method B is similar but would have amateurs in Regions 1 and 3 sharing the upper 100 kHz of their newly expanded band with fixed and mobile. * Method C would provide just 200 kHz for amateurs in Regions 1 and 3. Amateurs in Region 2 would continue to contend with broadcasting interference from Regions 1 and 3 in the 7200-7300 kHz segment. * Method D, proposed by Canada at the CPM, would provide 300 kHz worldwide for amateurs by shifting broadcasters in Regions 1 and 3 up by 200 kHz but would not expand the Region 2 broadcasting allocation. This plan would minimize the impact on fixed and mobile services in Region 2. * Method E, proposed by the Republic of Korea at the CPM, would provide amateurs in Regions 1 and 3 with an additional 100 kHz shared with fixed and mobile (7100-7200 kHz). As with Method C, however, Region 2 amateurs would continue to face broadcasting interference from Regions 1 and 3 in the 7200-7300 kHz segment. * Method F, proposed by Australia at the CPM, would simply maintain the status quo. This plan reflects concerns about the impact of realignment on military and national security communications capabilities. "There is no guarantee that proposals will be limited to the six methods described in the CPM Report," Sumner said. Amateur Radio was well represented at the CPM. Chairing the CPM was Eberhard George, DL7IH, of Germany. A three-member IARU team was headed by President Larry Price, W4RA, and included Sumner and Wojciech Nietyksza, SP5FM. ARRL Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, served as a member of the US delegation. He also was named to chair the ad hoc group that dealt with the substance of the 7-MHz text. Several other amateurs were on their national delegations, some of them specifically to represent Amateur Radio and others in professional capacities. IARU Vice President David Wardlaw, VK3ADW, was on the Australian delegation. Sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the CPM drew more than 1000 participants to Geneva during the last two weeks of November. Over the next three months, regional telecommunications organizations and groups (CEPT, CITEL, and Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, the African Telecommunications Union, and Iran and the Arab States) as well as individual administrations will be developing their proposals for WRC-03, which takes place in Geneva next summer (ARRL Letter Dec 6 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. From http://www.carolinesouth.com Listeners in the Americas should tune to: "U.S.A., Mexico, Caribbean, Hawaii Satcom C3 131.0 West. Ch. 24 4.180 GHz Horizontal Audio subcarrier 7.74" What Is Worldspace? Quite simply it is one of the most exciting developments in radio technology in recent times! It is a portable radio with the normal FM, Medium Wave and Short Wave bands PLUS a satellite band which enables you to listen to digital quality international radio stations AND specialist music channels throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.... (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. OBSTACLES FOR FOREIGN REPORTERS COVERING IRAQ. As the world follows the daily reports of United Nations arms inspections of Iraq, foreign journalists are scrambling to get their visas to Baghdad -- never an easy process and now more difficult with possibly impending war. Some reporters who had obtained entry in the past are now facing delays if they had at some time filed critical reports or interviewed dissenters. Others are managing to wangle visas but are finding that they are being pressed into covering propagandistic exercises by the Iraqi government in exchange for access. At a minimum, they are forced to except regime-sponsored "minders" at their own cost of $100 a day. In "Air War: How Saddam Manipulates the U.S. Media" published on 16 October at http://www.tnr.com Franklin Foer of "The New Republic" details the lengths to which the world's major news media go to get in the good graces of the Iraqi Information Ministry, which maintains legions of staff to follow their every movement and scrutinize every broadcast. "Like their Soviet-bloc predecessors, the Iraqis have become masters of the Orwellian pantomime -- the state-orchestrated anti-American rally, the state-led tours of alleged chemical weapons sites that turn out to be baby milk factories -- that promotes their distorted reality," writes Foer. In November, PBS Frontline also featured a special report, "Truth and Lies in Baghdad," describing overwhelming restrictions on the media. "Journalists must attempt to gather facts from wary -- and some would say terrorized -- Iraqis who are highly reluctant to criticize Saddam's regime," says PBS. see http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq/press.html (CAF, RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 6 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Voice of Islamic Revolution, 7100, Voice of Islamic Revolution in Iraq e-mail report bounced to info@nidaa-arrafidain.com after multiple attempts to deliver apparently "exceeding quota" so eventually "timed out." Either they get a lot of e-mail or they don't spend much time looking at their e-mail. Initially, I received an automated reply indicating my report was received (R. D`Angelo, PA, Nov 30, 2002 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** IRELAND. From Radiowaves NATIONAL: 252 mast for RTÉ use An RTÉ spokeswoman has told the Meath Chronicle that they intend to use the former Atlantic 252 mast to broadcast their four main radio stations across Ireland and into the United Kingdom. If it happens, this will make RTÉ Radio 1, 2FM, Lyric FM and Raidio na Gaeltachta available in parts of the country where the current signal is not up to standard. However, no final decision has yet been made and the facility may still be leased out in the future (via Mike Terry, Dec 5, DXLD) {by mounting FM antennas atop it? multiplexing LW/MW??} ** ISRAEL. Yes, Kol Israel is on air on even 6280 kHz from 2000 UT, powerhouse in Western Europe. (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See Russia for adjacent 6275 ** JAPAN. JA SAYS NO TO PLT Japan has said no to the introduction of Power Line Transmissions or P-L-T in that nation. Following extensive trials, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications has decided not to permit their roll-out for fear of interference to other services. The Japan Amateur Radio League had been actively working with the government, radio astronomers, broadcasters and others to assess the impact of P-L-T systems on the radio spectrum. The results of this P-L-T study in Japan is a real eye-opener. It showed conclusively that Power Line Transmission system emissions are harmful to High Frequency communications operating in the range 2 to 30 MHz. Because of this Japan's telecommunications regulators have refused all requests from P-L-T manufacturers to operate these systems (JARL, Q- News via Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 6 via DXLD) Usually known as PLC for Powerline Communications (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. NORTH KOREA ASKS P5/4L4FN TO QRT The only Amateur Radio station active from North Korea has been ordered off the air. Ed Giorgadze, 4L4FN, had been operating for the past year as P5/4L4FN from Pyongyang. The ARRL subsequently accredited SSB and RTTY operation of P5/4L4FN for DXCC. "This really hits the ham community hard," QSL manager Bruce Paige, KK5DO, said in a news release. "I, for one, was looking forward to a satellite contact on AO-40. I know that many of you were still awaiting your first QSO." Paige said that on Friday, November 22, Giorgadze was called into a meeting with the "Radio Regulation Board" without any explanation, and he was politely asked to quit all transmissions and pack all his radio equipment. "Saturday, he spent all day on the roof disassembling his antennas and packing boxes." Paige said North Korean government officials later came by and sealed all of the boxes. When Giorgadze leaves North Korea on December 10 for two weeks of vacation, "he is to take everything with him out of the country," Paige indicated. Giorgadze had tried for more than two years to obtain permission to operate Amateur Radio in North Korea and finally was given the okay in 2001 to bring an ICOM IC-706MkIIG into the country. In the intervening months, he's been slowly upgrading his antenna system. He's made more than 16,000 contacts during his stint in North Korea, and earlier this year attained the first DXCC ever from that country. Paige said the P5/4L4FN logs should be 100% complete on his Web site http://www.amsatnet.com/ (click on "P5 North Korea"). Giorgadze, who's from of the Republic of Georgia, had been operating on the basis of oral permission from North Korean authorities, but ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, said the League was satisfied on the basis of written information submitted that the P5/4L4FN operation conformed with DXCC rules and cards would continue be accepted for credit (ARRL Letter Dec 6 via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. LEBANESE OPPOSITION RADIO FROM PARIS SAID TO HAVE BELGIAN CONNECTION | Text of report by Arlette Khuri in Paris headlined "`Awn's group' launches radio broadcasts from Paris via Belgian company", published by London-based newspaper Al-Hayat on 4 December The Lebanese opposition loyal to General Michel Awn has found out an outlet for radio broadcasts to Lebanon from Paris. The radio broadcasting channel, however, is not French. It is Belgian, operating from France. Reuters said an initial trial broadcast was actually launched to fill the vacuum that emerged after the Lebanese authorities closed the MTV [Murr Television] station. The news of the radio broadcasts took official French circles by surprise, particularly since Paris has always firmly refused to deal with such activities. Before any problems might arise, opposition sources clarified that the non-live [recorded] broadcasts are transmitted via a private Belgian company. Al-Hayat asked the French Foreign Ministry about the issue. The ministry emphasized that it had no information about these trial broadcasts from Paris. Other official circles told Al-Hayat they were not aware of the broadcasts, which they said, should get the approval of the [French] Higher Audiovisual Council [Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel, CSA]. They added that the council consults with the Foreign Ministry before giving any approval. Reuters reported that the pro-Awn Rally for Lebanon was in charge of the radio station, which began its broadcasts from Paris on shortwave on 22 November 2002, Lebanon's Independence Day. Reuters quoted Simon Abu-Rimya, the chairman of the Rally for Lebanon, as saying the radio broadcasts "are aimed at telling people the truth, since there is one speech ideology in Lebanon today in favour of Syria." Reuters pointed out that the radio station would use a different political language than that which prevails in Lebanon. It would refer to the Syrian presence in Lebanon as "the occupation" and Lebanese officials as "the current formula". Abu-Rimya denied that Paris was the broadcast headquarters. He told Al-Hayat: "We deal with a private Belgian company." He refused to disclose the name of the company. He said, however, the company has transmitters around the world and "we use this company to broadcast our programmes." He said the broadcast is received in Lebanon, other Arab countries and some European states. [A Lebanese radio station identifying itself as Voice of Freedom [sic] has been heard broadcasting in Arabic on 11515 kHz from 1600-1700 gmt since 22 November. The Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star web on 20 November said that a radio station of the France-based Rally for Lebanon, part of the Free Patriotic Movement of former Army Commander Michel Awn, would start broadcasting on 22 November. Gen Awn has been in exile in France for the past 11 years.] Source: Al-Hayat, London, in Arabic 4 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) We already know that the `private Belgian company` is TDP, which brokers time on lots of different sites, not including, as far as we know, Wavre, Belgium, itself. Nor does ``from Paris`` necessarily mean that SW transmitters in France be used, tho we know clandestine transmissions are possible as with Iran`s. Programmes are probably produced in Paris where Aoun apparently resides (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. On the Radio Fórmula website http://www.radioformula.com.mx/rf1000.asp you can find a complete listing of the 24-hours of programming on the three Radio Fórmula nets (John Callarman, Krum TX, Corazón DX via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Last year I decided to check if I could hear some other pacific signals, and I managed to pick up: 3905 kHz Radio New Ireland, Kavieng, Papua N. Guinea 4890 kHz Karai Nat. Radio/NBC Port Moresby, Pap. N. Guinea. Distance from Holland to Papua New Guinea via long-path is over 26000 km!!!!!!!! I heard these stations several times around 08-0830 UT, one day even until after 09!!!! Signals last year where heard on a 150 and 200m long beverage. NBC on 4890 was over s9 one day. So, maybe interesting to have a look for coming month. Sucses!! (Dick, DKp4733/ MWC-492, van de Knaap, Holten, East-Holland, Dec 6, BDXC via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Reactivada solo por un dia, Radio Nacional del Paraguay en 9737.85, el pasado 05/12. Captada durante el cierre de emisiones con el himno nacional, a las 0257 UT. 73 y buen DX... (Adán González. Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. RADIO-STATION DIRECTOR SANCTIONED FOR INDULGING IN CENSORSHIP The board of directors of the Romanian Broadcasting Authority (SRR) announced on 25 November that it has sanctioned the director of the radio's classical-music station Romania Muzical for censorship, Romanian Radio reported. The board said that the station's director ordered the interruption of a live concert broadcast on 19 November after conductor Iancu Dumitrescu addressed the audience and criticized the authorities for the meager funds they allocate to culture. The board said the station's director has been demoted for one month. It also assured listeners that the SSR "will not tolerate censorship" and ordered that the concert be rebroadcast in full, including Dumitrescu's improvised speech. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 26 November via RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 6 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re 6235 at 2100-2200 VOR new time for English: This is St. Petersburg, 6235 1800 2200 27,28 S.P 200 265 218 RUS RRS GFC with the first hour in German. wb df5sx Checked the 48 mb again tonight around 1720-1815 UT. 6275 kHz Russian is DEFINITE Radio Rossii program. Much stronger in past days, maybe a spurious fair signal of a Russian transmitter site somewhere. // heard 5905 6060 6125 6160. Maybe via Noginsk-Moscow or Ekaterinburg site I guess. Calculation 6275 minus 5905 would result to 370 kHz, divided by 2 = 185 kHz apart. 6275 minus 185 kHz = 6090 where the VOR Arabic powerhouse from Moscow area is broadcast at same time. [Later:] 'estimated' spurious signal of Radio Rossii in Russian on 6275 kHz left the air at 2000 UT, when fundamental 6090 kHz V. of Russia in Arabic language signed off also. Accompanied 5905 Radio Rossii still on air after 2000 UT. [185 kHz apart] 73 (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. From Novosti RUSSIA`S VOICE RADIO STATION GETS RIGHT TO BROADCAST IN GERMANY MOSCOW, December 5, 2002. /from a RIA Novosti correspondent/. The state broadcasting company Russia's Voice became the first Russian radio station, having the official right to broadcast in Germany. The relevant five-year license was given to the head of the Russia's Voice radio company Armen Oganesyan by Berlin-Brandenburg authorities on Thursday, Russia's Voice told RIA Novosti. The licence gives the right of middle-wave broadcasting all over Germany. Radio programmes will be broadcast in the German, Russian and English languages for 18 hours a day. "This is a particularly important event for the promotion of Russian radio products in Europe. Our new information possibilities are a result of significant progress in Russian-German relations," Armen Oganesyan noted. German company T-systems of the Deutsche-Telecom concern will be the main partner of Russia's Voice in the implementation of the broadcasting project. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) See also GERMANY, and also in DXLD 2-191 ** SVALBARD. NRK days are numbered? There seems to be some uncertainty regarding the future of the NRK Svalbard transmitter in Longyearbyen, 1485 kHz. NRK primarily wants to close this 1 kW outlet, but the local communities have objected to this. The original decision to close on January 1, 2003 now seems to have been postponed while the operator, Norkring, calculates the costs of upgrading the transmitter mast. NRK Ingøy 153 does cover the western and southern parts of Svalbard. The rest of the Svalbard archipelago does not receive Ingøy well, and RFI problems in the Longyearbyen center also prohibit reception of Ingøy. However, the major Svalbard communities do have satellite-fed FM relays of the NRK networks. NRK Svalbard mostly relays NRK P1 programming, including the local service from NRK Tromsø. During the winter night, NRK Svalbard is often heard with good strength in Scandinavian locations north of the Arctic Circle, especially on the shores of Arctic Norway. At 78 degrees North, NRK Svalbard is probably the northernmost ordinary broadcast station in the world. _________________ (From the world's northernmost DXer, Bjarne Mjelde, Lensmann Ellilasveg 4, N-9980 Berlevag, Norway, Dec 7, dxing.info via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. [See 2-191:] 6145 1400 CBS Date with Taipei, CBS-ID, talk 53433. QRM=co-channel with het. 7515 1400 CBS Date with Taipei // 6145. 54443 QRM=co-channel (Eike Birwirth, Tainan, Dec 7, GRDXC via DXLD) {Program title in English, so program in English? Not necessarily --gh} ** TAIWAN. 7/12/02. Dear friends, 'Radio Taipei International' has announced yet another contest. Here are the details. Regds (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, GRDXC) --------------------------------------------- Dear listener, It is the end of the year. First of all, we would like to wish you all a happy new year and may you be blessed with happiness in the coming year! CBS is now holding "2002 Top Ten News Voting" We fervently ask you to take part in this contest and in return, you may win a prize from CBS... (via Alokesh Gupta, Dec 7, GRDXC via DXLD) I suppose details be somewhere on the RTI website; haven`t searched (gh, DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. Thursday 5th December 2002 VT MERLIN & SENTECH DELIVER PROGRAMMES FOR UNICEF'S INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY OF BROADCASTING Sunday 8th December 2002 VT Merlin Communications, part of VT Group plc has donated twelve hours of transmission capacity to UNICEF as part of the International Children's Day of Broadcasting on Sunday 8th December 2002. The programmes, produced for UNICEF by BBC World Service Trust, will be transmitted internationally by both VT Merlin, and partners Sentech in South Africa to enhance UNICEF's broadcast schedule for this very special day. VT Merlin will play out the programmes from its Central London Control room and distribute to the short wave facility it operates and maintains in the United Arab Emirates, providing extensive coverage of China and India. VT Merlin will also distribute the programmes to Sentech in South Africa who will transmit them on short wave from Meyerton, providing UNICEF with comprehensive coverage of the African Continent. The International Children's Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) is all about children telling their own story, as reporters, producers, writers, hosts and directors for TV and radio programmes. ICDB is the largest broadcast campaign for children in the world encompassing more than 2000 broadcasters covering just about every part of the globe. On the second Sunday of December each year, broadcasters open their studios and airwaves to children and the result is innovative, lively and challenging programmes that attract substantial audiences. Richard Hurd, VT Merlin's Head of Transmission Services said "We are delighted to be associated with the ICDB allowing children in the developing world, who might only have access to short wave radio, the opportunity to hear the voices of other children from around the globe." Marjorie Newman-Williams, Director of UNICEF's Division of Communications added "ICDB allows children all over the world to express themselves and to be heard. UNICEF strongly believes that child participation is an essential part of every child's education and maturing process. Broadcasts such as these allow young people to develop their understanding of world events and their role within them." Dr Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, Sentech's Chief Executive Officer said "It is a privilege for Sentech to donate six hours of broadcast time in support of this initiative to bring these programmes to the children of Africa. For many people on the continent short wave radio is still the only medium of information in today's global village. We believe the broadcast time forms an important building block in making the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) a reality." Transmission Schedule (Sunday 8th December 2002) Time (GMT) Frequency Transmitter Site Coverage Area 0330-5000 21630 kHz UAE China [sic, must mean 0330-0500] 0330-5000 17730 kHz UAE China [sic, must mean 0330-0500] 1000-1130 17720 kHz UAE India 1000-1130 15350 kHz UAE India 1300-1430 21730 kHz Meyerton West & Central Africa 1300-1430 15235 kHz Meyerton East & Central Africa 1300-1430 11505 kHz Meyerton Southern Africa 1300-1430 9800 kHz Meyerton Southern Africa (via Cumbre DX via DXLD) See also INDIA ** U K. BBC OPTS FOR QUANTITY OVER QUALITY IN DIGITAL RADIO John Plunkett, Monday December 2, 2002 BBC radio bosses have admitted the introduction of new stations is impairing the quality of digital broadcasts. Despite complaints of a "drastic reduction" in quality, the BBC is gearing up to launch yet another digital service, BBC7, later this month. The BBC has already introduced five digital-only stations this year, including rock station 6Music, black music station 1Xtra, 5 Live Sports Extra and the Asian Network. A corporation spokeswoman confirmed quality had suffered, saying there was a "small but committed group of audiophiles who think we have compromised the quality of the broadcasts". The launch of BBC7 on December 15 will take to 11 the number of stations broadcast on the BBC's digital radio multiplex. This will push the technology's capacity to its limit.... http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,850901,00.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. Some WBCQ program changes: UT Tue 0200-0300 on 7415 after Hal Turner, SECULAR BIBLE STUDY; UT Sun 0000-0100 on 9335, SPLIT SECS [note spelling]. Some times available for sale on 7415: Mon 2300-2330 UT, Tue 2230- 2300, Thu 2230-2300. Besides its live airtime, UT Sat 0000-0100 on 7415, ALLAN WEINER WORLDWIDE is currently repeating in other slots which are also available for sale: Sat 1700 on 17495, UT Sun 0100 on 9335. TIMTRON is also filling another availability, UT Sun 0300-0400 on 9335 (Allan Weiner, AWWW Dec 7, notes by gh for DXLD) I know most of you poor buggers have to work for a living and may not be able to listen to WBCQ during the daytime, but I got a real hoot out of an hour of listening to WBCQ on 17.495 today at 1800-1900 UT. I learned that George Washington was really the anti-christ and the incarnation of Lucifer. George Washington Bush (Just what did you think the "W" stood for?) is a follower of the anti-christ. This guy was better than Bill Cooper (RIP) ever thought of being. The WBCQ web site shows the name of that show as: Jeremiah 33~3 17.495 MHz 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EST - 18:00 - 19:00 UTC From the King James version of the bible: 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. On today's show I learned the following things: 1. George W. Bush is a false prophet 2. David Rockefeller is the anti-christ because he built a prayer room in the UN building in New York. 3. Jesus Christ was born on April 18. We know that because it was three days after taxation day which all over the world is April 15. 4. The USA is the promised land of milk and honey from the bible. 5. The Washington Monument is a Masonic symbol which stretches from its subterranian base to the tip exactly 666 feet. I guess he left it to the student to figure out the significance of 666. He did not say this but I assume that explains why the US is the only country in the industrial world that has not adopted the metric system. 6. Noah was the incarnation of Lucifer. He rebelled against God. After the flood he planted a vine, grew grapes, made wine, got drunk, and buggered his son Hamm. Thus was born homosexuality and AIDS. 7. A new 7 day war will begin on 13 December and end on 20 December. Set your VCR's now. The program concluded with a song sung by a totally tone-deaf female. The program terminated without the usual solicitation to sell tapes or solicit money that I heard on other days. It sounded like the feed was via a dial up internet connection that got broken as after a few minutes of silence there was a beeping tone followed by the autovoice announcement, "If you wish to make a call..." Congratulations to WBCQ, The Planet, for not discriminating against programmers on the basis of religion, political philosophy, nor sanity. Brother Scare move over! ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, Dec 4 [Wed}, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ Someone else noticed this on rec.radio.shortwave: KOOK SHORTWAVE AT ITS VERY BEST Don't forget WBCQ 17.495 from 1-2 PM EST today. Jermiaha 33 & 1/3 Ministries - KOOKIER THAN BROTHER STAIR AND ALEX JONES PUT TOGETHER!! I kid you not people - this guy at the time above is a bigger WHACK JOB than anyone I've heard on shortwave - even James Lloyd who he comes on afterward!!! Cukooo! Cukooo!!! (via John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) Actually, it was on rrs that I first heard about this nut. I decided to check him out myself. Truly amazing to think that this garbage goes out to the world from the USA. Luckily, I think WBCQ only beams southwest so most of the English speaking world outside the USA will not be exposed to this nut case. In the kettle is black department, yesterday this guy [Apocalypse Chronicles] was calling Jeremiah 33-3 a false prophet and encouraging his listeners not to listen to the program that followed his on the same frequency at 1 PM EST. The day before I heard commercials on both shows for the same Christian Media company in Oregon. These guys both have the same sponsor and one is picking a fight with the other. Sounds like the pay-per-view wrestling matches on TV (Joe Buch, ibid.) At 17-18 UT heard odd v17494.89, WBCQ, 35333 in English, listeners phone in interview program (Wolfgang Bueschel, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 2003 SPECTRUM DEFENSE FUND WELL UNDER WAY ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, says the ARRL Spectrum Defense Fund has generated $190,000 in contributions from more than 4100 ARRL members. "If you have already sent your contribution, thank you," Hobart said. "But if you've not yet contributed to this vital ARRL program, please consider a generous contribution before December 31." The goal is to raise $500,000 to support ARRL's work to protect the frequencies amateurs use every day. Financial support from the amateur community funds representation in Washington and the work of the ARRL Lab to support advocacy efforts as well as representation for Amateur Radio at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 next summer. Contributions can be mailed to ARRL Headquarters or made via the secure ARRL 2003 Spectrum Defense Fund Web site http://www.arrl.org/defense FCC SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENTS ON SPECTRUM POLICY TASK FORCE REPORT Public comments are due January 9, 2003, on the recently released report of the Spectrum Policy Task Force (ET Docket 02-135) see http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2002/11/07/103/ Reply comments are due February 10. The Task Force released its report to the FCC on November 15. The FCC notes that the Spectrum Policy Task Force Report was drafted by FCC staff and was neither voted upon nor approved by the Commission. "Accordingly, neither the Report nor any of the recommendations contained therein necessarily reflect the views of the Commission," the FCC added. The text of the Report and other Task Force documents are available on the Task Force Web site http://www.fcc.gov/sptf/ Parties are encouraged to file comments using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html Commenters should include full name, US Postal Service mailing address, and the docket number, ET Docket 02-135 (ARRL Letter Dec 6 via DXLD) See also INTERNATIONAL for 7 MHz band rejiggering ** U S A. "A Cajun Night Before Christmas," read by the late author's wife(?), Lafayette, Louisiana, 3870 LSB, 0100 UTC December 25. (Scott Royall, swprograms via DXLD) I think he heard this last year, so try this year... ** U S A. Hi Glenn, I heard both Radio Azeri [sic] and Radio Farda in a program and thought that Farda had started. Evidently it hadn't, because I got the following message from a contact in return: "Radio Farda has not started yet. We plan to begin in mid-December. We are broadcasting VOA Farsi. Radio Azada [sic] will go off the air -- it is winding down right now. Best, Joan" 73 from (Bjorn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Name of the present doomed R. Liberty service is R. Azadi (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I've received some interesting reaction to my latest editorial, ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER STATION --- all of it - so far - agreeing with me. I've added a page for these reactions at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/reaction021206.html Further comments are most welcome to media@rnw.nl (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Dec 6 via DXLD) Viz.: As of 6 December, I have not received any reaction to my editorial Another day, another station from proponents of Radio Farda and similar operations. If and when they arrive, I'll add them here. In the meantime, here's a sample of what people are saying. (AS) From a journalist who has - for obvious reasons - asked to remain anonymous: "As a VOA News correspondent, I wanted to commend you for your insightful and impeccable analysis of what is going on here at VOA. You are dead on when you say that what our masters of the Broadcasting Board of Governors are doing is wreaking havoc with morale. One point of interest to note: we were recently treated to a multimedia presentation of the new VOA logo. This logo, we were told, would use VOA's high profile and international journalistic reputation in news to enhance listenership. Now, we were all frankly a little stunned at the inconsistency in this. On the one hand, they want to trade on our reputation - while on the other, they are creating new radios designed to keep their distance from the VOA brand name. Also disturbing was the inclusion on the logo of the phrase "Direct from Washington." To many of us, this only enhances the impression of VOA as a propaganda arm. We are, of course, not - at least, not yet. But this administration is trying its mightiest to make us so. In doing so it is carving up VOA into pieces, and I and many of my colleagues fear that in only a few years only a skeletal shell of the once-proud Voice of America will remain." Andy Sennitt replies: What I find so frustrating about the current situation is that, for example, an American president is in office for a maximum of eight years. But for most people who work in international broadcasting, it's a career - and the damage that politicians can do in a relatively short period of time remains long after they have left office. The current policies seem to be short- term, designed to serve the interests of this particular administration at what is admittedly a difficult time. I don't believe it's credible for the American taxpayer to permanently foot the bill for a pop music service aimed at people thousands of miles away. Commercial broadcasters do that kind of thing much better. When the administration considers that Radio Sawa, Radio Farda and their like have served their purpose, they will close them down. And then what? Has anyone prepared a coherent plan of what to do next? Roger Chambers in Utica, NY writes: "Your views are absolutely on target. It has long been an embarrassment to many Americans that the VOA is so dismal, largely as it does not seem to have a coherent vision of just what it wants to be. Particularly when it comes to Radio Marti and Radio Free Asia. With the fall of the Soviet Union, they are still struggling in finding a mission and fitting their station to that mission. Maybe, someday, the dust will settle a bit, and VOA (or something different) will find its mission, and again join international broadcasting in a way that is interesting and entertaining, and yet credible, and not an embarrassment to those of us Americans that happen to listen to if from time to time." Andy Sennitt replies: The problem is that it's not up to VOA itself to decide what it wants to be. That varies according to who's in the White House and the prevailing international climate. I firmly believe this can only be solved by making VOA independent of government - and, yes, changing its name. If you look at the radio stations that have, over the years, called themselves the Voice of something, you'll find that almost without exception they're from totalitarian regimes. And why should a great country like the United States, which prides itself on its multiethnic nature and tolerance of free expression, have one single "Voice"? Sue Ritter writes: "I agree 100% with your editorial. I have been a short wave listener for over 20 years, this current attitude of our politicians is disgusting and demeaning to us here at home, as well as to the people of the countries involved." Andy Sennitt replies: Your phrase "current attitude of our politicians" sums up where the real problem lies. There's nothing wrong with US international broadcasting that can't be fixed by the politicians backing off and leaving broadcasting to the broadcasters. The people who work at VOA - and I've met quite a few over the years - are no different from the people who work here, except that we are an independent foundation under Dutch law. I believe such a construction would work as well in the US as it has worked here for more than 50 years. Now, what US administration is going to be bold enough to grasp the nettle? Views expressed on this page are not necessarily those of Radio Netherlands (Media Network via DXLD) RADIO AZADI OF RFE/RL'S PERSIAN SERVICE GOES OFF AIR After serving listeners for four years, Radio Azadi of RFE/RL's Persian Service broadcast its last program on 1 December. It will be succeeded later in the month by Radio Farda, which means Radio Tomorrow in Persian, according to a press release from the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors. Radio Farda will be a joint effort of two BBG entities: RFE/RL and the Voice of America. Radio Farda is aimed at listeners under 30 years of age, and it will broadcast news, features, and other information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, it will broadcast a combination of popular Persian and Western music designed to appeal to a young audience. Radio Farda broadcasts will be available on medium wave (AM), shortwave, digital- audio satellite, and via the Internet. Until Radio Farda begins its programs, the RFE/RL frequencies will be used for 30-minute newscasts and 2 1/2 hours of music daily ("RFE/RL Newsline," 2 December via RFE/RE Media Matters Dec 6 via DXLD) U.S.'S POWERFUL WEAPON IN IRAN: TV By LYNETTE CLEMETSON with NAZILA FATHI WASHINGTON, Dec. 6. The letter, written in Farsi, was as tantalizingly mysterious as the videotape it was wrapped around. "Excuse the unprofessional quality of the video," wrote the sender, a young Iranian. "We didn't want to attract authorities by using a production crew." On the tape was a jolting series of interviews with frustrated Iranians complaining about their country's stalled political reforms and the repressiveness of its ruling mullahs. The unsolicited video was sent not to the C.I.A. but to the young Iranian cast of "Next Chapter," a hip, new MTV-inspired television show broadcast from the Voice of America headquarters here and beamed to Iran via satellite. The sender, who had smuggled the tape out of Iran and mailed it from London, could not broadcast the hotly political material on government-controlled Iranian television, so he appealed to his Iranian peers in the United States... http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/07/arts/television/07IRAN.html?ex=1040258984&ei=1&en=28c726ffcb44eac3 (via Joel Rubin, swprograms via DXLD) Same article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/07/arts/television/07IRAN.html?ex=1039842000&en=b8968a5384f309f4&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. TELEVISION ICON DIES --- ABCNEWS CHAIRMAN ROONE ARLEDGE REVOLUTIONIZED SPORTS, NEWS COVERAGE N E W Y O R K, Dec. 5 - Television pioneer Roone Arledge, chairman and longtime president of ABCNEWS, died today in New York City of complications from cancer. He was 71. In a long and distinguished career spanning four decades, Arledge played a key role in revolutionizing how news and sporting events are covered and watched around the world. When Life magazine asked historians, critics and scholars to select the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century" in 1990, they put Arledge on that exclusive list. Sports Illustrated magazine ranked Arledge third - behind only Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan - as one of the 40 individuals who have most significantly altered or elevated the world of sports in the last four decades. "Roone Arledge revolutionized television and with it the way people see and understand the world," ABCNEWS President David L. Westin said. "A true creator, Roone invented many of television's most enduring and important programs, all the while fostering the brilliant careers of generations of the most talented men and women to work in front of or behind a television camera. "His ability to broadcast the essential and unfolding drama in all human situations - from the gridiron to the world's stage - transformed not only sports and news but all of us who watched. He was our leader and our friend and we will miss his passion and his will to make us all better than we were." The list of Arledge's accomplishments speaks for itself. During his nearly two decades at the helm of ABCNEWS, Arledge created some of the most critically acclaimed news programs in television history. Prior to his tenure at the news division, Arledge was credited with transforming sports broadcasting. While president of ABC Sports from 1968 to 1986, Arledge introduced virtually all state-of-the-art technologies to sports programming, including instant replays, slow motion, advanced graphics, as well as the introduction of journalistic values and personalization of athletes to sports broadcasting. "Before Roone Arledge there were no replays. There were no slow-mo machines," said Dick Ebersol, Arledge's protégé who later became the president of NBC Sports. "There was absolutely no prime-time sports on any network." Before Arledge there was also no Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell, no Wide World of Sports with its "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat," and no Olympic sports coverage as we now know it. For the record, not everyone agreed with Arledge's decision to give Cosell, a former labor lawyer, a turn at sports commentary. "When Monday Night Football first started, I used to come into my office and literally there were boxes of mail, people saying 'get that guy off,'" Arledge once said. But together, Arledge and Cosell turned the Monday night program into the crown jewel of broadcast sports. Brought Olympics to Americans As the head of ABC Sports, Arledge brought the Olympics to Americans by producing all 10 ABC Olympic broadcasts. He is the first television executive and one of the very few Americans to receive the Medal of the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee. In 1989, he was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame. At the Munich Olympics in 1972, he produced for a world audience the first live coverage of a terror attack, when the Palestinian Black September Movement murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the Games. "It was a day like no other in sports," said Arledge. "I cannot think of a day that even comes close to it." In 1977, Arledge became the president of ABCNEWS and immediately moved to turn the perennial third-place network into a media powerhouse. He used new technologies to bring news from around the world to Americans. "Even those of us who had to compete against him from across the aisle, from another network, were constantly in awe of his innovation," NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw said of Arledge. Arledge created the ABC shows World News Tonight, Nightline, 20/20, Primetime, This Week with David Brinkley and This Week without David Brinkley. "If you think about news in our time, it's just synonymous with Roone Arledge," said 20/20 anchor Barbara Walters. Arledge was well-known for his uncanny ability to spot potential stars and successfully recruited journalists like World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings. He also lured David Brinkley to the network and recognized the star talent of Diane Sawyer, Sam Donaldson, Ted Koppel, Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs, among others. Arledge is also largely credited - or, perhaps, blamed - for paying journalists the kind of money even some of them thought was preposterous. But he had a different idea. "I don't think I created the star system," he said. "I certainly carried it to new heights. Stardom really is recognition of someone who stands out above his peers. And above the crowd." Some observers noted a shyness and mystery about Arledge. In a 1992 profile, Los Angeles Times writer Jane Hall said: "Arledge is notorious for not returning phone calls - even those of top management and famous TV talent - and for making decisions on a Zen-like timetable that can drive subordinates crazy. He is described by colleagues as both genuinely shy and genuinely uninterested in giving interviews." Arledge was known to pass along his critiques of broadcasts by calling producers in their control rooms using a dedicated line known to executive producers and desk assistants alike as the "Roone phone." Once Arledge did grant his attention, a network correspondent told Hall, "it can be like a laser beam." "Those of us who worked for Roone believe we worked with a fascinating, eccentric, challenging, adventurous man through a good part of the golden age in television news," Jennings said. A Start With Lambchop Arledge first worked for the Dumont network and then at NBC, where he won the first of 37 Emmy Awards for producing a puppet show with Shari Lewis and her puppet, Lambchop. Eventually, Arledge was recognized for his enormous contributions to the broadcasting medium with nearly every major award in television. In 1990, he was honored with broadcasting's most prestigious distinction: induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Most recently, on Sept. 10, Arledge was awarded the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also the recipient of the Gold Medal Award from the International Radio and Television Society, as well as four George Foster Peabody Awards. Arledge received his most recent Peabody Award, a personal award, for bringing ABC to the forefront in news coverage; for his personal commitment to high ethical standards; for his leadership within ABC and the television industry; and for his outstanding contributions to the Olympic Games. Arledge is survived by his wife, Gigi Shaw Arledge, and his children from a previous marriage, Roone Arledge Jr, Susan Weston, Betsey Arledge and Patricia Looney (source? Via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. CHARLES JACO sighting- the ex-KMOX-A/ST. LOUIS and CNN personality, who left KMOX in a storm of controversy, filled in at ENTERCOM Talk KIRO-A/SEATTLE as that station tries out possibilities to replace BRYAN SUITS, who left to join crosstown KVI-A. Other tryouts in the 7-10p slot have included SIR MIX-A-LOT teamed with JEFF "THE FISHERMAN" AARON (formerly of Sports KJR-A, now in afternoons at Talk KRKO-A); MIKE SIEGEL is being aired in the slot temporarily (from http://www2.allaccess.com/ via Brock Whaley Dec. 6, DXLD) ** U S A. Steve Anderson and attempted murder: I should guess he will get indicted for attempted murder when the (Commonwealth of Kentucky) Pulaski County Grand Jury gets around to it. This was a Federal Grand Jury so he was indicted for violations of Federal law like possessing and using illegal weapons in furtherance of a crime of violence (Joel Rubin, NY, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Steve Anderson`s former ham call was AA8DP (Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 6 via DXLD) ** U S A. Another long IBOC thread --- Bob, Is this the first time you've heard IBOC at work? Your post is sort of confirming what I've been saying. If widely adopted on AM night time, it would end skywave listening for all practical purposes. My other contention is that although it would work in and very near the city of license, once you start to get into the suburbs, IBOC would be useless and could only further destroy the AM band. By the way, you should give IBOC a listen from my end, 15 miles from the WOR towers. They even surprised me the other night zapping WSB enough as to make "normal" listening a bit difficult. When WNEW-102.7 ran IBOC testing, they effectively took out the adjacents, although WMGK-102.9 did get through with the antennas pointed at WMGK/away from WNEW. In effect, it wouldn't over-ride another local strength signal.....which is why I said it might be easier to try to DX through locals than on their adjacents (at 20 miles away, some DX thru the locals is possible). I can just imagine what IBOC would sound like on a 100 Kw station. Regards, Joe Fela P.S. It is also my contention these tests will be viewed as a great success and IBOC will be allowed on AM night time. The posts from WOR on the NYC radio message board make it clear that they feel they are on a great mission, saving AM with IBOC and IBOC can do no wrong. Their answer to interference on the adjacents, specially someone saying they could no longer hear WADS-690, was that WADS is not licensed to serve the 5 boroughs. If the IBOC exciter exploded and hit the WOR CE on the head, he would still vow that IBOC is the greatest invention since the ham sandwich --__--__-- (Joe Fela, NJ, Dec 4, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Hi Joe. No, this isn`t the first time I've heard the IBOC "hash". Where I live I`m able to hear WOR during the day light hours here in Eastern NC. I noted the muddyness of the analog audio and then got a real dose of the ole IBOC tune called "Adjacent Channel Hash" for about an hour before sunset. Their signal is very weak here during the daylight hours, but after hearing what I heard on my radio and what was uploaded on WOR`s website, I was not impressed. The latest thing coming down the "pike" is that most of the complaints are coming from AM DX'ers and AM Stereo supporters, because we all "certainly listen with radios that are not ""normal"" ". Sad thing is the interference is heard on everything, including narrow bandpassed radios! Something is amiss here for sure and everyone`s head is being pumped with horse poo. It`s just my hope that those stations operating 60 kHz either side of 700 and 710 will take note of their coverage areas, have the General Managers, Sales Managers and Engineers of those stations on 670, 680, 690, 720, 730, 740 take note of how they sound and what the coverage is like now that those stations are testing. Are these stations noting increased complaints of noise on their favorite radio station, inability to hear the station anymore? Then these stations need to take action with the FCC and have something done about this. Has anyone talked with any stations in Canada? What is their feel on US IBOC and the threat it poses? Certainly this affects just more than US stations but now it affects Canadian stations as well --- a nation that shot down the use of IBOC for this very reason. One thing for sure --- someone took liberty to look at the latest Arbitron figures for WOR. And the numbers have fallen just a pinch from the start of IBOC testing. According to Arbitron, WOR is number 19 in the ratings with a 2.4 share. WOR was pulling a 2.5 before testing the IBOC signal. One last thing --- these folks testing IBOC can pump figures and make it all sound rosy and make the rest of us sound like a bunch of goons that haven`t a clue about radio. A listener will 9 times out of ten tune to another station before they complain about interference and sound quality. And a very small group of IBOCer's can`t be right while the rest of North America is wrong. Contact those stations, folks! Now is the time to do it now that you all know what AM radio is up against. We the people, common everyday listener may not have much power it seems, but get a station that is a member of the NAB stirred up. Then something just might happen. BTW, it doesn`t matter where a station is licensed when it comes to interference. That`s why there is channel spacing. 10 kc is all you get. If you use up more, that`s a ticket for disaster. Lots of people listen to stations that are not in their own community. If IBOC continues, it will be a great disservice to American and Canadian radio (Bob Carter Operations/Engineering--Max Media Radio Group WGAI- NewsRadio, etc., ibid.) I contacted WWII in Central PA when WOR started running IBOC. WWII recently replied that they have noticed no interference from WOR. I suggested they continue to monitor for it, especially now in the winter, in the two hour period just after sunrise and the period just before sunset. I recently sent an e-mail to WGN about the WLW/WOR testing asking if they were contacted and if their distant listeners reported any interference. A similar e-mail will go out to CHTN (Joe Fela, NJ, ibid.) Fantastic! Many of these stations, small mom and pop stations, may not be fully aware of the IBOC testing and common everyday radio listeners may not be fully aware of what is going on as well. It can sound like power line static in some cases depending on how severe the interference is from the IBOC carriers. An engineer on another list drove to one of the stations being affected in the NYC area and kind of, you could say, "turned the light on" for this particular station. The station engineer had said he noticed something different sounding about his station and couldn`t find it. This engineer even attended the HD demo in NYC, but didn`t know that noise was from IBOC. Needless to say the end result is a very unhappy engineer and station manager. Certainly the stuffings will hit the fan now. I'm almost certain that if the folks here on this list were to do the same thing with each station on those frequencies I mentioned in an eariler e-mail, a lot of "lights" will be turned on (Bob Carter, NC, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Digital Tests On 1660 - 12/3 - Columbia's iBiquity has applied to the FCC for another experimental license to test its "in-band on-channel" (IBOC) digital radio system on the AM band. The firm wants to use 1660 (some reports say 1670) on a fulltime basis, via Frederick. Tests were being conducted during daytime hours on 650 from the Frederick [MD] facility of WXTR (820 AM), which relays all-news WTOP, but, we hear, those are being discontinued because of complaints of interference to WMAL on 630 (dcrtv.com via Blake W. Lawrence, NRC-AM via DXLD) Yeah, now the truth is told about interference to WMAL....! I knew it would be just a matter of time. But don`t be surprised if the expanded band test does not last long either as there test will cause quite a mess for WTTM 1680 (Bob Carter, NC, amfmtvdx via DXLD) The D.C. Radiowatch reports that the daytime IBOC test transmitter on 650 Khz daytime in the D.C. metro shut down this week after QRM complaints from 2nd adjacent WMAL Washington on 630 Khz. (Brock Whaley, GA, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IBOC = Death? I don't think so. I've heard IBOC on my analog receivers, and I still don't understand what's the big deal. Okay, so 710 WOR IBOC trashes 700 and 720. Who in the WOR ratings market is going to be listening to 700 and 720 anyway, besides a handful of DXers? And if there are a few small-time operations that fail as a result of IBOC, so be it. It'll clean up the band, something DXers have wanted anyway. I seriously doubt if a few DXers can unseat representatives in Congress and the Senate over this issue. Number two, I still don't understand how IBOC is going to change the laws of propagation. If conditions allow R. Oriente-Venezuela to be dominant over WGN and CHTN on 720, R. Coro-Venezuela to overpower WBT on 1110, XEX Mexico to take over 730 from CKAC, or R. Rebelde-Cuba to wipe out WHAM on 1180, then how would that change with IBOC? If a signal is dominant due to propagation conditions, then it's dominant regardless of whether the competing signal is from IBOC digital hash or a clear channel analog signal, period. Number three, what about the digital signal? Can you honestly equate IBOC with death when you don't have the equipment to receive the digital signal? And don't believe that DRM is a viable alternative. The DRM group is going through the same test scenario, trying to determine the best hybrid mix of analog and digital for AM broadcast in Europe, with the goal to eventually turn off analog and go with a 20 kHz wide digital signal. Good or bad, the world is moving ahead with digital broadcasting, and all the sensationalist complaining on this list certainly won't stop progress. Okay, I'm done. I'll be quiet now and watch the fireworks. By the way, I did comment to the FCC regarding noise, analog reception, and the failure to recognize Eureka-147 as a viable alternative and means of establishing a world standard in concert with Canada and Europe. The published FCC report and order shows how much good that did! (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, NRC-AM via DXLD) Since this is a DX club, that's why it's a "big deal" to the handful of us. But the question remains whether trashing the AM band with more noise will just drive more average listeners to FM, satellites, or CDs. Not all AM listeners live in prime service areas of stations and a noisier, degraded AM band will only give them less reason to listen to AM. Are you saying introducing more adjacent channel QRM has a neutral impact on DX possibilities? Or will conditions have to be more exceptional to produce DX that can be heard today under average conditions? More QRM from any source --- IBOC or otherwise --- reduces DX possibilities (as anyone who's tried to log Hawaii from the EC in the past 25 years knows!). With IBOC, having WGN-720 taken out by conditions might not be enough if WOR-710 is still in and messing up 720. I suspect the most severe impact of IBOC will be on TA/TP DX. I'd be interested in how well the WLW-700 and WOR-710 noise could be phased or otherwise reduced to allow reception of TAs on 702/711 or St. Vincent-705 (is that still on?). But IBOC is U.S.-only, and that means that unless you're a 100% stateside DXer you'll still be trying to receive analog signals. The question for many isn't DXing IBOC signals on an IBOC receiver (something I will try as soon as non-auto IBOC receivers become available) but rather whether it will be practical/rewarding to still chase analog DX on an analog receiver when IBOC signals are common. Another question is how DX-capable IBOC receivers will be. Given the declining market for communications receivers as a whole today and the fact that IBOC will be U.S.-only, I can't see someone like Drake investing the necessary cash to produce an IBOC-compatible "R8C." I hope something at least as capable as the CCRadio for IBOC becomes available soon. As DSP and embedded processing becomes more widespread in communications receivers, we theoretically could see models capable of decoding multiple digital modulation schemes. We'll have to see whether there will be sufficient market demand to justify production of such receivers. Change is not a synonym for progress. If IBOC meets real consumer wants, then adoption will be rapid (as was the case with CDs over vinyl records). If not, then it will only hasten the decline of the AM band. Somehow I doubt there are too many people out there who are anxiously waiting for the moment when they can rip out the existing AM/FM radio from their car and replace it with a new IBOC unit. That's why I wouldn't be surprised to see a proposal in a few years from the FCC to mandate IBOC in new receivers, much like they did with UHF in TV receivers in the 1960s. If the FCC doesn't do that, I think IBOC will be another stillborn technical curiosity like AM stereo. In a lot of ways, the hype over IBOC reminds me of the Java craze of five years ago. Remember when people were seriously claiming that by 2002 we'd all be using PCs without hard drives, running Java applets in web browsers instead of software loaded from hard drives, and Microsoft would be toast? Java failed because the hypesters (like Scott McNeely of Sun) overlooked Java's real technical shortcomings (like slow execution in Java virtual machines) and, most critically, forgot to ask themselves whether Java offered any true advantages to average PC users. IMO, today's IBOC hypesters are repeating those two mistakes (Harry Helms AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15, ibid.) IBOC may be good or not for AM, I don't know. But I do know three things: 1) This list is run by and for DXers. 2) IBOC is bad for AM DX. Smearing 50 kw signals across 3 times the radio space is bad for DX. Period. 3) This list is the one place where we can share our laments about this new nail in the coffin of our hobby. So let us complain, and maybe attempt a delaying action or two (Rick Kenneally, CT, ibid.) I think both WOR and WLW may be doing IBOC tests again tonight. I'm getting high noise levels on 700 and 720 that appear to peak in the direction of WOR, and noise on 690 and 710 that seems to correlate with WLW. BTW, if you use SSB mode, the noise is much stronger on the sideband away from the IBOC station (e.g., USB on 720 when the source is WOR-710). The noise levels are changing periodically. Also, good Latin American signals tonight! Not so good on 690-720 though... sigh (Barry McLarnon, Ont., Dec 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) IBOC = Absolute Death I am not schooled in the technical aspects of radio. I DX for the fun of it. It is my hobby. I like to DX on the AM band (or broadcast band— take your pick). This morning I tried to DX on 1210 and was met with horrible noise. The same applied to 1190. If this is what IBOC does to the hobby I have enjoyed for most of my life, then as far as I am concerned IBOC is bad. It is very bad. I don't care what some of the more learned types and corporate types on this list say. It is very, very bad (Paul LaFreniere, Grand Marais, MN, Dec 5, NRC-AM via DXLD) I'm still convinced that there is no need to lose sleep fearing that IBOC, or Eureka in Canada for that matter, will kill DXing as we know it, because IBOC is a "FORD" technology - Found On Road Dead... by the end of this decade lying on the same road littered with the corpses of AM stereo, 8-track players, Beta VCRs, etc. But in the (IMHO unlikely) event that IBOC does succeed and the broadcasters convince the FCC that they need to use it after local sunset to avoid losing $$ hand over fist, the slop won't stop at the 49th // and the only prayer for DXers will begin with "Yisgadaal v'yisgadash..." (for all you goyim, that's the Mourner's Kaddish!) 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, ibid.) IBOC Timeline, Please. Can someone post or send me direct the significant dates in the history of IBOC? I'm especially interested in the FCC comment period. I'd also like to know the patent date for this technology. Thanks! (Gerry Bishop, Niceifyou'reanalogville, FL, ibid.) Gerry: From an Ibiquity point of view, you can get info from the press release section at ibiquity.com Some is in the main section but a lot is in the USA Radio and Lucent sections. Is that what you wanted? (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Thanks Chuck. That's a start. I'm curious about this whole IBOC process, and where it fits across the rest of my life for the last couple of years. First, when wasn't I paying attention earlier? and then, of course, why? I suspect that the FCC comment period very neatly overlapped a little Global War On Terror deployment or two on my part. Just wondering if being busy doing my job got in the way of taking care of my hobbies, and some soulless geeks snuck one in under that (Gerry Bishop, ibid.) The first IBOC stations in 6 markets debut in the first quarter of 2003; after that, there will be a rollout in groups of markets, starting with big markets and working down (David Gleason, ibid.) Actually, David, I was looking more for the history, so something so clearly rushed and vanderbilted ("the public? the public be d*&%#d!") at least gets my attention earlier in the process. Thanks (Gerry Bishop, ibid.) DRM member organizations and IBOC developer iBiquity have indicated on record with the ITU their intention to cooperate over issues of compatibility such that receivers would be designed to work with either system (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm You ask how would hearing Rebelde on 1180 instead of WHAM change with IBOC??? Easy - an IBOC station on 1170 or 1190 will add so much interference to 1180 that you won't be able to hear Rebelde. If the interferer on 1170 or 1190 isn't knocked out much by aurora, you can kiss your 1180 DXíng goodbye forever and take up bridge or gardening. (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Well since October, WCHB (1200) Detroit, has been running IBOC here. It has been on day and night causing all kinds of white noise from 1180 thru 1220. There is no chance of hearing anything on those adjacent frequencies here. I live west of Detroit and it has been reported in the paper and the local message boards that WCHB has been running IBOC. If and when all the local stations get this up and running, it`s going to be wall to wall white noise here (Patrick Rady, MI, ibid.) It seems plausible that they could be testing IBOC on WCHB, since they're owned by Radio One, who is hustling to get IBOC on the air before the end of the year, to take advantage of the license fee waiver offered by iBiquity to early adopters. Their WDMK-FM (102.7) in Detroit has been running IBOC since Nov. 22 (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, ibid.) If you only knew how strong Rebelde is on 1180 here! DXing 1180 died a long time ago, back when it was Radio Taíno. On many nights, Cuba has to be nulled to receive WHAM! And you're making the assumption that I have strong signals on 1170 and 1190. WWVA is nowhere near the powerhouse it used to be, often unlistenable due to Colombia, and 1190 is a mess with WLIB competing against WOWO. I don't see IBOC making things worse; it's already a bad situation. In fact, just maybe, if IBOC goes full time, then I can phase in a clear digital signal from WHAM to enjoy the overnight truckers show without Cuban interference, that is unless Cuba goes IBOC too (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) What makes anyone think that if WHAM goes with IBOC that the Cuban station won`t cause reception problems in the digital mode? ...if the radio can`t receive those "1's" and "0's"...then you`re just back to square one. Nice try IBOC...but it just isn`t going to work very well (Bob Carter, WGAI, ibid.) Bruce, Some DX is still possible today, particularly for you and a few others who are perched out on the corner of the continent. But let's consider how often you'll hear Panama or Kansas on 860 when WEEI and WWL go IBOC. And if anybody thinks that we'll be able to dig digital signals out of the same messy conditions that currently yield analog IDs, they are dreaming (Rick Kenneally, CT, ibid.) OK, Bruce - pick some other example. Maybe 1180 works out OK for you due to weak stations on 1170 and 1190. But what about the rest of the band? You gonna get lucky every channel? (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Want to really shake up the radio world? How about we all petition the FCC to make a US band plan change to solve the IBOC problem. First paragraph. "We ask that the FCC increase the AM band from 200 to 1780 kilohertz. Further, we ask that all broadcast stations be separated by 20 kilohertz. Thus solves the problem of adjacent channel interference." || ducking and running out of list || (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) My only experience, so far, is with WOR which is a powerhouse down here day and night (although at night it does get trashed by Cuba and Miami). In the daytime I have been able to phase out the IBOC noise pretty much and bring in the stations on 700 WGOP and 720 WWII with quite readable signals. At night, when WOR was running tests this week, I had no trouble bringing in the Jamaicans on 700 and 720 and the Venezuelan on 720 when conditions were pretty auroral. Of course, like Neil I have to contend with lots of other buzz noises so it's sometime hard to distinguish between these noises. It also helps to have an R8A and a phasing unit (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, NRC AM via DXLD) For those of you keeping notes, the IBOC (In Band On Channel) digital movement is gaining some steam. The same people who couldn't be bothered with AM Stereo are now busy telling us why we all need to buy new digital radios. iBiquity, a coalition of Lucent, those phone company wizzes, and a couple of lesser known entities, has sold a BUNCH of AM and FM stations on the idea. Some are actually testing. Here is a list. On FM in the area: WGRV-FM 105.1 in Detroit. On AM: 710 WOR New York (they are actively promoting it too!) 740 WNOP Cincinnati 900 WILC Baltimore 950 WWJ Detroit 960 KABL San Francisco 1140 KSFN Las Vegas 1500 WTOP Washington DC Larry Russell also reports hearing something sounding suspiciously like the IBOC digital system on 1200 AM. Give a listen and let the stations know what kind of QRM they are creating with this. My take on this is it just might work fine on FM (the capture effect prevents digital signals from causing a problem) but on MW it has all the earmarks of a disaster waiting to happen. OTOH, I haven't actually heard a signals I can definitely say is IBOC hash, but those who have (and I trust) tell me it is a mess. AM$ failing was just the beginning! Sources: my own digging, as well as http://www.ibiquity.com for more info also have a quick look at http://www.wor710.com/Engineering/iboc/worhd.htm (--KV Zichi, MARE Tipsheet Dec 6 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Venezuelan President Warns of Coup Attempt http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/12.08A.warn.coup.htm or http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18714-2002Dec6.html (via Truthout, DXLD) [non] Aló, Presidente should be interesting this Sunday from 1400 or 1500 via Cuba on 15230, 15570, 17750, if he`s not too preoccupied with other matters. There used to be two more lower frequencies (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde VENEZUELA. -Entre las estaciones que olvidé mencionar como activas en banda tropical, desde Venezuela, está Radio Táchira en los 4830 kHz. La emisión se extiende hasta casi la 0100 UT, para luego dar paso a Radio Litoral [HONDURAS] en los 4832 kHz. [Quiere decir que apagan R. Táchira, a las 0100 o sólo que Litoral sobrepasa su señal? -- gh] La secta brasileña "Oración Fuerte al Espíritu Santo" está por todos lados. Hace 11 años llegaron a Venezuela y compraban espacios de una hora (durante la medianoche) en YVRT (Radio Tropical 990 kHz) en Caracas. Hoy en día controlan 22 horas de programación en dicha emisora y poseen otras frecuencias como la de 1130 kHz, de Radio Ideal, también en Caracas. En días recientes caí en cuenta de los programas de la misma secta en Radio Pueblo, 5009.4 kHz, desde Santo Domingo, a partir de la 0100 UT. En paralelo con 1510 kHz. El espacio en cuestión se llama "La Voz de la liberación". 73's and good DXing! (Adán González, Venezuela, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, this *program* is all over Latin America and heard on various SW stations too, confusing DXers who think it be the name of a station rather than program (gh, DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS. HERB SCHOENBOHM RETURNS TO HAM RADIO After nearly two years off the air, Herb Schoenbohm, ex-KV4FZ, of Kingshill, Virgin Islands, has made good on his promise to one day return to the Amateur Radio ranks. The FCC on December 4 issued Schoenbohm a new call sign, NP2MJ, as a General-class licensee, and it acted December 5 on his subsequently filed Amateur Extra-class application. In 1994, the FCC put Schoenbohm's renewal application for KV4FZ up for hearing following his 1992 felony conviction on federal fraud charges. The Commission finally turned down his renewal application in 1998, the US Appeals Court upheld the FCC's decision in 2000, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case later that same year. After losing his renewal bid, Schoenbohm applied for a new license in 2001, first passing the General and then the Extra exams. The FCC subsequently designated Schoenbohm's General application for hearing on the basis of character issues stemming from his 1992 conviction as well as his alleged lack of candor during subsequent FCC hearings on the matter. Following a hearing last spring, Administrative Law Judge Arthur I. Steinberg in October cleared the way for Schoenbohm's return to ham radio by declaring that Schoenbohm appeared rehabilitated and qualified to again become a Commission licensee. Schoenbohm plans to apply for KV4FZ as a vanity call sign. Schoenbohm was dubious about getting on the air for the ARRL 160-Meter Contest December 7-8. "I will try to get on, but the station is still dismantled," he told ARRL. "I don't have any antennas up either except for the 70-foot tower, which needs the beam on top to work properly on 160." His amp also is on the fritz, so if he does manage some Top Band operation during the contest, it will be at the 100-W level. "Since my license has been granted, I have not even made one contact on 2 meters!" Schoenbohm added (ARRL Letter Dec 6 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. Email for ZNBC QSL verifier pnkula@yahoo.com (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6265 is DEFINITE ZBC Lusaka in English language, heard with news at 1800 UT, fair S=3 signal in Europe every night (Wolfgang Bueschel, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Last night we heard a station identifying itself as Pan European Radio on 1080 kHz at our DX-shack in Fredriksfors, some 350 km's north of Stockholm. The signal was unusually strong and stable (QSA 5), just like a local station. It was first observed at 21.50 UTC with test tones and a loop of some coctail jazz-style muzak. On the hour and half hour ID and requests for reception reports to P.O. Box 10386, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, USA. The e-mail paneuropeanradio@hotmail.com was also announced. It probably went off the air at midnight UT. Any idea where this transmitter is located? (Ronny Forslund & Jan Edh, Delsbo Radioklubb, Dec 5, hard-core-dx via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7145, 1330-1400 UT today, superb signal from two stations into Europe from SEAs. Two stations, the stronger one (S=2-3) playing typical Lao-Thai-mx ahead of the other station, till exact 1400 UT, the weaker stn underneath with talks/announcer til 1357 UT only, S=1-2. Which station signs-off three minutes before the hour/half hour? 1st - VTN til 1357 ??, 2nd - Vientiane til 1400 UT even? 3rd - EXCLUDE R Thailand in Thai to the NorthEast, 54 degr. At 1359-1400 closing annt in ENGLISH, 1330-1400 and 2130-2200 schedule was given, I guess. But Laos is scheduled at 0600-0630; did they move to 2130-2200 UT ??? Still need more investigation. Hanoi is scheduled with 15 English transmissions over the day, of 6 on 7145 alone !!! But checked the English language annt at 1359 UT against the closing procedure recording of Uwe Volk, he made in Thailand recently, revealed that the Laos National Anthem was not played at sign-off at 1400 UT. 73 (Wolfgang df5sx Bueschel, Germany, Dec 6, DXLD) Lousy signal on 7145 kHz today, in 1330-1400 UT slot, one program signal 'under threshold' only could be on 'sense'. No really LAO, VTN, or THA heard so far. 73 (wb, Dec 7, DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ SATELLIT 900 Hi Glenn, I found a site with lots of great pix and info on the "Sat 900 that never was, but yet may be" http://www.satellit700.com/900/satellit900.html Thought your readers may enjoy it. 73 de jem http;//www.qsl.net/vk2jem (Jem Cullen, Australia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM +++ There have been some changes and additions to the schedule of long- term DRM tests. Two new transmissions have been added from Rampisham, and there's a new time and frequency for Bonaire. All the details are at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_latest.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Dec 6 via DXLD) And there are three things necessary to make digital shortwave radio à la DRM take off. 1. Content 2. Content 3. Content Tractor production statistics will not cut it even with full bandwidth stereo sound. I was pleased to see Andy Sennitt report today that some upcoming DRM test transmissions will include pictures to accompany the audio. Now we are getting some place. If the internet and satellite TV are any model for the future of SW digital broadcasting, smut will not be far behind the introduction of pictures to the programming. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NEW EUROPEAN MEDIUM WAVE GUIDE PUBLISHED As of today, 4 December 2002, the new edition of the European Medium Wave Guide is freely available in PDF format. In addition most of the contents can now also be consulted on-line on the EMWG web site. As usual, the EMWG lists literally all long and medium wave stations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It is the most complete and up-to-date manual of its sort and is used by many broadcasters and DXers for daily reference. The EMWG can be consulted: * as a PDF file (downloadable for free) * on-line via the EMWG web site * on paper (please contact the publisher for prices) Please visit http://www.emwg.info and don't forget to send your feedback. Many happy listening and DXing hours with the EMWG! Herman Boel, EMWG Publisher PRESS RELEASE***PRESS RELEASE***PRESS RELEASE***PRESS RELEASE***PRESS RELEASE*** To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: emwg-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com (Dec 4 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-191, December 7, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1159: WBCQ: Mon 0545 7415 WWCR: Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WRN: Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1159.html WORLD OF RADIO as monitored, by Dave Kenny, Sheigra, Scotland: 2300 Nov 6 on 7415 WBCQ: SIO 222, QRM de Chinese opera music jamming 2300 Nov 13 on 7415 WBCQ: SIO 233, QRM from R. Free Asia, no jammer 1030 Nov 13 on 9475 WWCR: SIO 344 [all on Wednesdays] (Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Last night, World of Radio was on 7415 and (weakly here) 17495 at 2200 GMT but the Live365 webcast via a shortwave receiver had this guy talking about Johnny Lightning in a Barry Humphrey (Dame Edna Everage)-type falsetto and playing stuff like "California, Here I Come" by Al Jolson (Joel Rubin, NY, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNITED STATES - MAINE WBCQ 17.495 2310 GMT EE 433 Dec 4th "World of Radio" according to Glenn Hauser. Final s/off tape from KKSU. OM with WBCQ ID and S/off at 2330 hrs. (Stewart WDX6AA MacKenzie, CA) BILL FLYNN, WDX7AF Dear Glenn, my name is Jeff Taylor and I'm Bill Flynn's caregiver. I'm writing to ask you to inform the DXing World that Bill Flynn (WDX7AF) died on November 22 2002 at 5:02 pm pacific time. He will be greatly missed. I took care of Bill for 20 years I will miss him. Regretfully yours (Jeff Taylor, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So sad to hear this. I`m moved by the fact that despite his own travails, Bill kept sending monthly donations to support World of Radio, the last one, it turned out, mailed the day before he died (gh) ** ANTARCTICA. R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, 15475.49, Nov 28 2040-2103*: tune-in to Spanish pops, ballads; 2102 Spanish ID, the only announcement heard, at sign-off. Poor in noise; also next day Nov 29 at 2040-2111* (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Esperanza Antarctic Base, 2005-2017. December 5. Spanish transmission. Talk by male about a local rock band. After, argentine rock. 44444 Abrupt s/off at 2017 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. Tonight I checked 9960 in the 2130...2200 period: Nothing at all. The Gavar powerhouse on 9960 would be really unmistakable if on (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re the Voice of Armenia logging: Please note that it was 2055 and not 2155 in the original report. Armenia is on for 15 to 20 minutes Mondays to Saturdays only from 2040 till 2100z and is preceded by German. They also do not announce 9960 as being one of their frequencies. Strange (Robin Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. During the Nov 2002 Grayland DXpedition, John Bryant reported 4BC 1116 "as the most reliable Aussie," a great signal for 5 kW. The real reason is because they have a true rarity in Australia; a directional array. Their main lobe is about 25 degrees whereas Grayland is about 44 degrees, so we are close to being directly down the bore. Who knows what their ERP is, but it's surely many times the 5 kW transmitter power. Details are at http://www.aba.gov.au/radio/services/services/qld/bris_gc/planning/final_lap/lap_brisbane.pdf (Chuck Hutton, NRC IDXD via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. From a letter from Eva Binder of ORF Radio 1476: ``AFAIK, no changes have been made to the transmitter`s power output during the last three years. ``Radio Neighbour in Need`` was running 600 kW during the summer months of 1999 but the population of Bisamberg, near the transmitter complained vigorously about problems caused to their electrical systems and electronic equipment by the transmitter. So everything had to be scaled back to the usual 60 kW. However, about two years ago a new kind of sound optimizer was installed in the transmitter and this has clearly improved the signal quality to some extent``. The last broadcast of ``Donaudialog``, the successor to ``Radio Neighbour in Need``, was transmitted on 26th October 2002. It slot has been taken by Radio Africa [sic] International, which is now at 2030- 2100 and 2115-2200. In between,``Nachtjournal`` from Österreich Eins is broadcast (Chris Stacey, East Sussex, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Radio Austria International -- Radio Österreich International is now on the air to Europe on 6155 and 5945 kHz until midnight gmt, and that means that the final hour of the daily schedule can now be heard on terrestrial frequencies (it was only on satellite and Internet until October 26). This hour is totally devoted to music. After the 8-minute Mitternachtsjournal (or 5-minute Nachrichten at weekends), weekly schedule is as follows: Mondays: FM4-Salon Helga Tuesdays: Klassiknacht Wednesdays: FM4-Lunapark Thursdays: Klassiknacht Fridays: FM4-Projekt X Saturdays: Ö1 Jazznacht Sundays: My Music with Paul Catty (in English) (SOUTHERN EUROPEAN REPORT with Stefano Valianti, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN. Azerbaijani R., Pirsaat (Baku), 1295 [not 1296!] kHz, Nov 6 at 1900 ID in presumed Azeri, very low modulation; English heard Nov 10 [Sunday, if it matter] at 1801 (Dave Kenny & Alan Pennington, Sheigra DXpedition, Scotland, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Re 5990 station: Caro Glenn, Sintonizada, em Porto Alegre (RS), em 02/12, a Rádio Senado, de Brasília (DF), às 0815, na freqüência de 5990 kHz. Na oportunidade, Mascarenhas de Moraes apresentava o programa "Coisas do Brasil", com reportagem fora do estúdio, feita pelo jornalista Luca Fontelles, sobre o aumento do salário-mínimo no Brasil. Também ouvida a Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, em 02/12, às 0825, em 6180 kHz. Na oportunidade, o apresentador Maurício Rabello conversava com ouvintes, por telefone. Lembro que Mascarenhas de Moraes, apresentador do programa "Coisas do Brasil", na Rádio Senado, também trabalha na Rádio Nacional, se não estou enganado, nos domingos. Aliás, é antigo apresentador da Nacional ... 73s! (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Do the individual stations of the CBC network identify themselves? If so, when can I be on the lookout of it? Last night, I used a timer to record top of the hour IDs and I hear mention of CBC Radio One, but how can I be sure if it's the Manitoba station or the Newfoundland one? Of course, if I didn't use a junk Radio Shack Superradio clone which made WMVP 1000 and local 970 in Pittsburgh come in clearer than the CBC on 990, maybe I might have more luck! Thanks for all your help! (Joe Rocchino, Cuddy, PA, Dec 5, NRC-AM via DXLD) To get any local content from them, you'll have to record the first SIX minutes or so of the hour --- the CBC stations give local, provincial weather forecasts at :05, immediately after the top-of-the- hour CBC network news. You won't get an honest-to-goodness legal ID (they simply never mention call letters anymore), but the NF station won't be doing Winnipeg weather (and vice versa) (Randy Stewart, Battlefield (Springfield) MO, ibid.) As I was going to say Newfoundland is on a half-hour time zone (ELT + 1.5, or UT - 3.5). So if you hear a CBC ID and CBC news at :30 rather than the top of the hour, you've got CBY Corner Brook rather than CBW Winnipeg. 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, ibid.) [Wrong! NF is certainly on a half-hour zone, UT -3.5, but as CBC program promos constantly make clear everything is ``half an hour later in Nfld.`` In reality programs are at the same absolute time as feed to the AST (UT -4) zone, so even from Nfld CBC programming has news at the *real* top of the hour; only within Nfld do clocks display it as being on the half hour. Don`t ask me why they do it this way. The real problem is Nfld insisting on this wacky timezone. Perhaps it`s for all the free publicity they get with every single CBC program promo --- gh] If you listen at sunrise, you might hear one of the regional morning shows (i.e. CBLA 99.1 Toronto runs Metro Morning, but the other Ontario CBC affiliates run Ontario Morning), etc., and the morning shows sometimes do give the list of frequencies and the cities of the stations on the provincial network (Eric Conchie, NRC-AM via DXLD) {see 2-193} ** CANARY ISLANDS. Might even have time to take a shot at that Korean station in Las Palmas (a lovely little town, but only one newsstand with the Herald Tribune.) (Gerry Bishop, FL, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New QSL: CANARY ISLANDS, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, 6715 kHz USB. I have received today this e-mail QSL fglc@jet.es (Daniele Canonica, Switzerland) Dear Sir, First of all, I apologize for the reply mail being very late. My father, who is the pastor of the ``Full Gospel Las Palmas Church``, was too busy on doing his jobs, and his is not confident with his English, so I, who is the son of him, will reply your mail although it could be not enough for you. I thank you very much for hearing our church`s broadcast on Austria [sic], and has interest on it. Our church`s name is ``Full Gospel Las Palmas Church``, not ``Yoido Full Gospel Las Palmas Church``. ``Yoido Full Gospel Church`` is located in Yoido Seoul, Korea, and it is the church where sent us to here as a missionary. You can find more information about ``Yoido Full Gospel Church`` on http://fgtv.org Our church`s frequency is 6715 kHz, and we`re using 100 watts output power of the transmitter that is located at our church. The pastor ppal [?sic] of the church who is Byung-Sung Chung is the Full Gospel World Mission Association Africa General Council the General Superintendent. Our church`s broadcast is aiming at the Korean crew who work at the fishing ships at the Atlantic Ocean near Africa to hear the live worship of the church. Therefore, the broadcast of course is in Korean. Here is the brief schedule of the broadcast: [== UT] Sunday, 11.00-12.30 and 19.00-20.30 Wednesday, 20.30-21.30 Friday, 22.00-24.00 Twice a year, we do the service in English, and as the same, twice a year, we do the service in Spanish too. During our church`s service, we translate meantime to Spanish, English, and Chinese. [Dates?] Approximately, 420 people are coming to our church frequently, and about 480 people are registered (? I didn`t know how to explain [members?]). In here, Gran Canaria, many Korean people are taking their career as either a fisherman, or the owner of the fishing company, or the fixer etc. I have enclosed the church`s photo inside too. Thank you very much, and we confirm that it was indeed our station that you heard (via Daniele Canonica, Switzerland, RX: JRC 535 D, ANT: T2FD 25 meters, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [non]. Re: AZERBAIJAN-BASED CHECHEN REBELS' WEB SITE DOWN SINCE 26 NOVEMBER 2002 The Chechen rebels' news web site Daymohk, based in Azerbaijan, has been inaccessible since 26 November 2002. Its URL was http://www.daymohk.info Source: Daymohk news agency web site, Baku, in Russian 3 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) The website http://www.daymohk.info is hosted in the USA (apollohosting.com) and any "inaccessibility" is linked with the US provider. Currently the site displays the message "You are not authorized to view this page". This does not mean much: the reason can be anything, ranging from server problems or page reconstruction via a possible hacker attack to unpaid bills, or pressure from US authorities... The domain is registered for Daymohk in Manchester CT, the site's administrator is registered as Daymohk in Moscow (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Greetings from sunny Taiwan! I am now in Tainan, SW Taiwan, and some DXing is possible as well. Logging is going on. By now I can tell you this about Voice of Strait broadcasts: At 1400 UT (Dec 5) only 7280 was heard (SINPO 55544), all other SW channels empty. BUT: At 1410 7280 was empty, and now they were on 4940! SINPO 55544 as well. Parallel on MW was 666. This morning I heard all channels, at 0040 UT, Dec 6: Chinese language program on 11590 (55555) parallel to 666 (55555) with Chinese pop and ID. A different programme on 6115 (55444) parallel to 873 (43443, splatter from local 864 station) with talk. And yet another programme on 7280 (55444) I think this was not Chinese language (so the Amoy program, presumably) but I will ask someone Chinese to be more sure (Eike Bierwirth, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, R.O.C., Dec 5, hard-core-dx via DXLD) & see TAIWAN ** CHINA: New B-02 schedule for China Radio International in Russian effective from Dec. 1 0000-0057 1521 5990 7110 0100-0157 1521 0300-0357 15435 17710 17740 1000-1057 5915 6140 7110 7160 7245 7255 9695 1100-1157 963 1323 1116 1521 5915 7110 7245 7255 1200-1257 963 1521 1300-1357 963 1323 1521 5915 5990 6140 7160 7245 7255 1400-1457 963 1323 1521 1500-1557 963 1521 5915 5990 6180 7245 7255 9765 1600-1657 1521 5965 6040 7265 9605 9885 1700-1757 1521 5965 6040 7245 7265 9365 9605 9795 9885 1800-1857 1521 6040 7245 9365 9535* 9605 9795 |||| * ISS, France 1900-1957 1521 7245 9365 9605 9795 2000-2057 7255 9605 9795 2300-2357 5990 7110 (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 6 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Some frequency changes for China Radio International (B-02 vs B-01): 1100-1257 Mongolian NF 6140, ex 5145 1100-1257 Mongolian NF 7160, ex 5850 1230-1327 Malay NF 15600, ex 15135 1400-1457 Tamil NF 9635, ex 9590 1400-1457 Tamil NF 9665, ex 15210 1500-1527 Persian NF 11700, ex 11750 1600-1627 Turkish NF 11655, ex 11685 1600-1727 Swahili DEL 11600 and 12000 1730-1827 Hausa NF 11640, ex 15125 1830-1927 Arabic NF 11640, ex 15125 1930-1957 Portuguese NF 11640, ex 15125 1930-1957 Portuguese NF 13630, ex 11735 2000-2057 Mandarin NF 7220, ex 7225 2000-2057 Mandarin NF 7335, ex 9765 2000-2127 English NF 11640, ex 15125 2000-2127 English NF 13630, ex 13640 (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 6 via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 11690, R. Okapi 2228-2335 Dec 6. Could hear pieces of audio at different times which sounded like reggae, calypso, and hi- life. At 2255 the signal improved briefly when I could copy John Lennon's "Jealous Guy". Immediately after, the Okapi jingle sung by a female was heard twice. SINPO only 13441, but fortunately atmospheric noise was low (George Maroti, Mount Kisco, New York, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Radio Okapi, a partial QSL sent from Fondation Hirondelle, 3 rue traversière, 1018 Lausanne, Suisse (Switzerland). No indication as to which of my reports is being replied to. Must be for French broadcast (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Glenn, Yes we plan on running it 24 hours (15040) but it is off at the moment due to a part failure. I've just started working on it, if it is not the tube I should have it back on soon. We are also expanding our 7445, now on 2100~1200 (James Latham, RFPI, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still off Dec 7 at 1753 check (gh, DXLD) December 3, 2002 ====================== VISTA Online Blurb 1.2 ====================== *NEW* FOUR-WEEK COURSE OFFERED AT RFPI! Radio for Peace International, in collaboration with the Institute of Progressive Communications, is proud to offer a newly revised "Four- Week Course in Peace Journalism and Progressive Media Through Radio". This intensive course will be given on the premises of Radio For Peace International here in El Rodeo, Costa Rica. Classes are taught in English and an optional Spanish component is offered to those students who wish to learn the language or improve on existing skills. Courses will focus on these primary areas of study: peace studies, social justice, human rights, the environment, journalism and media. Students will also be given the opportunity to meet and interview individuals and organizations working in these same areas both here in Costa Rica and abroad. The cost for the four-week course is $1,700 (US) and includes all classes, materials, food, lodging, laundry, transportation within Costa Rica and special events including a welcoming party and graduation ceremony. The first course session in 2003 will begin January 27th and will run until February 21st, 2003. If you would like to learn more about this course, how to register, or would like information about future course dates, you can log on to the RFPI website at http://www.rfpi.org/ipc.html. Or, you can email us at info@rfpi.org. HELP IS NEEDED Please! Help us at RFPI!!! We are always looking for new members to help spread our message and to support our work and you can help us. Recruit a friend to become a new member and introduce them into the RFPI family! We are also sending out a plea for financial assistance. At the moment we are still trying to get back on to high speed Internet so we can transmit once again via the Internet and reach more listeners worldwide!!! We are also in need of extra funding for transmitter repairs, as we have been experiencing problems in the past few weeks. Without our transmitters, we can't reach the people who mean the most to us - our listeners - so if you can help us in any way, we would really appreciate it! CONTACT AND FUNDING As always, we would like to remind our listeners and supporters of our contact information where you can send us comments about VISTA Online, our programming or the radio in general. You can send us an email at: info@rfpi.org Or, you can send us "snail mail" at our US mailing address: [NEW] RFPI Box 3165 Newburg, OR 97132, USA If you are interested in becoming a member, or in making a donation, send us an email at info@rfpi.org or log onto our website to find out how at http://www.rfpi.org That's all for this edition. We look forward to contacting you again in the next few weeks. In Peace, James, Ana, Kevin, Naomi, Connie and Felix, RFPI-Vista mailing list RFPI-Vista@boinklabs.com http://www.boinklabs.com/mailman/listinfo/rfpi-vista (via DXLD) ** CUBA. Re: Have yet to see a B-02 schedule for RHC Glenn, Apparently all of the USB transmissions (11705 01-05, 9665 at 05-07, and 13660 at 2030-2130) are either well-concealed or inactive. I have noted some tentative substitutions for some of the missing AM broadcasts. 6180 has been noted in English, tentatively replacing 9550 at 0500-0700 and 2230-2330. At 2230, this is especially hard because R. Nacional da Amazônia is very strong at that time here. Likewise, 11670 has also been noted in English, tentatively replacing 13750. I say that 6180 and 11670 are both "tentative" replacements, since they have both been noted with very badly modulated audio and don't seem to be always present. However, both are worth watching to see if they become permanent (and stable). I have no idea what's going on with the USB transmissions (Mark J. Fine, Remington, Virginia, USA, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, indeed, 11670 heard here with RHC in English Dec 5 at 2040 check; modulation pretty good now tho not too strong, as aimed toward Europe. However, by 2115 it is overshadowed by BBC Antigua Caribbean service on 11675, and squeezed on the other side by WYFR 11665. At 2250 I checked 6180, and could hear nothing but a fluttery Brasília; if RHC were on today, I surely would have heard some trace of it? Why do they repeatedly go up against Brasil here? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Below is the email I received from Radio Cairo after many fellow ups (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From: "Niveen Lawrence" niveenl@hotmail.com Subject: Re: report Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2002 14:37:05 +0200 Dear Sir, This is the first time I hear from you. Of course we thank you for your report and would like to receive more. This e-mail will be followed by a QSL letter sent by mail, so it will take few days. Also you will find attached a copy of our latest schedule of B02. Best Regards, Eng. Niveen Lawrence, Head of Shortwaves (via Ezeani, DXLD) Hi everyone, Below is the comprehensive B 02 guide to Radio Cairo. I obtain it direct from the station. EGYPTIAN RADIO & TV UNION (ERTU) BROADCAST ENGINEERING TENTATIVE PROGRAM SCHEDULE (B 02) UTC KHz PROGRAM TARGET AREA 0030-0430 9900 ARABIC E. N. AMERICA 0045-0200 9475 SPANISH N. AMERICA 0045-0200 11680 SPANISH C. AMERICA 0045-0200 11790 SPANISH S. AMERICA 0200-0330 9475 ENGLISH N. AMERICA 0200-0000 12050 GENERAL PROGRAM N. AMERICA & EUROPE 0300-0600 9855 VOICE OF THE ARABS N. AFRICA, S.EUROPE & ARAB GULF 0300-0030 15285 VOICE OF THE ARABS ARAB GULF 0350-0700 9770 GENERAL PROGRAM N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE 0350-0700 9620 GENERAL PROGRAM N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE 0350-1200 9800 GENERAL PROGRAM ARAB GULF 0600-1400 11720 VOICE OF THE ARABS N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE, ARAB GULF 0700-1100 15115 GENERAL PROGRAM W. AFRICA 0700-1500 11785 GENERAL PROGRAM N. AFRICA S. EUROPE 1015-1215 17775 ARABIC M. EAST & AFGHANISTAN 1100-0000 11540 GENERAL PROGRAM N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE & ARAB GULF 1100-1130 17800 ARABIC C. & S. AFRICA 1115-1215 17665 THAI S.E. ASIA 1215-1330 17775 ENGLISH S. ASIA 1215-1315 17665 MALAY S.E. ASIA 1230-1330 15160 PERSIAN TADZHIKSTAN 1300-1800 17675 GENERAL PROGRAM N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE 1320-1450 17665 INDONESIAN S.E. ASIA 1330-1430 17775 BENGALI S. ASIA 1330-1530 11560 PERSIAN IRAN 1300-1600 15220 ARABIC W. AFRICA 1430-1530 9780 AZERI AZERBAIJAN 1500-1600 15170 HINDI S. ASIA 1500-1600 17710 PASHTO AFGHANISTAN 1500-1600 7315 RUSSIAN W. RUSSIA 1530-1630 11635 UZBEKI UZBEKISTAN 1530-1630 15155 AFAR E. & C. AFRICA 1530-1730 11975 SWAHILI C. & E. AFRICA 1600-1800 15170 URDU S. ASIA 1600-1645 15620 ZULU C. & S. AFRICA 1600-1800 6230 TURKISH TURKEY 1600-1800 9950 ALBANIAN ALBANIA 1630-1730 15155 SOMALI E. & C. AFRICA 1630-1830 15255 ENGLISH C. & S. AFRICA 1645-1730 15620 SHONA C. & S. AFRICA 1730-1815 15620 INDEBELE C. & S. AFRICA [usually: NDEBELE] 1730-1900 15155 AMHARIC E. & C. AFRICA 1800-0030 9700 VOICE OF THE ARABS N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE 1800-1900 9988 ITALIAN EUROPE 1800-2100 9675 HAUSA W. AFRICA 1830-1915 15255 LINGALA C. & S. AFRICA 1830-1930 15375 WOLOF W. AFRICA 1900-2000 9990 GERMAN EUROPE 1900-0030 11665 VOICE OF THE ARABS C. & E. AFRICA 1915-2030 15425 FULANI W. AFRICA 1930-2030 15375 BAMBARA W. AFRICA 2000-2200 11990 ARABIC AUSTRALIA 2000-2115 9990 FRENCH EUROPE 2030-2200 15375 ENGLISH W. AFRICA 2030-2230 15335 FRENCH W. AFRICA 2100-2200 9675 YORUBA W. AFRICA 2115-2245 9990 ENGLISH EUROPE 2215-2330 11790 PORTUGUESE S. AMERICA 2300-0030 9900 ENGLISH E. N. AMERICA 2330-0045 15590 ARABIC S. AMERICA 2330-0045 11680 ARABIC S. AMERICA EGYPTIAN RADIO & TV UNION (ERTU) BROADCAST ENGINEERING TENTATIVE PROGRAM SCHEDULE (A 02 ) [also included, but obsolete now] (via Emmanuel Ezeani, Nigeria, DXLD) See also PWBR review at bottom, re 17775. Meterbands eliminated to reduce clutter (gh) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.3, Radio Imperial coming in with a nice signal at 1314 Dec 6. Same type of music as heard in the evenings (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I noticed that too (gh, OK, DXLD) Well Received here at 1330 (Bob Wilkner, FL, Cumbre via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Recently a ``Free Radio Beacon`` has operated on 6315 in the 48m band. The aim was to find out what is possible with low power and at what time of the day the propagation is the best. The Beacon transmitter site is somewhere in West Europe. The output is 60 mW (0.06 Watts). It is not AM, but the transmitter frequency shifts +/- 100 Hz up and down every second. The best mode to receive the Beacon is in LSB because of the utility / noise stations just above 6315. The antenna is a dipole. On http://frb.port5.com is the latest status info available (on or off the air, output, frequency and reactions/logs of listeners). If you receive this, you are requested to send your report to freeradiobeacon@hotmail.com including as much info as possible about the time of fadeouts and the strongest signal strength. Include a post address in reports to receive a special QSL card. Another new station is RSI --- Radio Spaceshuttle International. Programmes have been scheduled at various times in various bands, but in the main Sunday afternoons in 19m, around 15810. Reports are requested, to P O Box 2702, 6049 ZG Herten, Netherlands, or via radionordmende@hotmail.com (SW-pirates via Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** FIJI. 558, 11/8/02 1417. Quickly into the noise. Program of soft islands music. Parallels with 558 and 1152. Also heard in // with 1152 on 11/10/02. 1153, Raki Raki. 1246 soft islands music program on SW wire only 11/7/02. + R Fiji 1419 soft islands music with M in local language. Only S6 levels 11/8/02 (Don Nelson, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 4 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Re cabbies paying royalties for radio, 22 Euro = $40: Who made that calculation ?? 22 Euro's are 22 USD today !! (Or do they mean CAN-$ ??) (Martin Schoech, DXLD) It was that way in the story; may have been from a Canadian source (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle has printed a new QSL card for the 50th anniversary next year. The new QSL cards are available in January 2003. The 50th anniversary will be in May 2003. Any reports in January can be verified by a new QSL card (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. VOICE OF RUSSIA IN GERMANY The Voice of Russia has become the first Russian radio company to gain official right to broadcast in Germany. A corresponding license for a 5-year broadcasting period was handed to VOA [sic!] President Armen Oganessyan at a ceremony in the Berlin-Branderbourg land on Thursday. The Voice of Russia will broadcast on medium waves throughout Germany in German, Russian and English 18 hours a day. Mr. Oganessyan said the event was of great importance for advancing Russian radio products to Europe. New broadcasting opportunities are the result of visible progress in Russian-German relations, he said. The German T-System radio company owned by the Deutche-Telecom concern will be the VOA's [sic!] main partner in the project. /VoR News Dec. 5, from VoR.ru/ It appears that VoR had been broadcasting via its transmitters in Germany as a pirate station so far. Also I wonder who is doing the English translations for the Voice of Russia. Is s/he a former VOA worker or what?! :) (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {see also RUSSIA} ** GERMANY. Probably you wonder about this BBCM item; at least I was just asked what this could mean: ``RUSSIAN RADIO STATION TO START BROADCASTING IN GERMANY Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Moscow, 5 December: The Russian state radio broadcasting company Golos Rossii [Voice of Russia] has become the first domestic Russian radio station to obtain the official right to broadcast on German territory.`` Apparently the bureaucrats at Berlin got their act together and issued an official licence for the 603 service, that's all about this. VoR transmissions for Berlin started already some five years ago as an one year trial on 693. The trial was a success so the transmissions continued on whatever de-facto basis. Later the Medienanstalt Berlin- Brandenburg allocated 693 to Megaradio, and when Megaradio was to start on 693 Deutsche Telekom moved VoR to the current 603 channel. Well, just a few days ago the FAZ newspaper shut down its radio station, programming ceased on November 30 at midnight and the 93.6 transmitter at Berlin was finally switched off after running open carrier for at least a couple of hours. Would be an idea to put VoR on FM like BBC, RFI and (part-time only) VOA... Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY EAST. Looking back, From the New York Herald Tribune, November 6, 1952. 1952: SOVIET RADIO OFFENSIVE BONN: The Soviet Union is building five new giant transmitters in East Germany which Western experts believe will be used in a new radio offensive against Western Europe. The transmitters are expected to go into operation some time during 1953. Experts say that the Russians´ jamming equipment in East Germany already is adequate, so that these five transmitters could only logically be used to drastically increase propaganda broadcasts to Western Europe, particularly to West Germany. My oldest WRTH is the 1964 edition, and stations in the German Democratic Republic in the book were more or less as they have been until the Fall of the Wall: has anyone books, magazines or personal records so that we can identify those stations which went into operation from the GDR in 1953? (SOUTHERN EUROPEAN REPORT with Stefano Valianti, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Effective from Dec. 2 Bible Voice Broadcasting Network /BVBN/ is on the air to SAs in Bengali via NAU 250 kW / 095 degrees: 0030-0100 Mon-Sat on 7315, ex 0030-0100 Mon-Sat on 7180 via DHA 250 kW / 075 degrees Effective from Dec. 7 Bible Voice Broadcasting Network /BVBN/ will be on air to WEu in English at new time and on new frequency via JUL 100 kW / 290 degrees 0800-0915 Sat/Sun on 5975, ex 2000-2115 Sat/Sun on 7380 via SAM 200 kW / 295 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 6 via DXLD) ** GREENLAND. There was NO trace of the reported transmissions from R. Greenland on 3815-USB at Sheigra, even tho several MW frequencies from Greenland could be heard during the reported 1500-1600 and 2100-2200 UT slots (Dave Kenny, Sheigra, Scotland DX-pedition Nov 2-15, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GUYANA [and non]. Hi Glenn: A QSL to report, Guyana Broadcasting Corp., 3291.25, date and frequency (3290) form letter with verification statement, v/s Winston Carr, Maintenance Engineer- Transmitters, with info sheet on Guyana, in 2 months for taped report and 2 IRC's Rp. This after 8 years of trying, this answered report mailed from Cuba. (Joe Talbot, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. N: 52-16-18 W: 113-48-46; Grid: DO32cg ; Rx: Rockwell Collins HF-2050; Antennas: 7 Slinky-28m. T2FD Centered On 90m. 19.7m Tower, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So you think (re)mailing it from Cuba made the difference? I wonder why (gh) Over the years low QSL returns prompted several DXers into searching for an edge in upping return rates. I had been using, who I lovingly call "mail-mules" for years, that is having someone carry, hand deliver a report and wait for the reply. In 1982 I carried a report for Radio Zanzibar from Canadian DXer Ed Kusalik with me for nearly a year while in Africa. In recent years, a European DXer had QSLs printed for Radio Zanzibar, he then visited the station, met with the station`s management; today Zanzibar is able to QSL reports. In recent years the practice of mailing reports from a second party country does have some merit. My two younger brothers move around the world regularly; they post or deliver reports for me and others, recently, in Cuba and the CAR. However dated, it has been my experience that stations are more than happy to welcome visitors in to the station, read the report, verify it and QSL the report. From past experience stations do keep very detailed "log books" and records of reports. I had met several "QSL Secretaries" over the years; they had their own office and file cabinets. I have photos of the TWR Swaziland's QSL Secretary's file cabinet, that contained files from DXers by country and name, very organized. I can recall reading through the "Canada" file and seeing reports of Canadian DXers I knew. Recently, I received QSLs from Nepal, Laos and Myanmar with reports mailed from Cambodia by my youngest brother. I am becoming more of a believer in the idea some have that mail theft is the cause for low return rates: our reports just are not getting through to the stations. Not to say that every correct report would be verified, but some of the many would be. For those chasing QSLs, creativity and the never-give-up attitude often pays off. 73's. (Joe Talbot, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, swl via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 990, KHBZ Honolulu. 1206 'KHBZ, business talk radio' 11/8/02 also heard 11/10 0900-1100 with talk radio show and jingles at TOH "nine-ninety KHBZ Honolulu" sung by F. On weekends, this station calls itself "9-90 talk radio" and during the week, "9-90 business talk radio." (Don Nelson, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 4 via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. R. Litoral, 4832.01, Nov 29 0335-0459*: continuous religious talk in local language. 0427 Spanish announcements and into contemporary Spanish Christian music, canned IDs. Good, strong (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. RRI Makassar`s daytime SW frequency 9552v has been off air in recent days as of 24 November. Continues to be heard on 4753 with extended hours for Ramadhan, signing off at around 0030 after relaying news from Jakarta (Alan Davies, Java, DXplorer via Dec BDXC- UK Communication via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. ZAMBIA/CHILE/AUSTRALIA/UZBEKISTAN: B-02 of Christian Vision: CHRISTIAN VOICE via Lusaka / Zambia English to zones 52,53,57 0300-0600 6065 LUS 100 kW / non-dir 0600-1500 9865 LUS 100 kW / non-dir 1500-0300 4965 LUS 100 kW / non-dir VOZ CRISTIANA via Santiago / Chile Portuguese to zones 12,13,15 1000-1100 11890 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg ||||| new transmission 1100-2100 21500 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg 2100-0100 15475 SGO 100 kW / 045 deg ||||| new transmission 2100-0400 11745 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg Spanish to zones 12,13,15 0400-1000 11890 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg ||||| new transmission Spanish to zones 14,15,52,53,57 2000-2300 15355 SGO 100 kW / 105 deg ||||| new transmission Spanish to zones 10,11,12 1100-1300 11935 SGO 100 kW / 340 deg 1300-1400 21550 SGO 100 kW / 340 deg Spanish to 11,12,13 0000-1200 15375 SGO 100 kW / non-dir ||||| retimed, ex 0000-1400 1200-2400 17680 SGO 100 kW / non-dir ||||| retimed, ex 1400-2400 Spanish to zones 14,16 1000-2200 9635 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg ||||| retimed, ex 1200-2200 2200-1000 6070 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg ||||| retimed, ex 2200-1200 VOICE INTERNATIONAL via Darwin / Australia Chinese to zones 43,44,50 2200-0100 15165 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 0900-1400 17635 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 1400-1800 15150*DRW 250 kW / 340 deg ||||| extended ex 1400-1700 * from 1730 totally blocked by Voice of Indonesia in Spanish to Eu on 15149.8v English to zones 43,44,50 0130-0200 17775 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 0900-1300 13685 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg English to zones 41,49,54 1300-1630 13690 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1630-1900 11685 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1900-2100 13770 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg ||||| new transmission Indonesian to zones 49,50,54 0030-0100 21680 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 0430-0500 21680 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 0530-0600 21680 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 0600-0900 17820@DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 0900-1300 15365 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 1300-1800 13660#DRW 250 kW / 317 deg 2330-2400 11935 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg @ strong co-ch AWR in Duyla/French from 0730 # strong co-ch BBC in Arabic Hindi to zones 41,49,54 1100-1400 13635 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1400-1700 11750 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg VOICE INTERNATIONAL via Tashkent / Uzbekistan Hindi to zone 41 0100-0400 11850 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg ||||| new transmission 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Republic of Iraq Radio, R. Baghdad, 846 kHz, Nov 11 at 1845 Arabic songs, 1900 ID and news, \\ 908.94 also heard at 1855 (Dave Kenny & Alan Pennington, Sheigra DXpedition, Scotland, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Re DXLD 2-190 - Ireland RFI: I was in Ireland from Nov. 13-18. While I spent most of my time in pubs, I did most of my listening to local radio. Their Gaelic network played some great Irish traditional music. I did listen to SW at my hotel in Cork (Jury's) with no particular problems. In Killarney the hotel I stayed at (Killarney Plaza) was just newly renovated and was a smart building with lots of RFI. The building knew when the hallways were empty and shut off the energy-saving lights. The room knew when it was unoccupied and shut off the TV and any lights that might have been left on. The toilet used some kind of a vacuum pump combined with minimal water consumption. Why they bother in a country where it rains every day I do not know. The trigger for the flush function could only be operated while standing. I presume this was a safety feature to prevent amputation of vital appendages as the vacuum sounded like Ross Perot's giant sucking sound. The shower temperature dial was calibrated in degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit. You just dialed your desired temperature and stepped in. No fiddling. The wall thermostat controlled both fan speed and temperature with readouts on an LCD screen. The SW bands in this smart hotel were useless with all this new- fangled, electronic gadgetry. The SW spectrum was one continuous buzz. The Irish are very energy conscious and have already attained the Kyoto treaty goal of deriving 10% of their electric power from wind generators. They are working on making it 20% in the future. So if your anonymous contributor did his/her listening in modern hotels, it is likely that the buzz heard was due to the electronic wizardry that minimized energy usage. Given their conservation goal, the problem is only likely to get worse. I have seen the future and it is very noisy (Joe Buch, Delaware, USA, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel, 6280, Nov 28 2000-2025* English news, weather, ID, sked, 2025 IS; 2030 back in French. Good \\ 9435 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, I can confirm that Kol Israel has moved to 6280. 2000-2025 English, 2030-2045 French, 2045-2100 Spanish (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) (ps- my familyname pronounced as "Doa- mén"... thanks) ** ITALY. FROM RADIO STUDIO X: WATCH OUT FOR PHONY QSLS Hi Glenn ! I'm writing to ask you a favour. I've heard that there is a person non authorized who replies, in place of us, to many reception reports for Radio Studio X. Of course, those replies are totally fakes as we haven't got any relationship with this person. Could you inform your listeners that all reports (past, present and future) which are not printed on our official headed paper and signed by myself have to be considered fakes and not recognized by our station? All reports must only be sent to : RADIO STUDIO X Via Mammianese 687 51030 MOMIGNO (Pistoia), ITALY with 1 USD$ enclosed needed for the reply. Thanks again for your help. Best regards, (Massimiliano Marchi, RADIO STUDIO X, Dec 6, [WORLD OF RADIO affiliate], DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. 11670 kHz, RAI INTERNATIONAL, full data QSL card in German (site not included), card shows 'grifone alato' (a golden horse) by Mario Ceroli, symbol of the RAI production center in Saxa Rubra Roma, v/s not given, also enclosed schedule and reception report form, in 292 days for a report without rp to RAI International, Casella Postale 320, 00100 Roma, Italien (Martin Schoech, Merseburg, Germany, Dec 5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) http://www.schoechi.de 9875, Rai, A partial data QSL card #1 Etna (Sicily) by night. Received in 20 days for report sent to raiway.hfmonitoring@rai.it and cqmonza@rai.it V/s not given; also contained some stickers and reception report papers (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KIRIBATI. 846 at 1006. This was the station that I used to set up and test the receivers after arriving late in the evening at the coast. A surprising S9+20 signal off the W beverage that held for over three hours at this level. Local sing-sing style music with conch shells blown between the songs with a female announcer giving commentary - obviously an important event in Kiribati. 11/7/02 (Don Nelson, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 4 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 6575 kHz, VOICE OF KOREA, full data QSL card in English (site not included), card shows a red flower, v/s not readable, also enclosed a newspaper, a magazine, a pin, a rr form and a longer personal letter (the first I ever received from them in 15 years), in 57 days for a report without rp to Radio Pjöngjang, Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, Pyongyang, VR Korea (Martin Schoech, Merseburg, Germany, Dec 5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [and non]. V. of the People of Kurdistan, Sulaymaniyah, on MW 1206 at 1640 Nov 6 with Kurdish songs, strong \\ 4025 [q.v. below] (Dave Kenny & Alan Pennington, Sheigra DXpedition, Scotland, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) 3880.6 1602 R. Komala. News in Kurdish, many mentions of Khardar // 4380 kHz. ID 1628, off 1630 343 11/11 dk 3880.75 1618 R Komala. Pop & local music. Announcement including ``Radyo Komala``, s/off at 1628 34 [partial SIO?] 13/11 ap 3880.8 1611 V. of Iranian Revolution. News OM, local songs, s/off 1628 252 10/11 (Luca Botto Fiora, Genova, BDXC-UK...) 3900 1645 R. Freedom, Kurdish station ID sounded like ``Era hezbi azadia - dengi shuria Kurdistan iraq`` anthem, close at 1700. 243 13/11 dk 3926.6 1750 UNID Kurdish clandestine. (V of Komala?) rhetoric but no ID heard 333 14/11 ap 3975 1636 V. of Iranian Kurdistan. Songs, rhetoric, ID ``Dengi Kurdistana Irani`` 343 13/11 ap 4024.2 1650 V. of the People of Kurdistan. Kurdish music // 1206 medium wave 333 10/11 dk 4025.5 2056 UNID YL talk, stringed, piano music at 2108. Band and chorus - 2114 off 232 15/11 DG 4085 1659 V. of Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish ID ``Dangi Kurdistani Iraqi``, Kurdish music 333 10/11 dk 4139.8 1652 R. Kurdistan. AA ID ``idaat al Kurdistan``. very distorted audio. Long anthem, closed at 1703 332 10/11 dk 4140.5v 2029 R. Kurdistan (tentative) Tentative Arabic ID, well known tune. Drifting frequency. 333 06/11 ap 4245 1659 V. of Kurdistan Toilers (presumed). Kurdish music, ID in Kurdish sounded like ``Dengi (?dakti) Kurdistan``. Anthem, s/off 1702 333 10/11 dk 4370.7 1627 V. of Iranian Revolution of Kurdistan. ID in Kurdish ``Dangi shurashi Iranya Kurdistana``. 333 13/11 ap 4380.6 1605 R. Komala. News in Kurdish, many mentions of ``Khargar Irana Kuzestan`` ID ``Radyo Komala`` at 1628 233 10/11 dk (u.o.s. Logs at Sheigra, Scotland, DXpedition by Alan Pennington and Dave Kenny, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. Logs: 4010.1 0042 Kyrgyz R1 (presumed) local music, announcements. 444 03/ 11 (David Morris, UK, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) 4010.2 1754 Kyrgyz R, Bishkek. Classical music, chimes & ID at 1800. 344 14/11 (Alan Pennington, Sheigra, Scotland, ibid. 4050 1650 Hit Music Shortwave (Unid Central Asian). Central Asian and Western sounding music interspersed with EE ID "hit shortwave" and "hit music on shortwave". (old Kyrgyz freq - from Kyrgyzstan?) 233 10/11 (Dave Kenny, Sheigra) 4050 1645 Hit Music Shortwave (via Kyrgyzstan?) Indian style pop, EE ID. 243 05/11 (Alan Pennington, Sheigra, Scotland DXpedition, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. B-02 schedule of transmitter Sitkunai 100 kW / 259 deg to Eu and 310 degrees to NAm: 0000-0100 Daily 7325 Radio Vilnius in Lithuanian/English to NAm 0800-0900 Sat 9710 Fundamental Broadcasting Network English to Eu 0900-1000 Daily 9710 Radio Vilnius in Lithuanian/English to Eu 1100-1200 Sun 9710 Awaye Ashena in Persian to Eu? 1200-1300 Sun 9710 Fundamental Broadcasting Network English to Eu 1300-1400 Sun 9710 Universelles Leben in German to Eu 1700-1735 Daily 7470 Radio Barobari in Persian to Eu? 2300-2400 Daily 9875 Radio Vilnius in Lithuanian/English to NAm (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 6 via DXLD) ** MACEDONIA [FYROM]. 810 kHz was noted off the air on 4-5 October with Volgograd heard instead. On 5 Oct after 1800, Macedonia was observed with sporadic attempts to keep the transmitter on, usually for two seconds and then off again... (Karel Honzík, Czechia, MWC List via Dec BDXC-UK Communications via DXLD) That`s the new 1200 kW unit - -- or should I say, binit (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 6175, Voice of Malaysia, 0900-1400; Noted at 1130-1200 Dec 5, a man in Indonesian comments on both 6175 and parallel 9750 kHz with the latter being the best reception at fair. 49 meters was poor (Chuck Bolland, Clewistion, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Were you listening at 1030 when Voz de la Resistencia has been reported? (gh) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. 1098, R. Majuro. 1047 Local pop music, at stunning S9+20 level off the west wire 11/8/02. + 0626 F in local dialect just after local sunrise at transmitter. Noted also is a het on 1557 - which would mean a reactivation of Micronesia Heatwave! Faded out after sunset but then reappeared strong at 0744 with islands style music and announcer in local dialect 11/10/02. + 1007 M in local dialect 11/7/02 (Don Nelson, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 4 via DXLD) ** MICRONESIA. 1449, V6AH Pohnpei. 0712 Music on frequency just as Pohnpei enters twilight. 11/10/02. 1503, V6AJ Tofol (V. Kosrae). 1008 music and local islands talk 11/7/02. + 0812 EE announcer with islands music, and a song sung to the cadence of a military marching unit. Off NW wire strongest. Presumed V6AJ but must review the long running MD. Mention at 0824 that they were playing every Friday morning, so come on out. 0829 M with mentions of Tofol. Deep prolonged fades. Back at 0835 with music (24:00). 0842 M DJ mentions phone and Bat Masterson (31:00) and into music. 11/9/02. + 0701 local dialect music - islands style. Better signal than past three nights. Continued islands music. At 0713 a Japanese is also co-channel (twilight in Japan) 11/10/02. 1593, V6AK Weno. 0740 Islands style music with M anncr in local dialect fade in at local sunset. Japanese also fading in co-channel. 11/10/02 (Don Nelson, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 4 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. One of the oldest locations from the Dutch broadcasting history, transmitting station Kootwijk, which was officially opened by then Dutch Queen Wilhelmina in 1927, will not be broken up. In this station the first connection with former Dutch Indië (Now Indonesia) was made on short-wave. It will be renovated and by sponsoring from government, local authorities and KPN [sic] be rebuilt into a museum (From Hans Knot via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND [and non]. I sent an email to VE1AL of the Marconi Amateur Wireless Society regarding any possible special event operations for the centennial of the first radio message across the Atlantic. Personal health problems, rig problems and overall lack of local interest were cited as the reasons for having no special operations planned. Very unfortunate since this club had marked many of the previous anniversaries. I think their last event was in 1999 for the 97th anniversary (Wade Smith, VE9WGS, New Brunswick, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Er, I thought the 100th was last year, to considerable celebration (gh, DXLD) Hi Glenn, Yes, last year was the centennial of the first transmission across the Atlantic from Poldhu to St. John's where Marconi received the letter "S". And no doubt the most historic event. But the first actual message that proved this was a viable mode of trans-Atlantic communication was sent by Marconi from Table Head on Cape Breton Island to England. I know there are some events to mark this occasion and the special Canada Post stamp has been released to mark the event (DXLD 2-166). The Marconi Radio Club will mark the centennial of Marconi's first message from the U.S. to Europe in January. http://personal.tmlp.com/k1vv/w1aa/w1aa_1001.htm Other than that there has been very little time for anything radio related. Hope to get back to the dials soon. Best Wishes, (Wade Smith, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. R. Nigeria [Kaduna], 4769.96, Nov 28 2135-2300*, tune-in to Kor`an, vernacular talk, Af pop music, sign off with NA. Fair. Exactly same frequency re-opened at *0431-0500+ Nov 29: sign-on with drums IS, 0432 choral anthem, 0433 English prayer and opening announcements, vern talk, English religious talk, pop music, 0500 English news; fair. V. of Nigeria, 15120, Nov 28 *1858-2300*: sign-on with lite instrumental music, 1900 English sign-on announcements, 1901 program about local agriculture. 2000 News. Sign-off with ID, address and NA, very good; \\ 7255 weak. Again Nov 29 15120 from *0454-0505+, sign-on with NA, opening English announcements, mentions of upcoming programs, 0500 English news, very weak; much better on \\ 7255 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. PBC, Dera Ismail Khan, 1403.85 kHz at 1510 Nov 14, M&W news in Urdu \\ Quetta 5027 including several ``Radio Pakistan`` IDs in dialogue (Dave Kenny & Alan Pennington, Sheigra DXpedition, Scotland, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** POLAND. POLISH BROADCASTING AUTHORITY TO MONITOR CONTROVERSIAL CATHOLIC RADIO | Text of report by Polish news agency PAP Warsaw, 3 December: The National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council [KRRiT] decided on Tuesday [3 December] that it will carry out a monitoring of the programmes of Radio Maryja. It will also look again at the station's financial reports for the previous year. These are the results of the discussion around the radio and its director after the transmission of a [documentary] film by [public] Polish Television [TVP]. It will analyse the film itself, "Father Rydzyk's Empire" by Jerzy Morawski, and draw up an evaluation on this basis. Jaroslaw Sellin sought this during a KRRiT meeting. "I suspect that the rules of journalistic thoroughness were broken in this film, and especially at those moments where statements and pictures were used of people who had not expressed their consent to this," Sellin told PAP. According to him, the measures used in the film were disproportionate to the asserted but unproved accusations. "After all, this does not concern an organized criminal gang, but a priest who was buying a daily newspaper or looking at a helicopter - nothing transpires from this," the KRRiT member argued. He also recalled that one of the TVP journalists has recounted that her earlier report about Father Rydzyk was made use of in the film without her consent. In accordance with a suggestion by Sellin, apart from the preparation of its own assessment, the KRRiT will seek an additional expert report from the Media Ethics Council and from the TVP Programme Council, which will in any case be considering the film at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday [5 December]. On Tuesday, the KRRiT also instructed its programme department to monitor Radio Maryja for a selected month of broadcasts by the station. As PAP was told by Joanna Stempien, the press spokeswoman of the KRRiT chairman, the monitoring will be paying particular attention to those programmes that might arouse controversies in society. Despite the KRRiT having long ago accepted the financial report for last year, after the film about Father Rydzyk it has been decided that the legal department will look at it again from the point of view of accordance with formal conditions. "The KRRiT has so decided because reservations about this report have been expressed in the press, radio and television," Stempien explained. The spokeswoman stressed that many people had requested the KRRiT to adopt a stance, both towards the film and towards the radio station itself. After the film was broadcast, such an expectation of activity by the KRRiT was expressed by President Aleksander Kwasniewski. A request for information was also passed to the KRRiT by Deputy Minister of Finance Waclaw Ciesielski, who had himself announced at an earlier press conference that the revenue bodies would be speaking with the Redemptorist Order so as to determine the legal force of the earlier decision by the order's leadership that Radio Maryja was to become "a separate entity for the purposes of taxation". The conducting of a revenue audit at Radio Maryja depends upon the results of these talks. In reply to this, the Warsaw Province of the Redemptorist Order declared that neither Radio Maryja nor the Redemptorist Order conducted commercial activity. In its financial report for 2001, Radio Maryja indicated that its profit was 16m zlotys and that all of this money had been allocated to the activity of the radio [ploughed back] - the balance came to zero. The taxation box contains the figure zero. Before this, the radio only presented the KRRiT with brief reports, stating that it maintained itself from listeners' gifts. As of this year, broadcasters are statutorily obliged to supply the KRRiT with more wide-ranging financial reports. In previous years, this requirement was only written down in the broadcasting concessions [licences]. Radio Maryja now has until April next year to provide a financial report for 2002. It nonetheless earlier lodged a complaint against this statutory obligation to the Supreme Administrative Court [NSA]. The NSA has not yet ruled on the complaint. Source: PAP news agency, Warsaw, in Polish 1952 gmt 3 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 9690 kHz, RADIO ROMANIA INTERNATIONAL, full data QSL card in English (site not included), card shows 'north railway station (1872)', but picture taken today, not 1872.., v/s not readable, envelope has two nice stamps (sports), postage was 26500 Lei, also enclosed schedule and programm guide, in 57 days for a report without rp to Radio Rumänien, General Berthelot 60-62, P. O. Box 111, Bucuresti, Rumänien (Martin Schoech, Merseburg, Germany, Dec 5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. V. of Russia, new 6235, Nov 29 *2100-2158*, English news, commentary, jazz music program. Weak; better on \\ 7300, 7340, 5950. New time for English? (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {No: DXLD 2-192} MW Relay in Germany authorised: see GERMANY ** RUSSIA. There has been some discussion about the powers used by Yakutsk on its various frequencies. Radio Rossii information from early 2001 says that 7200 has 250 kW. Monitoring shows, however, that there is a rather strong 2nd harmonic on 14400. These harmonics are usually produced by the Sneg model transmitters produced in the '50s and early '60s. The power levels of these transmitters are 50, 100 and 200 kW. As the current HFCC shows 100 kW for 7200, this is likely to be the power now used. No harmonics have been observed for the other frequencies (6150, 7140, 7345). It also seems clear now that the new 6150 is a change from 4825. (Olle Alm, Sweden, 5 Dec, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. R. Pomorya, 6160, 0410 Nov 14, ID ``Govorit Arkhangel`sk, Radio Pomorya``, local news in Russian \\ 918, SIO 242 (Robert Petraitis, Klaipeda, Lithuania, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. CLANDESTINE from LITHUANIA? to SAUDI ARABIA. Voice of al-Aslah [sic] is to launch Dec. 7, a test transmission on 7590 for two hours 2200-0000 Local Mecca time. Details here http://islah.org/radio1.htm#3 ...Developing (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Dec 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UT+3? So 1900-2100 UT 7590: led me to the TDP website where there is a listing for a Radio Alislah [sic] daily from 19 to 21 on 7590. Bumped around on the islah.org site, which is in Arabic, but has an English link. Went there and found an article entitled the American Phenomenon and the Bin Laden Phenomenon in which Bin Laden is referred to as a "good warrior." Presumed transmitter site based on past TDP usage and frequency (Hans Johnson, TX, Dec 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hi all, Strong signal on 7590 at 2020z with mostly open carrier and chunks of what sounds like an Imam. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, UT Dec 6 already, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Also in south Italy, SINPO 55544 (Roberto Scaglione, 2025 UT Dec 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Slovak R., on 2106 = 3 x 702 at 2128 Nov 11, \\ fundamental. Usual muddy audio of harmonics (Dave Kenny, Sheigra DXpedition, Scotland, BDXC=UK via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [and non]. -- By Amit Baruah NORWAY SUPPLIED COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT TO LTTE: ARUNA New Delhi, Dec. 4. The Norwegian Government has supplied the LTTE with 70 tonnes of communication equipment to begin radio and TV broadcasts, Anura Bandaranaike, Senior Adviser to the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, alleged. He told the Hindu today that the equipment had been unloaded at Colombo port on Nov. 26 and then handed over to the Tigers at Omanthai. It was transported by road. The Sri Lankan Freedom Party leader claimed that the equipment could be used to ``beam broadcasts`` to the southern parts of India. Underlying his observation were the security implications for India (``The Hindu`` newspaper, 5 Dec. 2002 via Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, ATOJ, dx_india via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. QSLs: Radio Sweden for report of logging of 11/20 at 0340 on 18990 (H X 2 of 9495) Fulldata (minus transmitter location [Sackville]), VS, sked highlighting 700th birthday celebration of Saint Brigid, personal note thanking me for the RR and the nice postcard (note it was for James Bond's new movie) in an incredible 9 days (Joe Miller, Troy MI, Nov 29, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Frequency change for Radio Taipei International in English: 1600-1800 NF 11560 strong co-channel AWR in English till 1700, ex 11550 (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 6 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Greetings from sunny Taiwan! I am now in Tainan, SW Taiwan, and some DXing is possible as well. Logging is going on. Up to now I have only heard "nothing" on 3335. Between 14 and 18 UTC, when "Dateline with Taipei" is listed. I can indeed hear a Chinese language program on 6145, but only the Mainland China jammers (1 normal and 1 overmodulated radioprogramme) on 7395. I've yet to wait for even 14:00.00 for an ID. [PWBR `2003` lists CBS Taipei on 3335, 100 kW to E Asia at 1400-1800 in Chinese; 6145 RTI 1000-1500 to E Asia; nothing pertinent on 7395] There are lots of Taiwanese stations on MW, also many red China stations. From other countries I have so far heard FEBC Philippines, VoA Poro 1143 and Bangkok 1575. V. of Vietnam 1242 tent. On "exotic" channels so far only white noise (6035, 5985, 4725, 7145...). But I can happily say that there is no local electromagnetic noise, only if I hold the antenna very close to the TV cable, although I'm staying in the middle of a big city. And no thunderstorms or similar noise sources, as in South Taiwan it is dry season now. (On Taiwan's northern parts there's monsoons coming from mainland China, but there are mountain ranges inbetween so nothing is here). 73, (Eike Bierwirth, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, R.O.C., Dec 5, hard-core-dx via DXLD) V. of the Strait: see CHINA Find the current overall shortwave schedule on http://www.eibi.de.vu/ ** TANZANIA. Have not heard R Tanzania on 5050 during evenings for 1-2 weeks. Seems they're off at the moment (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TOGO. R. Togo on 5047 has improved their modulation. Heard on 5 Dec at 2215 UT with what sounded like news reports in French. Several times heard "Radio Lomé" mentioned in the end of each news report. Carrier is strong, but some further work is needed to make the audio good. Well, it seems they're trying anyway (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. Turkmen Radio schedule for SW: 5015 (programme `Watan`): 0000-2300 4930 (shared by programmes `Çar tarapdan` and `Miras`) 0100-2300 (Turkmen Radio source via Sergey Kolesov, Ukraine, via Bernd Trutenau, DXplorer via Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** U K [non]. I was listening for the moment to BBC WS in English via Ascension on 15400, Dec 5 at 2115, when it was suddenly marred by a nearby station opening with much stronger signal. This proved to be BBC too, 15390, which is via Greenville, supposed to be M-F Caribbean service for 15 minutes only, in English. Instead, it was BBC Spanish! We were invited to stand by for a show called ``Vía Libre`` (or ``Vida Libre``??), which ensued. Is no one paying attention? Not until 2122 when it was half over, did 15390 suddenly switch to the correct Caribbean Report feed, which I had found meanwhile on the parallels from Antigua (see CUBA), 11675, and barely-audible 5975. So the mixed up feed probably happened at VOA Washington (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More BBC: see PWBR remarks below ** U S A. There are four versions of R. Sawa broadcast simultaneously: Radio Sawa Levant, Radio Sawa Iraq, Radio Sawa Egypt and Radio Sawa Gulf. They are produced and distributed 24 hours a day by satellite (Eutelsat Hotbird 3 and News Skies Satellites 703). All programs are distributed in stereo --- presumably for local FM rebroadcast (station info via Steve Whitt, MW Circle via Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) And presumably more versions to come? (gh, DXLD) Yesterday, Dec 4, on 9835 and 9785 kHz announced "Radio Farda" at 2100 UT after almost continuous music (Matti Ponkamo, Naantali, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 11960 Radio Farda, 2027-2040, December 5. Talk in ?? (Farsi??) by male. Music. Announcement by male. Short bulletin news read by female. Announcement. Commentary by male about Iran. After, many IDs as "Radio Farda". Very nice song (the singer is a male). SINPO: 43433. // 9785 with 33433 and 9835 with 32432 too (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Some changes for Voice of America in Persian: 0300-0400 on 7200 9435 17855 ||||| retimed, ex 0300-0500 on same 1500-1600 on 1593 ||||| cancelled 1600-1700 on 1593 6160 9875 12110 ||||| cancelled 2000-2030 on 6160 9680 12110 ||||| cancelled 2000-2030 on 1593 only! Freq change for Radio Liberty in Azeri: 1600-1700 NF 9665, ex 9795 73 from Ivo and Angel! (Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 6 via DXLD) ** U S A. Wonder if Greenville has been silenced by the winter storm, which hit NC pretty hard. Not heard on some listed frequencies with R. Martí, etc. (George Thurman, Dec 6 at 1605, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I looked thru the entire current IBB frequency schedule at http://sds.his.com:4000/fmds_w/schedules/cur_freqsked.txt and was struck by how *little* Greenville is used any more, especially at this time of day. In fact the *only* frequencies going during the 1600 hour are R. Martí on 13820, 11930 and 11815. I checked them around 1635 and all were active, tho all were buried by Cuban Commie jamming as usual. Of course, if a disaster took out Greenville, no doubt many transmissions to the Americas would be switched to Delano, depending on priorities and available capacity; and vice versa. We have learnt that this is sometimes done temporarily for maintenance convenience (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. More VoA English on 1197 kHz Since October 27 this year, the Voice of America has increased use of the 1197 kHz transmitter for the English service, and this reminds me of my early days with radio. It was by chance that many years ago, while moving from the Home Service to the Second Programme of RAI from 1331 to 1115 kHz, I found the following on 1286 kHz: "Qui Radio Praga- Ascoltate la nostra trasmissione in lingua italiana." It was quite exciting for me, as a teenager grown up under RAI state monopoly, to discover that there were other voices to be heard on the airwaves. After that, the tuning knob began to be turned up and down every evening (I only discovered shortwaves later!) and the following was soon heard on 1196 kHz: "Time for jazz-This is Willis Conover with the Voice of America Jazz Hour". It was exciting, I had just read an article in the Italian monthly Panorama with all times and frequencies of European stations on which jazz could be heard, and there was the VOA, but on 173 kHz and I didn`t have a longwave receiver then! After more than two decades of all news and talk, music has now made its comeback to 1197: Mondays to Fridays at 1905-1930 with "Border Crossings" and daily at 2105-2200 with specialized music programmes. The "Classic Rock Show" is on Wednesdays and "Jazz America" on Saturdays and Sundays (SOUTHERN EUROPEAN REPORT with Stefano Valianti, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** U S A. WMLK, 9465, Nov 28 1630-2100* in English, tune-in to lite instrumental music, 1631 ID and into usual religious talk by Elder Jacob O. Meyer about Yahweh teachings. Very good; M-F only. Also heard next day Nov 29 from *1600 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I noticed 9465 one day, barely audible, blown away by B. Stair on WWCR 9475. There is no comparison between the extreme and minimal signal strength of these two (hmm, that was a comparison), and one can hardly imagine the situation reversed if/when WMLK ever go 250 (or even 125) kW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 13820/11735, Radio Africa Int. Partial QSL, v/s by Donna Niemann, and Raphael Mbadinga. No indications as to which of my reception reports and follow-ups was been replied to now. Email radio@gbgm-umc.org (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. New WMQM, 1600, Memphis TN: See web site for press release on delay and pictures. New date, Dec. 14. Transmission line destroyed by backhoe. Non-directional. No after dark 50 KW at this time. New transmission line will be shipped this Monday for arrival on Tuesday. Installation to begin on Wednesday. ON air Saturday afternoon????? (George McClintock, F. W. Robberts Broadcasting, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Some news on local radio has found longtime music AM station WCWA-1270 having the adult standards format blown off in favor of more tripe talk. It was an ugly corporate decision based not on poor ratings numbers but a decision that smacks on considering its audience too old to be a viable demographic. Of course, Clear Channel's official position has been no comment, but my inside sources tell me that the standards format was an "embarrassment" to try and sell. WCWA was ranked 2nd among Toledo's AM stations, 3rd if you include Detroit's WJR, and 12th out of 24 total market survey stations, FMers included. Their ratings were in the plus 2 to just under 4 share depending on the particular period book you look at in recent years. The latest showed a 1600 AQH and 24,900 average weekly listenership. Not bad when you analyze it. I've found myself in the midst of fighting this action, taking my campaign to getting signatures on petitions to convince another station or company to take on WCWA's old format, contacting advertisers, sending out letters to newspaper editors in a 50-60 mile radius of Toledo and lining up listeners to call and write local broadcasters to urge someone to do the right thing by a large segment of disenfranchised listeners. (rce, you would be a good candidate for my "army of supporters" if you lived near Toledo, hi!) So far, I've acquired over 250 signatures representing over 20 area communities. I'm trying for 1600 to reach the WCWA average quarterly hour listenership. I may not be able to break the back of the big corporate moguls on this one but I feel a line must be drawn in the sand. Trust me, none of your favorite stations is now safe; big corporate companies are only out for profit and care nothing what product they put out for the public. I'll keep you updated on this effort. I've been amazed at the response I've gotten so far to my undertaking. The WCWA change took place on 11/1/02, so I'm only 2 1/2 weeks into my petition campaign. In spite of this time consuming campaign I have gotten a few new stations in recent weeks... KRJO-1680 LA (My 5000th station received across the 3 band total of AM-FM-TV stations logged!) (Gary Siegel, Toledo OH, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 4 via DXLD) ** U S A. It was announced in the "Connecticut Post" this morning that: Radio legend Bob Steel, a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame and a fixture on WTIC-AM for 55 years, died Friday at 91. He joined WTIC in 1936 (Steve Foisey, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RealAudio Recording of the end of WEVD as home of liberal talk shows and brokered medical and financial shows, beginning of WEVD as ESPN radio, NY around midnight, Sept. 1, 2001. http://stream.realimpact.net/?file=realimpact/soundportraits/yiddish/history/wevd_off_air.rm (From http://www.yiddishradioproject.org/ via Joel Rubin, DXLD) ** U S A. It`s that time of year, residual skywave at midday on the `clear` channels. Dec 5 at 1749-1800, just half an hour before local mean noon, I tuned 700 and promptly heard a clear WLW ID; 670 had an about equal mix of Denver, which normally dominates on groundwave, and WMAQ with sports; there is a subaudible heterodyne (SAH, steady fade) of 24/minute between them, which converts to 0.4 Hz. Next stop: 720, where WGN had perpetual Chicago traffic, a mention of Dan Ryan all I needed to hear. 830, WCCO was not making it as it has before: see recent discussion here of its sad grounding situation. 840 did bring WHAS with an ID, and also has a 0.4 Hz SAH! This time no doubt from the Nebraskan, which barely makes it here on groundwave (I think). The big four heard are all more than a megameter distant (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KKSU DONE AT K-STATE 'Voice of Kansas State University' signs off after 78 years - Published Monday, December 2, by Sarah Rice, Kansas State Collegian KKSU signed off for the last time Wednesday evening, ending its 78- year history as the "voice of Kansas State University." In August, K-State officials sold KKSU to WIBW, owned by Morris Communications, for $1.2 million over a dispute about football broadcasting rights. KKSU has served as public radio station since 1924, funded by the College of Agriculture, and it was utilized as an outreach tool for agricultural and family-life issues. Larry Jackson, station manager, said that although the last day was sad, he and his staff are looking forward to creating a future for the station's mission. "We haven't had a chance to concentrate on our future," Jackson said. "Trying to get to this point has required a lot of effort. Back in August, when the announcement was made, it was surprise and a certain amount of anger. There was a feeling that those making the decisions did not understand the value of what was being given up." But the KKSU staff soon realized the sale was a reality and that their jobs would never be the same. "At that point, the die was cast," Jackson said. "It was inevitable. It is sadness today and a realization that the routine is gone. All of a sudden we don't have a deadline to meet. The job of being the press, we won't have for a while." With no deadlines, KKSU has kept its mission but changed the means of getting that message delivered. Richard Baker, news director, said the station's managers have been contacting commercial radio stations across Kansas to establish contracts to broadcast programs that would be produced in KKSU's studios and then aired on other stations. "We will have time to do things we have been doing part time," Jackson said. "We are talking to stations and asking, 'What within our subject matter -- agriculture, family, consumer science, rural life, health -- can we create that you would be willing to air?'" Baker said he is hoping an agriculture program will continue to be broadcast on these other stations. "I am hoping I can set up a syndicated program that would use the agriculture idea as a basis and how ag affects the average person," he said. The possibility of purchasing another frequency has been discussed. However, Baker said he is unsure if there would be any available or from where the funding would come. As for hard feelings from the sale, Baker said he understands where Morris Communications is coming from. However, he also said some of the staff was disappointed with the decision. "They've always wanted the frequency," Baker said. "We have always had valuable hours during the day. I understand their frustration. We had the frequency first, and they were the ones who came and joined us. You make do with what you've got. Now, they've got everything, and I'm sure they're happy." Although no one will lose a job because of the sale, Baker said he would like to see permanent positions created so that when he retires, he will be replaced. "I would like the university to commit to a permanent position of some kind," he said. "I don't want to have the position because I am here. I am not sure if they are just giving us jobs 'til we leave." Baker said listeners lose the most. "I have been averaging probably four to five calls a week since it was announced," he said. "I think they are the big losers. "'Do people need to hear this?' That's what guided us in our decisions to put something on air. That's not gonna happen anymore." Diane Swanson, associate professor of management, said that after an interview this summer with KKSU, she was impressed with the style of reporting the station used. "I did an interview about corporate ethics and corporate scandal in July," Swanson said. "Of all the interviews I have done, the one with KKSU was the most in-depth, and the producer asked the best questions and had the most insightful commentary." Swanson said this kind of reporting will not be found on commercial radio stations. "From my perspective, the loss is an in-depth kind of news coverage and commentary from the pool of experts at the university," she said. "KKSU was noncommercial and therefore gave in-depth interviews and thoughtful coverage of issues that served particularly the community in Western Kansas. My hope is that the university has plans to resurrect the station in that mode." Jackson said that although the programs and voice of KKSU will continue in a different way, the university has lost access to Kansans. "We can contact, in milliseconds, almost anyone in the state," he said. "In the case of the floods in the early '90s, we put experts on the air. We were there with other catastrophic events as a voice people could turn to for help and access to experts from Kansas State. "K-State has lost control of the message. We lost access to Kansans on an everyday basis. As long as you had access to the signal, you could do anything. But without the signal, you lost media, and you are at the mercy of people who have control." http://kstatecollegian.com/stories/120202/new_kksu.shtml (Kansas State eCollegian, Dec 4, via Brock Whaley, DXLD) AM 580 SWITCHES TO 24-HOUR BROADCAST Ceremony: Executives from Morris Communications were on hand to dedicate station's new home -- By Michael Hooper, The Capital-Journal Generations from now, radio historians will look back at Dec. 2, 2002, as a turning point in the history of WIBW radio in Topeka. For the first time in 75 years, AM 580 WIBW on Monday broadcast from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m., a time slot that previously was used by Kansas State University. Executives from Augusta, Ga.,-based Morris Communications Corp., the owner of WIBW and FM 94.5 Country, on Monday dedicated the station's new home at 1210 S.W. Executive Drive in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Morris Communications president Will Morris made his debut as a radio announcer as he offered opening comment during the new time slot. Since WIBW radio was launched in 1927, he said, it had shared the right to broadcast over AM 580 WIBW with K-State. "Today, now, at this very moment, all that has changed," Morris said at 12:30 p.m. "From this moment forward, all broadcast rights, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are assigned exclusively to WIBW and Morris Communications. We're proud we'll be serving our region every hour of every day." The moment was preceded by a montage of music, sports and news from great moments in the radio station's history. Morris thanked the radio station's employees for dedication throughout the changes. The station, without going off the air, moved twice in less than 14 months -- a year ago from the Menninger campus to temporary quarters at Corporate Hill, just northwest of Sam's Club, and then in September to the new headquarters at Corporate Hill. All the while, the staff was preparing to fill five additional hours with new programming. Morris' father, William S. Morris III, chairman and chief executive officer of Morris Communications, said he was delighted to build upon what predecessors have created at WIBW. When he joined the family corporation in the 1950s after graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, the company sold its radio stations to buy the newspapers in Savannah, Ga. Later, he said, Morris Communications acquired some good broadcasting properties in 1995 when it purchased Stauffer Communications. Since 1995, the senior Morris said, he has been impressed with the radio business and has expanded the company's holdings, partly because of the leadership of Craig Colbach, WIBW manager. "Craig has re-energized our interest in radio," he said. Morris Communications owns 27 radio stations, including one in Monaco. Morris also talked about journalism as a profession of service, saying, "It's a privilege to gather and collect information and provide it to the people." Morris Communications also owns The Topeka Capital-Journal. The new WIBW WIBW's new home: The $2.5 million building has 16,000 square feet, digital consoles in eight studios, a music library, a satellite uplink that allows the station to distribute national programs, a conference room and a generator in case of a power outage. Open House: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. Last Modified: 4:09 p.m. - 12/3/2002 [and see for illustrations:] http://www.cjonline.com/stories/120302/bus_wibw.shtml (Topeka Capitol Journal via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Come on, FCC, get yourselves sorted out! Here's an interesting piece of radio trivia. Not only were the FCC not communicating as they are having email problems but they appear to unaware it`s now December! I'm sure the "headlines" below taken from the FCC web site today should refer to Thursday December 5th (it`s definitely not November 5th as that was a Tuesday) (maybe they will have spotted it by the time this reaches DXLD; we will see!!). http://www.fcc.gov/ "12/5/02. NOTICE: Due to equipment problems, no incoming e-mail was received at the FCC between 7:30 p.m. and 11:50 p.m. EST on Thursday November 5th. Anyone who sent e-mail to the FCC during that time was not notified that the message was not delivered. Those messages will have to be resent. This effects {sic} e-mail filings in all Dockets, including Docket 02-230." (via Mike Terry, UK, DXLD) ** U S A. Top of UHF TV band ready to go? Report No: AUC-02-49-A Released: 12/02/2002. AUCTION OF LOWER 700 MHZ BAND LICENSES SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 16, 2003; COMMENT SOUGHT ON RESERVE PRICES OR MINIMUM OPENING BIDS AND OTHER AUCTION PROCEDURES. (DA No. 02-3287). WTB. Contact: Howard Davenport at (202) 418-0660, Lyle Ishida at (202) 418-0660 or Linda Sanderson at (717) 338-2888 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-02-3287A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-02-3287A2.xls http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-02-3287A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-02-3287A2.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-02-3287A1.txt http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-02-3287A2.txt (via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV Dec 6 via DXLD) ** U S A. Special event station W2W is active from Baltimore, Maryland, on the 7th and 8th of December to commemorate the event that lead to the United States becoming involved in World War Two - the attack on Pearl Harbor. Activity will be on CW and SSB (RSGB via Mike Terry, DXLD) WTFK?? ** U S A [and non]. TEN-TEC, THALES REPORT FIRST AMATEUR TRANSATLANTIC HF DIGITAL VOICE QSO NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 4, 2002 -- Radio communications pioneers Ten-Tec and Thales have announced that they've used an Amateur Radio linkup to span the Atlantic on HF digital voice for the first time. Ten-Tec's Doug Smith, KF6DX, and Thales' Didier Chulot, F5MJN, successfully transmitted and received HF digital speech signals November 22 between Paris, France, and Ten-Tec's Sevierville, Tennessee, headquarters. "We view this as a significant accomplishment," said Smith. "Amateur Radio has long been at the forefront of technological development. It's nice to be able to show that our legacy is alive and well." Tests are being conducted under the auspices of ARRL's Digital Voice Working Group, which Smith chairs. A written report on the tests is due in January. Calling it "a major breakthrough," a Ten-Tec news release said the two amateur stations "demonstrated the advantages of digital audio during the conversation, including noise-free, FM-like reception and the potential for simultaneous voice and data." The feat was accomplished using Ten-Tec transceivers and Thales Communications digital audio software. Operating as F8KGG, Chulot spoke with Smith for several minutes over the HF digital link, operating within a 3-kHz bandwidth. The contact occurred on 15 meters on 21,218 kHz. "The rigs F5MJN and I used are unmodified," Smith said. "They are being used in regular upper-sideband mode." AM or FM mode also would work, he added. No additional hardware was required beyond the cables connecting the transceiver and the microphone to the PC sound card. Smith said signal strengths were S5 to S7 and readability was R5 in both directions. In terms of audio quality, Smith recorded a "mean opinion score" (MOS) of 3.5 out of a possible 5 in the QPSK mode, which runs at 1200 bits/sec. An MOS of 3 is generally defined as toll- quality --- roughly the same as conventional telephone audio quality. Signals were also exchanged in 16-QAM mode at 2400 bits/sec. The Ten-Tec/Thales system is based on a new international broadcasting standard adopted last year by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Digital broadcast signals occupy up to 10 kHz of bandwidth. The FCC has approved a similar standard for AM broadcasting in the US called "In-Band, On-Channel" or IBOC. An Amateur Radio version of the Thales system is expected to appear on the market early next year, but Smith says he has no information on the software's cost or distribution. "At this stage, the system is experimental-only for ham radio, but it looks like it's going to take off," Smith predicted. In the US, Smith used the new Ten-Tec Orion HF transceiver at 100 W output coupled to a Hy-Gain TH7DX tri-band Yagi at the Ten-Tec factory. In France, F5MJN operating F8KGG, used a Ten-Tec Jupiter running 100 W to a log-periodic antenna. Smith says that simultaneous digital voice and data over radio already are finding favor in public service circles. "Many law enforcement and emergency organizations have gone over to digital radios for secure and reliable digital communications," he said. "In addition, high- definition digital television (HDTV) systems that use digital audio are already in operation in many areas of the world." And, he points out, satellite-based digital audio broadcasting (DAB) began last year in earnest. In terms of Amateur Radio digital equipment, Alinco was the first manufacturer to come out with a digital voice option (the EJ40U and EJ-43U) for some of its transceivers, including the DJ-596 hand-held and four of its mobile units, including the recently released DR-620T dualbander. ICOM debuted its D-Star digital "concept radio" system last May at the Dayton Hamvention --- where Smith chaired the Digital Voice Forum --- and demonstrated it at the ARRL-TAPR Digital Communications Conference in September. The unit, which operates on 1.2 GHz, was scheduled to hit the ham radio market this fall. At its heart is the ID-1 transceiver, which can communicate using FM analog voice, digital voice and data. Smith says the technical details of the Thales system will appear in an article. "International Digital Audio Broadcasting Standards: Voice Coding and Amateur Radio Applications" in the January/February issue of QEX, which he edits. He also has authored two articles on digital voice in QST: "Digital Voice: The Next New Mode?," in the January 2002 issue, and "Digital Voice: An Update and Forecast," in the February 2002 issue. All of these are available on the ARRLWeb Digital Voice page. Additional images and background are available on the TAPR Web site. Look for the Digital Voice Forum page and the presentation by Cédric Demeure.--Ten-Tec news release; Doug Smith, KF6DX A Brief Digital History Work on digital audio began with the telephone at Bell Labs more than 50 years ago, and virtually every wireline telephone conversation today uses digital signals. "Early on, Bell engineers realized it is better to transmit and receive information in binary form than in regular analog form," says ARRL Digital Working Group Chairman Doug Smith, KF6DX. He explains that digital technique, which basically relies on determining the difference between "on" and "off" states, is easier to detect over noisy communications circuits than an analog signal representing the continuous fluctuations of a person's voice, which may take on a vast number of states. In the 1960s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) adopted digital audio for Project Apollo. The system, developed by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), also incorporated a ranging feature that allowed astronauts to determine the distance between transmitter and receiver. Audio quality was robust. Smith said. Today's cellular telephones and space communications use sophisticated digital audio coding techniques. Digital audio and video have created a revolution in Internet communications, as well. As even most non-technical consumers know, the recording industry employs digital techniques in CDs and DVDs for the retail market (ARRL via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. From: Martin Gallas: Let's hope program diversity doesn't suffer too much with this takeover. -------------------- WBEZ TAKES OVER LOYOLA STATION -------------------- December 5, 2002 Loyola University and WBEZ-FM 91.5 have reached an agreement to turn over management of the university's eclectic student-run radio station to the National Public Radio affiliate, university officials said Wednesday. Loyola spokesman Bud Jones said WBEZ took over operation of the studio Tuesday and noted that no major programming changes are in store. "Everything is expected to operate just as it has," Jones said. With a $17 million operating deficit projected for this year, Loyola is looking to trim expenses across the university. Jones said operating WLUW cost the university about $150,000 a year. According to the 15-year agreement, the university and WBEZ will split any deficits for the first three years. After that, WBEZ would foot the bill. Copyright (c) 2002, Chicago Tribune (via Martin Gallas, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6010, Emisora Ciudad de Montevideo, 0230 Dec 5, noted with special remote live event about Carnival. Some heterodyne. An advance of what it will be the relays from Summer Theatre ("Teatro de Verano" during next Carnival month (Feb and beginnings of March). (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, URUGUAY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VATICAN. And more music with a seasonal flavour (Christmas is again with us) will be heard this month as usual on Vatican Radio, along with some other interesting offering (all at 1530 gmt on 5890, 7250 and 9645 kHz, and FM 93.3 for Rome, but unluckily due to the ``electrosmog`` situation on no MW frequency). On all Sundays in December and January, ``Venite Pastores`` will feature Christmas music and seasonal talk (for instance about cribs). On Mondays ``Hello, Musical!`` will be about famous American musical productions. Should you like to listen to some Italian ``bel canto``, tune in on Thursdays for a series of programmes called ``Cantando all`italiana``. (SOUTHERN EUROPEAN REPORT with Stefano Valianti, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 13740, R. the Voice of Vietnam. A full data QSL, v/s not given. For my report of September 29th, enclosed too were some Vietnamese stamps, and program guide. Addresses, Overseas service, Voice of Vietnam, 58 Quan Su street, Hanoi, Vietnam. E-mail: btdn.vov@hn.vnn.vn (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4330, 0045 UNID Man in UNID lang. Short snatches of mainly jazz style music. Time signal every 2 seconds to 0100 ID, higher tone on 6th pip. 444 03/11 DJM (David Morris, Dorset, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4520 (H x 4), 0235 Dec 2. Talk in English between older man and younger woman, apparently on a call in show, signal only lasted about 45 seconds before breaking up, SIO 222. Checking with FCC and Google websites, only 12 nighttime stations on this freq. and due to program content, most likely candidates appear to be KSDO in San Diego CA or WISN in Milwaukee WI (Joe Miller, Troy MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) de 1130 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PASSPORT TO WORLDBAND RADIO 2003 The so-called `2003` edition of PWBR arrived Dec 5 thanks to the generosity of Chris Hambly, whom I sincerely thank. However, it failed its very first test. Thursday afternoon I was enjoying the pleasure of continuous analog tuning once again on my just-refurbished original FRG-7 (which I got from Larry Magne), and at 2157 was listening to some peculiar chirping sounds every few seconds on 9580. This was overtaken at *2159 by ``B-B-C`` chimes, very strong, and then ``BBC, Ying-guo Guangbo Diantai``. Ahá, I wonder what the site on that is, and why is it coming in so well here? Opened up the package and looked up 9580 in PWBR 2003 --- Not there, zilch about BBC. Next stop: HFCC B-02, where the answer came right up with entry 2885: 9580 2200 2300 43E,44 NAK 250 20 1234567 271002 300303 D G BBC MER So it`s 20 degrees from Thailand toward China, but here we are much further in about the same direxion. If more people knew about HFCC, fewer would think they need PWBR. Yes, I`m sure of the frequency; plenty of digital readouts around to double-check it. Just for giggles, I then looked up 9580 in the WRTH SW Guide, whose deadline must have been a few months earlier than PWBR 2003, and it does have BBC on 9580 at 2200 in Chinese, tho of course transmitter sites are suppressed. PWBR`s next challenge, quite by chance: what are the two stations on 17775 at 1430, the stronger with Qur`an, the weaker with talk in unID language? The ONLY activity shown at this hour is AWR via UAE, which would be the weaker. But we have to go to HFCC to find Egypt on 17775 at 1000-1430 at least, apparently extended for Eid. PWBR does not have Egypt on this frequency at all. ID confirmed at 1500* with Cairo`s theme, carrier staying on several minutes. One can also search for 17775 the current DXLD [almost] TO DATE archive http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html Besides a number of Australian and Romanian entries at other dayparts, one finds AWR UAE 1400-1500 in Telugu, then Kannada; and Cairo 1015- 1215 Arabic, 1215-1330 English to SAs, 1330-1430 Bengali. Or for a handful of useful hits do a Google search on DX LISTENING DIGEST 17775 B02 (or B-02 --- we ought to be consistent about that) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ GRUNDIG SATELLIT 900 According to a source at Grundig/Lextronix, the long awaited Satellit 900 is to be introduced in May 2003. For those that don't know about the Satellit 900, a prototype was originally designed and built by Grundig Germany. It was to be a successor to the famous Satellit 700 [650 in original posting, corrected to 700]. [Due] to production problems, it never made it to market. The Grundig Yacht Boy 500 looked a lot like the Satellit 900. Some called the Yacht Boy 500, the baby Satellit 900. Should be interesting to see what Grundig/Lextronix has to offer:-). Harvey. (From rec.radio.shortwave via Mike Terry, DXLD) Message In A Lung Wah Fortune Cookie: ``LISTEN FOR THE UNEXPECTED`` +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hey, that was made for me! Maybe there *is* something to superstition! Before Ivan asks, more about today`s lunch at my `favourite` Chinese restaurant in Enid. It must have been close to a year since I last set foot in there, as the proprietor adamantly refuses to ban or reduce smoking. (I assume Lung Wah means `black lung`.) However, I was hankering for his one dish I crave, Ginger Beef (plus unique white hot-and-sour soup). So after the noon rush, I took a chance and lucked out -- only a few other customers and no one smoking at the moment; the previous pall was dissipating. I go so rarely that gradual changes become obvious, all amounting to a reduxion in service --- with no reduxion in price: first he dropped rye bread; whole wheat is the best he can do; crackers are saltines only --- I vaguely recall there were once Captain`s Wafers, which I much prefer. Then I had to start bringing my own cup to take out excess tea. Then the selexion of hot tea was reduced, no more loose oolong. There is, however, an additional unidentifiable yellowish vegetable ingredient in the soup (which is fine). This time I was refused plastic chopstix, which last time were available on request (but possibly were really intended as exhibits only), so settled for wooden. Fortunately these were re-usable, not further depleting the rainforests of Borneo, rather antique and imprinted with the name of the previous Chinese restaurant on the premises. You may ask why I prefer plastic? True, they are slicker and food is harder to hold, but I figure they are easier to wash and more likely to be clean. The wooden ones have a rougher surface, making them easier to use and harder to clean. Speaking of which, with the usual trepidation I visited the men`s room to wash up, and sure `nuff, still nothing but that much-handled bar of soap, no liquid, no powder in the dispenser, but he does still go to the expense of providing a clean cloth towel roller. At least it looks clean, and I hope it`s from a service. And so it goes (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oops, OT {Later: no, it isn`t} ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-190, December 4, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1159: WBCQ: Wed 2300 17495, 7415; Mon 0545 7415 WWCR: Thu 2130 9475, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [from early UT Thu:] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1159.html [from Thu] UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Thanks for your superb work on DXLD; it`s the best comprehensive source of up to date DX news that I know of on the web, if a story is not there it can't be important (Mike Terry, UK) Thanks, Mike, but it`s contributors like yourself constantly scouring the press who add so much (gh) ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHANISTAN ON HF There has been a small sign that some sort of normality is returning to the country. Aircraft passing through the airspace controlled by Afghanistan have not [sic --- means now?] started to be controlled by ATC on h.f. Over the past few months Kabul ATC has been heard on 5658 talking with aircraft, and also heard communicating with Lahore ATC (Pakistan) concerning aircraft flying through Afghan airspace. Kabul ATC is also allocated a few other frequencies, and it is worth monitoring these to see if Kabul has restarted using them: 3467, 10018, 13288 kHz. With the massive number of US troops in Afghanistan and the large number of flights operating into the region, it should come as no surprise that the US Forces have their own frequencies for incoming flights. They have set up a Regional Air Movement Coördination Center (RAMCC) at Kabul with at least 17389 day and 4150.5 night. The callsign used is `Luxor`, so if you hear any flights on GHFS frequencies trying to contact this callsign, you will now know who it is (Graham Tanner, SSB Utilities, Dec Short Wave Magazine via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. -Inconstante: Cima 100, desde Santo Domingo, en 4960 kHz, está bastante irregular. Dicha irregularidad permite la escucha clara y fuerte de Radio Nacional de Angola en 4950 kHz. El pasado lunes 2/12, a las 0414 UT, Luanda podía ser captada con un SINPO de 2/2, variable a 2/3. 73's y buen DX... (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. Also heard the Voice of Armenia on 9960 at 2155 concluding their English segment. It was a female announcer but her diction was hard to follow as was the presentation. The male announcer fairly raced through the contact information as if they were not really interested in their programming or people writing to them. Signal strength varies daily indicative of lower power and propagation (Robin Harwood, Norwood, northern Tasmania, RX Yaesu FRG 7700; Icom R70, Dec 4, swl via DXLD) 2155? Unknown time for English (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. On Nov 11, the Council of Radio Österreich International (ROI) confirmed that the budget for 2003 assumes a complete closure of the External Service of ROI by the end of March 2003. Only a few hours of relays of HS1 (Ö1) and domestic Minority programmes will be broadcast on shortwaves after that date. ORF Editor-in-Chief Michael Kerbler expects that by mid-December the final decision for this phasing-out of ROI will be taken. Future broadcasts in foreign languages from Austria will be via the Internet only. ROI has 30 employees today (Austrian Press Agency via DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ULTIMA HORA SOBRE RADIO AUSTRIA INTERNACIONAL... SALUDOS, (PACO RUBIO) LA ORF DEBE NEGOCIAR CON GOBIERNO SOBRE FINANCIACIÓN DE ROI Según informa la agencia noticiosa austriaca APA el martes 26 de noviembre, 'parece estar abierto' todavía el destino de Radio Austria Internacional y de la Orquesta Radio Sinfónica Viena RSO: ambas instituciones, por no formar parte de las 'tareas específicas' de la radiodifusión nacional austriaca, corrían peligro de desaparecer. Por razones financieras, ROI se iba a cerrar por completo y la orquesta saldría de la órbita del grupo de empresas de radio y televisión. El lunes 25 de noviembre, sin embargo, el comité de finanzas del Consejo de la Fundación ("Consejo de Administración") postergó la decisión sobre la orquesta – "para buscar una mejor base decisoria" y se declaró en cuanto al futuro de ROI que "el ente público ORF debe negociar con el Gobierno federal, que hasta hace poco estuvo encargado de su financiación". Por tanto, no se recomendó por de pronto el cierre de la emisora internacional austriaca. La dirección de ORF, antes de tomar tal decisión, debe examinar otras posibilidades de financiación y negociar sobre el tema con el Gobierno (via Francisco Rubio, Spain, Dec 3, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** BELARUS`. RUSSIA/BELARUS. Additional hour of the Voice of Russia in Russian language (1200-1300) is relayed via Belarussian military transmitters on 5256 and 4246 kHz. Those stations are usually relaying Mayak and the Voice of Russia, alternatively. Sometimes Radio Rossii or local Belarussian stations are aired. But recently I noted English transmissions on their waves at night, with music and ID which was not clear (ended with "Network"). Nighttime frequencies are 2338 and 3346 kHz (Konstantin Gusev, Moscow, Russia, Signal Dec 3 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5990: The UNID mentioned by Gian Luigi Naj in Italy in DX- Window no. 208, is a Rádio Nacional, Brasília, broadcast, possibly not IDing as "R. Nacional da Amazónia", which by the way runs a different broadcast on 6180 at the same time. Heard on Nov 20 and later, 0830- 0910 fade out airing talks on what they called "O Dia da Consciência Negra" (=Black Awareness Day). Some days two different programmes are heard where one is R Senado with "Coisas do Brasil" including an interview with a senator and his former activity in broadcasting. Short commentary about a new Senate commission. ID: "na Rádio Senado". 25432. R Senado website indicates 91.7 MHz is 24 h for the federal capital area, but is unclear about the schedule of its sole SW frequency, which is primarily beamed to N+NE Brazil (Gonçalves & Slaen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) My latest schedule says: Mon-Fri 0930-2400v for 5990, but the transmitter may now be on the air from 0800 (DSWCI Ed) The Brazilian station on 5990 was heard Dec. 4 on air at tune in 0754 - music/"line" noise and transmission breaks until sign on at 0800. The frequency was tuned at 0750 but there was nothing on air then. I could not copy what ID they were using, despite a strong signal, other than "Brasília". If Senado was used I didn`t recognise it - and no "Nacional" or "Amazonias" was heard either. The programme was entirely different to that heard on 6180. Fade out here was c0910. It was not heard last weekend, so assumed to be Monday to Friday only. Here, there is bad splash from REE 5985 until they go off c 0757 then even worse from VRT via JUL 5985 until they close c0827, after which 5990 is clear. I hear three high power transmitters on air at 0800 - Amazonia on 6180 // 11780, and whatever this one is on 5990 (Noel R. Green [Blackpool- NW England] Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. CKVM on 710 in Ville-Marie QC has filed to make the move to FM (93.1 with 26 kw), which ought to be good news indeed for Tom and Kerry and the gang at WOR. (Other apps of interest in Canada this week include a proposal to reactivate the long-dead 1570 Laval QC, ex-CKLM, with 10 kw day and night and a French oldies format, and an app for an ethnic station on 1650 in Montreal from "Radio Chalom," which wants 1 kw day/night. I find it fascinating that the latest round of apps for new stations in Quebec, in which the CRTC threw it open for those wanting new stations in Montréal, Saguenay (formerly Chicoutimi/Jonquière), Trois- Rivières and Sherbrooke, produced only two AM apps and 26 FM apps. Remember that the CRTC doesn't license technical facilities for stations (that's Industry Canada's job), so applicants can propose whatever frequencies they wish, and the CRTC then issues a license subject to Industry Canada approval (and in a few recent cases has told a station "you can have a license, but you need to find a frequency first, because we can't grant you the one you applied for.") Remember as well that there are some HUGE AM facilities that have gone dark in each of these communities (600, 850, 1410 and 1470 in Montréal; 1580 in Saguenay; 1140 in Trois-Rivières and 1510 in Sherbrooke) - and then explain why stations would rather apply for 275 watts on 106.3 or 141 watts on 105.1 or 602 watts on 91.9 in Montreal, or for 1580 watts on 103.5 in Sherbrooke, than ask to reactivate these dead AM facilities. Most peculiar... -s (Scott Fybush, NY, Dec 3, NRC- AM via DXLD) ** CHECHNYA [non]. AZERBAIJAN-BASED CHECHEN REBELS' WEB SITE DOWN SINCE 26 NOVEMBER 2002 The Chechen rebels' news web site Daymohk, based in Azerbaijan, has been inaccessible since 26 November 2002. Its URL was http://www.daymohk.info Source: Daymohk news agency web site, Baku, in Russian 3 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Re La Voz de la Resistencia, FARC clandestine, reported by Mark Mohrmann at 1030+ on 6175+: Desde el domingo cuando la reportó el colega Morhmann he monitoreado la frecuencia desde las 1030 hasta aprox. las 1230 cuando salgo para la oficina y no he podido escuchar nada; hoy habia una señal con melodías orientales --- no sé si es India o Malasia. Algo que me sorprende es la hora de apertura 1030 (5:30 a.m. local) ya que no tengo registro que esta emisora empezara transmisiones tan temprano; por lo general es luego de las 1130 o 1200; de todas formas también estoy chequeando la frecuencia en la tarde 2100-2200 ya que esta emisora tradicionalmente presenta dos emisiones, una matutina y otra vespertina. También hay que esperar por si se trata de emisiones para sólo los fines de semana (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Dec 4, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CUBA. Have yet to see a B-02 schedule for RHC, and looking for some of their previous English broadcasts has proven fruitless. The one at 2030-2130 to Europe is missing; Dec 3 at 2055 check, no sign of previously listed 13660-USB, just some Swiss music at 2058 which must mean it is *not* Switzerland --- No/Yes! HFCC does show Sottens there 1830-2130 to the southeast --- nor 13750 AM, tho there was a het on the latter, one of which was TIDGS off-frequency as always; However, at 2100, a bigger signal appeared, wavering het, with RHC IS and opening Spanish, ``Revista Iberoamericana``, not English. Spanish used to be on 13680, but I did not find any other RHC signal on 13 MHz band. Also looked for next English broadcast, 2230-2330 on 9550 to Caribbean, but at 2311 nothing there --- tho some hash on the lower side might have been a severely maladjusted transmitter. Later when internet came back, time to check the Cuban site of RHC, http://www.radiohc.cu and its undated transmission schedule, which is probably out of date. For English it still shows Europe 2030-2130 on 13660, 13750, but the former Caribbean service at 2230-2330 on 9550 is gone. For Spanish, the *2100 transmission is shown on 13605 in the 22m band, and three other frequencies, but not on 13750 where I heard it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. Coastal station CYPRUS RADIO/5BA: 8737 (USB). QSL card (not in envelope) came in 35 days. Map of East Mediterranean on the face, and data side might be called a DXer's dream because of plenty of data: date, frequency, callsign, type and power of transmitting unit, emission mode, antenna type, direction and even height. Time of reception is not indicated, unfortunately. Address: Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, Head Office, Telecommunications Street, P. O. Box 4929, Nicosia 142, Cyprus (Alexander Polyakov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Signal Dec 4 via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. -Inconstante: Cima 100, desde Santo Domingo, en 4960 kHz, está bastante irregular. Dicha irregularidad permite la escucha clara y fuerte de Radio Nacional de Angola en 4950 kHz [q.v.] (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Since something else is always going on when DXPL is now scheduled, I have been waiting to hear it ondemand, but none of the November editions are there, except now the latest, Nov. 30, including the JSWC anniversary special 14 minutes into the file. Obtain via: http://www.hcjb.org/english/dxpl/dxplaudio.php Of course, previous week they did the special combined DX/Amigos, and before that perennial newbie shows. Strangely enough, tho one may supposedly `listen now` with a .ram file, that is not found; you have to download the .rm file. HCJB DXPL JSWC Special, again: see JAPAN non (Glenn Hauser, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also below Canada relay ** ECUADOR/CANADA. Glenn, I made mention of HCJB's new relay via Sackville in the EDXP "Broadcast Monitor" of last week, but unsure whether you noted that item [yes --- gh]. Sackville is on 12025 (replacing Rampisham) 2100-2230. The usual RCI ID tape is played briefly from about 2058, then into HCJB programming. Good signals here in Melbourne (Bob Padula, Victoria, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.3, R. Imperial, 11/27 2252-0035+ Religious vocals, M announcer after each song with slogan, e.g. "810 AM, donde La Palabra de Dios es Vida". Good on peaks but fady. Two Sonsonate restaurant ads at 0027; at 0032, announcer talked about new transmitter and mentioned Apartado Postal 56, probably asking for contributions. After this nice peak, faded down for good, although still detectable past 0100. Tnx to postings in Cumbre and elsewhere (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot random wire, Cumbre DX Dec 3 via DXLD) Amazing it could be detectable after 0100, when NHK direct from Japan is on 17835, starting IS a few minutes earlier (gh, DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. I have heard the carrier numerous times and traces of audio, but now a real log of R. Imperial, Dec 3: At 2201 tuned in to 17835.3, stepped up to 17836 on the receiver to avoid splash from 17830, fair signal, but low modulation with praise music; 2202 some talk, but deep fades. In next 15 minutes all I could get was a mailing address in the US, probably a syndicated preacher. Stayed with it, and fade up at 2218 for ID ``La bendición de dios...Radio Imperial, 810 ... 17835.`` Again at 2223, another hymn; after another fadedown, back up for another ID at 2239, but again poorly audible. Better at 2244 with brief ID, ``R. Imperial, 810 AM y 17850 onda corta.`` Tropical music, unseems gospel, but can`t be sure since it`s instrumental. Now I could tape some good IDs, another at 2247; 2252 ID only as ``810 AM``. 2254, upbeat song with refrain ``El amor de Jesús``. 2256 long live announcement but fading; 2258 another ID and at 2259 apparently giving their ``mission statement``, and offering to send out authorized emissaries to pick up ofrendas in colones, but preferably received by mail (so they trust the post more than their own emissaries??). 2304, timecheck for 5:03, date as 3 de diciembre; 2310 aleluya song, and so on... It appears R. Imperial has beefed up their power, but it`s still rather marginal, not helped by their undermodulation. Now, if they had some genuine news or commentary about what`s going on in El Salvador and Central America, even if monolingual, let alone anything secular, it would be worth listening to again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. CABBIES MUST PAY TO LISTEN TO RADIO AP 04 Dec 02 FINLAND'S Supreme Court has ruled that taxi drivers must pay royalty fees if they play music in their car while a paying customer is in the back seat, even if it's just the radio. The case, based on one driver's refusal to pay, is likely to set a precedent for the nearly 9,500 cab drivers in the Nordic country. Under the ruling, a cab driver in Finland must pay 22 euros (about $40) annually for playing music while transporting a fare. "The sum is fairly small ... but, of course, higher expenses result in higher prices for customers," said Nina Nizovsky of the Finnish Taxi Association, the country's taxi driver union. The issue of royalties arose when Lauri Luotonen, working in southern Finland, refused to pay a bill from the Finnish Copyright Society, Teosto, in 1997 and 1998 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) What if they are just using the radio to DX, mainly foreign stations? (gh, DXLD) {that conversion can`t be US dollars; Canadian?} ** FINLAND. The Scandinavian Weekend Radio has just issued a new, beautiful QSL-card showing their transmitter in the Villat forest at sunset. They are expected back from Friday Dec 06 at 2200 – Saturday Dec 07 at 2200 in Finnish and English on two of these frequencies at various times: 5980, 5990, 6170, 11690 and 11720 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle has printed a new, colourful QSL-card to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2003 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. DEUTSCHE WELLE TO START DIGITAL SW BROADCASTS IN JUNE 2003 | Text of press release in English by Deutsche Welle on 3 December Cologne, 3 December: From June 2003, Germany's international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW), will transmit programmes in digital shortwave. This was announced by DW's Director General, Erik Bettermann, at a conference of Eastern European representatives of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) consortium held on 3 December 2002 in Cologne. Bettermann predicted that digital broadcasting will globally revolutionize long, medium and shortwave radio: digital shortwave has near-FM quality sound and reception disturbances such as interference, static and signal fading will no longer be perceptible. This could inaugurate a "global radio renaissance". The director general of Germany's international broadcaster emphasized that DW can continue to use existing transmitters after technical modifications. Furthermore, digital transmission will cut energy costs by more than 50 per cent. At the official launch of DRM at the World Administrative Radio Conference in June 2003, DW will first initiate digital shortwave programmes in Europe and the Middle East. The required conversion of two transmitters at the relay station in Sines, Portugal will have been completed by then. From June 2003, DW plans to broadcast 8.5 programme hours daily in DRM standard in the languages German, English and Arabic to the target regions of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe as well as the Middle East. The second stage will expand the programme hours and languages for these target regions and introduce additional programmes for Asia. For this purpose, according to Bettermann, a transmitter at the relay station in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, will be converted by 2003, making it possible to receive a total of six daily programme hours in German, English, Bengali, Urdu, Pashto and Dari in Asia. The director general stressed that realization of the planned DRM launch is subject to DW's budgetary situation. If market developments allow, DRM broadcasts are planned for America in the year 2005. This would require that further transmitters - for example in Antigua and Kigali, Rwanda - are converted. Bettermann explained that establishment of the new technology on the market will require that many radio stations broadcast in DRM in the same target region and that the market offers suitable receivers at affordable prices. The long-term strategy of DW for the launch of DRM broadcasts will be aligned to that of the DRM Consortium and its members as well as other radio stations. "In a unifying Europe we must attempt to optimize the transmission capacities of larger international broadcasters by forming European programme groups," said Bettermann. DRM is a global consortium with 74 members from 29 nations that was founded in 1998 to develop a digital system for long, medium and shortwave radio. As a founding member, DW has been there from the beginning and holds the chairmanship for the third time. DRM is the only system recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and its 190 member countries and has already been internationally standardized. [For more information contact] Werner Neven, Tel: +49 221 389 3104, fax: +49 221 389 3120, http://www.dw- world.de/english Source: Deutsche Welle press release, Cologne, in English 3 Dec 02 (via BBCM; also DW via Rachel Baughn, MT via DXLD) Here the original dpa news item: DEUTSCHE WELLE WILL AB JUNI DIGITAL AUF KURZWELLE SENDEN Hamburg/Köln (dpa) - Die Deutsche Welle (DW) wird ab Juni 2003 zunächst in Europa und Nahost in digitaler Kurzwelle ausstrahlen. Insgesamt werde die DW täglich 8,5 Programmstunden in den Sprachen Deutsch, Englisch und Arabisch in der neuen Technik senden, kündigte DW-Intendant Erik Bettermann am Dienstag in Köln an. Die dafür erforderliche Umrüstung von zwei Sendern auf der Relaisstation Sines (Portugal) sei bis dahin erfolgt. In einem zweiten Schritt sollen die Programmstunden und Sprachen für diese Zielgebiete ausgeweitet und zusätzlich Digital-Sendungen für Asien eingeführt werden. Die Umsetzung hänge jedoch vor allem auch von der DW-Etatlage ab. Bettermann betonte, dass der Hörfunk im Lang-, Mittel- und Kurzwellenbereich durch die digitale Ausstrahlung von Sendungen revolutioniert werde. Störende Empfangseffekte wie Interferenzen und Rauschen seien dann nicht mehr bemerkbar. Dies können eine Voraussetzung für die "Renaissance des Hörfunks in aller Welt" sein. ©dpa 031613 Dez 02 (via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) Deutsche Welle DRM transmissions: Another text from an unknown source (but it looks like a press release) says that the DRM transmissions to Asia would be carried out by a transmitter at Trincomalee which had to be modified in 2003. It would transmit in DRM mode for six hours a day, programming would be in German, English, Bengali, Urdu, Pashto and Dari. DRM transmissions "for America" are planned for 2005 "if the development of the market justifies this". The text also quotes another Bettermann statement I would translate as follows: "It must be tried to optimize the transmission capacities of the large foreign services in Europe by establishing European program streams." Ah-yes, they want to "optimize". What do they want to close and shut down? And Bettermann expects a "renaissance of radio all over the world". I would say this is a matter of content, not a matter of engineering (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONG KONG. 3940, R. TV Hong Kong. Nice QSL cards were received for the special broadcasts in October. Address used: Broadcasting House, 30 Broadcast Drive, Kowloon. On the envelope was written in Chinese and English: ``On Government Service``. ``Smoking is hazardous to health``. ``With care this envelope can be re-used many times use economy labels`` (Van Arnhem & Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** INDIA. I noted whilst tuning below 10 MHz that All India Radio is again back on 9950 in English at 2100z. Signal strength is 9+ as is the audio. No spurs heard so looks as if they have located them . The awful AIR signal on 9575 is there but the audio is so muddy as is the frequency stability in parallel with 9950 (Robin Harwood, Norwood, northern Tasmania, RX Yaesu FRG 7700; Icom R70, Dec 4, swl via DXLD) ** INDIA. 36250 1042 Nov 7, 5 x 7250 AIR Gorakhpur. Indian vocals with soft melody, 4x3 with 7250 4x3. Still 4x3 at 1050. 73's (David Vitek, Adelaide South Australia, 34.59S 138.32E, icdx australia via harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Bad news below but happily tonight things are better - Caroline is back live broadcasting from the WorldSpace UK offices at at 4-6 Soho Square, London W1. Excellent programming as well (Mike Terry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here was last night's shock news: The latest news from Caroline Central http://www.carolinecentral.com The UK based Caroline was pulled off the air mid sentence at 23:30 on Tuesday 3rd December. All that remains is the automated playout system based at WorldSpace in London, which is streaming to hundreds of WorldSpace subscribers and to those who listen via the internet. The original Maidstone based programming via Astra has now ceased, as originally revealed exclusively by Caroline Central. The closure of the UK service does not affect the Netherlands based Caroline service, which continues to feed both the internet and the cabled homes with high quality popular programming. It had been intended to continue a special closure show hosted by Nigel Harris until midnight. However, all fell silent 30 minutes ahead of schedule. UK Caroline programming is now replaced by a selection of 'oldies' sequencing from a computer based at WorldSpace. WorldSpace subscribers have the added treat of being able to hear entire songs uninterrupted by DJs or the start of the subsequent song from the playout system. However, attempts are being made to set up live studios within the WorldSpace building to supplement the automation system. Security has been stepped up within UK Caroline to ensure plans are not revealed to the public. Conflicting reports suggest that UK Caroline programming will return via a digital satellite outlet used more commonly to beam programming into 'Sky Digital' homes. This outlet will be part time and operated in partnership with religious organisations, once funding has been raised by Peter Moore, the entrepreneur trading as Radio Caroline in the UK. A target date for this service is January 2nd, although this may not be achieved. http://www.carolinecentral.com/news/45.html Want to comment on this story? Talk about it on The Caroline Community by hitting 'Respond' or e-mailing caroline@carolinecentral.com News you wish to share? E-mail it to newsdesk@carolinecentral.com. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 3975.0, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, Nov 29 & 30, 1505-1630*, Kurdish news, political talks, ID: ``Aira dangi Kurdistan Irana``, songs; 1530 Farsi news, songs, ID: ``Seda-ye Kordestan-e Iran``, political talks; 1600 Kurdish ID, news and songs. 25243. Moved here from 3985 to avoid QRM from CNR2 and VOIRI (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** IRAQ. 11785.2, Rep. of Iraq R., Baghdad, Nov 28, 1630-1715*, Arabic talks and Arab songs, 1702 mentioned Baghdad, poor modulation 32332. At about 1650 the transmitter was off for 45 seconds and the cause for the low heterodyne was heard: BSKSA Holy Qur`an // 13710 on 11785.0. That station signed off at 1700*, but their open carrier continued till past 1940! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** IRAQ. ANALYSIS: US LEAFLET DROPS OVER IRAQ STEP UP THE PROPAGANDA WAR | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 4 December Aircraft of the US-UK coalition on 2 December carried out their sixth leaflet drop in two months over the no-fly zone in southern Iraq, warning Iraqi soldiers not to fire on patrolling allied aircraft. The leaflet drops have led to growing speculation that the US will soon step up its psychological operations, or psy-ops, campaign in the region by starting clandestine radio broadcasts targeted at the Iraqi people. In the latest leaflet drop, 240,000 leaflets written in Arabic were dropped over communications facilities located between Kut and Nasiriyah, south-east of Baghdad. These sites had been damaged or destroyed by coalition strikes the previous day. Three separate leaflets were used: two urged the Iraqi military not to repair the communication equipment and facilities that help to track and engage coalition aircraft, while the third said that threatening coalition aircraft may result in more air strikes. Propaganda broadcasts likely next step According to the December 2002 issue of the US publication Monitoring Times, high technology will play a large part in bombarding Baghdad, and not just with sophisticated weaponry. After Iraqi communications are disabled through a mixture of traditional bombs and new technical efforts to neutralise communications, the empty Iraqi airwaves would then be bombarded with messages sent from specialized airborne broadcasting stations or well-situated terrestrial stations. The broadcasts would reinforce the messages contained in leaflet drops urging Iraqi military leaders to defect or rise up against President Saddam Husayn, said the New York Times in mid-October, citing Pentagon officials. "The idea is... to isolate the Iraqi leadership who are hiding in bunkers," John Pike of the think tank Globalsecurity.org told the Washington Post newspaper. The broadcasts would come from specially equipped Commando Solo aircraft operated by a specialist US psy-ops unit. The EC-130E Commando Solo is a modified four-engine Hercules transport aircraft equipped to broadcast simultaneous high-power mediumwave, shortwave, FM and TV signals. The planes can also jam or override local transmissions, in an effort to persuade listeners to tune to the propaganda frequencies. The 193rd Special Operations Wing, part of the USAF Special Operations Command, operates six of these aircraft from its base in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Over the years, the unit has carried out missions in Vietnam, South Korea, Panama, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Persian Gulf and Serbia. Most recently, it was in action over Afghanistan, broadcasting propaganda messages to the local population and Taleban fighters. As well as the airborne broadcasts, the US will use ground transmitters in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf to beam anti-Saddam programming to the Iraqi people. Other voices Iraqis can hear But the message from Washington will not be the only outside voice addressing Iraqi hearts and minds. Although the domestic media in Iraq are state-controlled and satellite TV is unavailable to the vast majority, Iraqi listeners can still tune their radios to many stations from abroad offering them news and analysis from a wide range of political viewpoints. As well as established and trusted broadcasts in Arabic including the BBC and French-run Radio Monte Carlo, the US-funded Radio Sawa is reportedly attracting younger listeners across much of the Middle East with a mixture of Western and Arabic pop music interspersed with short bursts of news. The service, which replaced the Voice of America's Arabic service in spring 2002, has a special programme stream targeted at listeners in Iraq. There are also several radio stations operated by Kurdish factions in northern Iraq, and by Iraqi opposition groups transmitting into Iraq from transmitters in Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. But not all American military analysts are convinced that psychological warfare will succeed. William Arkin, a former army intelligence officer and now a military analyst, said in remarks published in the Baltimore Sun in November that if the United States invades Iraq, "bombs are going to do the talking," rather than any psychological operation that attempts to influence the entire country. Source: BBC Monitoring research 4 Dec 02 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ. In the Iraqi media, the man known elsewhere as U.S. President George W. Bush is called simply "the little George Bush", and the chief ally in Bush's strong stance on Iraq - Britain - is referred to the wagging "tail" of the United States. The news that the Iraqi people get in the government-controlled media is far different from that in the rest of the world - and exactly what President Saddam Hussein wants it to be. Saddam, for example, is always front-page news. Even when he has done nothing the previous day, newspapers still carry old photos of him and state TV reruns his moments of glory, showing him revered by the Iraqi people he rarely sees these days. While Iraqis can get international radio - such as the Arabic service of the BBC, the Paris-based Radio Monte Carlo and the new U.S. government pop music station Radio Sawa - they have little choice in newspapers and television. International publications have been banned since the 1990-91 Gulf War, and satellite dishes are outlawed, too. Cable television exists, but the cost - 280,000 dinars (US$140) for a decoder and 10,000 dinars (US$5) a month - is well beyond an average Iraqi with a monthly income of 20,000 dinars (US$10). There is some relief from all-Iraqi programming. Iraqi TV stations show pirated foreign movies and the Egyptian soap operas popular throughout the Arab world. And newspapers do carry entertainment news. One recent item was about American actress Gwyneth Paltrow ending the period of mourning for her father's death. Another reported that Egyptian actress Leila Elwi loves spending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with her family. For so-called hard news, most Iraqis are at the mercy of the five daily papers - all under tight control, with one run by the ruling Baath Party and another by Saddam's son, Odai - as well as four state- run TV channels. On these news outlets, stories widely covered elsewhere often get little attention. Internationally, the return of U.N. arms inspectors to Iraq was big news; reporters, TV crews and photographers chased them everywhere. But Iraq's media carried only brief Foreign Ministry announcements listing the sites investigated. Meanwhile, events that barely causes a blip elsewhere can be big news in Iraq. In a recent edition, the daily "Al-Jumhuriya" reported that "a demonstration took place in New Bedford to protest the American threats of military aggression against Iraq" - about a march by about 200 people in New Bedford, Massachusetts (AP via SCDX/MediaScan Dec 4 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Back in DXLD 2-165, there was an odd posting under "Ireland" from an anonymous contributor claiming that the entire SW spectrum in the country was being jammed by noise transmissions carried via the power distribution grid. I don't recall ever seeing any followup to this or more info on it. Was this just a spurious report or was there something to it? Any data on this from anyone else? 73, Will Martin, MO, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a word has reached me. I suppose the grid could be very `dirty` RF-wise, but the comment implied it was deliberate (gh, DXLD) 2-191! ** IRELAND. Irish Volmet station SHANNON-AERADIO: 13264 (USB). QSL- folder in 55 days. QSL-folder printed on both sides of A4 sheet. It contains basic info and frequency schedule of three SHANNON-VOLMET services: High Frequency Radio, Search & Rescue and Volmet. Besides QSL, enclosed a letter and Irish Aviation Authority materials. Address: Operations Manager, IAA/ACD, Shannon Aeradio, Ballygirreen, NOF, Co. Clare, Ireland (Alexander Polyakov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Signal Dec 4 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Finally got around to checking report that Israel Radio had already moved to 6280. Dec 3 at 2050, Spanish (and hence English at 2000), was still barely audible on 11605, which 6280 was supposed to replace, and parallel 9435. Not audible on 6280, but probably would not have been propagating here even if it were on yet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Here's a description of the new QSL series of RAI International: 1. Etna (Sicily). By night. 2. Vesuvio (Naples). Aerial view. 3. Stromboli (South Italy). Sunset eruption. 4. Vulcano (South Italy). Crater. (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal Dec 3 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 3925, NSB1, Sapporo, Nov 17, 18 & 19, 0915 and 2100, Japanese programmes, ID: ``Radio Tampa`` (which means Radio Shortwave! Ed), is active again // 6055 and 9595. 35543. 3945 was still off! (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) How do you know this 3925 is Sapporo? Per WRTH 1998, that frequency can also be Tokyo (or rather, Nagara/Chiba east of Tokyo). At that time, Sapporo used 3925 only between 2300 and 0800 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NSB R. Tampa was positively IDed on 6115 \\ better 9760 at 0755 Dec 1 when playing a Beatles song - 6055 was better til SVK came on - \\ 9595, which was peaking S7 at times with usual flutter and echo. Still no trace on 75 mb (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX via DXLD) Used to be regular on 3925, 3945 here before and around sunrise; must check (gh, Enid, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Last week I told you that the special broadcast in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC) would be held on last weekend from "DX Partyline" in the English service of HCJB World Radio. According to this program I heard, the broadcast for our club will be held once again on the next weekend Dec 7-8 (Nobuya Kato, A volunteer staff of JSWC 50th anniversary project via Johno Wright, Dec 3, ARDXC via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 15675, Voice of Mesopotamia, via Tashkent, Nov 28, 0730-1300*, Kurdish dialects. On the Hour: news about Iraq, often mentions Mesopotamia, usual I/S-tune with singing woman, 1155 and 1259 ID's: "Denge Mezopotamia" by man. A lot of the programmes were with local songs and instrumental music. 35333. Continued after *1300 on 11530 with similar programmes (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Voice of America is now using Kuwait for Persian 1500-2030 on 1593, has been heard UK evenings (Mike Barraclough, UK, BC-DX Dec 1 via DXLD) Soon to be Farda, I suppose ** LEBANON [non]. V. of Free Lebanon, 11515: Their website is http://www.tayyar.org/ It belongs to the FPM. This is a cover organization for General Michel Aoun living in exile in Paris. Most web-texts and spoken texts are in Arabic. Their address is: Rassemblement Pour Le Liban, 63 Rue Sainte Anne, 75002 PARIS, France. The supporting organization in the U.S.A. is the Council of Lebanese American Organizations with website: http://www.clao.com (Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) Comment: Is the appearance of the [clandestine] station a coincidence with the US-IRQ war plans in 2003? to mix up ruling parties in Near East [ex Osmanic] countries again. Maybe will result in a new founded Kurdistan country, 80 years after the unfinished peace treaty of Lausanne, when Kurdistan people has been forgotten in 1922 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX Dec 3 via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. Further checking 4845: UT Tue Dec 3, Qur`an lasted until 0657:45 when a brief announcement by woman was apparent sign- off; open carrier until 0711:00* To my ear, she was speaking a very heavy dialect of Arabic, or a vernacular with heavy Arabic influence; I thought I heard something like `Mauritania` mentioned, not that there be any doubt about identity. BTW, I have seen reports that there is still more slavery per capita in this country, than anywhere else. Think what could be accomplished if the cost of 1/5 of 250+ kW-hour every morning be applied to something socially constructive. Bet you thought the slavery remark was going to be off-topic... Perhaps DXers should boycott them? Naah, QSLs are too important (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 9605 There was a recent report saying Nouakchott was presumably heard fading out 0705 under some QRM. I checked this frequency Dec 02 at 0710, and all I could receive on 9605 was a strong Vatican R signal with French programme to Africa. It's been quite, really QUITE some time since I last heard Mauritania on 31 meters. Any observations around ? (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) It is more than four years ago since it was reported! (DSWCI Ed) ** MEXICO. 6010, Radio Mil, Mexico City, Nov 30, 0736-0753, romantic vocals followed by an ID at 0744 ("Radio Mil, música romantica") and more vocals. Fair with some splatter from Colombian (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) I am happy to learn that the very enjoyable R Mil is not completely off SW, as I feared when I was unable to hear it in Mexico City a month ago. I was very surprised, because two years ago I could hear it strongly on 6010 when I also passed Mexico City. I wonder, if they still are on the air 24 hours a day on 6010 ? (DSWCI Ed. Anker Petersen, ibid. via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Nov 3, 35440, 0617, R. Free Asia via Mongolia, 2 x 17720. Up to 4 x 4, ever present QRN, mixing with presumed CRI on 17720, but on its own on 35440, free of QRM (David Vitek, Adelaide South Australia, 34.59S 138.32E, icdx australia via harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** OMAN. Glenn, do you have, or have a link to, the new mailing address for BBC Oman? With the move to the mainland, I'm sure they've closed the Masirah address by now. Thanks, (Gerry Bishop, FL, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don`t pay much attention to station addresses and do not keep a specific file on them. Possibly has been mentioned in recent DXLD items on OMAN which can be searched; or maybe someone else knows (gh, DXLD) Thanks. I haven't seen it in DXLD yet, or any of the other popular sites and pubs. So I plea for this little missing data (Bishop, ibid.) ** PARAGUAY. Sin rastro: Radio Nacional del Paraguay lleva ya varias semanas sin utilizar la frecuencia de 9737.1 kHz, desde su más reciente reactivación, el pasado 6/09 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND/GDANSK. Polish coastal station GDYNIA RADIO: 13122 (USB). QSL card in 65 days. Card printed on a small white paper sheet; nevertheless, it contains all necessary data. Also was enclosed a postcard with a view of a beach in Karwii. Address: Telekomunikacja Polska S. A., Radiokomunikacyjne Centrum Odbiorcze w Rekowie, 84-123, Palehowo, Poland (Alexander Polyakov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Signal Dec 4 via DXLD) May as well declare DANZIG a separate radio country (gh) ** ROMANIA [non]. Re Guaíba [BRAZIL] and RRI: Oi Célio. Tudo bem contigo. Tenho recebido e lido com atenção todos os e-mails que tens mandado. A Rádio Romênia nunca me mandou resposta e, eu precisaria de mais detalhes de como acessar o site deles. Continuo aguardando. O comentário enviado ao Glenn é real. É isto mesmo que acontece. Eu entendo Relay como transmissão de rádio em cadeia, o que não aconteceria. A Rádio Guaíba usa trechos, entrevistas, etc., bem como comentastes. Um abraço (Rui Strelow, R. Guaíba? Dec 2 via Célio Romais, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. NG: Does anyone hear Yoshkar-Ola these days? OA: No Yoshkar-Ola any more. They went off months ago and have not returned. NG: Rossii via 7250 appeared at c0805 after VAT had departed - I note Rudnev says "Moscow" while HFCC says "SRP" - perhaps means the same? Another one listed for 0 degrees. OA: SRP [Serpukhov] is one of the ghost sites in the Moscow area. The actual site is Noginsk, using a 100 kW rig, according to R Rossii, reportedly using a rhombic antenna. The 0 deg beam is also found on 5910. The same R Rossii source from Feb 2001 also confirms that the two Taldom rigs (formerly SSB) are 250 kW. The site is called Severnyy, which is the village at the Taldom site. Finally this source confirms that 9720 was changed to Kurovskaya, 100 kW. This site is called Avsionino, also a nearby village (Noel R. Green-UK/Olle Alm-SWE, BC-DX Nov 28 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA Voice of Russia "Sodruzhestvo" special service for CIS and Baltic States, all programs in Russian: 1400-1500 6045 6185 7105 7365 1500-1600 5995 6045 6185 7105 7170 7365 7445 12015 1600-1700 5995 6045 6185 7170 7440 7445 9470 12015 1700-1800 5995 6045 6185 7155 7170 7445 1800-1900 5995 6045 6185 7155 7170 7445 1900-2000 6045 7170 7445 Some interesting religious and clandestine stations using Russian sites B02: IBRA Radio 2000-2115 5935 Samara True Light Station/IBRA Radio 1200-1330 5895 Petropavlovsk Voice of Hope (High Adventure Ministries) 1200-1500 7485 Novosibirsk Fang Guang Ming Radio 2100-2200 6035 9945 Samara Voice of Khmer Krom 1400-1500 11560 Vladivostok Tuesdays only Herald Broadcasting 1200-1300 9880 Komsomolsk, 1300-1400 7460 Irkutsk IBC Tamil 0000-0100 7460 Novosibirsk Voice of Biafra International 1900-2000 12125 Krasnodar Saturdays only University Network 0400-1700 17765 Samara (Nikolai Rudnev, Russia, Dec NASWA Listeners Notebook via editor Al Quaglieri, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. OHR Russian Woodpecker at Poltava, Ukraine: http://www.briz.ru/foto.asp?ID=86 (Horst, A-DX Nov 30 via BC-DX via DXLD) This link didn`t work but the BRIZ antenna company site looks rather interesting with lots of participation, including a yahoo discussion group --- in Russian, of course (gh, DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Hi all, nothing new last night, but a reappearance of 2 "old friends" 2070 kHz, Slovensko Radio 1, Banska-bystrica //1098, 2 x 1035 2106 kHz, Slovensko R, Banska-bystrica, 3 x 702 Again a very high noise level masking the weak stuff. All the best (Tim Bucknall, UK, Dec 3, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. DW DRM plans: See GERMANY ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN --- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: In "Nordic Lights" Sweden and EU expansion, Finland and NATO, allegations of drug abuse within the Norwegian Olympic team, and a Danish-Swedish photo exhibit Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" takes up the European single currency, and the controversy here over a TV presenter who wants to wear a chador on camera Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic", the final countdown for meeting our surprise guest [why never mention Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday? Too far in the fuzzy future, or no particular topics planned? Bill Brady says check Monday when there may be something media-orientated] Don't forget our extensive reporting on the Nobel Prizes, culminating with our coverage of the awards ceremonies here and in Oslo on December 10th. Coming up during the holiday season: December 23: "SportScan" delves into the world of handball, and we speak to one of the country's most promising skiiers December 24: In our Christmas Eve special we visit the Norwegian capital Oslo, looking at Sweden and Norway's common past December 25: "The search for Santa" -- we tracked him down and found he's set up camp in Sweden December 26: An excursion through music at work and public places, over the centuries December 27: Weekly review December 28: "Studio 49" December 29: "Sounds Nordic" Best of 2002 December 30: SportScan Annual Review December 31: Review of 2002 January 1: New Year's Special about Swedish chefs, no longer synonymous with the Muppets January 3: Weekly Review January 4: "Network Europe" January 5: "In Touch With Stockholm" special featuring a section of questions and comments aired in 2002 January 6: Review of 2002 (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Dec 4 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. See CUBA ** UKRAINE. RADIO UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL PLANS TO ADD FREQUENCIES IN JANUARY According to the Web site of Radio Ukraine International, the station's shortwave presence is due to be boosted on 1 January 2003 when a new schedule comes into operation. Current restrictions to the shortwave service are said to be due to unpaid electricity bills, and the station is broadcasting regularly from only one shortwave site (Khar`kiv). Programmes in English and German are currently restricted to a single frequency, but from 1 January up to four frequencies are listed for foreign language services, when transmissions from two other sites (Mykolaiv and Kyiv) are due to be reintroduced. High power (1000 kW) transmissions to North America from Mykolaiv are set to resume between 0000 and 0500 UTC on 9810 kHz. Some transmissions - presumably tests - have recently been reported on this frequency. All other transmissions are 100 kW (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 3 Dec 2002 via DXLD) The page where current and future schedules are given starts with a CIRAF map: http://www.nrcu.gov.ua/eng/program/vsru/world_map.php3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Caroline: see INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** U K. http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,848252,00.html PUBLIC SERVICE RADIO: PHOENIX OR ALBATROSS? The 2002 James Cameron Memorial Lecture, delivered at City University, London, on 25 November 2002, by Jenny Abramsky, the BBC director of radio and music Tuesday November 26, 2002 ------------------------------------ MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media diary BIRT'S RADIO DAZE The James Cameron lecture given by the BBC's head of radio, Jenny Abramsky, was notable for its devastating attack on almost everything John Birt tried to do to radio while BBC director general. His autobiography is, as several reviewers have observed, not short on self-congratulation. Revealing that his decision to "modernise" the World Service came to him "on Annapurna", he complains of the Guardian's (successful) campaign to save it, lashing out at "hundreds of eminent, uninformed folk from the ranks of serial protesters offering knee-jerk support for the status quo". Presumably he is referring to such people as John Tusa, Lord Runcie, John McCarthy, Terry Waite, Denis Healey, John Peel, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Paul Oestreicher, Ben Okri, Sir Anthony Parsons and Shirley Williams? (via Daniel Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. UN RADIO PROGRAMME DEBUTS ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK A weekday English programme from United Nations Radio launched on the World Radio Network (WRN) on 2 December. The 15-minute programme is produced in New York by eight journalists from seven countries. Edwina Jarvis, Network Presentation Manager at WRN, believes the daily UN Radio programme also offers WRN listeners a vital perspective on the developing situation in Iraq. "With the eyes of the world now on the weapons inspectors in Iraq, UN Radio will keep WRN's listeners updated with both developments on the ground and in the Security Council. With the Council set to receive Iraq's own report on its major weapons systems on December 8, and the UN Radio team following the story as it moves into the Council chamber, it is timely that the programmes starts broadcasting on WRN." The UN Radio programme is broadcast at 2030 UTC weekdays on WRN's English networks for Europe, Africa/Middle East, Asia Pacific and South America and at 0100 UTC weekdays on WRN's English network for North America (Source: WRN press release 2 Dec 2002 via Media Network 3 Dec 2002 via DXLD) ** U S A. Just listening to Radio Farda (ex-Radio Azadi) 15290 at 0620. So it looks like the change in slogan and formatting has changed. The music was certainly more "poppy" than I would have expected on R Azadi. Also audible on //17675 though not as strong here in the South Pacific. Radio Farda does have a web-site though it's still under construction... http://www.radiofarda.com/ Presumably, they're using R Azadi's sked : [see further below for a friendlier version] 9585 0430-0800 12015 0430-0600 15290 0430-0830 17675 0600-0800 15515 0700-0830 9510 0800-0830 17835 0800-0830 9435 1400-1700 11730 1400-1700 15410 1400-1700 6140 1900-2000 11960 1900-2100 11985 1900-2100 9785 2000-2100 Farsi Broadcast to Europe 7165 2000-2300 9835 2000-2300 Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, Host of The South Pacific DX Report, http://radiodx.com Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yeah, I was wondering why they said it would start in `mid-December` when Azadi would already close by Dec 2 --- leaving quite a gap (gh, DXLD) Just listening to Radio Farda (ex-Radio Azadi) 15290 at 0620. So it looks like the change in slogan and formatting has changed. The music was certainly more "poppy" than I would have expected on R Azadi. Also audible on //17675 though not as strong here in the South Pacific (Paul Ormandy, later) Hello from New Zealand. Have been hearing Radio Farda here at good level on 17675, 15290 and 9585 up till 0829. Does anyone have an e- mail address for them? Regards, (Ian Cattermole, Dec 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Paul, Are you hearing anything other than IDs and music? I'd be very surprised if they've actually started full programming yet. According to earlier information from BBG there was supposed to be a two week break before the new service started. My hunch is that these are promotional transmissions. But of course, I could be wrong as I so often am :-) (Andy Sennitt, hard-core-dx via DXLD) The 1900z broadcast was back to Radio Azadi, so it looks like it was a Radio Farda test... Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Should I be the first one to report that Radio Farda is on air now? And indeed still also on 7165 and 9835, the Morocco outlets aiming at Europe. For your own impression here two minutes prior to 2259 cut-off on 7165 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Farda has now begun broadcasting, it was first logged today by Paul Ormandy in NZ. For more info, check out http://www.dxing.info/news/index.dx#farda Currently (at 0825 UT) I'm listening to Radio Farda on 9585, 15290 and 17675 kHz. This will soon end, and the next transmission is scheduled to start at 1400. I still picked up also Radio Azadi on 17675 kHz this morning at 0730 UT, so it seems that the transfer over to Radio Farda is not yet complete - or they just used a wrong feed. Here is the schedule of Radio Azadi, which should now become Radio Farda: FA RFE RL12 0430 0830 KAV 04 15290 095 FA RFE RL12 0430 0600 KAV 02 12015 112 FA RFE RL12 0430 0830 LAM 06 9585 096 FA RFE RL12 0600 0730 KAV 02 17675 100 FA RFE RL12 0730 0830 MOR 01 17675 075 FA RFE RL12 1400 1700 WOF 04 15410 105 FA RFE RL12 1400 1500 LAM 03 11730 108 FA RFE RL12 1400 1700 KAV 08 9435 104 FA RFE RL12 1500 1700 LAM 03 11730 108 FA RFE RL12 1900 2100 BIB 06 11985 105 FA RFE RL12 1900 2000 KAV 08 11960 095 FA RFE RL12 1900 2000 DB 07 6140 264 FA RFE RL12 2000 2100 UDO 07 11960 300 FA RFE RL12 2000 2100 UDO 03 9785 300 FA RFE RL14 2000 2300 MOR 05 9835 035 FA RFE RL14 2000 2300 MOR 10 7165 019 The full BBG schedule can be found at http://sds.his.com:4000/fmds_w/schedules/cur_langsked.txt In the DXing.info Audio section under USA at http://www.dxing.info/audio/index_usa.dx you can also find sample station identifications of Radio Farda and Radio Azadi (DXing.info Dec 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. ANDERSON INDICTED From http://www.somerset-kentucky.com/search/search_detail.cfm?ID=2024 SOMERSET -- JEFF NEAL A federal Grand Jury in London, Ky., on Wednesday handed down an Indictment of 18 weapons charges against Steve Anderson, who once filled the ham radio airwaves with his white supremacist, hate-filled rhetoric from his Pulaski County home on Elrod-Martin Road. Anderson was arrested last Friday in Cherokee County, N.C., by the ATF and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation after being a federal fugitive for over 13 months. Anderson had been on the run since Oct. 13, 2001, when he allegedly shot up a Bell County deputy's cruiser during a routine traffic stop. The Indictment against Anderson included charges of "unlawful possession of a machine gun; possession of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and possession of unregistered firearms." The Indictment alleges that on or about Oct. 16, 2001, in Pulaski County, Anderson "knowingly and unlawfully" possessed a machine gun, two destructive devices (bombs), a silencer, a sawed-off rifle and 25 other destructive devices not registered in the National Firearms Registration Transfer Record. It also states that Anderson possessed a machine gun and a firearm with a silencer in "furtherance of crimes of violence." It also alleges that on Oct. 14, 2001, in Bell County, Anderson "used, carried, brandished and discharged a semiautomatic assault weapon and possessed six other destructive weapons (pipe bombs) which were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration Transfer Record. If convicted, the maximum potential penalties are life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and supervised release for a period of three and not more than five years and forfeiture of the listed firearms. The announcement of the Indictment against Anderson was a joint effort involving Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, United States Attorney for the Eastern District; Karl Stankovic, ATF special agent in charge; and J. Stephen Tidwell, FBI special agent in charge. The investigation preceding the Indictment was conducted by the ATF and the FBI. The Indictment was presented to the Grand Jury by Assistant United States Attorney Martin L. Hatfield. Don York, a spokesman for the ATF in Kentucky, said Anderson's arrest came after an investigation was prompted by a tip received following a Nov. 2 episode of "America's Most Wanted," which re-visited the Anderson case. Anderson was originally featured on the popular FOX-TV program last April. Anderson was a member of Kentucky's militia until April 2001, when he was expelled from the group because he made inflammatory comments about the U.S. government, blacks, Jews and immigrants over an unlicensed radio station he operated from his Pulaski County home. Radio for Peace International, A Costa Rica-based group which monitors short-wave radio broadcasts, labeled Anderson as "the world's most hateful broadcaster" last year. Story created Monday, December 02, 2002 at 11:02 AM. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 3210, WWCR, Nashville TN, Nov 25, 0828- 0850, is being observed fading out little prior to 0900, 25332. Sole 90 meter station audible at such time (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) Also the only one audible here around 2300 (Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) ** U S A. A PERSPECTIVE ON THE FCC AND THE DIGITAL RADIO SPECTRUM - WFMU Here's an editorial and news on the prospect of a digital radio in the USA from New York's "free form" radio station and netcaster WFMU. http://www.wfmu.org/boha0212.html#6 Did the RIAA actually lose one? On November 14th, Congress passed a new law called the "Small Webcasters Settlement Act" which encourages the RIAA and its enforcement arm to negotiate new royalty rates for small commercial webcasters by December 15th, and new rates for non-commercial webcasters by May 31, 2003. The exorbitant (CARP) rates will still stand for the largest webcasters. WFMU's Ken Freedman will be part of the group negotiating new rates for college and community broadcasters. Fresh on the heels of it's near defeat in the webcasting space, the RIAA has declared war on the armed forces of the United States. The laptops of about 100 students at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis were confiscated for allegedly containing illegally downloaded music files. Although it tried to distance itself from the raids, the RIAA did indeed initiate the raids, as it continues to pressure educational institutions across the US to take actions against their students for file sharing. Naval officials say they haven`t decided what the consequences will be for any students found guilty, but punishments could range from "loss of leave" to full court-martial. FCC Chairman Michael Powell has been touting an overhaul of the AM, FM and TV bands. In a speech at the University of Colorado, Powell said that "we are still living under a spectrum management regime that is 90 years old." On the surface, Powell's proposals seem promising - software based receivers working with digital spectrum which could result in far more channels for broadcasters and listeners alike. But behind the scenes, the FCC is envisioning new digital spectrums that may have far more channels than the current bands do - but all of the new capacity will be auctioned off the highest bidder, with no set- aside for public service, non-commercial or educational use. Meanwhile, FCC commissioner Michael Copps has his panties all in a wad over the Victoria's Secret fashion show broadcast, which he feels demonstrates a lack of FCC gusto to prosecute broadcasters and Brazilian supermodels for indecency. Copps feels that the amount of indecent programming on the air is related to the amount of consolidation in the radio and TV industries. He will be holding public hearings to demonstrate his contention in the hope of getting Powell's FCC to act on both issues. Al Gore and Tom Daschle blasted Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk show hosts for creating a climate of hate in the country. Daschle feels that Limbaugh is to blame for threats which he and his family have received. Republican Senator Warren Hatch fired back that if "it weren't for radio, the people of this country would never hear what the real facts are." XM and Sirius, the two companies which offer satellite radio, appear to be going down the tubes, and fast. XM reported major losses (110 million) for the 3rd quarter of 2002, and said they would lay off 80 employees. Sirius meanwhile, lost 120 million in the same quarter. If XM and Sirius declare chapter 7 bankruptcy, some other corporation/s will snap up a nice radio delivery system for cheap (via Pete Costello, DXLD) * U S A. FEWER MEDIA OWNERS, MORE MEDIA CHOICES, By JIM RUTENBERG For decades, public interest advocates have successfully argued for stringent limits on the number of newspapers, radio stations and television outlets that a company can own. They have summoned images of Citizen Kane, or worse, Big Brother, warning that without strict regulation a few powerful corporations could take control of political discourse while homogenizing entertainment and defanging news... http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/02/business/media/02MEDI.html?ex=1040011984&ei=1&en=5273f1c3cfb9a0c4 (via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. IBOC Testing tonite on 700 and 710. The digital carriers will be on a minute and off a minute alternating switch times between the two stations tonite only. Possibly more tests in the next couple nights. Just giving those interested a heads up. I am Curious to see any comments. There are several crews out tonite testing (Paul Jellison, Clear Channel, Dec 2, NRC-AM via DXLD) I am curious -- where is this ? (Eric Floden, Vancouver BC, ibid.) Presumably WLW-700 and WOR-710 as before (gh, DXLD) Is that what IBOC sounds like on an adjacent frequency? My oh my, this is the end of AM radio. Grandma isn't gonna buy a new one, and that annoying noise may send her to the TV full time. Mom, either. And the kids are already all FM. AM only for high school football. But, oh yeah, there's no money in those audiences, anyway. I keep forgetting, sorry. I'll take my pill and repeat "IBOC is good. IBOC is the future. IBOC is good." (Gerry Bishop, Nicewithdigitalhissville, FL, UT Dec 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) [Later:] Where, exactly, should I complain? To WGN, getting trashed from WOR's hash? To the FCC? What difference will my view ever make on this? It's a done deal. Yes, the noise is terrible. But who cares? If the FCC ever did, they sure don't now, do they? (Gerry Bishop, Nicecoldandnoiboclocallyville, FL, ibid.) Just a thought... Listen to WGN, wait for some ads, and write to their advertisers (particularly national advertisers who care less how local the audience is. Explain to them that their money is wasted on WGN because of the annoying hiss you're hearing (Rick Kenneally, CT, ibid.) I have checked both 700 and 720 and there is nothing noticed here in the NW. As you know I very much heard the IBOC test on 880. Is WLW testing it too? Don't notice anything on 690 or 710 either, but both have strong signals. 720 KDWN is not a powerhouse and I can hear other stations under them. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) [Later at 0418 UT:] The noise (white) would increase on 695 kHz at times. I did not notice it on 705 kHz, though. The 695 kHz noise (6 kHz filter on R8) sounded much like the 890/870 noise from KIXI 880 IBOC test at the NAB convention. I think the noise I am getting is from WLW. WOR nulls this way more and conditions are not good from the East tonight. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) OK --- just caught what I believe to be 700 WLW testing just a short while ago. what I heard was the same I've heard on WOR. When the digital carrier is on, the digital carrier almost as loud as the analog programming, listening on channel. The adjacent channels here in north east North Carolina sound for the most part a bit of a static sound pops in on 690, but nothing heard on 710 as of 1045pm Eastern. Listening with a stock radio in a 98 Nissan Sentra (Bob Carter, Operations/Engineering, Max Media Radio Group WGAI-NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo, et al., ibid.) Weak digital artifact over XETRA 690, KWLW 700, and KDWN 720. No digital artifact noted over KUET 710 as its a semi-local and way too powerful. The stations appear to be on and off at intervals of between 1 and 5 minutes or so (Kevin Redding, Mesa AZ, ibid.) Conditions are horrible tonight. WOR is almost listenable. WLW varies from barely audible to fair: Radios and what they are tuned to: Radio Shack DX-398 tuned to 690; Hammarlund HQ-129-X tuned to WLW, antenna half of my 40 meter dipole. (1949 AC DC table set) Philco 49-200 tuned to 700 [5 tube AC DC set with locktals]. GE P780B tuned to 710. 8 transistor hifi late 50's to early 60s portable Zenith Royal 675 transistor tuned to 720. When IBOC was on with WLW, 690 trashed and WOR had annoying hiss in background. When IBOC was on WOR, WGN trashed, and noise on WLW. Any questions? (Powell E. Way III, SC? Ibid.) The Canadian on 690 is being trashed at intervals. The noise on 710 is not as bad. Have it on tape (Paul LaFrenière, Grand Marais, MN 0425 UT, ibid.) Paul, It has to be a lot worse where you are in MN. You are closer than me and if I can hear it the sound must be devastating up north and northeast. Its pretty miserable on an analog receiver. I believe that it will help XM and CDs sell like hotcakes. I was talking to a NON-DXER friend in Westerly, Rhode Island on the phone. He is using a Sangean 505 and he says that some white noise is on and off trashing a station in French on 690 and a station on 720 in Chicago is getting wiped out off and on. I used his description as he really isn't a DXer other than on TV occasionally. I was curious to see what he was hearing. He wasn't too happy. I guess [WLW is testing too] because I am getting stuff on 690 which is loudest for the digital hiss. I am getting some on 720 but not near what is on 690. This IBOC stuff has me very worried for our hobby in the transitional time. Kevin Kevin Mesa, Arizona I cannot imagine this working out. If only two stations are testing IBOC, then what would happen with 10 or 20? This cannot work in the present form. The noise alone in a major city from 6 or 8 stations in IBOC would wipe out everything else on the dial. 73s, Patrick Martin Seaside OR It's not about "everything else on the dial", it's just about "me...me...me" which could be argued if the method had real substantive value, not just an incrementally minor upgrade value, which is all I can see being added from adopting IBOC. And I agree with others such as Kevin who argue basically, it's not the medium, it's the message. And the _message_ we're getting/will get here is not being changed. Example: Scott F. driving into Buffalo in a howling blizzard, needing local weather forecast. Now with IBOC, he will be able to hear some announcer in Los Angeles pick his nose between words, in flawless quality, while talking about some 1978 BeeGees hit, in a track laid down 36 hours ago. But still no word about driving conditions between Buffalo and Rochester. Gee Thanks, radio industry (Bob Foxworth, Tampa Bay FL, ibid.) IBOC testing and Canadian AMs... Was anyone hearing the testing after 2300 ELT? That's about when I turned on the radio, and WLW sounded as clear as ever, with none of the distinctive IBOC hash that I heard on 700 and 720 daytime when I was in NYC last month. WGN was also in the clear on 720 (with CHTN probably on its day pattern, fading up strongly over Chicago at times). The loud whistling noise I was hearing over 720 turned out to be my computer monitor |g|. Couldn't hear WOR very well on 710, but then I *never* hear WOR very well on 710, since I'm in their Niagara Falls null and I get Niagara Falls interfering with them like crazy. Which reminds me: CKVM on 710 in Ville-Marie QC has filed to make the move to FM (93.1 with 26kw), which ought to be good news indeed for Tom and Kerry and the gang at WOR... [more under CANADA] (Scott Fybush, NY, Dec 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) Subject : IBOC = Death As you know, I've refrained from joining in the seemingly incessant threads about IBOC. That's because I had never heard its effects for myself. Until tonight, when I got the digest talking about the coordinated WLW/WOR test. The results from Central Jersey: when WLW turned on its IBOC, it was very audible on WOR's signal. And that's a local for me. It was annoying to listen to. When WOR turned on its IBOC, it wiped out WLW almost completely. And WLW has excellent coverage here. With WOR's IBOC on, it killed CHTN on 720, which was doing well in WGN's null. The effect on WGN was not that bad. The bottom line: if WLW can make WOR annoying for a listener 30 miles away, this is a real problem for the average listener. For us DXers, if WOR can kill CHTN, it's game over. I'm going to email both WOR and WLW tomorrow and let them know. But I won't let on that I'm a DXer. And in an important sense I'm not: my clock radio is set to WOR, and I assume that my clock radio won't handle IBOC any better than my '2010. Now remind me again why LPFM is bad...? (David Hochfelder, Rutgers NJ, ibid.) I sure begged you all to comment on 99-325 the IBOC question from the FCC.... As soon as I heard the testing at KJZZ on FM I knew that it would be the absolute death rattle of AM radio because it will not survive the transition. The white noise and interference will be far too much for the average listener to handle. To put it in the two words that Joe Six-Pack WILL use is this: IBOC SUCKS. Dude, I can hear some of it in Arizona! Harry Helms heard it in California!! Pat Martin's message in Oregon says he heard some of it! Thats some REAL interference! The CIA and Army Psyops people can use this as the perfect jammer of foreign stations during a war! | It was annoying to listen to. | We are DXers. We are used to crappy signals. We generally ferret out what we want from a horrendous mishmash of noise that would drive the average listener insane. For us to say that IBOC is that bad, you know that it`s REAL bad. | The bottom line: ... it's game over.| That`s what I was saying when the FCC was asking for comments. That`s why I was begging you all back then. This is not aimed at you David, it`s a general comment to all (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) OK, this time on the way home from WGAI 560 AM, I was listening to --- or at least trying to listen to --- 700 WLW. I heard what I thought was power line noise at first {I noticed that it wasn`t power line noise when the noise was centered only around 700 to 720 this go around} that completely wiped out WLW {The Trucking bozo show was on} and reception of anything on 720 Some lady hosting a talk show; didn`t catch a name or ID}. The interference varied in strength, sometimes starting out very weak, just noticeable to being very strong at times. I noted this between 1 am and 1:15 am [EST] Tuesday morning --- once again listening with a stock radio in a 98 Nissan Sentra (Bob Carter, KC4QLP, Operations/Engineering--Max Media Radio Group WGAI- NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo ..., ibid.) WLW/WOR NIGHT TIME IBOC TESTING Last night (Tuesday morning) WLW and WOR took turns running IBOC for short periods. I don't know if this was to determine if they would interfere with each others primary or what would happen every place else. Maybe somebody can shed some light on that. But this is what I found. My location is South Plainfield, N.J. which is about 15 to 20 miles southwest of the WOR towers. However, I must be in a major lobe of their pattern as they are the strongest AM signal on the dial, day or night - even stronger than non-directional WABC-770 who isn't that much further from me than WOR.; I checked the dial (using a SRII) just after midnight and found WOR running IBOC intermittently for about 15 second periods. Conditions, unfortunately, were at least semi-auroral. With WOR running analog, the dial conditions were: 680 - a jumble of at least 4 signals (normal), 690 - Montreal at a fair level mixing with Spanish at about equal strength, 700 - bits of WLW poking through weakly at times, 720 - WGN Chicago, clear, fair level but quite listenable, 730 - Montreal above a jumble of signals (they seemed to be a bit stronger than the 690), 740 - Toronto doing fairly well with a jumble of signals in the distant background, 750 - WSB Atlanta, good, basically in the clear. When WOR turned on the IBOC exciter, the band then changed to 680 - jumble with some digital noise, 690 and 730 - mostly wiped out by digital noise but you could tell there were signals there, 700 and 720 - tremendous amount of digital noise - toast!!! -nothing could ever make it through that, 740 - Toronto still there but with enough digital noise to make a mostly listenable signal, unlistenable. 750 - a surprise...some digital noise was even making it down to WSB to make that reception a bit "uncomfortable". If band conditions favored the Midwest (or even were average), it would have been interesting to see if WLW's IBOC could be heard at this location on 710. But WLW's signal was way too weak to cause any problem to WOR's primary on this date. A couple of other comments. WOR's analog signal is very clean. When on analog, they give no problems to 680, 690, or 730-750. Digital was a completely different story. I am happy to say, in all fairness, that WOR did not use a watered-down IBOC. For this test, they used the full, industrial strength version. I wonder if they even turned it up a bit as it sounded stronger than the daytime version. My concern is that testing like this, for short periods, might give a false result to the tests. The test could have gone down as a great success....no interference occurred between WLW and WOR....but auroral conditions might have been the reason, not the nature of IBOC itself. I also feel in these tests other stations should have taken part. Stations on 690 and 720, to determine if they are encountering any IBOC interference. They have a stake, as do all other broadcasters, in the results (Joe Fela, NJ, Dec 4, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Sitting here this evening listening with a Nems Clark Field Strength meter {model number 1633} WOR 710 is coming in with a signal strength of around 6.8 mV ...and 700 WLW is slightly stronger at 7.4 mV. The digital hash was noted 10 kc either side of both stations with a signal level on the hash running from 3.5 to 4 mV. On the car radio here in the parking lot of WGAI, WOR and WLW each have hash noise that is transparent under each of them, and this spreads out 10 kc either side of those stations listening with a stock radio in a 98 Nissan Sentra. [Later:] Now that I'm away from high levels of RF, the results on the car radio are the same as last night. WLW unlistenable at times. WGN 720 is very hard to hear most of the time. So that it in a nutshell, folks --- the IBOC saga continues (Bob Carter Operations/Engineering- -Max Media Radio Group WGAI-NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo, etc., NC, Dec 3, ibid.) Bad news on this end...WLW 700 is testing IBOC at night, and it's causing havoc on the night signal of KSTL 690 (17 miles away in East St. Louis). It's also rendering 710 useless. The sidebands sound like a fax machine, as Christopher Maxwell of the Virginia Center for The Public Press pointed out (although the study was done on FM). 73 and good DX from (Eric Bueneman, Amateur Radio Station N0UIH Registered Monitor KDX0STL, KMO0CN, Hazelwood, MO, Dec 3, IRCA via DXLD) iBIQUITY has applied to the FCC for another experimental license to test IBOC digital radio on AM. Already testing on 650 AM in FREDERICK, MD, the company is looking to use 1670 AM as well on a fulltime basis (from http://www1.allaccess.com/ Dec. 3 via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. English version of the KNAX-1630 item in DXLD 2-189: Björn Malm is back in Quito and reports a new Spanish speaking "Latin American" radiostation in Dallas, Texas! 1630.00 KNAX Radio Año, Dallas, Texas (USA). Nov 30 2002 - 1000 UTC. I don`t know when the station first started but they say at ID that it is a new station and I had not noted anything special on the frequency lately not until this morning, Saturday Nov. 30 when I heard this call: "La nueva estación cristiana en el metrópolis KNAX 16-30 AM Radio Año, (Fudmore?), Dallas "La Voz de la Verdad" transmitiendo el evangelio. Operamos con 10.000 vatios de potencia". The program was neutral religious music but also some music with TexMex- and Bolero-style. ID very seldom. One ID-variant was repetition of "Radio Año, Radio Año........." 7 times. Regards, (via Thomas Nilsson, editor, SW Bulletin via hard-core-dx via DXLD) Our same comments apply ** U S A. MW CONDITIONS MAY BE BETTER. Hello all, It looks like A and K-index are a bit lower today, and that there are more DX-reports on the 160m amateurband. Hopefully DX-signals on mediumwave will be a bit better tonight and tomorrow, and maybe on or two more days. Try USA starting around 1 hour before your sunrise. Especially the X- band (1600-1700 kHz). This morning 4 stations from the USA where mixing up on 1680 kHz. WTTM Princeton NJ with the usual Indian style music WTIR Winter Garden FL with mainly talk KRJO Monroe LA, with gospel music WJNZ Ada MI, also with similar sounding (gospel) music Others heard where 1700 WJCC Marco Isle, FL with Spanish programming (Voz Cristiana) and 1690 WPTX Lexington Park with talkradio program. Also WWRU Elisabeth NJ, with Spanish phone-in program and finally on 1470 kHz WLAM Lewiston ME, with the usual WMTW programming. All has been heard on a 450m beverage and AR7030plus, but some of the signals where already loud enough to be heard on smaller antennas. (have a listen around 3795 kHz as well, you might hear European amateurs working west coast USA, W6/7.......) Have fun! (Dick van der Knaap, DKp4733/MWC-492 East-Holland, Dec 3, BDXC via DXLD) ** U S A. Have been looking for the new WMQM 1600 Memphis; nothing so far; don`t be fooled by `Gospel 1600` which is the latest incarnation of the once venerable KATZ in Saint Louis (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. 6025, R. TASHKENT, Dec 3, 1215 talk by man, English, very muffled. Fair signal, in the clear. 1220 music, 1224 more talk. Off at 1228. Found parallel at 5975, fair signal, lots of splatter, clean in LSB. No IDs heard. (Dan Ziolkowski, RX-320, 100 foot wire, Franklin, WI, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Ecos del Torbes sin señales de vida en 4980 kHz. Por el contrario, Radio Amazonas prosigue en 4940 kHz (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Queridos colegas diexistas, reciban todos un cordial saludo. Les informo que actualmente la guardia nacional reprime al pueblo de Venezuela Yo no sé si este mensaje estará saliendo para el mundo, pero los comentarios dicen que hay un bloqueo a nivel del servidor. El Dictador Hugo Chávez reprime al pueblo. Atte: José Elías, Venezuela, Dec 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Lástima; pero esto llegó ** VIETNAM [non]. Dear Martin, We do not want to add any confusion, but here is the correct schedule: 1230-1300 UT 9930 kHz Radio Free Vietnam (New Orleans / Louisiana) via Hawaii thru TDP 1300-1400 UT 9930 kHz Que Huong Radio via Hawaii thru TDP 1400-1500 UT 9930 kHz Radio Free Asia (in Vietnamese) via Hawaii 1500-1600 UT 9930 kHz Radio Free Vietnam (California) via Hawaii Kind regards, (Ludo Maes, Belgium, TDP, Dec 2, to Martin Schöch, Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) For once TDP is explicit about transmitter site! But now we have another contradiction, one item in Miller Liu`s schedule, DXLD 2-186, indicating one of these is via TAIWAN: RADIO FREE ASIA B02 VIETNAMESE 1400-1500 9930 So which is it? Should not be hard to tell in the region whether it come from Hawaii or Taiwan; whether KWHR transmitter goes off and on at 1400 and 1500 (gh, DXLD) ** YEMEN. I presume that I am also hearing R. Yemen on 9780 +-. I am hearing music and sometimes a phone-in programme. The modulation varies and is best on music. The frequency seems to vary daily. It used to s/off at 2100 but presume it is on longer because of Ramadan, which ends on Friday. Signal strength is at best 4 (Robin Harwood, Norwood, northern Tasmania, RX Yaesu FRG 7700; Icom R70, Dec 4, swl via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 1431 in Chinese around 1830: Interesting story: I was sure this was Chinese while we were first hearing it. (My DX-compadre at the moment was Jim Renfrew, who may have thought I needed more sleep and less beer!) I played the tape to my 2 PRC students. One declared that it was unequivovally NOT Chinese. The other was less sure, but he ended up agreeing with the first student. Then I uploaded the clip into RealDX. When I read Henrik's message and told them that someone in Sweden was sure it was Chinese they listened again, but this time to the clip downloaded from RealDX. Now they agree that it IS Chinese. However, neither can let me anything about who it is! (Jean Burnell, NS, RealDX via DXLD) Well, there are lots of varieties of spoken `Chinese`, some of them perhaps incomprehensible to others (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Following up Bernd Trutenau`s monitoring of fade times on 4050 and known frequencies in CAs: I checked fade out times on Nov 30 here in Denmark: 4010 Krasnaya Rechka, KGZ 0330 4050 UNID 0330 4635 Yangi-Yul, TJK 0345 4930 Asgabat, TKM long after 0345 4940 UNID Not heard 0315-0345 4980 Urumchi, Xinjiang, CHN 0320 It seems from this monitoring that the UNID on 4050 has sunrise at the same time as Bishkek on 4010 which means that it is located in a belt passing Kabul (AFG) – Kulyab (TJK) – Andizhan (KGZ) – Bishkek (KGZ) – Almaty (KAZ) – Zyryanovsk (KAZ) – Krasnoyarsk (RUS). (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re my "mystery" Arabic FM...Mauritania it is. Doh! There was a horribly unstable transmitter on 4830 around 2330, but when I went to FM I simply captured 4845 (damned thing is wide...). Never mind, (Al Quaglieri, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re Chuck Bolland`s noise on 6015: Another interesting noise was "white noise" on 6015 around 0820 Nov 28, peaking to S5 - I assume this is to jam Liberty via Korea. I couldn`t hear that station (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM +++ Re: ``DRM tests are normally for a specific limited timespan; what about these?`` Probably they are indeed daily. I read it just a few minutes too late to check out 15440, but right now (1430) there is indeed a DRM signal on 5975, no doubt Jülich as scheduled. I guess it will be basically this combination of Sines and Jülich transmissions Deutsche Welle will sell in 2003 as "regular service", although 5975 reportedly contains no live program feeds so far, instead records with "Fraunhofer presents the digital future of AM" or something like that. Makes actually sense since the performance of the AACplus codec at such low bitrates is more impressive on music than on speech where it produces lots of artifacts. By the way, recently a controversy about DRM in the German-language A- DX mailing list was triggered by a complaint about the 5975 signal, found when looking for Burma. Well, right now I note one carrier on 5985 and another one on about 5986, Yamata and indeed Rangoon I would guess. It should be no problem to get audio from this channel despite the DRM on 5975 if only the local noise here in my flat would not kill such weak signals reliably. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] Also Sines 15440 is on right now (1130 Dec 4), so apparently these transmissions are indeed more or less regular (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See GERMANY above for DW to start regular DRM SW broadcasts next June! Also USA for more rants against IBOC RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ THE £99 RADIO WITH NO HISS AND NO DISTORTION TURNS INTO THE MUST-HAVE GIFT WITH NO SUPPLIES By Charles Arthur, Technology Editor, The Guardian, 30 November 2002 A digital radio has achieved the status that delights and dismays manufacturers - the must-have but elusive Christmas present. In past years, parents have trailed round shops searching for the "essential" gift featured at the top of media lists and demanded by their children. Attempts to secure one often led to a last-minute dash to a faraway toy shop that had just received a supply. But this year the equivalent of Buzz Lightyear or the Thunderbirds Tracy Island is not a children's plaything but a grown-up gadget costing £99. Unusually for a product that has caused a consumer scramble, the Pure Evoke-1 is not a new invention but a new version of a portable radio. The first shipment of the retro-styled product, said to have been only about 200, sold within a couple of hours of stores opening. Demand has been high ever since - helped by a prolonged promotional campaign by radio stations. A saleswoman at Peter Jones in Sloane Square, London, said yesterday it was still trying to fulfil orders placed in the summer. "We aren't taking any more orders from customers," she said. "We probably won't have any to sell until after Christmas. We were taking orders back in July and August, but we're still fulfilling those." The product was a success because it was well priced and the first stand-alone digital radio, Mandy Brown of the Digital Radio Development Bureau said yesterday. "Digital radios used to cost £400 or more, and you had to plug something into your PC or your car. This costs only £99, and you just plug in and listen." Its maker, the Leeds-based company Imagination Technologies, has been surprised by how well it has sold. "We expect that by the end of the year we will have sold 40,000," said David Harold of the Pure division at Imagination Technologies. "So far about half of those are actually in the hands of customers. The trouble was that the retailers didn't place enough orders early on, and it takes about 12 weeks to go from an order through manufacture in China to delivery." The retailers and the company were all caught out by the fact that until now, radios have hardly been a hot ticket among hi-tech fans. "Most homes have three or four radios already, and any model that sold 10,000 in a year would count as a big hit with shops," Mr Harold said. "So they didn't expect this." Digital radio, like digital television, encodes the signal into bits - as a CD does for music - and sends it on radio waves. Radio stations can send more data, including text and pictures, and broadcast more stations in a bandwidth than in analogue forms with no hiss or distortion. Many companies including Capital, Virgin, Talksport and Classic FM now broadcast on digital radio, as do some BBC stations, and own the broadcast facilities. They provide a "bank" of free airtime to advertise it, and its products. The Pure Evoke-1 benefited from this most by being the first below £100 to go on sale. For those unable to secure their coveted Christmas present, there is some solace. A number of new digital radios will enter the market early next year, including a handheld model, a battery version, a car radio and a hi-fi tuner. But Imagination Technologies will still be happy. It designs silicon chips which will be in every one. "I can honestly say that Britain leads the world in this," Mr Harold said. "Nobody else is even close." (via Mike Terry) ### SLOW RADIO Hi Glenn, The piece on the upcoming JVC "Slow Radio" product caught my attention, as I recognized the basic effect as that from a musician's "riff recorder". Slowing down audio without destroying the pitch is nothing new. Devices that do this are available from sources such as Musicians Friend, and made by Yamaha and other companies. They typically run $100 US. and up. They are solidstate audio recorders that a guitarist can use to help teach themselves sections of faster music by slowing it down until they can follow every note, for practice. The key, of course, is maintaining the proper pitch of the music. A few years ago I tried one of these for DXing purposes, to see if it would help me understand station IDs in a foreign language (the announcers always seem to speak at a rapid pace, don't they?). However, I was disappointed in the playback audio quality of this low- end unit, and abandoned the idea. There's at least one software approach to this idea. Two products called (I think) "Slow Blast" and "Slow Gold" are software programs to accomplish the same thing on Windows and MacIntosh computers. The price is more reasonable: $24.95 and $49.95. Check out http://www.slowblast.com/ It might be worth a try on those frenetic Brazilian futebol announcers, or for someone learning a foreign language (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sounds like variable-speed audio cassette recorders, two of which I have, one of which is not operational any more. From Radio Shack --- upon playback, you can speed up or slow down with pitch adjusted separately. Handy for compressing playback time of talk shows, non- Chipmunk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn: If you want any further on the slow radio ... NEW JVC RADIO WILL SLOW DOWN SPEAKERS' WORDS Victor Co. of Japan will put on the market in early December a radio that can slow down parts of broadcast speech so that older listeners and foreign-language students can more clearly catch each sentence, JVC officials said Saturday. The device has been jointly developed by JVC and NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories, and is expected to sell for around 35,000 yen [$280], the officials said. The radio first records the voice, such as that of an announcer, on an integrated circuit, and then uses voice signal processing technology to slow down the speed of pronunciation of the first part of each sentence, gradually returning to normal speed in the latter part, they said. The new product will be effective for such programs as news reports, talk shows and sports broadcasts, the officials said. Programs heard on the radio will still end within their designated slots even if it slows down the speech, because the new device eliminates silent parts of a news program, they said, adding that news anchors pause once every three seconds on average. For example, if a speaker says "konnichiwa," which corresponds with the English word "hello," the radio will stretch out the pronunciation of the initial syllable, "ko," which tends to be pronounced most quickly. The radio then gradually returns the speed of pronunciation of other syllables to normal, with the last syllable, "wa," being perfectly normal, the officials said. The radio will also be able to automatically amplify a weak voice, they added. "The price (of the radio) is more expensive than regular radios, but inquiries from retailers have been frequent. I hope a lot of people will be able to enjoy radio broadcasts more comfortably," a JVC official said (The Japan Times: Dec. 1, 2002 via Kim Elliott, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP050 ARLP050 Propagation de K7VVV ZCZC AP50 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 50 ARLP050 From Tad Cook, K7VVV Seattle, WA December 2, 2002 To all radio amateurs ... Over the next few days solar flux is expected to rise from 155 on Monday to 180 by the weekend. Planetary A index is expected to continue unsettled, with values of 20, 20 and 15 for Monday through Wednesday. I ran across a Finnish web site devoted to photographs of aurora borealis at http://www.saunalahti.fi/~deca39/paasivu/index_eng.php3 Don't miss paging through the gallery at http://www.saunalahti.fi/~deca39/galleria/index_eng.php3 These are some fantastic photos taken in Finland and Lapland over the past couple of years. Sunspot numbers for November 21 through 27 were 143, 124, 126, 123, 106, 100, and 112, with a mean of 119.1. 10.7 cm flux was 150.9, 149.1, 147.5, 146.2, 136.8, 142.3, and 142.6, with a mean of 145.1. Estimated planetary A indices were 50, 24, 19, 16, 17, 14, and 21, with a mean of 23. NNNN /EX (ARRL mailing list via Bob Foxwroth, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 04 - 30 December 2002 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate. Region 208 has the potential for minor M-class activity early in the forecast period. Old Region 192 (N12, L=234) and old Region 191 (S18, L=203) are due to return to the visible disk at the beginning of the period and may produce moderate activity during the first half of the forecast period. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 04-07 December, 10-12 December, 20-21 December and 29-30 December due to recurring coronal holes. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels during the forecast period. Weak recurring coronal holes are expected on 07-09 December and 26-28 December with resulting unsettled to isolated active conditions. A stronger coronal hole is due to return to a geo-effective position on 18-19 December and is expected to result in active to isolated minor storm conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Dec 03 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Dec 03 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Dec 04 160 12 3 2002 Dec 05 175 8 3 2002 Dec 06 180 8 3 2002 Dec 07 180 12 3 2002 Dec 08 180 15 3 2002 Dec 09 175 15 3 2002 Dec 10 180 12 3 2002 Dec 11 180 12 3 2002 Dec 12 180 12 3 2002 Dec 13 180 10 3 2002 Dec 14 175 10 3 2002 Dec 15 170 10 3 2002 Dec 16 170 10 3 2002 Dec 17 160 12 3 2002 Dec 18 150 30 5 2002 Dec 19 150 20 4 2002 Dec 20 150 15 3 2002 Dec 21 145 15 3 2002 Dec 22 140 15 3 2002 Dec 23 140 15 3 2002 Dec 24 140 15 3 2002 Dec 25 140 15 3 2002 Dec 26 140 15 3 2002 Dec 27 145 12 3 2002 Dec 28 145 12 3 2002 Dec 29 145 15 3 2002 Dec 30 150 15 3 (http://www.sec.noaa/gov/radio Dec 3 via WORLD OF RADIO 1159, DXLD)### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-189, December 2, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1158: RFPI: Tue 1900?, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300? on 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 [see also USA - WJIE below] ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1158.html CIRAF ZONES Hi Glenn, Ciraf zones - Conferencia Internacional de Radiodifusión por Altas Frecuencias. Spanish - because these zones were defined at the World Administrative Radio Conference held in México in 1948. Regards (Kathy Otto, SENTECH, RSA, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. Like CHRISTOPHER J WILLIAMS I am the proud owner of one of Radio Afghanistan's QSLs like the one shown on page 15 November CONTACT Magazine. Mine dates back to 1975 and 1975 is long before the Soviet occupation. At the time they broadcast in English 1130-1200 on 15195 kHz. As stated in Chris's letter these QSLs are now a rare collector's item. If I remember rightly, Radio Afghanistan did a relay via a Soviet transmitter site during the days of Najibullah and the Soviet backed regime. I think at one time they transmitted on 21600 kHz but I may be wrong about this (Edwin Southwell, member 465, Dec World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) CHRIS WILLIAMS, who drops in some Sunday afternoons on his way to open up the church, he being the custodian of the keys, a sad state of affairs when churches have to be locked to deter souvenir hunters and thieves brought along his rare Radio Afghanistan QSL. However, it proved to be of an unsuitable size to fit our pages and a photocopy reduction of the photocopy was also unsuitable. Thus, it was back with Chris to get a suitable copy from his original which was the one used last month. The object of this story is when you decide to submit a QSL for publication try to get a copy that will fit our pages as photocopies of a photocopy lose so much detail. Meanwhile, I rummaged around to see what I had on Radio Afghanistan: lo and behold, the same card - postmarked 16th July 1973, Kabul for a report on their English Programme on May 26th of that year at 1800- 1830 on 15265 kHz and signed by S A S___ (a QSL undercover man, sorry for this in-joke but it had to be). The card could also be adapted for any day, any month; the alternative frequency of 11785 kHz and the German programme on 9510 & 11785 kHz at 1730-1800 GMT. Seems as if these particular Radio Afghanistan QSL cards are not quite so rare after all. I'll take a hundred quid for mine; failing that it's a London auction (Arthur Ward, member 615, ibid.) ** AFGHANISTAN. PICTURE BULLETIN AFGHAN BALKH TV 24 NOV 02 The following programmes in Dari were monitored on Balkh TV from the town of Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan's Balkh Province on 24 November; start of broadcasting missed due to power cut: 1. 1340 gmt In a programme in Dari called "Talks with officials" presented by Qais Shiva and shown on Balkh TV, in a report from Sar-e Pol, the deputy commander of Division No 26 in Sar -e Pol, Gen Azizullah Qahid, said that during the Taleban period, the division's first line was in Balkhab. He said that Ahmed Shah Masud, the former defence minister under then ousted President, Barhanoddin Rabbani, had sent soldiers to the line and Gen Abdorrashid Dostum, now the president's special representative for the northern zone, had helped with 200 horsemen. He said the Taleban had not been able to break through Balkhab and that there was a mass grave of men of the Hazara tribe who were killed by the Taleban in Balkhab. He also said that the Taleban burned down some houses there. The video showed Azizullah speaking to camera. 2. 1400 gmt A report from Hayratan presented by Bashir Ansary was about the work of Army Corps No 113 based in Hayratan. The report said that Cmdr Aka Yaseen was in charge of Army Corps No 113 and that there were 22 divisions in Hayratan. Cmdr Alam is in charge of the security of the transit of goods from Termez to Hayratan, it said. The TV showed a train carrying some jeeps from Termez border of Uzbekistan to Hayratan town, a mosque for soldiers and some photos of Gen Abdorrashid Dostum, and of President Hamed Karzai. 3. 1410 gmt Bashir Ansary in another report said that an FM radio station and a TV station were being helped by the BBC. The report said that the radio station broadcast BBC news round-the-clock in Dari, Pashto and English. A radio station official in charge of broadcasting, Engineer Azizullah, thanked the BBC for its assistance. The TV showed the station working. 4. 1420 gmt In a programme entitled "Education Voice", presenter Bashir Ansary said that Noor Optic hospital in Mazar-e Sharif had distributed 320 pairs of glasses for seven schools for 130 teachers and 200 students who had eye problems. An official said a further 5,000 more pairs of glasses would be distributed for all schools around the town. The TV showed students and teachers wearing glasses. 5. 1430 gmt Music 6. 1530 gmt News in Dari 7. 1600 gmt Film (power cut end time not known) Source: Balkh TV, Mazar-e Sharif, in Dari 1340 gmt 24 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Radio Continental de Argentina, escuchada el domingo 01/12 a las 00 UT, con el espacio de rock clásico "Estados Desunidos del Rock n'Roll". En 15820 kHz, LSB. Mamas and the Papas, Rolling Stones, muy buen balance musical. Avances de noticias cada media hora con Servicio Informativo Continental. Anunciaba la frecuencia de 590 kHz, en onda media (desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Adán González, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Hola GIB, y amigos de la lista.... Hace algún tiempo dijo que RAE cuenta con dos programas DX distintos en cada uno de los varios idiomas de la emisora. Por favor, explicar la diferencia (uno escrito por GIB, no?), los días y horas de transmisión, porlomenos en español e inglés (Glenn Hauser, Dec 1, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Hola Glenn y Amigos de la Lista, RAE, Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior emite dos programas DX; uno de ellos se llama "Actualidad DX", y el otro "Suplemento de Actualidad DX". Ambos espacios son diferentes, y en ambos programas se tratan noticias sobre escuchas y novedades aparecidas en la prensa DX relacionadas con las emisoras que emiten en onda corta; así como de vez en cuando, artículos relacionados al DX, como ser propagación, manchas solares, expediciones DX, etc. La duración de ambos espacios es de aproximadamente 10 - 12 minutos. En español, Actualidad DX martes 1220 y 2315; Suplemento de Actualidad DX, viernes 1220 y 2315. 73's GIB (Gabirel Iván Barrera, Dec 2, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RA preview: 2305 - Fri.: LINGUA FRANCA - about language. This week: "Galician". The tragic breakup of the oil tanker Prestige off Spain's North Atlantic coast has brought Galicia to the world's attention. The Celts are thought to have arrived in Galicia around 1200 BCE. The culture they established there lasted over a thousand years. Indeed the bagpipe is still as ubiquitous in Galicia as it is in Scotland. But it was the Romans who gave Galicians their language. Galician is a Latinate language closer to Portuguese than it is to Spanish. Suppressed for nearly 500 years, since the death of Franco Galician has been enjoying a renaissance. Professor Roy Boland, Director of the Spanish Program and the Institute of Galician Studies at La Trobe University, talks about Galicia and its language (via John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) Repeats UT Sat 0530; show had been on vacation for a while. Airs a week or two earlier on R. National, where audio is available well in advance of RA broadcasts (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. ABC ENTERPRISE BARGAINING, ABC Media Release 2 December The Australian Broadcasting Corporation held further negotiations with the CPSU and the MEAA this morning on a new enterprise agreement for around 4000 ABC employees. Management presented a new offer that includes a pay rise of 11.5% over three years. The pay offer would deliver an initial 1.6% salary increase, effective from January 2003. Another 3.2% is delivered in June 2003, followed by salary increases of 3.35% in June 2004 and 3.35% in June 2005. The unions have suspended their threatened strike and will be asking their members to consider the revised offer at meetings to be held later this week. If the agreement is endorsed by a formal staff vote, it is expected that it will be referred to the AIRC for certification in January 2003. For further information please contact: Don Smith, ABC Head, Workplace Relations (02) 8333-5508 (via John Figliozzi, NY, DXLD, who adds...) No break in the RN or RA schedule will be taking place, apparently {CPSU not to be confused with Communist Party of the Soviet Union} ** AUSTRALIA. Hi Glenn, Saw this on the ABC Perth Web site today: "A radio transmitter is on its way to a remote location in the Kimberley, in north-west Western Australia, where it will be used to broadcast Christian programs to India and the South Pacific. The shortwave radio station, Heralding Christ Jesus Blessings, aims to begin broadcasting to a potential audience of millions from its base on farmland outside Kununurra by Christmas Day. The transmitter, which has been shipped from the United States, is the final element in a five-year battle by the proponents to get the station up and running. The group faced opposition from the local community. However, earlier this year, the state's town planning appeal tribunal ruled that the group's plans should be given the go-ahead. The station wants to begin broadcasting on December 22." (via Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Local opposition? On what basis? I don`t recall hearing about that from HCJB (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. DX Target: ========= RADIO VNG, AUSTRALIA'S STANDARD FREQUENCY AND TIME SIGNAL SERVICE By Richard A. D'Angelo The shortwave spectrum is littered with interesting signals to monitor. As members of a shortwave oriented club, we naturally place a high priority on high frequency broadcasting by domestic and international stations. Nevertheless, time signal stations have been staples on the shortwave bands for many years. Unfortunately, in recent years the number of such stations has diminished. This DX Target feature is about one such station, located in Australia, that has been a favorite among DX'ers for many years. When this station leaves the shortwave spectrum at year-end, it will be a loss of a long time favorite among spectrum users. Much of the material used for this feature came from the National Standards Commission website http://www.nsc.gov.au and direct replies from the station. The National Standards Commission ("the Commission") is a Commonwealth Statutory Authority established in 1950 and operating under the Australian National Measurement Act. The Commission has responsibility for advising the Government on the needs of the national measurement system and for coordinating that system. The Commission is charged with being a center of excellence in legal metrology, advancing Australian economic interests at a national, regional and international level. Their mission is to support commercial transactions and government regulations with a uniform national measurement system, harmonized to international standards. Introduction The National Time Committee under the auspices of the Commission coordinates Australia's time system. Precise measurements of time are carried out by a number of organizations including CSIRO in Sydney, Telstra in Melbourne and the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group ("AUSLIG") in Canberra. CSIRO also coordinate Australia's contribution to the international time system. The implementation of civil time including time zones and daylight saving from these measurements is still the responsibility of the individual States and Territories. Time signals are disseminated throughout Australia by Telstra's landlines, the speaking clock and Radio VNG the national standard frequency and time signal service. Radio VNG is Australia's standard frequency and time signal service. For years people and organizations throughout Australia and the world have made use of the time signals broadcast by Radio VNG. The time signals are used for surveying, geophysics and navigation. Radio VNG users include seismologists, astronomers, upper atmosphere physicists, surveyors, geophysicists studying the Earth's magnetic field, amateur radio operators and shortwave listeners. This service forms part of Australia's technological infrastructure by providing a signal of moderate accuracy (1 millisecond) that can be readily accessed with relatively inexpensive equipment. It is also used to confirm any ambiguities inherent in more precise methods of time comparison. In addition, for short-wave listeners Radio VNG provided a useful barometer to gauge reception conditions toward Australia and New Zealand. Background The time signal service was inaugurated by the Australian Post Office on 21 September 1964. For approximately 23 years, Radio VNG was broadcast from Lyndhurst, Victoria, which is about 37 kilometers southeast of Melbourne. Telstra (formerly Telecom Australia) funded it and their research laboratories at Clayton, Victoria, conducted the monitoring and research. In late 1986 users of the service provided by Radio VNG were rocked by the news of its impending closure. The Precise Time Working Group, now the National Time Committee, conducted a survey to ascertain the usage of the service and the scientific and economic impact of its closure. The survey results showed that there was extensive and diverse usage of the service throughout the community. This usage by the very nature of its application was difficult to quantify economically. Following the closure of Radio VNG in October 1987, a seminar was convened to investigate what provisions needed to be made for an intermediate accuracy time service and to consider the extent to which the provisions for high accuracy time comparisons were meeting Australia's needs. Several alternatives to Radio VNG were discussed but each was found to have significant disadvantages in terms of accessibility and cost compared with Radio VNG's time service. It was recommended by the many participants at the meeting that Radio VNG be reinstated; that the service be recognized as part of Australia's technological infrastructure and be funded by the Federal Government. At this time no single department or authority was identified to fund the operation of Radio VNG. VNG Users Consortium The VNG Users Consortium ("the Consortium") was formed to re-establish Radio VNG and to collect donations from former users to dismantle, pack and transfer the transmitting equipment to a new location. At their inaugural meeting on 25 February 1988 the organizers wrote to all known Radio VNG users requesting contributions towards the cost of acquiring the Radio VNG plant and reinstating the service. The response was overwhelming. Private individuals, many of whom were not paid for the activities for which they used Radio VNG, contributed up to $100.00 Australian out of their own pockets, and some organizations contributed up to $2,000.00 Australian to try to save this national facility. This enabled the VNG Users Consortium to pay for the relocation of Radio VNG from Clayton in Victoria to what was then the Civil Aviation Authority's International Transmitting Station at Llandilo, NSW, in June 1988. Today, Radio VNG broadcasts from the AirServices Australia, International Transmitting Station, located at Llandilo, NSW, position 33 42'52"S, 150 47'33"E. As a result of users being willing to contribute money to save the service, AUSLIG agreed to meet the costs of setting up at Llandilo and to cover the running costs on a partial recovery basis from users. The role of the VNG Users Consortium was to raise some of this money, to represent user interests to various Government bodies, to answer queries, and to verify reception reports. The Consortium also negotiated with the Department of Transport and Communications and the Royal Australian Navy for extra frequencies for Radio VNG, since its old frequencies were in the wrong part of the radio frequency spectrum. As a result of protracted efforts over several years, Radio VNG transmits on five frequencies instead of the original three. Other contributions by the Consortium include provision of station identification announcements, the addition of a talking clock, and the purchase of the first 2,500 kHz transmitter and a new AWA digital announcing machine. The Present Situation As part of its responsibility of coordinating the national measurement system, the Commission took over the funding of Radio VNG from AUSLIG in November 1992 and on 12 January 1993 became the owner of the transmitting license. The Commission also administers the National Measurement Act of 1960 and the Regulations empowered under it. These Regulations define the units of measurement used for legal purposes in Australia, including the units of measurement for time. The Commission took over the recurrent funding of Radio VNG on a non- cost recovery basis in 1992 taking a large burden off Consortium volunteers, who have always done their work unpaid on their own time. The Commission now issues most of the QSLs, though the VNG Users Consortium also answers queries where appropriate. The Consortium still provides the voice announcements and represents user interests to the Commission through its National Time Committee. The most recent improvements to the Radio VNG time service were the addition of a talking clock that went to air on 15 January 1992, and a 1 kW 2,500 kHz transmission which began on 7 October 1992, to improve reception in the Sydney metropolitan region. Additional transmitters have also been acquired to provide backup to the existing system. A digital voice-announcing machine, with no moving parts replaced the less reliable tape cartridge machines in early 1994. Future Developments The provision of infrastructure services such as the Radio VNG standard frequency and time signal services are essential to support continued research, development and innovation in a technologically advanced society. An important part of the Commission's role is ensuring that these basic technological infrastructures are readily available to the community at a reasonable cost. Recently the National Time Committee has been considering the possibility of introducing a low frequency time signal service. This would facilitate the use of self-correcting time pieces in Australia. These devices regularly correct themselves to the national time and automatically make adjustments for daylight saving and leap seconds etc. Although it was announced that Radio VNG would close on 30 June 2002, the Commission decided to postpone its closure for six months to ensure that all users were given every opportunity to make alternative arrangements. The offer is subject to the following conditions: * The VNG Users Consortium provide a voice announcement for broadcast on Radio VNG from mid-July 2002, advising all users that the service will close on 31 December 2002. * The VNG Users Consortium inform its members in writing, before the end of July 2002 and again before the end of September 2002, that they will need to make their own future arrangements to receive time services from other sources after 31 December 2002. * It is clearly understood that the Commission is unable to provide any alternative to Radio VNG and the VNG Users Consortium needs to encourage users to develop means of obtaining the time information that they need from alternative sources. * In the event of a major breakdown in equipment, the Commission will not be able to guarantee the continuation of the service for the full six-month period. Therefore, it looks certain that the end of 2002 will relegate Radio VNG to the great scrap heap of shortwave radio signals. Technical Information The service employs STC double sideband, full carrier AM, high frequency broadcast transmitters. The 2,500 kHz service uses a STC 4SU55A/S transmitter while the 5,000 kHz, 8,638 kHz, 12,984 kHz and 16,000 kHz services employ STC 4SU48B transmitters. The transmitter frequencies, powers and transmission modes are 2,500 kHz at 1 kW, emission mode to be advised, 5,000 kHz at 10 kW, emission mode 6K00B9W, 8,638 kHz at 10 kW, emission mode 3K00A1A, 12,984 kHz at 10 kW, emission mode 3K00A1A, 16,000 kHz at 5 kW, emission mode 6K00B9W. The 8,638 kHz and 12,984 kHz frequencies are on loan from the Royal Australian Navy. Antennae consist of a 2,500 kHz monopole (vertical antenna), a 5,000 kHz Wells quadrant antenna, and 8,638 kHz delta-matched quadrant antenna with a single wire per arm for 8,638 kHz, 12,984 kHz and 16,000 kHz. The transmission schedule offers continuos service on 2,500 kHz, 5,000 kHz, 8,638 kHz and 12,984 kHz. The 16,000 kHz channel provides service from 0200 to 1000 UTC. A voice station identification announcement is provided on the 2,500 kHz, 5,000 kHz and 16,000 kHz services only using an AWA digital voice recorder. It is given during the 15th, 30th, 45th and 60th minutes without interruption to the time signal. The speech is "notched" to allow seconds markers to continue and has spectral components around 1,000 Hz removed to avoid erroneous operation of tuned relay time circuits. Morse station identification is provided on the 8,638 kHz and 12,984 kHz frequencies only. It is given during the 15th, 30th, 45th and 60th minutes without interruption to the time signals. VNG is transmitted in slow Morse at a frequency of approximately 400 Hz up to six times per minute. Broken identifications may occur at the beginning and end of the minute. Awards Consideration As many WDXC members know, the North American Shortwave Association (45 Wildflower Road, Levittown, PA 19057, USA) offers an extensive array of interesting awards for shortwave listeners to earn. The club's Awards Program, managed by Gary Neal (7410 Orchard Hills Lane, Sugar Land, TX 77479-6122, USA) is one of the most comprehensive in the hobby and is open to members and non-members. Currently, there are over fifty individual awards in five different categories available. Further information about awards is available online at the NASWA website http://www.anarc.org/naswa/ or by obtaining a hardcopy of the Country List and Awards Program booklet for US$3.00 direct Bill Bergadano, KA2EMZ ka2emz@cybercomm.net at the Company Store (P O Box 484, Colts Neck, NJ 07722, USA). NASWA offers two specialty awards for hobbyists that collect QSL verifications from time signal stations. The first is the Senior Time Station DXer for verification of at least 10 different Time Stations with at least one station broadcasting from each continent. The other is the Master Time Station DXer for verification of at least 20 different Time Stations with at least one station broadcasting from each continent. These awards are interesting to chase and challenging to obtain. When Radio VNG leaves the air on 31 December 2002, the ability to earn these awards will be severely diminished unless a replacement time signal station commences operation on the shortwave bands from Australia. Conclusion Radio VNG is Australia's standard frequency and time signal service. This service provides a signal that can be readily accessed with inexpensive shortwave equipment. Unfortunately, its days on the shortwave bands appear to be limited. Without further intervention on the part of its users, Radio VNG is scheduled to conclude shortwave broadcast operations on 31 December 2002. Historically, Radio VNG has been an excellent verifier of listener reception reports. All correspondence, including reception report and requests for QSL verifications should be addressed to: Radio VNG National Standards Commission P. O. Box 282, North Ryde, NSW 1670 Australia In the past, QSL verification cards and letters and information about the VNG Users Consortium has been available directly from the Consortium by writing to: Dr. Marion Leiba, Honorary Secretary VNG Users Consortium GPO Box 1090, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia Dr. Leiba has been an enthusiastic Consortium volunteer since the user group was established in 1988. Naturally, reception reports should be sufficiently detailed to permit verification and should include return postage, preferably in the form of an International Reply Coupon (or US$1.00), which would be appreciated from other than VNG Users Consortium members. As always, remember to send in Radio VNG logs to Edwin Southwell for the Shortwave Logbook and those interesting and rare QSL verifications should be sent to Mark Hattam for inclusion in the QSL Report column. Since its days are numbered, you should try to catch this station on shortwave radio while you can! Good luck with this DX Target (Rich d`Angelo, Dec World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Below is a letter am about to email radio Austria. I thought you all should have a preview. I urge equally everyone concern to seeing SW remaining what is it, to do some about not having Radio Austria off the radio. Dear Whom it may concern, Closing Radio Austria down! Firstly I thought It was dream, because the first guy that I believed mentioned the information on Glenn Hauser's DX listening digest was about to go to sleep. Then it continued like a rumour, here and there. Now it has been confirmed. What a tragedy. Well, I hate to be insultive, but I sincerely think that someone needs to have their head examined. Why for Christ sake would you take Radio Austria off air. It is a big mistake. Firstly as Dxer and a keen listener to radio Austria I think that this will simply break hearts. Come to think of it how now can we get news about Austria? Before you start pointing to the internet, let me inform you that not everyone has access to this technology. Here in Nigeria, and may be for rest of this continent news about Austria is a very rare thing, in the media. For us Radio austria represented our gateway to Austria, her people and their history and culture, the government and the whole European stuff. Regardless of whatever alternatives you are considering there is nothing like old fashion Shortwave Radio like we know it. It is easier, cheaper, readily accessible and and gives wider coverage. Please I hope that those concerned will reconsidered the decision, before it is too late Like Radio Finland. Thanks. Yours, (Emmanuel Ezeani, P. O. BOX 1633, SOKOTO, SOKOTO STATE 840001, NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA, via DXLD) ** BENIN. 7210, R. Dif. Du Benin (Presumed) 0615+ Songs in French, with slight interference, but generally good. Mentioned something about election and Cotonou. Receiver: PANASONIC RX - CT990, External antenna, with 10 metres wire through my window (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Uma pesquisa no sítio da Agência Brasileira de Telecomunicações - Anatel, demonstra que existe apenas um canal de rádio, em ondas curtas, em implantação, no Brasil. O nome não é informado, mas aparece como sendo para o estado de Minas Gerais. Portanto, o futuro canal da Rádio 9 de Julho, de São Paulo(SP), ainda não tramita no órgão. BRASIL - De acordo com plano de metas do Ministério das Comunicações, publicado em seu sítio http://www.mc.gov.br existem dois canais de radiodifusão, para ondas tropicais, sendo implantados, no Brasil: um para o Estado do Amazonas e outro para o Estado de Rondônia. Os nomes das emissoras não são conhecidos. De acordo com o mesmo estudo, existem, no momento, 546 canais de rádios disponíveis para as ondas tropicais. No balanço final, o Brasil possui, atualmente, 76 emissoras emitindo sinais em ondas tropicais. BRASIL - Ainda conforme estudo do Ministério das Comunicações, existem 10 canais, em ondas curtas, disponíveis para utilização, no Brasil: 3 para a Bahia; 2 para o Ceará; 2 para o Distrito Federal; um para o Paraná; um para Santa Catarina e também um para o Estado de São Paulo. Atualmente, existem 62 canais de emissoras de rádio em ondas curtas no Brasil. São Paulo lidera, com 22. Em seguida, o Paraná e Rio Grande do Sul aparecem com 10. O Rio de Janeiro possui 6, enquanto que Minas Gerais tem 3. Já Goiás e Santa Catarina têm 3, cada um. O Amazonas possui 2 e, por fim, o Maranhão, Distrito Federal e Bahia possuem um canal, em ondas curtas. Se estes canais estão ativos, aí é outra estória ... BRASIL - Duas emissoras brasileiras transmitem na freqüência de 3375 kHz: a Rádio Educadora de Guajará-Mirim (RO) e a Nacional de São Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM). Com a mudança da Rádio Educação, de Tefé (AM), de 3385 para 4925 kHz, descongestionou um pouco o espectro. Conforme Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM), ainda é difícil a sintonia da Rádio Educadora, de Guajará-Mirim (RO), naquela região. A exceção foi em 26 de novembro. Ele ouviu a emissora, entre 0932 e 0938, com o programa Brasil Caboclo. Em seguida, às 0939, a Rádio Nacional iniciou suas emissões, com um programa evangélico, transmitido numa das línguas indígenas do Alto Rio Negro. Em conseqüência, o sinal da Educadora desapareceu. BRASIL - Nas madrugadas de domingo, a Rádio Nacional da Amazônia permanece no ar, em 6180 e 11780 kHz. Entre 0500 e 0700, vai ao ar o programa Forromania, apresentado por Eneias Oliveira. Além da boa música típica do Nordeste brasileiro, o destaque é o grande pique do apresentador, capaz de ler várias notícias e mandar recados aos ouvintes por diversos minutos seguidos, quase sem respirar (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 1 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9645.79, Radio Bandeirantes (presumed), São Paulo, Dec 2, 0844 end music, fast-paced morning program with cat meowing at each TC, ads galore, but not even a passing ID in 10 mins. Fair (Al Quaglieri, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Caught Paul Harvey ending at 0729 UT Sun Dec 1 on CFRX, 6070. Not sure if TROTS or his Saturday noon playback, which would have started around 0715. Heavy co-channel from Voz Cristiana, Chile, periodically overtaking CFRX (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Aboriginal Voices radio, 106.5, is on the air in Toronto. DXer Wayne Plunkett was on the way to its studio to see what was up with a nearly two-year delay when he heard it. I have it on right now, yet to ID. Just after 2 pm Monday Dec 2. Funny, I was just updating my log. This will be tough from Burnt River, and should be easily nulled at my Snowball site. Will do interesting things to Buffalo NY WYRK, and likely will itself get hammered. Very strong here downtown. Native singing and drumming (Saul Chernos, Toronto ON, Dec 2, ODXA via DXLD) You can see their website at http://www.buffalotracks.com/avr/about.shtml They have an online form for submitting reception reports. 73 (Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, ibid.) They have big plans for a national network, starting here (gh, DXLD) CJMP is now 350 watts per recent approval (Saul Chernos, WTFDA via DXLD) Somebody just informed me that CJMP continues to be the call letters for 90.1 Powell River BC. So the Toronto 106.5 station must be something else (Bruce Elving, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHINA. Hello all, China seems to have abandoned the long standing relays via Inner Mongolia on 4815, 4883. During the period 1200-1600 today these were on new 5915 and 5990. Only two or three days ago they were still active on their traditional frequencies. The new frequencies are listed by the HFCC, so the move must have been planned long ago. The Beijing outlets for the same transmissions in Russian and Mongolian have been changed from 5145 and 5850 to 6140 and 7160. These go off at 1357. A third Beijing outlet (different site) is on 7255. Since all these transmissions are using beams that in the extension go right into Europe, reception here is good to very good (Olle Alm, Sweden, 2 Dec, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. This is the full email I received from CRI concerning monitors. Yours, Emmanuel Ezeani SOKOTO, NIGERIA From: "crieng" crieng@cri.com.cn To: "Emma Elo Ezeani" Subject: Re: monitor Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 15:37:06 +0800 Dear Mr. Ezeani, After carefully studying your application for monitoring CRI`s programs, we are considering to include you on our monitors' list. But as you may know, the job is a volunteer one. You're supposed to write us a reception report once every two weeks, if there is any unusual interference on our frequency, let us know as soon as possible. We`ll appreciate it if you can take an active part in activities held by CRI, such as knowledge contest, send us feedback in important events, help us to organize get-togethers among our listeners in the local if necessary. We`re expecting your reply in a week. If you accept the job, please include your full name and physical address in the next e-mail, so that we can prepare a monitor card for you. English Service CRI (via Ezeani, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5958.18, CARACOL Villavicencio, 1124 Dec 1. Spanish talk by man with many mentions of Caracol, Bogotá and Colombia. Strong and in the clear. 1130 Caracol ID, then more news. 1140 fading fast, splatter increasingly strong (Dan Ziolkowski, WI, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) This one varies considerably ** COLOMBIA/CLANDESTINE. 6175.07, Voz de La Resistencia, 1 Dec 1032- 1100, probable sign-on with anthem and ID "Al aire C-R-B Cadena Radial ?Bolivariana? Voz de la Resistencia transmitiendo desde la cordillera de los Andes...de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia FARC, ejército del pueblo." Into talks and rock music. Good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voz Res has not been reported on SW for quite some time, thought to be inactive; previously had been well above 6.2 MHz, out of band. WYFR is scheduled on 6175 until 1000; and then, per HFCC, RFI via French Guiana in Spanish until 1030. FARC would pick up a lot of listeners that way, by starting right after another Spanish broadcast on the same frequency. 6175 1000 1030 7S,8S,10,11,12N GUF 500 295 1234567 271002 020303 D Spanish F RFI TDF 1169 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI again active on 15039 at the early hour of 1425 Mon Dec 2 when checked, with New Dimensions Radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 2540.00, Radio Reloj, Camagüey (harmonic 2 x 1270). 28 Nov 0321, Weak talk and "RR" CW ID (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RHC on new 15570: see VENEZUELA [non] ** CUBA [non]. NEW BOOK REVEALS LINKS OF TWO PRESIDENTS AND THE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA WITH EXILED HARDLINERS Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles, Monday December 2, 2002, The Guardian The brother of President George Bush, the Florida governor, Jeb Bush, has been instrumental in securing the release from prison of militant Cuban exiles convicted of terrorist offences, according to a new book. The Bush family has also accommodated the demands of Cuban exile hardliners in exchange for electoral and financial support, the book suggests. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,851913,00.html (via Jay Novello, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. WRMI continues to relay R. Prague at unscheduled times: Mon Dec 2 at 1400 checked 15725, sign-on? and 1401 late joining Prague in English, which turned out to run about 16 seconds behind their own \\ 21745; 1430 pause, ID, and WRMI into classical music -- also joined in progress. There was intermittent het QRM from a carrier about 15726 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Shortly after the logging below, I remembered to check out HCJB`s little-publicized Spanish DX segment, Aventura DX. Yes, it is still running on 15140 Sundays in the 2230 half-hour program, this time, Dec 1, about 2239-2248. Allen Graham was interviewing an Ecuadorian ham whose call I didn`t catch, named Édison, along with another silent guest (they probably tape several segments at once), Alejandro. Mentioned something about 52 shows, so perhaps this was the first anniversary. Put some listener questions to Édison, and he talked about antennas for various ham bands; reference to Grupo DX del Ecuador, http://www.hcdx.net -- or so I thought, but nothing accessible there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [non]. Checked 12025 before and after 2200 UT Dec 1, and found Arabic at a level typical of Sackville, certainly not from UK as previously, so new HCJB relay tho I heard no sign of an ID around hourtop; scheduled 2100-2230. Re previous item saying this is for NAm rather than NAf --- it might as well be, the kind of signals Sackville bounces in here off the back – might even be better at one hop backwards than multihops forwards. Wrapping up at 2229, still speaking Arabic, but giving address in Málaga, Spain, in French! Is this standard practice in Arabic evangelism? But what business does a Canadian public corporation have propagating one particular brand of Christianity to a predominantly Moslem area? That may be why RCI has tried to keep such deals under wraps. Oh oh, before transmitter cut off at 2229+, a fragment of RCI IS and ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.24, R. Imperial, 2159-2210 Dec 2, finally got some clear, readable audio out of this, with mentions of "El Salvador" and "Radio Imperial" at 2201, into some sort of hymn-like brass music and occasional bits of Spanish talk. Best in USB to avoid BBC on 17830. Most of the time audio was nonexistent or just at threshold level; carrier had at least fair strength all the time, so it must be low modulation. Guess I experienced the inverse of Murphy's (DX) Law regarding fades during ID time! New country for me, actually, as I never managed to log El Salvador back in the 60s and early 70s when YSS etc. were still on shortwave. Not really enough for a report (and I didn't have the damn cassette deck on in time to catch the ID!), but definitely something to keep trying for! (Randy Stewart, Battlefield (Springfield) MO, Yaesu FRG-100B; indoor wire Stewart Dec. 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [non]. I need your expert opinion on a DX question. I picked up Radio Africa International on 15265, 13 October 2002 at 1840-1900Z in English. I heard a definite ID, but no local address. One of the NASWA publications says that frequency/time is Equatorial Guinea in EG. The address listed in Passport has offices in California USA with a transmitter in Africa, the address mentioned in broadcast was NYC. I have heard both that it is really R. Africa International transmitting from Africa, and that the signal was from Moosebrun [sic], Austria with HQ in NYC and no tie to EQ Guinea. Any ideas? 73 (Joe Wood, TN, member 2376, World DX Club, Contact, Dec, via Alan Roe, DXLD) !! Now we have a three-way confusion, all caused by stations, programmers who don`t look into, or don`t care, who may already be using the same name. Equatorial Guinea transmitter on 15185v does use R. Africa (but not International?) name for US religion brokered by Panamerican Broadcasting, Cupertino CA, but that has nothing to do with the 15265 emission, which was the Methodist RAI out of New York via Germany. Neither of these have any connexion, except for the unfortunate communality of nomenclature, with the R. Afrika International, Vienna, via Moosbrunn at different times on different frequencies as recently published here. I am astounded that NASWA would list 15265 as Equatorial Guinea. What publication? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Radio Finlandia ha dejado de emitir en idioma inglés, y sólo transmite al exterior en idioma Finés, Sueco y Ruso. El siguiente es su nuevo esquema con destino a las Américas, vigente del 27/10/02 al 12/01/03: {note strange expiration date, Jan 12} HORA UTC IDIOMA KHZ 0200-0250 Fines 9755*, 12035* 0250-0300 Sueco 9755*, 12035* 0530-0600 Fines 9715 1200-1250 Fines 21800* 1250-1300 Sueco 21800* 1300-1330 Fines 15400, 17660 (Lun a Vie) 1300-1345 Fines 15400, 17660 (Dom) 1300-1400 Fines 15400, 17660 (Sab) 1345-1400 Sueco 15400, 17660 (Dom) 1630-1700 Fines 15400 1800-1900 Fines 15400 (Sab y Dom) 2000-2100 Fines 9805 (Vie) Nota: (*) Frecuencia con destino a Sudamérica. QTH: YLE, Radio Finland, Box 78, FIN 00024 Yleisradio, Finlandia. E mail: rfinland@y... [truncated] Web: http://www.yle.fi/rfinland (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital Nov 30 via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Radio Georgia noted here regularly in English 0630-0700 on 11805, 0830-0900 and 0930-1000 on 11910. They seem to have done some work on the transmitter as modulation and signal strength is much improved though audio still slightly distorted (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** GERMANY. DW`s easily overlooked monthly DX program in English was caught here UT Sun 0235-0245 via webcast on the Asian service. In their usual highly-jargonized style, the two ex-RBI hams started with examples of long-path echoes indicating superb worldwide propagation, e.g. on DW Nauen 25740. This is on the last Saturday of each month, Asian service only, with a couple of earlier airings that day. Next: Dec 28-29. Those frequently consulting our MONITORING REMINDERS calendar would not have missed it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Relaying an e-mail from Radio Rasant, Germany: Dear RADIO RASANT listeners, there will be a new broadcast of RADIO RASANT, the students' radio of the Städtsiche Realschule Sundern, Germany, and Junior- Ambassador of the German UNICEF 2002, at the coming weekend. The topic of this issue is economic: The EURO currency. The review again lightens the introduction of our new currency and reminds us of the problems we had. What are the advantages we have with this new currency? Advantages to ourselves, to the members of the other EURO- countries and finally the advantage to people of Non- EURO- countries? This transmission will be broadcasted on coming weekend on 7th and 8th December 2002 via IRRS Milano on 13840 kHz from 8.30 h to 9.30 h UTC. Finally we are interested in Your experiences with the EURO. Please tell us about your experiences you have had with this new currency and mail them to info@radiorasant.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since last week RADIO RASANT is member of the Network Youth Radio Northrhine-Westfalia which will be created throughout the coming weeks by the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft Lokale Medienarbeit NRW and sponsored by the Ministry of Youth, Familie and Health Northrhine- Westfalia. 460 regular broadcasting radio groups and about 300 project radio groups are now able to exchange their experiences and present themselves into the internet. This page will be finalized throughout the coming weeks at http://www.jugendradio-nrw.de That's the end of this letter now. Good luck and take care (RADIO RASANT, via Michiel Schaay, Dec 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) {broadcast entirely in German, as previously?} ** GREECE [and non]. Hello to everyone out there in the E-NET, I wanted to know if the Voice of Greece still broadcasts an English news to Australia, so I e-mailed them and received a reply stating that ERA-5 (The Voice of Greece) broadcasts English news to Australia from 0700 to 0730 on 11900 [Delano], 17520 and 21530. Having a listen this evening at 0700 (UT) revealed the Voice of Greece very poorly on 11900 and 17520 and fair on 21530 but the program was only in Greek with Greek songs and music, no news bulletin and especially not in English. Can anyone please shed any light on the subject, maybe they only broadcast English on certain days and neglected to inform me in their e-mail. Thanks and best wishes, (Michael Stevenson, Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia, Dec 2, EDXP via DXLD) Michael, I believe the English was dropped about a year ago from the Greek broadcasts to Australia. The English segment used to be about 40 minutes past the hour, and was read by totally bored announcers who obviously believed no-one, but no-one was listening. There seemed to be little effort put into it, so I don't think you have been missing anything (Paul Robinson, Boronia, Melbourne, Australia, ibid.) Michael, I sat on 15630 for a couple of weeks in October and eventually got English between 0930 and 0950 on Saturday and Sunday. Received a QSL for it in 19 days (Wayne Bastow, Gosford, Australia, ibid.) Don`t forget the weekly hours in English, Sat 1700 and Sun 1900, tho not conveniently timed nor aimed at Au, direct, and via Delano 17705 (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4789.11, RRI FakFak (Presumed), 0940 Nov 24. Asian music and talk in Indonesian. Fair. 4874.57, RRI Sorong, 0845 Nov 23. Local Indonesian music. 0848 Local ID. Fair signal but bad audio (Nobuo Takeno, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. R. Farda: we are filing stories about this under USA because like R. Sawa, it is essentially a US external service, not a surrogate home service/clandestine, tho some may disagree (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN/IRAQ/KURDISTAN [and nons]. IRAQ/IRAN: SURVEY OF KURDISH AND IRAQ-IRAN OPPOSITION RADIOS The following broadcasts were observed during a monitoring survey on 20 and 25 November (all times in GMT, frequencies in kHz): BROADCASTS TARGETED TO IRAQ Voice of the People of Kurdistan (radio of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, based in Al-Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq): 1400 (Fade-in)-1800 programmes in Kurdish 1800-2000 Programmes in Arabic 2000-2100 programmes in Kurdish. Frequencies: 1206, 4025 and 4400 kHz Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan (radio of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, based in Salah-al-Din, northern Iraq): 1400 (fade-in) to 1930 in Kurdish 1930-2030 in Arabic 2030-2100 in Kurdish Frequency: 4085 kHz. Voice of Kurdistan Toilers: 1430-1600 in Kurdish 1600-1700 in Arabic. Frequency: 4245 kHz. The radio announces that programmes begin at 1430 and are repeated at 0300 the next day. This radio station identifies the weekly Sorani Kurdish newspaper, Alay Azadi, based in Al-Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, as the organ of the Iraqi Kurdistan Toilers Party. Kurdistan Radio, Voice of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party: 1500-1630 in Kurdish 1630-1700 in Arabic Frequencies: 4140 kHz. (fair/poor) Radio Freedom (Radio Azadi): 1600-1700 in Kurdish Frequency: 3900 kHz. This radio is associated with Voice of the Iraqi People, Voice of the Iraqi Communist Party, which broadcasts in Arabic at 1730-1900 GMT on 3900 kHz. Voice of the Iraqi People, Voice of the Iraqi Communist Party: 1730-1900 in Arabic Frequencies: 3900 and 5900 kHz. Announcement says programmes are broadcast 1730 and 0400 the next day on 49 and 75 metres. This radio is associated with the Kurdish- language Radio Freedom (Kurdish: radio Azadi), the Kurdistan Communist Party Radio. Radio Freedom programmes in Kurdish are broadcast on 3900 kHz 1600-1700 gmt. Voice of the Iraqi People, Republic of Iraq Radio (believed to broadcast from Saudi Arabia): 1500-2300 in Arabic Frequencies: 1053, 9563, 9570 and 11710. (Also heard on 4785 kHz, believed to be a sub-harmonic from the 9570 kHz transmitter.) BROADCASTS TARGETED TO IRAN Voice of Iranian Kordestan: 1430-1600 in Kurdish 1600-1630 in Persian Frequency: 3975 kHz Voice of the Iranian Revolution: 1530-1630 in Kurdish: Frequencies: 3880 and 4380 kHz Voice of the Iranian Communist Party: 1730-1830 in Persian: Frequencies: 3880 and 4380 kHz Radio Komala: 1700-1800 in Kurdish and 1800-1830 in Persian Frequencies: 3930/3927 and 4610 kHz Voice of the Strugglers of Iranian Kordestan: 1700-1800 in Kurdish Frequency: 4260 kHz Voice of Mojahed, radio of the Iraq-based Iranian opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO): 1500-1930 (approximately) in Persian Frequencies: 5360, 5630, 6750, 6990, 7020, 8240, 8300, 8600, 8950, 10450 and 13450 kHz. All these frequencies vary constantly to avoid jamming; the radio is heard briefly on each frequency. Similar jamming is also heard on other frequencies. Some of the morning repeat broadcasts of the above radio stations have not been confirmed. The following radios were not heard during this survey: 1. Voice of the Kurdistan Conservative Party. 2. Harim radio, Voice of the Regional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan. 3. Radio of Jihad, Voice of the Iraqi Islamic Movement, which broadcasts in the name of the Islamic al-Da'wah Party, associated with the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, SCIRI, led by Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim. 4. Voice of Islam, Voice of the Islamic Movement in Iraqi Kurdistan. Source: (Dave Kenny, Monitoring research 20-25 Nov 02, BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. 11785.2, 1630-1715* 28-11 Rep. of Iraq R, Baghdad, Arabic, talks and Arab songs, 1702 mentioned Baghdad, poor modulation 32332. At about 1650 the transmitter was off for 45 seconds and the cause for the low heterodyne was heard: BSKSA Holy Qur`an // 13710 on 11785.0. That station signed off at 1700*, but their open carrier continued till past 1940! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX Dec 1 via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR MANX RADIO (BRITISH ISLES' FIRST COMMERCIAL STATION) From http://www.manxradio.com/ (also reported by Media Network today) Business as usual - for the moment, is the message from the non- executive Chairman of Manx Radio. Charles Fargher was speaking after a board meeting at the station, which comes a week after the strategy report on Manx Radio was dropped from last month's Tynwald, and two weeks ahead of the next sitting of the court, when it is likely to be discussed. There had been concerns that the station might have to reduce services if its future funding was not assured. But Mr Fargher says everything will be done to ensure the output is unchanged while the Island's parliament considers what its response to the report will be: The strategy report outlines some of the options available for the station's funding, including increasing the amount of Government support to £800,000 per year. An amendment has been tabled by Speaker of the House of Keys, Tony Brown, saying Tynwald should accept the recommendations, and establish a statutory charter for Manx Radio to officially become the national broadcaster. Notes: Manx Radio has a history which makes it unique in broadcasting within the British Isles. It first went on air in June 1964, long before commercial radio became part of everyday life in Britain. This was made possible because the Isle of Man has internal self-government: it is a Crown Dependency and is not part of the United Kingdom. But Manx Radio did need a licence from the UK authorities and this was eventually agreed to with reluctance, suspicion and not a little alarm. Remember these were the heady days of pirate radio ships anchored just outside the three mile limit! When the station went on air it was on FM only, 89.0 MHz in stereo. The programmes came from a caravan parked on a hilltop in Onchan, near to the capital Douglas. The single cramped studio was linked to the transmitting mast which was just outside the door. Being situated on a headland and exposed to high winds the station was prone in those days to needles skidding off records and the occasional bout of staff sickness from the rocking motion! In October 1964 the station gained its first medium wave/AM channel: 188 metres. And the first commercial was broadcast, for a Douglas jeweller's shop. 1965 saw the caravan abandoned for studios on the Douglas seafront. A second medium wave/AM channel was allocated -232 metres (1295 kHz) - but this was limited to daylight hours only. Then in October 1969 the radio station moved to Broadcasting House, a former Royal Navy radar training establishment built during the Second World War on top of Douglas Head. The station added a second FM channel, 91.2 MHz to cover parts of Douglas not reached by 89.0 MHz, now transmitting from Snaefell Mountain. A general realignment of radio frequencies throughout Europe in November 1979 led to both 188 & 232 metres being replaced with 219 metres/1368 kHz. Shortly after, a new FM service was opened on 97.3 MHz to provide improved stereo coverage for many parts of the Island from Richmond Hill, later realigned to 97.2 and transferred to Carnane. Finally a Northern transmitter was added on 103.7 MHz to extend full FM stereo coverage across the whole of the very hilly Isle of Man. (more on the web site...) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. I received an e-mail QSL from Kol Israel on 23 June 2002 at 1900. Veri signer was Raphael Kochanowski, Kol Israel External Service, P O Box 1082, 91010 Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail address was raphaelk@iba.org.il (Robert Thompson, swl via DXLD) Is this something unique to you or are they doing this for listeners as a promotion? The Voice of Israel has been sending out the E-Mail verifications since the Summer of 2001. I received one in reply to a written and air mailed report. I e-mailed them and requested one in print and they did comply (Duane B. Fischer, ibid.) This raises several questions: How did he `sign` the E-mail QSL? Why couldn`t Duane print it out himself? And why are printed documents so important to Duane, who is blind? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. Friends, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar has slightly modified the timings of their special Ramzan broadcast. It is now at 2345-0030 (ex 2330-0015) on 1116 and 4950. These special broadcasts will end on 6th December 2002 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Dec 1, dx_india via DXLD) ** KASHMIR [non]. PAKISTAN, 5102, Voice of Freedom of Jammu Kashmir, 1401 Dec 2, political commentary in English, 1410 talks in local language interspersed with local music, off after short piece of Muslim music 1430. Buzzy carrier and English talk was difficult to follow due to muffled audio, better audio on the rest of the transmission. Fair signal fading up on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 3025.5, Frontline Soldiers R., escuchada el pasado 16 de noviembre a las 1550 con un programa en el cual se interpretaba un drama. Buena recepción (Juichi Yamada, Japón, en Jembatan DX 143 via Conexión Digital Nov 30 via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. Listening this morning, I heard 4050 go on with carrier at about 0210 and music just after 0230. The signal faded gradually in pace with 4010. Both frequencies are slightly off nominal and both transmitters seem to produce a weak second harmonic (2x fundamental). The likelyhood that 4050 is the old Bishkek 2nd programme transmitter is indeed very high (Olle Alm, Sweden, 2 Dec, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Laser Radio starts Dec. 22: see UK [non] ** LIBYA. Voice of Africa heard on 15435 30th November with 3 minutes of news headlines in English followed by the same in French at 1820- 1826 and 1920-1926 (Mike Barraclough, England, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** MALI. 5995, RTV Malienne, good and in clear at 0746 tune-in Dec 2 with M in vernacular, fights Brasil 5990 *0751, 0800 s/off package including 10-tone IS, W ID "Vous écoutez Radiodiffusion Télévision Malienne, émettant de Bamako," frequency, sked info, off 0802*; noted past 0827 on 7284.37 (Al Quaglieri, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. V. of the Mediterranean: Anfang nächsten Jahres will die Station, die Malta in sieben Sprachen bekanntmacht und dafür 2002 beim ersten Malta-Tourismus-Preis auch belobigt wurde, in neue Räumlichkeiten umziehen (Dr. Hj. Biener, Deutschland, 19.11.2002, NTT Aktuell via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. When I am up late I often listen to the Qur`an, and not much else, on 4845, 0600 onwards. But Sun Dec 1 it stopped without any particular announcement at 0702, open carrier to 0711:45* This used to stay on, and stay audible, way past 0800; perhaps still so but on weekdays. No, UT Mon was also off by 0700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Radio Nigeria - Enugu 6025 kHz, I have tried this station for the last few days on the frequency, both morning and night without any reception. And I think my previous report of 4775 kHz was not Radio Nigeria, Enugu? I must have written the wrong data. Give me another week to cross check. Sorry for any inconveniences (Emma Elo Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. recently I received an email confirming my report to Radio Sultanate of Oman. It was sent to Salim Al-Nomani" abulukman@hotmail.com It reads "dear sir, Thank you very much for listening to our Radio, and I confirm our transmission to your area on freq 15355 kHz and I will send you a QSL card soon. Bye Salim" I will inform you again when the QSL arrives (Emma[nuel] Elo Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6797.5, R. Ondas Rio Mayo, 2320 Nov 30, Fair to good signal strength, but UTE QRM. Audible either with narrow receiver bandwidth or in USB mode. Peruvian folk music with Spanish speaking male announcer who took an on air phone call from a woman. ID mentioned by the DJ at 2326 (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Meanwhile, at almost the same time in a country far away... 6797.87, Radio Ondas del Rio Mayo, Nueva Cajamarca, 2312+, November 30. Andean tropical music. Announcement by male. 33433 (SLAEN, Arnaldo, Buenos Aires, Argentine, Receivers: Icom ICR75, Icom ICR2, Sony ICF2010, Lafayette BCR-101, Realistic DX 160, SuperadioGeneral Electric, Hiscan Sony Pro80. Antenna: T2 FD, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. 4389, Radio Imperio, Chiclayo, Lambayeque, 0028 0050, Nov 27, Spanish, Musical Program (huaynos), IDs "presentando su música --- Radio Imperio", "Radio Imperio para toda la provincia...", 24232, (Nicolás Eramo, Villa Lynch, Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina, Receivers: ICOM IC R-75, Kenwood R-2000, SONY ICF 2010; Antennas: T2FD, V Inverted 15 mts, V Inverted 12 mts, V Inverted 20mts, MFJ 959B Receiver, Antenna Tuner/Preamplifier, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4388.90, Radio Imperio, Chiclayo, 0005+, Diciembre 1. Música tropical andina. 23432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** QATAR. AL JAZEERA BREAKING THE MOLD IN ARAB TV BY STEPHEN FRANKLIN, Chicago Tribune Posted on Mon, Dec. 02, 2002 DOHA, Qatar - KRT NEWSFEATURES (KRT) - Hassan Shweiki's head swims as air time nears for "The Harvest," a television news show viewed nightly by 65 million in the Arab world. Shweiki, a senior news producer for Al Jazeera, has not yet decided what is the top news for the evening. But he can shift gears in a second. That is what happened the night last year that the U.S. launched its war in Afghanistan. As viewers saw pictures of U.S. bombs hitting Kabul, he was told that the station had an urgent message from Osama bin Laden. After briefly viewing it, he decided it was OK to broadcast, and Al Jazeera promptly scooped the world with the videotape of bin Laden denouncing the United States. He and his colleagues, a mix of staff from around the Arab world, also have learned that their 6-year-old around-the-clock offering of news and talk has become Public Enemy No. 1 in some Arab countries, where its reporters have been arrested and its offices closed. Some Arab governments, furious over Al Jazeera news reports, have also blamed the Qatari government and ordered their diplomats home. Though Qatari officials privately fret about a nerve-racking flood of complaints from Arab leaders, Al Jazeera goes on operating as the Arab world's loudspeaker, saying things never heard before by Arab audiences. It has broadcast allegations about government corruption and Islamic views on sex techniques and presented interviews with people never seen on Arab stations, such as Israeli leaders or Arab opposition leaders in exile. "The Arabs say we are a CIA operation. They also say we are a Mossad (Israeli intelligence) channel. The Americans say we are a bin Laden tool. And the Kuwaitis say we are Saddam's spokesmen," said Mohamed Jasem Al Ali, the station's managing editor and a veteran of more traditional Arab broadcasting efforts. Yet despite the pressure and Arab leaders' calls for commercial boycotts, Al Jazeera broke even financially for the first time last year and plans to launch an English-language version next year, according to Al Ali. With at least three Arabic 24-hour news and talk channels expected to open in the coming year, Al Ali said the station is under pressure to remain the leader. For the time being, it gets by on a $30 million annual budget, enough to field 27 bureaus around the world. But it operates out of a cramped one-story building. Whether the station is an accident of history, or a natural development for the Arab world is a matter of debate. In the 1990s, the BBC launched an Arabic station, financed by the Saudis. But Saudi complaints about what they considered controversial content led to the station's demise within 20 months. Qatar's ruler, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, eager to present a progressive vision of his tiny nation rich in oil and natural gas, invited most of the BBC staff and opened Al Jazeera with government funding in 1996. Ever since, it has broken the mold of Arab television, which traditionally has been a boring mouthpiece for Arab leaders. Watching Arab leaders meet other Arab leaders in their palaces is still nightly fare for a number of stations. "The idea is to tell the Arab world that there are problems. Before, there was no debate. Everything was taboo," said Al Ali, adding that Qatari officials do not tell him what to do. "If the government tried to put its stamp on certain news stories, we would lose our credibility and our viewers." Still, critics say Al Jazeera puts its own spin on the news. Saudi officials, who have banned it from operating there, say the station plays up "scandals." In reply, Al Jazeera officials say they are simply trying to get both sides of the news, but when the Saudis shut them out, they have to rely on Saudi dissidents in exile. The Israelis have complained about the station's alleged pro-Palestinian bias, and reporters calling Palestinian fighters "martyrs." The word is, indeed, used, says Shweiki, adding its usage is "weighed heavily every time." At the same time, he noted that some Arab viewers have protested Al Jazeera's interviews with Israeli leaders, among them peace activists, and stories that included details on Israeli casualties. Al Jazeera's legacy, according to Douglas Boyd, a communications expert at the University of Kentucky familiar with the Arab world, is that it has provided "an alternative source of electronic information in an area where - with the exception of a few stations in Lebanon - radio and television news is directly or indirectly controlled by governments." Boyd notes that other Arab stations have "made some format and functional changes to appear more modern and up-to-date, and more Al Jazeera-like." Still, he says, few are brave enough to air programs where criticism is aimed at everything from the PLO to Islamic fundamentalism. --- © 2002, Chicago Tribune (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Glenn, Received the following printed sked in the postal mail today, Monday December 2, 2002. R. Romania Int Winter 2002 - 2003 English on the "Open Radio" service. Email address engl@rri.ro 02-03 UT 9550, 11830 both to North America; 9625, 11740 both to Japan; 11940, 15370 both to New Zealand. 04-05 UT 9550, 11830 both to North America; 15335, 17735 both to India. 06-07 UT 9530, 11830 both to NW America 0636 - 0656 UT 9510, 9570, 9625, 11790, 11940 all to Western Europe 07-08 UT 17720, 21480 both to N-E Africa 14-15 UT 15365, 17790 both to Western Europe 17-18 UT 9690, 11940 both to Western Europe; 7155, 9625 both to Northern Europe 21-22 UT 7105, 9690 both to Western Europe; 5955, 7215 both to Northern Europe 23-00 UT 7195, 9570 both to Western Europe; 9510, 11940 both to North America (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. RADIO ROMANIA COMPETITION Here is a cut, copy, paste (I'd hate to have you think I'm typing these all out !) of Radio Romania International's winter's competition. The deadline for this one is the end of December, so it would be timely to have it in the next magazine. Nice grand prize don't you agree? I'll certainly be entering. RRI had a competition "Down the Arges" with a similar grand prize also this year, so it seems to be a workable idea for them. I hope they can keep it up, I've told them I would be passing the competition details onto Contact Magazine for the editors` consideration. I know they would be pleased to hear it was being given publicity in the DX world. So I leave it in your hands. In 2002 - the International Year of Eco-tourism, Radio Romania International invites you to participate in a new prize-winning contest entitled "The Danube Delta - A European Sanctuary of Nature". As usual you will have to send us written answers to several questions. Tune in to the programs broadcast by RRI, give correct answers and you have all the chances to be a winner. The questions will be broadcast in our programs on a regular basis. The competition will stay open by December 31st, 2002, the date of the postmark, and will offer many enticing prizes, granted by the Tulcea County Council, the Administration of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve and the Bucharest-based Finesse Travel & Explore and EuroDelta Travel firms. The grand prize consists in a 10-day trip to the Danube Delta for two people, in the summer of 2003 (expenses for visa to Romania and transportation outside Romania are not covered). During an initial 3- day stay at Hotel Teo in Mahmudia, the grand prize winner will get to know the tourist attractions of county Tulcea, and during the further 7 day-stay at Hotel Cormoran in Uzlina, the winner may admire the scenic routes of the Danube Delta. Here are the questions: 1. What are the names of the three arms of the Danube, that have formed the Delta ? 2. What is the name of the easternmost city of Romania, located in the Danube Delta? 3. Name three of the tourist attractions of Tulcea county and the Danube Delta. Please share with us the reasons why you have decided to participate in this new competition launched by RRI and mention the sources you have consulted (atlases, books, the Internet) in order to answer the questions. We'll be waiting for your answers by December 31st, 2002, the date of the post. The winners will be announced in February 2003. Good luck. All the best, (via Jonathan Murphy, member 2414, via Paul Youngs, Dec World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia Competition THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD: 60 YEARS LATER February 2, 2003, marks 60 years since heroic Red Army troops completed their routing of invading Nazi armies near Stalingrad in a momentous battle that turned the tide of the Second World War. The Voice of Russia is holding a quiz to commemorate that event. With our world awash with crime, war and terrorism in all forms, your answers on Stalingrad are certain to contribute to international efforts to combat these evils. Here are the questions: 1. What was the wartime name of the Russian city that is now Volgograd? 2. What is the name of the main Volgograd memorial to the battle of Stalingrad? 3. What is the name of the great Russian river that flows past Volgograd? 4. What's special about the so-called 'Pavlov House' in Volgograd ? 5. What is the name of the Soviet military leader who led this country's side in the battle of Stalingrad? 6. What was the role of the battle of Stalingrad in the overall course of the Second World War? 7. Does the history of the Second World War suggest similarity between Fascism and Nazism, on one side, and modern international terrorism on the other? 8. Do you believe the human race can prevent new world wars from breaking out? What do you think can guarantee security to nations ? 9. King George the Sixth of Britain and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States presented symbolic awards to the defenders of Stalingrad. What were these awards? You are welcome to supplement your answers with stories and pictures. The winners will receive prizes from a Panel of Judges under Volgograd Mayor Yuri Tchekhov [sic]. The most interesting entries will be posted on our website. We'll also publish them in a special booklet and quote from them on the air. All participants will be awarded memorial diplomas. Your answers should be mailed before May 9, 2003. The winners will be announced on the air and on the Internet on June 20, 2003. Send your letters marked "Stalingrad" to us at: Voice of Russia World Service, Moscow, Russia, or E-mail them to us at: letters@vor.ru We look forward to hearing from you. Good luck! (via Jonathan Murphy via Paul Youngs, Dec World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. HISTORIC SOUND STUDIOS GET A REVIVAL By Andrei Zolotov Jr., Staff Writer If the dark wooden walls of Moscow's once-famous sound studios could talk, they would sing with the sounds of Soviet culture, from its unsurpassed classical music to its most propagandistic Communist songs. It was in the studios at 24 Ulitsa Kachalova, as Malaya Nikitskaya was known in Soviet times, that operas, symphonies and radio plays were recorded and broadcast around the world. In these acoustically perfect studios, the biggest in Europe, one of the fathers of the Soviet school of conducting, Alexander Gauk, led the Grand Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio in the 1950s. Later, his students Alexander Melik-Pashayev and Yevgeny Svetlanov conducted exemplary recordings of Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, while Gosteleradio's several choirs and soloists had to fill a 30 percent quota for Soviet music with hymns to Lenin, the Communist Party and the Motherland.... http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/11/29/003.html (Moscow Times Nov 29 via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Yakutsk again confirmed on 6150 and 7140 this morning, and still nothing on 4825. Could it be that 4825 moved up to 6150? (Olle Alm, Sweden, 2 Dec, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Südafrika: Die Frequenzverhandlungen für den Sommer 2003 sollen vom 3. bis 7.2.2003 in Sandton bei Johannesburg stattfinden. Es ist nach 1998 (Tunesien) das zweite Mal, dass die Tagung auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent stattfindet. Bei der letzten großen Frequenztagung in Bangkok waren im August 2002 erstmals Frequenzangaben von High Frequency Coordinating Committee, Arab States Broadcasting Union und Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union gemeinsam verhandelt worden (NASB NL, Nov 2002 via Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, NTT Aktuell via DXLD) Lotsa nice junkets ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Tuning around at 0727 UT Sun Dec 1, found Brother Stair holding forth on 7415. No ID heard, but I must assume he is back on WBCQ, from which he quietly disappeared during his incarceration last summer (tho his broadcasts on other stations continued unabated). Strangely enough, the WBCQ schedule still posted at http://www.complexvariablesstudio.com/wbcqus_004.htm shows Radio Timtron Worldwide at the end of the `Saturday` schedule: RTTWW - rebroadcast 7.415 MHz 01:30am - 02:30am EST - 06:30 - 07:30 UT And B.S. also came on immediately after WOR UT Mon 0615. BTW, has anyone heard anything further about the Brother Stair case; are charges and/or a trial still pending? Our main informant about that has not been heard from for some weeks (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Glenn, Received the following printed sked in the postal mail today, Monday December 2, 2002. Spanish Foreign R. English sked covering October 28, 2002 thru March 29, 2003. Email address ree.rne@rtve.es 00-01 UT 6055 to America 20-21 UT 9595 Mon-Fri to Africa 21-22 UT 9595 Sat-Sun to Africa 20-21 UT 9680 Mon-Fri to Europe 22-23 UT 9680 Sat-Sun to Europe 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. ESPANHA - A Zarzuela é um gênero musical tipicamente espanhol. A Rádio Exterior de Espanha apresenta, aos sábados, La Zarzuela, com apresentação de Wenceslao Pérez. Bom momento para relaxar, às 1330, em 21570 e 21700 kHz. E-mail para contato: ree.rne@r... [truncated] (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Dec 1 via DXLD) ** TUNISIA. B-02 schedule for RTTunisia in Arabic: 0200-0400 9720 12005 1400-1700 11730 11950 15450 17735 0400-0500 7190 7275 9720 12005 1700-1900 7225 9720 11950 12005 0500-0700 7190 7275 1900-2100 7190 7225 9720 12005 1200-1400 15450 17735 2100-2300 7190 7225 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. From http://laserradio.net/ Laser Radio will launch its regular service on Sunday December 22nd. We will be broadcasting every Sunday on our usual frequency of 5935 kHz from 1700 until 2300 UT. The LaserRadio.net shortwave broadcasts are fully authorised and originate from a 100,000 watt transmitter located at Ulbroka in the Republic of Latvia (picture on the web site). Our most distant reception reports to-date have come from the USA, Brazil, Indonesia and Japan. The primary content of our shortwave programming will feature items of interest for radio hobbyists, anoraks and radio amateurs, all blended together with the very best music from the 60's, 70's and the 80's. Our regular Sunday service will also be available via live365; if you can't hear music already, then just click the 'on-air' button located to the top left (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. IRANIAN DAILY REPORTS IMMINENT INAUGURATION OF NEW US PERSIAN-LANGUAGE RADIO | Text of report entitled "Only the saddle pack has changed", published by Iranian newspaper Kayhan web site on 1 December In an attempt to put the finishing touch on its psychological warfare against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the CIA is closing down the radios known as "Azadi" [Freedom] and preparing a new style radio "Farda" [Tomorrow]. Iraj Gorgin, the head of the Persian service of the so-called Azadi radio, said: According to the decision of the board of management of the United States' international broadcasting, which supervises the work of the Free Europe radio organization, from the first week of the month of December, the Persian service of Radio Free Europe will end its work and Farda Radio will begin broadcasting. The radio is funded and managed by the State Department and the American espionage organization. Source: Kayhan web site, Tehran, in Persian 1 Dec 02 p 2 (via BBCM via DXLD) Evidence? AFAIK it is quite openly funded by IBB, all US government ultimately (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Hello Kim, perhaps you can help with this: At present Radio Azadi is also transmitted for emigrants in Europe 2000-2300 on 7165 and 9835 (both via Morocco). What will happen with these outlets once Radio Azadi was discontinued to make way for Radio Farda? Switching them to Radio Farda, too, replacing them by an arrangement with VOA Farsi (which I understand will continue) or just terminating them without a substitute? Enclosed a record I just made off 9835. Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. While checking the http://wbcq.us website fruitlessly for Brother Stair, (see SOUTH CAROLINA [non]) I found a `Fall 2002 Press Release`: FREEDOM`S STRONGEST VOICE CELEBRATES! MONTICELLO, MAINE, USA ~ On September 8th, 2002, International Shortwave Radio Station WBCQ -- The Planet celebrates its 4th year on the air, and the world's strongest voice of free speech continues to broadcast its powerful message for everyone to hear. WBCQ -- The Planet, dubbed by many the ``real`` Voice of America, with its powerful anti-censorship policies and an ever-growing audience throughout the world, celebrates the United States of America's Constitutional First Amendment Right to free speech, and is the only North American broadcast outlet to have policies that allow for complete freedom of expression. This makes for a truly unique and challenging broadcast line-up of politics, entertainment, information, religion and more. WBCQ -- The Planet provides talk radio that rides the cutting edge of our society, along with entertainment and information programming that will challenge the minds of people who want more out of their radio. With it`s three 50,000 Watt transmitters, WBCQ -- The Planet reaches out directly to the world --- No strings, cables, modems or dishes attached. The strongest voice of free speech, direct and uncensored, WBCQ -- The Planet is the beacon of freedom for the 21st century. ~FREE SPEECH -- IT`S MORE THAN JUST WORDS~ (via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Even if WJIE`s power is no longer flagging on 7490, the signal weakens drastically here as the night progresses, the MUF decreases, and the skip zone increases --- to boot, there is Norway co-channel much of the time. But UT Mon Dec at 0526 I could barely recognize WOR 1157 as having started a few minutes earlier, an unscheduled time; previous week`s show --- guess Thanksgiving prevented timely download of 1158 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. TEXAS MILITIA OUTBANDERS Recently I have noticed a few illegal radio operators on or near 6990 LSB nightly beginning around 0100 UT. When I first heard these "outbanders," or bootleg operators there, I thought they were just a couple of pirates chatting back & forth. One of them even ID'ed as "Radio Free Texas." After monitoring them for some time, it became apparent that they were not pirates as we know them, but simply unlicensed operators that showed up there to have a place to talk. I wouldn't even mention them if it weren't for the fact that they appear to be communications for a militia group in Texas. Militia groups have used frequencies for communications just outside the ham bands for inter-group communication for about the past ten years or so. The lower edge of 20 meters has been known to harbor some militia activity, as well as 6660 and possibly around 6200-6300 kHz. The 6990 group is very informal, and most members of the net are apparently from Texas. They don't use any callsigns except for the one using "Radio Free Texas," but prefer to use first names. There are roughly six or seven regular members of the group. At least two of them are in Texas, one near Dallas and the other farther south. Communications might sound like what you'd hear on the CB bands, but slightly more interesting. It's obvious that the group does have militia ties, or at the very least are strong supporters of militia groups. Their discussions usually lean toward anti-government feelings and some of the conspiracy theories popular with "patriot" groups. For example, I once heard one of them talking about Satanic cults in his county in Texas, who had entire cities located underground and regularly abduct people to use as sacrifices during Satanic rituals. It's doubtful they are all playing with a full deck. I haven't heard them using anything I could definitely consider as a code or cipher, but they have used cryptic communications that when I was in the military we referred to "talk-around." It's kind of like the way you'd talk around small children when you don't want them to know what you're talking about. Two people "in the know" would understand, but a third party might not. The group regularly uses 6990 LSB, but I have heard them referring to using 13950 USB. They also have another frequency they constantly refer to as "primary," but I have not located that frequency. I don't believe that it is 13950 since "primary" seems to be used for shorter range communications. For example, if conditions aren't that great, they'll say, "go to primary." For two stations in Texas maybe one or two hundred miles apart, it makes sense that they would use a lower frequency to make use of groundwave propagation. My guess is that it's around the lower or upper edge of the 80 meter ham band. The upper edge in the 4 MHZ band is filled with MARS and maritime stations, so it's likely they use a frequency below 80 meters, around 3400-3500. If you enjoy the stuff you hear on WWCR & similar stations, you'll enjoy tuning these guys in. It is with regret that I mention that this will be my last "Covert Comms" column. I have found it increasingly difficult lately to find the time to meet a deadline for a column every month. Also, my interests in radio have been shifting to other areas and I am finding it hard to devote more time to writing about numbers stations. I rarely even find time to do much shortwave listening these days, let alone hunting for numbers transmissions. I have devoted the past five years to writing this column, and now find it time to move on to other pursuits. I have enjoyed contributing what I could to the hobby, but now must move on to other things. With that, the job of writing a monthly numbers column for the ACE is now open. If anyone is interested, please contact Harry Helms or John T. Arthur and let them know that you're interested. I'm sure they'll be glad to have you (Covert Comms By Tom Sevart, Frontenac, KS, Dec the A*C*E via DXLD) ** U S A. KHPY FROM CALIFORNIA TESTING ON 1670 KHZ A new X-band station is testing from California, the United States. KHPY from Moreno Valley was first logged testing on November 22 by Patrick Martin in Oregon. The station played 80's type of rock and adult contemporary music. KHPY has been a 10-kW daytime only station on 1530 kHz, and announced in October that they would be moving to 1670 kHz shortly. The station was closed down to install new equipment. 1670 kHz was originally assigned to KSUL, but the station changed calls to KHPY in November, while sister station KHPY 1530 kHz changed calls to KHPI. KHPY is broadcasting from San Bernardino Valley, but with the new frequency, the station plans to reach Los Angeles as well. According to the NRC AM Radio Log, KHPY is licensed to broadcast on 1670 kHz with 10 kW of power in daytime and 9 kW nighttime, with the address as 24490 Sunnymead Blvd #215, Moreno Valley, CA 92553, United States (dxing.info Dec 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. NY SPANSKSPRÅKIG "LATINAMERIKANSK" RADIOSTATION I DALLAS, TEXAS! 1630.00 KNAX Radio Año, Dallas, Texas (USA). 30 november 2002 - 1000 UTC. Känner inte till precis när stationen startade men säger vid ID att det rör sig om en ny station och själv har jag inte noterat något speciellt på frekvensen under dom senaste dagarna, dvs fram till i morse, lördagen den 30 november då detta anrop kom: "La nueva estación cristiana en el metrópolis KNAX 16-30 AM Radio Año, (Fudmore?), Dallas "La Voz de la Verdad" transmitiendo el evangelio. Operamos con 10.000 vatios de potencia". Programmet bestod av neutral religiös musik men även en del låtar med TexMex- och Bolero-stil. IDade ganska sällan. En ID-variant var att "Radio Año, Radio Año........." upprepades 7 ggr i rad. Några "brasklappar": Det är svårt att i spanskan höra skillnad på N/M men det lutar åt "N" i prefixet. Det borde heta "metrópoli" men är säker på att den manlige DJen säger "metrópolis" med ett "s" på slutet (betyder "huvud-stad/- ort, metropol, centrum"). Före QTH "Dallas" uppges ett ortnamn som jag inte är säker på, gissar på "Fudmore" eller kanske "Foodmore". Språk- och geografiexperter är välkomna att höra av sig. 73 från BM i Quito! (Björn Malm, back in Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Dec 1 via DXLD) KNAX-1630 is a semi-local here, but I am loath to listen to it long enough to give my take on its slogan, which other North Americans have thought to be ``Radio A y O`` as in alfa y omega (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART RADIO STATION IN MEMPHIS Nighttime coverage, while at low power, has the advantage of the taller than 1/4-wave tower and produces a signal usable over Memphis. Nighttime coverage is also increased by the fact that there is no dominant station on 1600 that is receivable in Memphis, TN. With no other audio detectable in the receiver, WMQM has a greater nighttime coverage than you would expect from a low power nighttime operation. WMQM, 1600-AM, 50,000 Watts in Memphis, is the sister station to WWCR. World Wide Christian Radio serves Europe, Middle East and Africa on Shortwave from Nashville, Tennessee WMQM "ON-AIR" DATE DELAYED For Immediate Release 26 November 2002 POC: George McClintock (615) 255-1300 The "On-Air" date for WMQM, 1600-AM, Memphis, Tennessee's newest Christian Radio station has been delayed. Due to an unforeseen accident the tower man can not meet the original projected on-air date of October 1, 2002. He was involved in a motorcycle accident last month and has been in the hospital. By necessity, WMQM has hired another crew to complete the tower work needed to bring WMQM on the air. With the existing rain produced by tropical storm Isidore and a subsequent additional storm, no work could take place at the tower site because of the muddy conditions. A new projected "On-Air" date is December 2nd. Currently, WMQM is only waiting for the building to receive power from the Memphis electric company. These are portions of press releases at http://www.wwcr.com/fwr_press_releases.html#WMQM where there are also some construxion photos. I don`t know if the Dec 2 airdate has slipped again, but that release was only last week. Even tho WMQM has managed to get 50 kW authorized, there is hardly a less favorable place to put it than at the top of the band. I expect most of the lower-powered Memphis stations toward the bottom end will have greater groundwave coverage. But WMQM should get out on SRS and SSS! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Will they be protecting KATZ St. Louis, MO during the day? (Eric Bueneman, St. Louis, IRCA via DXLD) Good question, Eric. I wondered the same thing. This application smells a little like the KFDX move from Wichita Falls to Plano insofar as the new transmitter site will be about 75 miles southwest of the old plant. [that was KWFT-620; KFDX is channel 3 -gh] WMQM is a call that's kicked around Memphis for years...but the 1600 frequency has been a localized operation at Milan, TN. The information I've been able to locate indicates that the new 1600 in Memphis will be 50 kw non directional daytime and 35 watts non- directional night. Their claim of a listenable nighttime signal across the Memphis metro area seems far-fetched to me. As far as interference to KATZ, I suspect there might be some about halfway between the two transmitters. However, considering the poor ground conductivity around Memphis, and the fact that high frequency signals dissipate rapidly (even 50 kW), I can't imagine that KATZ listeners will even be aware of the new signal (Tom Bryant / Nashville, ibid.) These may be of help: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=42369 http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WMQM&service=AM&status=C&hours=D http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WMQM&service=AM&status=C&hours=N (Dennis Gibson, IRCA via DXLD) First site above leads i.a. to SR/SS times. For December they are 1300 and 2245 UT; January 1315 and 2315. So best to check just before 2245, and after 1300 --- tho they might have pre-sunrise higher power from 1200 as so often the case, tho I don`t see it mentioned. The second is a nice daytime coverage contour map, showing `local` contour about 40 miles radius, not as far north as Blytheville AR; `fringe` contour some 140 miles, which knicks the very SW tip of KY, and includes little more of MO than the Bootheel. The third is a nighttime coverage contour map, showing `local` red circle does not even reach the Mississippi, about a 6-mile radius; while the `distant` contour barely includes West Memphis AR. Of course, even there, with 35 watts, skywave QRM may be a problem. Site is NE of Memphis, about a third of the way to Lakeland, the city of license (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glen[n], I checked 1130 on Friday night November 30. Both KWKH Shreveport and WBBR New York were back on their nighttime pattern. Neither one's signal was heard in Nashville TN (Charles Gossett Jr, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KKSU-580, Manhattan KS, has posted audio archives of its last day on the air Nov 27, in a number of segments: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_kksu//StreamingArchives/FINALDAY/FINALDAY.htm And on Monday morning heard WIBW plugging its expanded market reports, at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 CST, so apparently attempting to take up some of the loss WIBW caused with the demise of KKSU - but I bet WIBW won`t devote a full hour to farm & market (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Aló presidente de Hugo Chávez, los domingos a partir de las 1400 UT, variable a 1500, en 15230, 15570 y 17750 kHz, via Radio Habana Cuba. Siempre es interesante escucharlo. Saludos (desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Adán González, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15570 -- that`s new for RHC. Wonder if they use it any time but Sunday morning? Cuba have been extremely conservative in staying inside traditional bands, to feign obeisance to international regulations, while jamming other stations all over the place, both exile and innocent bystanders (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Check out 4840-4845 kHz in FM mode...ran across an FM'ing signal around 2335, flipped to FM mode for a laugh, and still listening (0215) with good quieting! Haven't had time to analyze my recordings yet for an ID (Al Quaglieri - NY, UT Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not checked until 0411, and then I only hear the usual Mauritania on AM 4845 (gh, OK, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4920.00 1 Dec 1018-1126, religious programs, preacher, hymns, all in English. Could not find any // signals in 49 meter band. Also not // 5050 or any Dr. Gene Scott programming. As Radio Quito fades, it starts to mix with presumed China and India (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think we already computed likely fundamentals: 1640, 1230, 820 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. I have a Spanish station on 6015 kHz which I can't ID because there's a jammer of some type there like a woodpecker. It is very loud and I am wondering what it could be? I never heard this type of jammer before (Chuck Bolland, FL, 0129 UT Dec 3...) [Later:] At 0136, the signal that I referenced as a jammer is still using 6015 kHz. However, the Spanish station left the air at 0125 UTC that was on 6015 kHz. The ID I heard was "... Voz Exterior de República San ...." . Don't know who it could be? Signal at my QTH (Clewiston Florida) of the Spanish station was fair. I am hoping someone out there might have an idea about both the Jammer and the Spanish station. My guess on the Spanish broadcast is Iran, but the word "San" does [not?] fit (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6015 does fit for Voz de la República Islámica de Irán, Spanish at 0030, as in the latest Mundo Radial. Perhaps the `san` you heard was the middle syllable of ``islámica``. Suggest you try parallel to the 9 MHz frequencies. As for the jammer, who knows? IRÁN Nuevo esquema de Irán en español, através de los Observadores, 57 minutos cada una: 0030 en 6015, 9650 y 9570; 0130 en 6175, 9650 y 9570; 0230 en 5960; 0530 en 15320 y 17590; 2030 en 7130 y 9750 (Glenn Hauser, Mundo Radial, Noviembre, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn, I have an unident on 6074.78 kHz at 1140 to 1200 plus on 12/02/02. Noted a man and woman in comments. Language is not known due to weak signal. The carrier is pretty fair, but the audio is too weak to ident even the language. I have a feeling it is Chinese or some other Oriental language (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL RADIO MUNDIAL +++++++++++++++++++++ DRM tests: 0900-1000 11660 BON 025 kW / 050º 1305-1455 5975 JUL 100 kW / 060º 0930-1200 15440 SIN 250 kW / 040º 2130-2230 11755 BON 025 kW / 050º (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) DRM tests are normally for a specific limited timespan; what about these? (gh, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ NEW CAR SW RADIO; and a very inexpensive one Two recent SW radio models of note: First, Jackys.com in Dubai is listing a new MW/FM/SW model, the Sony XRCA440X, see http://www.jackys.com/product/default_DET.asp?cat_id=35&cat_name=Car%20Audio The price is about $110 plus the usual $50 or so air freight. Jacky's page has only limited info/specs/user reviews at this time on this new unit but it seems to cover the same bandwidths with the same features as other recent Sony car SW's. However the big difference is a radically redesigned futuristic faceplate on the unit. There is a close up view of the unit on a UK page http://www.caraudiodiscount.com/acatalog/large/sony2002/xrc-ca430x_l.jpg Second, perhaps you have heard of the "closeout retailer" Big Lots. They have store in 46 US states and feature a weird variety of bulk-purchased household products, even some discontinued grocery items. (My wife calls their food section "The Museum Of Failed Products." Think peach-flavored cheese and you get the idea.) Anyway this weekend I noticed in their electronics aisle they are selling a COBY AM/FM/LW/SW portable model CX-CB12 12-band radio for just $7.99. See a picture of it at http://www.epinions.com/587620_Coby_CX_CB12_AM_FM_LW_SW_Pocket_Radio So I picked one up for a test drive. It's very very basic, but does get up to 13m coverage, 60m too. There's space for a speaker twice the size of the tiny one they put there. It's sensitive enough to pull in all the 500 kW transmitters in my state... OK, I'm being a bit mean here, it actually does all right; after all, what do you want for $7.99? A check on the web shows it's usually priced between $15-$20 and gets moderately good user reviews. I do think it would be a fine SW radio to give a teen or pre-teen for Christmas if you are on a budget, and I'll give this one to my young niece and see if it opens any new worlds for her (Tom Roche, DX LISTENING DIGEST, Atlanta, Georgia, Dec 2) Hot dog! A Big Lots just opened in Enid, where Wyatt`s Cafeteria used to be, but was in no hurry to visit (gh, DXLD) SLOW RADIO (This might be useful for some of us in a few years!!) From http://www.orange-today.co.uk/news/story/sm_720081.html JVC has revealed it is to market a new type of radio that will make it easier for the elderly to keep track of news broadcasts. According to the Japan Times, the device will work by recording announcers' voices first. When it plays back it employs voice signal processing technology to slow down the first part of each spoken sentence. Broadcasts will still end at the designated time, because silent parts of the programme are eliminated to compensate. The device is expected to go on sale next month for around £180. Story filed: 16:23 Monday 2nd December 2002 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MUF/LUF DATA Thanks Glenn, and thank you Pete. I now have a place where I can get MUF data, but I am still looking for a place to find LUF data, so if any of you know of a site where I can get LUF data, please let me know. Unfortunately, the FOT data at http://www.hfradio.org/propagation.html only seems to be relevant to North America. I reside in Europe, so if any of you know a site which provides FOT data for Europe, please let me know. Thanks again, (Henry Brice, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-188, November 30, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html NOTE: As of Nov 30, updated through 2-184 ******** For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1158: RFPI: Sun 0600, 1200? 1830?, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230?, Tue 1900?, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300? on 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415 [ex 0515] WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Europe only Sun 0530; N America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1158.html CIRAF ZONES http://members.chello.at/erich.besau/erich/akronyme/ak_c.htm CIRAF - Centre (ancien nom : conseil) International de Recherches en Agro-Foresterie; nothing found on the ITU Génève term. 73 wb (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. RAE, Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior emite hasta el 30 de Marzo del 2003 -además de su habitual esquema semanal- en español los dias sábados solamente, de 2000-2200 en las frecuencias de 6060, 11710 y 15345 khz. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, RAE, Nov 29, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 9550, Bangladesh Betar, 30 Nov 1230 W with ID and schedule in English. Brief dead air, then M with news beginning with ID as "You're listening to Bangladesh Betar. The news read by ??". Weak with severe co-channel QRM from presumably China Nat. R. 7185 is always blocked by a Ham net and some sort of buzzing (possibly local) QRM on 7183 at this time (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BERMUDA. At 5:50 PM EST - Logged ZBM (94.9), Hamilton, Bermuda - "Power 95". Long talk set with male and female announcers, taking requests, many mentions of area, gave time (Atlantic Standard Time), into "power 95" liner, into top-40 song. Got it recorded! When I have seen WUND (2) [Columbia NC] via Es in the past, I have tried for ZBM, but never had any luck. Finally! (Girard Westerberg, Lexington, KY, Nov 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Guaíba e Rádio Romênia Caro Glenn, Como fui o redator das notícias mencionadas pelo Flávio Archangelo, publicada pelo Atividade DX, edição de nº 213, de abril de 2002, sinto-me na obrigação de repassá-las. Em seguida, faço alguns comentários. Eis as informações: "BRASIL - Mais uma emissora poderá ser retransmitida pela Rádio Guaíba: a Rádio Romênia Internacional. Na edição de 16 de março do programa Estúdio dos Ouvintes, da RRI, o apresentador Lucian Popescu informou que a emissora de Porto Alegre manifestou interesse no intercâmbio. Vale lembrar que a Guaíba já recheia sua programação com matérias da BBC de Londres, Rádio Internacional da China, Nederland e Voz da Rússia, entre outras. Aos domingos, Rui Strelow apresenta o programa "Mundo na Guaíba", às 1000 UT, em 720, 6000 e 11785 kHz. "BRASIL - A Rádio Guaíba vai mesmo retransmitir a programação da Rádio Romênia Internacional. A emissora de Porto Alegre receberá autorização, por escrito, da RRI, conforme informação divulgada por Lucian Popescu, na edição do Estúdio dos Ouvintes, de 23 de março. A Rádio Guaíba emite, aos domingos, o "Mundo na Guaíba, às 1000 UTC, em 720, 6000 e 11785 kHz, com apresentação de Rui Strelow." Comentários: 1) Até hoje, não sei se a Guaíba colocou no ar algum programa da Rádio Romênia Internacional, pois, ao que me consta, o Departamento de Língua Portuguesa não tem respondido as cartas e informes dos ouvintes, e conseqüentemente o pedido de autorização da emissora porto-alegrense, por falta de tempo e condições. Isso foi admitido pelo apresentador do Estúdio dos Ouvintes, Lucian Popescu, que já pediu desculpas aos ouvintes brasileiros, em diversas oportunidades. 2) Conforme a notícia do Atividade DX nº 213, não se trata de um "relay", e sim de "um intercâmbio com o programa Mundo na Guaíba". O que o produtor e apresentador deste programa, Rui Strelow, faz? Ele pede uma autorização, por escrito, a algumas emissoras internacionais, para retransmitir alguns programas. Primeiro ele escuta o áudio do programa, no sítio da emissora. Depois, coloca no ar, aos domingos. Inclusive, chegou a pedir aos ouvintes que mandem, por e-mail, sugestões de programas, para o seguinte endereço eletrônico: ruistrelow@radioguaiba.com.br 3) Considero perfeitamente normal a utilização de um excelente programa, feito por uma emissora de outro país, por qualquer emissora brasileira. Em nada estará atentando à legislação vigente. Para se obter um canal de radiodifusão, no Brasil, é necessário passar pelo processo licitatório, onde os quesitos de pontuação são os seguintes: a apresentação de programas jornalísticos, educativos e informativos e o tempo destinado a eles e se são produzidos na localidade da emissora. Portanto, a emissora poderá perder pontos se não produzir seus programas em casa. Mas não é proibida de buscar lá fora. O que deve haver é um bom senso. Não usar uma manhã inteira para transmitir uma programa feita no exterior, sem dar a temperatura da nossa localidade. Por último, acredito que é melhor ouvir, em algumas horas dominicais, bons programas culturais da Rádio Nederland, pela Guaíba, do que ligar o rádio em programas que escracham o ser humano. 73s! (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, Nov 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Doesn`t know if the deal was ever consummated. Not really a relay, but had requested permission, perhaps not really necessary for excerpts of RRI programs via webcast on a Guaíba program] ** CANADA. DAB in Canada: For that to work, a new part of the radio spectrum had to be allocated to DAB, and the very high-frequency "L Band" (1452 to 1492 MHz) was chosen. This is divided into 23 1.5 MHz channels, called "pods", each of which can carry five separate stations, occupying 300 kHz of space. That bandwidth is adequate partly because Musicam uses a 6:1 compression ratio, and because the presence of a number of stations on a single pod means that a signal that momentarily places a heavy demand on the bit rate can usually borrow some from another station. One advantage of digital transmission is that there can be several separate versions of the same signal on the same frequency, either intentionally or inadvertently, and the receiver will lock onto the strongest and ignore the others. That means multipath-free reception in the city and also permits the use of supplementary transmitters to reach areas where the main signal fades. Broadcasters can use such transmitters, if necessary to duplicate their analog radiation pattern, without further licensing. Down the road, a combination of satellite and terrestrial delivery is possible, as is a continuous cell-phone-like network along the major highways, which would allow uninterrupted listening as you travel, the receiver jumping seamlessly from transmitter to transmitter. One environmental benefit of digital radio is energy conservation. While conventional analog stations put out tens of thousands of watts of power, the digital transmitters at the moment deliver just over 600 watts. When the system is operating at its full capacity, that will rise to about 800. The cities that now have digital radio account for about 35 percent of the country's population (Brian Smith, Ont., NRC- AM via DXLD) The DAB transmitter for Windsor is located SE of the city and has a directional pattern to the NW... and it's only running 150 W or so at the moment. It puts a pretty good signal into Detroit, though. The Toronto main transmitters are also directional to the north (from the CN Tower) and thus don't send much RF across the lake to WNY. The Montreal main site (Mont Royal) is omni and probably hits NY and VT to some extent, but not any major populated areas. The Vancouver main sites are on Mt Seymour and are directional to the south, so they would cover WA to some extent, but possibly not as far as Bellingham (I think the antennas are downtilted to concentrate the signal on the Canadian side of the border). (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, ibid.) ** CANADA. WLADISLAW ALFRED ZBIK X-URL: http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021129/LIVES29/Headlines/headdex/headdexFeatures_temp/3/3/3/ Friday, November 29, 2002 - Page A30 by Eve Drobot -- Wladislaw Alfred Zbik. Lawyer, diplomat, broadcaster, Righteous Gentile. Born June 1, 1913, in Krakow. Died Oct. 8 in Montreal, of pneumonia, aged 89. When Alfred Zbik was born, Krakow was still part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire. A touch of Franz-Josef's court stayed with him throughout his life: He dressed in perfectly cut suits, greeted women with a kiss on the hand and told risqué jokes in French, German, Polish or English -- sometimes all four at once. Pre-war Krakow, where Alfred's father Stefan ran a successful printing business, was a cosmopolitan city, its Catholics and Jews totally integrated. The Zbik apartment on Berek Joselewicz Street was around the corner from Kazimierz, the Jewish district, which the Nazis would turn into a ghetto. At 6, Alfred entered the neighbourhood Dietel General School, along with his Jewish and Gentile playmates. He eventually earned a law degree from the Jagellonian University. In the late 1930s, the Polish government posted him to its consulate in Lille, France, which served many expatriate Polish coal miners. He was there when war broke out, and returned home in 1941. In September, 1943, his parents answered the door in the middle of the night to a terrified former schoolmate of their son. Edward Nabel and his young wife, Krystyna, had escaped from a concentration camp by disconnecting the wires in the electrified fence and making a break for the woods. They were followed by other prisoners and machine gun fire. The couple stumbled and found themselves at the bottom of a heap of corpses, where they lay until the safety of darkest night. The Zbik home was the only haven they could think of. Alfred, his parents Stefan and Stefania, and sisters Helena and Jadwiga hid them for two months. Alfred helped Stefan trick out false documents, and got them jobs: as a cook and chauffeur in the home of a Nazi official in Berlin. More of Alfred's childhood friends showed up, and each was met with the same kindness and protection. Stefan was once arrested for printing illegal ration coupons, but the family's anti-Nazi activities, which could have cost them their lives, were never discovered. When war ended, Alfred scrambled by, tutoring students in French. One was Jadwiga Anna Stawicki, whom he married in 1946. Their daughter Vivien was born the same year. He returned to diplomatic service and was posted to Ottawa. In 1950, Alfred and Anna won refugee status. As newcomers, Alfred sold carpets and Anna worked as a cleaning woman. They moved to Montreal in 1952 when he joined Radio Canada International, the newly created shortwave service of the CBC, as a German broadcaster. When the service expanded, he became the founding head of the Polish section, where he remained until his retirement in 1978. His daughter Vivien, her husband George Lapa, and Alfred's grandsons, Alex and Michael, always lived nearby. In 1984, at the urging of Montreal's Polish community, Edward Nabel submitted testimony to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Authority, nominating the Zbik family as Righteous Gentiles, for their heroism, stipulating their actions were purely humanitarian and not for financial gain. A year later, with the Nabels and other childhood friends present, Alfred received a medal and honorary Israeli citizenship at a ceremony in Montreal. An olive tree was planted in the Zbik name in the Alley of the Righteous on the memorial grounds in Jerusalem. It grows there still. -------------- Eve Drobot's father had a lifelong friendship with Alfred Zbik, beginning when both were four years old (via Daniel Say, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Pleased to hear RFPI once again in the morning, after many weeks of reduced schedule, evenings only. Sat Nov 30 at 1400 check on 15039, WOR 1158 had started a few minutes earlier (nominal time 1330, repeating from 0130, 0730); and 15039 was still on at 1735 recheck with [non]COM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Odd spur or transmitter noted on 6195 at 0655-0658 UT on Nov. 29 and 30th. Strong carrier but weak, distorted, audio of west coast NAm English program. After RHC sign off and anthem, weak domestic Radio Reloj audio heard until carrier cut at 0658. No mention of any 49 meter band frequency during s/off announcement (Brock Whaley for DX LISTENING DIGEST, Atlanta, Nov 30) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. CLANDESTINE (GERMANY TO ETHIOPIA) 15275, R. Solidarity, 30 Nov *1600, Previous program ended at 1558, dead air, then 1600 sign-on of R. Solidarity with very brief instrumental music, then short ID by W in presumed Tigrina, more Horn of Africa flute music, and ID opening announcement mentioning meterband, music bridge, and same W announcer again briefly, and start of programming with long talk. Very good signal (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 15149.82, V. of Indonesia, 30 Nov 1953-2010, "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club at tunein, another Rock song sounding like "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, then W announcer with IDs and announcements. 2000 instrumental Indo music with W announcer voice- over, and cont. [continuous? Continental?] music. Dead air from 2001 to 2003. 2003 English ID by W "This is the V. of Indonesia from Jakarta", then Indo Lagu music with W announcer again giving ID and meterbands. 2004 M announcer with news headlines in English, news program intro by W, then news in detail. Dead air at 2115 on recheck. Poor to fair signal and clear. Frequency drifted about 30 Hz or so (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Ed, P5/4L4FN, the only radio amateur operating legally from North Korea, has had to close down. According to the website of Bruce, KK5DO, on the evening of the 22nd of November, Ed was called into a meeting with the North Korean Radio Regulation Board. Without any explanation he was politely asked to stop all transmissions and to pack up all his radio equipment. Ed spent the following day disassembling his antennas and packing boxes. That afternoon government officials sealed all the boxes and Ed has been told to take everything out of the country when he leaves North Korea for a two- week holiday on the 10th of December (RSGB via Mike Terry, Nov 30, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE, 11530, V. of Mesopotamia, 30 Nov 1329-1345, Arabic-like instrumental music, ID by W with presumed Kurdish announcements over instrumental percussion music. Brief talk by W, then into very exotic vocal by M accompanied by percussion. W announcer again taking a phone call from W. Did mention Iraq once. Fairly good and clear (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) W = woman, M = man. I can`t help but wonder if the gender of every speaker heard be that significant; maybe in non Kurdistan (gh, DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. Re Dmitry Mezin's comments in DX Signal on the Bishkek transmitters: the new one on 4795 kHz has 15 kW according to official info from October 2002; this is not the 100 kW which used to be on 4050 kHz (with formerly Kyrgyz Radio 2). That is another reason why the unID on 4050 kHz might indeed be the 100 kW in Bishkek. It also seems that the transmission times on 4050 were moved one hour ahead when CIS countries changed to winter time on 27 October. In Central Asia, only Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have DST during the summer months (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Previous issue under UNIDENTIFIED ** LEBANON [non]. Today 11515 was from a CIS site with pips up to 1558. The carrier came on very early. Before the Moscow master control pips I heard the normal Samara procedure (Olle Alm, Sweden, 29 Nov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here a record of today`s 11515 transmission with the finale of the anthem and the Aoun speech beginning. Apparently they broadcast the very same Aoun record every day. Regarding the site: Nothing appears to contradict the report which said this would be Samara (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After a bit of anthem(?), rather informal speech including a big throat-clear; modulation: somewhat mushy; reception: slow fading with quite a bit of noise (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** PALAU. Glenn, Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. Listened to 9965 on 11/28 1223-1234 and again; 11/30 1118-1132. Same format both days, male and female in Mandarin; religious music and IDs at bottom of hour, tho different each day. "KHBN" ID at 1230 ,11/28. 11/30 ,1130 had Fanfare and 2 long IDs ending in "Diantai", which I believe means "station". No call-sign as previously noted. This station gets more confusing each time I listen! (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6193.46, Radio Cusco 0945-0955 incredibly beautiful Peruvian music, M announcer, one ID (Bob Wilkner, Margate, South Florida, Nov 30, NRD 535D, Modified Noise Reducing Antenna On the ground 10 meter longwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. MULTIPLE INVESTIGATIONS INTO ROMAN CATHOLIC RADIO STATION COMMENCE | Excerpt from report by Polish international satellite TV service on 28 November [Presenter] Treasury services together with the authorities of the Redemptorist Order are to determine the legal status of Radio Maryja. The first effect of the film broadcast on [public] Polish Television [TVP] and the articles in the Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita dailies will thus be the determination of what exactly the Torun-based radio station is in legal terms. Both the Revenue Police and the National Prosecutor's Office are checking whether there were not infringements of taxation and revenue regulations. The prosecutor's office is checking the four [previously] discontinued investigations into Radio Maryja. The faithful listeners of the radio station are against all proceedings. They today supported Father Tadeusz Rydzyk [the radio's director] by demonstrating before the prime ministerial chancellery. The bishops deliberating at the plenary conference of the Polish Episcopate at Jasna Gora do not want to return to the subject of the broadcaster, stating that everything was said in yesterday's statement. [Reporter] There is a discussion about Radio Maryja at the top. At the grassroots, there are the faithful listeners supporting their broadcaster. Around 300 people prayed in support of Radio Maryja. For them, the radio is a sacred thing. They believe it and they are faithful to it. They promise to remain loyal to it... But the joint prayers and agitation are deflecting neither the revenue services nor the prosecutor's office. The four sets of proceedings which were discontinued will be checked again. They concern obtaining under false pretences, the falsification of documents and the taking of cash abroad without the required permits. [Karol Napierski, National Prosecutor] I have given an instruction that an analysis be carried out of those proceedings that were conducted, mainly from the angle of the regularity of the substantive decisions that were made in the course of these. [Reporter] As a voluntary sector and missionary broadcaster, Radio Maryja maintains itself from gifts. It thus does not pay tax. It does not even appear in the lists of tax-payers. The reservations of the revenue authorities are aroused by the direction by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk of the Our Future [Nasza Przyszlosc] Foundation. [Waclaw Ciesielski, deputy minister of finance, treasury revenue audit inspector] Revenue audits have shown serious infringements on three occasions of the regulations of taxation law, with consequences in a serious reduction, of significant value, of the taxation revenues due to the state. [Reporter] The deputy minister of finance is not able to say what amount this was. Radio Maryja appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court [NSA]. There is still no ruling, but already today Radio Maryja journalists and listeners are accusing the deputy minister of bias. They feel that someone who publishes his articles in the anti-clerical weekly Fakty i Mity is not capable of being objective in his assessment of a [Roman] Catholic radio. [Ciesielski] These matters were not called forth by Fakty i Mity, only by Rzeczpospolita. They were widely reported in Gazeta Wyborcza and they were shown in a television report. [Reporter] The activity of the radio is also being examined by the National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council [KRRiT]. There are no complaints against the station's programme content. [Juliusz Braun, KRRiT chairman] We will be checking all these reports that are associated with the financial reports. [Reporter] Today, the bishops who are deliberating at Jasna Gora did not discuss the Catholic media and broadcasters. although these had been the plans. [Bishop Leszek Slawoj Glodz, chairman of the episcopal team for pastoral concern for Radio Maryja] We are just being spiritual, for the time being. We are not discussing any matters, whether media, structural or Church-related. [Reporter] The bishops are saying that they issued a statement yesterday. They will not be speaking [on this subject] any more. [Bishop Piotr Libera, secretary of the Polish Episcopate] I think that not any more, since, quite simply, there are now other subjects on the agenda. And I do not think that it will come back [onto the agenda]. [Reporter] In the statement yesterday, the bishops wrote that they support the activity of Radio Maryja and are disturbed by the strengthening campaign against Church institutions. Source: TV Polonia, Warsaw, in Polish 1830 gmt 28 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) RADIO-OWNING MONASTIC ORDER HAS NO COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY - STATEMENT | Text of report by Polish news agency PAP Warsaw, 29 November: Neither Radio Maryja nor the Redemptorist Order conduct commercial activity, the Warsaw province of the Redemptorists has stated. The statement is a reaction to the Thursday [28 November] press conference during which Deputy Minister of Finance Wieslaw Ciesielski reported that revenue bodies would be speaking with the Redemptorist Order to determine the [legal] force of their decision that Radio Maryja was to have become "a separate entity for purposes of taxation". The conducting of a taxation inspection at Radio Maryja depends upon the result of these talks. He stressed that Radio Maryja did not appear in the list of tax-payers, but recent media reports had signalled that Radio Maryja did conduct commercial activity that was subject to taxation, which requires the clarification of Radio Maryja's status as a tax-payer. In a statement passed to PAP on Thursday [29 November], the Redemptorist Fathers stressed that Ciesielski's statement "lacked specific information on the results of interpretations of Polish taxation law [now] in force". "It is necessary to ask the question: who in Poland pays income tax? The reply is straightforward. In accordance with article two, section one, of the law on commercial activity, "in the understanding of this law, commercial activity is remunerated manufacturing, trade, construction or services activity and also the seeking and exploitation of natural resources made use of in an organized and continuing manner," the fathers write. "It transpires from this that we do not conduct commercial activity, and that is why we are not an enterprise and the fathers working at Radio Maryja cannot be called entrepreneurs or businessmen, since in accordance with the law they would have to undertake and carry out commercial activity. The [deputy] minister was not good enough to give any example of the alleged commercial activity, in the understanding of the legal definition in force, of the Warsaw Province of the Redemptorist Order that runs Radio Maryja," the statement reads. According to the document, "in accordance with the law on corporate income tax, article seven, income tax is paid by those entities which have an income, irrespective of the kind of inflows from which this income was derived. Section two of this law defines income as the excess of the amount of inflows over costs borne for the purposes of acquiring those inflows. It also transpires from these definitions that the Warsaw Province of the Redemptorist Order, running Radio Maryja as a voluntary sector broadcaster, does not fulfill these criteria either. In accordance with article 55 of the law on the relations between the state and the [Roman] Catholic Church in the Polish Republic, Church legal entities are dispensed from taxation in consequence of their incomes [arising] from non-commercial activities. The fact that we are a Church legal entity is determined by article eight, section one, point seven of the cited law," we read in the Redemptorist Father's statement. "These state laws are universally known to every revenue official, as also to the journalists who created this campaign of defamation, since they are people with a few dozen years of experience in their work and who have at their disposal experienced professional helpers who clarify all issues for them. There thus arises a justified hypothesis that this legal state of affairs was consciously kept hidden from viewers and readers. There also arises a justified doubt as to the intentions of this press conference, since the [deputy] minister did not use it to educate society about taxation through the citation of the regulations given above, that undoubtedly constitute criteria for the evaluation of the evangelizing activity of our monastic province and the cooperation therein of our listeners who are the donors for the construction and development of Radio Maryja," the statement reads. Source: PAP news agency, Warsaw, in Polish 1700 gmt 29 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) POLAND INVESTIGATES CATHOLIC RADIO RADIO MARYJA UNDER INVESTIGATION http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2530571.stm (Ulis Fleming, Cumbredx mailing list Nov 30 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA [non]. See BRAZIL ** RUSSIA. * Narrator: AWR ON THE AIR IN RUSSIA For an extended period of five years, Adventist World Radio was on the air shortwave from a total of a dozen different transmitters at six different radio facilities located throughout Russia. These external relays began in 1992 and they were finally terminated in 1996. In addition, AWR was on the air internally in Russia at the same time over a network of almost 1,000 stations; longwave, tropical shortwave, international shortwave, and cable radio. Today`s story is about the AWR international broadcasts that were on the air from shortwave stations located in Russia and Siberia. The first AWR relay from a Russian shortwave station began on March 1, 1992 from a huge shortwave complex located near Novosibirsk in Siberia. Some of these transmitters had been in use during the Cold War as jamming transmitters in an attempt to discourage listeners in Russia from tuning in to radio broadcasts from foreign countries. Initially, the AWR programming was heard over a single 100 kW transmitter, though two weeks later, a second unit at 100 kW was also brought into service. At first, the two transmitters were synchronised on the same channel, though two years later, the two units were operating on separate channels. At the height of usage, AWR was on the air 23 hours daily from Novosibirsk in Siberia. The final AWR broadcast from Novosibirsk in Siberia was aired on October 28, 1994. Two months after the inauguration of the AWR relay from Novosibirsk, three more locations in Russia were brought into service for the relay of AWR programming. These stations were designated as Samara, Yekaterin`burg and Moscow. However, through the research of Olle Alm in Scandinavia, it was later discovered that the station designated as Moscow was in reality three widely separated transmitter sites. These facilities were located at Kurovskaya (KEW-ROFF-SKY-a), Taldom and Lesnoy, all clustered around Moscow. All three of these stations carried AWR programming utilizing transmitters at 250 kW. Throughout the year 1993, the AWR usage of the relay stations in Russia was phased out, until Samara was the only one left that was still carrying the AWR programming. This AWR relay continued for another two years until this also was closed out on October 25, 1996. The AWR programming for broadcast from the Russian stations was co- ordinated by Peter Kulakov in the large four storeyed Adventist Media Center in Tula, half a day`s journey south of Moscow. You will hear an interview with Peter later in this program and he will tell you about his personal experience regarding the AWR relays from the radio stations located in his country. Adventist World Radio was the first Gospel station to go on the air from shortwave stations in Russia and that was on March 1, 1992. We were closely followed two days later by FEBC Manila, and they took out a relay over a 20 kW transmitter that had been on the air previously as a jamming facility. On one occasion, the AWR relay via Samara contained a special announcement in English for the Nordic DX Championship on September 10, 1994. They issued a special QSL for this particular broadcast. These days, AWR QSL cards verifying our relay from the six transmitter sites in Russia are quite rare and they have become collector`s items. The rarest of them all is the QSL card confirming the reception of the Moscow relay via Lesnoy, which was in use for only a few days, beginning March 27, 1993. The specific transmitter in use at that time is designated as RV193, a Russian made transmitter with a power of 250 kW. Olle Alm in Scandinavia tells us that this actual transmitter is pictured on a QSL card issued by Radio Netherlands. They were also on the air during that era with a relay of their international programming from the same transmitter, RV193. AWR ON THE AIR IN RUSSIA -- TIME LINES ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Location Year Date Transmitters Events ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Novosibirsk 1992 Mar 1 1 @ 100 kW AWR relay began 1992 Mar 15 2 @ 200 kW Increase in power 1994 Sep 25 2 @ 100 kW In parallel 6165 @ 12055 1994 Oct 28 2 @ 100 kW Last broadcast Samara 1992 May 3 1 @ 250 kW Service began 1994 Jun 12 1 @ 250 kW Now only AWR relay 1996 Mar 31 2 @ 100 kW Combined, 250 kW also 1996 Oct 25 2 @ 100/250 kW Final broadcast Yekaterinburg 1992 May 3 2 @ 100 kW Service began 1994 Jan 24 2 @ 100 kW Service ended Lesnoy 1993 Mar 27 1 @ 250 kW On air a few days Moscow 1992 May 3 4 @ 250 Began 10 hours daily 1994 Jun 12 4 @ 250 Dropped in favor of Samara Taldom 1992 May 3 2 @ 250 kW AWR relay began A and B 1992 Sep 27 3 @ 250 A, and B & C combined 1994 Jan 24 3 @ 250 AWR relay ended Kurovskaya 1993 May 3 1 @ 250 kW AWR relay began 1994 Jun 12 1 @ 250 AWR relay ended (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Dec 1 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [and non]. LTTE SUPREMO VELUPILLATI PRABAKARAN SPEECH ON VOICE OF TIGERS RADIO The 'Voice of Tigers 'radio lively broadcasted the 25 minutes ''heroics day'' speech of its leader Mr. Velupillai Prabakaran on 27- 11-2002 from 1210 to 1235 UT. The heroics day is celebrated by Tamils in northern and eastern Srilanka [Tamil Eelam region] every year for the rememberance of Tamil militants who lost their life against Srilankan imperialsam and aggression. Several Tamil radio and TV stations like IBC-TAMIL, BBC-TAMIL, RADIO VERITAS, TTN TV, CTBC RADIO, GEETHAVANI RADIO-CANADA, Inba Tamil Radio-Australia, etc. and also, first time in the history of Srilanks, SRILANKAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION [SLBC] were relayed this speech and covered this celebrations extensively (D.PRABAKARAN, Tamil Nadu?, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. From: http://www.cbs.org.tw/english/index.htm 27 Nov 2002 To celebrate CBS's 75th Anniversary, we are holding a "CBS Mascot" design contest. All listeners are welcome to enter their creative designs! 1. Design Categories a. The following subjects may be used: a flower, animal, mascot, or cartoon character. b. Lamb: You can also use a lamb as the subject. Next year is the Year of the Lamb on the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The Chinese word for "lamb" is also similar to the word for "lucky". 2. How to Participate a. Mail Your Entry : *You can mail your design including your name and address to the following address : P.O. Box 24-38, Taipei, Taiwan 106 ROC * Use a B5 size paper to present your design. Please use simple, clean, and dynamic colors. Use 100 words or less to describe the concept behind your design. b. E-mail Your Entry : * Use Word to write your name, address and a simple description of the concept behind your design (100 words or less) * Design specifics: Use JPG, 1000x1000(pixels). The file should be no more than 500 KB with a resolution of 300 dpi or more. * E-mail to lucky@c... [truncated] 3. Contest Deadline Your entry must be postmarked January 15, 2003. 4. Special Legal Implications a. The copyright of the selected entries belong to CBS. b. CBS reserves the right to edit selected entries. c. Entries will not be returned to the participant. d. Participants cannot copy the work of others or use other illegal methods in this contest. The participant will be fully responsible for any consequences of their illegal activity. Contest Prizes 1st Prize : 1 winner of US$500 (including tax) 2nd Prize : 1 winner of US$300 (including tax) 3rd Prize : 1 winner of US$200 (including tax) 4th Prize : 1 winner of US$100 (including tax) 5th Prize : 5 winners of a Digital Multi-band Radio with 45 station memory Souvenir : 50 winners of CBS's 75th Anniversary T-shirt Central Broadcasting System, No. 55 Pei An Road Taipei, Taiwan. R.O.C. http://www.cbs.org.tw (via Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. RUI, Kiev seems to have its high power transmitters active. I caught North American service at 0100 and 0400 in English on 9810. A little tough at 0100 due to 9800 Martí splash. At 0400 a jammer comes on/off 9805 and splashes. I`ve been following it since 11/17. It may have come on earlier. Not best propagation out of Europe lately. I hope they keep it on, not like in past (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Heard BBCWS mention that they would have a big 70th anniversary celebration on Sun Dec 15; what time? (Ron Trotto, IL, Nov 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC On Air says 1700-2000 UT, apparently on all streams preëmpting other programming ---- perfect timing to avoid having any SW frequencies on air to North ---ooops – Central America. I expect the two-sesquihour show will be rather self-congratulatory (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC NIXES EDITORS WRITING OPINION PIECES John Plunkett, The Guardian, Friday November 29, 2002 The BBC has issued a moratorium on programme editors writing newspaper columns in a bid to avert a repeat of the "Liddlegate" affair. Former Today programme editor Rod Liddle resigned from his post on the flagship Radio 4 show in September after he attacked the Countryside Alliance in the Guardian. Corporation bosses are attempting to draw a line under the incident by banning programme editors from ever writing a newspaper column again. Presenters such as John Humphrys and correspondents including Andrew Marr will still be able to contribute to newspapers, but editors have been singled out by the BBC News hierarchy because of the need to appear "impartial". "Programme editors are not allowed to enter into new arrangements with newspapers," said a spokesman. "But there is a distinction between editors and presenters. Editors edit the programmes and as such they have to be impartial. The ultimate responsibility for impartiality lies with the editor, and not with the journalist." Liddle was accused of "blatant bias, animus and even party allegiance" by the Daily Telegraph after his controversial column, and even provoked the ire of lyricist Tim Rice in the Daily Mail. He stepped down from Today after bosses ordered him to choose between his Guardian column and the programme. Earlier this year the BBC tightened its gag on staff talking to the press after a string of embarrassing rows involving some of its biggest presenters. It drew up guidelines banning staff, freelancers and presenters from talking about the BBC "without prior agreement" from their bosses. And it warned producers, editors and presenters not to write articles which may "undermine the BBC's impartiality". The BBC director general, Greg Dyke, has issued a thinly veiled threat to sack presenters who criticise the corporation. In an email last year, following embarrassing outbursts by Kate Adie and Nicky Campbell, Mr Dyke said it was "not acceptable for certain people to think it is OK to go on public platforms, or into the press, and criticise the organisation." (via Bob Wilkner, FL, DXLD) ** U K. BBC TO SAVE UK'S GREATEST DERELICT BUILDING By Marianne Brun-Rovet and Gautam Malkani Financial Times; Nov 27, 2002 After Great Britons, great buildings. Hard on the heels of the unexpected ratings success of its poll to identify the nation's most distinguished son or daughter, the BBC is working on a new series that will allow viewers to vote to save a historic building. Restoration is being produced for BBC Scotland by Endemol UK, the production company behind Changing Rooms and Ready Steady Cook. Ten one-hour programmes will each be devoted to an area of the UK, featuring buildings at risk within it, ranging from castles to railway stations and chapels. At the end of each programme viewers will be able to nominate the building they would most like to see restored. A shortlist of 10 will then be compiled. The series is being produced in conjunction with English Heritage and other conservation bodies, and is due to be broadcast next summer. The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Save Britain's Heritage have drawn up their own wish-lists of great buildings that could benefit from the public largesse. They say contenders for "Britain's greatest derelict building" could include Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire, Manningham Mills in Bradford and the Battersea power station in London. Apethorpe Hall, a 15th century Grade I-listed manor house, has been the subject of a long-running English Heritage campaign, backed by Baroness Blackstone. It entertained Stuart and Tudor royalty but has fallen into disrepair. In June, Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, served notice of a compulsory purchase order. English Heritage has now submitted its own application for listed building consent - on behalf of Ms Jowell - specifying £6m worth of essential repairs. The SPAB lists the 16th-century Staley Hall in Staleybridge, Greater Manchester; Westenhanger Barns in Kent with its 15th-century hammerbeam roof; Elmswell Hall in Yorkshire and Cardigan Castle as "important cases" requiring attention. But following Isambard Kingdom Brunel's success in Great Britons - he was runner-up to Winston Churchill - it is likely that industrial buildings will feature prominently in the new series. There are dozens of dilapidated old mills and factories in the north of England, which are striking reminders of Britain's past industrial might. One possible contender is Manningham Mills, one of the world's biggest Victorian textile mills. Meanwhile, Save Britain's Heritage favours the spectacular wind tunnels at the former Royal Aircraft Establishment site in Farn-borough, Hampshire, where research into aerodynamics and materials was carried out in the 1930s. Battersea power station, which stands out on the London skyline with its four white smokestacks like the legs of an upturned table, might also be a contender (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U K [non] BBC'S NEW VOICE OF AMERICA By David Rennie (Filed: 29/11/2002) How do you market BBC News in North America? Make it sound too British, and you risk all sorts of distracting associations. In the US, a plummy British voice means quaint and old as much as it means worldly. Also, thanks to Hollywood, a British voice can simply mean "villain". From Seinfeld to Braveheart, the drawling Englishman has become a walk-on bad guy, his strangulated vowels a prelude to some act of colonial oppression, cold snobbery, or scrounging effeminacy. America is also changing - Churchill, the Battle of Britain or the "Special Relationship" mean little to many of its citizens, not least the millions with their roots in Latin America, Asia or Africa. However, among those with an interest in world affairs the BBC maintains a reputation for truly global coverage in an age when the main networks are focusing ever closer to home. The solution, it seems, looks and sounds a lot like Mishal Husain, a 29-year-old news reporter sent to Washington this autumn to be the BBC's first US-based "news anchor".... http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/11/29/nmed29.xml (Telegraph via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD ** U S A. VENTANA A CUBA: UNA REFLEXIÓN Manuel David Orrio, CPI LA HABANA, noviembre / http://www.cubanet.org - Ventana a Cuba, programa de noticias de la isla que la Voz de los Estados Unidos de América (VOA) transmite los domingos a las ocho de la noche, hora de La Habana, acaba de anotarse un logro no carente de importancia. Bajo la dirección y locución de Angélica Mora, Ventana a Cuba aspira a la fidelidad a un principio de ética periodística: en situación de conflicto, reflejar en sus noticias los criterios y pareceres de las partes involucradas. Así sucedió en la edición del 10 de noviembre. Entre los acontecimientos de la semana de Cuba, el programa de la VOA informó sobre la decisión del gobierno estadounidense de declarar personas no gratas a varios diplomáticos cubanos destacados en la nación del Potomac, por presuntos vínculos con la ex funcionaria de inteligencia estadounidense Ana Belén Montes, quien admitió su culpabilidad en espiar para el gobierno de Fidel Castro, por lo cual fue condenada a 25 años de cárcel. Ventana a Cuba, además de informar sobre los hechos, transmitió una entrevista realizada a un funcionario de la Oficina de Intereses de Cuba en Washington, quien tuvo así la oportunidad de aportar a los oyentes el punto de vista del gobierno que representa. No está confirmado, pero se considera primera vez que, tratándose de Cuba, logra la VOA entrevista de tal naturaleza, habida cuenta del diferendo existente entre los gobiernos de ambos países. No es motivo de asombro que Angélica Mora haya hecho lo posible por ser fiel a ese principio de ética periodística. Años atrás, cuando trabajaba para Radio Martí, consta cómo en tales o más cuales ocasiones sus esfuerzos se vieron frustrados por políticas de la emisora. Lo novedoso, lo positivo, es la decisión de la Oficina de Intereses de Cuba en Washington de aceptar que uno de sus funcionarios fuera entrevistado, pues no cabe la menor duda de que el diplomático actuó previa autorización de sus superiores. Poco importa la veracidad de las afirmaciones del entrevistado, o el acuerdo o no con sus opiniones. Lo importante, ahora, es mantener abierta, y ensanchar, esa vía de comunicación. Si Ventana a Cuba logró establecer el precedente y lo hace costumbre todos ganarán en la comprensión de los asuntos cubanos, muy particularmente los oyentes continentales esperables para el programa radial, lo cual invita a la reflexión. Una de las mayores dificultades para el ejercicio de su labor que experimentan los periodistas independientes cubanos es la de la imposibilidad de lograr entrevistas a funcionarios gubernamentales. Las excepciones son la confirmación de la regla, por lo general bajo el compromiso de protección de fuentes, sin contar las quejas de colegas que, aún disponiendo de acreditación para reportar desde la isla, chocan constantemente con una suerte de pared de censura y autocensura, son sin dudas los ladrillos mejor colocados de esa pared, cuyo valor concreto en los presentes escenarios cubanos es la aparición de unos cuantos perdedores, primero de los cuales es el gobierno de Fidel Castro, por cuanto echa por la borda numerosas oportunidades de que su "lado de la colina" sea reflejado, sin poder evitar que las noticias sean publicadas, lo cual es particularmente agudo tratándose del periodismo independiente de Cuba. Muchas veces se ha acusado a este movimiento de parcialidad a favor de los Estados Unidos, pero sin informar bajo cuáles circunstancias se produce una "impresión de parcialidad". Nadie puede forzar a un funcionario a aceptar una entrevista, pero tampoco parece posible obligar al silencio a los reporteros alternativos isleños que, apuntado sea de paso, son a las claras hecho consumado e irreversible. En ese equilibrio de fuerzas, a los efectos informativos, pierde quien calla, o quien pretende ignorar la terca realidad de los hechos consumados. Por ello, si Ventana a Cuba logra con su ejemplo hacer comprender a la oficialidad cubana esa arista de su problema, habrá realizado un aporte notable al ejercicio de las libertades de expresión e información en la isla. Ventana a Cuba ya probó en las etéreas ondas su vocación de objetividad periodística. Toca a la prensa oficiosa cubana demostrar su voluntad de colaboración con el deseo de la mayor parte de los periodistas independientemente de tales o más cuales filiaciones: ser objetivo. Compréndase de una vez por todas, además de la ventana, las puertas están abiertas. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente. 73's (via Oscar, Miami, DXLD) ** U S A. Tuned in about 2203 Fri Nov 29 expecting to hear the latest DXing with Cumbre on WHRA 17650, but instead there was Xmas music with Joe Brashier for `Xmas week` and I think he mentioned 1996 --- i.e. quite an old tape. As I recall, it is not WHR policy to explain or apologise for missing programs, so we can only wonder if this first airtime for DWC be permanently gone. Normally when a new edition fail to arrive on time – as may well have happened thanks to Thanksgiving --- they keep replaying the previous DWC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {no, back next week with newest show} ** U S A. PULASKI MAN INDICTED ON FEDERAL WEAPONS CHARGES FORMER KY. MILITIA MEMBER CAPTURED IN N.C. LAST WEEK ASSOCIATED PRESS --- Steve Anderson, the Pulaski County fugitive arrested last week in the North Carolina mountains, was indicted yesterday on federal weapons charges in Kentucky. The indictment claims that Anderson, 55, of Somerset, possessed a firearm during, and in relation to, a crime of violence and that he possessed unregistered firearms. Weapons listed in the indictment included a machine gun, a sawed-off rifle, a semi-automatic assault rifle, a firearm with silencer, two bombs, six pipe bombs and 25 other unspecified destructive devices. Anderson had been on the run for more than a year until his arrest in western North Carolina on Friday. Anderson fled into the Eastern Kentucky mountains on Oct. 14, 2001, after allegedly shooting at a Bell County deputy during a traffic stop. Deputy Scott Elder was not injured, but his cruiser was hit more than 20 times by rifle fire, authorities said. Anderson is a former member of the Kentucky State Militia. He also has ties to the Christian Identity Movement, a group that considers white Christians superior to non-whites and Jews. The militia said it dismissed Anderson because he made inflammatory comments about the U.S. government, blacks, Jews and immigrants over an unlicensed radio station he operated from his Pulaski County home. Federal agents arrested Anderson in rural Cherokee County, N.C. A tipster had called investigators after producers of the television show America's Most Wanted profiled Anderson recently (Lexington Herald-Leader Nov 28 via DXLD) ** U S A. Harry Shearer honed his comedic skills with some of the best troupes in the business as a veteran of SNL, Spinal Tap, and The Simpsons. It's his solo work as the mind and voice behind KCRW's Le Show, however, that has become his labor of love. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the program is also where Shearer gets out much of his anger-at CEOs, politicians, musicians, and other miscreants. Ending up on Shearer's show is rarely a good thing. Think he's laughing with you? Think again RADIO HEAD by RJ Smith Harry Shearer's made comedy history, and his radio show is celebrating its 20th birthday. but if you think he's about to mellow, you've got to be joking.... http://www.lamag.com/cover2.htm (via Tom Roche, DXLD) Highly recommended long article; Le Show is one of our must-hears every week --- if not live, then from the KCRW/Le Show Dome archive by Monday, usually. Also on WBCQ 7415, UT Mon 0000. Most Le Show airtimes are listed in our MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR. I don`t see any previous issue archives online at http://www.lamag.com so get this while the December issue be current (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Back Fire --- By D. J. Wilson GIVEN THE BOOT, CHARLES JACO DUMPS ON KMOX FOR DUMBING DOWN http://riverfronttimes.com/issues/2002-11-27/news.html/1/index.html As listeners sort through the reasons KMOX-AM general manager Karen Carroll whacked radio news-talk host Charles Jaco last week, the main question that lingers is not so much why it happened but why it took so long. Not that über-newshound Jaco deserved to be sent packing from the area's most listened-to station, but it's clear that management viewed Jaco as more nuisance than newsman, a clubhouse lawyer who too often was always pitching a fit. Even more troublesome than his habit of sticking up for fellow staffers was this: The former CNN correspondent and prolific author had what KMOX (1120 AM) has pretended to have for years -- a sense of news. When Carroll bumped him from his afternoon shift to evenings earlier this year, it was a distant early warning. "They felt the programming was too intellectual for the audience, that's it was too hip for the house, too intellectual -- 'People don't get it, the ratings stink,'" says Jaco. According to Jaco, Carroll wanted "warmer and fuzzier" topics and told people, "Nobody cares about hard-news programming." Jaco didn't see the end coming, though as he looks back at his on-air performance and his off-air skirmishes with management, he sees that the clues were there. "I never cared about ratings, and I guess I should have. And I've never made a point of suffering fools gladly," Jaco says. "I produce quality work. I do what I do, and I do it very well. This came out of nowhere; it literally came out of nowhere." Yes, Jaco is a talented man -- just ask him. Jaco's bravado may have rubbed some listeners, and management, the wrong way, but it is a trait Jaco shared with other KMOX hosts ranging from Rush Limbaugh to Jim White, who retired in 1999. Even when Jaco apologizes for one of the stated reasons he was canned, he can't help hurling one more insult as he confesses to sending an "intemperate" response to a listener's critical e-mail. "I should have walked away from it," Jaco says of the e-mail he received. "It was immature; it was bad judgment on my part. It was uncalled-for. Never get into a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed." In addition to the e-mails, there was apparently a newsroom face-off between Jaco and news director John Butler on October 24, during a spate of technical difficulties in the transmission of the Jean Carnahan-Jim Talent debate from Columbia, Missouri. Butler had crossed swords with Jaco on other occasions over the guests and topics Jaco pursued. Having covered the world for CNN, Jaco tended to come off as a policy wonk big on hard news and analysis. He saw criticism of him as a symptom of what ailed the station. "The dumbing-down of KMOX has been evident," says Jaco. "Let's face it. Listen to the station. How does it sound to you? There has been a deliberate dumbing-down of the product simply because you have people like John Butler making comments like 'We've got a racist right-wing conservative suburban audience, and they won't tolerate fill-in-the- blank,' whether it's stories about the St. Louis public schools or anything else like that. And 'We've got to pitch to these demographics and the ZIP codes where our listenership is the greatest, in St. Charles and Affton and a couple of other places. So screw what's going on in the city.' To me, that's wrong." Even in its gilded age, KMOX was never as good, or broad-minded, as it was dominant. When its morning drivetime attracted a 33 percent share of the audience and the average quarter-hour share was a whopping 22 percent, no one with any sense would have described hosts Bob Hardy, Jim White and Rex Davis as freethinkers. They all fell somewhere to the right of the middle, as did KMOX icon and head honcho Bob Hyland. Now that the audience is dwindling, it's not surprising that the station appears to be tightening its grip on its conservative roots. Last year, the average quarter-hour share was 13.1 percent. This summer, it's 12.1 percent. That's still at the top of the heap, but it's clear that the self-described "Voice of St. Louis" is losing its stranglehold on local radio ratings. Whatever news quality it possessed is also slipping. Calls to Butler and Carroll to respond to Jaco were not returned. KMOX management refuses to comment on the particulars of Jaco's firing, other than to state that it was done in response to "gross misconduct." Jaco made $122,000 per year and was under contract until next September. He's studying for a doctorate in international studies at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and has published two novels, Dead Air and Live Shot. His most recent book is The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Gulf War, and he is writing the soon-to-be-published The Complete Idiot's Guide to Oil. None of that seemed to mean much to KMOX's Carroll. "Out the gate, Karen Carroll and Jaco didn't get along," says one former KMOX employee. "Jaco was always bucking the system but bucking the system for a cause when he saw things he didn't think were right or when he saw they were trying to get around the rules of our AFTRA [American Federation of Television and Radio Artists] union contract." Jaco fought management's plan to jack up parking fees and advised news staffers not to respond to certain management requests without seeking the advice of the union. Several spats Jaco had with management had to be mediated. "Tom Langmyer, the program manager, has always been able to go to bat for Jaco and deflect Karen's ire," says one insider. "Tom knows radio. Karen Carroll knows how to sell radio, but she doesn't know squat about programming." Jaco believes that the e-mail he sent to a listener and the face-to- face argument he had with Butler were merely triggers for a firing that would have happened anyway. He sees it as a "transparent anti- union move that is purely vindictive." "It's a vendetta," says Jaco. "It's a very, very personal vendetta. I would have thought better of them, that no matter what disagreements with me or my style of doing things, they would not have resorted to something this transparent." Jaco says he's grateful for the hundreds of e-mails, letters and calls he's received in support, including one from newly elected U.S. Senator Jim Talent. There's even a petition circulating to get him back on the air. Jaco is adamant that he wants KMOX to drop the charge of "gross misconduct" because, he says, it sounds as if he was "smoking crack in the bathroom." But the station's insistence on enforcing a six-month noncompete clause is the real problem. "It's so fucking medieval," says Jaco. "We tried to get rid of that thing for three years in the state Legislature. How can people fire you, give you no severance and then say, 'P.S., you're not allowed to earn a living to support your family'?" Tim Dorsey, general manager of KTRS (550 AM), is looking for a replacement for George Noory, who leaves the station December 31 to take Art Bell's place on the national Coast to Coast AM syndicated show. Dorsey, a former KMOX executive, has spent the last six years trying to create a semblance of KMOX's self-styled image of "Mid- America's Most Trusted News Source" at his station. Dorsey wants to hire Jaco and is baffled as to why KMOX signed Jaco to an eighteen- month contract so recently if they weren't happy with him. "I just don't get it," says Dorsey. "It's not that they didn't know what they had. They know him personally. They know what he does professionally. What's the mystery? It seems like they were looking for a reason to get rid of him. I don't get it." Once Jaco's noncompete clause expires, or the minute it's shortened, Dorsey will be waiting with a contract for Jaco. "He makes us smarter," says Dorsey. "That's what I like about people like Jaco. He's a very bright guy. Wherever he goes, he makes the whole place look smarter." Sometimes Jaco came off as pompous, but his fellow news staffers appreciated him. Staffers loved it when Jaco went to bat for them, arguing against higher parking fees, excessive management directives and a decrease in 401(k) matching funds supplied by CBS. "We all liked Jaco, but you always found the time to hate him and the time to love him," says a former KMOX co-worker. If Jaco gets a waiver from KMOX, he could show up at KTRS just in time for the next Gulf War (Riverfront Times Nov 27 via Brock Whaley, Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. NATION GETS TASTE OF FLORIDA'S ECLECTIC MUSIC HISTORY http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGAB5RY059D.html TALLAHASSEE - Tampa reggae band Rocksteady@8 has built a strong following in Florida, performing its authentic Jamaican- style selections as far away as Destin and Key West. Now, with help from the state Division of Historical Resources, the band and more than 100 other Florida folk musicians soon could be enjoying national attention. ``Music from the Sunshine State,'' an eight- part radio documentary produced by the Florida Folklife Program, is being made available free of charge to public radio stations across the United States. The series presents a sampling of Florida's cultural music in eight hourlong programs. Producers singled out Rocksteady@8 because of its efforts to remain true to reggae's roots. ``What we try to do is expose people to a lot of traditional Jamaican music that gets lost in the shuffle,'' drummer Jonathan Priest said. ``A lot of bar bands play watered-down, cruise- ship reggae, but we really go back to early Jamaican music and do it in a traditional way and put our own stamp on it.'' Other traditional and folk genres featured in the state-produced program include Haitian konpa, Irish fiddling, bluegrass gospel, Hawaiian slack-key guitar, Dominican merengue, Sephardic Jewish ballads and vintage blues. ``This series really presents, for the first time, a pretty broad brush of vernacular music of the people of Florida,'' said series producer and Florida Folklife Program outreach coordinator Bob Stone. ``Everything from old-time fiddling to Latin jazz is presented for the first time fairly comprehensively. It represents more than 60 years of work by folklorist record producers and the artists themselves.'' Music selections range from seldom-heard archival recordings from the 1930s to digital recordings made in the artists' communities, along with a few commercially released songs you might recognize. Ambient background sounds, such as a musician making a steel drum while he talks about learning how to play it, also are included. ``The range of music is tremendous,'' Stone said. ``There are almost 100 featured pieces plus the background music, the music in between the narration and interviews, that all add up to 150 to 200 pieces of music.'' Each program in the series focuses on one musical genre. Interviews with the musicians highlight the cultural connections to their art. ``The Hawaiian culture is pretty much scattered,'' said Kai Brandon, a Hawaiian woman and Tampa resident whose chants are featured in the ``Pacific Island'' segment. ``But my mother and grandparents have still nurtured our culture. Our traditions have passed down through the family. My grandmother taught me to chant when I was quite young.'' Among the better known musicians included in the program are pianist Ray Charles; Cuban singer Gloria Estefan; fiddlers Vasser Clements and Chubby Wise; blues vocalist Ma Rainey; and mambo-inventor Israel ``Cachao'' López. Some bands are represented in the program by tracks that were commercially released. Rocksteady@8 contributed a song from its latest CD, which was released this year. The radio series, in production for two years, originally contained 13 segments, but was cut to eight for final release. ``It was like cutting off my arms to cut the five that we cut,'' Stone said. ``We started out trying to represent everyone but of course we had to be realistic about what we had to draw from: what archival material we had on hand, how we could gather the stuff we didn't have, and what cultural contacts we had already.'' State funding and a $20,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant paid for the program. Because use of the series is voluntary, producers have no idea how many radio stations might use it. The first program of the series, ``Fiddling Traditions,'' will be made available to public radio stations via satellite download Monday. Other installments will follow for the next seven weeks. Musical samples from each segment are available online at http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/folklife/radio.html (via Terry Krueger, DXLD) ** U S A. Calvary Chapel is one of the absolutely worst offenders at taking advantage of any opening they can find or create to import out- of-market signals into everywhere else. They are a strong example of everything that's wrong with religious-oriented radio today! (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA NRC FMTV via DXLD) Amen! When the FM translator service was first created, translators were required to pick up the primary station directly on FM (or via another translator). At some point it was decided to allow translators *within the protected coverage area of the primary station* to use other means of pickup. However, translators outside the protected coverage still had to pick up directly off-air. Then, Moody Bible Institute asked for permission to feed translators outside the protected area by other means. Permission was granted, but only for translators of non- commercial stations and only for translators operating within the 88- 92 reserved band. And, for some reason satellite-fed translators must be owned by the same firm that owns the primary. The result has been a defacto LPFM service with all programming required to be satellite fed. Actually, Moody Bible hasn't really built a whole lot of satellite-fed translators! - Family Stations (KEAR) and American Family (WAFR & WAJS) and Calvary Chapel (KAWZ & KEFX) seem to be the primary winners in this move. Unlike the actual LPFM service, 2nd and 3rd adjacents seem to be unlimited for translator use. A construction permit exists for a translator on 90.7 within 20 miles of the WPLN-FM 90.3 (80 kw Class C1) tower. An application has been filed for another one on 89.9 *ON THE WPLN TOWER*. You can count on a grant of this petition to create a lot of clutter. IMHO it'd be far more harmful to FM DXing than LPFM. I think the fix for this problem would be simple. Reverse the ownership requirement. Require that satellite-fed translators NOT be owned by the primary station. If American Family can scare up enough people in Pleasant View willing to kick in to build and operate a WAFR translator, let them (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) *IF* the words "public airwaves" meant anything, and we absolutely all know that they don't and that they are a once quaint idea, the FCC would rule that the church must have a branch, congregation or parish in the area served. I have nothing against these stations being LPFM or Class A 100W because the rules are different, but the above mentioned stations are an absolute blight on the FM band now and are out of hand. Strange that I absolutely and completely support LPFM and absolutely reject the SATELLATORS FROM HELL (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) ** U S A. ENFORCEMENT: ATT FINED FOR TOWER VIOLATIONS The Federal Communications Commission has released an order imposing a $117,000 fine against AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. for safety- related violations of the Communications Act and the Commission's antenna structure rules. This action follows routine antenna structure inspections and related investigations conducted by Commission field offices throughout the country. Before issuing the fine the FCC determined that AT&T Wireless committed seven separate violations of the antenna structure requirements as outlined under Part 17 of the Commission's rules. Included were failure to register, light, and paint antenna structures, and failure to post antenna structure registration numbers at the base of the antenna structures (FCC via Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 30 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Even its most ardent proponents have never claimed that FM IBOC is "totally transparent to the analog listener". For example, look at the NRSC report on FM IBOC http://www.nab.org/SciTech/Fmevalreportfinalfinal.pdf --- even though it is essentially a pro-IBOC whitewash, it admits that there will be an impact on analog listeners. Look at the comments on p. 26, and in the sections on analog impact starting on p. 47 (and try to ignore the obvious spin doctoring). Even though the tests were performed on a laughably small sampling of only 4 receivers (the same is true of the AM IBOC tests, BTW), all of the receivers showed degraded analog performance from IBOC on the host station or on an adjacent channel. The Sony portable had a 16 dB drop in SNR when IBOC was added to the host FM, the two car receivers were severely affected by IBOC on first adjacents, and the Technics "hi-fi" receiver had big problems with IBOC on second adjacents. If you can read the reports and still claim with a straight face that IBOC (either flavor) will have zero impact on analog reception, then you should apply for a job as an FCC commissioner. :-) Seriously, I would be astonished if there are no complaints from listeners once IBOC gets rolling... of course, few listeners are likely to realize where the interference is coming from, and they may tend to shrug it off rather than complain (Barry McLarnon, Ont., Nov 30, NRC-AM via DXLD) Well, KROQ, LA's second or third most listened to station with a cume of around 1.5 million has been IBOC for over 2 months now. It is tightly fit between a metro station on 107.1 and a San Diego allocation on 106.5. I have a vested interest in 106.5, as it is one of "our" stations. Considerable monitoring has been done to make sure not a single potential listener has been lost. My belief is that Alex Roman, CE of KLYY and its simulcast partners on 107.1 in Ventura and Fallbrook has done his homework too. In fact, KLYY has a booster not more than a mile from the KROQ transmitter. KROQ has not had, to the best of anyone's knowledge, complaints about any form of signal degradation. A station billing $50 million with so many listeners is not going to take any chance with them. However, the understanding is that KROQ, a really advanced and cutting edge station musically and formatically, wanted to be able to say that they were the first HD or digital station as this is going to be of significance to their listeners, mostly 18-34 males of the very trend-setting variety. And I've heard them switch between the IBOC equipped transmitter and the aux, with nary a difference that can be heard on a high-end tuner and on a desktop mini-component. That's not to say that DXers won't find something there, but the average listener will not. If there were something wrong with the system that would degrade the listening experience (as opposed to paper stats), KROQ would not do it. They are one of America's finest radio stations, and haven't made a significant mistake in a decade. The report you mention I believe refers to differences in switching between IBOC and analog on IBOC designed receivers. I can hear no difference in KROQ on existing analog only legacy receivers, and I don't think the other million or so listeners have either, as the station has actually increased listenership since putting HD on the air (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) David, I listened to the KJZZ/KBAQ testing here in Mesa. There is a DEFINITE buzzing artifact on analog FM radios. If you want to check on it, in one of the back issues of the DX Audio Service, there is a recording of this BUZZ. IF you want to go further, ask the boys on the WTFDA list. I am sure they will bury you in recordings of the BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ that apparently is transparent to you but not the rest of us. IBOC FM is a problem but nowhere near the problem it is on the AM band (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) Talk to Joe Fela in S. Plainfield NJ. He's in the NRC, I think. He uses an MR-78 and when WNEW was testing IBOC on 102.7 it completely covered 102.5 and 102.9. Find yourself a December VUD and read Joe's comments on IBOC. If we had as many FM DXers in Los Angeles as we have in the NYC metro area we'd be hearing IBOC complaints. I know this is an AM list. Sorry for mentioning FM here :) (Mike Bugaj, CT, ibid.) ** U S A. Here in eastern Massachusetts, newer stations often wind up putting towers in ridiculously RF-inefficient sites in built-up or rocky/sandy areas having poor ground conductivity. These aren't sites I'd even use for listening. If such stations were allowed the use of coastal salt-marsh areas, they'd have much louder signals that could overcome manmade RFI and penetrate buildings much better. FM is all about height and you can put that anywhere. AM stations rely on the physical characteristics of the ground near the towers to a much greater extent. When WBZ built its currently-used antenna array at the shore in Hull, MA in 1940, it was much easier to build such a first- class facility. Stations built around here since the 1970's, even if running 50 kW, don't have half the range of WBZ. That's largely due to the inferior types of tower sites chosen. When I go out to DX from the car, I choose sites that are superior radio locations to 90% of those used by local broadcasters. If the Rowley, MA salt-marsh location near Plum Island had a 50 kW station in it, that station would likely be the loudest thing out of this area. Instead we have a bunch of stations that can barely get out of their own backyards and are trashed by the first computer, light dimmer, DSL line, or TV in their path. Coastal property that is not environmentally protected is just too expensive. Developers look at closed-down old facilities like Chatham's WCC (maritime commo station) and Scituate's WRUL/WNYW/WYFR (SW broadcaster) and lick their chops anticipating multimillion dollar condominium clusters by the sea. Once one of these sites is surrendered from radio use, it is not likely to be used for a similar purpose ever again (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, Nov 30, NRC-AM via DXLD) ONE REPORTER'S OPINION: THE ORIGINS OF TELEVISION, PART II ALLEN B. DU MONT AND THE CATHODE RAY TUBE George Putnam, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2002 It is this reporter's opinion that as we rush from one generation to another, we all but overlook those who have, by their inventions and knowledge, made our lives easier and more productive. Recently we spoke of the birth of television and how we have all but forgotten those who brought it about. We discovered it was not Vladimir Zworykin, RCA's chief engineer; it was not Armstrong or Du Mont or any other; it was Philo T. Farnsworth, who, as a 14-year-old Idaho farm boy, became obsessed with inventing television... http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/11/27/155732.shtml For more information about Allen B. Du Mont, go to: http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/dumont.html (NewsMax.com via Jeff Kadet, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. LUBAVITCH PIRATE SATURDAY MORNING ON 1710? It's a bit weak but the sing song intonation seems typical of a Lubavitch background of talmud discussion and I'm fairly sure I heard "HaShem" (the name) for God. (to avoid taking the name of God in vain) Of course, manually operating a transmitter (or receiver) would violate the laws of Sabbath. The observant are not supposed to start a fire and switches generate sparks, large or tiny. However it's OK if the switches are operated by timers or by non-Jews who are paid by the Jews (Joel Rubin, Queens, Nov 30, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Adventist World Radio has announced a new schedule for October 27, 2002 - March 30, 2003. Please click here to view schedule: http://www.dxing.com/awrsked.htm (DXing.com Newsroom via gh, DXLD) I also have it but reformatting with all those tabs is a nuisance; I see DXing.com didn`t get all the kinks out either, but it`s readable, both in frequency and time order (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. During the Newfoundland DXpedition I noted a station in Standard Chinese on 1431 kHz. This was at 1828 UT on 9 November, 2002. Does anyone have an idea of who this was? I was using a Beverage antenna aimed at Europe, so a European source is probable, although I don't see anything in Herman Boel's EMWG list that looks reasonable. I could E-mail a RealAudio or .mp3 clip to anyone who might be interested in hearing this (Jean Burnell, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Nov 30, MWDX yahoogroup via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ WINDSHIELD ANTENNAS I found a very interesting web site concerning a state-of-the-art windshield that is available for cars. It's called the Sungate® made by PPG. In addition to superior solar control it also has a superior AM & FM antenna incorporated into it's perimeter. It is described as an "annular slot" antenna. It can also incorporate antennas for use in garage door and automated toll collection systems, cellular, and GPS antennas. The info is at http://www.ppg.com/gls_autoglass/sungate.htm (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, NRC FMTV via DXLD) PLASMA TV --- MOTHER OF ALL RFI PRODUCERS Have you noticed the big sales push by Best Buy (and others) of those plasma TV screens? You know, the ones whose prices have 4 digits in them. There are even payment plans where the price is spread over months or years to help you afford them. Many of these are going to be sold this holiday season. Unfortunately, no one is mentioning the horrendous RFI that these things put out on HF. I recently installed a CCTV system to keep an eye on my toys. The security company, ADT, suggested a Panasonic 42" Plasma TV/CCTV monitor since the light output was high enough that the pix could be viewed in broad daylight. The morning after the installation of the plasma screen, I noticed a huge digital signal about 7.001 MHz and a few other places on the same band. Next, I checked 20 meters, then 15 meters. Same signal but a little weaker as I went up in frequency. Then, I looked at 80 meters - a gigantic noise at 3.505 MHz and other frequencies in the band. 160 meters was the same. What was this! ... [long article, graphics, forum follows...] http://www.eham.net/articles/4285 (via Dave Zantow N9EWO, Janesville, WI, DXLD) SLOW RADIO Sunday, December 1, 2002 at 06:30 JST TOKYO Victor Co of Japan (JVC) will put on the market in early December a radio that can slow down parts of broadcast speech so that older listeners and foreign-language students can more clearly catch each sentence, JVC officials said Saturday. The device has been jointly developed by JVC and NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories, and is expected to sell for around 35,000 yen, the officials said (Kyodo News via Kim Andrew Elliott, DXLD) WATCHING HAUPPAUGE DIGITAL TV I got my Christmas present Wednesday. The Hauppauge Win-TV-d card came in the mail and my son and I set it up Wed. evening. Some random comments on the install and DTV reception in general: Installation went OK. The card, because of all the components on it, was a little fatter than the others in the computer and we found one slot where it would fit without hitting something, and just barely. Software got loaded without a hitch. We did have to get a newer video card beforehand because the original wasn't compatable with the WinTVd card. The tuner seems to be sensitive. VHF sensitivity seems to be the same as my Sanyo 13" portable. UHF video sensitivity seems to be about the same or just a tad less than my Sanyo, but audio sensitivity was much better with audio from the Boston Vs (80mi) and audio from the Bridgeport Us (70 mi)on 43 and 49 excellent despite poor video. The card has two "F" fittings for inputs. One is DTV input and the other is cable input. In reality, one is for DTV and the other is for analog TV. You can do an auto scan for each mode and the tuner picks out whatever stations are on the air. You add the rest manually. Each channel can be fine-tuned. This is a great feature and I had to use it many times. Once you have your channels programmed in, you can go to ch2 and work your way up the channels. As you do, you will receive analog channels along with the digital channels. Because you have two antenna inputs, I found I had to take my main input and, using a splitter, split it into both the DTV and cable inputs to be able to see both sets of channels. So here is a bandscan with the Hauppague card: 3 WFSB Hartford 8 WTNH New Haven 10 WTNH-dt New Haven (50mi) 11 WWLP-dt Springfield 18 WUVN Hartford 19 WCDC N. Adams, MA 20 WTXX Waterbury 22 WWLP Springfield 24 WEDH Hartford 26 WHPX New London 27 WUNI Worcester (fair) 30 WVIT Hartford 33 WFSB-dt Hartford 34 WHPX-dt New London (60 mi) 40 WGGB Springfield 55 WGGB-dt Springfield 57 WGBY Springfield 58 WGBY-dt Springfield 59 WCTX New Haven 61 WTIC Hartford 65 WDMR (or is it RDM, can't remember) Springfield Only WTNH-DT has more than one program. Pgm 1 is the main ABC channel, Pgm 2 is NWS weather plus a map of Southern New England like you'd find on the TNH website and pgm 3 is just sports scores scrolling on the bottom of the screen. I never understood "virtual channels" but now I understand having finally seen it. Kinda neat. Wednesday night I watched the Paul McCartney concert on WTNH with me switching between ch 8 and ch 10. Most of the time I stayed on ch 10 (the DTV). The difference is clear. The fine tuning was needed to let me see WPRO-12 without interference from WWLP-dt 11 and to open up ch9 without the WTNH-dt 10 garbage. and it also helped down at the low end of the UHF band where all my locals are crammed. Antenna position is more critical than with analog TV. With stations like WFSB-dt 33 and WWLP-dt 11 you can be off the heading by some degree and the signal will still lock, but with stations like WHPX-dt 34 (which must be transmitting from the ch 26 tower on Rt 85 in Waterford) you just go a few degrees off the heading and your screen goes black. And this takes getting used to. Enough signal = perfect signal. Not enough signal = black screen. Then there is a slight "grey area" where the signal will partially lock/freeze and look like a jigsaw puzzle put together wrong. There are also some bells and whistles with the Hauppauge card that will help in DXing, like freeze frame and screen captures with one click. Plus stereo sound, a diagnostics screen (which is really the only way I can find of telling whether a DTV station is really on the air or not and small screen or full screen (full works better for viewing and DXing). The card I bought seems to be a recent model with an 8/2002 list of currently available DTV stations included). I'm not sure at this point how to configure this thing for DXing tropo openings. I suppose I could program each available channel for both analog and digital and then check them both during tropo openings. If there is a better way, somebody please tell me. Anyway, this is my take on the Hauppauge Card. I paid $139 on eBay for mine. The seller was a guy named Mike located in Providence. If you are interested in one, check ebay and look for him because he won't take your money and run :) BTW...equipment. For UHF, a P5 parabolic with CM AC-4990 and for VHF a Winegard PR-5030. Nothing super fancy. The dish is up around 30 feet and the VHF antenna about 25 feet under my Probe-9 (Mike Bugaj - Enfield, CT USA, Nov 29, WTFDA via DXLD) I've added a list of low-band DTV stations to my website, on http://www.w9wi.com/articles/lowbanddtv.htm With the growing number of WTFDAers with DTV reception capability, sooner or later someone is going to see a DTV on Es. Also... for those of you with general-coverage DTV receivers like the R-7100... We got a new piece of test gear at work last week. While poking around, the manual reminded me of a part of the DTV standard. There's a pilot carrier... 310 kHz above the bottom of the channel. It's relatively weak - without the documents I can't recall how much power is used or why it's transmitted - but it's there. About S6 on 192.31 MHz from WSMV- DT, (the WSMV analog carrier pins the needle) also noted on 476.31 MHz from WZTV-DT (harder to measure because the TH-F6 will only do AM or FM above 450 MHz, no SSB.) This using a TH-F6 hand-held with rubber duckie antenna. Point being, if you have a general-coverage receiver like this, you might be able to at least detect the presence of DTV stations this way. It should be noted a few DTV stations are required to offset this pilot carrier to reduce adjacent-channel interference with an adjacent analog station. These stations were marked with a "c" in the table of allocations at one time - unfortunately I've not been able to find this version of the table again. Nor can I remember whether this happened when the analog was adjacent above, or below, the digital channel. Anyway, some DTVs' pilot carriers may be either 300 or 320 kHz above the bottom of the channel. There aren't many. Finally, I might add that when Girard Westerberg reported receiving WSMV-DT and posted a few screen captures, I forwarded them to my boss. Who (somewhat to my surprise) expressed interest at the distant reception. I've also received an expression of interest when I emailed a reception report to WPSD-DT. Station engineers may well be interested in hearing about DTV reception at unusual distances. (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN, WTFDA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MUF SITES I saw a reference to MUF prediction. While not a forecast I have used the "Near-Real-Time MUF Map" page of the Space Weather web site to help with DXing. http://www.spacew.com/www/realtime.html (Pete Costello, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar conditions were low to moderate early in the week, with the solar wind speed being elevated as well around Nov 21. This was associated with active to storm levels of the geomagnetic field. A flare and CME on Nov 24 caused another period of storm conditions on Nov 26. More C class flares and an elevated solar wind speed have kept the geomagnetic field mildly southward for the past few days causing some degradation to HF conditions. The HF conditions are expected to show minor to mild degradations during the next three days -especially at mid- and high-latitude locations. These degradations are expected due to a favourably placed coronal hole. Geomagnetic field is expected to be between quiet & active, possibly storm levels at times. Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, Australia, Nov 30, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) TRANS-EQUATORIAL FM DX YYYEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! Tai a coisa que vem sido divulgada durante um bom tempo! Todos os anos entre meados de setembro e meados de março é só procurá-las que lá estão as emissoras caribenhas em FM. O fascinante é além de ouvi-las, escrever para elas e receber as confirmações. Tenho algumas apenas, mas o Claudio Rotolo de Moraes, Florianópolis-SC, tem algumas dezenas (Uma carta confirmatória do Caribe está na RadioWays http://www.radioways.cjb.net sob QSLs recebidos - América Central... e assim por diante). O registro de escutas das emissoras de FM do Caribe nos mostra que elas são sintonizadas no norte da Argentina, Rio Grande do Sul, litoral (e agora interior) de Santa Catarina, há registros do interior do Paraná e litoral de São Paulo (Ilha Comprida, onde o Julio Baldim ouviu e teve confirmação de algumas delas). Se não estou enganado, foram ouvidas também em São Carlos-SP. A receita básica: Sempre das 2330 à 0100 UT (diariamente, entre setembro e março), em locais onde as emissoras locais não predominam. Talvez mais alguns de nossos amigos da lista possam indicar a presença destas emissoras desta região, quando podemos estabelecer um parametro referencial melhor. Mera sugestão, a quem desejar se engajar nesta pesquisa. Um abraço, (Rudolf W. Grimm, São Bernardo, SP - Brasil, http://www.radioways.cjb.net Nov 26, radioescutas via DXLD) Caro Al e amigos, Como disse o Rudolf em outra mensagem, a exploração do Caribe em FM pela propagação transequatorial ainda pode ser bastante estudada; seria muito interessante que mais colegas participassem desta experiencia. Estas recepções em Caraguatatuba (poucas, com certeza muita coisa mais poderia ter sido ouvida; infelizmente tive pouco tempo para DX, aliado a outros problemas) jogaram a possibilidade destas escutas mais para o Norte. O Local que estive estava aproximadamente nos 23.7 graus Sul, um pouco abaixo do trópico de Capricórnio, que passa em Ubatuba. Em Ilha Comprida, onde escutamos várias emissoras em 2001, no local que estivemos, a latitude aproximada era 24,7, um grau a menos. Mas o amigo Caio Fernandes Lopes fez algumas escutas em Itajubá-MG, local este já nos 22, 3 Sul, mais ou menos. Acredito ser este o local mais ao Norte com escutas deste tipo registradas. Aqui em São Carlos a latitude é de 22.01 Sul e nada ouvi até agora do Caribe por aqui. Tenho apenas uma escuta do Nordeste em FM, R. Verdes Mares de Fortaleza, que pode ser um indicio de possibilidade. Mas creio que esteja no limite ou acima dele para as recepçoes do Caribe por aqui, continuarei tentanto. Um abraço, (Samuel Cássio, Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) Samuel, suas escutas são realmente incentivadoras. Lembre-se que a latitude geográfica não é a mesma da magnética, mas elas são semelhantes embora que relativas. Parabéns pelas escutas no interior. Elas são relevantes. E apenas corrigindo, mudei meu 'nickname' para Ark. Alguns QSLs de radioamador eram enviados ao PY2ZX, operador ALvaro, ALberto, etc, HI! Volto ao meu trabalho. Até mais! (Flávio Aurélio Braggion "Ark" Archangelo, PY2ZX - PX2X. Ex-PS0S, PS2V, PQ2A ...., Caixa Postal 1292 - CEP 13202-970.,Jundiaí - SP - Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) Ari, Este tipo de recepção está concentrado entre os meses de Setembro e Abril de cada ano, normamente entre 2330 e 0200 UT. A causa certamente é a propagação transequatorial (para o Caribe) nesta época do ano. Até onde sabemos estas recepçoes têm ocorrido numa faixa que vai dos 34 aos 23 graus de latitude Sul. É justamente isto que queremos saber, os límites destas recepções. Para isso, seriam necessárias mais observações. Mas parece que o pico está mesmo entre os estados do Paraná e Santa Catarina e agora também no litoral de São Paulo já temos alguns registros. Não são necessárias antenas muito complexas para estas recepçoes; a propria antena telescópica do receptor é suficente. É muito importante um local onde mesmo com muitas estações locais e regionais recebidas, o direcionamento da antena permita a atenuação destes sinais.Não tenho muita experiência em recepções do Caribe; apenas em 2001 em Ilha Comprida e agora em Caraguatatuba pude sintonizar emissoras daquela região. Em minha região (São Carlos, centro do estado de São Paulo), recepções a longa distância em FM observadas vieram do Chile (mais frequente), Argentina, Uruguai, Paraguai, estados do Paraná, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul no Brasil e o mais distante, Ceará; já numa condição de propagação talvez semelhante às do Caribe. Nos casos do países vizinhos e estados brasileiros próximos, o horário não fica restrito ao acima citado. Argentina e Uruguai já foram observados entre 19 e 23 UT e tambem pela manhã (mas, mais comumente entre 0000 e 0230 UT); estados do Paraná e Santa Catarina, pela manha e noite adentro por horas seguidas. Quando falo que antenas externas não são muito importantes nestes casos, digo isto pois as emissoras distantes chegam muitas vezes como se estivessem aqui por perto, inclusive, muitas vezes, "passando" por cima de emissoras vizinhas que são dominantes nas frequências. O que faço é ir virando o receptor para os lados e para cima e para baixo, mas muitas vezes nem isto é necessário. Se percebe uma boa condição de recepcão à distância em FM quando os sinais em geral parecem "flutuar", as emissoras locais atenuam e parece haver um "sopro" nos sinais distantes. A previsão destes sinais aqui não é tão fácil; já foram observadas com sol, calor e céu claro, tempo nublado, etc. O Bom seria todos os dias tentar a escuta, o que pode ser cansativo e trabalhoso. Já no caso do Caribe, outros colegas como o Rudolf Grimm, Cláudio de Morães poderiam passar mais coisas; são pessoas com muita mais experiência no assunto do que eu. Posso dar o exemplo do que ocorreu em Caraguatatuba. Neste local, na práia, se recebe normalmente sinais do Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo com sinais locais ou quase e muito do espectro é ocupado; tive dificuldade, mesmo girando a antena, de atenuar certos sinais. Fui para um local, já a 200 metros do mar, quase atrás de um morro. Isto bloqueou muito dos fortes sinais da práia e então após as 233O UT pude receber alguns sinais. Simplesmente apareceram em méio às emissoras locais e regionais. Os sinais não eram fortes de nenhum lado e apenas girando a antena e o receptor foi possível até boas recepções. Infelizmente não tive tanto tempo disponível para mais observações. Era isto; espero que mais colegas possam falar sobre o assunto. Um abraço, (Samuel Cássio Martins, DX Clube do Brasil, São Carlos SP, Nov 29, radioescutas via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-187, November 29, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1158: RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415 [ex 0515] WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1158.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS God bless you and all the hard work you do every week putting this stuff together..... Happy Thanksgiving......and relax if you can !!!! (Tom Messer, River Falls WI) CIRAF ZONES Hello, gentlemen. I have received a very interesting question from a listener to the Maple Leaf Mailbag on RCI. Following up a recent discussion we had on the programme regarding time zones around the world, a listener would like me to talk about CIRAF Zones. I have done some initial searches on the Internet and have come up with numerous sites, including the ITU site, which give maps and lists of the CIRAF Zone numbers. Unfortunately, not one of the sites I have looked at so far indicates just what "CIRAF" is, or what the letters stand for. We are putting Maple Leaf Mailbag together tomorrow evening. I have plenty of info to talk about with respect to the zones and their use in relation to international broadcasting, but I would be most interested in having the definition of "CIRAF" available for the report. I'm just wondering if any of you might be able to shed some light on this. Thanks in advance for your assistance (Sheldon Harvey, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Sheldon, I did some searching and also found it difficult to find out what "CIRAF" stands for. In a Google search for CIRAF HF I did find one pdf file from Deutsche Welle that was described as Conferencia Internacional de Radiodifusión por Altas Frecuencias ...but the PDF file itself did not have those words, just a good map of the CIRAF zones. But why Spanish? Usually these things are abbreviations of French phrases. Was it perhaps from a Madrid Conference? Or a Buenos Aires Conference? etc. You might try a Google search with that Spanish phrase above in quotes. For general info about CIRAF (but no explanation of the abbreviation), see... http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/index.html All the best, (Kim Andrew Elliott (ex)Producer and Presenter, (ex)Communications World, Voice of America, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, except for the A in Altas, that could also fit French (gh) ** ALBANIA. Frequency change for TWR in Russian via CER 100 kW / 033 deg: 1444-1559 NF 11615v, ex 11620 to avoid AIR in English and Gujarati \\ 9495 MOS (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) MOS = Moosbrunn, Austrial; CER = Cerrik, Albania ** ARGENTINA. Seguidamente, el actual esquema de emisiones en español de RAE, Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior, válido hasta el próximo 30 de Marzo del 2003: De lunes a viernes, de 12 a 14 en 15345 kHz y de 22 a 24 en 6.060, 11.710 y 15.345 kHz; también ahora los sábados de 20 a 22 por las frecuencias de 6.060, 11.710 y 15.345 kHz. Otro cambio, es que para las emisiones de 00 a 04 que antes salían en 6.060 y 11.710 kHz, para el presente período salen sólo por 11.710 kHz. Dentro de este horario, se emite en portugués de 00 a 02, inglés de 02 a 03 y francés de 03 a 04. Otras emisiones son: de 10 a 12 en japonés por 11.710, mientras que en las frecuencias de 9.690 y 15.345 kHz emite de 18 a 19 en inglés, de 19 a 20 en italiano, de 20 a 21 en francés y de 21 a 22 en alemán. También, -- aunque sin confirmar aún -- probablemente se agreguen dentro de las emisiones en español, algunos microprogramas en lenguas aborígenes de la Argentina (Gabriel Iván Barrera, RN Radio Enlace Nov 29 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. Radio Australia in Chinese via MERLIN SNG 100 kW / 013 deg, 1300-1430 NF 15540, ex 1400-1530 on 15435 to avoid LJB in Arabic and BSKSA 1st program in Arabic (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Frequency Schedule B'02, Bangladesh Betar External Services ----------------- Bangla 1630-1730 7185, 9550 1915-2000 7185, 9550, 15520 English 1230-1300 7185, 9550 1815-1900 7185, 9550, 15520 Voice Of Islam 1745-1815 7185, 9550, 15520 Nepali 1315-1345 7185, 9550 Urdu 1400-1430 7185, 9550 Hindi 1515-1545 7185, 9550 Arabic 1600-1630 7185, 9550 Home Service 0030-0505 4880 Dhaka A 1200-1600 4880 Dhaka A 1200-1710 15520 Dhaka A (via Rifat J. Eusufzai, DX Forum, Bangladesh, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Olá pessoal, Jaílton e Valter, obrigado pela ajuda. Hoje estive conferindo alguns ADX para meu trabalho de pós graduação e encontrei também uma informação a respeito: do Célio Romais sobre re- transmissão pela Rádio Guaíba, da Rádio Romênia Internacional. Está no ADX n. 213. Apenas uma observação sobre tudo isso: de início considero grave o relay da emissora internacional no Brasil se esta brasileira não dispor de um transmissor alternativo, na mesma hora, para atender os ouvientes locais. Novamente não me lembro qual foi a estação que colocou o sinal da Rádio Vaticano nas ondas curtas, mas devo dizer que foi feito muito porcamente, fazendo um corte brusco na programação brasileira para atnder o horário do relay da Rádio Vaticano. Em termos jornalísticos há de se pensar se programas feitos totalmente no exterior devem ocupar espaço no rádio brasileiro, sem dizer as questões geopolíticas: retransmitir a Rádio China? Por que não as rádios dos exilados tibetanos? Ou seja, há algo mais além do técnico e financeiro que o governo e a sociedade brasileira teima em não discutir e precisamos ficar atentos, pois em coisas assim também se baseia a radiodifusão, embora poucos contem isso: qual a proposta de radiodifusão externa do nosso país como um todo? As nossas relações com as outras emissoras vão ser pautadas nestes princípios? A política externa afetará essas retransmissões ou apenas o fator monetário e técnico será considerado? (Flávio Aurélio Braggion "Ark" Archangelo, PY2ZX - PX2X. Ex-PS0S, PS2V, PQ2A ...., Caixa Postal 1292 - CEP 13202-970, Jundiaí - SP - Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) Notice the mention above of R. Romania International being relayed by R. Guaíba. I`d like to see the details from A-DX 213. Even the Brazilian DXers don`t seem to have any definite info about SW relays carried out by Radiobrás. The only one I have seen mentioned is China on 9665 at 0300 in Spanish. Here are the Brazilian listings in HFCC B-02 for 9665: 9665 0100 0200 14,16 BRA 250 215 1234567 271002 300303 D B CRI RTC 9665 0300 0400 10-12 BRA 250 314 1234567 271002 300303 D B CRI RTC but also, not actually in use and mutually exclusive for 2 hours: 9665 0000 2400 12,13 BRA 250 315 1234567 271002 300303 D Portuguese B AMZ AMZ 20004 And while I`m at it, searched all the other BRA site listings and in the entire HFCC there are only two more; note that the entry numbers for these (the last figure) are far out of sequence to those surrounding: 6180 0000 2400 12,13 BRA 250 315 1234567 271002 300303 D Portuguese B AMZ AMZ 20003 11780 0000 2400 12,13 BRA 250 315 1234567 271002 300303 D Portuguese B AMZ AMZ 20005 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. HCJB relayed via Sackville! See ECUADOR [non] ** CANADA. CBC RADIO 3 --- http://www.cbcradio3.com CBC Radio 3 is proud to announce an all new CBCRadio3.com. Presented in an innovative online-magazine format, CBC Radio 3 offers captivating stories from across the country with a smart and stylish look at Canadian art and music. The new site also offers highlights from CBC Radio 3's national radio programs and award-winning Web sites (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CANADA. THE SUNDAY EDITION, R. Canada International, Sun 1400-1700 This may be my favorite. The Sunday Edition is the latest in a line of early Sunday audio magazines (dare I say rotogravure?) that have been on the domestic CBC Radio schedule for years. When longtime CBC journalist Michael Enright took over the helm five years ago (it was then called Sunday Morning), the program took some time to find its bearings. His background belonged more to the pitbull school of investigative journalism appropriate to the program As It Happens from whence he came, and Enright at first seemed uncomfortable in a more conversational mode. Over time, though, he has better molded his on- air persona to the more relaxed Sunday morning atmosphere, and the program, in turn, has molded itself to him. This is all to the good for the listener. Three hours allow the interviews, conversations, essays and documentaries on The Sunday Edition to run their normal course, virtually free of artificially invoked time restraints. It gives them all the opportunity to soar and most times they do just that. The show is beautifully paced, and carefully selected jazz pieces, an obvious Enright obsession, are interspersed throughout. While the various segments of the program can stand on their own, it is when one takes the time to hear the entire presentation that one sees how The Sunday Edition is so artfully put together week to week. This is simply an intelligent encounter with arts and letters, a near perfect radio experience for a Sunday morning (John Figliozzi, Listening At Leisure, Programming Spotlight, Dec MONITORING TIMES, via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC Previews: CROSS-COUNTRY CHECKUP: Sunday on Cross Country Checkup...public health care. It has been called a defining feature of Canada ...and now it's on the operating table. What's going to emerge? Roy Romanow has spent almost two years charting a solution. Join him Sunday afternoon on Cross Country Checkup with host Rex Murphy, live from the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. That's on Cross Country Checkup Sunday afternoon from 4 until 6 (EASTERN) on CBC Radio One. Simulcast on Newsworld. And check out the complementary website at http://cbc.ca/checkup (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) There was also a special CCCU the night after the report was released, UT Fri at 0300+. Must be a big deal (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. SOUTH BOUND II STILL ON One of the better-known utility stations is usually just called ``Herb.`` When he transmitted from Bermuda, out in the North Atlantic, his vessel tracking and weather service was easy to hear all over the US. When he moved to Canada in 1994, he disappeared from our radios on the West Coast. Many of us were wondering if he had packed it in after fifteen years of eight-hour days in his radio room, gathering and giving out his free information. Well, your vacationing editor can attest that Herb Hilgenberg, also identifying as VAX 498 and ``South Bound II Coastal,`` still gets a perfectly respectable signal into New York City. He`s still on his traditional frequency of 12359 kHz USB, also known as channel 12C, with the presence that has earned him the nickname of ``ghost crew member.`` Herb`s original station, at his home aboard the small sailboat in Bermuda, was quite a sight to behold. Computers, printers, and radios jammed every inch afloat, while satellite dishes and antennas lined the dock. The boat has since given way to a basement radio shack, accounting for the ``Coastal`` callsign suffix. Herb originally got interested in weather forecasting after an erroneous government prognostication nearly caused the loss of his sailboat with his entire family aboard. He decided to study meteorology and try to improve on the information available to small vessels on extended North Atlantic voyages. Improve he did, and when he decided to help out another sailor at sea, his weather info was so good that soon everyone else wanted his help as well. The result, in 1987, was the radio net we still hear today. He listens for calls at 1950 UT. At 2000, the formal roll call begins. It can last for hours in the busy season, and it can become very interesting for landlubbers if a hurricane is about. Everyone gets a position check and a detailed weather forecast generated from many different sources. This is the only shoreside contact some people have, and Herb has called authorities for more than one rescue. While the North Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico are primary, limited coverage is also given the South Atlantic. Some attempts have even been made with the Eastern Pacific, propagation permitting. Alternate frequencies are 8294 kHz (channel 8A) and 16531 (channel 16B). As Herb says, ``Have a good watch`` until next month (Hugh Stegman, HF Communications, Dec MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Today, I received a letter from the Full Gospel Las Palmas Church on the Canary Islands. I sent the a receptionreport 25 days ago after hearing their radiostation on 6715 khz. The letter was a thank you letter for my receptionreport and my interest in the broadcasts from the church. V/s is Gyusub Chung, son of Byung-Sung Chung, the Full Gospel World Mission Association, Africa General Council, General Superintendent Reverence. The transmitter output is 100 Watts and is located at the church. schedule: Sunday 1100-1230 and 1900-2030 Wednesday 2030-2130 Friday 2200-2400 (I suppose local Canary Islands Time). [= UT winters] Every Friday, the sound quality gets lower because there are two church services going on at the same time, according to the letter. Approximately 420 people are coming to the church regularly and about 480 people are registered. A lot of Korean people are working in fishery (shipowners, fish-compnay owners, fishermen) and some are having restaurants. Address: Plaza de Agustin del Castillo, 3 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. (Max van Arnhem, The Netherlands, Nov 27, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 6715U, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, Nice personal letter from the Pastor's son, Gyusub Chung, similar in wording to those recently received by other DXers. Received in 5 weeks for a postal report and audio CD. Unfortunately my ppc was not returned to me. At best, the wording in this letter is an implied QSL (George Maroti, NY, Nov 28, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHILE. Voz Cristiana, 17680, has been splattering widely, down to 17660 more than upwards, around 2330 UT Nov 27. Same was true of 21550 around 1330 (Ron Trotto, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked at 2340 and did not hear splatter here, tho 17680 quite strong as usual (gh, OK, DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. The latest English schedule of CRI beginning November 30th, 2002 is as follows: FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE SERVICE North America (East Coast) 2300-2400 13680 [Canada} 0100-0200 9790 [Canada] 9580 [Cuba] 0300-0400 9690 [Spain] 0400-0600 9730 9560 [0400 Guiana on 9730, 0500 Canada on 9560!!] 1300-1400 9570 [Cuba] 1300-1400 1120 AM Relayed by WUST or New World Radio, Washington DC North America (West Coast) 2300-2400 13680 [Canada] 0100-0200 9790 [Canada] 0300-0400 9690 [Spain] 9790 [Canada] 0500-0600 9730 9560 [0400 Guiana on 9730, 0500 Canada on 9560!!] 1400-1600 7405 [direct!] 17720 [Cuba] Caribbean Sea 2300-2400 5990 [Cuba] Europe 2000-2100 9840 5965 2100-2200 9840 5965 1440 AM 2200-2300 7170 2300-2330 (London) 558 AM Southeast Asia 1200-1300 1341 9730 11980 1300-1400 1341 15180 11980 South Asia 1200-1300 1188* testing 1400-1500 11765 (Rawalpindi) 11675 9700 [applies to 1400 listing?] 1500-1600 7160 9785 The South Pacific 0900-1000 15210 11730 1000-1100 15210 11730 1200-1300 11760 15415 9760 1300-1400 11760 11900 East and South Africa 1400-1600 13685 15125 1600-1700 13650 7190 1700-1800 9570 11910 7150 (Dar es Sa.laam) 9695 [applies to 1700 listing?] 2000-2100 11640 13630 2100-2130 11640 13630 West and North Africa 1900-2000 9440 9585 2000-2100 9440 (via Moses Vasanthan Thambu, EDXP Nov 28 via DXLD) As usual, layout is confusing, and in our never ending campaign to eliminate clutter, colons in times, local times, Beijing times, and metric equivalents eliminated. At least we hope the times retained are all UT (gh, DXLD) HORARIO PARA EL INVIERNO Para España 2100-2200 9640 y 6020 2200-2300 7120, 9640 y 6020 Para América Latina 2300-2400 7160 y 7245 0000-0100 7160 y 11650, 5990 y 15120 0100-0200 11650 y 9665 0200-0300 11650 y 13685 0300-0400 9560 y 9665 (via Gianni, Nov 28, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5955v, Nov 25 al 28 notada a las 1130 UT con noticias deportivas "Noticiario de Caracol" a las 1130 UT, notada también a las 2130 UT (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia Nov 25-28, 2002) 6010v, Nov 27, LV de tu Conciencia, a las 0325 UT con slogan La Voz de tu Conciencia de Colombia para el mundo. También en Nov 28 a las 1258 UT con programación religiosa en español (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia Nov 27, 2002) 15058v [presumed Atrato x 3] no hay señal al menos en mi receptor (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, Nov 27, 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 3749.75, HIBC, La Voz del Progreso, San Francisco de Macorís, (harmonic 3 x 1250) 28 Nov, 0054-0140+, still audible as I type popping up in and around the ham chatter. LA pop music, 0059 ad block and canned ID "...Bonao, San Francisco de Macorís...del Caballero...La Voz del Progreso." Fair signal with very good peaks (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) His previous unID ** ECUADOR. 4960, Nov 25, Notada aquí a las 1125 UT con música ecuatoriana; otras ecuatorianas, 4919 (señal regular), 5040 (señal buena), y 6050 (Fuerte). (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia Nov 25, 2002) 4960 presumably R. Federación, Sucúa (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Dear Hansjoerg, IMPORTANT NOTICE We are very sorry that we now are financially unable to send QSL's, etc. unless the request for such also includes sufficient postage stamps or money to cover the cost. In order to grant your request for a QSL and/or other material, please send one of the following: one International Reply Coupon (IRC), or one USA dollar, or one Euro, or 3 unused 37-cent USA postage stamps. Correspondence Department, English Language Service - HCJB World Radio We do not receive anything from the German department. Please make an account with us also. Thank you for listening (D. Zambrano, HCJB, via Dr. Biener, Nuernberg, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear D. Zambrano, I am sorry to hear about this recent change in policy. It was not mentioned in the edition of DX Party Line that I was able to listen to nor in the broadcast that I reported on. Your e- mail also seems to shed new light on QSLs received from the English department in the past. Even in the past, I always referred the English department to the mail account at the German service of Radio HCJB and thought that QSLs were sent through them. At least in my naïve thinking, I always thought that your use of my mail account with the German service just involved giving the envelope to the German department. It now seems that there is less internal communication between the departments than I thought. A rather obvious consequence for me as a German listener would be to refrain from writing to the English department. I cannot see any sense in establishing two accounts just for the case I might want to participate in a DXPL special QSL offer. While the Back to God Hour in Dr. Joel Nederhood's era used to be a programme that I followed, the DX Party Line is the only programme of the English service that I try to listen to if I can take the [garble] ... conditions allow. Kind regards, (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Nuernberg, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [non]. HCJB in Arabic to N Africa via MERLIN: 2100-2230 on 12025 now via SAC 250 kW / 073 degrees, ex via SKN 250 kW / 165 degrees (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) Ah, just as I thought; still takes getting used to, the very idea of HCJB via Canada... (gh, DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.3, Radio Imperial, finally after many tries, heard with three ID's at 2200 Nov 27, announcing shortwave. Then music program hosted by male. Good Reception Continues! [Later:] 17835, R. Imperial hung in till 0052 Nov 28. Deep fades but was coming in good enough for a while to just play out to the house as I puttered around. ID's between most songs. (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) NHK on before 0100 (gh) Thanks, Hans, for the El Salvador tip! They're coming in with SINPO 34333 right now (2232 UT) in Mount Kisco. It looks like they may have modified something, as they're now on 17835.3, while in September they were around 17833 kHz. Signal strength is much, much better than before. They're playing Christian contemporary music, in Spanish. (George Maroti, Mount Kisco, New York, ibid.) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. U A E: UNMEE via MERLIN DHA 250 kW / 225 degrees to EAf at new time: Tue 1030-1130 NF 21550, ex Tue 0430-0530 on 15235 Sun 0900-1000 NF 21715, ex Fri 1900-2000 on 13670 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. Additional freq for RFI in Pashto via Merlin Comm. SNG 100 kW / 315 degrees: 1600-1630 NF 9705 (44544) \\ 6035 via SNG 250 kW / 315 degrees. Freqs 11665/13580 both via ISS 500 kW / 080 degrees are cancelled (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) EDXP reported this as on 9790 (gh) NDR : entre 1600 et 1800, RFI diffuse déjà sur 9790 kHz en arabe et en français depuis Issoudun (les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Glenn, Listened to Deutsche Welle on November 16, 2002, 0200 - 0245 UT on 13605 kHz. In a reception report to DW I wrote the following. "Program Comment: More info about Germany! I listen to DW for German items not general news items. Other then the learning German segment I could have been hearing the news from any other source." Here is the reply from DW. I wonder if DW actually reads the comments sent to them? Hoping you continue "tuning in" to our broadcasts - and enjoying them! Regards, Margot Forbes DEUTSCHE WELLE ENGLISH SERVICE Tel.: +49 221 389 4144 Fax: +49 221 389 4155 E-mail: margot.forbes@dw-world.de Website: http://www.dw-world.de (Kraig Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. On Nov 27 the directors of the ARD member institutions decided to discontinue the common foreign language broadcasts. This concerns the programmes in Italian, Turkish, Serbocroatian, Greek, Spanish, Russian and Polish currently aired between 1800 and 2100 in // by NDR on 702, 792, 828 and 972, by HR on 594, by BR on 729 and 801, by SWR on 576, 666, 711, 1017 and 1485 (within the SWR Cont.Ra program line-up, hence on more frequencies now than previously) and by SR on FM 103.7. These programmes will disappear in their current format by the end of this year. Currently it seems that NDR and HR could continue to have some foreign language stuff on their hr-chronos and NDR 4 Spezial mediumwave networks. The SFB and WDR/RB networks RADIOmultikulti (Berlin 106.8 and low-powered 567) and Funkhaus Europa (Langenberg 103.3, Bremen 96.7, Bremerhaven 92.1) networks are not affected by this decision, at least not immediately. I referred here only to terrestrial outlets, so to make it complete: The ARD foreign language broadcasts as well as all mentioned networks are also transmit via Astra 1 in the proprietary ADR system. RADIOmultikulti and hr-chronos are also available in DVB (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GHANA. 3366, GBC, 0614 Nov 27, 90 m outlet fair // 4915 was strong, but suffering slatter from R. Quito a few kHz up. English domestic news program (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 4832, Radio Litoral 29 Nov at 0142-0220. Vernacular until 0202, then Spanish. No English as per PWBR. Excellent signal, clear Spanish ID. Nice to hear some tropical band action. Heard on my decrepit DX-440 with only an indoor longwire while dogsitting (Liz Cameron, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) So back from 4830.1? ** HONG KONG. Radio Television Hong Kong verified with detailed paper QSL-card the 10 minutes weather forecasts on 3940 on the Hongkong- Hainan yacht race (Michael Schnitzer, Germany, Nov 27, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR National Channel in Hindi noted from Nov. 24: 1315-0045 on additional NF 9470*\\ 9425. *co-ch VOR Chinese 1300-1500, Turkish 1500-1600, Russian/English 1600-1800 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Decided to try a late afternoon micro-DXpedition up at the local State Game Lands today Nov 28. Went specifically after Somalis so I laid out the 300' Beverage antenna at 70 degrees. Conditions were poor, as they have been for over 2 months now. Solar Flux was 143, A index 16, and K index 4. The weather was a chilly 20 degrees with snow flurries. 9524.88, V.O.I., 2031-2040, OC as early as 2015 Nov 28, soft pop music at 2031 check, so must've signed on around 2030. Woman announcer in English at 2034 but only caught end of it, into more pop music. Nice ID and address (Voice of Indonesia, Overseas Service of R. Republik Indonesia, P. O. Box 1157, Jakarta, Indonesia) at 2039. Instrumental music bridge, and another ID "This is the V.O. Indonesia, the overseas service of R. Republic Indonesia...". Into feature program. Fair but choppy. Slight 9520 slopover QRM (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAN. Re V. of Iran, Olle Alm`s monitoring, a typo: should read 1630 (as in schedule), not 1530 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. LITHUANIA: Frequency change for Radio Barobari in Persian effective from Nov. 25: 1700-1730 NF 7470 (55444) probably via SIT, ex 7480 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. COMMANDO SOLO LEADS THE WAY In plans outlined last August, high technology will play a large part in bombarding Baghdad --- and not just with sophisticated weaponry. Strategies include using newly-developed electromagnetic pulse weapons along with more traditional bombs to disable Iraqi communications. The empty Iraqi airwaves would then be bombarded with messages sent from the specialized Commando Solo aircraft used most recently in Afghanistan --- warning troops to stay in their barracks or be slaughtered, and promising Iraqi commanders that if they use biological or chemical weapons, they will be hunted down. ``The idea is ... to isolate the Iraqi leadership who are hiding in [the] bunkers,`` John Pike of the think tank Globalsecurity.org told the [which?] Post (Communications, Dec MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Re : Radio al-Mustaqbal heard 1410-1530* and *2100- 2400* on MW 1575.3 (Nov. 1-9) (Robertas Petraitis, Lithuania, Nov 9, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) I doubt this very much. I have NEVER noticed these "Kuwaiti" clandestines off frequency. Now at 1430 I am hearing Iraq Radio on 1575.4 kHz // 908.94 kHz (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov 28, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 6973.08, Galei Zahal, already coming in when I started Nov 28, at 1848!! Phone callers at 2018 check. Mentions of Palestinians, Israel, and politico. 2030 fanfare, then man with presumed news. Good (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ITALY. Rai International: 9670 (Rome, Italy). Sent report to allamano@r... [truncated]. In 10 days got a very impressive QSL from Mario Ballabio. It carries a night photo of volcano eruption. Also enclosed were 3 stickers, 2 pens and 2 RaiWay badges (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal Nov 28 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. SLOT MACHINE STATIONS: WE FOUND THE CASINO! One of he most nagging mysteries in the shortwave utility hobby is solved. The Slot Machines are Japanese Navy. Some of our veteran readers might remember the discovery about three years ago of these distinctive-sounding stations. Anyone who heard them once was determined, from that moment on, to figure out just what the heck was making all these weird noises. And weird it is. Its many frequencies play the same discordant little ``song,`` in absolutely perfect sync with one another. All this noise sounds like a broken video game, or, better yet, one of those Nevada gambling machines, happily spinning its reels on the way to taking your money. This Vegas reference stuck, to the point where the thing was given the code name ``XSL`` (Slot Machine Oddity) by the ``numbers`` hobbyists in the European Numbers Information Gathering and Monitoring Association (ENIGMA 2000). The first XSL discoveries were made in the maritime bands – not the most logical place to find complex signals. Maritime bands are allocated for narrowband voice and teleprinting signals, or the even more narrow Morse code, but these signals take up quite a bit more bandwidth. They use what looks like six unevenly spaced audio tones in multitone phase shift keying (MPSK). The signal is kind of distorted, with heavy intermodulation between the tones. Eleven times a second, all tones interrupt, or phasereverse, or do something equally bizarre. In the United States, the best frequencies to find the slot machine signal are 4231.5, 4291, 6417, 6445.1, 8588, and 8704 kilohertz (kHz). These appear to be intended as wide-coverage frequencies, always on, and coming and going with the skip. While they`re loudest around the Pacific Rim, reports have also come from Europe and Africa. Tune them as if they were upper sideband (USB). Early on in the investigation of this weird station, a position fix indicated Japan as the source. It was a reliable fix by people understanding the fine points of high-frequency direction finding, but one learns fast in this hobby that nothing is ever 100 per cent certain. Therefore, China and Russia were also suggested as origins. Another clue came, however, when a listener checked the frequencies against those formerly used for a different eight-tone radio modem by the Japanese Navy. Several were so close frequency; also the Japanese had dropped use of this modem on some of these frequencies at about the right time. Finally, the best evidence came from several utility fans that traveled to Japan. They reported local signal characteristics on many additional frequencies, some of which were part time and were being turned on and off as opposed to fading in and out. When the Japanese loggings are added, the full list becomes as follows: 3058 3075 4152.5 4231.5 4291 5643 6249.5 6417 6445.1 6500 6693 6768 8312.5 8588 8704 So what does the Slot Machine really do? Well, as so often happens in HF utility, the secret is in what you don`t hear. When the music stops, the remaining, hissy bursts are obviously high-speed MPSK data. These, in fact, are the reasons for this whole expensive operation. Our slot-machine song thus becomes no more than an idle state, perhaps a synchronization sequence for cryptography. And what encrypted data is being passed? The people who know aren`t telling. It could be weather charts (by fax). It could be just about anything. We`ll leave that part up to the military column (Hugh Stegman, HF Communications, Dec MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ** KASHMIR [and non]. INDIA (Kashmir) 4950 AIR Srinigar Nov 28 0018- 0130 Carrier from 0115 to 0118 then into IS with open at 0120 with M in local dialect, local music through 0125 then F at low modulation level. Covered by some other signal from 0129-0131 (ute?) then back on with F. Into local dialect chanting at 0135 that sounds very much like call to prayers. Fading by 0137 as local tx sunrise is nearly completed. A few minutes earlier there was a strong het on Leh (4760) with extremely low level music (t Leh) (Don Nelson, OR, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) TERRORIST ATTACK ON AIR STATION IN SRINAGAR Press Trust of India Srinagar, November 28 Terrorists launched a rocket attack on Srinagar Station of All India Radio on Thursday evening damaging some equipment, and two persons were killed in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir while police foiled plan to trigger a series of explosions in the city, official sources said. A single rocket, fired by terrorists around 6:00 pm, pierced the music room of the heavily-guarded AIR building located in the heart of the city damaging a window and some equipment, the sources said adding that no one was injured in the blast. However, the deafening sound of the blast triggered panic among the employees. The pro-Pakistan Al-bader terrorist outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack saying its activists fired a missile towards the government-run electronic media centre. Senior police and security officials immediately reached the site and inspected the scene where the rocket exploded. "We are ascertaining were the terrorists carried out the attack from," a security official said. The rocket was supposed to be fired from the front portion as the music room is located near the main gate. Source : Hindustan Times.com (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) INDIAN TV REPORTS ATTACK ON KASHMIR RADIO, TV STATIONS | Text of report by Indian Doordarshan TV on 28 November Continuing their attempts to disrupt normal life in Jammu and Kashmir, militants launched a rocket attack on the All India Radio station in the heart of Srinagar. While the music room is reported to have been damaged, there are no immediate reports of any casualty in the attack, which took place around six in the evening. Our Srinagar correspondent M.A. Tantray reports: [Tantray] In Srinagar, militants fired a rocket towards Radio Kashmir and Doodarshan complex near high security tourist centre this evening at about 6 p.m. [local time]. The rocket came from Tourist Reception Centre site and hit the outer wall of main Radio Kashmir building near duty room of commercial broadcasting service. There was no loss of life, though the blast created panic among functioning present in the twin stations of Prasar Bharati [Broadcasting Corporation of India]. Senior security officers immediately visited the station and security is being further tightened around the complex. This is fifth attack on government electronic media after onset of militancy in early 1990 and it is a grim reminder of tough situation the two stations have been functioning in for last 12 years. M.A. Tantray, Doodarshan News, Srinagar. Source: Doordarshan television, New Delhi, in English 1430 gmt 28 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4050 and 4940 music stations: see UNIDENTIFIED below ** LATVIA. NEW ROLE FOR FORMER SOVIET TRANSMITTERS For the past couple of years, Latvia has been a favourite spot for UK broadcasters linked to the offshore and "free radio" scene. The transmitting centre near Riga has a fascinating 56 year history.... http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/latvia021130.html (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Media Network Nov 29 via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. Re. 11515 1600-1700: ``Does is sound like 250 kW to those who can hear it at all?`` I would say yes. Two days ago I checked 11515 at 1630: Not a powerhouse but a quite good signal. Very good, processed audio. Intriguing was a slow fading, making it smell like a multi-hop signal. Hm, 1630 appears to be a bit early for 25 metres from Sackville... or?? [Later:] Remembered just in time to try 11515 again: Carrier already on at 1557 tune-in, I just caught a single pip, then silence til program audio kick-in at 1600. Would fit to a CIS site but this certainly needs some further work (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If it were Sackville I would certainly be hearing it. I think it`s safe to assume the Eastern Hemisphere (gh, DXLD) Free Voice of Lebanon on 11515 (the correct ID as an Arabic friend told me) FVL, heard yesterday 26 Nov at 1649 with Arabic songs, lighter than ordinary from other Arabic countries. Signal level was only S8 with the 16 m antenna while there was strong QRM from VoR on 11510 and a carrier at 11520. Also today 27 Nov heard with the 16m 'random vertical ' and 2x 12 m dipole (3 S units stronger than vertical) at 1655 with S9+10 db but clear from QRM At 1659 ID in Arabic as ``Sawt al .. Huriya ...Lubnen ...Mustakiya`` giving also email address radio@....dot org then with a closing IS. Signal closed after 1701 showing a program as 'Radio Filizona' or something same with programming in Farsi. Will keep a little more survey on this station (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is a "snail mail" address, but I have no idea if it really works to the organisation: Rassemblement Pour Le Liban, 63, Rue de Sainte Anne, 75002 PARIS, France. Best wishes from (Björn Fransson, the island of Gotland, Sweden, hard-core-dx via DXLD) No, it`s quite certainly not connected to a pirate outlet nor to IRRS. And even no connection to the San Marino 'event' in autumn 1997. Pirates simply do not have enough power in order to provide such a signal. And they know that they are 'relatively' sure against a raid from the officials as long as they play music and do not state political opinions. And did you hear any 'musical bridges', old radio comedies, the re-run of the first half hour in the second half hour? Did any lightning-strike suddenly stop the transmission? No? Then it wasn't via IRRS! And the guys from the San Marino station were simply clever, they made a fool of the whole listener-scene (that was the aim of the whole action I suppose). The guys of Radio Senlandlimoj, which was a pirate which even did broadcasts from Liechtenstein were thus forced to prove what they declared, they simply took pictures of themselves while entering the border. No, better to ask TDP for the transmitter site. But since CRW is based on 'Target areas' we here do not need the know the site where the signal is coming from. Screenshots of 3 e-mail QSL-letters can be seen in the CRW Clandestine Radio QSL gallery at http://www.schoechi.de/pic-cla.html (M. Schöch, Germany, Nov 28, 2002 for Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. RUSSIA: New station in Arabic Voice of Freedom/Radio Tayyar/Radio Streem: 1600-1700 on 11515 (55555) via Samara 250 kW / 224 degrees to ME (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) There is a station in Arabic on 11515 that closes at 1830, not very strong here and hard to ID. Anyone know who it is (thought it may be the new pro Aun outlet???). Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, NZ, Host of The South Pacific DX Report, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. Radio Vilnius has a new email address: radiovilnius@lrt.lt (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. R. Barobari, clandestine to Iran: See IRAN [non] ** MEXICO. Caught R. Educación`s media show again UT Thu Nov 28 on 6185, 0430 ID in Spanish for the XEPPM SW service, then ``Sintonía Libre``, note correct title. Started with Canal 11 (the educational channel) winning an award; then 660 changing from La Candela, tropical music format, to Comunicación 660 on Nov 18; and lots of other brief media items, including later a discussion of the lack of female voices (not the case on XEPPM!). After 0500 there was traditional Mexican music, and at 0530 an ID in English asking for reports. Good reception, and less co-channel from Europe than usual under the propagational circumstances (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 2390, Radio Huayacocotla didn't fade out till 1520 this morning Nov 27 and was already back when I checked at 2150 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA/PRIDNESTROVYE. 5960, Radio of the Dniestr Moldavian Republic heard 1700 sign on November 27th with identification by male announcer "Here is Tiraspol, the capital of the Dniestr Moldavian Republic", news items, identification 1715 ``Here is the Radio of the Dniestr Moldavian Republic``, political commentary, information on a Dniestr town, programme credits, address announced as Programme Pridnestrovye, ul. Rozy Luxembourg 10, Tiraspol, Dniestr Moldavian Republic. Next programme announced for Wednesday December 4th at 1700. Off with incidental music. Strong signal but adjacent channel splash from even stronger 5955 Radio Netherlands, used synch AM and passband shift (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Indeed, there was an English broadcast from Tiraspol on 5960 from 1700. Carrier on at 1652, 1052.5 Hz tones straight until programme start at 1700 with jingle, no time signal and time announcement. Somewhat low modulation, mike audio noticeably different from the Russian programme on 999 (muffled and with noticeable reverb), so apparently this broadcast was produced in another studio. There were several interruptions by Russian light music, probably feed mess-ups (but which program source could contain light music instead of news immediately after the hour?), probably production screw-ups. The absence of a time signal could indicate that they do this particular transmission by playing out a tape at the transmitter site rather than using the STL from Tiraspol. The programme was announced as edition #22, so these shortwave transmissions apparently exist for a half year now. Unfortunately one of the mentioned glitches killed the announcement "prepared by the editorial staff of" ---- but I guess they would have said news agency Olvia, since Olvia announces this broadcast on its website http://olvia.idknet.com/newweben.htm I again include a record. The muffled sound is corrected here as much as possible without making the background hiss too sharp. Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Welcome to the news page of "OLVIA-PRESS" press agency Dniester Moldavian Republic THE RADIO DMR The Informational-Analytical Program "Pridnestrovie" Listen to us on short waves, 5960 kHz each Wednesday At 8 PM Moscow time, 7 PM Eastern European time, 6 PM Central European time, 5 PM Greenwich time. The Program "Pridnestrovie" is your guide in the world of politics. Our Address: Rose Luxembourg street, 10 Tiraspol 3300, Republic of Moldova (website above via gh, DXLD; the rest of it had old news bulletins from Aug and Sept) ``Indeed, there was an English broadcast from Tiraspol on 5960 from 1700. Carrier on at 1652, 1052.5 Hz tones`` : are you sure? You wonder how I know? See the enclosed screenshot. Definitely no 905 Hz pips if the question implies this. You can also see that Flevo 5955 was not so much a problem, the het is 25 db below the audio level of the tune-up pips. At -50 db, so not audible anymore but still noticeable in the spectrum is a 15 kHz het, caused by Moosbrunn 5945 I guess. || As was recently noted and is written on the web page you gave, the address they give is in Rosa Luxemburg Str. I know that some years ago this address was already given in the Russian SW programme, while the others (English ...) used a different address, ul. 25 Oktyabrya 45, which is I think also listed in the back editions of WRTH / Sender & Frequenzen. Maybe they had the same situation back then? Thanks anyway for the record, (Andreas Erbe, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I remember that this was once explained to be the office location while the building at the street named after Rosa Luxemburg would be the studio building. I guess the meanwhile well-known picture I include once again shows the latter location, especially considering the satellite dish typical for Russian C-band equipment, certainly in use to relay Radio Mayak when no own programming is on air (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW, the pronunciation is teh-RAS-pol (gh, DXLD) {Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist writer} Very good reception in Bulgaria for Radio Pridnestrovye in English on Nov. 27, 1700-1730 Wed only on 5960 (55544) (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. THE SOUND FOUNTAIN, R. Netherlands, Sun 1200, 1530; Mon 0030; Thu 1230, 1500; Fri 0000, 0500 The Sound Fountain can be said to be the alter-ego of Aural Tapestry. They share the same time slots – the former running in the winter schedule; the latter during the summer. Both place a premium on sound, using it in unique ways to provide the listener with a deeper experience of the topics the producers seek to explore. Both programs demonstrate, as do all Radio Netherlands programming, a keen understanding of radio as a distinct art form. However, that is where the similarity ends, for Aural Tapestry`s brief is culture while The Sound Fountain`s is quite literally the world. Dheera Sujan and Michelle Ernsting are, in essence, producing documentaries; but not documentaries in the traditional sense. Not when the topics covered include different views of Utopia or tracing the use of ancient mythological structures in today`s cinema. These soundscapes are deeply intellectual exercises made accessible through the innovative application of sound. Sujan and Ernsting look at their subjects from unique angles offering listeners a truly creative way of looking at the world. And all you need to invest is a half-hour a week! (John Figliozzi, Listening At Leisure, Programming Spotlight, Dec MONITORING TIMES, via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 4770, R. Nigeria, 0540-0615 Nov 27, Not a rare catch, but unusually good reception. Afro-pop music, advertisements, ID and time check at 0600. Domestic news covering everything but this Miss World scandal (at least during the 15 minutes I listened). Solid copy (Dave Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard BBC news at 2100 Nov 28 mention that the fatwa against the journalist who endorsed Miss World, had been lifted, after she apologized (gh, DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. GERMANY, Salama Radio tells Cumbre DX: We currently broadcast on 13.855 MHz (21 Metaband). We start broadcast daily at 1830 hrs in Hausa and English comes up at 1915 UT (via Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 27, Cumbre DX via DXLD) So no Sackville 15365 at 19; an earlier plan? (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 5027.2 R. Pakistan Quetta? (tentative), 0105 Nov 28, very surprised to hear something here at this time, 0105 talk by man in language, 0106 singing by chorus, brief talk by man then what sounded like Islamic program at 0110. Faded by 0122. Reported by Jacob as External Service in Hindi at this time with listed //'s of 4790 and 7094. Checked the former, nothing there, forgot about the other one. Listed as 10 kW. I've heard it well in Hawaii, but this is only my second log of this one from the mainland, first time to hear it in the local evening (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Frequency changes for Radio Pakistan effective from Nov. 25: 1715-1800 Persian & 1800-1900 Urdu (Islamabad program) NF 7550, ex 7555 to avoid RTTY (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 7737.1, Radiodifusión América: Nice full data e-mail QSL in one day for an e-mail RR and 4 audio clips. This was for my tentative reception of them while on Dxpedition in Chamberlain, Maine. According to the v/s, Adán Mur their power output at the time was 300 watts. Future plans are to increase their output to 2.4 kW, pending improvement of their electrical power source (George Maroti, NY, Nov 28, Cumbre DX via DXLD) The full text of the e-mail follows: Dear Mr George Maroti: I have the pleasure and privilege of verifying your reception of the experimental shortwave transmissions of Radiodifusión América, Villeta, Republic of Paraguay. DATE: 22 November 2002 TIME: 0045-0107 UTC FREQUENCY: 7737 KHZ The details mentioned and audio recorded were indeed programmes broadcast by ZP20 Radio América, Ñemby, and rebroadcast on Radiodifusión América, Villeta. On the date of reception, the frequency of 7737 KHZ was beamed at 60 and 240 degrees, from Magnetic North, with a transmission power of 300 Watts. Radiodifusión América - ZP20 Radio América are headquartered in the Asunción suburb of Ñemby. The local Medium Wave Service also transmits from here, on 1480 KHZ, power of 1 KW, feeding a quarter-wave tower. The HF transmissions are based in a rural area, near the port city of Villeta, some 37 KM downriver from Asunción. We also have a new Medium Wave tower, of five octaves, installed, there. Presently, experimental HF transmissions take place on 7737 and 9983 KHZ. We are also testing the frequency of 2300 KHZ, using the 125-metre tall tower. We hope to increase transmission power on all frequencies, in the near future. Your reception reports are always much appreciated! With best regards from Paraguay! Adán Mur, Technical Advisor, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay E-Mail: ramerica@rieder.net.py (via George Maroti, NY, Nov 28, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PERU. 4904.71, R. La Oroya, 29 Nov 1009-1022, Campo music, some really beautiful harps. Male announcer with song announcement, next song title, mention of a Provincia (not Yauli), TC, and another campo song. 1015-1019 M announcer over campo music with possibly local news or events with mentions of Junín, several Provincias including Yauli, gave a time once, and also gave at least 2 IDs near the end, then continued with the campo music. M again at 1022 over campo music once again. Nice signal this morning with the pulsing radar off for a change. Signal suffered from some deep fades, though. 4914.38, R. Cora, 29 Nov. 1022-1035, Soft instrumental music, Woman at 1024 with simple TC during song, Echo ID "Desde Cora, Perú", into instrumental version of "Mack the Knife". 1027-1029 2 announcements; first an ad for Banco Nación, and 2nd was a promo. Vocal tango music with man giving ID during song at 1033 again. Really nice signal with the radar off this area. It was in the 4790 and 4440 areas though (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Yakutsk, 7140 also confirmed in Sweden today with regional programme from 0910 // 7200+7345. 4825 not audible at that time today. 7140 is badly affected by co-channel KRE. Yakutsk on new 6150 now also confirmed at 1030 with regional programme // 7200, 7345. Still no signal on 4825, but may be due to poor 5 MHz propagation (Olle Alm, Sweden, 28 Nov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Some additional freqs for Voice of Russia: 1300-1500 Russian WS on 5925 (45544) 1800-1900 Italian on 7425 (55555) 1900-2000 Greek on 6170 (53433) co-ch Radio Liberty in Ukrainian 2000-2100 Russian WS on 6170 (53433) co-ch Radio Liberty in Ukrainian (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) See also LEBANON non, SYRIA non for clandestines thought to be via RUSSIA ** SIERRA LEONE. 6137.8, Radio UNAMSIL: Partial data letter direct from Sierra Leone in 3 months for a postal report. V/s Sheila Dallas, Officer-in-Charge of Public Information, Station Manager and Executive Producer (George Maroti, NY, Nov 28, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Radio Slovakia International sked covering October 27, 2002 to March 30, 2003 received in today's (November 27, 2002) postal mail. English portion 0100-0130 UT 5930 (North America), 7230 (Central America), 9440 (South America) 0700-0730 UT 13715, 15460 and 17550 all to Australia 1730-1800 UT 5915, 6055 and 7345 all to Western Europe 1930-2000 UT 5915, 6055 and 7345 all to Western Europe "Weekly programme outline: MONDAY is devoted to a joint programme of Radio Slovakia International, Radio Austria International, Radio Prague, Radio Budapest and Radio Polonia. TUESDAY covers news, a topical issue, reports and news about tourism, environment and history. WEDNESDAY is the day of business, the series "Economy and Ecology", business news, and a currency update. THURSDAY is culture day with complements reports, interviews and features about Slovak film, theatre, music, art and literature. FRIDAY covers news, a topical issue, and a mix of features on education, science, health and Slovak folk music. The programmer is concluded by regional news. SATURDAY brings news and the best of the week where we re-run the most interesting features of the past weeks. SUNDAY a weekly newsreel starts the programme, followed by the Listeners' Tribute -- the Mail Box From Around the World interspersed with Slovak folk music." 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. RESCUE RADIO: NEW HAMS PROVIDE DISASTER RELIEF We reported their graduation last week. And while the signatures on their ham licenses may not yet be dry, a group of Solomon Island hams are already off on their first rescue radio adventure to Malaita Island: -- That`s right Roy. Q-News reports that three graduates from the Amateur Radio Training School of the Solomon Islands have gone by ship to provide emergency communications for flood affected areas on Malaita Island, near Guadalcanal. With them are with 19 tons of rice along with officials of the National Disaster Council. These new Hams will operate a ham radio station at the Red Cross clinic on South Malaita island. They will report on the distribution of supplies to the National Disaster Council HQ in the Capital of Solomon Islands. This is the first humanitarian deployment of the school's initial graduates. It also provides the Solomon Island hams their first real experience in helping people with radio knowledge of Amateur Radio. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF (Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 29 via DXLD) The three hams making the trip are identified as H44MKA, H44WSB and H44SF. As we go to air they should be operational from a Red Cross clinic set up on the south end of the island. More information is on the web at http://www.h44A.com (Q-News via Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 29 via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 7530.03U, R. Hargeysa (presumed), 1936-1958* Nov 28; Was getting a very weak het but clear lively instrumental local music at 1937. Flutes at 1938. Male announcer at 1941. More announcements by M and music at 1954 check. Final song to 1958*. Just too weak. Think it could be readable w/good conditions, but only late Nov. and Dec. during earliest sunset (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. RUSSIA: Voice of Homeland in Arabic via Russian transmitters: 1600-1630 NF 7470 (55555), ex 12115 \\ 12085 strong co- ch R. Damascus in Turkish (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Frequency change of Radio Taipei International in Russian effective from Nov. 25: 1300-1400 NF 11935 (44544), ex 11745 to avoid VOIOI/IRIB in Kazakh (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN. Hi Glenn, you were wondering which new alphabet I was refering to: your source BC-DX accidentally had omitted the main part of my item: "This is not directly radio related, but if you'd like to take a look on the new official Latin alphabet for the Tatar language, you can do that at http://www.intertat.ru/index.php?cat=-l (a comprehensive online news site from Kazan`). Other versions of the news are also available incl. English." 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {URL no work; is it correct?} ** TOGO. 5047, R. Togolaise (presumed) 2249-2257 Nov 27. Talk by woman in French with short instrumental interludes. 2253 slow vocal music by woman. Poor signal with significant fading and atmospheric interference. Very low by 2257, then blown away when WWRB appeared on 5050. SINPO 24222 at best (Evans, TN, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** TOGO. Glen[n] Hauser's DXLD website mentions a report from Piet Pijpers from Holland, via hard core dx, that Togo is back on 5047 after a long absence. Well the home office here in Bridgenorth can confirm this. I have them coming in very well on this Wednesday afternoon at 2149 UTC with two men conducting telephone interviews in French. I did catch a simple "Radio Togo" ID at 2151. This one can also ID as "Radio Lomé" and the more formal "Radiodiffusion Togolaise". So, those of you participating in the ODXA's DX Challenge have another country to go for (Mark Coady, Ont., Nov 27, ODXA via DXLD) ** U K. WORLD SERVICE UNVEILS STELLAR LINE-UP FOR 70TH BIRTHDAY From http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,849017,00.html Julia Day, Wednesday November 27, 2002 Prime minister Tony Blair and UN general secretary Kofi Annan will take part in listener phone-ins on the BBC World Service in December. They join an array of the biggest names in politics, religion, sport and music who are helping to celebrate 70 years of the World Service. The Dalai Lama, Brazilian football star Ronaldo and Sir Paul McCartney are among the other high profile participants. The first to go on air will be Mr Blair, who will answer phone and email questions from listeners in a special edition of the international multimedia programme Talking Point on December 3 [Tue!]. The Iraq conflict, the Middle East, the enlargement of the European Union and poverty in the developing world are among the topics expected to be covered. The Dalai Lama and McCartney will take part in separate editions of News Hour and Ronaldo will appear on the World Football and Sports World programmes. Mr Annan will give the World Service 70th birthday lecture from the UN building in New York on December 11, just three days after the first deadline for Iraqi compliance with the new UN resolution on weapons inspections. He will then answer questions from listeners from around the world. One of the highlights of the birthday celebrations will be a live concert taking place in the UK, Senegal, Afghanistan, India and Mexico. The World Service Global Party will be hosted by veteran DJ John Peel and features Mercury and Mobo award winner Ms Dynamite. The actual birthday, December 19, will be marked by programmes presented from the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. The location was the site of the World Service's first "rebroadcast", when a broadcast was made from the mountain to London and from there to the rest of the world (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K/CYPRUS. Additional frequencies for BBC in Russian Mon to Fri: 1600-1630 on 9825 CYP 250 kW / 077 deg and 11655 RMP 500 kW / 062 deg \\ 7325 9635 11670 13640 15225 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** U K/OMAN. Frequency change for BBC in Hindi via SLA 250 kW / 100 deg: 0230-0300 NF 11725, ex 11685 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) HFCC site code SLA = A'Seela OMAN 21N58 059E27, not Sri Lanka. Strangely enough, BBC is one station not relayed by Sri Lanka (gh, DXLD) ** U K/SINGAPORE. Frequency change for BBC in Burmese via SNG 250 kW / 340 deg: 1345-1430 NF 9540, ex 9590 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** U S A. E-QSLs from SWBC Stations? Hi Glenn. I didn't know if any stations were involved in "Electronic QSLing" but in this particular case (with Radio Sawa) it worked!! They suggested if I didn't want to mail them my cassette tape of their broadcast, that I just email them a short MP3 file. I did so (making sure it contained an ID) and received a confirmation on the same day. Regards, (Garie K8KFJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5260, VOA (transmitter mixing product), 0610 Nov 28, 9480 and 7370 with a separation of 2110 kHz. 7370-2110=5260. French language programing. The 2001 WRTH lists the time and frequencies as the African service, though I do not know where the transmitter site is located. I am guessing here in The USA. Signal went off at 0630, with Yankee Doodle theme. Poor to fair strength. Glenn, Have a nice Thanksgiving. 73, (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Both Greenville-B, French; at this hour it is M-F only (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Another day, another station The announcement that the US is to begin yet another international radio service, this time beamed to Iran, will come as no surprise to those who have been following the so-called public diplomacy policies of the Bush administration in recent months. But while the increasingly fragmented structure of US international broadcasting apparently makes sense to policy makers in Washington, it remains hard to see from here what exactly they're hoping to achieve. I've tried to explain why I take this view in a new editorial. I do of course welcome your comments, especially if you disagree with me! Here at Radio Netherlands, we're happy to air all shades of opinion http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/editorial.html (Andy Sennitt, RN Media Network newsletter Nov 29 via DXLD) ** U S A: Frequency change for WYFR to Eu/ME: 0400-0500 English; 0500-0600 Arabic; 0600-0700 English; 0700-0745 Italian all on NF 11530 (55444), ex 11900 for B-01. 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** U S A. Listened to the entire final 5 hours of KKSU`s existence Nov 27 1830-2330 UT - altho I can get it on 580, I couldn`t help listening to the webcast, which never had any interruptions, and no TVI and line noise as all over the MW band. At one point someone dared to remark that the relationship with WIBW had been rather acrimonious, since they had always wanted fulltime use of 580. Almost all of the finale involved retrospectives, including past hosts and guests on various shows, and after 2030, Ralph Titus out of retirement with a great 2.5 hour history of the station, until the final newscast at 2300. I did tape on 580 the final sign-off (which did not have any special wording) at 2329, and handover to WIBW, but after switch to night facility at 2315, KKSU`s signal was much weaker, contrary to WIBW which boomed in with excessive produxion and commercialism from *2330 --- and forever. Strangely enough, there was not a word of this in the KSU student newspaper online for Nov 27; evidently only the current issue is available. But then the students still have their Wildcat station on 91.9 --- and I would imagine KKSU taking this over (or, why not share it 25 hours a week at least, like with WIBW???) is one of the options being discussed. No doubt the students will be vehemently opposed to broadcasting of any quality by grown-ups from the campus (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Today is 580 KKSU Manhattan's last day of broadcasting... giving up the time share that's been in place for some 78 years to WIBW Topeka. The link is to a story appearing in the Manhattan Mercury this morning. They do have an internet feed, so if you have a chance, I highly recommend listening. Otherwise, I'll be rolling tape (Mark Erdman Herington/Salina KS, Nov 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) http://www.themercury.com/stories/article.8455.shtml THIS IS KKSU SIGNING OFF, by Livi Regenbaum, Nov 26, 2002 The mood was somber at the KKSU radio station this morning as employees prepared to say goodbye to a station that has served Kansans for 78 years. KKSU, known as the ``voice of Kansas State University,`` is signing off Wednesday without a plan in place to make its programming available by other means. Officials said Monday it may be months before a long-term method is identified for making the station`s content — especially university extension research — available to farmers and other listeners. ``We are still meeting with various networks around the state,`` said Larry Jackson, director of KKSU. ``There has been some progress in working with other stations to distribute programming. It is too early to be specific because we are still working on the details and identifying partners.`` First broadcast on Dec. 1, 1924, KKSU (its original call letters were KSAC) provided agricultural, consumer sciences, human ecology and horticulture programs to Kansas listeners. A fair share of the programming always has been dedicated to agricultural issues. In addition to the daily farm news, K-State agricultural experts spoke about contemporary topics, especially production agriculture. The radio station shared its 580 AM frequency with WIBW, taking the air between 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. Serving as radio producer for KKSU for the past seven years, Randall Kowalik said the realization that KKSU would not be on be on the air hit him when he could no longer inform listeners of next week`s programming. ``I think the past several months have been stressful,`` Kowalik said. Kowalik reflected that the loss of the station was sad, but also a part of life. ``Change is always going to happen,`` he said. ``We are going from a comfortable period into an uncomfortable period.`` Several staffers are not yet yielding to that ``uncomfortable period,`` at least not emotionally. Entering Eric Atkinson`s office, one is immediately drawn to a hat that reads,``KKSU, on the air forever.`` It was a gift from Dale Fjell, KSU agronomist. Atkinson, agriculture director for KKSU for the past 20 years, said the station`s departure is a sad occasion and loss for Kansans. ``I am sorry to see something that has been of such great value just go by the wayside in this matter,`` he said. ``KKSU has been a tremendous outreach tool for the university.`` Atkinson emphasized that employees would forge ahead. ``We are employees of the extension service and we are going to help get the information out to our audiences,`` he said. Frustrated with the deregulation of radio stations, Richard Baker, news director of KKSU, said the station will represent an invaluable lost asset. ``The deregulation of radio has destroyed the idea that the airwaves belong to the public,`` he said. ``I hate to see a valuable property like the five hours of frequency given up obviously because of sports, but there is not much that I can do about it.`` Marc Johnson, dean of the College of Agriculture, acknowledged that the loss of the radio station would create a problem for listeners in the short run. ``I am sure that those who have relied on this radio station for years will miss it badly,`` he said. ``Not having specific frequencies and times announced to our listeners immediately means that our listeners will (have) to find us when we get these agreements finalized.`` Johnson noted that people get into the habit of tuning into a particular station. ``There will be an interruption in that and we will get it back as soon as possible,`` he said. In a settlement with Morris Communications this past August, K-State sold the rights to KKSU`s frequency to WIBW. This made it possible for the university to guarantee Mid-America Ag Network rights to broadcast Wildcat football. The settlement resolved a 1969 share-time agreement between the university and WIBW`s parent company. It allowed WIBW to use 580 AM for most of the day, if they also broadcast K-State football games. Despite the station`s departure from the airwaves, Johnson said KKSU officials will still be providing agricultural and family news to 60 stations in the state via a CD rom. But he noted it will be up to the stations` discretion whether to actually air that news (Manhattan Mercury Nov 26 via Erdman, NRC AM; and via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Kansas State University`s KKSU-580 Manhattan is no more. The 78- year-old station had shared its frequency with WIBW in Topeka, operating from 12:30 to 5:30 pm weekdays. A dispute over KSU football rights (which had been granted to WIBW in 1969 in return for an additional 15 minutes of airtime) was resolved by WIBW paying the University $1.5 million to surrender their 5 hours of airtime. A complete story of the KKSU/ WIBW affair is available on http://www.ksu.edu/facsen/facsenate/kksu-wibw.htm (Doug Smith, American Bandscan, Dec MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) Viz.: Office of Faculty Senate September 9, 2002 Kansas State University Office of the President 110 Anderson Hall Manhattan, KS 66506-0112 Dr. Al Cochran President, KSU Faculty Senate Department of Music McCain Auditorium UNIVERSITY Dear Dr. Cochran: I would like to give you a little more background on the lawsuit between Kansas State University and Morris Communications - which owns WIBW Radio - in Augusta, Georgia. As you can well imagine, like many other lawsuits, the litigation involved in this case is very complicated. In effect, the issue between WIBW Radio and KKSU goes back to a shared time agreement that was originally put together in 1928. From 1961 to 1969, KKSU had the hours from 12:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. on WIBW. In 1969, the two parties revised this so-called shared time agreement. KKSU wanted 15 more minutes to be on from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. In turn, WIBW wanted to broadcast the football games. The administration of KSU and the KKSU management in 1969 agreed to allow WIBW to broadcast all football games in exchange for an additional 15 minutes of air time. But no one in the Athletic Department was involved in that decision in 1969. Moreover, for some reason, the KSU administration in 1969 did not insist on a time limit in terms of the number of years for WIBW doing the football games. Meanwhile, the years go on. In 1980, KKSU and WIBW signed a new agreement which would give WIBW the exclusive rights to do all football games in exchange for a certain sum which would go to the Athletic Department. Again, no one with the administration or KKSU in 1980 bothered to relate to the Athletic Department the clause in the 1969 agreement about the non-exclusive ability for WIBW to do the football games. The next big agreement between KKSU and WIBW came in 1997. Of course, now the K-State football program is pretty good and the Department of Athletics could demand more money from WIBW. The two parties signed another exclusive agreement in 1997 whereby WIBW would now pay the Athletic Department $300,000 a year for five years as part of that contract. Even here, if somebody had reminded the Athletic Department about the clause in the 1969 agreement that gave WIBW Radio the right to broadcast football games as a free-standing non-exclusive station, the University and the Athletic Department could very easily have revised the 1969 agreement and eliminated the future problem. Now we get to the fourth year of the 1997 agreement and negotiations are starting for a new five-year agreement. Now that the Kansas State football team is much improved, it will attract even more interest with a new agreement on the horizon. After they received bids for the next five years, the Athletic Department finds that there is great interest. Indeed, four radio companies make bids. At least three companies offered over $1 million per year. One of them offered $1.2 million per year. Thus, if the Athletic Department took the highest bid, they would be increasing their revenue by about $900,000 per year for the next five years. Any good business would have to go with the highest bid. Meanwhile, WIBW says it is only willing to go as high as $600,000 per year. The Athletic Department believed that the most prudent decision would be to take the offer that was twice the offer of WIBW. WIBW had the right of first refusal. The Athletic Director and one of our attorneys met with WIBW to ask them if they would meet the highest bid. The General Manager of WIBW at that meeting pulled out of his briefcase the shared-time agreement from 1969 and indicated that KSU would have to allow WIBW to do all of the football games in a non- exclusive way. If the Athletic Department agreed to that, it would mean that the exclusive agreement with the Mid-America Ag Network would be worth much less money. At that point, the Athletic Director approached our attorneys about this looming dispute. After looking at the shared-time agreement from 1969, our KSU attorneys believed that all of the exclusive agreements signed by WIBW and KSU from 1980 to 1997 would make the football provisions of the 1969 shared-time agreement null and void. A court case became inevitable. Our KSU attorneys were cautiously optimistic that we could prevail in court. The stakes were very high. The Athletic Department stood to make added revenues that would allow the department to somewhat compete with athletic departments like Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska that have budgets from $50 million to $60 million compared to $30 million budgets for universities like KSU, Iowa State, Missouri, and KU. I know that our attorneys were quite surprised when the judge issued a temporary injunction for WIBW - which meant that WIBW would be able to broadcast all of the football games as a free-standing station, and the monies that the Athletic Department expected from the new contract immediately fell from $1.2 million to about $300,000. At that point, the Athletic Department decided to hire a couple of outside lawyers who were specialists in radio and radio rights. They hired two new attorneys and they went to work immediately in June. They developed an excellent case. Indeed, the two new attorneys thought that they had a very good chance to convince the judge to vacate his temporary injunction. This second hearing took place on August 8, 2002. Two weeks later, the judge issued his permanent injunction for WIBW. Thus, the truth is that from January of 2002 to August of 2002 the University and its attorneys decided to hold tough on keeping all of the hours for KKSU on WIBW even though WIBW said it would drop the 1969 shared time agreement if the University would give all five hours to WIBW. The University absolutely refused that idea. Instead, the University and its attorneys would work hard all summer to convince the judge to rule in favor of the University and KKSU and the Athletic Department. But, again, the judge ruled against KKSU and Kansas State twice - once in May of 2002 and the last time in late August of 2002. We did seriously consider appealing this case to the Kansas Supreme Court. But we were faced with the reality that we were 0-2 in the courts and, if we appealed, the litigation could go on for another year or two. Now the administration at Kansas State and the Athletic Department were between a rock and a hard place. The litigation had been going on for five months and there was a great deal of media coverage and the resulting controversy which came from the litigation. I think we all know that litigation of any kind often ends up as a lose - lose situation. K-State and its Athletic Department were being asked why they could not settle this controversy. I am sure that WIBW and its parent company, Morris Communications, were being told the same thing. Now, let me back up for a minute. Morris Communications had informed our attorneys after the temporary injunction in May of 2002, that they would tear up the 1969 agreement if the university would give them all five hours - the hours from 12:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. It would be an even trade. They were not willing to offer any money for those five hours. Now let me jump to the second week in August, 2002. Morris Communications of Augusta, Georgia, sent me an offer that they would now be willing to pay $800,000 for the five hours and revise the 1969 agreement in exchange for the five hours. In the early Spring of 2002, our attorney, Dick Seaton, asked a radio consultant to give an estimate as to what those five hours might be worth in the marketplace. His estimate was about $250,000 per hour. With that in mind, I asked for even more than that and I told the Morris CFO that they would have to give us $1.5 million for the five hours and drop all litigation. They agreed to do that. It went very fast. It had to. The first game was coming up in four days and, if we did not settle it in two days or less, it might never be settled. Morris Communications wanted to put the case and the litigation behind them and we wanted to do the same. The $1.5 million from Morris Communications goes directly to the College of Agriculture and KKSU. In addition, the Athletic Department has agreed to pay the College of Agriculture $45,000 a year forever- which is the equivalent of at least another million in trust funds. Our Dean of Agriculture, Dr. Marc Johnson, and our KKSU Station Manager, Larry Jackson, believe that they have the resources to reinvent KKSU. Our hope is that the new KKSU will have even more coverage than the old KKSU on WIBW [sic – they had SEPARATE transmitters --- gh]. After all, K-State has 300 agricultural researchers, 260 extension agents, and the 8 full-time people that have always worked for KKSU. Combining those resources with the $1.5 million and the $45,000 per year will allow KKSU to have a whole new and bright future-especially in light of all the possibilities involved with the telecommunications revolution of the past eight to ten years. Several people have commented in different forums that the administration had to choose between academics and athletics. That was not the choice. The choice we had to make was this: what was in the best interest for the entire University. To continue the contentious lawsuit for the next year or so was not in the entire University's best interest. Our administration has put a commitment to academic excellence 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th since 1986. Since 1986, we have constructed 1.8 million square feet of new buildings. Eighty-percent of those new buildings are academic. In 2001-02, the KSU Foundation raised $65 million. Eighty-percent of that goes to our academic departments. None of our new State monies since 1986 has gone to the Department of Athletics. Indeed, for years, any discretionary funds that the Central Administration has ever held have gone to the KSU Theatre Program, the Debate Team, the Speech Squad, the Music Department, the English Department, the History Department, and other small departments in the University. None of these funds have ever gone to the Athletic Department. I have personally committed major funding in several deferred gifts to the KSU Foundation. Those monies someday will go to the History Department and the Library-not the Athletic Department. Finally, getting back to the future of KKSU, I agree with Dean Marc Johnson and Larry Jackson, the Station Manager, that we can reinvent KKSU for the 21st Century. With 300 research scientists and scholars, over 260 extension people, and the excellent professionals that make up the KKSU staff, KKSU will have a bright future. Sincerely, Jon Wefald, President, KSU dh (KSU Faculty Senate website as above via DXLD) ** U S A. [Following remarks that WJR-760 Detroit`s signal has deteriorated...] WJR is one of the top 4 or 5 billing stations out of 62 in the Detroit MSA. It is well kept up and quite well engineered as it is a huge profit center. I have to comment on Portland, as it's unfair to condemn the 620/1190 diplex. The 620 site was condemned under right of eminent domain to create a flood plain to protect some kind of creature; the station was forced off the land. Oregon being one of the strictest environmental jurisdictions in the world makes finding a new site near impossible, particularly for a DA with big towers. The KEX towers, in fact, are near 1/4 wave on 620 and the site affords good coverage of the metro. Today, there is very little money to be made outside the metro. Extended coverage is of very little value. A recent tabulation showed that only 360 stations out of 13,000 in the US show up in ratings outside their home metro (or embedded sub-metros). WFAN is the most extensive, showing up in 6 different markets; most stations don't care about anything more than 40 or 50 miles away (David Gleason, Palm Springs, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. BROADCASTING FROM A SHIP --- On January 1, 2002, KKOL, 1300 kHz, began operating from temporary facilities installed aboard the 175 foot cargo ship "Coastal Ranger" in Seattle's Elliott Bay. The 1000 watt transmitter facility is said to be the only licensed broadcast station operating in the United States aboard a ship. See the entire story at: http://www.dalke.com/kkol/ (URL courtesy of Marv Collins) (From the CGC Communicator 11/27/2002 via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. When stations like KNX and KFI have severe night interference no more than 50 miles from the transmitter, there is not much hope for AM usage outside the metro (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) David, I have no idea what KNX is like in LA and Orange County but I can tell you that they have a perfect, flawless AM stereo signal here in Mesa. I listen to them a lot at night for the old radio shows. Their ads really jump right out at you because they are in $tereo. The liners are the same. That is one station that ALWAYS sounds great. Someone there gives a $#!+ (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) The GM at KNX cares very much for AM Radio and likes the listeners. He fought to keep the old call letters from being changed years back. In Rancho Mirage Kevin, Mexicans do interference with both KFI & KNX at night often. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) ** U S A. Glen[n], On Wednesday Nov, 27th KWKH was using their daytime pattern at night. Last night Nov 28th both KWKH and WBBR were both using their daytime pattern (Charles Gossett Jr., TN, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shreveport and New York, both 50 kW on 1130; as I recall, KWKH is normally a tight night pattern toward the west (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE SIGNS HAVE EARS Do you DX while you drive? Now your DXing will be DXed... a story in the November 24, 2002 Sacramento Bee reports that, starting next month, "billboards will scan radios and tailor pitches to match listening preferences." Two large electric signs along I-80 in Sacramento and suburban Roseville are being equipped with sensors that pick up radio frequencies from vehicles passing by. According to Alaris Media Network president Tom Langlund, the sensors will be able to determine the radio station playing in 60 percent of the cars passing by. This means that during the day's peak traffic hour, 10,000 cars will be scanned near Cal Expo and 7,000 near the Roseville Auto Mall. Advertisements will be shown based on listener preferences. The signs, made up of thousands of lightbulbs, act like giant monitors capable of showing pictures as as well as text, and can change messages frequently. Langlund asserts that advertisers will find out which stations are most popular during various times of the day, and that a person's favorite station is "a good indicator of a person's demographic group-and buying tendencies." The full story can be found at http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/5349258p-6338265c.html (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. KLAC FORMAT CHANGE --- Gary Larson sent in clippings reporting the impending format change from talk to adult standards for KLAC-570, Los Angeles. The new KLAC debuts December 12, Frank Sinatra's birthday. Another clipping reports that Glendale's city council allocated funds for a Travelers Information Station. The antenna will go atop the city's parking structure. KFBK's 80th Anniversary: Gary Jackson was able to attend the KFBK 80th Anniversary "Decades of Excellence" party on Friday, November 8, hosted by Rush Limbaugh at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. He sent a copy of the program, and it detailed the station's early history. "KFBK signed on in 1922 as KVQ. It was owned by Hobrecht Electric and was founded for the sole purpose of helping them sell radios in their store... In 1925 the station's ownership was partnered with the McClatchy Company, who owned the Sacramento Bee. Eleanor McClatchy took over as KFBK's manager in 1936." [Later, the company was owned by Westinghouse, and finally, through a series of media mergers, became part of Clear Channel Communications (all via Rich Toebe, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. Sunday, December 1, 2002 - WLCR-1470, Louisville, KY (COL Shepherdsville, KY) Another DX test will be held at this time to make up for the test held October 21. Time is scheduled for 3:00-4:00 am EST [0800-0900 UT], with 750 watts from 2:45 to 3:15 am [sic, 0745- 0815 UT]. Reception reports may be sent to: Vince Heuser E-MAIL: heuser@iglou.com WLCR-AM WEB: http://www.wlcr.net 3600 Goldsmith Lane Louisville, KY 40220 (Arranged by Lynn Hollerman for the IRCA CPC, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. 1700, WPT201, CA, Mountain View, 10/2 1442 [PDT? EDT?] man with tape loop saying center is operating normally but due to heightened security employees must expect delays in getting around & encouraging workers to carpool. ID "The Center Emergency Radio Station at AM 1700 Hundred" and "WPT201 Ames Research Center" with emergency phone number and website www.arc.nasa.gov announced. Fair at 5 miles away (Dale park, DX'ing in Santa Clara County, CA with Toyota car radio, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. WSMV REASSERTS ITS RATINGS LEAD FOR 2 NEWSCASTS By BRAD SCHMITT, Staff Writer Longtime Nashville ratings leader WSMV-Channel 4 has recaptured the No. 1 spots for the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts after losing to WTVF- Channel 5 in the May and July ratings periods, preliminary numbers from November indicate. But Channel 5 held onto the No. 1 spot for the 10 p.m. newscast, the biggest newscast revenue generator for all stations, according to data collected by A.C. Nielsen. Channel 4's re-emergence during the November ratings period as leader for the early evening newscasts comes during a tough time for the local NBC affiliate. Earlier this month, WSMV news was slammed in a survey that compared the quality of local newscasts in selected markets... http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/02/11/25803909.shtml?Element_ID=25803909 (Nashville Tennessean Nov 28 via Charles Gossett, Jr., DXLD) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY. New schedule for Voice of Hope to ME via JUL 100 kW / 115 degrees on 9860: 1530-1600 Sat English 1600-1700 Sat Persian 1530-1630 Mon-Fri English 1630-1700 Mon-Fri Persian 1530-1700 Sun English 1700-1730 Daily Arabic (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 29 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4830, Nov 28, Radio Táchira, 0318-0400*, "Radio Táchira, mucho más que las demás". (reactivada de nuevo) (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia Nov 28, 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Hi Glenn, my name is Fernando, can you check what happened to Venezuela shortwave station Ecos del Torbes? 4980 khz? They are not transmitting for more than 2 months, probably. It was a really good station with good music. Thanks for your help (Fernando Cano, KP4FJE, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Comes and goes, so I wouldn`t be surprised if it reappear; same ownership as 4830 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. Este articulo lo encontré en la prensa de hoy. Atte: José Elías Díaz gómez. AIR EXPRESA PREOCUPACIÓN POR PERIODISTAS VENEZOLANOS La Asociación Interamericana de Radiodifusión (AIR), que agrupa a 17.000 emisoras privadas de radio y televisión de varios países, declaró este miércoles su preocupación por el clima hostil que se está registrando en Venezuela contra algunos periodistas. La entidad señaló que el 19 de este mes se impidió realizar su trabajo a un equipo de la Televisora del Estado Venezolana y Televisión, que cumplía funciones en la Plaza Altamira de Caracas. La AIR destacó que ``este tipo de actos de intolerancia constituyen violaciones inaceptables`` al derecho de la libertad de expresión e información y que ``perturban la paz que todos los habitantes de Venezuela se merecen``. Por tanto, exhortó a todos los actores políticos venezolanos ``a erradicar estas conductas antidemocráticas de intolerancia e irrespeto por los derechos fundamentales de las personas y en especial de los profesionales de la comunicación``. (via José Elías Díaz Gómez, Cumbre DX et al. via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE (Germany to Vietnam) 15715, Chan Troi Moi, 1337- 28 Nov., Long talks by M and W in VT (individually) with brief classical music bridges between. Finally, program ending announcement by W including an ID at 1429, but cut off at exactly 1430 in mid-announcement. Fair signal and readable throughout, but there was an echo, sounding like 2 distinct signals (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Not clandestine (M. Schoech, CRW) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 1550, ALGERIA, RASD, Tindouf, NOV 21, 2155 - Fair; Kor`anic recitations over R. Disney WDZK (Bruce Conti, ME, NRC IDXD via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. 11734.1, RTZ, 1905-2000 Nov 28, News by M in Swahili with break for ID. News stories started with the QTHs [datelines]. Different M at 1916 and weaker modulation. Kor`an at 1939 check. M again briefly at 1943 very weakly modulated, more prayer with heavy echo, and chanting. 5+1 time ticks at 2000, ID by M. Strong (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Mysteryous musical stations continue to operate on 4050 and 4940 kHz. I decided to examine their fade-out pattern in the early morning of 19 Nov. Read the results below. 4940 kHz - empty at 0220 and later. No audio, no carrier. Either station was off, or it's located very far to the east and had faded out before. Signals from Central Asia (possible origin area) at 0220: Kyrgyzstan: 4010, SINPO 25232, BBC Central Asia service in Russian 4795, SINPO 35222, parallel to 4010. Tajikistan: 4635, SINPO 35222, in Tajik Turkmenistan: 4930, SINPO 45433, in Turkmen 5015, also quite strong, Xinjiang region of China: 4980, SINPO 25232...15211. Disappeared very soon. So, what about 4050 kHz? Typical CIS test tones were there at 0220. At 0228 audio had been swithed on, songs of Central Asian style began. I repeatedly compared signals on both 4010 and 4050 kHz then. Different programs, of course - but technically signals were almost identical! At about 0250 audio became unreadable on both. Last traces of both carriers disappeared at 0340...0345. 4795 kHz faded out 10...15 later. So, what is the conclusion? Mauno Ritola is sure that 4050 kHz comes from Kyrgyzstan. My observation are evidence of that, too. But some confusion remains: during the last 10 years only 2 SW transmitters were active in that country. Initially they used 4010 and 4050 kHz, airing different domestic programs on them; later 4050 has been deactivated, and the new 4795 kHz was introduced. Contrary to 4050, the new frequency became parallel to 4010. Did they have a standby transmitter, or bought an additional one? It would be interesting to compare warm-up procedures on 4010 and 4050. But it requires me to get up even more early... Other possibilities: I don't think it's Russia. Mentioned time of morning fade-out corresponds to location near Novosibirsk or not far to the east of that city. But DXers from that area don't hear musical stations in the daytime. It's not neither Tajikistan nor Turkmenistan. 4635 kHz came with satisfactory quality till 0300, when transmitter has been obviously switched off. 4930 and 5015 kHz are audible even after 0400. But it might be eastern Kazakhstan, e.g. Almaty region (it's very close to Kyrkyzstan). Remember how many SW transmitters were active there a dozen of years ago (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal Nov 28 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Desconocida / No identificada. 13660 Nov 25 +1145-1200*, notada con emisiones en Arabe, con señal regular. Nota: No hay nada en el WRTH 2002 ni en el Passport 2002. Cuál es?? (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia Nov 25, 2002) 13660 0000 1200 39E CYP 300 117 1234567 271002 300303 D G BBC MER 5313 (HFCC via gh, DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ KOLLEKTIVNIY ANGLO-RUSSKIY SLOVNIK RADIO-TERMINOV INTERACTIVE RUSSIAN-ENGLISH GLOSSARY OF RADIO/DX TERMS Dear DX colleagues, I've set up an interactive Russian-English glossary of radio/DX terms on the web at the following URL: http://it.domaindlx.com/awh/slovnik/scripts/ The purpose is to provide an informal but hopefully useful reference for those of us in the radio hobby who use both languages. The scope is primarily utility and broadcast DX, but peripheral terms about SIGINT, equipment, production, etc., are encouraged as well. The site will allow online editing and addition of new terms. Feel free to use it as you see fit, make corrections, and add any terms or phrases you think might be of use. Feedback is welcome; if you find it useful, please let me know. 73 to all (David E. Crawford, Titusville, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PACIFIC ASIAN LOG (MEDIUMWAVE, LONGWAVE) There is a small group of enthusiasts across the waters here on the Pacific Coast of North America. Of these, Bruce Portzer maintains a list of all the possible targets in SEA, Oceania, and AU/NZ. Its posted at http://www.qsl.net/n7ecj/pal_7-02_freq.pdf sorted by frequency, and http://www.qsl.net/n7ecj/pal_7-02_country.pdf by country. For a view of some of the loggings by this group, check http://www.qsl.net/n7ecj/grayland.html Best regards (Don Nelson, Oregon, USA, EDXP via DXLD) ANIMAL STORIES, WLS From Bob Walker: ANIMAL STORIES; Volume 3 is here! Our only excuse for not releasing Animal Stories Volume 3 is that we've just been lazy! Believe it or not, we've put together our favorite volume of Animal Stories on compact disc, available now at http://www.animalstoriescd.com And wait until you check out the new website! It's pretty cool and we've even corrected the misspelled words (we told you we were lazy). The best part of this announcement is that we've reduced the price of all three volumes. Now you can own America's Cutest Couple on CD for only $15.95. That's a savings of 25%. It's the perfect "stocking stuffer" this holiday season. Own the long awaited "Uncle Lar' and Li'l Tommy's Animal Stories Volume 3. Happy Holidays, Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards lujack_edwards@hotmail.com Every afternoon in the 80's or so on 890 WLS Chicago, Larry Lujack & Tommy Edwards presented "Animal Stories". This is some of the funniest stuff ever heard on radio. I can recommend this heartily (Harold Frodge, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Hi Glenn, I was wondering if you knew of any websites that could provide me with MUF/LUF predictions. I've tried: - http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/broadcast/1_9muf.html but that doesn't seem to work for some reason. If you know of any other similar sites that do work, please let me know (Henry Brice, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Have you looked for that at http://hfradio.org/propagation.html (gh) GEOMAGNETIC INDICES phil bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary November 5 2002 through November 10 2002 Tabulated from email status daily Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Etc. 11/ 5 183 19 4 no storms minor 7 6 185 19 3 no storms minor 8 7 190 13 2 no storms minor 8 8 189 7 2 no storms minor 6 9 191 6 3 moderate moderate 4 10 191 18 2 moderate minor 6 11 185 10 2 minor minor 5 12 178 11 3 minor minor 6 13 182 12 2 no storms minor 5 14 184 9 2 minor minor 4 15 198 12 3 minor minor 7 16 199 7 2 no storms minor 7 17 185 6 1 minor minor 7 18 179 11 3 moderate minor 7 19 168 11 3 no storms minor 7 20 159 16 4 minor minor 9 21 151 38 5 strong minor 7 22 149 22 3 minor no storms 8 23 148 19 1 minor no storms 6 11/24 146 16 2 no storms no storms 8 ********************************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-186: [continued from DXLD 2-185] ** TAIWAN. Radio Taipei International (RTI) Indonesian section announces, effective today, 25 November 2002, they canceled their program 1 in Indonesian on 15580 at 0800-0900 UT. The others (program 2-6) run as usual (Lim Kwet Hian, Jakarta, Indonesia, via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. CBS RADIO TAIPEI INT'L latest B02 schedule eff Nov 25 as follows: Updated : NOV 25, 2002 NOTICE ONE: CBS IS AUTHORIZED TO SHIFT FREQ WITHIN THE SAME METERBAND TO AVOID CHINA HEAVY JAMMING WITH CNR 1/2 PROGRAMS OR CHINESE TRADITIONAL MUSIC. IT APPLIES TO VARIETY, NEWS, MAINLAND NETWORKS. SEE ALT CH. NOTICE TWO: DUE TO NOT A ITU MEMBER, CBS BROADCASTING SEASONS WILL BE MORE THAN ONE MONTH LATER THAN ALL ITU MEMBER STATIONS. THIS DELAY CAN AVOID CO-CHANNEL OR ADJACENT CHANNEL JAMMING/INTERFERENCE. 1. VARIETY NETWORK ONE (in CH) 2200-0200, 0400-1700 (local Mo-Fr 0600-1000 sign off) 603 0400-1600(0400-1000 Sa Su) C CHN C TWN 927 1000-1500 C CHN S TWN 1098 1300-1700 C CHN S TWN 6085 0800-1500(0800-0900 Sa Su) C&S CHN alt ch 6140 6280 6150 2230-0000 C CHN 7270 2230-2300 N CHN 7415 0900-1700(0900-1000 Sa Su) N CHN alt ch 7365 7425 9680 1400-1700 N CHN 11795 1100-1400 N CHN alt ch 11875 11855 11645 0000-0200 0400-1400(0600-1000 Sa Su) C CHN alt ch 11625 11640 11665 0900-1700(0900-1000 Sa Su) N CHN alt ch 15060 15130 11730 0400-0900(Sa Su) N CHN alt ch 11765 11885 2230-0200 N CHN alt ch 11865 11970 11985 11985 0400-0600 N CHN alt ch 11970 15245 2300-0200 N CHN alt ch 15345 15265 0400-0900 SEAs 15430 0400-0900(0600-0800 Sa Su) C CHN alt ch 15335 Note: 927 kHz is for occasional baseball live broadcast from 0900Z to end. 2. VARIETY NETWORK TWO: (repeat certain programs of VARIETY NETWORK ONE) 0500-0600 15270 CHN 0900-1100 9280 CHN 1300-1500 7445 927 SEAs 3. NEWS NETWORK (in CH) 2200-1700 603 2200-0000 N&C CHN C TWN 747 2300-0000 1000-1200 CHN C TWN 1008 2200-0000 0400-0500 0700-1700 CHN C TWN 1422 2300-0500 0900-1500 S CHN S TWN 1521 1200-1700 N CHN S TWN 1557 0300-0800 C&N CHN 6150 2300-0000 C CHN 7105 0900-1400 C&N CHN alt ch 7310 7385 9635 2300-0000 SoEaAs 9735 0700-1700 S CHN alt ch 9670 9790 11635 2200-0000 SoEaAs 11780 2200-0300 1100-1700 N CHN alt ch 11719 11770 11885 2300-0000 N CHN alt ch 11865 11970 11985 11930 0100-0500 N CHN alt ch 11940 15215 0300-0800 N CHN alt ch 15175 15235 15245 2300-0000 N CHN alt ch 15345 15290 0200-0500 SoEaAs alt ch 15105 15395 0900-1300 N CHN alt ch 15175 15215 5950# 2200-0000 eNAm 15440# 2200-0000 wNAm Note: # via WYFR Florida 1422kHz is for occasional baseball live broadcast from 0900Z to end. 4. Mainland NETWORK ("Date with Taipei" features program) 0600-1000 11795 alt 11775 1400-1800 6145 alt 6060 2300-0300 9660 alt 9680 5. DIALECT NETWORK (in Amoy Hakka Cantonese Mongolian Tibetan) 1) Amoy (mainly spoken in Taiwan, Fujian) 0000-0100a 15440 11875 WeNAM SoEaAs 0100-0200b 11875 SoEaAS 0500-0600b 1008 1422 CHN 0600-0700a 15580 9680 1422 1008 S CHN TWN SEAs NAm 0700-0900cd 1206 1422 TWN S CHN 0700-0800b 15580 SoEaAS 0800-0900a 11715 TWN PHL 0900-1000b 1206 CHN TWN 1000-1100a 1206 11605 15465 AS CHN 1300-1400b 11635 15465 SEAs 2100-2200b 5950 EaNAM 2) Cantonese (spoken in Hong Kong Guangdong) 0100-0200a 5950 15440 NAm 7520 15290 Eu SEAs 0200-0300b 15610 SEAs 0300-0400b 11740 CAM SAm 0500-0600b 5950 9680 NAm 15320 15580 SEAs 1000-1100a 11715 15270 11635 15525 SEAs AUS NZL 1100-1200b 15270 1206 SEAs CHN TWN 1200-1300a 11915 6105 6060 1206 SEAs CHN 1300-1400b 11915 6105 6060 SEAs CHN 3) Hakka (mainly spoken in Taiwan E.Guangdong S.Fujian) 0000-0100a 5950 ENAm 0300-0400b 15610 SEAs 0900-1000b 15465 SEAs 1000-1100b 6105 6060 CHN TWN 1100-1200a 11635 15465 6105 6060 SEAs 1300-1400b 1206 15175 SEAs CHN TWN 1400-1500a 11915 1206 SEAs CHN TWN 1700-1800a 11875 EAf SEAs 4) Mongolian 1000-1100 11985 Mongolia Tibetan 1300-1400 9415 Tibet Nepal Note: a-PROGRAM A b-PROGRAM B 6. INTERNATIONAL NETWORK: [most to Am and some to Eu are WYFR relays] En 0200-0300a 11740 9680 5950 NoAm CeAm 11875 15320 SoEaAS b 15465 NoEaAS 0300-0400b 5950 9680 NAm 15320 SoEaAS 0700-0800a 5950 WeNAm 1100-1200a 11985 N CHN b 7445 SoEaAS 1200-1300a 9610 7130 NoEaAS AUS NZL 1400-1500a 15265 SoEaAS 1600-1700a 11560 INDIA S CHN 1700-1800b 11560 INDIA S CHN 1800-1900? 3955 EUR (prog a/b shown on sked!) 2200-2300a 9355 EUR Fr 0700-0800 9355 EUR 1900-2000 3955 EUR 2000-2100 9955 9355 15130 EUR NAf NAm 2200-2300 7315@ WAf Sp 0200-0300 15215 11825 wSAm 0400-0500 11740 CeAM 0600-0700 5950 wNAm 2000-2100 11665 EUR 2100-2200 9955 EUR 2300-0000 11720 9690 eSAm Jpn 0100-0200a 15310 JPN 0800-0900b 11605 JPN 1100-1200a 7130 11605 JPN 1300-1400b 7130 11605 JPN German 0600-0700 9355 EUR 1800-1900 9955 EUR 1900-2000 6180 EUR 2100-2200 9355 EUR Ru 0900-1000 11985 EaCIS 1300-1400 11745 WeCIS 1700-1800 9955 WeCIS 0400-0500 7355 EaCIS INS 1000-1100a 11550 11520 INS 1100-1200b 11550 11520 INS 1200-1300b 11635 7445 927 SoEaAS 1400-1500a 11875 SoEaAS 1500-1600b 1422 SoTWN 0400-0600ba 927 SoTWN Korean 0300-0400 15465 Korea 1200-1300 9415 Korea 1400-1500 9415 Korea Thai 0600-0700a 15270 THA 1400-1500a 15465 11635 THA 1500-1600b 7445 927 747 THA 2200-2300a 7445 927 THA 2300-2400b 7445 585* THA (585 antenna had been dismantled, maybe QSY 927) Vietn 0900-1000 15270 VNM 1500-1600 11915 VNM 2200-2300 9635 VNM Burmese 1200-1300 15580 MMR 1500-1600 9465 MMR Arabic 1600-1700 11890 NAf ME 1800-1900 11890 NAf ME Ch 0100-0200 11825 SAm 0400-0500 5950# 9680# 15320 15270 SoEaAS Am 0500-0600 15270 11740 SoEaAS CAm 0900-1000 11715 11605 11635 11520 15525 SoEaAS AUS NZL 1200-1300 15465 11605 SoEaAS NoEaAS 1300-1400 15265 SoEaAs 1900-2000 9955 9355 EUR RUS 2200-2300 3965@ WEu Note: a-PROGRAM A b-PROGRAM B c-PROGRAM C d-PROGRAM D @ via France Relay stn via CBS : WYFR (Family Radio): B02 CHINESE 1200-1600 1900-0200 1557 1000-1300 1098 1200-1500 747 2100-0000 1102-1602 6300 9280 CANTONESE 0800-0900 1557 ENGLISH 0200-0300 (23567) 0900-1200 1600-1900 1557 0900-1200 1521 0100-0200 15060 1300-1500 11550 1500-1700 6280 Hindi 0000-0100 15060 1500-1600 11550 Russian 1500-1700 9955 AWR-KSDA: B02 Vietnamese 0100-0200 15445(sa) 1400-1500 15550 R. AUSTRALIA: B02 INDONESIAN 0900-0930 11550 2130-2330 11550 VIETNAMESE 2330-0030 15110 WSHB-KHBI: B02 ENGLISH 1000-1100 11780 RADIO FREE ASIA B02 VIETNAMESE 1400-1500 9930 Clandestine station in Taiwan : VOICE OF CHINA: CHINESE 2230-2330 7270 0800-0900 11940 STAR STAR BROADCASTING STATION: 11430 Star Star Channel 1 15388 Star Star Channel 2 9725 Star Star Channel 3 8300 Star Star Channel 4 13750 Star Star Channel 5 (via Miller Liu, Taiwan, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN. There is an ongoing dispute between Kazan and Moscow about introduction of this [?] alphabet; you can read more at site: http://www.intertat.ru/index.php?cat=et&bigoffset=0µoffset=0&id=12562 (in English). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX Nov 25 via DXLD) ** TIBET. CHINA 5240, China Tibet PBC, 1103-1119 Nov 22. Holy Tibet program in progress. 9490 is covered at this time by Radio Sweden. Audio was distorted on 5240. Also heard in parallel on 4905 and 4920 khz. Chinese talk at 1119. SINPO 24332 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. UZBEKISTAN: Frequency change for Voice of Tibet in Tibetan/Chinese via TAC 200 kW / 131 deg: 1430-1515 NF 11550 (54444) plus Chinese jammer, ex 11975 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 25 via DXLD) ** TOGO. 5047.0, Radiodiffusion Togolaise, 0515-0610 Nov 24. After hearing a carrier yesterday around 0500 (and on other mornings), Lome seems to be active now with man and woman in French, choir music and 'Onward, Christian soldiers'. No formal ID heard, but several times Togo was mentioned. Transmission break at 0548, again back at 0552. News at 0600 with a 'live' report and at same time fading away. Signal too weak to read (Piet Pijpers, The Netherlands, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 5047, R. Togo (presumed), Nov 23, 2141 S6 carrier, but no audio or modulation (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U K. CLASSIC FM `TO OPEN TV VIDEO STATION' By Anthony Barnes, Showbusiness Editor, PA News TV viewers will soon have Bach around the clock as the world's first classical music video station bids to capture an audience of younger fans, it was announced today. Bosses at Britain's biggest commercial station Classic FM are are adding another string to their bow with the launch of their 24-hour television channel. They will concentrate on contemporary stars of the classical world and music from hit films. Managing director of Classic FM Roger Lewis said: "This is a unique format for music television. Classic FM TV will be the first 24/7 classical music video channel anywhere in the world. He said the launch of the TV station underlined the company's commitment to building new audiences for classical music." In 10 years Classic FM has built up a radio audience of nearly seven million. It recently wooed former Radio 1 DJ Mark Goodier to become the voice of its weekly chart countdown, and has a presenter list which includes newsreader Katie Derham, Aled Jones and Stephen Fry. Classic FM TV will be available to digital satellite viewers and will go in to 6.3 million homes, although a launch date has not yet been announced. It will feature artists such as Kyung-Wha Chung, Angela Gheorghiu, Nigel Kennedy, The Opera Babes, Yo-Yo Ma and music from film soundtracks such as The Piano and Star Wars. Some of the videos which will be shown have been tailor made for the channel. The extension of Classic into TV follows successes with its magazine and record label (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) World`s first?? Well, Classic ARTS in the US has been doing this for years, but not 100 percent classical music (gh, DXLD) ** U K. INSIDE TRACK: THE BBC'S AUSTERITY PROGRAMME By Tim Burt, Financial Times; Nov 25, 2002 Around the world, the British Broadcasting Corporation is synonymous with first-class television and radio - whether drama, current affairs, children's shows or nature programmes. It is less well known for its astute financial management. The BBC's finances have long been a matter of controversy, rather than acclaim. In recent months, leading international media executives - including Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation - have openly criticised the BBC as an unfair competitor, bloated by generous government funding. Domestic rivals have also attacked its financing arrangements and urged stronger regulation of the corporation. Amid the clamour, a quiet financial restructuring has been launched to cut costs and overhaul the BBC's balance sheet. The process - culminating in a budget review over the next three months - is expected to create a new blueprint for managing one of the world's largest public service broadcasters. John Smith, the BBC's finance director, argues that criticism of its funding arrangements is founded on a simple misconception: the 80- year-old corporation is not a corporate money-spinner, it is a spending organisation. The BBC's main role, as it has been since its inception, is to pour state funding into top-quality programming. "The macroeconomics of the BBC are simple: it is about maximising licence-fee revenue and spending it in the best way," says Mr Smith. That view has enraged commercial competitors, not least British Sky Broadcasting, the satellite broadcaster 36.6 per cent owned by News Corp, along with cable channels such as MTV of the US and Channel 5, the terrestrial broadcaster controlled by RTL, the Luxembourg-based TV group. They claim the BBC is moving into their territory, stealing market share with new services funded by the state. Mr Smith is unfazed. He is less interested in the argument over how the BBC gets its money than in how it spends it. That income - a bone of contention with all rivals - is derived almost exclusively from the licence fee levied on all TV-owning UK households. Under a generous settlement negotiated with the government two years ago, the BBC receives licence fee income currently worth £2.5bn every year rising at 1.5 percentage points above the retail price index every year. Over the seven years of the BBC's charter - which enshrines the financing deal - the index-linked element alone is worth an additional £1bn between 2000-2006. In return for that above-inflation settlement, the BBC has committed itself to achieving £1.1bn of savings or positive cash flow from ancillary businesses. That commitment, says Mr Smith, underpins the financial restructuring now under way. As part of that strategy, he is taking a knife to the corporation's overheads. Only two years ago, the BBC was spending almost a quarter of its income on administration, rather than programme-making. This year it has reduced that total to 15 per cent and Mr Smith says: "It's got to come down even further; that is why the current budget round is significant." Among the cutbacks, the headcount in the BBC's finance department has been halved. The number of different accounting systems has been cut from a mind-boggling 39 to just one, outsourced to SAP, Europe's largest technology company. The number of stationery suppliers - more than 140 at the last count - are being slashed. On the accounting front alone, Mr Smith says the BBC has secured savings of £55m from using SAP. The next phase of the financial restructuring is being divided into three areas: cracking down on licence fee evasion, increasing contributions from commercial subsidiaries and further cost-cutting. Mr Smith predicts the largest savings will come from clamping down on evasion of fees. The corporation this summer outsourced the collection system from the Post Office - which had administered the fees for 75 years - to Capita, the professional services group. The 10-year contract, worth £500m, aims to reduce the evasion rate from 7.5 per cent of licence fee income to 4 per cent by 2006. The potential benefits are significant, he says, as every 1 percentage point reduction in evasion is worth £25m in additional revenue. Some commercial rivals have condemned the entire basis for the licence fee, arguing it should be regarded as a poll tax or disguised subscription fee. Mr Smith rejects both charges. He maintains that it is not a tax, given that the money is neither collected nor distributed by the government. If the BBC relied on subscriptions, he claims, the corporation would no longer have to meet public service obligations. "If it was a subscription service we would probably not do Radio 3 or arts programmes, because that is not what commercial subscribers want," he adds. "And an advertising model would not be fairer, because the BBC would simply seek £2.5bn in advertising revenue from the existing market, so every commercial broadcaster would end up with less." The second strand of the restructuring - contributions from commercial activities - has caused a similar furore to the row over licence fees. BBC critics claim it should not be setting up businesses charged with making profits, given its public service remit. The businesses in question - BBC Worldwide and BBC Ventures - aim to sell programmes overseas, while also generating a commercial income from services such as studio production and technology. Again, Mr Smith says, the critics fail to understand the strategy. Funds raised by both Worldwide or Ventures, he maintains, will help offset overheads in the corporation and allow more spending on programme making. Worldwide contributed £106m of cash last year on sales of £660m. The BBC has also won government approval for the two commercial operations to raise borrowings of up to £350m to fund their further expansion. The finance director hopes to augment contributions from those businesses with further cost-savings in the main corporation. That drive is expected to involve headcount reductions in some departments when the current budget review is completed next spring. That effort also coincides with an innovative shake-up of the BBC's £500m property portfolio, which could see many assets removed from its balance sheet. In doing so, Mr Smith says, the BBC can confound its critics by sharply increasing programme spending - due to rise £450m over two years - while also becoming leaner. That means investing more heavily in new channels, inter-active services and new distribution systems such as digital terrestrial television. "The situation is no different from a manufacturer," he says. "We have to improve our content, packaging - in this case our channels - distribution and marketing. And the simple aim is to make costs and revenue equal each other over the cycle." (via Larry Nebron, DXLD) ** U K. BBC SET FOR WIDE-RANGING SHAKE-UP OF FLAGSHIP SITES By Tim Burt, Media Editor, Financial Times; Nov 25, 2002 The BBC is considering a radical shake-up of its £500m property portfolio that could transfer ownership of several flagship sites, including its famous Broadcasting House headquarters, to new property joint ventures. The project would transform Broadcasting House into Europe's largest broadcasting centre with 140 studios. Following completion in 2007, more than 6,000 staff including the BBC's entire television and radio news operations would be relocated to the complex, along with five radio networks and the World Service. The corporation, which owns more than 400 buildings boasting 7.5m square feet of office-space, is in advanced talks with Land Securities, the UK's largest property company, over the scheme. Senior BBC managers will next month seek board approval to place Broadcasting House in one of the first joint ventures, handing 50 per cent of the valuable central London freehold to the developers. In return, Land Securities will assume the capital risk for a £300m- £400m redevelopment of the pre-war landmark. John Smith, BBC finance director, said: "My broad plan is that with each re-development we would put our buildings in similar vehicles." The BBC regards the scheme as a blueprint for other public finance initiatives. "It differs from normal PFI projects because we will retain 50 per cent of the [property] vehicle," he said. As part of the Broadcasting House deal, Land Securities would have the right to buy the BBC's remaining freehold stake after 30 years, during which time it will provide services and maintenance for the complex. The BBC could, alternatively, renew the joint venture or buy back the entire freehold. The property scheme coincides with complaints, levelled mainly by rival broadcasters, that the BBC has lost sight of its public service remit in the search for commercial gains. Mr Smith rejected such allegations. In an interview, he said the property partnerships were part of a financial overhaul aimed at reducing overheads and freeing more investment for programme-making. "There is £500m of property on our balance sheet and it's a bit unloved and underinvested, which we need to upgrade," he said. "As we redevelop the sites, we could put them in joint ventures in return for lower service charges and removing the capital risk from our balance sheets." Such moves are being modelled closely on a £250m project at the BBC's White City complex in west London, where Land Securities is overseeing construction of a 17-acre office development. The corporation has already awarded Land Securities a contract to provide maintenance services at properties around the country, including Broadcasting House. As part of the 900,000 sq ft redevelopment, the BBC will move out of several leasehold properties in central London, including the Bush House headquarters of the World Service (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U K. BBC7 (launching Dec. 15) preview and schedule: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/docs/bbc7.pdf which was found at the informative http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/index.shtml (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. STRAW TO SEEK MUSLIM SUPPORT OVER IRAQ Linus Gregoriadis and Michael White Wednesday November 27, 2002 The Guardian http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,848698,00.html Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, last night announced government plans to broadcast direct appeals to Muslims in Britain - and the Middle East - to explain the cabinet's determination to remove Saddam Hussein's arsenal of lethal weaponry. A day after warning MPs that some Islamic fundamentalists regard moderate Muslims as worse enemies than Christians and Jews, Mr Straw told the annual awards ceremony of the Foreign Press Association that ministers will continue to resist voices which portray the government's stance as "anti-Muslim". Whitehall sources later confirmed plans for the foreign secretary to record a broadcast for Muslim radio stations in Britain during the holy month of Ramadan, which ends next month. Mr Straw also told his audience of British foreign correspondents last night that radio stations broadcasting from outside Iraq, such as the BBC World Service, would be used to address the Iraqi people directly in Arabic. He said: "Our quarrel is not with them but with the regime which has made their lives a misery and has turned a potentially prosperous and successful country into an international pariah. "Although Iraq has no free press, some Iraqis do have satellite dishes with access to international television and many listen regularly to radio stations broadcast outside Iraq." Mr Straw's speech last night came 13 months after Tony Blair used an interview with al-Jazeera television to make a direct appeal to Muslims to shun Osama bin Laden, an appeal which ministers know met with limited success. Mr Straw surprised some MPs on Monday night when he set out terms that would constitute a breach of the UN's terms for Iraqi compliance with the new weapons inspection regime which sounded softer than those invoked by the prime minister or President George Bush. It did not prevent 32 Labour MPs joining forces with the Liberal Democrats to vote against any military action against Iraq unless it is specifically sanctioned by a fresh UN mandate. Ministers are determined to avoid being pinned down on that detail as preparations continue for a possible attack in the new year. Mr Straw added last night: "We want to deal with Iraq by the force of law, not the force of arms. But we know that the Iraqi regime will not comply without the credible threat of force, and therefore while we do not seek confrontation, we will not shirk it." (Guardian Nov 27 via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Seems to be a foregone assumption that BBCWS will gladly broadcast government messages. BBC have bristled in the past as such co-option by H.M. Government, e.g. in the Falklands War, when government had to set up its own service to Argentina, R. Atlántico del Sur (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Dear Mr. Glenn Hauser, Today I have heard on RFE/RL Radio that its Persian (Farsi) service which is known as RADIO AZADI http://www.radioazadi.org will end its broadcast to Iran effective 12- 02-2002 and will start a new format which called "RADIO FARDA " (Tomorrow Radio) sometime middle of December, 2002 and will target Iranian youth and younger generations in 24 hours format. Today I called RFR/RL Persian service director and he told me the present shortwave frequencies remains the same, but more frequencies will be added. He told me in near future when you go to Radioazadi site will direct you to the Radio Farda site. Sincerely (P. Mohazzabi, Nov 26, WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NEW US BROADCASTING INITIATIVE TO IRAN The President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Tom Dine, has given details to RFE/RL staff of the latest US international broadcasting initiative. Based on the concept of Radio Sawa, an Arabic language service aimed at young people established earlier this year, Radio Farda ('Tomorrow' in Farsi) will sign on in mid-December with programming aimed at the 70% of Iranians under the age of 30. RFE/RL's existing service to Iran, Radio Azadi, will close around 1 December. The service was established at the request of Congress in 1998. Radio Farda is a joint venture between RFE/RL and the Voice of America, under the auspices of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Existing staff from both stations will be involved in the new 24 hour service, which will have a format of Persian and Western popular music, news, features and information. The amount of time devoted to news and current affairs will be more than 5 hours a day, and can be increased if necessary. Although RFE/RL's Persian Service which has been broadcast only on shortwave, Radio Farda will use powerful medium wave transmitters in nearby countries to increase the potential audience. Shortwave will continue to be used (© Radio Netherlands Media Network Nov 26 via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 4:47 PM Subject: Radio Farda Tom Dine sent the following message out to the RFE/RL staff today (Nov 18 2002)... RFE/RL Colleagues: I am delighted to inform you about an exciting and important new broadcasting initiative at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Radio Farda ' 'Tomorrow' in Farsi -- will go on the air in mid- December. It will be an around-the-clock radio station for Iran, targeted primarily at Iranians under the age of 30, which is about 70 percent of the country's population. Radio Farda is a joint venture between RFE/RL and the Voice of America, under the auspices of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Each day Radio Farda will provide more than five hours of original news, features and other information. In the event of breaking news or other important events, more news time will be added. The remainder of the program will be music, a combination of popular Persian and Western songs aimed at attracting young Iranians to Farda's news products. Radio Farda's news and information offerings will project the same seriousness of purpose and adherence to RFE/RL's surrogate mission of promoting democracy, covering local and relevant international news, and living up to our Professional Code, embodying the highest journalistic standards of accuracy and objectivity, as have the programs of our Persian Service. In preparation for the launch of this new service, RFE/RL's Persian Service -- Radio 'Azadi" -- will go off the air about December 1. This service was established in 1998 at the request of Congress. Under the outstanding leadership of Steve Fairbanks, this service has fulfilled its mission with distinction. It has attracted a significant audience in Iran, particularly among influential figures in politics and among its opposition. Its success has been acknowledged even by Iran's hard- line leaders, who regularly denounce its programs -- a sure sign that they are listening and concerned with our impact, and the fact that the regime also jams our programs. Radio Farda will aim to build on this success by attracting new and larger audiences. The hard-working broadcasters of the Persian Service will join Radio Farda's news team. They will work under the direction of Mardo Soghom. Ideally suited for this task, Mardo is a native of Iran and fluent in Farsi. He has led our successful Armenian Service, one of his achievements being the introduction of lively, youth oriented programming. At my request, he spearheaded the start-up of Radio Free Iraq in 1998. Steve Fairbanks will take on new duties at RFE/RL, drawing on his analytical and writing skills as one of America's foremost experts on Iranian developments. Mardo and our Persian Service broadcasters will be joined by 10 broadcasters from the Voice of America. They will work in RFE/RL's Washington offices under the direction of Ali Farhoodi, a VOA veteran whose most recent assignment has been as deputy chief of the West Asia Branch. We are very pleased to welcome Ali and his colleagues and look forward to working together on the Farda team. Mardo and Ali have already forged a close, working partnership of the highest order. I also welcome Sara Valinejad to RFE/RL. She will work from Washington as the music director of Radio Farda, assembling a blend of Western and Persian music that will help attract young listeners to Radio Farda's news and information programs. For your information, Sara is a professional performer of Persian music in the Greater Washington area. I am pleased that, unlike RFE/RL's Persian Service which was broadcast to Iran only on shortwave, Radio Farda will be beamed into Iran from powerful medium wave transmitters. MW will greatly increase prospects of building a large audience ' and quickly. At the same time, we will continue with SW. Michele DuBach and I will keep you informed of further developments relating to Radio Farda in coming weeks. Please join me in wishing Mardo, our Persian Service broadcasters, and their VOA broadcasting partners success in this important new venture of U.S. international broadcasting. I thank Steve Fairbanks for his groundbreaking role, for his dedication, hard work, and knowledge of Iran in creating and leading RFE/RL's Persian Service. RFE/RL's participation in this new 24/7 Iran radio puts us on the cutting edge of new ways to communicate and achieve our target goals. Tom (from http://www.publicdiplomacy.org/news/RadioFarda20021118.html via Michiel Schaay, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW PERSIAN-LANGUAGE RADIO SERVICE PLANNED BY BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BBG) Washington, D.C., November 22, 2002— Radio Farda - a new Persian-language radio station aimed at the broad mass of people under 30 in Iran - will begin broadcasting in December 2002, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has announced. ``We need to reach out to the young people of Iran, large numbers of whom share the American ideals of freedom and democracy,`` said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the BBG`s chairman. ``We want to bring them accurate news and information about the United States and the world.`` Radio Farda, which means ``Radio Tomorrow`` in Persian, will be a joint effort of two BBG entities: The Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Operated from Washington and Prague, Czech Republic, Radio Farda will broadcast news, features and other information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, it will broadcast a combination of popular Persian and Western music designed to appeal to a young audience. Norman J. Pattiz, chairman of the BBG`s Middle East Committee, which oversees the project, said Radio Farda ``will target an audience that has not been targeted before by U.S. international broadcasting.`` He noted that about 70 percent of Iran`s population is under 30 years old. Pattiz, who also oversaw creation of the BBG`s highly successful Radio Sawa http://www.radiosawa.com an Arabic-language station that reaches the Middle East, said, ``Because of Radio Sawa`s overwhelming success in attracting audiences and new listeners, the BBG believes a similarly formatted service in Persian directed at Iran is a high priority.`` Radio Farda will complement the VOA`s existing Farsi service on shortwave, which has a strong following in Iran. VOA also broadcasts two popular television shows to Iran: ``Next Chapter,`` a weekly, hour-long, youth-oriented show, and ``Roundtable with You,`` a news and public affairs show. Radio Farda will be broadcast on medium wave (AM) as well as on shortwave, digital audio satellite and by the Internet. The total budget is expected to be about $8 million, all of it from internal reallocations by the BBG. No new funding is required. The Broadcasting Board of Governors is a nine-member, presidentially appointed body, which supervises all U.S. government-supported non- military international broadcasting, including VOA, RFE/RL, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti, and WORLDNET Television. Current governors include Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Edward E. Kaufman, Norman J. Pattiz, Robert M. Ledbetter, Jr., Joaquin Blaya, Blanquita W. Cullum, D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, Steven Simmons and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who serves a an ex officio member. For more information, contact: Joan Mower (202.260.0167 or 202.401.3736), jmower@ibb.gov, or go to http://www.bbg.gov. (BBG press release via Kim Elliott, DXLD) FOUR NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED TO THE BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BBG) http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=46&mode=general (BBG press release Nov 19 via DXLD) BQ Cullum got all the attention, but three other new BBG members were also appointed. This tells a bit of their background, and accompanying releases give more detail about each one http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?mode=general (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. STEVE ANDERSON ARRESTED BY FEDS Steven Howard Anderson, a.k.a. Steve Anderson, formerly the operator of the KSMR, the longest running clandestine station in history with both a target area and a transmitter within the United States (in Pulaski County, Kentucky), was arrested Friday, November 22 in Cherokee County, North Carolina by officers of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. According to the Louisville Courier Journal, Anderson was initially held in Bumcombe County Jail in Asheville, North Carolina, pending a planned transfer to a Kentucky detention center on or about November 25, where he was scheduled to face various charges. All this took place about five miles from Brasstown, North Carolina, the longtime home of Grove Enterprises and Monitoring Times magazine. Brasstown is actually in Clay County, North Carolina, but it is only five miles from Murphy, the county seat of Cherokee County, North Carolina. Brasstown`s web site has a monthly contest with a prize of a canned opossum. If you don`t believe me, check out http://www.clayscorner.com/contest.shtml on your internet dial. So, Anderson was not discovered in anything like what we would call an urban area. The jail in Asheville, a newly constructed facility that was ordered to be built by a court after the old jail was found to be illegally deteriorated, has a web site that outlines procedures for visiting inmates, if you`d like to take a trip to this historic site. The URL of http://www.buncombesheriff.org/detentioncenter_g.html is the place to go for additional information. We thank a variety of people for sending information to us about this story that was breaking right at deadline time for The ACE. These people include the original poster on rec.radio.shortwave about this story, a DXer named William Smith. Chris Lobdell, Bob Montgomery, and Artie Bigley quickly noticed that the Courier Journal was running daily coverage of the events (George Zeller, Clandestine Profile, Dec the A*C*E via DXLD) ** U S A. WMLK: Gary McAvin took the time to explain to me what the status of their 250 kW unit is. We got this 10 ton unit and had to first reassemble it. You have to understand that a lot of the peripherals did not come with the set. Parts have to be ordered and things have to be made and this takes time. While we hoped to have it on by now, we have had to back order some parts, so this has delayed us a bit. For the moment, we are on 9465 from 1600-2100 Sun-Fri with 50 kW (via Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 25, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** U S A. WBOH, 5920, tells Cumbre DX that they are having a bit of a problem with the transmitter. Once they have it worked out, they plan to put this unit on the air (via Hans Johnson, TX, Nov 25, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I frequently go by this frequency when checking YB-400 memory bank, and nothing heard for weeks since initial lowpower tests (gh, OK, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, noticed that WWRB Tennessee, 12172 KHz is pushing a much better signal to my QTH (Gold Coast Q AUS) noted at 1400 talking about vegetables and vegetable growers (fascinating; heard mention of WBCF?) and was still there at 2100 but starting to fade by that time. Also, I wish WJIE would drop down 5 kc (7485 KHz) to avoid East Asia Russia on USB; would probably be a much better solution to the problem. Both clash badly here. Thanks Glenn (Tim Gaynor, Oxenford Q AUS, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9955, WRMI: I have tried for these guys all over the country and I finally seemed to have found a spot where they overcome the jamming in the morning time frame. Usually pretty readable by 1040 and even better after 1100 depending on how many jammers the Cubans are running (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. THANKSGIVING/CHANUKAH PROGRAMS ON NYC RADIO With American Thanksgiving on Thursday, and Chanukah beginning Friday night, here is a link to some holiday programming on NYC radio stations. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/38485p-36312c.html Some programs that stand out, at least to me, are: The making of John Coltraine`s "A Love Supreme", WBGO 4-6 PM (GMT-5) Thursday, and on WBGO and WNYC-FM Friday, 9-11 PM. It is not unlikely that this is on other U.S. public radio stations. A Klezmer Nutcracker, WNYC-FM, Friday 7-8 PM The 35th Anniversary of the band Chicago, WBZO 5 P.M., Friday, top 5 songs from various years at the top of each hour Thursday. Finding and posting further holiday programming on shortwave and on local stations, preferably those which still have webcasts, is left as an exercise to the reader (Joel Rubin, Queens, Nov 26, swprograms via DXLD) See http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html ** U S A. WDIV PLANS A HIGH-TECH FIRST FOR PARADE COVERAGE November 25, 2002 BY MIKE WENDLAND, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST When WDIV-TV (Channel 4) shows America's Thanksgiving Parade on Thursday, it'll be a moment for Detroit history books: the city's first locally produced broadcast in high-definition television. That gives the Detroit NBC affiliate bragging rights that only a handful of other stations around the country can claim. "By 2006, every station is going to have to be able to do hi-def," says WDIV General Manager Joe Berwanger. "So I figured we might as well start getting experience right now by determining just what is involved." One thing Berwanger found out right away is that doing hi- def is expensive, about 30 percent more than the station's traditional costs in providing live coverage of the annual event. That's because traditional broadcasting gear isn't compatible with high definition. WDIV Chief Engineer Marcus Williams scoured the country to find a live remote truck and the specialized cameras needed to cover the event. Only about five production companies can provide live coverage, and they are hard to get. The rented hi-def remote truck expected to arrive in Detroit sometime today was last used to cover the MTV Music Awards show in New York. It also was in service at the Winter Olympics, the World Series and the U.S. Open tennis tournament. All 10 cameras that Williams' crew will use have to be hi-def units. That includes the two that are mounted on cranes and the three portable units that WDIV photographers will carry on their shoulders as they walk along Woodward for street-level close-ups. The cameras, which capture images in a widescreen format, take some getting used to. "Instead of having to stand far back to get a wide shot of a band, these cameras have a greater width of view," Williams says. "That brings everything much clearer and closer." Williams says the sheer quality of hi-def format will also present some unusual challenges. Hi-def provides 1,080 lines of resolution, compared with the standard 525 lines seen on analog home television sets. That means much more vivid colors and a sharpness in picture quality that will keep technicians and on-air talent on their toes. If anchors Carmen Harlan and Devin Scillian have any lint on their clothes, or the set they'll use has any dents or dings, the hi-def picture will reveal it. There are other technical challenges. Usually, a simple microwave radio transmitter would be used to send the remote signal back to the downtown Detroit studios. But with HDTV, SBC Ameritech's Broadcast Services Division had to be brought in to install high-speed fiber optic lines directly to the studio master control. Then there's the sound. More than 35 microphones will be strung out along the parade route, 24 of them wireless and in stereo. "The improvement in the sound we get from the bands and the things that happen as the parade passes by will be very noticeable," Williams says. "It will really maximize the hi-def experience." Even traditional analog sets without digital receivers should notice a better picture, Williams says. "That's because we're starting with a better quality image," he says. Berwanger says he has no idea how many people in the Detroit area currently have hi-def sets, which start at around $1,500 and go up to $8,000. "It's not a big audience," he concedes. "But that's not why we're doing it. Forever on from this time, we'll be able to say we were the first local station to do a live event in HDTV. So we're thrilled." Channel 4's parade coverage begins Thursday at 8 a.m. with a "Dateline Detroit" preview, followed by three hours of the big march down Woodward starting at 9 (via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. PROPOSAL: SATELLITE-FED TRANSLATORS IN THE COMMERCIAL FM BAND The FCC has assigned RM-10609 to a proposal by Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls and two smaller broadcasters for authority to allow satellite- fed translators in the "non-reserved" FM band (92-108 MHz). This is the band that is currently used by [commercial] broadcasters, over- the-air-fed translators and most LPFM stations. Currently, "Satellators" are restricted to the 88-92 MHz band and the translator must be owned by the primary station. The petitioners claim this proposal will have little impact on existing stations in the 92-108 band since there is currently a freeze on new NCE translators in that band, yet the petitioners did leave the door open for "displacement" applications for stations moving from the reserved band (88-92) to the higher band.... It does not appear that a Public Notice has been issued (Fred Vobbe, Nov 27, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. Sharp-eyed Matt Edwards, previous M-Street Journal owner, e- mailed about an item in the Sept. 24 FCC Daily Digest. FreePage in New York City would be able to experimentally add what it offers on former paging channels. The FCC also plans to abandon analog cellular in five years. ``They really want everything to be digital, don`t they? Somewhere around Paragraph 66 they discuss the Free-Page proposal to provide SCA-like services on Part 22 channels.`` Seven frequencies near 158 MHz would be utilized, with power even greater than the Weather Service uses at 162.55, etc., ``so coverage will be better, too. Each channel is 30 kHz wide and licensed on an exclusive basis with the rules being similar to FM --- interference contours, reliable service, etc. Are these the beginnings of a new `narrowcast` band? The FCC would permit paging companies to use their channels for programming of interest to a narrow or specialized audience, which might include children`s and foreign language programming, plus reading to the blind. The Commission feels that any rate regulation of the new service will be unnecessary, and that existing mobile communications services would not be unduly harmed by such new uses for the frequencies. Like SCS, the Commission would consider any services envisioned by FreePage to not be ``broadcasting.`` ``We believe that a developmental license will afford FreePage the opportunity to assess consumer demand for its LPDS service offering,`` said the Commission (Nov FMedia via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, To answer your question and prove I read DXLD thoroughly, I work for WSCL/WSDL. I am a volunteer announcer with a classical music program on Sunday afternoon from 1 until 5 PM. I have also filled in for the news person for a few days doing Morning Edition last Spring. The station is owned by the Salisbury University Foundation with studios on the campus of Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD. We have two transmitters, WSCL in Seaford, DE at 30 kW ERP at 600 feet and WSDL at about 18 kW at 300 feet in Roxana, DE. We cover most of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of MD with these two transmitters. WSCL is 15+ years old. Thanks for your long-time contribution to the radio hobby. 73, ~*-.,_,.-*~`^`~*-.,_,.-*~`^`~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -*~`^`~*-.,_,.-*~`^`~*-.,_,.-*~`^ ** U S A. KOPN, *89.5, Columbia MO, celebrates 30 years on the air. Its heritage emanates from Lew Hill`s pioneering efforts in starting KPFA *94.1 Berkeley CA, and extends to Jeremy Landsman`s coming over to help after he sold KDNA 102.5 St. Louis. KOPN has two fulltime staff, two parttimers and a volunteer presence of nearly 120. The station runs the gamut of programming from Jewish to news of technology, ``all different kinds of music, just about everything we can think of,`` said Robert Holloway, operations coördinator, in the NFCB`s Community Radio News. The station is advertising for a station manager, B.A. or B.S. degree, 3-5 years of supervisory experience in radio or related field, fulltime with benefits, resumé and letter of intent, salary requirements and three references to: Carl Wingo, Board of Directors, KOPN, 915 E. Broadway, Columbia MO 65201-4857, or to cwingo@coin.org (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC APPROVES LICENSE FOR U OF O RADIO STATION University of the Ozarks officials recently learned that the Federal Communications Commission has approved the university`s application for a low-power FM radio station. While Ozarks has had a student-operated closed-circuit access radio stations on campus in the 190`s and early 1990`s, this will be the university`s first broadcast station. The 100-watt station will operate out of a new studio on the first floor of Walker Hall and will have a radius of about five miles. The FCC has appointed the U of O station the FM frequency of 100.5, but the university is awaiting word on whether or not the FCC will approve the request for the call letter KUOZ. The radio station will be a community format station, meaning members of the student body, staff, faculty and Clarksville community will have an opportunity to have a voice in its format. According to U of O`s Director of Media Services Susan Dorney, who will serve as station manager, the station will play a variety of music, including classical, jazz, blues, college alternative and Big Band era. "We want to provide an education alternative to mainstream music heard on commercial radio," Dorney said. The station hopes to go on the air sometime in the late spring, according to Dorney. Copyright © 2002, Russellville [ARKANSAS] Newspapers, Inc. Nov 26, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Several more stories about saving the Pacifica tape archives: http://www.pacifica.org/news/021121_PRAinthenews.html#SFGate (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Tom Jones, president and founder of KNXR 97.5 Rochester MN, writes me: ``I was at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in Los Angeles (in early October). iBiquity had a lone booth on the show floor with few visitors. I approached the man in the booth and asked him if he could explain why I (as a long-time broadcaster) was having such a difficult time getting excited about IBOC digital radio. He said he would have one of his colleagues call me! ``On October 1, Motorola announced Symphony digital radio, and I spent a good deal of time with them in their showroom at the AES. It looks promising and as a broadcaster I am excited... I was told that by December they would have radios available for us radio owners/managers to install in our cars and hear the Symphony radio system in action. ``With the demos of IBOC that I heard at the past NAB show, we would have no problem competing with IBOC digital radio with our present analog signal. We have infinite resolution and we don`t throw any bits away! Interestingly, the focus at AES was 96 kHz sampling with 24 bit words for better master recording. Super Audio CDs were also very present. At the same time, iBiquity is attempting to force just the opposite down our throats! To me, the Motorola option simply makes more sense.`` The Motorola system was reviewed in Radio World newspaper under the heading, ``Motorola Asks: Why IBOC? Just Make the Radio Sound Better.`` The RW article points out that the Motorola system can adjust automatically to both 100 and 200 kHz FM station bandwidths, with costs expected to add $5 to $10 to the price of an existing radio, once mass production is underway. iBiquity was quoted as not seeing Symphony as a competitor to its IBOC (``HD``) Radio (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO STATION`S SALE HELD UP - FANS` PETITION SLOWS PURCHASE OF WGLB --- By DAN BENSON Last Updated: Nov. 22, 2002 Saukville [WI] - The sale of an idiosyncratic "retro radio" station and its expected changeover to a Roman Catholic format [EWTN] will be delayed at least until mid-January thanks to a petition signed by hundreds of area residents opposing the sale. The petition was signed by about 500 fans of WGLB-FM (100.1), the station being sold.... http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/nov02/98076.asp (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. RIVALS DISPUTING CLEAR CHANNEL STATION PROPOSAL Kathy Showalter, Business First Clear Channel Communications Inc. wants to move a Marion radio station to Dublin, but rival executives think the request is more about profit than good service to the affluent suburb. Clear Channel wants to provide Dublin with its first hometown radio signal, according to documents filed with Federal Communications Commission. Clear Channel proposes to move Marion country station WMRN-FM to Dublin and concurrently shift Hillsboro`s WSRW-FM, also a country station, to Chillicothe. To ensure the signals from the relocated stations won`t interfere with signals from other stations, Clear Channel also proposes to downgrade the channels of WMRN and WSRW. The moves would leave Marion and Hillsboro with one radio station apiece, but it would raise Clear Channel`s stake in metro Columbus to six stations. "It`s bull----," Alan Goodman, president of Franklin Communications Inc., said of Clear Channel`s request.... http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2002/11/18/story5.html (Business First, Columbus OH, Nov 15 via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. FANS MISS LONGTIME MACON RADIO PERSONALITY By Don Schanche Jr., [Macon] Telegraph Staff Writer Posted on Mon, Nov. 25, 2002 For the past three weeks, something has been missing from the air in Middle Georgia. A voice, to be specific: the voice of a brash, funny and sometimes depressed 42-year-old Alabama native and self-described "redneck hick." His absence has prompted phone calls to a former county commissioner, conversation over coffee at Jeneane`s Cafe and even letters to the editor of The Macon Telegraph. Rick Knight has left the building. The afternoon DJ who had entertained and sometimes irritated WDEN listeners since 1987 with his offbeat blend of comedy, confession and country music was terminated Nov. 4. "They fired me, canned me, gave me the pink slip, showed me the door, run me off," Knight said ruefully during an interview at his downtown Macon apartment. (Note to dedicated listeners: No, Rick Knight doesn`t really live in his pickup truck.) Knight`s 15 years at the city`s leading country station came to a close not long after U.S. Broadcasting agreed to sell WDEN, 99 on the FM dial, and seven other Macon-area stations to Atlanta-based Cumulus, the nation`s second-largest radio chain. The official reason for Knight`s termination: "On-air style does not fit company`s programming strategies." ... http://www.macon.com/mld/telegraph/news/local/4598170.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Broadcasters and the US Fish & Wildlife Service are getting together in order to try to decide finally whether or not towers kill birds, and if so what can be done about the problem. The data could determine where radio stations locate their towers and how they light them, according to Randy J. Stine, writing in Radio World. The F&WS has come up with some voluntary guidelines, which broadcasters fear might be used by some groups to make it even more difficult to locate towers. Migrating songbirds are especially vulnerable to collisions with all the new communications towers coming into being. On days with low cloud ceilings, birds crash into towers, guywires or the ground and are killed. Some 10,000 Lapland Longspurs were killed in 1998 at a 128 m TV tower in Kansas during a snowstorm, and 30,000 birds died in a single night in a 1974 incident involving an Eau Claire WI communications tower. American Tower has proposed building a series of 61 m towers on forestland in Arizona as part of a three-year study of towers` effects on birds. It wants construction to be complete in time for the spring 2003 migration. NAB President Eddie Fritts sent a letter to congressional leaders in June. He wrote: ``We urge you to support the US F&WS` efforts to secure federal funding for this scientific endeavor... We are optimistic that a cost-effective remedy to this problem will be found with this basic research.`` (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, This article was in the Bryan, Ohio Times this afternoon. Channel 63 is a Christian broadcaster and the transmitter is in Indiana just a few miles west of Edgerton. I only copied the portion of the article that pertained to this problem (Charlie Hinkle, Pioneer, OH, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: EDGERTON VILLAGE COUNCIL HEARS OF SIGNAL INTERFERENCE By MARCI HUMMEL - Times Business Editor EDGERTON - Steve LaLonde of rural Edgerton spoke to Edgerton Village Council Monday evening about a problem plaguing several residences in the rural Edgerton and northeast Indiana area. Mr. LaLonde said ever since Channel 63 switched to a digital signal about six weeks ago, television reception of other channels has suffered from interference. He said the digital signal is overpowering VHF and UHF signals. Mr. LaLonde said he contacted the Federal Communications Commission and was told to buy a filter. However, since everyone in the area who does not subscribe to a cable service or satellite system is having the same problem, the FCC gave him some other options: He could get up a petition and obtain signatures or ask the village council and township trustees to write to the FCC. The FCC told him it could do something about the problem, he said, but that it would be more effective if members of the local government sent letters. Mr. LaLonde said he had contacted Channel 63 and was told it was operating according to FCC regulations. James Brown, village administrator, asked council if members would be willing to sign a letter, and they agreed to do so. He suggested Mr. LaLonde obtain signatures to mail with the letter for added effect. (via Charles Hinkle, DXLD) ** U S A. THREATENED LICENSE REVOCATION AND A $300,000 FINE MAY BE THE BIGGEST SINGLE-STATION FCC PENALTY EVER. Unauthorized transfer of control -- plus tower problems and failure to respond to Commission inquiries -- have put WMGA licensee Radio Moultrie in very hot water. The Georgia company now faces a show-cause hearing on license revocation for regional Mexican WMGA, Moultrie (1130). (Inside Radio, M-Street via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY: Freq change of Gospel For Asia in SE Asian languages via DTK/WER 250 kW: 2330-0030 NF 9765(55444) 075 deg, ex 11680 to avoid Radio Cairo in Arabic 0030-0130 NF 9490(55444) 090 deg, ex 11680 to avoid Radio Cairo in Arabic/Spanish (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 25 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. TAIWAN/U S A: Freq change for WYFR via TAI: 1300-1500 in English and 1500-1600 in Hindi on NF 11560*(33343), ex 11550 * co-ch 1330-1530 Radio Cairo in Persian on 11560.2 1400-1500 Voice of Khmer Khrom R in Khmer on Tuesday on nominal 11560.0 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 25 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS VIA CHILE - O programa Altas Ondas, da Voz Cristã, completou um ano no ar no início do mês de novembro. O aniversário ocorre juntamente com o reconhecimento de toda a comunidade de dexista e radioescutas brasileiros, já que é um programa que dispensa 60 minutos para falar de rádio e ondas curtas. Seu reconhecimento não é apenas dos brasileiros. Muitos dexistas de todo o mundo começaram a prestar a atenção no trabalho dos brasileiros. O Altas Ondas tem audiência de colegas como Anker Petersen, da Dinamarca; Martin Elbe, da Alemanha; Henrik Klemetz, da Suécia; e Arnaldo Slaen, da Argentina. O Altas Ondas veio resgatar o espaço nobre que o dexismo brasileiro perdeu em emissoras internacionais, há alguns anos, quando a Rádio Nederland acabou com o programa "O Mundo das Comunicações". O que está esperando? Sintonize os 21500 kHz, todas as sextas-feiras e sábados, às 1600, ou acesse o áudio em http:;/www.vozcrista.com Para sua comodidade, o programa conta com endereço eletrônico para o recebimento de informes. Faça o seu e envie para: altasondas@v... [truncated] Parabéns Voz Cristã por um ano de Altas Ondas! (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Nov 26 via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Additional frequency for Radio Tashkent in English via MSK 100 kW / 240 deg: 2030-2056 and 2130-2156 on 7185 (55444) // 5025 (54433) and 11905 (43333) (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 25 via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) The others presumably still from Tashkent itself, but new 7185 from Moscow? Believe that is a first (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** VATICAN STATE. In approximately 1992-96y one of CVA`s transmitters was putting huge amount of white noise in approx 1 MHz range around its nominal QRG. As one clever guy supposed, they had faulty synthesizer bringing countless spurs (with step of 1-10 Hz or so). I had very unpleasant hours when that tx was on and carried something beamed into my direction (CVA to FE, etc). That`s another story. (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer Nov 20 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** VATICAN [and non]. Vatican Radio - B02 definitive schedule shows these transmissions via overseas relays: 6020 Puge 1225-1315 Mandarin [Philippines] 6205 Irkutsk 2200-2245 Mandarin 6205 Irkutsk 1315-1345 Vietnamese 6210 Samara 1710-1740 Russian 9865 Tashkent 1450-1620 various langs to SAs From Dec-01, amendments are planned: 1330-1400 Russian 11805 (additional freq), 13645 unchanged; 2200-2245 Mandarin 11830 (additional freq), 7305 9600 unchanged (all via SMG) [Santa Maria di Galeria, Italy] For all of B02, 9865 0035-0200 continues from SMG to Asia (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) Just got VR`s new slick printed schedule (and an even slicker glossy card showing all the saint days in 2003y, bound to be handy), and as usual there is NO mention of external relay sites; the map still gives the impression that all azimuths lead to Rome; but hardly the only misleading info put out by the RCC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos Glenn. Espero te encuentres bien. En Venezuela, a Chávez le molesta que los canales de Televisión informen a la población lo que ocurre en el país. A Chávez sólo le interesa que digan lo que el quiere oir. Por tal motivo arremetió hoy nuevamente contra los canales de televisión, específicamente contra Globovisión. Lo único que faltó que dijera es que estaba cerrado. Parece que en este país la única verdad tiene que ser la verdad de Hugo Chávez. A continuación un sonido interesante donde se puede oir a Chávez arremetiendo contra los canales de TV. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Enclosed a one-minute clip of Chávez, saying his government will not permit TV stations to predict or assist coups; what they are doing is bordering on illegality, especially one of the four networks... (gh) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE from GERMANY to VIETNAM. 15715, Chan Troi Moi --- been listening to this one *1330-1430* daily, heard with fair signals here. IDs at start and close and still opening with "My Country" song sung by woman. Discovered that they have an email address of ctm@radioctm.com -- Website isn`t working right now, but seems to have been http://www.radioctm.com Don`t confuse with New Horizon magazine and website which has nothing to do with this station (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov, Cumbre DX Nov 25 via DXLD) This is High Adventure V. of Hope, Vietnamese, 1330-1430 VTN, 15715 JUL (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX via DXLD) {Not clandestine {M. Schoech)} ** VIRGIN ISLANDS BRITISH. T-E FM DX to Brasil: See PROPAGATION below ** WALES [non]. Wales R International: Yesterday 23 Nov, I heard their txion to Australasia 1130-1200 on 17625. Reception was not good though due to strong co-channel interference from CNR2, China. So I can confirm that their Saturdays only transmission to Australasia does indeed exist! (Barry Hartley, NZ, BC-DX Nov 24 via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA [non]. Updated B-02 schedule for Radio Yugoslavia via BEO 250 kW: [sic: Belgrade??? Surely Bijeljina, B-H, as usual --- gh] 2330-2358 D a i l y 9580 055 deg Chinese to SoEaAs 0000-0028 D a i l y 9680 265 deg Spanish to SoAmWe 0030-0058 Mon - Sat 7115 310 deg Serbian to NoAmEa 0030-0128 Sun only 7115 310 deg Serbian to NoAmEa 0100-0128 Mon - Sat 7115 310 deg English to NoAmEa 0130-0158 D a i l y 7115 310 deg Serbian to NoAmEa || relay R. Beograd 0200-0228 D a i l y 7130 325 deg English to NoAmWe 1330-1358 Mon - Fri 11835#100 deg English to AUS 1400-1458 Mon - Fri 11835*100 deg Serbian to AUS || relay R. Beograd 1500-1528 Mon - Fri 11835*100 deg Serbian to AUS 1530-1558 D a i l y 11800 130 deg Arabic to ME 1600-1628 D a i l y 6100 040 deg Russian to RUS 1630-1643 D a i l y 6100 non-dir Hungarian to Eu 1645-1658 D a i l y 6100 130 deg Greek to SoEaEu 1700-1728 D a i l y 6100 310 deg French to WeEu 1730-1758 D a i l y 6100 310 deg German to WeEu 1800-1813 D a i l y 6100 180 deg Albanian to SoEaEu 1815-1828 D a i l y 6100 130 deg Bulgarian to SoEaEu 1830-1858 D a i l y 6100 310 deg Italian to WeEu 1900-1928 D a i l y 6100 040 deg Russian to RUS 1930-1958 D a i l y 6100 310 deg English to WeEu 2000-2028 D a i l y 7200 250 deg Spanish to SoEu || not on registered 7220 2030-2058 Sun - Fri 6100 310 deg Serbian to WeEu 2030-2128 Sat only 6100 310 deg Serbian to WeEu 2100-2128 Sun - Fri 6100 310 deg German to WeEu 2130-2158 D a i l y 6100 310 deg French to WeEu 2200-2228 D a i l y 6100 310 deg English to WeEu # co-ch BBC in Bengali * totally blocked by Radio Free Europe in Arabic 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 25 via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA (Zanzibar) 11734.1, R. T. Zanzibar 1645-1907 Nov 22. First checked at 1645, and their carrier was detected. By 1907 re- check, SINPO was 44444. News presented by a male, mentions of Washington, Bin Laden, and Zanzibar (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3749.75, 0225 Nov 22, heard with audio for the first time in a long time, nondescript Latin American music, very weak signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Likely 3 x 1250 or 5 x 750 UNIDENTIFIED. 4920.00, 1011-1116 Nov 18/19/21/23. Haven`t had a lot of time to investigate this one; programing sounds like a US MW harmonic, EE talk and ads, "YMCA" by the Village People heard one morning, rough copy in USB until R. Quito fades out, seemed to be mixing with foreign language station (India?) around 1230 Nov 23 (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1640 X 3, 1230 X 4, OR 820 X 6 UNIDENTIFIED. Re 15056: I`m also hearing this carrier at various times, often at fair level. Never any trace of audio so far. It also operates when there is nothing on 15060, so it is not a jammer against Taiwan (Olle Alm, Sweden, 25 Nov, WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See COLOMBIA This [15056.5] has been audible often at various times at my location during the last two weeks or so, but no audio - or anything else - has been heard whenever tuned. The signal is peaking to 9 on my S meter at 1100 today [Nov.26] with moderate fading. I find nothing logged on this frequency in (undated) monitoring files that I have. 73`s (Noel R. Green, Blackpool - NW England, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FREQUENCY CLASHES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These B-02 frequency pile-ups have been noted from our Melbourne Monitoring Station on Nov 18/19: 5975 1900-1930: RKI-Kimjae (German) to Eu, VOR-Samara (French) to Eu 5960 1900-1915: RRI-Tiganesti (German) to Eu, NHK-Yamata (Russian) to Siberia/Eu 5990 1915-1930: BBC-Rampisham (Russian) to Eu, R. Ethiopia (domestic) 6090 1800-1900: BBC-SLA (Persian)to ME, VOR-Samara (English) to Eu 6030 1900-1930: BBC-Wof (Arabic)to Eu, VOR-Samara (Czech) to Eu 6180 1900-1930: RTI-Skelton (German) to Eu, VOIRI (French) to Eu 7145 1930-2000: VOV-Son Tay (French) to Eu, DW-Wertachtal (Russian) t to Eu 7170 1930-2000: REE-Noblejas (Arabic) to NAf, VOA-Wof (S. Croatian) to Eu 7165 1900-1030: VOIRI-Tehran (Albanian) to Eu, RFE-Biblis (Romanian) to Eu 11685 1830-1900: VI-Darwin (English) to As, CRI-Beijing (Russian) to Eu 11665 2000-2030: WYFR-Okeechobee (Spanish) to Eu, NHK-Yamata (Japanese) to As 11680 2000-2030: BBC-Rampisham (Arabic) to ME, CRI-Beijing (S. Croatian) to Eu 11835 1830-1900: RFE-Briech to ME, CRI-Kunming (Arabic) to ME 11895 2000-2030: DW-Kigali (Portuguese) to Af, and HCJB (English) to WAf and Eu (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Excellent opportunity for Hawaii-BC ducting [VHF, UHF] Wednesday nite/Thursday. See my maps for more details: http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo_wam.html DX Web Site: http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/ Tropo Forecast Maps: http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo.html (William R. Hepburn, Ont., Nov 26, WTFDA via DXLD) Looking at the maps he apparently means British Columbia, i.e. Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands at least, tho conditions to Baja California Sur are also favorable (gh, DXLD) TRANS-EQUATORIAL FM DX SEASON IS ON! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ILHAS VIRGENS BRITÂNICAS 90.9 24/11 2348 ZJKC, Roadtown-Tortola, EE, final do programa, algo como "Worldwide Rock"n roll....show" em seguida música reggae, 33422 (alternando com R. Bandeirantes, S. Paulo 90.9). Ouvida também em 23/11 à 0031 com talks em EE. SCM* PORTO RICO 90.5 24/11 2337 WIDA, Carolina, SS, mx, OM em SS, 33333 SCM* 97.5 23/11 0020 Tentativo Porto Rico, mx, advs e anúncios, jingle (não compreendido), 23322 SCM* UNID 96.9 23/11 0008 UNID, religioso no estilo pentecostal, YL exaltada, OM, SS 23322 SCM* (Samuel Cássio Martins, escutas no "Brôa", Itirapina-SP, @tividade DX via DXLD) De Jaraguá do Sul, SC, Márcio Roberto Polheim da Silva tem as seguintes escutas e notícias: Esta época do ano é muito propícia às escutas de FMs do Caribe, no sul do Brasil. Estou conseguindo sintonizar as seguintes FMS caribenhas: 93,70 MHZ Rádio WZNT, Porto Rico 94,50 MHZ The Wave FM, Santa Lúcia 97,30 MHZ Radio Saint Lucia, Santa Lúcia 95,30 MHZ Hot FM, Barbados Também estou sintonizando duas FMs em 100,10 MHZ e 95,50 MHZ, ambas transmitindo em língua inglesa, mas ainda não identifiquei as mesmas. (Márcio Roberto Polheim da Silva Jaraguá do Sul/SC, @tividade DX Nov 26 via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) 100.1 could be Caribbean Beacon, Anguilla, \\ SW (gh, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-185, November 27, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com [NOTE: THIS ISSUE IS IN TWO PARTS, CONTINUED AS DXLD 2-186] 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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1158: WBCQ: Wed 2300 7415, 17495-CUSB; Mon 0545 on 7415 [ex 0515] WWCR: Thu 2130 15825, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1158.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1158.html [from Thu] RESOURCES from Nagoya DXers Circle include: B-02 SCHEDULES Here is a file which you may find convenient, many of them obviously from Observer, DXLD and other recognizable sources, but NOT attributed. Also still includes some B-01 and A-02 schedules, in the absence of newer ones, so watch closely for the B-02 icons in red. Also includes lots of live audio links. See FRANCE http://www2.starcat.ne.jp/~ndxc/b02ex.htm HFCC B-02 Also, if you don`t want to use up your own disk space, or keep unzipping it when you need it, NDXC also provides the HFCC B-02 schedule: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Technopolis-Mars/6234/b02all.txt WEBSITE & WEBCAST LINKS The NDXC Webcast page includes lots of links to websites and live streams, including non-SW stations, in country order: http://www2.starcat.ne.jp/~ndxc/link.htm (Glenn Hauser, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. INDIA 4760, AIR Port Blair, 1128-1145 Nov 22. SC vocals and Hindi film music; announcements. Almost gone by 1145. This one has been a regular the past two weeks. SINPO 24332 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Article about Admiral Byrd's Antarctic expedition mentions early shortwave: "But that wasn't the only eventful result of the expedition. According to the issue, uncharted portions of the continent were mapped, the role aircraft played in exploration was made evident, and the power of short-wave radio was better understood. Using his radio in Antarctica, Byrd ``proved that he could maintain almost daily contact with his offices in New York,`` Hofstra said." http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWinchesterStar/021123/Area_legacy.asp 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTIGUA. (presumed), 6078.7 and 6311.2, BBC, 1030 25 Nov, Symmetrical spurs offset 116.2 kHz either side of 6195 fundamental. Garbled audio at fair signal strength (David Hodgson, Nashville, TN USA, harmonics yahoogroup via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) Not entirely inconsistent: purely technical items like this I tend to file under the transmitter site. If the item were about BBC programming, as heard via Antigua, it would be under UK [non] (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. -Radio Nacional de Argentina, activa todas las tardes y noches (2100-0400 UT aprox), con la retransmisión de la onda media, en 15345 kHz. Señal aceptable. 73's and good Dxing... (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA: ABC STRIKE THREAT -- Some staff at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) have threatened to strike for 24 hours next Tuesday if management do not make a higher pay offer by Friday. The employees want about 12.5 per cent over three years, but management has offered 11 per cent. ABC services were interrupted earlier today as staff held meetings to discuss possible strike action. The ABC's web site was taken offline and news bulletins were suspended. A spokesman for the the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), one of the two unions representing the majority of ABC staff, said that work conditions and a range of other unresolved issues were hampering negotiations (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 27 Nov via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. Radio Australia is now using 15540 from the Kranji relay, 1300-1430 for Mandarin. This replaces 15435, and has been retimed from 1400-1530 (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) {Kranji = Singapore} ** AUSTRIA. Dear Mr. Krist, thank you very much for your reception report. Unfortunately we are not able to say anything final to our situation. The ORF directors were thinking about a possible closing down of Radio Austria International. Our chef-redakteur Mr. Kerbler was told to find a possible solution of a programm consisting mostly regional broadcasts and news in foreign languages. This should be broadcasted about 2 or 3 hours a day. Nonetheless we were given the chance of a Hearing today why Radio Austria International should stay on air in its current form. The voting of the "Stiftungsrat" - a council which is responsible for the ORF programme in general - for the future of Radio Austria International will take place on the 2nd of December. Until than everything is possible. We hope that we could give you at least some little insight in our current situation. With kind regards, ([Barbara Volfing], Radio Austria International Listener's Department, Nov 26, via Kraig Krist, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Re DXLD 2-183: The printed Radio Austria International programme folder says the 0000-0030 English broadcast on 9870 and 13730 is on Saturdays and Sundays only. No mention of the 1704-1800 Sunday Sackville broadcast. Rest of the schedule is as in the folder. There is also an English programme My Music with Paul Catty on Sundays 0905-1000 on 6155 and 13730 and 2305-0000 on 5945 and 6155. The programme is also transmitted on 1476 1705-1800 Sundays. Radio Afrika International is given as 2203-2300 on 5945 and 6155 Saturdays and Sundays on the frequency plan, Saturday only on the programme guide. They also broadcast on 1476 2030-2100 and 2115-2200 Monday to Friday, 2030-2200 Saturdays and Sundays (Patrick Travers, UK, World DX Club via Mike Barraclough, UK, DX WORLD OF RADIO 1158, LISTENING DIGEST) ** BARBADOS. T-E FM DX to Brasil: see PROPAGATION at bottom ** BOLIVIA. 5927.02, Rdif. Minería (presumed) 2233-2304 Nov 21. Talk by a man in Spanish, with snippets of John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" in between. Echo effect announcement (ID?) at 2237. SINPO 23342 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Estimado José, lamentablemente sucede esto con muchas emisoras, sobre todo con las religiosas. Algunas por lo menos te mandan una nota o una QSL. Me paso con Canção Nova, de Brasil que la reporte más de una vez y sólo me envía material religioso in nunguna nota siquiera. Además me anotaron en una suscripción que yo no pedí, de una revista y me la envían todos los meses aunque no me interesa. Una pena, porque Canção llega bien aqui a Europa en los 9675 por la noche. Saludos a todos (Victor. Goncidani? Castor? Italy? Nov 26, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Response to remarks under CYPRUS TURKISH ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Bandeirantes, de São Paulo (SP), possui um centro de documentação e memória. Utilizando este material, a emissora apresenta, nos sábados, às 1300, o programa Memória. Pretende recuperar a história de São Paulo, do Brasil e do mundo. Confira em 6090, 9645 e 11925 kHz. E-mail: memoria@b... [truncated] (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Nov 26 via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. FIRST BULGARIAN INTERNET TV TO BE LAUNCHED ON 27 NOVEMBER | Text of report in English by Bulgarian news agency BTA Sofia, 26 November: Bulgaria's first Internet TV, BGWEB.TV, will announce officially its start November 27. The project has been under way for a year and a half now, said representatives of BG Web which has produced the software and designed BGWEB.TV. The TV has a digital studio and licensed software for running video and sound on the Internet. The address is http://www.bgweb.tv Access is free of charge for all shows except the night ones. There will be special programmes for business and for expatriate Bulgarians. BGWEB.TV will be accessible from any point on the globe. It has had a several months' trial run for viewers in Europe, the United States and Australia. It will have news, comments, a Web forum and updates on corporate sites and personal Web pages. DD/IT/LN/ Source: BTA news agency, Sofia, in English 0810 gmt 26 Nov 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) In Bulgarian only? {Quicktime only} ** BURMA [non]. BURMA: OPPOSITION RADIO EVENING BROADCASTS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH SATELLITE | Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 24 November Dear listeners: The Democratic Voice of Burma [DVB] is pleased to announce that the DVB evening programmes could now be received through the satellite TV. The programme is broadcast through Asia Sat II. You can listen to crisp and clear DVB programmes from the satellite TV by choosing any one of the available six European channels and setting the audio bit to 2133, left channel. The DVB evening programmes could now be received by either short-wave radio or satellite TV channel. Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 24 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** BURUNDI. Per the station direct- "Radio Isanganiro isn't currently broadcasting on shortwave, and doesn't have plans to do so in the near future. We'll be expanding FM coverage in the region, and continuing with web streaming." (via Hans Johnson, Nov 25, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. 2040.00, CFTR Toronto, ON (harmonic 3 x 680) 1131, Nov 26, news, Toronto traffic report, ID's "CFTR news time...", "Canada's number one all-news radio station, 680..." Fair signal with very good peaks. 2370.00, CFAN Newcastle, New Brunswick (harmonic 3 x 790) 1033-1108, Nov 26, first time heard here, difficult reception with very raspy audio, pop vocals, ads, local weather, 1108 ID, // 790. Fair to poor signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg. "VT-DX" http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, 6715U khz, 1925-2020 Nov 24 [Sun] religious program in Korean (heard "Amen"!) with songs, RTTY interference but good signal, SIO 233 (Daniele Canonica, Switzerland RX: JRC 535 D ANT: T2FD 25 meters, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Snail mail reply from FGLPC 6715U. Received a very nice 2 page partial data letter (frequency and power, 100 watts) from the Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, 6715 USB, in 2 weeks for 1 IRC. v/s Mr. Gyusub Chung. E-mail address is listed as cgs88@hanmail.net Nice letterhead and FGLPC logo ink-stamp. Not really a QSL as there is no acknowledgment of reception, more of a "Thank you", but I am still very pleased (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4839.86, Heilongjiang PBS 1048-1101* Nov 24. A first for me, and a nice way to end the DXpedition. This has been flirting here in the morning and late afternoons. Alternating talk by YL and OM in Chinese, pop vocals. At ToH, usual Chinese style time pips, and partial ID by OM, followed by brief music. Female then with presumed news. Abruptly off at 1101. 7350 not heard. SINPO 24332 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. Sua Palavra é o nome de um programa que o Departamento de Português da Rádio Internacional da China leva ao ar, aos domingos. Nele, os ouvintes da emissora podem dar o seu recado. No programa do dia 24 de novembro, o entrevistado foi o dexista Paulo Roberto Michelom, de Porto Alegre (RS). Você também pode ser entrevistado. Basta enviar um e-mail para a emissora informando seu número de telefone. Escreva para: cripor@c... [truncated] Eis alguns dos horários em que a Rádio Internacional da China transmite em português: às 2300, em 13650 kHz. É repetido, às 2330, na mesma freqüência. Confira! (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Nov 26 via DXLD) ** CHINA. 4974, 5040, FUJIAN PBS, Irregular active during NOV 2001, NOV 2002. Times varies between 2230-2330, 1000-1100. Duration also varies. Chinese engineer indicates shortwave outlet will not be so important in future (Miller Liu, Taiwan, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. On 7330 at 1345 Nov 27, animated dialog in English, smacking of advanced language lesson; thought I heard some Chinese words here and there, and 1350 Chinese announcement; some C&W music, 1358 ``Are you tired after a long day`s work...?`` sure sounds like a commercial. 1400 5 + 1 timesignal and ZRGD ID, march theme. Trouble is, distortion was quite heavy, along with background noise and selective fading. Guess what: HFCC B-02 lists only this: 7330 1100 1530 43,44,49,54 VLD 500 228 D RUS BBC GFC 2087 So this is really a Chinese jammer against BBC via Vladivostok to China, which must have been completely buried here. Ironic that when I tuned in, China teaching English was being used to jam BBC broadcasting in Chinese. And this frequency is meant to drive listeners away, not attract them. Since the Chicom jammers are so much stronger over here than their prey, I wonder what kind of antennas are being used. I would guess mostly non-direxional to blanket as much of the Homeland as possible, and high-angle would also be helpful, but that unseems the case with their worldwide annoyance (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. CLANDESTINE. 9945 kHz Falun Dafa R.: Received QSL card from new mailing address! Included pamphlet of Falun Dafa and greeting card. I sent the report to Mr. Chenxi Lou, 2626 W. Ball Rd. Apt J2, Anaheim, CA 92804-5097 and reply came from P. O. Box 93436, City of Industry, CA 91715, U.S.A. (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, hard-core-dx via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) CLANDESTINE From Russia to CHINA: 9925, World Falun Dafa Radio, Date/Time Multi-colored card depicting the words, Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance plus text in Chinese along with a Falun Gong Brochure in 13 days for a report sent to 2626 West Ball Road, Apt. J2, Anaheim, California 92804-5097 USA. But reply came back from this address: P.O. Box 93436, City of Industry, California 91715, USA. SASE was used for the return reply. As well, I received this e-mail prior to the card received. The text reads as follows: I have received your reception report. Thanks for having been monitoring our radio station. Our station was undergoing change of operating team, and we didn't have a QSL card until a few months ago. Thanks for your patience. Our new frequency is: Europe (except North E.): 5925, 2100- 2200 UT; Hong Kong: 9945, 6:00-7:00 am (Beijing, China standard time) [i.e. 2200-2300 UT, it seems --- gh] A QSL card will be mailed to you tomorrow. For a preview of the QSL card, please go to: http://falundafaradio.org/QSL.htm. We will put up a simple English version in the near future. Best regards, Editor editor@falundafaradio.org (via Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Nov 26, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 15058.67 (harmonic), Ecos del Atrato (presumed) 2152-2205 Nov 23. Thanks to Henrik Klemetz for some fine detective work on this one. Henrik listened to my audio clips, and was able to discern that I heard a call-in quiz show, that was offering a bottle of aguardiente antioqueño, (which is a Colombian brand of liquor) as a prize. They also sponsored the program. The music I heard was a vallenato according to Henrik. Apparently, what I heard was the third harmonic of 5019v, of Ecos del Atrato. This will require more work, but it may also be Krueger's UNID. SINPO started out as 24332, but was gone by 2203 (George Maroti, DXpedition site in Chamberlain, Maine, Drake R8B with 500 foot longwire oriented 200 , fed by coax and 9:1 minicircuits impedance matching transformer, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. La Voz de tu Conciencia has drifted a bit downwards, and was this night found on around 6010.66 kHz. On November 25-26th. I and DX-fellow Ronny Forslund listen at our shack in Fredriksfors. It wasn`t a great night, but some Peruvians were audible in the 60 mb, but only for less than an our around our Swedish midnight. La Voz de tu Conciencia was heard already 0030 UT with a fair signal on 6010.66. Stronger in the morning (at 0540) and maybe even some Hertz further down (6010.64). Best regards from (Jan Edh, Hudiksvall, Sweden, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5054.6, Faro del Caribe, recently reactivated but already having transmitter difficulties. Signal is at times distorted or modulation is very low (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov, Cumbre DX Nov 25 via DXLD) ** CUBA. ESTIMADO AMIGO GLENN: En el Noticiero de la cadena Univisión y en especial en su afiliada de Miami Canal 23 se informó hoy 27 de Noviembre a las 0400 UT que las autoridades cubanas, están bloqueando la señal de la emisora. El periodista Mario Vallejos del canal 23 informó que como consecuencia de la serie "La Vida Secreta de Castro" trasmitida en las dos semanas anteriores, donde se brindaba información sobre la vida privada de Castro: Esposa, hijos, nietos, etc., las autoridades cubanas han dispuesto el bloqueo de las emisiones de Univisión o en su defecto el "corte" del fluido electrico en la capital Ciudad de la Habana. Las informaciones han sído obtenidas por personas procedentes desde Cuba en viaje familiar y opositores. 73's (Oscar, Miami, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not sure what this means. Canal 23 would be seen only in Cuba by TV- DXers upon occasion. But the signal is being blocked?? How? By jamming or co-channel?? UHF band is already forbidden on Cuban TV sets. Does this refer to some Univisión bureau in Habana, having its electricity cut? I supposed there was no such presence (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]. Hola amigos de la lista, desde aquí quiero informaros que hace un mes capté RADIO IBRAHIM y por supuesto les mandé un informe de recepción muy completo sobre su programación. El sábado día 23 recibí respuesta de dicha emisora pero con la sorpresa de que no manda QSL sino un montón de propaganda religiosa y y una carta circular agradeciéndome mi carta (en ningún momento cita informe ni datos de la emisora) ni tampoco mandé carta alguna, simplemente un informe de recepción y una tarjeta de mi ciudad. Por lo cual pongo en conocimiento de los amigos coleccionistas de verificaciones ya sea por carta o por Tarjeta QSL que se abstengan de mandarle ningún informe, ya que ellos solo os responderán con una carta religiosa para su negocio y digo su negocio porque en esa carta solamente se habla sobre religión y también te adjuntan un catálogo para que compres libros religiosos. Si algún colega le interesa esto por supuesto puede mandarle carta o informe y ellos te responderán con su negocio de libros religiosos. Y ya sin nada más y esperando que esta carta os haya ahorrado tiempo y algún dinerillo en sellos se despide de vosotros vuestro colega y amigo de España (JOSE HERNÁNDEZ MADRID, 73´S Y BUENOS DX, Nov 25, Conexión Digital via DXLD) See also BRAZIL He`s put off because instead of QSLing his reception report R. Ibrahim only sent him a ``pile of religious propaganda`` and a catalog for even more of it; save yourself some trouble (gh, DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH [non]. USA 6150, R. Sawa, 2001-2051 Nov 23. This will only add to the confusion of logging R. Bayrak. Middle East style music heard under CRI at tune-in, but later US pop music was played, including a song by No Doubt. Quick ID heard by JB, then more US pops. They were sometimes dominant over CRI (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Sawa website shows 6150 in use only at 2000-2100, and IBB says site is Kavala, 240 degrees (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. HCJB, Quito, is now using a new relay in Sackville, Canada, for improvement of coverage into North America. This is on 12025, 2100-2230 for Arabic transmissions, and replaces the former relay at Rampisham, UK (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) ?? Makes no sense. Why broadcast Arabic to NAm instead of ME? Or did you mean to North Africa?? (gh, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6249.3, R. Nacional *0505-0508 Nov 24. NA in progress at tune-in, then ID by OM. Hi-life music with YL vocals. Thanks Henderson alert. SINPO was 24332 until a ute at 0508 ruined it (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. CHINESE INSTALLING SHORTWAVE, FM TRANSMITTERS IN BATA | Text of report by Equatorial Guinea radio on 22 November The advance group of Chinese technicians in charge of modernizing Radio Bata arrived in the city on 21 November, led by Mr Hwi Gwan Zei and accompanied by the engineer, San Za Hwan, and an interpreter, Hu San Zei [all names phonetic]. Shortly after their arrival, the group held discussions with the regional delegate for information, culture and tourism, Prudencio Bote Esebole, and explained that they were sent by the Chinese government to install two new transmitters - one shortwave transmitter and a frequency modulation [FM] transmitter, with a capacity of 50 kilohertz and 300 megahertz respectively. [??? An attempt to express kilowatt powers?? -- gh] The project is in keeping with the excellent friendship and coöperation ties existing between the two countries and governments, with special respect to social communication media. The Chinese technicians assured the regional delegate for information, culture and tourism that signals of the shortwave transmitter shall be received far beyond the country's borders. In response, Mr Esebole declared that he was at the disposal of the technicians at all times, as he was anxious to see the successful completion of the project that will enable the continuous broadcasting of programmes. Given the fact that the country is in the middle of the electoral campaign, the repairs will solve a major problem for society. After wishing the group a pleasant stay in the city, the regional delegate for information, culture and tourism offered them a reception at "La Ferme" restaurant in the city. Source: Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, Malabo, in Spanish 0600 gmt 22 Nov 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. CLANDESTINE from ETHIOPIA to ERITREA 6350, Voice of Peace and Democracy of Eritrea (tentative) 0346 Nov 27 with nice signal and talk by woman. Left the radio for a second without starting a recording and returned at 0349 to open carrier. Whoops, thought I had plenty of time. At 0353 IS and then ID at 0358 for Voice of Tigray Revolution. Checked 5 and 6 MHz range for //'s and found none (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. SUDAN REPORTEDLY GRANTS FORMER ERITREA DEFENCE MINISTER BROADCASTING LICENCE | Excerpt from report by Ethiopian weekly newspaper The Reporter on 25 November The leader of the [opposition] Eritrean People's Liberation Front- Democratic Party, EPLF-DP, Mr Mesfin Hagos [also former minister of defence], has arrived in Sudan and met the country's foreign minister, Mustafa Uthman Isam'il... The Sudanese government has granted Mr Mesfin Hagos, a former senior official in the Eritrean defence forces, a licence to broadcast... Source: The Reporter, Addis Ababa, in Amharic 25 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. UNITED NATIONS. Radio UNMEE has terminated the transmissions on 13670 1900-2000 and 15235 0430-0530 via Al Dhabiyya. These are now scheduled (retimed) at 0900-1000 on 21715 and 1030-1130 on 21550, from Al Dhabiyya, in English and the languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea. These services are non-daily. The deleted broadcasts were transmitted on Tuesdays and Fridays only, for early morning and late evening reception in East Africa, and the new timings correspond to the midday reception period in the target area (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 9560.8, R. Ethiopia 1645-1659 Nov 22. OM interviewing YL, then monologue by OM. Ballad with acoustic guitar accompaniment. At 1659, YL gave ID as "External Service of Radio Ethiopia" and their postal address for comments. SINPO 23332 until wiped out by Radio Martí sign on at 1700 on {9565} kHz. This was a foreshadowing for the excellent conditions to Africa this afternoon (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** FRANCE. One file at the NDXC website (see top), which I don`t recall seeing yet elsewhere is a complete RFI transmission schedule by frequency, evidently extracted from HFCC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE STAFF ON STRIKE, CHANGES IN PROGRAMMES Radio France Internationale, the French government-owned international radio broadcaster under the management of the Ministry of Culture, announced at 0625 gmt on 26 November that as a result of a strike it could not broadcast its normal programmes, and would be carrying musical programmes instead. At 0630 gmt, the station announced the following after a jingle: "As a result of the strike, RFI is unable to carry its regular programmes. Please bear with us." At 0726 gmt the radio announced: "As a result of the strike, you will not be receiving your call-in current affairs programme at 0810 gmt. This will be brought to you tomorrow." At 0800 gmt, the station carried a news bulletin with the following items: - French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is visiting Togo to encourage the peace talks on the Ivorian crisis. From there he will travel to Côte d'Ivoire; - Ivorian Transport Minister Marcel Amon Tanoh yesterday resigned from the government, heeding the call on the Rally of Republicans party ministers to resign. The report added that one of Tanoh's relations had been a victim of government human rights violations. Source: Radio France Internationale, Paris, in French 0000 gmt 26 Nov 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) RFI LISTENING FIGURES FOR PARIS REGION, WORLDWIDE | Text of press release by Radio France Internationale on 25 November WITH A CUMULATIVE REACH OF 1.8 PER CENT, RFI REINFORCES ITS POSITION IN ÎLE DE FRANCE September-October 2002 - According to the "75000+ Radio in Île de France" survey conducted by Mediametrie: RFI, the top international radio station in Francophone Africa and the third international radio station in the world, is also reinforcing its audience share in Ile de France with a result of a 1.8 per cent cumulative reach for the period September-October 2002. In September- October 2001, the cumulative reach was 1.3 per cent. Over 160,000 listeners tune in to the world service. RFI has been continuing its progress across the Paris region since the opening of its FM station in Paris 11 years ago, thus confirming its dynamic trend. RFI has a marked lead over BFM (1.3 per cent), Africa No.1 (1 per cent) and France Bleue (1 per cent) and is at the same level [as received] as RMC Info (2.1 per cent). A reminder of some of RFI's listening figures worldwide: Bamako (Mali): 41 per cent cumulative reach for previous day (November 2001 - Immar), second radio station (among Francophone population). Kinshasa (DRCongo): 27 per cent cumulative reach for previous day (December 2001 - Immar), first radio station (among Francophone population). Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire): 38 per cent cumulative reach for previous day (June 2001 - HPCI), third radio station (among Francophone population). Yaoundé (Cameroon): 36 per cent cumulative reach for previous day (December 2001 - HPCI), third radio station (among Francophone population). Bucharest (Romania): 2.7 per cent cumulative reach for previous day (February 2001 - Ifop-Gallup), eighth radio station for the city. China: 1,109,000 regular listeners (who tune in at least once a week), more than 80 per cent of whom listen to the programmes in Mandarin. Worldwide, you can find RFI on FM, shortwave and mediumwave, on cable and on WorldSpace, the top digital satellite radio broadcast system. You can also find RFI on http://www.rfi.fr and throughout France on CanalSatellite and on TPS. Press contacts: Anthony Ravera 01 56 40 29 85 - anthony.ravera@rfi.fr Marie Liutkus 01 56 40 47 27 - marie.liutkus@rfi.fr Source: Radio France Internationale press release, Paris, in French 25 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Imagine VOA surveying its listenership in Washington DC, and publicizing it! (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. RFI has commenced using a new relay at Kranji, Singapore. Intended primary service area is Iran and Afghanistan, using 9790 1600-1630 (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) {contradicted in 2-187} ** GOA. INDIA. Friends, AIR Panaji noted just now on 11840 instead of 11835. The sked is 0315-0415 Hindi to West Asia. Once they were noted on 11825. For complete schedule of AIR Panaji go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dx_india/files/AIR%20Panaji (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Nov 25, dx_india via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. (Cumbre DX follow up) 4698v, Radio Amistad: Larry Baysinger commenting on a recent report that their FM is off of the air: Very Interesting! IF the 97.6 MHz FM is off the air then both the 4700 kHz. S/W and the 540 kHz. MW will be off as well since they are "repeaters". (via Johnson Nov 25) Had a very interesting conversation with Wayne Berger at TGNA this afternoon. What can I say, shortwave is on the way out in Guatemala. Here are Wayne's comments- I'd estimate that 80% of the country's AM stations have been taken off of the air. If the AM is off, there is no way that shortwave is going to be on. FM is the trend. Radio Cultural, 3300: we took this one off of the air because we haven't received any reports on it for a year. We just couldn't justify the expense of running 10 kW here with no reports. I may put it back on at 500 watts or 1 kW to occupy the frequency. We continue to run 5955 with 1 kW for DXers. We have a website in the works at http://www.radiocultural.com where we plan to stream our audio. Radio Maya, 3324.8 and Radio Buenas Nuevas, 4800 have FM and are putting in repeaters to cover the hard to reach areas. I wouldn't expect them to be on shortwave much longer. Radio Verdad, 4052.4 is struggling; they have tried to get Radio Cultural to purchase time, but I already have the entire country covered on FM. Unión Radio, 5980v: I believe this is strictly on FM now. Radio Nacional, 6180 has been off for years. I put it back on for them a few times, but they really don't have any interest in having it on. (all via Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 25, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Radio Verdad, 4052.5 kHz confirmed two reports in one month from a follow up. The manager, Édgar Amílcar Madrid, a senior professor at the State University of Guatemala, sent to me a full data QSL card, a long letter, one paper pennant and one radio station calendar home made with PC, and a report about the reports sent to Radio Verdad. They got, so far as 30 October 2002, reports from 37 countries, also from Sicily that is considerd a separate country as for HAM. He writes that when I heard them in Settembre 2001, they were on air with 500 w, instead in February 2002 with 610 w. But now, professor Amílcar Madrid says they are on air since June with only 280 watts, because the tx is broken. They ask also help to find a transistor producer to get a ``power transistor``; not too expensive. Édgar Amílcar Madrid is 60 years old and in the past he liked to listen to short waves. Address: Radio Verdad, 4 Ave. 2-24, zona 1, Apartado n. 5, Chiquimula, Guatemala. Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, Nov 26, dxing.info via DXLD) ** GUYANA. 3291v, GBC off for about a week now (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 27, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HAITI. Now we have the frequency missing from previous item (gh) Back on November 10th, a station was noted on 1029.90 kHz at 0911 UTC broadcasting religious songs without any announcements until 0943 UTC. There were church bells then a man came on in accented French and IDed the station as "Radio Guinen, 92.9 FM et 1050 AM". [No typo here] He said that they broadcast the Mass at this time every morning. There was a song in Creole then the Mass began. Sorry for the delay in reporting this. I have been reviewing the tapes from the Newfoundland DXpedition, and I just managed to get the ID. Initially, I had alerted some DXers in Florida thinking that it might be from that state. Some DXers heard bits of this and they conjectured that it might be a pirate, but given the ID it appears to be a genuine Haitian far from its nominal frequency (Jean Burnell, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Nov 25, dxing.info via DXLD) ** INDIA. I noticed that following the emission of spurs from AIR on 9950, transmissions have apparently ceased there and they are now on 9575 at 2100z. I noticed very slight FMing though. Also the audio sounds slightly muddy as if the modulation is over 100%. Wonder where they are broadcasting from? (Robin Harwood, Norwood TAS, Nov 25, swl via DXLD) See also ANDAMAN ISLANDS, GOA, SIKKIM ** INDIA. Here are the official B02 registrations for Regional and External services of AIR for the 49 mb: 5960 2345 0045 Chennai 100 180 Tamil 5965 0515 1030 Jammu 50 0 5985 0415 1145 Ranchi 50 160 5990 0045 0200 Panaji 250 300 Sindhi 6000 0415 1045 Leh 10 130 6020 0200 1230 Simla 50 169 6030 0145 0310 Delhi 50 102 6030 1200 1430 Delhi 50 102 6040 0415 1115 Jeypore 50 27 6045 0115 0230 Delhi 250 154 Nepali 6045 1315 1430 Delhi 250 312 Nepali 6045 1430 1930 Delhi 250 312 Urdu 6065 0415 0945 Kphima 50 15 6085 1200 1830 Delhi 50 154 Internal 6085 0415 1030 Gitega 10 180 6110 0215 1115 Srinagar 50 200 6150 0430 1000 Itanagar 50 30 6155 0000 0430 Delhi 100 154 Urdu 6165 1215 1600 Delhi 50 282 Sindhi/Baluchi 6190 0445 1215 Delhi 50 154 (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Hola Glenn. Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. -La Voz de Indonesia ha vuelto a los 15150 kHz, para sus emisiones en español, alemán, francés e inglés, desde las 1730 y hasta las 2100 UT. La estación había abandonado esa frecuencia a finales de septiembre, pero ahora la ha retomado. Escuchada el pasado 23/11, a las 2032 UT, en inglés. E-mail: voi@rri-online.com (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Nov 25, WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. PRESS FREEDOM DETERIORATES WORLDWIDE IN 2002 - MEDIA WATCHDOG The global press freedom situation has deteriorated in the past year, with an alarming number of journalists killed or in prison, the World Association of Newspapers said Monday in its annual review of press freedom worldwide... The full report can be found on the WAN web site at http://wan- press.org/globalreview/ (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA: Frequency change for Voice of Iran in Persian effective from Nov. 21: 1630-1830 NF 11575 (55555), via KCH 500 kW / 116 deg to ME, ex 17510 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 25 via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) Just checked 11575 25 Nov at 1530 and found the same sign on procedure as always before on 17510, so I guess this one remains at Issoudun [FRANCE] (Olle Alm, Sweden, WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. See USA for news of upcoming R. Farda (Tomorrow) ** IRAQ. CLANDESTINE Given all of the continuing focus on a potential invasion of Iraq by the United States, there remains some interest in the DX community in Iraqi clandestine stations. NASWA Executive Director Rich D'Angelo notes that he had a November 20 logging on 7100 kHz of the Voice of Islamic Revolution in Iraq from *0326-0402 UTC. He says that after a sign-on with instrumental music there quickly was an ID followed by march music and other vocal music. The rest of the show consisted of brief talks in Arabic as well as a news broadcast. Rich reports that the parallel frequency of 9535 kHz was fair in a mess of QRM interference. Given Rich's logging, ACE members might want to check out these 41 and 31 meter frequencies for this particular Iraqi clandestine. The CRW summary of this one says that it is operated by the "Shii Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI), headed by Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim in support of the Shiite uprising in southern Iraq." CRW says that the station is "also affiliated with the Islamic Da'wah Party and the Islamic Revolutionary Army for the Liberation of Iraq. Also according to CRW and clandestine radio com, the group operating this station "is believed to receive support from Iran. Although approached by US officials, (this) group refuses to receive American aid. Transmitters for the station are allegedly located in Mashad and Sirjan, Iran. As Martin Schoech points out in Clandestine Radio Watch #120, reporter Tom Bowman pointed out in the November 14 edition of the Baltimore Sun that the Pentagon is currently planning "what could be the most widespread and complex psychological operations campaign mounted by the American military since the Vietnam War." This plan is contingent upon an American invasion of Iraq. Targeted radio messages are specifically a part of this plan. So, should the United States invade Iraq, it would be a virtual certainty that there will be new clandestine radio activity associated with it. Thus, it will be an excellent idea to pay close attention to the day to day news during the next several weeks. The article in the Sun said, "Sophisticated broadcasting planes operated by the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania National Guard, together with ground transmitters in Kuwait and elsewhere, would be used to transmit anti-Saddam programming to the Iraqi populace, officials said." These Pennsylvania National Guard planes are well known by the DX community from their past airborne clandestine transmissions in Afghanistan, Grenada, and other locations. During peacetime, some DXers have even visited the base in Harrisburg that houses the aircraft used as transmitters during wartime. We often have mentioned Clandestine Radio Watch in this column. If you're a serious clandestine DXer, this publication is an absolutely essential information resource. You can download the current issue and back issues of this amazing publication at the web site of clandestine radio com, still located at http://www.clandestineradio.com/ on the internet. As daily events unfold, there will be many thousands of people checking out this web site, including all of us who are clandestine DXers (George Zeller, Clandestine Profile, Dec the A*C*E via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. According to an announcement near the end of the 1115 GMT newscast taken from the bet.iba.org.il website, beginning today, the 2000 transmission will continue to be heard on 15640, 11605 and 9435 kHz but 13720 will be discontinued as of Monday in favor of 6280 (Joel Rubin, NY, Nov 25, swprograms via DXLD) 6280 was originally scheduled to start Dec 15 (gh, DXLD) The original schedule had 11605 (NOT 13720) changing to 6280 on December 15. I'm going to see if I can double check what's going on and I'll let you know if there are any updates (Daniel Rosenzweig, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Guys, Can this be right? Usually, 11605 is replaced by 6280 at 05 and 20 (but not 1730). Anyone listen at 20 UT to confirm? (Mark J. Fine / Remington, Virginia, USA, swprograms, all: WORLD OF RADIO 1158, via DXLD) The Bezeq Chief Engineer replied by not commenting about the previously stated frequency change (which I'd take as a confirmation) and said that the 2000 UTC December 15th change will be determined at the end of the month (Daniel Rosenzweig, NY, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. From http://www.haaretzdaily.com/ By Gideon Alon, Monday, November 25, 2002 The deputy chair of the Central Election Committee (CEC), Meretz lawmaker Zahava Gal-On, has asked the chairman of the committee, Mishael Cheshin, to forbid prime ministerial and Knesset candidates from appearing on pirate radio stations. The request comes after Likud leadership candidate Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview yesterday on Arutz Sheva, the pirate radio station associated with the settler movement. Gal-On explained that "interviews on pirate radio stations are in breach of the laws relating to election propaganda and are blatantly illegal." Labor Knesset member Eitan Cabel called on attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein to exercise his authority against the pirate stations, "which, unfortunately, are operating almost unopposed by any of the official powers that be." Cabel added that by using pirate stations, candidates standing in their parties' primaries could upset the media balance that exists in the political sphere. Cabel recently proposed a new law that would impose fines of up to NIS 100,000 on the owners of pirate stations, the companies who advertise on the them and public figures or elected officials who grant them interviews. During the 2001 prime ministerial election campaign, Cheshin issued an order preventing election propaganda being broadcast on Arutz Sheva and other pirate stations, after being persuaded that their broadcasts contravened that Elections Law (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. REBELS LAUNCH RADIO STATION 'VOIX DU MUTIN' By CRW Staff, with additional reporting by DX Listening Digest [as in DXLD 2- 180] [Nov 20] The rebel Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI) has begun broadcasting a radio station called Voix du Mutin (Voice of the Mutiny), according to press reports. Launched sometime in October the station broadcasts for 12 hours from Katiola in MPCI-controlled territory in the northern regions of the country. Programming includes speeches of Soro Guillaume, MPCI Secretary General, and music by such popular musicians as Alpha Blondy, Tiken Djah Facoly and Serge Kassy. Its mission, the Abidjan-based Fraternité-Matin reported on November 8, is to "inform and sensitize" the population to the group's objectives, which include overthrowing the Christian-dominated government. http://www.fratmat.co.ci/story.asp?ID=15055 http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200211080176.html "Les mutins ont ouvert la semaine dernière une radio à Katiola, dénommée. 'La voix du mutin.' Cette radio installé dans un immeuble non loin de l'hôtel Hambol émet de 6 heures du matin à 18 heures. Selon Koné Michel, l'un des jeunes recrutés sur le tas pour l'animation, sa mission reste d'informer et de sensibiliser la région Tagbana et Guimini aux mots d'ordre du MPCI et au sens du combat que mène le mouvement rebelle. Ainsi chaque jour, l'auditoire est royalement servi par un programme essentiellement basé sur le discours du meeting animé par Soro Guillaume et Chérif Ousmane. Le programme compte aussi des séquences musicales où on écoute Alpha Blondy, Tiken Djah Facoly et Serge Kassy. Avec cette radio, la population de Katiola qui n'a plus la possibilité de capter Radio Côte d'Ivoire, ne demande pas mieux." (Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** JAMAICA. BBC UPSETS JAMAICAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION The BBC has been rapped on the knuckles by the Jamaican Broadcasting Commission just weeks after the launch of a local FM relay of World Service. The Commission has ordered the BBC to apologise to to its Jamaican audience for transmitting 'obscene material', or face further disciplinary action, which could result in the loss of its FM licence. According to the Commission's executive director, Cordel Green, the BBC's Outlook programme on 28 October broadcast clips of a song by local artiste Buju Banton containing indecent colloquialisms used to describe homosexual men, and lyrics that explicitly supported violence against this group. This is in contravention of Regulation 30 of the 1996 Television and Sound Broadcasting Regulations. Anyone found guilty of such an offence is liable to a fine of up to $10,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months". Loss of the licence is also a possible consequence. Although the BBC had contacted the Commission prior to the broadcast to explain that the song was being used as part of a documentary depicting the prejudices and violence faced by homosexual men in Jamaica, Green insists that "it doesn't make the song any less offensive. The transmission of that song in Jamaica was inappropriate." (© Radio Netherlands Media Network Nov 26 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 3373.5U, NHK: surprised to hear this one at 1235 with a nice signal; checked 3607.5U which was also coming in, albeit a bit weaker. Both with 1300* Nov 25 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 100 years of age. One of the very first presenters of Radio Tokyo's German service, which started already in 1937, was Professor Friedrich Greil. He was a professor teaching German language at Tokyo University, as well as presenter on Radio Tokyo and NHK Radio Japan; in past decade once a week at least till about 1993 - that`s 55 years on duty at the NHK broadcasting house in Tokyo! Friedrich Greil was born on Dec 8th, 1902, [in Halberstadt-Harz Germany I guess] and is married with a Japanese for more than 60 years now. He is still living in Japan. On Dec 8th, Friedrich Greil will celebrate his 100th anniversary of birth. Congratulation mail via Deutsche Redaktion of Radio Japan / NHK World: per Fax: +81 - 3 - 34 65-14 37, per eMail: deutsch@intl.nhk.or.jp 73 (Wolfgang DF5SX Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Kubaczewski" Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 10:58 AM Subject: Friedrich Greil 100 Liebe Freunde, 1937 führte Radio Tokio auch deutschsprachige Auslandssendungen ein. Einer der ersten Stimmen war aus dem fernen Japan die von Herrn Prof. Friedrich Greil, die bis weit in die 60er und 70er Jahre hinein über Radio Japan zu hören war. Vielen von uns ist diese Stimme noch immer vertraut. Die Lebensgeschichte dürfte denjenigen Radio-Japan-Hörern bekannt sein, denen Herr Greil in warmherziger Art und Weise das leben in Japan interessant näherbrachte. Am 8. Dezember wird Herr Greil 100 Jahre alt! So, wie ich Frau Kodaira gestern in ihrer Sonntagssendung verstand, wird sie Herrn Greil aus diesem besonderen Anlaß einen Geburtstagsbesuch abstatten. Diejenigen unter uns Hörern, die Herrn Greil Glückwünsche übermitteln möchten, können ihre Grußbotschaften an die deutsche Redaktion von Radio Japan/ NHKworld schicken: per Fax: +81 - 3 - 34 65-14 37, per eMail: deutsch@intl.nhk.or.jp Die deutsche Redaktion von Radio Japan und insbesondere Frau Kodaira würden sich sehr über zahlreiche schriftliche Gedanken an ihn freuen! Beste Grüße, 73, Thomas Kubaczewski, Berlin-Charlottenburg (via Bueschel, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Dear Sirs, The special broadcast in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC) will be held as follows: Station: HCJB World Radio from Quito, Ecuador Language: English. Program title: DX Partyline Date, time (UT) and frequencies: 30 November 2002 / 0200 / 12040 (To India) 30 November 2002 / 0700 / 5965 (To Europe) 30 November 2002 / 0700 / 11755, 21455 (USB) (To South Pacific) 30 November 2002 / 2000 / 11895 (To Europe) 1 December 2002 / 0000 / 9745, 21455 (USB) (To Eastern North America) 1 December 2002 / 0300 / 9745, 21455 (USB) (To Western North America) Program host: Allen Graham. Source of information: Allen Graham, HCJB / Homepage of HCJB http://www.hcjb.org/english/ (via Johno Wright, ARDXC via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Glenn, the year-long ham operation from North Korea came to an abrupt end Friday evening with a knock on the door. The North Koreans rescinded the operating permission. Here is a letter being distributed today, Wednesday, among ham DXers from the operator of P5/4L4FN: (Bill Smith, W5USM, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2002 November 25, From Ed today.... Dear all, Yes, real unfortunate thing happened but, this is the case where and when -- I can do nothing. Believe me, I was trying to keep up the P5 as long as possible and I've managed to run it little bit more than one year but. The end came unexpectedly and now we all have to accept it as final QRT of P5/4L4FN operation. I'm absolutely sure that there is no way back to it due to several reasons, including recent changes in political life of N. Korea. I've been just lucky to have such a chance and happy to make at least small part of ham community as a owners of P5/4L4FN QSL card. But, let`s keep it in mind that life moves further, things are changing, sometimes dramatically and may be some years after, another P5/xxxxx card will see the world. Of course I'm going to keep my rig with me wherever I go and be in touch. For the "final", many thanks to all hams worldwide; you all made my life much easier and better, and my deepest appreciation for all your support. Wish you all -- best of luck in our hobby and have a good "hunting"! My best 73, remain with hope to meet you on a band sometime later, from some other GOOD spot! de Ed ex. P5/4L4FN (From: Houston AMSAT Net, by KK5DO, via Aurélio da Costa, DX mailing list via Bill Smith, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. North Korea, 4120.62, Voice of National Salvation, 1032 Nov 25. Comments in Korean. Signal was fair but covered by a carrier that needed to be notched out. Also heard on 4450 kHz and 4556.93 kHz (Chuck Bolland, ka4prf, Clewiston, Florida, http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/ Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. CLANDESTINE from IRAQ to MIDDLE EAST 4026.6, Voice of the Kurdish People Nov 27, 0324 Koran, 0326 ID in Arabic, announcing 4025. Drifty transmitter, having to retune. Couldn't find the // that use to run around 7 MHz. 4140, Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan 0300 with music, then ID's in Arabic and Kurdish at 0307 Nov 27. 4245.2, Voice of Kurdish Toilers 0310 Koran, various fanfares and ID in Arabic at 0313 Nov 27. Announcing 4250 from 5:30 PM to 1 AM and starting again at 6 AM. News in Arabic at 0315 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4010, Kyrgyz Radio, 2358-0017 Nov 22. Alternating test tones, until the NA was heard at 0001. Talk by YL, brief theme music, then alternating talk by YL and OM. Ham and ute QRM increased at 0017, while piano music was heard. Thanks to Henderson alert. SINPO 12331 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Today I got a letter to Hmong Lao Radio returned from the postal service in St. Paul MN 551. They had stamped it: "No such number" and had pointed out the zip code: 55106, which evidently is wrong. Is there anybody out there having an idea about another address to write to? Thanks in advance and 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland in Sweden, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** LEBANON. Hi, just 1727- tuned to 837 kHz mediumwaves, very strong signal for Arab station. Programme includes Recitals from the Holy Kor`an, news in Arabic and Commercials (?). Station identifying as Libanon. This might be the new 1000 kW transmitter which has been taken in use. 73 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, Nov 26, Sony ICF-7600GR + WB ALA-1530, dxing.info via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. During the first 3 days, and although we are targeting the Middle East in our transmission (region 39), we have received many reception reports from many European countries like: France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Austria... We are in need of more reports and if the signal fades in different weather conditions. We look for your reports: FPM Radio Station: Voice of Free Lebanon (Sawt Loubnan Al-Horriyah); Daily broadcast at 16:00 to 17:00 GMT on 11515 khz. Email: radio@tayyar.org Web: http://www.tayyar.org Regards (FPM, Nov 25, hard-core-dx via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) Lebanese Patriotic Movement station noted on exactly 11515.0 kHz today, 25 Nov (as opposed to off channel 11515.4 last Friday, 22 Nov - incidentally 22 Nov was Lebanese Independence Day - independence from France that is, 59 years ago). Reception not as brilliant today. Signal strength only fair at tune-in (1620 UT) with moderate fading, plus chattering (utility?) interference noticeable across that part of the band. Deteriorating further by 1700 UT, so difficult to copy at close. Programming I heard was just continuous Arabic songs. (TDP website http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html now lists "Sawt Lubnan Al-Houriya" Daily 1600-1700 on 11515 kHz - but anybody's guess as to the actual transmitter site) (Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ / longwire, Nov 25 via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) So in test phase could be at least two different sites have been used, since on slightly different frequencies (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FPM Radio heard at good strength at s/on 1600. Full data email verie back real quick. Is 250 kW and transmitting from Belgium. They say there is no other time or frequency for broadcasting at this time. email address rad-@tayyar.org [truncated] (Ray Crawford, Forestdale, Brisbane, Qld, ARDXC via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) !! More disinformation from TDP. Wonder if FPM, like Ezra, actually believe they are transmitted from Belgium. Does is sound like 250 kW to those who can hear it at all? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11515.42, Rally For Lebanon-Free Patriotic Movement "Michel Aoun" stn, poor but sudible, carrier on 1549 Nov 22, on-off tones 1553-1558, 1600 Lebanese NA, prgm of talk and spirited vocal mx. 1625 tune-out due to poor signal, but still going (J. Berg, MA, PPDX-USA Nov 22, 2002 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) Il nome in arabo dell'emittente è Sawt Lubnan Al-Houriya. La frequenza ci ricorda quella usata in Libano dalla High Adventure Ministries il cui trasmettitore è stato distrutto, se non ricordo male, nell'estate del '99. E' comunque una trasmissione gestita dalla belga TDP di Ludo Maes e dovrebbe, col beneficio d'inventario, provenire da un trasmettitore sito o a Samara, in Russia, o a Kichinev in Moldavia (R. Scaglione, Italy, Nov 23, 2002 in DXlandia-ML via CRW via DXLD) Eine neue Station über ein unbekanntes Relay ist FPM Radio. Dahinter steckt die Partei General Aiouns aus dem Libanon. Der Empfang war heute zwischen 16.00 und 17.00 UTC auf 11515 kHz sehr gut (SINPO 55444). Homepage: http://www.tayyar.org (einschl. Infos in Englisch). (R. Sonntag, Germany, Nov 23, 2002 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) VOICE OF FREEDOM RADIO HEARD WITH TEST BROADCAST A Lebanese radio station identifying itself as Voice of Freedom [sic] has been heard broadcasting in Arabic on 11515 kHz from 1600-1700 gmt since 22 November. The broadcast on 22 November contained the following items: 1. Sign-on with Lebanese national anthem. 2. Message by former Lebanese prime minister Gen Michel Awn. 3. Patriotic songs. 4. Announcement in Arabic saying: "Welcome to the test broadcast of the Voice of Freedom, the radio of the united and independent Lebanon and the voice of the honourable Lebanese resistance". An e-mail address was given for feedback: radio@tayyar.org 5. Patriotic songs. 6. Above announcement repeated. 7. Patriotic songs until end of broadcast. [A report by the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star web site on 20 November said that a radio station of the France-based Rally for Lebanon, part of the Free Patriotic Movement of former Army Commander Michel Awn, would start broadcasting on 22 November. The report said that the trial broadcast would will include an address by Gen Awn, in exile in France for the past 11 years.] Source: BBC Monitoring research 26 Nov 02 (via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) Coming supposedly from IRRS Milano, it's a Pirate station outlet? Smells like the San Marino transmission action few years ago (Wolfgang Bueschel, Nov 26, BC-DX via DXLD) Supposed by whom? ** MEXICO. Checking R. Educación, 6185, UT Mon Nov 25 at 0442, found a mailbag show in progress, reading reception reports in Spanish from US, Cuba, Canada and elsewhere. Signal well over co-channel, DW? Ending at 0458 mentioning `Sintonía` -- DX? Not sure of program name. 0500 Vatican IS heard briefly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. La ventana ciega --- Claudia Segura ¡AHORA VAN EDUCATIVAS PA` VARIAR! Publicado en Milenio Diario, Martes 26-Nov. Actualización 10:35 Hrs. Son tantos los eventos que suceden en la radio comercial, que de pronto olvidamos que las emisoras públicas también hacen su luchita por salir adelante. Por ahora le voy a platicar de tres novedades de la radio educativa que suenan de lo más gratificante para el cuadrante nacional y, lo mejor, las tres pueden ser seguidas a través de la radio vía internet. Así es que ¡agárrese, que la radio educativa está que echa tiros! CONVENIO ENTRE IMER Y XELA Yo sé que Marcelino Pereyó y Cristina Pacheco han hecho mucho por pedir al gobierno federal que les devuelva las beldades y gracias de la extinta XELA Buena Música, pero lo cierto es que esta emisora que vivió 61 años en el cuadrante del Distrito Federal, era una concesión de los hermanos Fernández de Grupo Imagen. Por ello, lo que se ha logrado vía Opus 94 suena de lo mejor, y más en voz de Santiago Creel, quien anunció con bombo y platillo el jueves pasado, un convenio de colaboración entre el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio y Grupo Imagen. Los programas de la extinta XELA que se van a reactivar en la frecuencia de Opus 94 en enero, serán: ``La hora sinfónica``, ``El compositor de la semana``, ``Los grandes maestros de la música``, ``Discoteca del coleccionista`` y ``Las obras maestras de la música sacra``. Además de que el acervo musical de la Buena Música se ha entregado a las autoridades del IMER para que sea programado y enriquezca el bagaje de Opus. ¡Por favor! Al comité de rescate de la XELA, les pido que no se paren de pestañas contra ``La ventana ciega``, porque lo cierto es que yo no convine en este acuerdo. Lo mío es informarles del acuerdo de colaboración IMER-Imagen y los resultados son responsabilidad, única y exclusivamente, de las autoridades de ambas instituciones. Esto lo digo por cualquier carta que luego me publiquen. Además, queda en el ambiente la nostalgia porque algún otro radiodifusor se aventara a hacer una emisora con música de concierto o de cámara, pero juro que eso sí no está más que en la voluntad de los radiodifusores. ``DEJEMOS DE SER PACIENTES`` PARA VARIAR El día de ayer se celebraron 11 años de una serie médica que sucede como la mayoría, por las mañanas, pero que tiene de peculiar en su haber que siempre nos solicitan que ``Dejemos de ser pacientes``. En lo personal, el programa del Sistema Integral Para la Mujer (SIPAM) me ha dado, además de buenas recomendaciones radiofónicas, muchas maneras de vivir el feminismo, pero sobre todo, desde una mirada de apertura, no de revanchismo contra los hombres. Siempre que escucho ``Dejemos de ser pacientes`` me sorprendo de eso: de que en Radio Educación los lunes a las 11:00 horas se habla de hombres y mujeres íntegros, o mejor dicho, integrados. Hoy es un gustazo decirlo: María Eugenia Pulido como conductora de la serie y Pilar Muries, directora de SIPAM, nos han obsequiado 11 años de radio feminista, ginecológica, social y hasta de orientación vocacional que ha servido y que a los hombres les encanta. ¡Qué bueno! Y va la tercera y no menos importante. ``CÁNTARO DE TIEMPO``: LA MEMORIA DEL TIEMPO ¡...YA ERA HORA! Radio Educación arrancó el lunes 25 de noviembre una serie que es un ``Cántaro de tiempo`` y de historias del mundo donde la UNESCO recopila un trabajo llamado ``Memorias del mundo``. Lo fascinante de este programa de documentales es que nos van a proporcionar tesoros sonoros de todo el mundo, que la UNESCO hoy comparte con Radio Educación (1060 de AM) y que además pueden ser audibles a través de internet en: http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx Asunto que se antoja no sólo para historiadores y curiosos, sino para quienes nos encante saber de toda la historia mundial. Sé que la radio documental ya no es muy socorrida, pero qué rico que haya esta opción para abrir la ventana sonora universal. Temas de los programas y de las audiotecas de ``Cántaro del tiempo`` serán: Metrópolis de Fritz Lang, la Biblia de Gutemberg, la novena sinfonía de Beethoven, las cartas de Goethe, los archivos de un leprosario de Noruega, las colecciones de la biblioteca del observatorio Kandilli en Turquía, la colección de códices originales mexicanos. De plano, si usted no se antoja de estas maravillas de la radio educativa y de estas tres novedades radiofónicas, pues tal vez hay que seguir escuchando mucho de ``Loco mundo``, ``La taquilla`` y ``Tercer mundo`` ¡y a ser felices todos! (Claudia Segura, Milenio Diario Nov 26 via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA/PRIDNESTROVYE. "R. Pridnestrovye" was on the air today (Wed.), but actually at *1700-1730* (not 1800-1830 !!!). English. M announced that next time will be next Wednesday. Russian announcement which I've heard on Fri (1800-1830 999 kHz Russ) was obviously wrong (or I've got them wrong ? ... anyway: they anc`d: "1700 Central European Time" which is hardly equal to 1700 UT). Their program is standing alone (i.e. Tune up tone noted at 1655+, off at 1730). More interesting: QRG is not coordinated (usually Moscow does it for this enclave). Co-channel CNR in Chinese (unID program closed, s. off time -1800*): Quiet music (instrumental European type), classic, M/W talks. ID "chung yang renmin quang po tien tai" before going down (V. Titarev, Ukraine, Nov 20, 2002 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) SW frequency presumably correct as before, 5960 Seems currently reported broadcasting at 1700-1730 UT. Heavy sidesplash from RNW Flevoland-HOL 5955. On upper flank poor signal of IRIB in Turkmen on 5965 kHz (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Nov 21, BC-DX via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. Nach meiner Rueckkehr nach Windhoek habe ich mich heute erneut mich Joachim Duwe von der NBC-Sendertechnik getroffen. Der Modulationsausfall auf 3290 kHz hing mit einem defekten Dynamikkompressor zusammen. Joachim hat das Geraet ausgetauscht, so dass jetzt alles wieder laeuft. Empfangsberichte werden von Joachim uebrigens gerne beantwortet. Allerdings sollte man sich beim Verfassen des Berichts etwas Muehe geben und vor allem keine Fake-Berichte schrreiben. Ich habe heute einen eMail-Bericht eines OM aus Nigeria gesehen, den haette ich ehrlich gesagt auch nicht beantwortet. GANZ WICHTIG: Die NBC kann nichts mit IRCs anfangen. Bitte legt als Rueckporto einen US-Dollar bei, keine IRCs. Es lagern ganze Buendel von IRCs in Joachims Buero und niemand kann etwas damit anfangen :-( Hier nun noch die Frequenzbelegungen der NBC-Kurzwellensender. Achtung: Alle Zeitangaben in Ortszeit Windhoek, also zurzeit UTC plus zwei Stunden (1200 Uhr Ortszeit Windhoek 1000 Uhr UTC): Programm 1 at 0700-1800 Uhr 6175, 1800-0700 LT 3290 kHz. Montag und Freitag 0000 Uhr National Radio 0700 Uhr Deutsch 0800 Uhr Afrikaans 0900 Uhr National Radio 1000 Uhr Afrikaans 1200 Uhr Deutsch 1300 Uhr Afrikaans 1700 Uhr National Radio 1800 Uhr Deutsch 2000 Uhr Afrikaans 2100 Uhr National Radio Dienstag bis Donnerstag 0000 Uhr National Radio 0700 Uhr Deutsch 0800 Uhr Afrikaans 0900 Uhr National Radio 1000 Uhr Afrikaans 1200 Uhr Deutsch 1300 Uhr Afrikaans 1700 Uhr National Radio 1800 Uhr Deutsch 2100 Uhr National Radio Samstag 0000 Uhr National Radio 0600 Uhr Afrikaans 1200 Uhr Deutsch 1400 Uhr Afrikaans 1800 Uhr Deutsch 2100 Uhr National Radio Sonntag 0000 Uhr National Radio 0600 Uhr Afrikaans 1000 Uhr Deutsch 1100 Uhr Afrikaans 1700 Uhr Deutsch 2100 Uhr National Radio Programm 2 laeuft derzeit rund um die Uhr auf 6060 kHz, nominell wird nachts von 1800-0700 LT auf 3270 kHz gesendet. Montag bis Freitag 0000 Uhr National Radio 0700 Uhr Otjiherero 0800 bis 1000 Uhr nominell Sendepause [break] 1330 Uhr Damara/Nama 1700 Uhr National Radio 1800 Uhr Otjiherero 1930 Uhr Damara/Nama 2100 Uhr National Radio Samtag und Sonntag 0000 Uhr National Radio 0600 Uhr Otjiherero 0730 Uhr Damara/Nama 1200 Uhr Otjiherero 1500 Uhr Damara/Nama 1800 Uhr Otjiherero 2100 Uhr National Radio (Markus Weidner, Germany, on tour in Namibia A-DX Nov 20, via BC-DX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re: NEW ZEALAND BASE TO HOUSE US AIR FORCE TRANSMITTER This is very interesting. I doubt that the site to be chosen would be Whenuapai. That is the site of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's Transport and Maritime Patrol squadrons north-west of Auckland. The base is about 10 km from Mairangi Bay where I live and we are under the flight path to it. It is about 5 km from the RNZ AM transmitting stn at Henderson. Currently the local papers are full of stories predicting the closure of Whenuapai with the two squadrons moving to the one (!) remaining Air Force base at Ohakea in the lower North Island about 150 km north of Wellington. Christchurch is a possibility. It is in the South Island and is the main support base for the US & NZ Antarctic scientific programmes. There are HF facilities there already. However the most likely place I would think is Waiouru in the centre of the North Island. The main NZ Army training base is there along with the associated main HF communications for the NZ Defence Forces. The transmitting facility is located right alongside State Highway 1, the main route throughout the country running from north to south. Log Periodic, Rhombic and other antennas are clearly visible as you drive past. The Royal New Zealand Navy's receiving station called "HMNZS (meaning Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship, believe it or not!) Irirangi" is also clearly visible about 1 km off State Highway One. I suspect it is the primary receiving station for the other armed services as well. As these facilities already exist, I would think Waiouru is the likely site, unless communications with the Antarctic are the main objective, which would make Christchurch a strong contender. There is an Army base there too (Barry Hartley, NZ, BC-DX Nov 22 via DXLD) see PORTUGAL ** NICARAGUA. 5770 USB + carrier, R. Miskut, Nov 23 2340-0010* Talk by YL DJ, pop music and ballads. ID heard over Harry Nilson's "Without You" during closing announcements. Thanks Henderson tip. 23232 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 5770U, R. Miskut: finally caught them in the morning. 1216 Nov 26 with VOA Spanish // 9480. In to their own music program when rechecking at 1232. Still seems irregular, hung on channel the 27th from 1158-1205, untraced. Rechecked at 1248 and they were on with Christmas music (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. ZAMFARA STATE PRONOUNCES "FATWA" PRESCRIBING DEATH FOR JOURNALIST | Text of report in English by French news agency AFP Kano, Nigeria, 26 November: A mainly Muslim state in northern Nigeria has pronounced a "fatwa" urging believers to kill the author of an article on the Miss World pageant which was seen as insulting to the Prophet Mohammed, a state spokesman told AFP Tuesday. Zamfara State information commissioner Umar Dangaladima told AFP by telephone that the fatwa - an Islamic religious decree - had been confirmed against fashion writer Isioma Daniel, whose article sparked three days of bloody sectarian riots. "The state government did not on its own pass the fatwa," he said. "It's a fact that Islam prescribes the death penalty on anybody, no matter his faith, who insults the Prophet. "Therefore the state government has retained this verdict as it applies to Isioma. This is our position," he said. Zamfara's deputy governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi said late Monday [25 November] in a speech to religious leaders in the Zamfara State capital Gusau and rebroadcast on state radio: "Like Salman Rushdie, the blood of Isioma Daniel can be shed." "It is binding on all Muslims wherever they are to consider the killing of the writer as a religious duty," he said, adding that the fatwa had been decided at a meeting between the state government and 21 Islamic youth organizations. A "fatwa" is a legal statement in Islam, issued by a mufti or a religious lawyer after reference to precedents to decide on an issue of jurisprudence. It is not binding in Nigerian state law, but can be influential among Muslims. Zamfara is one of 12 mainly Muslim states in northern Nigeria which have reintroduced the strict Sharia Islamic legal code since the country's return to civilian rule in 1999. Nigeria's federal government regards Islamic criminal law as unconstitutional, but the issue has never been resolved in court. Daniel resigned from the newspaper This Day after fury erupted over an article she authored on November 16 on the Miss World beauty pageant, in which she suggested that the Prophet Mohammed might not have opposed its being held in Nigeria. "The Muslims thought it was immoral to bring 92 women to Nigeria to ask them to revel in vanity. What would Mohammed think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from one of them," she wrote. This Day apologised for the story the next day, claiming that an editor had tried to cut the offending passage before publication and had been let down by technology, but the damage was done and many Muslims were furious at the perceived slur. On Wednesday a group of Muslim youths burned down This Day's local offices in the religiously mixed northern city of Kaduna, an attack that proved to be a prelude to three days of sectarian violence which left around 220 people dead. At the weekend the contestants and organizers of the Miss World pageant left Nigeria under a storm of disastrous publicity surrounding the violence, and the show has now been moved to London. Last week the state security service announced it had issued arrest warrants for Daniel and her editor on the Saturday edition of the daily, Simon Kolawole. Late Monday, in an interview with CNN, President Olusegun Obasanjo blamed the This Day article for starting the riots and putting paid to Nigeria's ambition to host the pageant. The managing director for This Day, Victor Ifijeh, told AFP Tuesday that Kolawole was still in custody after his arrest but that the paper hoped he would be freed soon. Daniel, he said, had voluntarily tendered her resignation and was believed to be at her home, not having surrendered herself to the authorities. Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in English 1146 gmt 26 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 7275: Whether just due to favourable propagation conditions or because of transmitter activation due to the recent events in Kaduna, I believe it was FRCN Kaduna I hrd on 7275 at 0825- 0845 f/out, airing Vernacular (tentatively) programming with talks. Het wih an unID carrier on 7274.48 kHz. 15331 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Nov 22, via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. [Re Salama Radio, listed as 1900-2000 on 15365 via Sackville, but not heard Sat Nov 22; was it daily?] [Yes:] Previously on 12025: 1900-2000 46 WOF 250 kW 170 degrees. Salamaa R via Woofferton various ex-Rampisham 1900-2000 Hausa [Fulfulde] English 12025 WOF 1900 Ha, 1930 En Sun Mon Wed Fri 1900 Ha, 1920 Fulful, 1930 En Tue Thu Sat (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Nov 26 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan has submitted tentative requirements to use the 15 mb during B02, on a "as required" basis, from Islamabad: 18920 0800-1104 Urdu and English, to Eu 18920 0500-0700 Urdu NAf 18970 0800-1104 Urdu and English, to Eu 18970 0500-0700 Urdu NAf Requirements notified for B02 for the 13 mb are: 21460 0500-0700 Urdu NAf 21470 0500-0700 Urdu NAf 21520 0800-1104 Urdu and English to Eu 21520 0500-0700 Urdu to NAf 21650 0800-1104 Urdu and English to Eu (Bob Padula, EDXP Broadcast Monitor Nov 27 via DXLD) {The 0800-1104 broadcast is actually on 21465, 17835 per recent skeds; the above must be alternate/backup, on 21 as well as 18 MHz} ** PARAGUAY. -Aún sin rastros de vida, Radio Nacional del Paraguay en 9737.1 kHz (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 7737.1, R. América (tentative) 0045-0107 Nov 22. Carrier noted earlier, at S4 levels on the R8B's S-meter. Some music was audible at 0047, then talk by OM. Music selections were slow songs or ballads. Deeper voiced male heard at 0101. By 0107, ham [sic] QRM was too severe to follow. SINPO 13331. Although their carrier was detected 3 nights in a row, this was the only night that some audio could heard (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** PERU. 5486.72, R. Reyna de la Selva, 0954-1005 Nov 22. Open carrier at tune-in, but missed their sign-on, as YL vocals were heard at 0957 re-check. 1004 announcements by OM, including ID, banda internacional, ...metros. Song by YL followed (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL/NEW ZEALAND, "Collision" between two antipode countries 11675 kHz mornings. As a matter of fact, I warned the RDP about this, explaining that Rangitaiki is beamed to the Pacific but also to WNAm during a certain period when both stns are on the air to the same region in NAm, i.e. the west coast. I notice this collision here in Lisbon too, with the R Portugal signal to WNAm dominating of course, but RNZI can still be perceived under-neath. I don't know what reception in the target area is like though. There's another collision: BBC CYP carries the WS (at least) on 15575 when the RDP is co-channel Sats+Suns 0800-1455 to Europe, zones 18+27+28. Noel says São Gabriel dominates, but the BBC is always audible underneath. For years, the RDP has no adequate monitoring site, the previous one having been dismantled and the sets put in storage. As far as I was informed, occasional HF monitoring is done with only semi-pro receivers (possibly "rx" only!) plus a rudimentary antenna right on the RDP house here in the capital. Consequently, reception evaluation consists of: - reception reports sent by listeners and/or DXers; or - monitoring carried out by other broadcast stations (e.g. RAI) whose broadcasts were in the past monitored at the RDP dedicated site; or then - accomplished upon request to the Portugal embassies or government staff stationed abroad, e.g. military forces. I don't know how's reception like elsewhere, i.e. ME+India, Africa, Venezuela or WNAm, because I don't correspond with people living in those places (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Nov 22, via DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. T-E FM DX to Brasil: see PROPAGATION at bottom ** RUSSIA. OK re Mauno's logging of Yakutsk on 7140 - so the two I hear(?) could be this one and also the People's Paradise. Both are still too weak to identify here. I don't wish to "labour" the point, but would mention that 7200 was peaking to S9 at c0800 this morning with an echo - not bad if it is still Yakutsk and omnidirectional. Characteristics seem to indicate that it is coming from the east of Russia. Unfortunately, it is 0827 before I can hear 7345. Magadan 7320 was much weaker - this one doesn`t seem to have a lot of audio coming out of it currently. Regarding Russian station names - I checked this morning to see what I could be hearing in Chinese on 9530 c0750 today and find Xi`an 100 kW, 255 degrees, so maybe that one. It wasn`t strong, but still covered Magadan. I noted also that OKH is the HFCC registration for "Magadan" - I assume for Okhotsk, which is some way west/south-west of Magadan. I have also seen this station listed as Arman. Obviously I have lots to learn about Russia! It's their alphabet that defeats me - good luck to Kazan in changing theirs! (Noel Green, UK, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ST. LUCIA. T-E FM DX to Brasil: see PROPAGATION at bottom ** SIKKIM. INDIA 3390, AIR Gangtok (tentative) 1129-1136 Nov 22. Faint talk at tune-in, SC vocals at 1136. I need to review the tape on this one, this is the first time that I've ever heard audio here. SINPO 13331 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 7530 USB + carrier, R. Hargeysa (presumed), 1923-1958* Nov 22. Presumed to be them for now; I need to review my tapes. Talk by OM with tinny telephone-quality audio. Only audible in USB or USB + sync. Exchange between OM and YL at 1931. Group vocals at 1944. Possible mention of Hargeysa at 1945. YL wailing vocals, at 1952. After this, a brief announcement by a male, including the word "radio", then transmitter went off at 1958. Presumed to be on an hour later for Ramadan. SINPO 144441. Propagation to the East Africa was excellent today. Also Nov 23 at 1928-1959*. Not as strong as the previous day, but Horn of Africa music at 1952. Will have to check the instrumental music played at 1958 to see if it's an anthem or signature tune. Transmitter off at 1959 (George Maroti, Chamberlain, Maine DXpedition, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1158, DXLD) ** SPAIN. ESPANHA - Os ouvintes das ondas curtas e amantes da boa música têm uma boa opção. É o programa Nuestro Sello, da Rádio Exterior de Espanha, que divulga as gravações do selo RTVE Música. O programa abre espaço para diversos gêneros musicais, destacando-se a música erudita e a folclórica espanhola. De segunda à sexta, o programa vai ao ar, às 1010, em 11815 e 21570 kHz. Também às 1605, em 15125, 21570 e 21700 kHz. Já de terças à sábados, é apresentado às 0105, em 9620, 11815, 11945 e 15160 kHz. A apresentação é de Carlos Garrido. Os dados e a dica é do dexista e biólogo Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM). [via WORLD OF RADIO 1158] O idioma espanhol é o grande astro do programa Un Idioma sin Fronteras, apresentado pela Rádio Exterior de Espanha. Isabel Cavanillas e Susa Martínez trazem as novidades literárias, entrevistas com acadêmicos e autores espanhóis. De quebra, o programa sempre traz algum sorteio de prêmios para os ouvintes. Atualmente, em conjunto com o Instituto És Hablar http://www.eshablar.com sorteia cursos rápido de espanhol na Internet. Ouça o programa e manifeste seu interesse no sorteio, enviando mensagem para: idioma_ree.rne@r... [truncated] O programa vai ao ar, de segundas a sextas-feiras, às 1710, em 17715 e 21700 kHz. Confira! (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Nov 26 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from ERITREA to SUDAN 6985, Voice of New Sudan (See PWBR 2003 for background) 0400 Nov 27 open carrier, 0401 quick ID in Arabic and announcing 7 kHz in the 41 meter band. Fast talker with another ID and into program preview (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN --- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: An "S-Files" repeat Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: EU Enlargement special Sunday: "In Touch with Stockholm" features ethnic discrimination and life in the 18th century (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Nov 27 via DXLD) {why never any previews of Mon, Tue, Wed? Too far in fuzzy future?} ** SWITZERLAND. SWITZERLAND TRANSMITTERS STILL CLOSED You will recall that last year in The ACE we ran a photo of the wholesale milk barn that has been constructed on the former site of the Swiss Radio International transmitter in Lenk, Switzerland, located ten miles south of Zweisimmen, the ancestral home of the Zeller family of DXers. Once again this year, your editor visited Switzerland in early November, and although he did not discover any clandestine radio news in that country, he did come back with more photos of the notorious Lenk milk barn. As you see here, this year we have a photo of what remains of the driveway that used to lead to the entrance to the SRI Lenk transmitter. This transmitter site was always somewhat unusual, since the transmitter was housed in an underground bunker. It now turns out that the notorious Lenk milk barn was constructed precisely above this driveway, using the cement walls of the bunker entrance as some of the foundations of the barn building. Our view here shows what remains of this driveway. The area to the left has some milk cartons in temporary storage, while the area to the right of the door in the rear consists of some of the original cement foundations of the SRI transmitter bunker structure. The door in the rear used to lead to the transmitter itself, but it now goes to some unknown area of the newly constructed milk barn. I did not go back inside to open the door, so as to determine if SRI's Bob Zanotti was being held captive inside. In a related matter, I also visited the site of the long-closed Schwarzenburg transmitter of Swiss Radio International. A few years ago I was given a tour of this facility by SRI engineer Roland Anderau, and I was astonished to find that the building contained one of the best collections of antique radios that I ever saw. The large majority of these old receivers were by European manufacturers, several of which I had never heard of. In addition to this astonishing collection of receivers, the Schwarzenberg transmitter facility contained an antique medium wave transmitter that was the first medium wave transmitter used in Bern. In recent years I had heard rumors in Switzerland that there were plans to convert the Schwarzenberg site into a radio museum. But, during my visit to the site in November 2002, I saw no sign that these rumors were being converted to action. Unlike in Lenk, all of the buildings in the old Schwarzenberg transmitter complex remain standing, even with a Swiss PTT sign still on the front door. But, all of this remains under lock and key behind a perimeter fence, with no admittance to the general public. I have been told by Adrian Peterson of Adventist World Radio that the old Schwarzenberg transmitter has been purchased by AWR, and is currently in use from a site in Italy. The only thing remaining in Schwarzenberg that has even a remote connection with DXing is the Hauser's Antiques store in downtown Schwarzenberg. Since very few of us have ever seen this retail store, I'll also print a photo of what is not really the Schwarzenberg branch of DX Listening Digest. I did not visit DJ Stevie of Europirate Radio 510 International while I was in Switzerland, but Stevie has sent in e-mails since my return to the USA, and he says hello to his many North American DX friends, many of whom he met during various visits to the Winter SWL Festival in Kulpsville, Pennsylvania. Stevie reminds us that you can still check out the web site of his station at http://www.radio510.org on the internet. It contains no clandestine radio information at all, but it does profile Stevie's europirate in some detail, including their current schedule via a relay in Italy (George Zeller, Clandestine Profile, Dec the A*C*E via DXLD) [continued in DXLD 2-186] |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-184, November 24, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1157: WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415 [new time just advised, ex 0515] WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1157.html ** AUSTRIA. Glenn, Listened to R. Austria International on November 23, 2002 on 7325 kHz from 0230 to 0255 UT, SIO 454. Program consisted of News, "Report From Austria" and "Postbox". On "Postbox" letters were read from listeners about the prospect of ORF leaving SW. I thought I'd finally get the information directly from the source. Wasn't to be as the program ended abruptly at 0255 UT, even though the announcers were still reading letters. At 0258 UT heard the BBC ident signal on 7235. Oh, well... 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Regarding the additional English broadcasts of RAI: 0000 on 9870 seemed to be there Nov 24, poor reception with co-channel from something Far East. But the Sunday 1704-1800 on 17865 via Canada is not. 17865 cut off as usual at 1659 and did not come back (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ROI: No, I think we indeed hadn't the B02 schedule yet, also because it was posted on their website only with a delay (hardly a surprise of course, considering the lack of menpower there). So here is the whole shortwave schedule with kW/degrees figures added from the HFCC file although not necessarily reflecting the actual situation, namely they run 6155 with 100 kW only when both 500 kW transmitters are required for AWR transmissions: 0000-0100 13730 300/245 0000-0200 9870 300/275 0200-0300 7325 300/305 0500-1200 13730 100/160 0500-2308 6155 300/ND 0600-0700 17870 100/115 1200-1800 13730 100/ND 1300-1400 17855 500/90 1800-2308 5945 100/ND Sackville: 1500-1600 17865 250/272 {sic; really 1600-1700 now for winter} The ORF network Radio 1476 (frequency acc. the station name) also airs various ROI productions, including this ones in foreign languages: Mon-Fri 2000 and 2230 Report from Austria, Sat 1830 Journal d'Autriche, Sat 2000 Insight Central Europe, Sun 2000 Letter from Austria / Network Europe. Satellite transmissions: On Astra within the DVB bouquet of ORF, main program under "ROI Wien", Sackville program (actually just a feed to Merlin London, hence nowhere listed) under "ROI SAC". Languages: Spanish 0030-0100, 0130-0200, 0330-0400, 2030-2100 English 0230-0300, 0632-0700, 1230-1300, 1330-1400 on 17855 only, 1430-1500, 1630-1700 on Sackville feed only, 1930-2000 French 0730-0800, 1200-1230, 1830-1900, 2130-2200, 2230-2300 (not on Sat). Otherwise German, mostly relaying Ö1, but 0500-0600 Ö3 relay instead; Mon, Wed and Fri 2308-2400 (so on Astra and Internet only) rebroadcast of FM4 programming. Radio Afrika International: Sat 2203-2300. Further shortwave transmissions outside the ROI programming may still exist; the Radio Afrika website http://www.radioafrika.net gives 1430-1600 on 17875 but this would need to be confirmed. The HFCC file does not include such an outlet (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4755.0, R. Educação Rural; 2338 11/23, Brasilian pop/vocal music, 2333 "Radio Educacão Rural" jingle, man in Portuguese with TC, slogans, promos (Steven Wiseblood, Boca Chica Beach, TX, DX-160, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. The DX programme of Radio Bulgaria English service was aired at the very first time on November 17th, 1957, ID as Radio Sofia, Bulgaria. Radio Sofia's DX program was created and presented by Dimiter Petrov, LZ1AF, under the title "Calling DXers and Radio Amateurs". The 45th anniversary will be celebrated in Sofia on November 20th on the ham radio meeting, which is held every Wednesday. Now there are three different versions of that DX program: -- "Radio Bulgaria Calling" in English compiled by D. Petrov and Rumen Pankov, featuring Amateur radio news and BC DX tips. -- "Sendung fuer die Funkfreunde" / "Program for Friends of Radio" in German, French and Spanish. Compiled by Rumen Pankov and features thematic part plus BC DX tips. -- "DX Mix" in Russian and Bulgarian compiled by Ivo Ivanov, features news from HFCC via Internet. The schedule of Russian and Bulgarian DX programs was published previously. The others are English Fris 2235 5800 7500 Sats 0035 & 0335 7400 9400 Suns 0748 12000 13600 1248 12000 15700 French Tues 2138 5800 7500 Weds 0238 7400 9400 0720 (irregularly) 12000 13600 1220 12000 15700 and irregularly, on all transmissions on Sundays. Spanish Suns 1748 9700 11700 2218 6000 7300 Mons 0018 5900 11600 0218 5900 7500 11600 0718 (irregularly) 15700 17500 1218 (irregularly) 15600 17500. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 18 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Salama Radio: I dimly remember they were on air not daily? The use of Sackville for this purpose reminds me on the old Merlin Network One which was also transmitted via Sackville back to Europe in the evening (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANARY ISLANDS. In last week's Flashsheet I indicated my initial report to the Full Gospel Las Palmas Church on 6715 usb sent to pulse@121.net bounced. However, my second try to fglc@jet.es resulted in an e-mail reply in 1 day from v/s Gyusub Chung indicating 100 watts (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. A handy excerpt from REE`s full schedule, to keep track of which frequencies are via the Cariari relay: 0000-0400 C-11815 Sudamerica 0200-0600 C-6040 Centro y Norteamerica 0200-0600 C-11880 Centro y Norteamerica 1000-1300 C-11815 Centro y Sudamerica 1100-1400 C-5970 Centro y Norteamerica (Lun a Vie) 1100-1400 C-15170 Centro y Norteamerica (Lun a Vie) 1200-1500 C-5970 Centro y Norteamerica (Dom) 1200-1500 C-15170 Centro y Norteamerica (Dom) 1200-2300 C-15125 Sudamerica (Dom) 1500-2300 C-9765 Centro y Norteamerica (Dom) 1500-2300 C-17850 Centro y Norteamerica (Dom) 1600-2300 C-9765 Norte, Centro y Sudamerica (Sab) 1600-2300 C-15125 Norte, Centro y Sudamerica (Sab) 1600-2300 C-17850 Norte, Centro y Sudamerica (Sab) 1800-2000 C-9765 Norte, Centro y Sudamerica (Lun a Vie) 1800-2000 C-15125 Norte, Centro y Sudamerica (Lun a Vie) 1800-2000 C-17850 Norte, Centro y Sudamerica (Lun a Vie) (via Ángel Rodríguez Lozano, en El Dial 11/02, Madrid, España via Conexión Digital Nov 23, excerpted by gh for DXLD) ** CUBA. 4870.07, 1007- Nov 24, R. REBELDE. Continuous music with occasional announcements in SS with ID by female announcer at 1000. Difficult copy with het from possible India and Guatemala near this freq. Difficult copy at S3 signal level then dropped out at 1009. Carrier still noted but very weak at this time (Robert E. Montgomery, Levittown, PA USA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) For once, here`s a Cuban which does not work out to be a likely harmonic --- unless 6 x 811 and 2/3, around which I recall some station used to vary (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. REEMPLAZO DE ALTO FUNCIONARIO EN SERVICIOS DE TRANSMISIONES DE E.U. TENDRA DEFINITIVO IMPACTO SOBRE RADIO Y TELE- MARTI La salida del Sr. Brian Conniff como Director Interino del International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) es una señal clara y definitiva de que cambios significativos se avecinan para los servicios de transmisiones al exterior del gobierno de los Estados Unidos. [Caption:] Brian Conniff, Director Interino del IBB. Funesto para Radio Martí. Su salida abre un rayo de esperanza para la audiencia cubana en la Isla. En el caso específico de Cuba, su partida puede resultar beneficiosa para los cubanos dentro de la Isla. Las operaciones de radio y televisión hacia el extranjero constituyen un punto neurálgico en la batalla de relaciones públicas y de ideas, esencial a la política exterior de los Estados Unidos. Irónicamente, en esta vital área, a la administración Bush le ha tomado dos años obtener el traspaso de poderes obtenido en las elecciones presidenciales del 2000. No debemos olvidar que durante la Presidencia de Clinton, una agenda bien activa, destinada a crear condiciones que facilitaran la eliminación de Radio y Tele-Martí se puso en marcha. [caption] Kevin Klose, predecesor de Conniff. Se le premió con la Dirección de la Radio Nacional Pública (NPR) por sus servicios al Clintonato. Se alega estar implicado en la agenda de demolición de los Martís. Por muchos años, los elementos demócratas más liberales en el Congreso habían librado constantes batallas por socavar la imagen de las operaciones hacia Cuba cuyo prestigio profesional, su credibilidad indiscutible y sus niveles de audiencia llegagon a ser los más altos de toda la historia de los servicios de transmisiones al extranjero del gobierno de E.U. ¿Por qué la agenda de demolición en los Martís ha continuado tras el reemplazo de Herminio San Román y Roberto Rodríguez Tejera? El designado político de la administración republicana, Salvador Lew, un cubano-americano -Independiente- a quien este periódico saludara en su nombramiento, no sólo ha sido incapaz -por las razones que sean- de tomar efectivas riendas de Radio y Tele- Martí, sino que ha fracasado rotundamente en cumplir el mandato presidencial que acompañara el anuncio de su nombramiento "traer a los Martís un fuerte liderazgo y una nueva dirección". Nuestras fuentes aquí en Washington nos dicen que La Casa Blanca tiene sumo interés en que Radio Martí recupere sus niveles de audiencia y prestigio; que tomarán todas las acciones necesarias para garantizarlo; que buscarán las fórmulas institucionales legales y necesarias para que esa herramienta del gobierno de Estados Unidos haga su función. Sería necesario tomar medidas drástica, pero existe la voluntad política de llevarlo a cabo. Por Ares Spinoza, Washington D.C., La Nueva Cuba, Noviembre 21, 2002 (via Oscar, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Nos dice nuestro colega y amigo Ruben G. Margenet, que desde el 27/10/02 el servicio en castellano de Radio El Cairo transmite de 0045 a 0200 UTC, por las dos únicas frecuencias en los 25 metros: 11680 y 11790 KHz. Sin embargo personalmente pude chequear el esquema de la ERTU (Egyptian Radio & TV Union) via Internet, y los mismos informan que el nuevo esquema del servicio al exterior en lengua española se irradia así: HORA UTC KHZ DESTINO 0045-0200 9475 Norteamerica 11680 Centroamerica 11790 Sudamerica Desde Buenos Aires, pude reportar con buena señal las dos frecuencias en 25 metros, con una notable mejoría en la recepción de la emisora a diferencia de los últimos años. Sin embargo, cabe destacar que la frecuencia nominal de 11680 KHz, en realidad se escuchó en la de 11688.0v KHz. Intenté reportar la frecuencia de 9475 KHz desde las 0045 UTC, y se podía escuchar algo de música tipo árabe, pero no sé si se trataba de Radio El Cairo, debido a la pésima modulación y mala señal. Otro aporte interesante es que la estación estuvo fuera de aire el pasado sábado (UT) 23 de Noviembre (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Radio Republic Abkhazia s-on one hour later, at 1500 UT in Russian and Abkhazian, from Nov 16th (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX via DXLD) {WTFK?? 9489v?} ** GERMANY. The report about the outsourcing policy of the CBC was quite interesting because it appears to be quite similar to the approach of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk here. This corporation would be another topic; the "Jump" program they produce is truly a shame for the whole public broadcasting system in Germany and their "MDR info" all-news network (the one that is still relayed by Bayerischer Rundfunk 2300-0500 on 6085) gets meanwhile also criticized for being shallow, partly even biased. And so on (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. "Hi Guys, I've waded through the first 16 DXpedition tapes and now I've reached the last logs, where the reception of this mystery station was taped. I first noticed it at 0911 UT, QRMing the Spanish station (still unIDed but maybe the Argie Del Plata) dead on 1030 kHz. [you mean both are dead-on 1030? --gh] "The tape reveals: Music, music, music until church bells at 0943. Male voice comes on in slightly accented French with clear ID: "Radio Guinen, 92.9 FM et 1050 AM..." This man says they broadcast the Mass every morning at this time. Thus, it is a genuine Haitian but a lot more off-frequency than I anticipated. Then a different guy began singing in Creole "Vous caputez la Radio de la Cayo..." The Mass followed with intro of the celebrants by a woman, also in proper French, etc. "Wild!!!! First time logged in Newfoundland! Thanks to all for your time and interest. "Best wishes, (Jean Burnell, in Nov. 24 e-mail to Terry L Krueger, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. LATE NEWS ON-TIME http://starbulletin.com/2002/11/22/business/index.html KHNL-TV is going to "clock time" Dec. 30, meaning its 10 p.m. news will start at the same time as its competitors. "Our goal over the past few years has been to let people sample our news, to have the NBC product drive people into our news. We're now quite comfortable with the (ratings) progress our news has made and we're ready to compete at 10," said John Fink, vice president and general manager of KHNL and sister-station KFVE-TV. KHNL has been criticized for adding commercials during prime-time. It makes the station more money, but also pushes NBC programming past 10 p.m., meaning viewers who prefer a competing station's newscast miss coverage of top stories. Fink would not specify the number of commercials KHNL will lose, but said WB- affiliate KFVE will likely get some spillover. Fink called WB "the strongest network in terms of growth," which, coupled with top ratings for UH sports makes it "as valuable if not more valuable than most other prime-time properties. "Top-rated KHON anchor Joe Moore has often made on-air comments about KHNL's late-starting news, welcoming viewers who may have tuned in late. Mike Rosenberg, president and general manager of ABC-TV affiliate KITV, said the move is beneficial to viewers and advertisers. In addition, he said, the ratings race is bound to heat up. "The one thing they're not going to be able to do anymore is hold their viewers hostage until 10:06 or 10:07," Rosenberg said. "It'll be interesting to see what the effect is." Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** HONDURAS 4830.08, R. Litoral, 1154-1203 24 Nov. End of religious program with religious music, canned Christmas greeting with Christmas music, canned ID promo by man, canned echo ID announcement by man with mention of "4830 kilociclos, banda internacional de 60 metros", another canned ID announcement by man with call and frequency, then yet another canned ID announcement by woman as "...ciudad, la voz de la selva, transmite HRLW R. Litoral, 4830 kilociclos, banda international de 60 metros, con.... Apartado Postal ?? en La Ceiba ?? R. Litoral". Into soft music. Back down on this frequency again. Have noted it here a couple times in the last month. Wonder why they keep jumping back and forth. Nice clear signal and one of the strongest signals on 60 meters at this time this morning (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4830.1, Radio Litoral, 0432-0502* Nov 23, wandering down to here from usual 4832 with non-stop religious vocals until a Spanish ID at 0451. More religious music until woman gave sign off ID and announcements over instrumental music. Poor to fair (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet, via DXLD) ** INDIA. The following frequencies are not in use by AIR External Services in B-2002 although listed in their latest printed schedule and web site. 13620 0215-0300 Pushtu (Afghanistan) 15075 1615-1730 Hindi, 1745-1945 English (E. Africa) All other entries are OK in their NEW website http://www.allindiaradio.org Their old internet site was http://www.air.kode.net and http://www.allindiaradio.com Note: 9950 to Europe at 1745-2230 has been taken off air temperorily from yesterday as it is having spurious emissions (===== 73 Jose Jacob, Nov 22, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Voice of Indonesia has used 11785 kHz for transmission at 0030-0400 for the past three days, instead of 9525 as previously. RRI's home service relay on 15125 is still off air. RRI Makassar's daytime SW frequency 9552v has also been off air in recent days. The station continues to be heard on 4753 with extended hours for Ramadhan, signing off at around 0030 after relaying news from Jakarta (Alan Davies, Surabaya, Nov 24, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI Pontianak on 3976.1 is now signed on at 1857 as a special schedule of Ramadan season. And according to my monitoring at 1840, RRI Ternate on 3344.8, RRI Serui on 4606.3, RRI Makassar on 4753.3, RRI Fak Fak on 4789.1, and RRI Jambi on 4925.0 have already started its program, Nov 23, 2002 (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Clandestine: 9155, V. of Assyrians, man with talks about dictatorship in Iraq 1710, Hymns after 1711. Marginal signal at 1710 with QRM at both sides (FSK). Better with level S8 max at 1743 with mysterious pop songs, 23.11 (Z. Liangas, Thessaloniki Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. Finalmente el Servicio de Español de KBS Radio Corea Internacional ha optado por la frecuencia de 9760 Khz desde la estación repetidora de Sackville-Canadá como la más apta para llegar al área de América Central y norte de Sudamérica dejando sin efecto a los 11715 Khz, utilizada desde el 2 de abril de 1990. De modo que, a partir del domingo 24 de noviembre de 2002 quedará funcionando solamente la frecuencia de 9760 Khz. RCI agradece a todos los monitores que han contribuido para tal decisión. Por otra parte, anunciaron que se busca una buena frecuencia para el horario nocturno en Sudamérica (0100-0200 UTC) ya que -según las informaciones de los monitores- en los 11810 Khz Radio Corea Internacional no está siendo escuchada. Por último, ya se pueden escuchar vía Internet los programas Antena de la Amistad y Buzón del Radioescucha entrando a la página http://rki.kbs.co.kr haciendo click en spanish y luego en audio por demanda para luego optar por el programa favorito (Noticias anunciadas en los programas Antena de la Amistad y Buzón del Radioescucha del sábado 23 de noviembre de 2002 via Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Nov 23, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. ID Voice of Freedom "FPM Radio Station``. Clandestine from ? to Lebanon, 11515 Voice of Freedom -in Arabic- heard sign-on for test transmission at 1600 with a patriotic song followed by General Aoun's message. A male voice ID at 1622 "Sawat al- Horria, Izaa't Lobnan al-mowahed al-Mostaquel, wa Saout al-Moqawama al-Lobnanyh al-Sharifa". SINPO/34444 Developing... Voice of Freedom, Radio united independent Lebanon, and Voice of the noble Lebanese Resistance (Mahmud Fathi, GERMANY Nov. 23/thanks for Hans's tip, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Listed on the TDP website as Voice of Free Lebanon with a website at http //www.rpliban/rpl/index.htm Contact info as RASSEMBLEMENT POUR LE LIBAN / FRANCE 63, RUE SAINTE ANNE, 75002 PARIS. TELEPHONE 01 40 15 06 52. TELECOPIE 01 40 15 05 52. Broadcasts are daily and are listed as being in Arabic, while website is in French (Hans Johnson, Nov 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. CAMBIO DE FRECUENCIA - FERNANDO MEJÍA BARQUERA IMER EMPOBRECE Y RENTA LA 660 A ROCHA Publicado en Milenio Diario viernes 22-Nov. Actualización 10:04 Hrs. Así como algunos ejidatarios ceden el usufructo de sus parcelas a particulares porque sembrar ya no es negocio o porque no pueden por sí mismos explotarlas adecuadamente, es cada vez más frecuente que empresas radiofónicas renten frecuencias que tienen concesionadas al no ser capaces de administrarlas. Ahora es el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER) la entidad que ha decidido otorgar el uso de una de sus frecuencias a una empresa privada, en este caso el canal 660 KHz, que durante más de un lustro operó como ``La Candela``, nombre que ha perdido en favor de otra denominación: ``Comunicación 660``. ¿RUMBO A LA PRIVATIZACIÓN? Desde la semana pasada empezaron a difundirse en el noticiario Detrás de la noticia, transmitido en dos emisoras del IMER, diversos ``promos`` relativos a nuevos programas que habrían de transmitirse por la 660 a partir de este lunes: ``La Ampolleta``, ``Café en Sanborn`s``, ``La hora del cambio``, ``Pesos y centavos``, todos producidos por la empresa que preside el periodista Ricardo Rocha. Esto coincidió con un rumor que recorrió el medio radiofónico desde principios de noviembre, en el sentido de que la emisora XEDTL ``La Candela`` sería rentada con el fin de obtener por esa vía ingresos para el IMER. El viernes pasado se hizo oficial que el arrendador es Detrás de la Noticia, sin embargo, de manera incorrecta, pues se encuentra involucrada una empresa paraestatal que administra bienes de la nación; los detalles de la operación no se dieron a conocer. Como la ausencia de claridad ha sido característica del gobierno foxista, tampoco se sabe si el arrendamiento de esa frecuencia constituye el primer paso para privatizarla y si otras frecuencias, entre las 20 administradas por el IMER en la república, son candidatas al arrendamiento o a la privatización. SON Y CUMBIA, O NOTICIAS Es un hecho que el IMER opera con problemas económicos desde hace tiempo y que, al menos en 2003, no podrá salir de ellos a través del subsidio gubernamental. En el proyecto de egresos para el año entrante enviado por el Ejecutivo al Congreso de la Unión, se solicitan recursos por 87 millones 583 mil pesos para el IMER, lo cual representa una disminución de millón y medio de pesos con respecto a 2002, cuando los recursos entregados a la institución fueron de 88 millones 819 mil pesos. Por cierto, el IMER sigue presentando la peculiar situación de que aun cuando sus recursos provienen de la Secretaría de Educación Pública, entidad que, se supone, iba a coordinar sus actividades, según se anunció a principios del sexenio, sigue dependiendo políticamente de la Secretaría de Gobernación. Recibe dinero de la SEP y órdenes de Gobernación. Parece claro que el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio no es prioritario para el gobierno y que la instrucción para la señora Beistegui, quien asumió la dirección general en junio de este año, es avenirse a la estrechez presupuestal y obtener dinero de donde pueda. ¿Qué es mejor, una estación tropical y deportiva, como era ``La Candela``, o una de ``radio hablada`` con muchos noticiarios y programas de análisis, como la actual ``Comunicación 660``? A quienes vemos con simpatía el trabajo periodístico del equipo de la agencia Detrás de la Noticia podría parecernos que lo primero, pero quienes gustan del son y la cumbia han perdido una opción radiofónica. En todo caso, el problema no son solamente los gustos personales de unos y otros radioescuchas, sino el hecho de que el IMER no tiene proyecto, o al menos su actual directora no lo ha hecho público y explícito. PALABRAS CONFUSAS El 20 de agosto de este año, cuando tomó oficialmente posesión como directora del IMER (puesto que desempeñaba en los hechos desde el 17 de junio), Dolores Beistegui indicó que su objetivo es ``hacer del IMER una radio verdaderamente pública (...), buscar la democratización y la pluralidad de las expresiones, rescatar la confianza y la credibilidad ciudadana, y hacer público lo que durante mucho tiempo ha sido usado para el ejercicio y el beneficio de la autoridad``. Se trata de palabras confusas. Pueden significar cosas diversas y hasta justificar actos políticos contradictorios. Con ellas se podría, por ejemplo, argumentar la privatización del IMER. Se podría decir que el conjunto de 20 emisoras que lo integran y que han sido usadas ``para el ejercicio y el beneficio de la autoridad`` deben ser devueltas a la ``sociedad civil`` –de la cual forman parte los empresarios radiofónicos– para que en ellas se desarrollen ``la pluralidad de las expresiones`` y se haga ``público``, es decir de la sociedad, lo que fue controlado muchos años por el gobierno. Y también podrían usarse para exigir que en el IMER se practique una radio ``pública``, ``de Estado``, no ``de gobierno``, y que en ella se expresen los sectores de la ``sociedad civil``, entendida ésta como el conjunto de organizaciones no gubernamentales donde se agrupan ciudadanos de diversas procedencias: trabajadores, colonos, profesionistas, estudiantes, feministas, gays, etcétera. Cuadran lo mismo para el discurso privatizador que para el de matiz estatista. Tendría que haber claridad en el IMER. Si se planea privatizarlo habrá que explicar por qué, para qué y cómo se haría. Qué ganaría el país con esa decisión y si se va a vender a quienes el gobierno elija mediante una negociación privada o a través de licitación. Si el IMER va a permanecer como entidad estatal habrá que explicar por qué y para qué va a mantener en condición. MICROHISTORIA La frecuencia 660 AM fue operada inicialmente (1942) por la empresa Radio Programas de México (de ahí su sigla original XERPM). En los años sesenta pasó a poder del grupo Radio Fórmula y en 1971 se transformó en ``Radio Juventud`` (ahí se difundió el 11 de septiembre de ese año el Festival de Avándaro). En 1978 pasó a manos del gobierno que se cobró con esa estación y algunas otras deudas fiscales del dueño de Radio Fórmula. En 1986, ya como parte del IMER, fundado en 1983, se transformó en XERIN ``Radio Infantil``, y se especializó en programas para niños. En 1991 cambió su sigla a XEDTL ``Radio 660``, y se especializó en música tropical y en deportes. Mantuvo ese formato, pero en 1994 pasó a llamarse ``La Candela``. Desde el 18 de noviembre de 2002 se llama ``Comunicación 660``. Tiene una potencia autorizada de 50 mil vatios, una cobertura estimada en 101 mil 787 kilómetros cuadrados, una audiencia potencial de 38 millones de personas y cubre los estados de México, Hidalgo, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Querétaro, Guerrero, Oaxaca y Guanajuato. (Fernando Mejía Barquera, via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Nov 23, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria in English, "Listeners Letters" program heard on Saturday at 0645 UT Nov 16 on 15120 kHz, asked for reception reports. Repeat on Suns 1145, Mons at 2215, and on Wednesdays at ????. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 26100, USA, NBFM, UNID, 2228-2240 Nov 16, thanks to a telephone tip from Tom Williamson caught this one with San José State beating up on Tulsa 49-24. Prior to a break mention "on the University of Tulsa Radio Network". However, during breaks you could hear the announcers chatting in the both so no local commercial breaks or local IDs. Any ideas? Good when in but deep fades and gone most of the time. Tom indicated this one was on most Saturdays coinciding with college football (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Hello Everyone, And thanks for the very interesting mails which have been coming my way recently. Sorry for the absence of anything from here, but I've been away from home for three days, so am still catching up on my reading. Yes, a very nice recording from Moldova - Kai. It was remarkable to hear three different IS tunes and a national anthem all at once! All else on 999 disappeared here when our local commercial rubbish arrived on frequency some years ago, so Pridnestrovye is impossible for me. The information Bernd gives concerning Yakutsk seems very relevant to me. I realise that output powers can be misleading in some instances, but 7200 is still regularly the best signal here currently - I note HFCC says via 0 deg (is that omnidirectional or do they really mean 0 deg? - I wonder who would want to live north of Yakutsk!) - while 7345 is less strong - HFCC says via 315 deg. The opposite used to be the case. I can now hear something on 7140 (there might even be two signals) around 0800, but not good enough to ID - one might be KRE, which is sched at that time. I note the HFCC says 20 kW at 30 deg on this frequency, and that Olle doesn`t hear Yakutsk. There's no trace so far of 4825 here - maybe there will be in about one month`s time. I hadn`t realised that Russian SW sites were built near the railways, but it does make sense I guess! Why, though, all this confusion concerning the actual names of the sites - is it still something left over from the cold war days? Or does Russian administration still not know for sure where their stations actually are! I guess the IBB and DW officials only print what they are told. Tbilisskaya is obviously lots of kilometres distant from Armavir and Krasnodar. Best 73's (Noel Green, UK, Nov 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The HFCC lists changed from "ND" to "0" for ND is season A99, so "0" means really "omnidirectional" now, while 360 would mean "North". As for confusion about transmitter site names: this is not limited to Russia/CIS, I think this is the case in very many countries. Also in Germany for example, many sites have been circulating under different names. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi, 360 / 000 degrees: 6195 2200-0200 44,49 SNG 125 1 And BBC/Merlin registered Kranji, Singapore, curtain of 1 degree, which I suppose is true North of Singapore site, to avoid 000 degrees, the 'non-directional' entry. There has been an explanation of Tbilisskaya site in the DX press some 6-8 years ago. If my brain is still right: The town of at least 10.000 inhabitants, infrastructure of school and medicine care, police station, postoffice a.s.o. belongs only to the site staff and their families, is self-sufficient. Near Tbilisskoye. The county name of the nearby greater city is Armavir. The state/ oblast name is Krasnodar. Is that right, Bernd? 73 de (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. On Thursday Nov 14th Voice of Russia in German reactivated the DX program compiled by Mrs. E. Hoshova, noted at 1642-1652 UT on 6145 7300 7380 7390 etc. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. See RUSSIA above ** TIBET. Esquema de emisiones de la Voz del Tíbet suministrado por la propia emisora: HORA UTC KHZ 0650-1535 5240, 4905, 4920, 6110, 6130, 6200 0650-1000 7125, 7385 1000-1535 9490, 9580 1750-0100 4905, 6130, 6200, 7385, 9490 1750-0135 6110 Todas las transmisiones son en idioma tibetano, excepto una emisión en inglés de 1100 a 1125 UTC por 9490 KHz (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, USA, Conexión Digital via DXLD) A few problems here: the above sked appears to be in LOCAL time, UT +8; the 1100 UT English broadcast has been reported on many other frequencies too, and what about 1630? This schedule omits services in Chinese. Finally, Voice of Tibet is the name of a clandestine, not this official Chicom station (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TOGO. 5047.0, Radiodiffusion Togolaise, 0515-0610 Nov 24. After hearing a carrier yesterday around 0500 (and on other mornings), Lomé seems to be active now with man and woman in French, choir music and 'Onward, Christian soldiers'. No formal ID heard, but several times Togo was mentioned. Transmission break at 0548, again back at 0552. News at 0600 with a 'live' report and at same time fading away. Signal too weak to read (Piet Pijpers, Netherlands, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U K. HOLD TIGHT THE MASSIVE Ever since Simon Dee's first broadcast from the MV Caroline in 1964, pirate radio has played a crucial role in forming Britain's musical taste. Now the phenomenon is bigger than ever, the airwaves in the cities so crowded that the pirates are being pushed into the suburbs and the countryside. Alexis Petridis picks up the story in an Essex garage with a young man named Stealth . . . Alexis Petridis, Thursday November 21 2002, The Guardian It has been described as a new studio, a nerve centre, and the headquarters of Essex's top pirate radio station, and admittance has been granted only after a rigorous vetting procedure. I have been quizzed at length. ID has been demanded. The Guardian's photographer has been accused of spying for the government: "I'm sorry about that, mate," says our guide, a 19-year-old who bears the fitting pseudonym of Stealth. "But he looks exactly like an inspector from the DTI - he's even driving a Ford Mondeo." Finally, though, Stealth has agreed to drive us to the secret location. On the way, the car stereo blares out Soundz FM. It plays chirpy UK garage topped not with patois-heavy rhymes about guns, "haters" and inner-city violence, but rap of a distinctly Essex strain. "Big shaaht aaht to the XR3i crew," says the MC. "Buzzing abaaht in the rain on a Sunday afternoon." The screening procedures are so exacting, it's difficult not to be slightly disappointed when you arrive. You can call this place a studio until you are blue in the face, but there is no getting around the fact that we are standing in the middle of someone's garage. The turntables nestle on a workbench amid cans of de-icer and Hammerite. The DJs and their friends sit on piles of stacked-up garden chairs, their baseball-capped heads nodding in time to the beats. A DJ called Mr Y2K is hunched over the turntables, while his fellow DJ Softmix chatters into a microphone, taking requests and demands for "shout outs", and reading text messages. The mobile phone rings. He hands it to Mr Y2K, and a brief, animated conversation takes place, just audible over the beats. A listener is criticising Y2K's choice of records. "Yeah, I know, mum," he mutters. "I didn't really want to play it myself." He pauses and looks momentarily pained. "Will you stop interfering?" he asks, plaintively. "Big up Mr Y2K's mummy!" cries Softmix. Stealth rolls his eyes. "Sometimes his nan rings up as well," he says. Soundz FM is far removed from the popular image of a pirate radio station. For a start, we are not in a crumbling Hackney tower block, nor is the atmosphere fugged with marijuana smoke. Judging by the litter on the floor, Soundz runs on nothing stronger than junk food and cigarettes. The atmosphere is cheery with the added frisson of illicit behaviour. It is somewhere between a youth club and a house party being held while parents are away. Everyone is friendly, if startled by the arrival of a national newspaper in their midst. "Shout going out to the Guardian posse," cries Softmix, by way of introduction. "Checking out the studio, writing an article on Soundz FM!" He then decides to conduct an interview of his own. "What do you make of it?" he asks, thrusting the microphone into my hands. But I have neither the voice nor the vocabulary for pirate radio. "So far it seems very impressive," I say, sounding like the winner of a competition to find Britain's most middle-class person. Aware that Soundz FM's street credibility is threatened, Softmix takes the microphone back. "Wicked," he says. From Radio London in the 60s to So Solid Crew's Battersea-based Delight FM, pirate radio has traditionally been a London phenomenon. Two years old, Soundz is one of a new breed of suburban pirates, uncomfortable with the gangster posturing and occasional bursts of violence that have become associated with illegal radio in the capital. Although Soundz reaches London, the majority of its audience comes from the suburbs: Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire. The "staff" of Soundz FM are curiously prudish. Swearing is banned on air. "Some stations use filthy language, you know," bridles one DJ indignantly. "They're asking to be taken off the air, no question." "In London they want that rude boy attitude," says Stealth. "In certain parts of north-west London... well, there's a pirate station there that's actually based in a crack den, so that gives you an idea of some of them. But we're not all like that. We're referred to as polite people from Bexley. We're a friendly, community station. We're from the suburbs, we don't bother trying to get non-suburb listeners." There's a musical distinction as well, albeit one of those infinitesimal sub-generic shifts that anyone not completely immersed in the dance music world has no hope of understanding. DJ L-Dubs attempts to explain it to me. "Shady garage", he says, is to be avoided at all costs, whereas "happy garage" attracts "uplifting people who want to be uplifted". The latter, he informs me, is what Soundz FM is all about. I nod knowledgeably, but have no idea what he is talking about. Equally bewildering is the station's co-founder, Master Control. Portly and middle-aged, he cuts an incongruous figure amid the sportswear-clad teens. He was a teenager himself when he first got involved with pirate radio. Now it has completely taken over his life. During the week he makes "rigs" - radio transmitters - that he sells to other stations. At the weekends he careers around the Essex countryside, checking Soundz's aerial, ensuring that the signal is not causing interference to television or the emergency services. Ask him what the appeal of pirate radio is and he looks completely mystified. "I don't know. I find it... I don't know. I can't really do anything else. It's the only thing in my life that I can do. I make rigs that work, I do it properly. You get a sense of achievement, I suppose." He's not alone in his inability to explain the compulsion to break the law on a weekly basis, endure the endless hassle and expense of having your transmitter impounded by the Radiocommunications Agency (or stolen by a rival station) and risk unlimited fines and two years in prison. There's certainly no financial reward - the DJs pay a 10[?] pound weekly subscription to play on the station, which goes towards running costs - and little chance of celebrity. While some of the Soundz staff clearly see the station as a means of breaking through, circumventing the politburo of ageing celebrity DJs who control the dance scene, it is statistically unlikely that they will. For every So Solid Crew, who have converted their pirate notoriety into a more tangible form of celebrity, there are scores of DJs beavering away in semi-obscurity: Dom Da Bom, Miss Giggles, Lukozade, DJ Bangers, the hopefully named Aylesbury Allstars. It's peculiar, but then pirate radio has always been a bit peculiar. By definition it exists outside the mainstream, attracting strange characters who don't really fit in anywhere else. As befits a criminal enterprise, it regularly changes its identity. It began in 1964, the brainchild of Irish businessman Ronan O'Rahilly, who noted that, in the heyday of Beatlemania, the BBC Light Programme was broadcasting only two hours of pop music a week. Rahilly's Radio Caroline and its competitor Radio London invented pop radio as we know it today. By 1967, however, the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act had made the seafaring stations illegal, and Radio 1 had swiped both the pirates' all-pop format and their biggest DJs: Tony Blackburn, Dave Lee Travis, Kenny Everett and John Peel. Deprived of both legality and raison d'être, pirate radio went into decline. By the 70s, it was the domain of crackpots: Radio Nordsee featured a DJ called Spangles Muldoon and broadcast virulent Tory propaganda during the 1970 general election. Radio Enoch, meanwhile, offered military music and plummy voices denouncing immigration. It took the rise of dance music to revive the pirates' fortunes. Britain's underground soul and reggae scenes grew throughout the 70s, but were largely ignored by Radio 1 or the new commercial stations. Pirates stepped in to fill the void. Invicta, Radio Free London, Solar, Horizon and LWR eschewed fishing trawlers and set up in the centre of London, broadcasting urban music in an urban setting. When acid house was effectively banned from Radio 1 after 1988's tabloid drug exposés, a host of new pirates sprung up: Centreforce, Sunrise and Fantasy among them. It set a pattern that has repeated ever since, in which the pirate stations are the scourge of the authorities and a vital source of new music for the record industry. When a new dance genre emerges - hardcore, drum'n'bass, and most recently UK garage - a new wave of pirates appear, devoted to the new sound. Virtually every garage or drum'n'bass tune that makes the national chart will have been played on a pirate station first. Occasionally, a pirate DJ finds himself at the helm of a hit. Flex FM's DJ Dee Kline went to number 11 in 2000 with I Don't Smoke, a garage record that sampled Jim Davidson doing his comedy West Indian voice. Radio 1 repeated the trick it pulled off in 1967, luring DJs Pete Tong and Tim Westwood from LWR, Gilles Peterson from Horizon and the Dreem Teem from Blackbeard Radio. But this time the pirates, attracted by the relatively low cost of setting up a station (estimated by Stealth at around 2,500 pounds), won't die away. In 1991, the RA carried out 475 operations against pirate stations. Last year, it carried out 1,438. London's airwaves are currently jammed with a startling array of illicit stations. At the weekend, you can hear anything from the pre-pubescent children of So Solid's Dan Da Man spinning garage on Delight to Ghanian gospel music courtesy of WBLS's improbably named DJ Rabbi. Stations rise and fall with dizzying frequency - the victims of internal feuding, a lack of suitable studio locations and raids by the DTI's Radiocommunications Agency - but there is always someone to replace them. So far this year, the RA has raided 179 pirate stations in London. Most went straight back on the air. As the RA dôlefully admits: "There's no easy victory or cure for pirate radio. You take them down, they put them up again. You can't be sure people won't re- offend. You're just dealing with a specific complaint at a specific time." According to Stealth, central London's airwaves are so overcrowded that the suburbs are the best option for a new station. "We're doing it as a hobby. There are too many stations in London and they're all doing it for money. When it turns into a money market, you get people using dodgy rigs, employing thick cement mixers to install the equipment." Meanwhile, he says, pirate stations are springing up in locations that make Bexley look like a teeming metropolis: Weymouth, Newquay, Telford, Ludlow, Swindon. To prove the point, Stealth suggests a visit to his friend's station, Y2K Kent, which broadcasts from Margate. The next weekend, we rendezvous in a lay-by near the Blackwall Tunnel. Stealth arrives in a small hatchback, with a large skull and crossbones flag sticking out of the sunroof. In Margate I am introduced to Y2K's founder, a stocky 20-year-old who works for a drainage company by day and who calls himself Fraudster. Fraudster has been involved in pirate radio since he was 13. He originally DJed around London before realising the pirate scene was simply too crowded there. "We realised we needed to go somewhere else," he says, "so we packed everything into the car and just started to drive out of London, through the Blackwall tunnel. This was the first place we got to." Fraudster says that in its year of existence, Y2K Kent has been successful enough to attract complaints from the local commercial radio station. "They said we nicked 1,000 of their listeners, but they play music for over-30s, so I don't see how that works." Nevertheless, it is a modest set-up, located in the box room of a student house. The room is so tiny that three people constitute a life-threatening crush. DJs and associates crowd outside, peering in. It is extremely hot, and the unmistakable stench of bloke wafts down the stairs. The windows must be kept shut, lest anyone notices the noise and contacts the RA. "You have to be careful in Margate," says Fraudster, "because there's no crime, the police have got nothing to do. The front page of the local paper is 'man steals pork pie from Tesco's'." On the floor, an electric fan cools a tangle of wires and electronic boxes, apparently assembled to plans by Heath Robinson. On our arrival, it breaks down. "Hold tight the massive," says the MC, "as we sort it out inside the place." Stealth immediately springs into action. "You need a graphic on the mixer," he suggests. "I need another studio," groans Fraudster, looking harassed. In fact, Fraudster spends most of my visit looking harassed. His mobile phone rings constantly, not with shout outs or requests, but irate calls from his girlfriend, for whom the novelty of pirate radio has clearly long worn off. "I sometimes wonder why I do this," Fraudster admits. "I spend my whole week cleaning out shitty drains, then spend all weekend doing this. I'm not in it to earn anything. I suppose it's for the joy of the music." The RA's spokesman argues that "people suffer as a result of pirate radio. They tune into a station they want to listen to, and find something else blocking it. I take their calls, and they're absolutely furious. If you live nearby they create a noise nuisance. They're anti-social." You take his point - you wouldn't want to live next door to an illegal radio station, pumping out UK garage or drum'n'bass from Friday evening to Monday morning. However, it's hard not to be impressed by the determined attitude of the pirates. There is little fame and less cash in their world of box bedrooms and converted garages. Yet still they doggedly carry on, buying new rigs, finding new studios, skulking about in search of suitable transmitter sites. Although most of them are far too young to remember the Sex Pistols, there's something resolutely punk about their attitude: confronted with a dance scene that has slid into mundane irrelevance, they have decided to do something for themselves. Their ambitions are not commercially driven, yet they extend far beyond anti-authoritarian posturing. At Soundz, there's a lot of talk about digital radio. When legal stations switch to digital transmission, they live in hope that the RA will leave the obsolete FM band to them. Soundz even has aspirations beyond playing music. "We run a show between 8pm and 12am where we do comedy," says Stealth, proudly. "It's absolute chaos. We had a bloke out with a microphone doing wind ups on people in McDonald's in Lakeside shopping centre, and on drivers at the Dartford tunnel. You'd crease up if you heard it." A little corner of pirate radio, it seems, will be forever DLT. A few weeks after my visit, Stealth telephones. Both Soundz FM and Y2K Kent have gone off the air. Soundz has collapsed due to internal disagreements: Stealth and Master Control have fallen out over music policy. Y2K Kent, meanwhile, was raided by the RA, who found not only their rig, but two station staff standing next to it. For the first time, Stealth sounds bleak about the future of pirate radio: "Fines are going up, more stations are getting raided, things are getting tighter all the time. They're really turning up the heat." But it's still not hot enough to discourage Stealth and Fraudster. Within weeks, both are back in business with new stations, Fraudster with a station called Essence 105.1 FM, Stealth with Impact 99.7 FM. He has moved out of the garage and set up a studio in an industrial estate. And he has finally nailed pirate radio's unique appeal. "The buzz is when you're driving down your local high street and you hear it playing out of someone else's radio, or you hear people talking about it on the bus," he says. "You realise you're having an effect. If it was going nowhere, you'd soon lose interest." Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. CAPTURE OF FUGITIVE PROMPTS GREAT RELIEF By Joseph Gerth The Courier-Journal Steve Anderson, the Pulaski County fugitive arrested Friday in the North Carolina mountains, remained in an Asheville jail yesterday awaiting his expected transfer to a detention center in Kentucky. He will stay in North Carolina until at least tomorrow, when he will appear before a federal judge there. Meanwhile, people in Kentucky expressed relief yesterday that Anderson had been captured. From the newspaper editor he reportedly threatened on a radio broadcast to the sheriff whose deputy Anderson allegedly opened fire on, the capture was much anticipated. ''He's bad news -- stupid bad,'' said Bell County Sheriff Harold Harbin, who lost Anderson's trail after the former Kentucky State Militia member allegedly shot at Scott Elder on Oct. 14, 2001. ''Riding up and down the highway, patrolling the roads with automatic weapons, pipe bombs and hand grenades in his truck, that's stupid bad.'' Carol Coffey, the former news editor of Somerset's Commonwealth Journal, said ''Oh, thank God,'' when she learned of the arrest. The Anti-Defamation League said Anderson had threatened Coffey's life on a shortwave radio show he produced before he disappeared. Coffey, who had written about Anderson, said her 10-year-old daughter was terrified that Anderson would come after Coffey. The family eventually moved to a new home -- partially out of fear. ''He tormented my family, and you just don't do that,'' Coffey said. Don York of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' Louisville office said Friday that Anderson had been arrested without incident in Cherokee County, N.C., as he entered a residence. York said the arrest came after the ''America's Most Wanted'' television show passed on to authorities a tip it received after airing a segment about Anderson on Nov. 2. Cindy Anderson, a producer for the program, said federal officials told the show that Anderson was arrested around 3 p.m. Friday and that the investigation was continuing. She said the ATF wouldn't say which tip led to the arrest. It was the second time the show had featured Anderson, an alleged racist and anti-Semite accused of talking about killing federal law enforcement officials on the unlicensed radio station he operated from his home. The Kentucky State Militia said it threw out Anderson because he refused to stop broadcasting. York said the ATF worked the case with the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation. He declined to give any specifics of the arrest, but said Anderson is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow. John Bason, a spokesman for the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Anderson is being held in the Buncombe County Jail in Asheville. A corrections officer said that since Anderson is a federal prisoner, requests for interviews must go through the U.S. Marshals Service, which did not return a call yesterday. Anderson had been on the run since the night he allegedly opened fire on Elder, who was off-duty but pulled Anderson over for driving his pickup erratically with no lights. The Bell County sheriff's office has said that Elder was about to send Anderson on his way when he noticed ammunition on the seat. Anderson allegedly pulled a gun and fired at Elder, striking the deputy's cruiser numerous times. Elder's 17-year-old girlfriend, who was in the car, suffered minor injuries. Anderson drove into the woods and abandoned his truck. A search of the vehicle turned up pipe bombs, and a search of his home yielded more guns and ammunition. Law-enforcement officials and groups such as the Anti-Defamation League had been watching Anderson for some time. He allegedly used his pirate radio station to make threats against government agents; used his farm in Pulaski County for Ku Klux Klan rallies; and, according to neighbors, fired guns on his property daily. Sheriff Harbin said he is just pleased that Anderson is in custody. ''Nobody needs him on the streets,'' he said. ''He never needs to be on the streets again.'' Don Holcomb, who lives near Anderson's farm, agreed. Holcomb said that Anderson was never any real trouble -- although ''he was always trying to corner people and talk that old, crazy talk'' -- but that he scared Holcomb's children and fired guns a little too often. ''He shot every day,'' he said. ''Just boom, boom, boom, every day. And you never knew which way he was shooting.'' Steve Anderson's alleged crimes caused many people in southeastern Kentucky to feel uneasy (Louisville Courier-Journal Nov 24 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ANDERSON ARRESTED -- ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- JEFF NEAL After over a year, Steve Anderson`s luck finally ran out Friday afternoon in rural North Carolina. Anderson, the former Kentucky Militia member who once aired his hate-filled short-wave radio show nightly out of his home on Elrod-Martin Road in Pulaski County, was arrested without incident in Cherokee County, N.C. — a rural area west of Asheville — according to Kentucky ATF spokesman Don York. York said the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, were acting on a tip they received following a Nov. 2 episode of ``America`s Most Wanted,`` which re-visited the Anderson case. ``We had received a lot of tips that were dead ends,`` York said. ``But this one panned out. ``It feels good to have this guy in custody,`` York added. ``And we`re very thankful that it was a clean arrest ... there was no force used and no one was injured. We obviously were a little concerned he might get violent.`` Cindy Anderson (no relation), a producer for ``America`s Most Wanted,`` said she was ``really excited`` about the capture of Anderson. ``We worked very hard to get Anderson`s case on our show, and we`re very glad this worked out,`` Cindy Anderson said. ``We don`t have a lot of details about the tipster at this point, but from what the North Carolina SBI is telling us, the tip was right on the money.`` The tipster will receive a $20,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Anderson. Anderson was a member of Kentucky`s militia until April 2001, when he was expelled from the group for being too bombastic with his views. He also has ties to the Christian Identity Movement, a group which considers white Christians superior to non-whites and Jews. The militia said it dismissed Anderson because he made inflammatory comments about the U.S. government, blacks, Jews and immigrants over an unlicensed radio station he operated from his Pulaski County home. Radio for Peace International, A Costa Rica-based group which monitors short-wave radio broadcasts, labeled Anderson as ``the world`s most hateful broadcaster`` last year. Anderson`s exploits were brought to light locally after a series of articles on hate by the Commonwealth Journal. During one of his shows, Anderson made a veiled threat toward a CJ editor. Anderson was being monitored closely by local law enforcement and other agencies while he broadcast his show every evening. But it was not until Oct. 14, 2001, that people`s fears about possible violent acts by Anderson came to pass. Anderson was on his way back from the Identity Feast of Tabernacle — a gathering for white supremacists — in North Carolina when he was pulled over by Bell County Deputy Sheriff Scott Elder near Middlesboro. Elder stopped Anderson because a tail light was out on his camouflage-colored truck. When Elder asked Anderson for identification, and then questioned Anderson about possible weapons in the vehicle, the traffic stop escalated into near disaster. Anderson allegedly shot up Elder`s cruiser before fleeing into the mountains of Bell County. He was a fugitive until Friday. Neither Elder nor his 17-year-old girlfriend, who was with him at the time, were injured although the cruiser was hit more than 20 times by rifle fire, according to authorities. Anderson`s truck was found the next day with a pipe bomb and ammunition inside. A search of his Pulaski County residence turned up more weapons and explosives. ``America`s Most Wanted`` first became involved in March of this year, after two packages sent from the Commonwealth Journal urged the popular FOX television series to spotlight the Anderson saga. A crew, led by Cindy Anderson, came to Somerset on March 5, and conducted interviews with Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron and former CJ news editor Carol Coffey. Sadly, the piece aired on April 13 — the night Catron was shot dead by a sniper during a fish fry fund-raiser at the Shopville-Stab Volunteer Fire Department. ``Sheriff Catron`s sister, Nancy (Hruneni), lives up my way (in the Washington, D.C. area), and I`ve stayed in touch with her,`` Cindy Anderson said. ``I told her this evening that Anderson had been caught, and she was very happy that Sam had been so helpful.`` After many dead-end leads failed to expose Steve Anderson, ``America`s Most Wanted`` decided to run a shortened version of the Anderson segment early this month. ``We do that often when leads aren`t panning out, or are drying up,`` Cindy Anderson said. ``We re-air the stories and get things going again.`` Cindy Anderson said Friday night that ``America`s Most Wanted`` was already planning a segment on Steve Anderson`s capture. York had few details on Anderson`s arrest. After Anderson was taken into custody, he was transported to Asheville, N.C., where he will likely make a court appearance tomorrow in federal court. York said Anderson will be extradited back into the Eastern Kentucky Federal Court District in Lexington soon. Story created Saturday, November 23, 2002 (Somerset Commonwealth-Journal via DXLD) ANDERSON TIMELINE --- SOMERSET --- STAFF REPORT May 29, 1993: Steve Anderson buys farm near Elrod, in Pulaski County, from Marvin Cromer for $12,000. He moves to Pulaski County from Florida where his mother reportedly is a school teacher and where Anderson once worked as an electrician. Fall, 1993: Anderson is arrested by the late Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron and four deputies for disarming two hunters and destroying their shotguns for hunting too close to his property. He is tried before Judge Daniel Venters and, after some bizarre courtroom behavior, he eventually pleads guilty to second-degree wanton endangerment, a misdemeanor. He serves one year on probation and pays to repair the shotguns. Winter, 1994: Anderson changes his clothing from that typical of an Amish person to military-issue, camouflage attire. March 20, 2001: Anderson is given direct orders by then Commander Charlie Puckett, of the Kentucky State Militia, to cease broadcasts of a short wave radio program, called United Patriot Radio, on which he spews hate-laden messages about non-whites and Jews. April 9, 2001: Anderson is ousted from the Kentucky State Militia for disobeying Puckett`s orders and continuing to broadcast his radio program. August 8, 2001: United Patriot Radio is named the number one most hate-filled radio show on short wave by the Far Right Radio Review, a group that has been fighting the dominance of far right views on short wave radio, since 1993. ``Steve Anderson, without a doubt, fits the number one position of the top 10 hate broadcasters,`` says James Latham, a Far Right Radio Review host. October 14, 2001: Following a routine traffic stop, Anderson fires more than 25 shots from an automatic rifle at a sheriff`s deputy in Bell County narrowly missing the deputy`s girlfriend who hides on the floor of the vehicle. He flees. His vehicle is located and two pipe bombs are found inside. October 15, 2001: Pulaski County sheriff`s deputies, FBI agents, ATF agents and other law enforcement officials descend on Anderson`s home on Elrod-Martin Road in hopes that he will return here. He remains at large. January 16, 2002: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ups a $5,000 reward for information on Anderson from $5,000 to $20,000. March 5, 2002: America`s Most Wanted comes to Somerset to film a segment about Anderson. Interviews are conducted at The Commonwealth Journal and with the late Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron. April 13, 2002: America`s Most Wanted segment airs about Anderson, however the event is overshadowed by the assassination of Sheriff Catron. Nov. 2, 2002: Another brief segment on Anderson airs on America`s Most Wanted generating a bonafide tip. Nov. 22, 2002: Acting on the tip to America`s Most Wanted hotline, the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation and ATF agents arrest Anderson in Cherokee County, N.C. and transports him to Asheville, N.C. He will soon be extradited to Kentucky to face charges here in the Bell County shootout. Story created Saturday, November 23, 2002 (Somerset KY Commonwealth-Journal via DXLD) ** U S A. On his Main Street segment this week, Kim Elliott mentioned that he had attended a meeting of the BBG recently, where VOA language services were prioritized; at the top of the list were Arabic, Farsi, Mandarin, Spanish; further down, English to Africa. But Worldwide English was not on the list (Glenn Hauser, Nov 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re: WCCO mug offer: A picture, scan, etc. should do it. So far I have seen one from 1970. I was hoping for a QSL from the late 20's or 30's though. Thanks! (Terry Palmersheim, KC7LDP, Nov 23, krhimer@attbi.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Terry: I live about 45 miles north of New York City (out in farm country) and I'm amazed at WCCO's signal to this day. Their sky-wave signal is still quite potent. This sounds similar to complaints about other 50 kWs in urban areas. WTOP 1500 in Washington DC has a AM and FM sister to bolster their reception locally, yet can be heard nearly worldwide. I remember the complaints about CBL 740 Toronto before they went commercial. It was the same song. If I had to guess, I would think that urban man-made noise from power lines, computers and other devices with CPUs, fluorescent and street lights and everything else adds to the decay of BCB signals. The decay of their ground system might add to it. But just you wait...you haven't heard the noise IBOC makes! You should hear WCCO here in the NYC area. You'd shake your head in wonder. Very strong all night long. Happy Thanksgiving de (N2KZ, Karl Zuk, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** U S A. Re KKSU: Glenn - thanks for staying on top of this and pinning them down on info. I wonder if they ever considered taking over the old KWHK-1260 [Hutchinson] spot on the dial? They wouldn't be state-wide, but at least they'd still be on the air. And there are a few other frequencies in KS that I would personally say are full of nearly-useless programming which might be better served by KKSU's offerings (Paul L. Swearingen, Topeka, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SMALL TOWN RADIO, by BILL MARDIS http://www.somerset-kentucky.com/lifestyles/index.cfm#1988 Small town radio has undergone drastic changes during the last half century. Now sophisticated and computer operated, small-town radio today has evolved into a format similar to its urbanized cousins. Radio was introduced into small communities during a less complex age. Sometimes it was fun, even at the expense of professionalism. Radio stations began springing up in towns like Somerset, Monticello, Campbellsville and Glasgow in the late 1940s and early 1950s when the economy was booming after World War II. Initial radio stations owners and investors were not large, out-of- town entertainment conglomerates, but local men fascinated by the industry and willing to spend money to get a frequency and put their own station on the air. AM (amplitude modulation) stations were more common at the onset. FM (frequency modulation) would dominate later. (AM and FM are types of modulation of carrier waves emitting from a radio transmitter and tower). Owners and station managers initially looked outside their area for announcers and paid high salaries to attract professionals to small- town USA. However, in short order, the high-paid talent became disillusioned in one-stoplight towns and owners found they couldn`t pay big salaries and the light bill selling radio spots for 50 cents and $1 apiece. After saying good-bye to their ``stars,`` managers began to look for local talent. Translated, that means somebody who could read well and work for a more modest paycheck. Truth be told, fascination with being a ``radio star`` drove many a young person behind a microphone without thought of compensation. They were so proud of being a radio personality that they often developed an accent before they got their first paycheck. ``I hear you on the radio`` was sweet music to a young announcer`s ears. They would have worked hungry. Many did. Radio in those days was mostly ``live,`` meaning almost every minute was filled with a ``real-live`` announcer playing records or riding the gain for a country band or gospel group performing in ``Studio A.`` The program format usually had banjo pickers, fiddle players and pretty female singers filling most every Saturday. Sundays were reserved for gospel singers and preachers. Strong ties developed between country bands and radio stations on which they performed. Country singers thought the radio station couldn`t do without them and most station management agreed. Every musical group, be it country or gospel, had a wide following that translated into listeners. Recorded music usually was on three types of records – 78 rpm (revolutions per minute), 33 rpm and later, 45 rpm. Long-playing disks featuring popular stars and promoting the Army or Navy filled many 15- minute segments of radio programming in those days. Unlike today`s laser-reproduced compact disks, recordings during early radio days were played with bulky record arms and needles. Quality of reproduction, particularly on 78 rpm records, was not always the best. Recordings with three different speeds required a mechanical change of the turntable to play 78s, 33s and 45s. Change the record and forget to change the speed and there was a ``blooper,`` some worse than others. When a microphone is turned on (live) in a control room, the loudspeaker in the room is muted. If an announcer is wearing headsets, he can`t tell if the mike is on or off without looking at the switch. An announcer, just out of the Navy and working at a southern Kentucky radio station, was having trouble modifying his language from ``swabby`` lingo to civilized civilian verbalization. During an early morning radio show, the ex-Navy man started a 45 rpm record on 78 rpm speed. The piercing whine that filled the airways was not melodic. The announcer was wearing headsets. His mike was open. He spat out a ``nasty`` word. The engineer at the controls began to sweat. Luck was with him. Something blocked out the dirty word. Either nobody heard it or that early in the morning nobody was paying attention. The telephone didn`t ring and the announcer didn`t get fired. Unlike today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), licensing agent for radio stations, laid a ``heavy hand`` on use of public airways. One smutty word could call a station`s license into a hearing. FCC regional inspectors would come into a town unannounced, rent a motel room and listen to the local radio station for several days. When the FCC representative finally came to the manager`s office, he already was familiar with the station`s policies and usually had several unwanted suggestions. Live talk shows and audience participation programs, particularly by telephone, were often delayed 20 to 30 seconds by tape recording so unacceptable language could be kept off the air. The bane of an announcer`s existence was to be assigned to host the then wildly popular ``man on the street`` programs. People loved to get on the radio and large crowds would gather around to talk to the microphone. Funny, and often embarrassing situations, could happen while a live mike was on the street. An announcer (blush) at WTCO in Campbellsville was doing a ``man on the street`` program when he spotted his favorite aunt approaching. She was working her way through the crowd to say hello to her nephew. This aunt, like a lot of people during those early days of small town radio, lived out in the country. She didn`t have a radio and she didn`t even know that her nephew was a ``big radio star`` in town. She always greeted him with a great big buss. For those who have never been ``bussed,`` a buss in those simple times was a big, fat, wet kiss on the jaw. It may still be today, but at least it has lipstick with it. ``Auntie`` saw nothing to hinder giving her nephew the traditional greeting. After all, she hadn`t seen him for a spell and didn`t have the faintest idea what he was doing. The announcer almost panicked. He knew he was going to get kissed right there in front of all his loyal listeners. His voice broke and stammered. ``Throwing her arms around him, auntie laid a big ``buss`` on his blushing jaw. She used snuff and her sloppy lips against his face sent a wetsounding ``splat`` out on the airways and left a faint brown trickle of ambeer down his cheek. He doesn`t remember the remainder of that ``man on the street`` program. Broadcasting from county fairs was another unwanted assignment from the announcer`s viewpoint. One memorable broadcast at a Western Kentucky county fair left a radioman with a boatload of worries about FCC monitoring. ``Good evening, sir. Are you enjoying the fair?`` said the announcer to a bored-looking fairgoer. The fairgoer had had his fill of mule races and cattle shows. ``Frankly, it ain`t worth a (expletive deleted),`` he blurted into the microphone. Unforgettable is the news broadcaster at a small radio station in Western Kentucky who had a bad habit of reading ``cold`` copy. For the uninitiated, ``cold`` copy is news read on the air without being checked or edited. In those days, wire service copy was printed on single-sheet, folded paper that piled up behind the printer. The less-than-prepared announcer would rush out to the Associated Press printer, tear off a long piece of copy and pull it toward him as he stumbled over the latest news on the air. He was reminded several times about ``cold copy`` without heeding the good advice. It was time to teach him a lesson. All announcers smoked in those days, and practically everyone carried a cigarette lighter. To make a lasting impression on the cold-copy reader, an unwise co- worker flipped on a cigarette lighter and set the paper afire during a newscast. If the FCC had been listening that day, the station would have lost its license. The newscaster made several unacceptable sounds as he frantically fought the flames. A group of radio jokesters in one town carried audience participation to a new level. They borrowed a pair of lady`s unmentionables from a local department store and displayed the undergarment on the radio antenna of a well- known citizen`s automobile, parked on Main Street. ``Look what blew into town!`` cried an announcer on the air, giving the exact location of the unusual sight. Another announcer, who thought he was a comedian, called the local drugstore, identified himself as being from the telephone company and told the clerk to ``cover up the phone``; that the line was being ``blown out.`` She did, much to the amusement of coffee drinkers who frequented the place. Small town radio stations looked for any legitimate source of revenue. One of the moneymakers was ``PI`` (per-inquiry) accounts. A radio station advertised some special deal and the supplying company would pay the station so much for each inquiry about the product. A poplar ``PI`` deal in the early 1950s was to give a discount on the special deal if the listener sent in a 1945 nickel. One of the funniest things that every happened at WLOC in Munfordville was the dear lady who sent in her nickel and got herself a brand-new, cheaply made sewing machine. Unlike today, many imported items were little more than junk. Her new sewing machine arrived on schedule. She unpacked the device and plugged it in. The sewing machine started just like the directions said it would. The needle was flying up and down and vibrations made it look as if it had come alive. She took an immediate dislike to the sewing machine, but nothing in the printed directions told her how to turn it off. The longer it ran the faster it got and the more noise it made. The letter the woman fired off to the radio station demanding her money back was a classic. Totally frustrated and really angry at the radio station through which she ordered the unbridled product, the good woman described how the ``sewing sheen,`` as she called it, destroyed her family`s peace of mind. The ``sheen`` walked across a table, fell to the floor, scared the cat and dog and was finally destroyed by ``her man`` with a chopping axe, according to her letter. Her strongly worded description of a radio station selling that type of ``sewing sheen`` left a lasting impression upon management and the announcers who so effectively marketed the machine. Small-town America loved radio. Businessmen were so loyal to the local radio station that the volume was turned up so it could be heard across the street. Shoppers could go from store to store and not miss a single broadcast. Most of the amusing things that occurred in the early days of small-town radio were accidental. A few, shamefully, were by design. However, the overriding intent was to be professional. Managers and announcers were just as proud of their format as are producers of today`s modern, sophisticated broadcasts. Time has a way of changing things, sometimes for the better. You can`t tell the size of the community today by the quality of its radio broadcasts. Speaking of time, don`t you think it`s about time for a station break. Story created Friday, November 22, 2002 (Somerset KY Commonwealth-Journal via DXLD) ** U S A. In my view, the real problem is that NPR --- unlike [BBC] Radio 4 --- is not really a network. NPR is a program distribution service in the main. Individual stations in the NPR (and PRI) chain are free to accept and reject nearly all of the programs on offer. Except for the "franchise" programs --- Morning Edition and ATC --- listening to NPR affiliates is a hit or miss thing. If one has favorite news or entertainment programs on one station, he or she is not apt to hear them at the same times or even at all on another NPR affiliate in another city. It's all too haphazard, if you ask me. Now, the one perceived advantage to this approach is that the local station can tailor its schedule to what it perceives to be the needs and demands of its listenership. That's true and, to a certain extent, a desirable objective as far as it goes, but other networks --- like the CBC, for example --- have been able to successfully marry the two objectives by turning over significant portions of the day to local affiliates to program. This approach, however, also maintains an important unitary identity by better sufficiently standardizing each network station's schedule. It would be better, from my perspective, for NPR to split itself into at least four programming services --- those emphasizing, in turn: -- News and current affairs -- Classical music, jazz and the arts -- Education -- A full service of amalgam of the above. This approach would address the fact that many regions have more than one NPR affiliate, while others only have one. In the former instance, it would reduce the chances that the same programs would be carried by nearby or co-located affiliates (a wasteful practice that damages the image of NPR and public radio in general), while permitting isolated affiliates to access a full range of rich programming (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) Actually, there are multiple satellite streams available to all NPR affiliates. Program Directors are free to mix and match. That is infinitely preferable to being stuck with a sIngle one-size-fits-all program stream in my opinion. At the station where I work, we have seven satellite demods, all capable of manual or computer control. One is tuned to a data channel that acts as an order-wire where NPR can send program info. Two are allocated to computer-controlled digital tape recorders to capture programs for delayed broadcast. Three demods feed the studio console for real-time airing of programs. One demod feeds the console and is left on the overnight service frequency to facilitate transition by volunteer operators who may not be familiar with how to manually tune the receiver. The demods can access programs from NPR, PRI and APR by simply retuning. Thus, the Program Director has maximum flexibility to play with the program selections and air times. We have an unusual format that seems to work in a market that has only two public stations over most of the coverage area. News from 5 AM to 9 AM including BBC, Morning Edition, and Marketplace. From 9AM to 4 PM it's classical music, 2 hours from NPR and the rest from local CD's. There is a 10 minute break for NPR and local news at noon. All Things Considered airs at 4 PM for only one hour. Then its BBC until 6 PM. At six it's classical music until 5 AM about half of which is from the satellite. On Saturdays we do Morning Edition at 8-10 AM, Car Talk, and then local classical music until 6 PM when Prairie Home Companion comes on. That is followed by a local program called Just Folks that features mostly new folk artists. It's back to classical music at 11 PM until 8 AM Sunday. Two hours of Morning Edition are followed by classical music until 5:30 PM. At 5:30 its a combination of shows loosely called Family Night until we rejoin the Beethoven Network at 9 PM for the overnight classical music. You gotta agree that's a pretty diverse line-up. No we don't do jazz because there is another station at a "traditionally black college" down the road a ways that does a good job of that. My point is that if we were stuck with a single stream and no ability to time-shift programs, we could not have the kind of diversity needed in our particular small market. The equipment allows us to carry a service called The Beethoven Network overnight from WFMT in Chicago. At 04:59:40 a cue tone from the Beethoven Network causes the computer to play a recorded ID. During the 20 seconds before 05:00:00 the computer automatically retunes the demod to the BBC World Service to pick up the morning one hour news feed produced in cooperation with WGBH. When the morning news person gets in about 05:30 she makes sure that demods one and two are tuned manually for the Morning Edition and Marketplace feeds. The news person manually switches from BBC to Morning Edition to Marketplace by simply manipulating the console. Every NPR affiliate should have this same capability as the equipment is provided by NPR. So there is really no need for an amalgamated stream or streams dedicated to any particular program genre. Program Directors are free to select the programs that fit their audience needs and the station's format. They are also free to delay programs within contractual limits to provide an air time that suits the local audience. For example, our station got lots of hate mail from the religious zealots that insist on shoving their antiquated superstition (thanks Glenn) down other people's throats when we placed Sound Money on Sunday Morning at 08:00. The Program Director time-shifted Sound Money to Monday evening which, as far as I know, offends nobody's sensibilities and the hate mail stopped. Of course the program is now 2.5 days old by the time it airs and that can be an eternity when it comes to relevance but that is the compromise chosen. In markets where there are more than one or two public stations, PD's are able to adjust what programs they air and when they air them depending on what the other stations are doing. Unfortunately, public radio and TV stations still measure their success largely by ratings and rating trends. That does not drive the program mix to greater diversity. On the contrary, it sometimes causes stations to butt heads with duplicated shows simultaneously. Take the Washington DC market. WAMU carried Morning Edition while WETA carried classical music. In the afternoon WAMU carried bluegrass and old time country music while WETA did All Things Considered. Then WETA got greedy and started airing Morning Edition. WAMU countered by airing ATC. The losers were the classical and bluegrass music listeners who did not contribute their money in the same proportion as the news junkies. Maybe that serves them right. You pays your money or somebody else makes your choice. This is not good but it is the real world. For my money it still beats having NPR stations locked into one of five rigid program streams ala BBC (OSWR). ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) What station you work for? -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ There are necessary compromises in every approach. As I alluded to earlier, Joe, I understand that each station would prefer to have complete flexibility to design its own schedule in its entirety. Since our public stations program for "members" (who pay, not to put too fine a point on it), that ability to have local control would be valued over a more rigid network arrangement that may be more attractive to transient listeners (who don't pay --- at least to that local affiliate.) My local NPR-affiliated stations prefer that as well --- and luckily they don't take the same programs, so I don't have an overlap problem. I was just trying to address an oft-expressed issue (that some perceive that this more local-focused approach leaves in its wake) --- consistency from one NPR "market" to another. There is no perfect answer. But some do want to be able to hear their "favorites" wherever they go. I was trying to articulate a middle ground. Having three or four different clearly identifiable "emphases" (or streams, as you put it) available in the same market would blunt some criticism about some metro areas having too many NPR stations competing with one another (and airing some of the same programming) and might make it possible for a listener like myself to have better access to certain programs not currently carried locally. For example, if one of my options were the "news/current affairs-centered NPR", I could hear "The Connection" --- which I can't because my stations don't air it (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) I see no parallel between the approach I described and the seven streams of the BBC. The latter is just the identical service sliced and diced seven different ways. That IS a waste. This is one reason I firmly believe the world will go "on-demand" for this stuff. Who decides if "Here and Now" is better than "To The Point", "The Connection", "Odyssey", "Worldview", or "Radio Times"? If people want consistency from market to market, let 'em get Sirius or XM. This may be one reason the CBC is in tougher shape (so it seems) than NPR -- the schedule rigidity with little wiggle room for local markets. I find it somewhat amusing that CBC Radio One has local programming in AM and PM drive -- exactly the time that most NPR stations take the national feed of Morning Edition (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) It has been interesting to watch this thread on the state of broadcasting and the various services available and method of delivery. As a career communicator and broadcaster in big and little stations before that, I submit the essence of success and the potential in broadcast properties is not in the technology, the services available from someone else, nor ways you can cut corners. The audience will come back to radio if you provide entertainment and information with innovation and art/craft. Pay good people who have a real background and education in audio and visual arts and broadcast programming, give them a budget and let them innovate. Quit listening to what others are broadcasting or believing the consultants and ratings rats. Dare to do what broadcasting did when the slate was empty and went on do so well before the Magids showed up. That is, recognize that entertaining programs, supported by news prepared locally for your market audience, not some demographic, and delivered by people who can write, read and have at least a nodding acquaintance with English as a first language, and I say you could do what is not being done now; develop a loyal, vocal following which in turn would attract advertisers which then -- and only then -- would make the owners money. But, hey, I'm old and idealistic. (Vern M[odeland], AR, http://www.runningriver.com ibid.) ** U S A. Subject : RE: [NRC-am] WLS & Old People The stations involved would probably have an episode of ecstasy if some type of protest or legal action was to be taken. What better way to conclusively prove that the station does not cater to "old farts" than to be sued by a bunch of 'em? The resultant brouhaha would no doubt inflate the stations numbers with younger listeners who would instantly empathize with the station for trying to serve them and then getting criticized for it. On the other hand, I think that the folks at the AARP are reasonably intelligent and know that very few marketing dollars are spent against older Americans and the actions of radio stations are generally just one form or another of reaction to this fact. Another recent example is in the area of oldies stations. Over the last 10 years, nearly all 50's music has been removed since its appeal is to over-55, and now 2002 has seen the removal of most early 60's songs and the addition of early 70's music in an effort to pull the demos back into 25-54 rather than 45-64. Again, it's just the act of staying away form an audience group that will produce diminishing revenue. Good example: Perpetual #1 station in Tampa/St. Pete is WDUV. Most of it's audience is not just over 55, it is over 65. Billing rank? It's 14th, with less than a third of the billing of the top biller. Stations strive to bill in proportion to audience size, or a ration of at least 1:1 Many A/C and Country stations do 1.2:1 or better. WDUV does 0.32:1, underperforming majestically in a market you would think would understand the power of older consumers. In a sense, this has no relevance to those people... who would never call a radio station anyway. What is at issue is the source of ad revenue, and the insistence of nearly every advertiser in the US to steer clear of the over 55 or over 60 market. Even with the profusion of graying baby boomers, very few products choose to advertise towards older consumers. Callers are generally less than 1% of a station's listenership (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Your point noted, mine being that cutting out call in audience because "they sound older than 55" makes even less sense. There are voices to be heard from all ages. This whole policy really does sound like a consultant/accountant assessment of keeping the money flowing. And it speaks to what radio has been reduced to, nothing but money. Homogenized in the major markets to be salt free and absolutely predictable. Which leads back to DXing, and the chance to hear a station with a real person in a real studio producing a real radio program on the fly, mistakes and all. Always from a small station and usually in a small town, nearly always having fun with it. When successful, the audience is there, but it's the art of radio that survives only beyond the horizon of the big cities and big radio corporations and big consultants. The art survives. We who know DX know that it's there, and we're often privileged to hear it, and take pleasure in the moment. This is about the art, the soul, and voice from far away. Where radio is only about money, David, only about money, it becomes as soulless as the Las Vegas strip on Saturday night (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, ibid.) ** U S A. NC RADIO STATION PLAYS ONLY LOCAL MUSIC http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/4586755.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) WBZB-1090, applying to move to x-band ** U S A. RADIO PERSONALITY JACO FIGHTS BACK AFTER FIRING BY KMOX By Diane Toroian Of the Post-Dispatch 11/21/2002 09:55 PM Axed radio personality Charles Jaco is fighting back against his former employer, KMOX (1120 AM). In a statement Thursday, Jaco insisted he never committed an act of "gross misconduct" as the station claims. Rather, he believes he was fired Monday because he demanded union representation at a disciplinary meeting. Jaco was in hot water for his rude e-mail responses to listeners' letters. He told one listener in crude language to, in effect, buzz off and another to "ask for time off work for Hitler's birthday so you can celebrate." Wade Baughman is the attorney for American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the union that represents KMOX broadcasters. He agreed that KMOX managers had the right to punish Jaco for his responses to listeners. "We were certainly willing to sit down and talk discipline, but this is nowhere near gross misconduct," said Baughman. There is not a specific list of offenses that defines the legal term "gross misconduct." Baughman suggested the station claimed "gross misconduct" to avoid paying out the remainder of Jaco's contract, which expires in September. Jaco said in his statement, "Although I had hoped I could resolve any dispute with KMOX without the need for legal proceedings, that does not appear possible at this time given KMOX's unwillingness to withdraw its accusation against me of 'gross misconduct.' My reputation has been unfairly tarnished by KMOX." The television and radio artist union has filed a grievance demanding Jaco's reinstatement. It also has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Jaco said he is discussing further legal action with his personal attorney. KMOX General Manager Karen Carroll said she could not comment on personnel manners. Jaco, 52, earned $122,500 a year. He came to KMOX seven years ago after gaining a national reputation as a Gulf War correspondent for CNN. He also has gained a reputation for his biting commentary and abrupt tone - qualities not especially rare in the world of talk radio. The station has yet to announce who will replace Jaco, who filed news reports and hosted an evening current events show (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) AFTRA DEMANDS CHARLES JACO'S REINSTATEMENT At KMOX/St. Louis While KMOX management has steadfastly refused to comment on the specific reason Jaco was fired earlier this week, today's St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Jaco had received an e- mail from a listener upset about what she felt was biased coverage by KMOX of Republican Catherine Enz in this year's congressional elections. Jaco reportedly e-mailed back to the listener that he did not conduct the interview in question and added, "Piss off you miserable piece of crap." The listener forwarded Jaco's reply to KMOX GM Karen Carroll, who fired Jaco for "gross misconduct" — a term generally associated with a company being able to terminate a contract employee for cause and without severance. Now AFTRA has filed a grievance demanding Jaco's reinstatement and has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Jaco is reportedly also discussing further legal action with his personal attorney. "Although I had hoped I could resolve any dispute with KMOX without the need for legal proceedings, that does not appear possible at this time given KMOX's unwillingness to withdraw its accusation against me of 'gross misconduct,'" Jaco tells the newspaper. "My reputation has been unfairly tarnished by KMOX." (Radio & Records Nov. 22 via Brock Whaley, Atlanta, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. CUBA "Aló, Presidente" via RHC noted on 11705 clear and fair in passing at 1740+ GMT Nov. 24, parallel better 6140. Man babbling, but not the Michael Jackson of Venezuela this time (Terry L Krueger, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA 11734.09, R. Tanzania Zanzibar, 2050 Nov 16. Like Arabic style music, ID, anthem and signed off. Good (Nobuo Takeno, Kawasaki, Japan, NRD-535D with 10 meters wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Any idea what the carrier (not sure if there is any audio -- I'm not hearing any at least) is on 15056.5, 1745+ Nov. 24? Spur? (Terry L Krueger, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DVD REVIEW ++++++++++ THE BEATLES: "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" (1964) Miramax DVD (2002) Stomp & Stammer Magazine -- Nov 02 By Tom Roche When "A Hard Day's Night" was released in 1964, it was expected to be another teen-exploitation flick with the usual four-wacky-kids threadbare plot. Indeed, the feature films released that year by Herman's Hermits and The Dave Clark Five soon sank without a trace. But those films didn't have arguably Britain's most innovative director at the time, Richard Lester. Or Gilbert Taylor as cinematographer, fresh from shooting "Dr. Strangelove" just weeks before. Or The Beatles themselves, fresh from their first visit to Ed Sullivan's CBS show. The film's eccentric and individualistic approach (like Monty Python 20 years later and AbFab 20 years after that) is due to the fact it was a purely British film that was initially never planned for release in America. Director Lester and crew shot mostly hand-held around London theatres and train stations, with no glitz, no dumbing down, and no removal of puzzling UK slang. The New York Times "serious" film critic called it, famously, "the 'Citizen Kane' of jukebox movies." This month, as the movie approaches 40, comes a 2-disc DVD release. The film itself holds up very well, but the once-ferocious soundtrack sounds more quaint and boxy with each passing year. And I have personally seen 21st century teenagers dismiss it as a bore. Broadcasting historians will enjoy seeing the wide array of now- vintage B&W British TV cameras, switchers, and monitors in the studio/theatre scenes. Lester took care to film these scenes at 25 frames per second instead of the usual 24, which would later complicate mixing and synching. But the benefit is a sharp capture of all the images on all of the TV monitors and camera viewfinders - all of which were running at a 25 frames per second PAL TV standard. The innovative shot composition, fast editing and inside dialogue, not to mention the long hair, electric guitars, and shall-we-say foppish attention to fashion detail (thank you Brian Epstein), were radical in their days but are now commonplace to the point of snooze-inducement. The DVD is blessed (or burdened, depending on your point of view) with an astonishing 1,200 photos and 5 HOURS of additional footage. So if you are still a Beatle geek who just can't let go, you'll love the repetitive interviews with every pathetic loser involved in the film's production. You'll hear from the film's ditzy hairdresser, at length, and "The Tall Extra Who Jumped High In The Dance Scene." Oh, and the moving recollections from "The Woman Who Passed John Lennon Once In The Hall." I wish I was making this up.... This fatuous bonus footage is compiled and edited on the cheap, too. It's clear the Beatles were not involved with the DVD reissue. Richard Lester provides some new insight, but a long feature with George Martin explaining the making of each song one by one might have been interesting except that the piece has no music! They couldn't afford the rights! Toward the end of Disc 2, two near-dead curmudgeon British sound mixers finally provide the only glimpse of reality : it was a goat rodeo, it was horrible, we don't know how it turned out so well. There's the usual promises of better digital this and digital that on the DVD, but I can't tell much difference. The mono film's songs are now in stereo, that's about it. Still, this is the film that got there first, putting the music video flag on the pop culture moon. If you've never seen "A Hard Day's Night", it is, even without the Beatles, a beautifully realized time capsule of an innocent and optimistic world long, long gone (--Tom Roche, Atlanta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-183, November 23, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1157: WBCQ: Mon 0515 on 7415 WWCR: Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Europe only Sun 0530; N America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1157.html WORLD OF RADIO STREAMING You asked for comments. Far and away the best method for here, is the LOW Speed Stream. The High Speed trips out and your original Audio Stream used to cut you off in the middle of the Propagation Report. The only snag with the Low Speed is the Signature Tune (which, sorry, I don`t like anyway!!!!!!) is a bit wobbley, but as you can gather this does not matter 'a jot'. I hope you will keep the Low Speed Stream, which is by far the most accurate here (probably because I run with a Processor Speed of only 200 MHz!!) Many Thanks (Ken Fletcher, UK, 22nd November 2002) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Keep up the awesome work you do with the World Of Radio show and all the info you provide on your web site (Petro Giannakopoulos, GA) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. In all the discussion about the oncoming demise of RAI, we may have neglected to mention the current schedule for English broadcasts to North America: 1630-1700 on 17865 via Sackville, excellent here, as I am listening on Sat; and 0230-0300 on 7325 direct. Then I checked Prime Time Shortwave, and find some previously unknown English(?) broadcasts at 0000, 1704... (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 0000-0030 LA 9870, 13730 0230-0300 NA 7325 0630-0700 Eu, ME, Af 6155, 13730, 17870 1230-1300 Eu, ME, Af 6155, 13730 1330-1400 As, Au 17855 1430-1500 Eu, ME, Af 6155, 13730 1630-1700 NA 17865ca 1704-1800 NA, Su 17865ca 1930-2000 Eu, ME, Af 6155, 5945 2200-2230 Eu, Af, Sat 6155, 5945 2230-2300 Eu, Af, exSa 6155, 5945 (Primetime Shortwave Nov 23 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Jerry Coatsworth had an interesting exchange with Radio Canada International about program relays- ``I thought it would make for easier DXing if I knew what was original and what was being relayed via RCI. I think it`s kind of unusual that RCI can't give out info concerning stations they are relaying. Anyway, I asked for a relay schedule and below is the reply I got.`` `` We regret that we are unable to provide you with this information. The frequency and content information is the exclusive domain of the originating broadcasters. Furthermore, in specific cases, CBC Transmissions, the organisation that coordinates the Sackville facility, has been requested to not release this information. You may, however, request frequency information directly from the originating broadcasters. Once again, we apologize for not being able to provide you this information. Best Regards`` (Steve Lemay, Manager, Presentation Radio Canada International (MARE via DXLD) That reminds me of the item in DXLD 2-147 of Sept. 20, which needs now to be confirmed: NIGERIA [non]. U.K. (non): B-02 schedule for Salama Radio in Hausa/Ndebele/French/Arabic: 1900-2000 15365 SAC 250 kW / 105 deg till March 1, 2003 Sackville!! 15365 RMP 500 kW / 169 deg from March 2, 2003 Rampisham (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 20) Well, I checked 15365 at 1945 UT Sat Nov 23 and heard nothing. Let`s see, is this daily? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. This arrived in my mailbox by grace of my membership in the CMG. I thought it was interesting enough to pass on to the list: (Richy Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) November 21, 2002 CBC SELLING ITSELF OFF -- AN EDITORIAL BY CMG PRESIDENT LISE LAREAU Little by little, away from public glare and scrutiny, the CBC is selling off or unloading vital assets, which could ultimately result in the layoff of hundreds of employees. The news has been released bit by bit, in short neutral-sounding announcements from CBC president Robert Rabinovitch. But these latest moves will have an impact on all of us, and the trend is worth examining. The carving-up actually started five years ago, with the contracting- out of many internal services, from mailroom duties, shipping and stores to duplication and cleaning and security. Then the internal audit department was contracted-out. It turns out that was just the beginning. Now the CBC is looking seriously at whether it would be feasible to contract out many ñ even all ñ of the jobs in Human Resources, Information Technology, Finance and Corporate Payroll. The Corporation is also interested in unloading the people and infrastructure connected to transmitter operations, and is considering a takeover offer made by the very person who's in charge of it now! The CBC is also looking at outside contractors to administer the CBC's pension plan. This despite the fact that the plan's administrative costs are among the lowest in the country; in fact, other organizations try to emulate our plan's efficiency. This is much of the administrative infrastructure of the CBC. We think this is blatantly unwise; do you want your paycheque or pension coming from "an alternate service provider" who is not accountable to the CBC Board or to CBC corporate policies? It's also immoral; the lowest bidder will likely be lower because it pays its employees less. Perhaps most importantly, the supposed cost savings just aren't there. Contracting out services often appears to be good for the bottom line, at least for the first year or so. That's when most of the savings are realized from the layoffs and the leasing or selling of office space and equipment. Afterwards, though, after the CBC employees and their expertise are gone, the savings dwindle. Contracts are renegotiated, and suddenly they become much more expensive. And the executives that stick-handled the whole thing, claiming it was to turn "bricks and mortar into programming dollars" are gone. And you don't know what you had --- until it's gone. What's truly shocking is the short timeline this is on. If all goes according to the CBC's plan, a decision whether to contract out HR, IT or Finance may be made as early as January, the selection of the contractor in March, and a final contract announced in June. Employees could be going out the door as early as September. In the midst of all this rushing around, one has to wonder how much analysis is being done. In fact, it appears all this is being motivated not by sound analysis but by appearances. In its priorities for 2003-04, CBC's senior management lists as priority number one: "to demonstrate that CBC is a well-managed company and generate cash flow into programming". This is all about showing the folks in the federal Heritage department, in the Prime Minister's Office, and at the Treasury Board how lean and mean the CBC can appear to be, whether it makes practical sense or not. At the same time, the CBC is also selling off or leasing its real estate assets across the country. We all know that it's the employees ñ the people who actually make the programs or support those who do ñ who are on the losing end of this particular initiative. If we could be sure that any savings were being funneled back into programming, as the Corporation keeps telling us, the CBC's contracting-out initiatives might be defensible. Well, savings may be turned into programming money (though I'd like to see proof), but they're not always being turned into CBC programming. CBC management made it clear to union leaders in October that it has written off in-house dramatic television production of any type. And it's buying more and more outside radio and television information programming, something that has always been at the core of the CBC's business. Stranded, the radio show purchased from Jane Hawtin's production company, is one of the latest additions. So, in a panic to appear to be well-managed, the CBC is cannibalizing itself. You have to wonder who will be left to manage, and what will be left of Canada's national public broadcaster, when all the privatizing is done. The Canadian Media Guild is not taking any of this contracting-out lightly. We are in the early stages of trying to convince the CBC not to walk down this road. We will take whatever actions are necessary to protect Guild members, as well as the interests of public broadcasting in Canada. Visit the CMG website often for the latest developments (via CAJ list via Ricky Leong via swprograms via DXLD) We've all been waiting for the "other shoe", as it were, to drop and this looks like the beginnings of that. What is especially upsetting to me personally is that this turn of events for the CBC (and RCI, as well as for a range of other public institutions and progressive public policies) has been and continues to be shepherded by supposed Liberals (Democrats, if you prefer, in my country). One expected and expects Conservatives (or Republicans) to pursue this sort of agenda, but to have those that have traditionally expressed --- and in many ways continue to profess to have --- a more enlightened approach to these matters be the agent of such "change" is a particularly brutal form of treachery, in my view. The only response that can hope to be successful is for those who oppose this turn toward privatization to combat it, early and forcefully, with facts, some of which are mentioned in Ms. Lareau's communication. These include the very temporary and illusory nature of any savings and the eventual cost increases and declines in service that have to result from the very fact that privatization demands that significant and growing profits be realized from such operations. This response would have to be loud, persistent and equally as aggressive in tone to that of the ideologues who will be advancing privatization as the "cure" for real and supposed inefficiencies. Make no mistake. The subtext here (as it is, IMHO, for most such privatization arguments) is to reward supporters in the business community with public funds via "spoils system" and wound and Eventually dismantle as many public institutions as possible --- especially those like the CBC (or, here in the US, social security) that have been, in the main, successful examples of public stewardship that belie the ideological biases of its opponents (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) On the other hand, the concepts of Business Process Outsourcing have been successfully applied in public and for-profit enterprises, too. The key is to manage expectations for the work to be privatized. For example, I know that various International and domestic broadcasters operate with work rules that have individuals performing a broader range of tasks than those performed in RCI. If managed properly (I know, a key condition) this could yield more $$ spent on program development and research. I am saddened by knee-jerk reactions to mentions of privatization and outsourcing. Yes, I agree -- there are plenty of opportunities for bad outcomes. However, there are opportunities for good outcomes, too. My view is biased -- I consult to companies whose business it is to provide outsourced services, and I have several friends who work for the companies that do the outsourcing. The challenge is to maintain -- or elevate -- expectations of performance as reflected in the output of the CBC. How one should evaluate that output is an entirely different discussion (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) Perhaps I should have added a few qualifiers to my statement. Of course, few matters are as starkly black and white as they are often expressed and there are certainly examples and circumstances where privatization has been both advisable and successful. My argument is with those that would apply this "solution" as an ideological imperative, rather than as a measured, practical response to a clearly identified and quantified problem. Having said that, I do believe that the case of the CBC has been and continues to be largely an example of the former (John Figliozzi, ibid.) ** CANADA. CANADA'S OLDEST PUBLIC BROADCASTER, ALTA'S CKUA RADIO, CELEBRATES 75TH YEAR From Cnews, November 21, 2002, EDMONTON (CP) --- Canada's oldest public broadcaster celebrated its 75th anniversary Thursday. CKUA Radio began life in a single room in a corner of the University of Alberta. The station's on-air date of Nov. 21, 1927, predates the CBC's first transmission by nearly nine years. The station is marking its anniversary by expanding to a full 24 hours of progamming. CKUA was established as a provincially owned educational radio station affiliated with the university. It has since evolved into a unique source of music that broadcasts an eclectic mixture of jazz, Celtic, folk, classical, world beat, pop and otherwise unclassifiable music across Alberta and on the Internet. CKUA has one of the largest recording libraries in Canada and broadcasts on both the AM and FM bands. The music nearly died in 1997 when the provincial Conservative government turned the station over to the private sector. The newly formed board promptly ran CKUA into debt. Music lovers refused to let the station die, however, and a widespread public campaign prompted the government to help it recover. CKUA has since survived on a mix of ad sales and periodic public fundraising campaigns. The station actively supports local music and Alberta musicians have long been able to count on CKUA for air time. The station claims to be among the first to play the music of successful Canadian performers such as Joni Mitchell, Jann Arden, k.d. lang and P.J. Perry. Station alumni include Hollywood director Arthur Hiller, Broadway crooner Robert Goulet and jazz bandleader and Senator Tommy Banks (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. Rep. Democratique du Congo RADIO MALKIA WA AMANI, THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS IN BUKAVU, HAS LARGE AUDIENCE Bukavu, Nov 16 (Misna & InfoCatholique) --- Radio Malkia wa Amani in Bukavu (Radio Mary, Queen of Peace) broadcasts its programs daily from 5:30 in the morning until 10 o`clock at night. Heavily listened to in the eastern region of the Republique Democratique of Congo after its foundation, the station is now a year old and has the ambition of becoming more and more ``the voice of those without a voice`` in a difficult region. The station was born thanks to the generosity of a group of Christians of the Diocese of Faenza in Italy, inspired to support the project by Padre Luigi Lo Stocco, a Xaverian religious. These same friends of Faenza continue to furnish technical aid . The team of Radio Malia wa Amani is composed of 16 laymen, journalists, technicians, program hosts, as well as a security guard on hand during the night to avoid sabotage. ``We operate in a zone of war and risk,`` remarked Père Lo Stocco. The station has come to acquire a tower 110 meters (about 350 ft) high, built on the hills that surround Bukavu, with the technical assistance of the Christians of Faenza. One of the problems that has to be resolved is that of financing the professional formation of the workers at the station, if they want to follow the courses at the Audio-visual Institute of Bukavu and Kinshasha. For more information: luigilostocco@libero.it (Nov 25 Catholic Radio Update, Nov 23 via DXLD) WTFK? FM, I suppose ** CUBA. SEÑALES DE HUMO PARECE SER LA SOLUCION Héctor Maseda, Grupo Decoro LA HABANA, noviembre (http://www.cubanet.org) - "Reconocer los esfuerzos y premiar las soluciones" es una expresión que califica en su justa extensión las gestiones realizadas en el país por la Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) desde su fundación hasta la fecha, si medimos el alcance de los servicios telefónicos públicos que ofrece a la ciudadanía. Marisela S., residente en el municipio Centro Habana, refiere su experiencia cuando tuvo necesidad de localizar a través del teléfono público un medicamento que no estaba en venta en la farmacia que le corresponde. "Caminé alrededor de dos kilómetros para encontrar un teléfono público. La búsqueda me llevó una hora. Traté entonces de comunicarme con el almacén municipal de fármacos. Nada. Observé diecisiete aparatos en mi recorrido. Los que operan con moneda nacional -seis- estaban fuera de servicio o sólo atendían llamadas de urgencia. Siete funcionaban mediante tarjetas magnéticas que se compran con pesos, pero que ETECSA no vende desde agosto. El resto de los equipos trabajan con tarjetas prepagadas en dólares, fuera de mis posibilidades. Regresé a mi hogar deprimida y en el mismo punto". Otra historia la refiere Marta Beatriz. Ella compró hace algún tiempo, en la oficina de correos de Infanta y San Lázaro, dos tarjetas magnéticas por valor de 5 pesos cada una. "Caminé desde Belascoaín y Reina hasta San Lázaro, alrededor de un kilómetro. Traté de emplear ambas tarjetas en varios teléfonos públicos que normalmente operan con ellas. Cuál no sería mi sorpresa al ver que mis intentos por comunicarme eran rechazados reiteradamente por todos los aparatos utilizados. Seguí por San Lázaro hasta la calle Infanta (unos 800 metros). Volví a probar las tarjetas en cinco equipos. Se repitió la historia. Ya no tenía dudas: ``¡Me han timado!,`` pensé. Regresé a la tienda donde había comprado las tarjetas y conté lo sucedido. Reclamé otras tarjetas magnéticas o la devolución de mi dinero. Un empleado me las pidió como si él fuera un instrumento verificador de saldos. Al fin me las devolvió y dijo: 'Señora, seguramente usted no las utilizó de acuerdo a las instrucciones. Todo está en orden. Su reclamación no tiene lugar'. Me saludó amablemente. Dio media vuelta y salió a atender a otro cliente". Pero no sólo de fallas técnicas y tarjetas magnéticas "mal empleadas" por el usuario o inadecuamente procesadas por ETECSA padece el servicio telefónico en Cuba. El vandalismo y las conexiones ilícitas constituyen sus principales enemigos. Nelson Mayorino López, gerente de la filial de telefonía pública declaró al periódico Granma: "los actos delictivos de elementos antisociales que rompen alcancías, utilizan partes de las estaciones públicas o se conectan fraudulentamente a los cables son los depredadores que más daño le hacen a los teléfonos públicos. De no ser por eso --- el servicio gozaría de mejor salud --- las fallas tecnológicas siempre son solubles". Prueba de ello puede encontrarse en el vandalismo sufrido por los tres equipos instalados en el supermercado "El Mirador", de Alamar, en Habana del Este, circunstancia que obligó a la empresa a retirar el servicio del lugar, según informó Granma en su reportaje, del 23 de octubre pasado. Pero tampoco ETECSA queda exenta de señalamientos críticos. Máximo la Fuente, director de la Unidad de Negocios de Telefonía Pública de ETECSA, dijo a Granma que muchos de los teléfonos públicos se mantienen fuera de servicio durante varios días sin que el personal técnico de la entidad los repare, a pesar de ser "equipos de gran calidad y estar operados a través de una red de gestión. Las computadoras realizan un chequeo constante de la técnica, hacen análisis de tráfico y detectan en tiempo real interrupciones y fallas". Lo cierto es que el personal de servicio de esta empresa resulta insuficiente para atender la totalidad de las interrupciones que presentan los teléfonos públicos. De acuerdo con las declaraciones de funcionarios de esa entidad "no siempre son suficientes los recursos humanos y el transporte. Por ahora la prioridad está en los hospitales, funerarias, terminales de ómnibus". Y el resto de la ciudadanía --- ¿qué debe hacer ante la declaración de impotencia de ETECSA para prestar un verdadero servicio a la población? Esperar tiempos mejores parece ser la "solución" que propone la entidad comercial. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente (via Óscar, Miami, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. Hi Glenn, When I tuned in Radio Martí this morning (11/23/02), 1345 UT on 9565 to see if they had any interesting music. R. Martí had prominent jamming from Cuban `bubble jammers` as usual However, in addition, there was a noticeable SSB signal on the same frequency That signal was in USB but I could not resolve it on my Grundig Satellit 800 to hear what was being said. The signal was on exactly 9565.0 kHz. The USB signal receded with the jamming about 1355. The USB signal ended about 1358 and had not returned by 1410. Someone broadcasting in USB on that frequency does not seem likely (at least in this part of the world) since between R. Martí and the jammers there is a blowtorch signal on that frequency, and it came up and receded exactly with the Cuban jamming signal. I wonder if this was part of the Cuban jamming signal. One of the accidents that occur periodically for the Cubans (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Mientras escuchaba en la mañana de hoy 22 de Noviembre 2002 la Programación de Radio Martí en la frecuencia de 13820 kHz, se produjo entre las 1500 y 1515 UT un hecho inusual en las frecuencias que operaba Radio Martí: 11815, 11930, 13820, 21675 kHz, emisiones en idioma chino. En esos quince minutos aproximadamente se emitió noticias y música hasta que bruscamente a las 1515 UT se escuchó programación en idioma en español correspondiente al programa "El Cubano y su fe" 73's (Oscar, Miami, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A program feed line mixup, I suppose, if the Chinese were from IBB; or maybe deliberately for Chinese `advisors` in Cuba?? (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 9704.20 R. ETHIOPIA, Gedja, 0340-0400 Nov 22, local music and OM in Amharic (?), Good, the // 5990.00 was stopped at 0400 by the sign-on of Bucharest's Russian service (Giampaolo Galassi, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Hi Glenn, not very new for me, [see NEW ZEALAND below and in 2-182] next to my home here in Stuttgart some 15.000 US citizens of Europe Command Organization on Coleman Barracks planning the new Iraq war ... like the IRQ-KWT one, ten years ago ... And Germany is well covered by the US logistic installations, as various HF and satellite spy stations like at Bad Aibling. The main hospital for US army in Europe and NE/ME is still located at Wiesbaden-Frankfurt, many airbases like Frankfurt, Ramstein, Spangdalem, and the radar 707 investigation planes at Geilenkrichen are still our contribution to the coming war. 73 wb (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0211/S00486.htm ** HAWAII. HPD TO SWITCH OFF NEW RADIOS DURING REPAIRS Posted on: Thursday, November 21, 2002 By Scott Ishikawa, Advertiser Staff Writer The Honolulu Police Department is suspending most use of its problem- plagued, $60 million digital radio system until a software problem is fixed. Until then, most officers will use the old analog system. The switch back to analog will take place Dec. 2, but no one knows when the digital system will be put back in service. The switch was announced in a department-wide memo dated Nov. 15, eight days after a faulty software upgrade shut down portions of the city's digital communications system for nearly nine hours. It was the latest in a series of problems, including communication disruptions and gaps in radio coverage, that police have experienced since switching to the digital system in 1998. Officers say switching back to analog is a reasonable precaution to take until they are confident the upgraded digital system is reliable. In the Nov. 15 memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Advertiser, Maj. Kenneth Simmons, commander of the department's communication division, wrote: "The switch is necessary until the digital software becomes acceptable for our operations." Honolulu police spokeswoman Michelle Yu could not say yesterday how long patrol officers would use the analog radio channels. Officers will use the same equipment, but on different channels. The department's specialized units, including those that do undercover work, will remain on digital radio channels for security reasons. HPD Detective Alex Garcia, former chairman of the O'ahu chapter of the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers and a critic of the digital system, called the latest move "a step backward for us after pouring $60 million into this system." Garcia said, "Our patrol is our front line and the radio is our lifeline, so we need a quality radio system first and foremost." In calling for an independent audit of the communication system, he said the entire system should be thrown out. "The police chief and HPD administration are doing the best they can with this system and nobody in the department wants to see public or officer safety jeopardized," Garcia said. "But this product is simply a bad lemon. The department may as well pay $20 a month for a cellular phone plan." SHOPO president Tenari Ma'afala said the digital system was purchased to create secure radio lines for police officers, and he hopes officers will not have to use the analog radio channels for long. The city adopted the digital radio system to create better reception and more channels and to thwart eavesdropping by outsiders. "Under analog, drug dealers could buy a cheap radio scanner and check up on us, so it becomes an officer safety issue as well," Ma'afala said. "Also, if analog is our backup plan, what happens when the backup goes down?" City spokeswoman Carol Costa said technicians are upgrading the software of the city digital communications system. The work is what appears to have caused the glitch Nov. 7 from about 3 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. Because of the problem, radio communications for HPD District 1 (Central Honolulu), District 3 (Pearl City) and District 7 (East Honolulu) were switched to the backup analog radio channels. Costa said the Nov. 7 glitch occurred because upgraded radio software was not reset properly. It did not affect officer safety or hamper police response time to emergencies, officials said. "We support HPD on how they operate by going back to analog while we complete the digital software upgrade," Costa said of the planned HPD switchover. Costa said she could not say how long the software upgrade work will continue. Lengthy glitches of the police radio system have also occurred in January, April and June, as well as in previous years. In April, the department converted its communications system to all digital. Police had sought a complete digital switchover when the city acquired the system in 1998, but gaps in the radio coverage, along with time required for hardware and software changes, forced postponement. The Honolulu Fire Department continues to communicate on analog, said department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada. The Fire Department has previously expressed concern about the reliability of the digital system. Improving radio service among public safety agencies has become more urgent since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But some experts estimate that it could cost $25 billion or more to connect every agency in the United States that wants or needs the capability. "Almost everyone has some problems. It's just a matter of to what degree," says Harlin McEwen, a retired police chief who handles telecommunications issues for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Kimo Smith, chairman of SHOPO's O'ahu chapter, said he is glad the city and police administration are taking action on the radios. "It's always been a public safety and officer safety issue for us," Smith said. "To be fair, the system has been improved over the years, but it's taken a lot longer than we expected to resolve some of the problems." Smith said he received numerous calls from officers working the shift when the radios went down this month. "They were concerned and they have a right to be," Smith said. "We hope this upgrade resolves everything." Smith said police have a backup plan in place in which officers can communicate with dispatchers and other officers through analog radio channels, computers in the police vehicles, and cellular phones (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) RADIO GLITCH NOT A DANGER TO OFFICERS, HPD CONTENDS By Scott Ishikawa, Advertiser Staff Writer, Posted on: Friday, November 22, 2002 The Honolulu police radio system poses no risk to officers or the public, and a planned Dec. 2 switch from the newer digital channels is to try to fix a background noise problem, an assistant chief said yesterday. "Had this been an officer safety issue, which it is not, we would have switched over immediately," said Assistant Chief Karl Godsey, head of the Honolulu Police Department's support services bureau. "We want to make sure when we talk we can be heard, and when we ask for help, others can hear. ... This system is never going to be perfect, but we will strive to make it the best we can." Godsey said the temporary switch to analog frequencies will not affect officer safety or police response to emergencies. And if the problem is fixed before that, the Dec. 2 switch will not be necessary, he said. The city fully switched police communications from analog to digital in April to create better reception and more channels, and to thwart eavesdropping by outsiders. But the system has been sporadically plagued by communication disruptions and gaps in radio coverage. The latest incident was on Nov. 7, when a faulty software upgrade shut down portions of the city's digital communications system for nearly nine hours. Maj. Kenneth Simmons, commander of HPD's communications division, issued a departmentwide memo on Nov. 15 that patrol officers would switch to analog channels on Dec. 2 "until the digital software becomes acceptable for our operations." Yesterday, police held a news conference to explain the issues more fully. Godsey said the tentative Dec. 2 switch for patrol officers to analog channels on the radio communications system is necessary while technicians work on the digital side of the city's $42 million radio system. Technicians said the background noise problem is between patrol officers and police dispatchers. Godsey said the department decided to temporarily change over the patrol radio communications to analog so "officers didn't have to switch back and forth on channels" during the troubleshooting work on the digital system. Officers would make the scheduled switch from digital to analog "with the flip of a switch on their radios," he said. "But we are not switching to an old analog system as reported (in The Advertiser). We have digital and analog channels on the same communications system." The department's specialized units and those conducting covert operations will continue to use digital radio channels, which are considered more difficult to eavesdrop on, Godsey said. Technicians so far have linked the background noise problem to faulty "digital voice interface unit" cards in the city's main communications system. Godsey said the faulty digital voice cards haven't caused long interruptions or glitches, but have recently affected the quality of police radio transmissions and reception. "We had some difficulty with the voice cards, something that has been ongoing for several months now," Godsey said. "Putting in these new cards will hopefully deal with the problem. "If it works fine next week, we won't have to switch. If it doesn't, we'll make the (radio channel) switch until we find a card that works properly." Consultant Jack Chamberlin, hired by the city to provide technical support for the radio system, believes the faulty digital voice cards are the culprit behind background noise in the radio transmissions, sometimes creating a sound similar to "a waterfall." "Other times it makes this high-pitched sound, and we can clear the noise for awhile, but then it seems to gradually come back," Chamberlin said. The digital voice cards could arrive today and be installed next week before the scheduled Dec. 2 radio channel changeover, Godsey said. Godsey said the Nov. 7 glitch in which three O'ahu police districts had to switch to other radio channels was not linked to the digital voice card problem. That glitch was caused by a software upgrade that was improperly configured for the system; it has been corrected. Gerald Hamada of the city Department of Design and Construction said technicians are trying to troubleshoot the background noise problem. "We're going to try the replacement digital voice cards first, and see if that fixes the problem," Hamada said. "If not, we'll have to take a look at the rest of the system." Godsey said replacing previous digital voice cards and other software has caused glitches, and in hindsight, perhaps the department should have earlier switched patrol officers to another radio channel during the technical work. "We would like to take something right out of the box and have it work ... but there are going to be glitches, just like computers," Godsey said. "This is one of the things we got to do: tune it up and tune it up frequently." (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** INDIA. Friends, From yesterday 21 November 2002, AIR National Channel (Hindi/English) has started regular transmissions on SW at 1320-0043 UT as follows: 9425 Bangalore 500 kW (Regular Transmission) 9470 Khampur (Delhi) (Experimental Transmission) Back in August & September this year, tests were conducted from Bangalore on 9425 and 9450 at these timings. The National Channel programs are broadcast at 1320-0043 UT (6.50 pm to 6.13 am Indian Standard Time) on the frequencies of 1566 kHz Nagpur 1000 kw 1215 kHz Delhi 107.2 MHz Kasauli 1134 kHz Chinsurah 1000 kw (1730-0043 UT) (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J, dx_india Nov 22 via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. Checking for the new clandestine as publicized, Friday Nov 22 at 1600 on 11515, nothing at all could be heard here; a few minutes later, only a trace of a carrier. Meanwhile, Jordan was coming in nicely on 11690. No trace of 11515 either on Sat Nov 23 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sawt Lubnan Al-Hourya (Voice Of Lebanon) on 11515 (via a CIS transmitter?) audible with carrier at 1556 Nov 22. At 1600 Lebanese anthem and ID, followed by speech. The rest of this first program was filled with popular Arab music and announcer giving out an email address. SINPO 45333. As earlier announced: "The France-based RPL, part of the Free Patriotic Movement has announced the start of radio broadcasts on Nov. 22." The TDP website gives this info: Sawt Lubnan Al-Houriya 1600-1700 11515 mtwtfss Arabic So this is "The Voice Of Lebanon" re-vamped? No transmitter details, as expected... (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be V. of *Free* Lebanon, no? I would not assume without further evidence that it is the same as the old VOL, a pretty obvious new name choice (gh, DXLD) Scheduled Lebanese Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) station signed on today (22 Nov) at 1600 UT on 11515.40 kHz in Arabic with anthem. (see posting BDXC News 20 Nov) Speech (by General Aoun?) followed, patriotic song at 1607, Arabic announcer including e-mail address, more songs as I write (broadcast continues - scheduled to 1700). Strong clear signal here, slight fading. No clue as to transmitter site (Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham UK, AOR 7030+ / longwire, Nov 22 via DXLD) I got this e-mail after having heard the new FPM Radio Station on 11515.4 kHz on the 22nd of November at 1600. I heard it thanks to very good information from different DX sources! Best wishes from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: "Dear sir, Thanks a lot for your interesting report. We are surprised how u knew our broadcasting program, and the most surprising is how you knew our emails (maybe the first one from the station; but the second????) As my part, I'm a radio amateur also. These days, I only have my CB (11m band). And I'm the one receiving the emails of the FPM Radio Station. It would be nice to keep in touch, and to hear from you soon. We'll be broadcasting in the coming few days the same program (as a test). After that some programs will be prepared including news, political commentary on the situation in Lebanon,... Best Regards (via Fransson, DXLD) ``Next few days`` -- so I guess not Fridays only. They have not been explicit about their dayage (gh, DXLD) QSL LEBANON non: 11515, FPM Radio, the voice of the Free Patriotic Movement of Lebanon, political movement linked to general Aoun, confirmed my e-mail report in a couple of hours with a full data message. They wrote that they would like to receive my full time recording of their broadcast and "we would like to know if the signal fades in different weather conditions". I heard them heard from 1618 to 1659 UT, 22 November, in Arabic. It was reported as their first broadcast (test). E-mail: radio@tayyar.org http://www.tayyar.org (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire Milano, Italy, Nov 22, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Have been trying to confirm XERMX on 5985; Nov 23 I monitored 5985 off and on, 0100-0140+ and found only one weak Spanish speaking station there, and not \\ 9705. 11770 was so squeezed by 11765 and 11775 that I could not be sure XERMX was on at this hour. 5985 is presumably WYFR, beamed south. Website pdf program sked no longer shows frequencies down the sides, but the nonupdated homepage still mentions only 9705 and 11770, 10 kW each (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOLDOVA/PRIDNESTROVYA. Indeed Radio Pridnestrovya had a Russian broadcast today at 1800 on 999.After the switch-over from VoR first Radio Mayak audio was carried, I guess this was in fact the Radio Pridnestrovya feed. Probably all Mayak transmissions from Grigoriopol` are technical-wise merely Radio Pridnestrovya, putting Mayak on the output circuit when no own programming is on air? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Superb recording, Kai. I checked the 999 kHz channel in past week, especially on Wed 17-18 UT. But heard always a program in undoubtedly Romanian language at that hour. Here in SW Germany signal strength is 'one third' of the much stronger co-channel COPE Madrid 50 kW station. Moved my ICF-2010 around by 90 degrees apart of Spain direction, to get the minimum signal of the Spanish station (Wolfgang Bueschel, Stuttgart, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am not absolutely happy with the record because it reminds me to the ones I never made: I missed to tape the German broadcasts from Tiraspol` on 6205; I also missed to tape both the tiny sound of the Hoyerswerda-Zeißig transmitter during daytime and the evening mess of Zeißig with Grigoriopol` and the jammer on 999. Yes, the VoR program which goes out on 999 between 1700 and 1800 is in Romanian, // 7320 and 7380 according their website. Would be a task to compile a complete schedule for 999... Today prior to 1900 a children`s radioplay in Russian or probably Ukrainian instead was carried until an abrupt switch to Deutsche Welle exactly at 1900. This frequency offers a real conglomeration! The slot used by Radio Pridnestrovya on Fridays (1800-1830) is otherwise, probably with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays, vacant and 999 either off or they burn electricity by transmitting a silent carrier (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Longer version of item in 2-182:] ** NEW ZEALAND. HIGH FREQUENCY EQUIPMENT TO BE INSTALLED IN NZ Thursday, 21 November 2002, 1:31 pm Press Release: New Zealand Government http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0211/S00486.htm Minister of Defence Mark Burton has today announced Cabinet approval for the installation of an unclassified United States Air Force (USAF) High Frequency (HF) radio transmitter and receiver at a New Zealand Defence Force communications site. The most likely location is Whenuapai, Waiouru, or Christchurch. The project, known as the Rightsizing Initiative, will provide a voice-only, unclassified and unencrypted link between aircrews and support personnel on the ground, relating to routine aircraft operations and safety only. Mark Burton says that the decision to install the equipment will "enhance HF communication coverage for transport aircraft in the South Pacific and Antarctic regions, thus improving their in-flight safety. "The service will operate on a publicly registered aeronautical frequency, and radio enthusiasts can easily listen in on the transmissions. All they'll need is a simple HF radio-which costs as little as $30-and they can listen to all the air to ground communications." Installation of the HF facility is part of a programme that will help streamline the USAF's High Frequency (HF) networks, and it will benefit both the NZDF and the USAF. There will be no cost to New Zealand in accessing the HF networks. Mark Burton says the project also offers benefits to the NZDF. "Participating in the Rightsizing initiative will give the NZDF access to global HF services in the Northern Hemisphere. This will eliminate the need to deploy an NZDF HF attachment to Singapore in order to communicate with our air detachments outside the Asia Pacific region." QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS What does the Rightsizing Initiative entail? The US has embarked on a project that will see a number of high frequency (HF) radio installations close. Previously the US maintained a considerable number of HF radio installations within the respective arms of the Department of Defense. The aim of the Rightsizing initiative is to consolidate the HF requirements, which are currently duplicated within the respective arms of US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. As a result, some short falls in radio coverage have been identified, one of which is air- ground-air coverage in the South Pacific and Antarctic regions. Why is New Zealand being asked to participate? The main requirement for a reliable HF service is to keep the radio path length to a minimum. Typically, the aim is to keep the radio path to within 1500 km (a single HF "hop"). However, where this is not practical, the objective is to achieve the shortest distance possible. New Zealand is better placed than the closest US installation in Hawaii to provide coverage for aircraft on route to Antarctica and the Pacific Islands. Under what agreement has New Zealand's participation in the Rightsizing initiative been sought? New Zealand's participation in the initiative has been sought under the auspices of the Combined Communications Electronic Board (CCEB). The CCEB is tasked with overseeing the standardisation of communications systems between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Who else is participating? In May 2001, the UK and the US concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that established arrangements for the provision of HF communications support and related services. In April, a joint US/UK communications team visited Australia and New Zealand to provide further information on the initiative and to invite our participation. Is Australia participating? Geographically, New Zealand is better placed than Australia to provide HF coverage for aircraft transiting the South Pacific and Antarctic regions. [so that means, ``no`` ?? --gh] What is the Rightsizing initiative's purpose? The Initiative's purpose is to provide an HF link between aircrews and support personnel on the ground. Enhancing the coverage of HF communications in the South Pacific and Antarctic regions would improve in-flight safety for transport aircraft transiting this area. How would this improve in-flight safety? The Initiative would provide a back-up ground-air-ground communications link between aircrews and support personnel. Could the initiative be used for intelligence purposes? No. The US is rationalising its unclassified HF networks. The service would operate on a publicly registered aeronautical frequency, and communications between aircrews and support personnel would be voice only and unencrypted. Anyone with access to a HF radio (costing as little as $30.00) could monitor these communications, thereby confirming that they relate only to routine aircraft operations and safety. What would New Zealand's participation involve? New Zealand's participation would involve the installation of an unclassified HF radio transmitter and receiver one of the following locations: Whenuapai, Irirangi (Waiouru) or Weedons (Christchurch). Under the proposal, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) would have full access to the facility. Does HF radio admit harmful radiation? No. Commercial aircraft use HF radio. What advantages are there for New Zealand? Under the Initiative, the NZDF would gain access to global HF services operated by the US and the UK. This would eliminate the need to deploy a NZDF HF attachment to Singapore to communicate with our aircrews operating in missions outside the Asia Pacific region (i.e. the Balkans, Afghanistan, Africa and the Middle East). Direct in-flight communications from RNZAF aircrews could be received more effectively and cheaply in New Zealand through US and UK stations operating in the Northern Pacific, the Atlantic and/or the Mediterranean. What are the financial implications for New Zealand? The US would provide and install all equipment, and cover its maintenance and support under local commercial arrangements. The proposal involves no cost to New Zealand other than the provision of existing Defence real estate. When will the equipment be installed? Within the next 12 months. Copyright (c) Scoop Media (via Wolfgang Bueschel, Nov 23, DXLD) See also his comments under GERMANY ** NICARAGUA. 5770-USB, Radio Miskut, 11/18 2300 past 2350, varied reception to a varied program. Heard Kenny Rogers' "Coward of the County" when I tuned in, to a traditional folk song, then ID at 2308 "Transmitido Radio Miskut, 5770 kilohertz banda 49 metros... 104(? somewhat garbled) megahertz FM" over a choral folk music bed. Mostly folk/indigenous music for the next 40 minutes, exception was Pink's "Get This Party Started" at 2319, and what seemed to be a promo for a music program at 2322, details in English, but not clear at all. (Gerry Bishop, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. see CANADA ** NORWAY. LA1LGN and LM1LGN http://www.ciphersource.net/la1b/Forum/ are special event stations located at the operating site of the Bergen Radio coastal station LGN in Norway. The operation commemorates 90 years of service for ships at sea. LA1LGN is on the air until the 17th of November and again after the 30th of November. Between the 18th and 30th of November the call LM1LGN will be used. On the 23rd and 24th of November, LGN will be open for traffic with radio amateurs. LGN will call radio amateurs on its working frequency on 3631 kHz upper sideband, and listen for calls between 3650 and 3700 kHz. Radio amateur stations may call using CW or upper sideband - note, not lower sideband - and LGN will answer all calls on USB (RSGB via Mike Terry, Nov 23, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN: Winter B-02 schedule for Radio Pakistan with some frequency changes: ENGLISH(ASSAMI) 0045-0115 11655 15455 URDU 0045-0215 15485 17895 BANGLA 0115-0200 11655 15455 HINDI 0215-0300 11655 15455 || retimed ex 0200-0245 TAMIL 0315-0345 15455 17540 || retimed ex 0245-0315 GUJARATI 0400-0430 15485 17825 || retimed ex 0330-0400 URDU 0500-0700 15100 17835 21460 URDU/ENGLISH 0800-1105 17835 21465 INDONESIAN 0900-0930 C A N C E L L E D !!! TAMIL 0945-1015 15625 17680 || retimed ex 1000-1030 SINHALA 1015-1045 15625 17680 || retimed ex 1145-1215 HINDI 1100-1145 11555 15625 || retimed ex 1030-1115 CHINESE 1200-1230 11570 15105 BANGLA 1200-1245 15625 17680 || retimed ex 1115-1145 NEPALI 1245-1315 15625 17680 || retimed ex 1215-1245 TURKI 1330-1400 5860 7375 || retimed ex 1345-1415 URDU 1330-1530 11570 15070* || * ex 15105 RUSSIAN 1415-1500 7375 9385 DARI 1515-1545 5860 7375 ENGLISH 1600-1615 11570 15070* 15530 17725 || * ex 15105 TURKISH 1630-1700 9385 11565* || * ex 11655 URDU 1700-1900 9400* 11895 || * ex 9290 [no English??] PERSIAN 1715-1800 7555* 9375* || retimed ex 1700-1745 * ex 7540/9385 URDU(ISLAMABAD) 1800-1900 7555* || * ex 7540 ARABIC 1815-1900 9385 11565 || retimed ex 1745-1800 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 22 via DXLD) ** PALAU. Glenn, Read the recent log and comments regarding Palau 9965 and lack of call-sign. It is very probable that what I assumed was the call T8BZ may have been maildrop info as per Mr. Lam's log indicates. When I checked PWBR for an address to QSL (which I enjoy doing) the station is now named "Radio Station T8BZ", formerly KHBN. I assumed that was the "ID" I heard. I will be more careful with my IDs in the future. Checked 9965, 1000+ UT, but reception of the 31m band is bad to worse this AM. 73 (Scott R. Barbour Jr-NH, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scott, Tnx for the clarification. I certainly wasn`t questioning your hearing T8BZ ID. The station really has a split personality. Now that you mention it, it would be interesting to find out if they ever actually use that on the air. 73, (Glenn to Scott, via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Dear Mr Glenn Hauser: Greetings from Paraguay! I would like to advise that Radiodifusión América continues with experimental transmissions. To date, we have received many, useful reports. This is especially the case for the frequency 7737 KHZ. A few have also been received for 9983 KHZ. No reports have arrived for 2300 KHZ. Reports for 1480 KHZ have come from our own region. We have been able to improve the modulation quality, and have a transmission power increase programmed. Many of the components required for this increase are presently in-hand. Your reception reports will be most welcome! With best regards (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay, ramerica@rieder.net.py Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. B-02 for Radio Veritas Asia with corrections effective Nov. 17: BENGALI 0030-0055 15215 PUG 250 kW / 300œ 1400-1425 9590 PUG 250 kW / 300œ || ex 9540 BURMESE 2330-2355 11725 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 1130-1155 9615 PUG 250 kW / 280œ CANTONESE 2300-2325 12010 PUG 250 kW / 331œ || ex 11705 FILIPINO 2230-2255 7265 PUG 250 kW / 030œ 1500-1525 15360 PUG 250 kW / 300œ || Wed,Fri,Sun 1525-1555 15360 PUG 250 kW / 300œ || Mon,Tue,Thu,Sat HINDI 0030-0055 15570 PUG 250 kW / 300œ 1330-1355 9590 PUG 250 kW / 300œ HMONG 1000-1025 9555 PUG 250 kW / 280œ INDONESIAN 2300-2325 11820 PUG 250 kW / 222œ 2300-2325 9505 PUG 250 kW / 222œ 1200-1225 9505 PUG 250 kW / 222œ KACHIN 2330-2355 11705 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 1230-1255 9615 PUG 250 kW / 280œ KAREN 0000-0025 11725 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 1200-1225 9615 PUG 250 kW / 280œ MANDARIN 2100-2255 6190 PUG 250 kW / 350œ 1000-1155 9520 PUG 250 kW / 355œ RUSSIAN 0130-0225 17830 PUG 250 kW / 015œ 1500-1555 11795 PUG 250 kW / 330œ SINHALA 0000-0025 11820 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 1330-1355 9520 PUG 250 kW / 280œ TAMIL 0030-0055 15520 PUG 250 kW / 280œ || ex 15240 1400-1425 9520 PUG 250 kW / 270œ TELUGU 0100-0125 15530 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 1430-1455 9535 PUG 250 kW / 280œ URDU 0100-0125 15335 PUG 250 kW / 300œ 0100-0125 17860 PUG 250 kW / 300œ || ex 17845 1430-1455 9670 PUG 250 kW / 300œ VIETNAMESE 2330-2355 9670 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 0130-0225 15530 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 1030-1125 11850 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 1300-1325 7265 PUG 250 kW / 280œ ZOMI-CHIN 0000-0025 11705 PUG 250 kW / 280œ 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 22 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re Yakutsk: There has been wrong power data circulating in recent years. According to official info from Radio Rossii in 2001y, the power used at that time was 250 kW on 7200, 100 kW on 7345, but only 5 kW on 4825 and 7140 kHz (which in the DX press was claimed having 50kW although official info listed them with only 5 kW already in the mid-1990s). 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. VOR German service now posted the current transmitter site list; one position is quite interesting: Bolshakovo: 6235 (!), 12010 Moscow sites: 5940, 6145, 7290, 7340, 7390, 11655 Tbilisskaya: 7300, 15540 Samara: 7215 Yekaterin`burg: 7125/11930, 7380 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Seemingly Tbilisskaya is the official location name of the tx site there at the Moscow radiohouse, despite IBB and DWL use Krasnodar instead. GFC uses 'ARM' Armavir on their HFCC registration table (Wolfgang Bueschel, Stuttgart, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tbilisskaya: That's indeed the actual name of the large transmitter plant north of the Caucasus mountains which is frequently called either Armavir or Krasnodar. I have not seen really good maps of this region so far but the site (called after the small village Tbilisskoye) should be some 120 km away from Krasnodar and some 80 km away from Armavir. Like considering Elsterwerda as "Berlin"... yes, I know, we speak about Russia... (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also MOLDOVA, SYRIA ** SYRIA [non]. Re: ``Just heard Arabic Radio starting at 1600 on 7470 // 12085 although not running exact at the same time. Via Russia- Samara?"`` Perhaps rather Tbilisskaya [more: see RUSSIA above], considering the quite limited operation of the Samara site these days (as I recall problems with the main power supply were mentioned as reason when RVI and Radio Maryja transmissions were moved to Tbilisskaya), but anyway most likely via Russia, and using 25 metres in summer but 41 metres in winter is typical Russian frequency selection. But the actual mystery is still the pseudo-// 12085 which apparently originates neither from the CIS nor from another one of the usual suspects. Kind regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. There could be no greater proof that superpower is no match for avoiding the auroral zone. If RUI is really running 1000 kW on 9810, it`s unusable here, 0100 UT Nov 23 -- certainly a signal, but weak and heavy flutter (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. UNSILENCED VOICE OF THE 'BEEB' Austin Bay, November 22, 2002 Late autumn, 2001. U.S. forces were at a delicate point in the Afghan war when I had the chance to meet a "field grade special operations officer" recently returned from the combat zone. Recent events hung heavy in his eyes. He had been in the Himalayas — and no, I couldn't ask and didn't ask for longitude and latitude. Our conversation, however, did have one laugh line. "These tribesmen, sir," the officer told me, "they all listen to the BBC." He was pleased, but also a little astonished. He shook his head, and the grin broke out. "They don't believe anything put out by the Taliban [government]. They're talking to us about what they hear on BBC. The tribes know what's going on." I replied, kidding him, "Are we surprised?" I really wasn't that blase. I was impressed, once again, by the power of "the Beeb." The United Kingdom provides fighter-bombers and ground troops to fight al Qaeda and Saddam, but in many ways the BBC is Britain's most potent contribution to not only the current war effort but the world as a whole, which is why we should collectively complain when myopic Brit budgeteers propose cutting World Service operations. That's a pence rich, pound poor bad idea if there ever was one. Call BBC World Service Western civilization's WMI — Weapon of Mass Instruction — but the reason it works is credibility, not megawatts or megabucks. World Service broadcasts in 43 languages. Even Earth's hard corners have portable radios galore. Address people in their own language and provide a program that examines local and regional issues, and for a while you'll draw an audience — but it takes credibility to keep it. Credence and credibility, however, are earned, not invented. Earning those spurs means telling the truth as best a human organization can, when truth hurts as well as when it helps. It means addressing with dedicated accuracy local issues, from the Congo Basin to Kabul, and doing so hour by hour, update by update. Tell the Big Lie, Adolf Hitler's propagandist Joseph Goebbels advised, and tell it often. But the good news is, on a planet where individual, choice-producing communication technology proliferates, the small, steady truth-with-a-little-t ultimately overwhelms the big spin jobs, conspiracy theories and prevarications. Eventually, the man with crops withering from drought no longer listens to the government that assures him it's raining. In the long haul, truth penetrates. It happened in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, where the BBC and Radio Free Europe — aided by rock 'n' roll — proved more powerful than communist state agitprop. In Afghanistan's isolated valleys, villages and mountains hiding herdsmen and guerrilla armies, the bone-tired officer said tribesmen he had just met "know what's going on." That's information penetration as a positive, both for tribes seeking to control their own destiny and American commandos making contact. Information, cultural and technological-penetration issues, however, also lie at the roots of Osama bin Laden's terror. Islamists abhor the cultural and political effects of the BBC, rock music and Hollywood. Autocrats everywhere hate criticism. Are Hollywood "values" anathema to traditional societies? Sure, lasciviousness and pulp are anathema to American society. However, many people — in the Middle East, in Africa — will tell you in a whisper they prefer Hollywood to government-written soap operas. Choice has political appeal. For people living in an oppressed or corrupt society, the truth can whet demand for change. When demands go unrealized, people tantalized feel denied. Local autocrats play on that frustration, and attempt to shift blame for lack of local change from themselves to the United States and the West. Sometimes they succeed, though BBC World Service covers that political judo trick, as well. Himalayan trust in the BBC's factual reporting, however, is bad news for anti-Western multiculturalists, particularly the Marx-drenched dolts in American academia who argue that "cultures erect their own unique truth" and that the BBC is "colonizing the minds" of "other peoples." What garbage. People know what's what. Drought-wracked farmers know it ain't raining. Unfortunately, too many people on this planet still live in hellholes where speaking freely gets them killed. Truth alone does not make a people free, but even in Afghanistan, it's a big leg up when building a better nation. Austin Bay is a nationally syndicated columnist (Washington Times [Moony], via Kim Elliott, Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. TIP LEADS TO ARREST OF FUGITIVE FROM KENTUCKY SUSPECT ACCUSED OF SHOOTING AT SHERIFF'S DEPUTY IN BELL COUNTY http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2002/11/23/ke112302s318493.htm By Alan Maimon, The Courier-Journal Nov 23 A tip received by ''America's Most Wanted'' and forwarded to federal officials led to the arrest of Kentucky fugitive Steve Anderson in rural Cherokee County, N.C., yesterday, authorities said. Anderson, a white supremacist who operated an illegal radio station from his Pulaski County home, had been at large since allegedly shooting at a Bell County sheriff's deputy on Oct. 14, 2001. He was arrested in the mountains of southwestern North Carolina by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. ''It's a relief he's been taken into custody, especially without incident,'' said Don York of the ATF's Louisville office. York said the ATF captured Anderson entering a residence, but he declined to elaborate. Anderson was being held last night in Asheville, N.C., pending his transfer to Kentucky, authorities said. York said the television program received a tip about Anderson's whereabouts after airing its second segment on him about a month ago. The tip was forwarded to the ATF, which worked the case with North Carolina authorities. Anderson is accused of shooting an automatic weapon at Scott Elder, who had pulled Anderson's truck over north of Middlesboro for a traffic violation. Elder was unharmed after Anderson allegedly opened fire, although his cruiser was struck about 25 times. Police said Anderson then drove into the mountains, and a search of his property turned up explosives and guns. Anderson had attracted attention in Pulaski County several years ago by playing host to a small Ku Klux Klan rally during which a cross was burned. He also operated a shortwave radio station out of his home, where his commentary against blacks, Jews, immigrants and the federal government drew the attention of the Federal Communications Commission. The Anti-Defamation League complained to the FCC about Anderson's broadcasts, and the agency eventually rescinded his license. Anderson continued to broadcast despite the FCC action. Anderson was a member of the Kentucky State Militia, a civilian paramilitary group, until April 2001. The militia said it dismissed Anderson because he refused to shut down his radio operation. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Anderson also has ties to the Christian Identity Movement, a loosely defined group that claims Jews are the offspring of the devil. Anderson also allegedly threatened an Eastern Kentucky newspaper editor who included him in a series on hate. The ADL's director of fact-finding, Mark Pitcavage of Columbus, Ohio, said he was glad that Anderson had been caught, ''because he was a dangerous man who had already shot at a police officer and threatened more violence in his radio show. For public safety, it's a good thing.'' Pitcavage said the capture also was gratifying because ''people in militia and extremist groups admired he wasn't caught.'' Bell County Sheriff Harold Harbin said: ''It's good news. I knew eventually we'd catch him. It sends a message you can't get away forever.'' (Louisville Courier-Journal via Artie Bigley, DXLD) For the newcomer, this was the guy who operated United Patriot Radio and before that Kentucky State Militia Radio (gh, DXLD) FORMER MILITIA MEMBER ARRESTED IN NORTH CAROLINA AUTHORITIES SAY MAN, ON THE LAM FOR A YEAR, FIRED SHOTS AT DEPUTY ASSOCIATED PRESS ASHEVILLE, N.C. - A former member of the Kentucky State Militia on the run for more than a year was arrested in western North Carolina yesterday. Steve Anderson fled into the Eastern Kentucky mountains on Oct. 14, 2001, after allegedly shooting at a Bell County deputy during a traffic stop. Deputy Scott Elder was not injured, but his cruiser was hit more than 20 times by rifle fire, authorities said. Anderson's truck was found the next day with a pipe bomb and ammunition inside. A search of his residence turned up more weapons and explosives. Anderson was a member of Kentucky's militia until April 2001. He also has ties to the Christian Identity Movement, a group that considers white Christians superior to non-whites and Jews. The militia said it dismissed Anderson because he made inflammatory comments about the U.S. government, blacks, Jews and immigrants over an unlicensed radio station he operated from his Pulaski County home. Anderson also threatened an Eastern Kentucky newspaper editor who included him in a series on hate. Agents from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrested Anderson in a rural location in Cherokee County, N.C. He was taken into custody without incident and was being held in Asheville, N.C., pending his transfer back to Eastern Kentucky, said Don York, a spokesman for the ATF in Louisville. York said Anderson was arrested Friday morning, but had no other details of the capture. "We were very relieved he was arrested without getting violent," York said. The television show "America's Most Wanted" profiled Anderson recently and York said a tipster's call to the show led to Anderson's capture. "We had followed a lot of tips to dead ends before this," York said. York said Anderson will likely face an extradition hearing next week in North Carolina (Lexington KY Herald-Leader Nov 23 via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. CHARLOTTE SENDS REGRETS U.S. Propaganda czar Charlotte Beers today canceled her luncheon speaking engagement at the National Press Club. It was the third time that the former J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy CEO canceled an appearance before the Washington press corps. The NPC did not provide a reason why Beers dropped the event from her schedule. A State Dept. staffer told this website that Beers doesn't like appearing before the press. Beers has been maintaining a low-profile of late. Her last public utterances were to the first annual Conference of Central Asian Teachers of English in Samarqand, Uzbekistan. Beers addressed the group via video from D.C. During that address, she expressed the importance for public diplomacy officials to get the word out. "Our charter is to both inform and influence. Public speaking is a big, big part of that," she said. Lost big opportunity Through today's "no show" at the NPC, Beers lost a major platform in which she could have taken on the latest criticism of America's propaganda efforts. That was fired by Kim Andrew Elliott, an analyst in the Office of Research at the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau. Writing in the Nov. 16 New York Times, Elliott questioned the merits of Beers' plan to "air mini-documentaries about the lives of Muslim Americans" in places like Indonesia. The 25-year international broadcasting veteran said he is not aware "of any persons huddled by their radios to hear about the achievements and values of the U.S. or any other country." People overseas aren't looking for propaganda that puts U.S. policies in their best light. They get enough propaganda from their own governments. Elliott also said that no amount of public diplomacy spin will "make a dent in the public opinion in the Arab world, that largely opposes American policies toward Israel and Palestine and to any possible American invasion of Iraq." Rather than propaganda, Elliott believes the U.S. should promote independent broadcasting to provide Arabs with the good and bad of American democracy. "Arabs may wind up understanding America a bit more and dislike it a bit less," wrote Elliott. (O`Dwyer`s PR Daily Nov 18 via DXLD) http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/1118beers.htm Canceling a high-profile speaking engagement about creating a "good public image" three times. Who was the ad wizard who came up with that one? Oh, Charlotte Beers. Face it, Beers is a New York City socialite who raked in huge sales commissions for ad firms because of her personal contacts. She knows nothing about branding, nothing about foreign affairs and nothing about Muslims in the Middle East. Surely Colin Powell knows somebody out there who is more qualified to deal with this issue than Beers. This whole project is a misguided embarrassment (Angry PR Dude (11/18, ibid.) ** U S A. 7415, WBCQ Wed. 6:30 p.m. [2330 UT] after World of Radio stay tuned for "Goddess Irena Won sings for you on WBCQ". Think of the Universal Life lady singing popular standards, and you'll get the idea of this show. She gives a webTV address. 11/20 (Larry Russell, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. WWCR 9475, 16 Nov at 1441 with Bro Stair. Some guy wrote to him and said he saw a cloud in the shape of a gun. It was very detailed and was pointing west. Bro Stair's conclusion? Destruction is coming to the west (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) Obviously ** U S A. WHRA, 17650, 15 Nov at 2243 with religious pop tunes. Sacred Name tune done to the YMCA theme. "His name is YHWH", with the W said as dub-ya. The best was an anti-evolution tune- "Hey hey we're not monkeys." The band is called Apologetix and they want to convert the world thru' parodies. I have the sneaking suspicion that I am possessed by a demon named sarcasm (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. 1670, KHPY CA, Moreno Valley heard from 1930 (tune in) to 2020 EST 11/22 with non-stop 80s type rock/AC tearing up Redding at times. Finally at 2015, then buried by Redding an anouncer "This is... AM Stereo... KHPY Moreno Valley... 1670". During the test the signal would suddenly pop in stronger then weaker. Adjusting power and or directional pattern. They are listed at 10/9 KW U4. At about 2020 they signal dropped off to nothing. I presume end of test (Drake R8, EWE antennam Patrick Martin Seaside OR, multiple posts via DXLD) 9 kW at night authorised? How could that be (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, 1200, WCHB, Taylor MI, 11/15 7 a.m. [1200 UT] noted loud wide-band hash noise on 1190, 1210. Later checked on 1185- 1215 kHz and slightly beyond. It nulls in same direction as WCHB null. I think we have a station testing the hated new In-Band-On-Channel digital service that will kill MW radio. Yep IBOC. See DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-141 Sept. 9. This does interfere with 1190, 1210 at night too. grrrr (Larry Russell, MI, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -- javascript is for jerks [Larry`s tagline] ** U S A. RE: EX-CNN'R JACO FIRED [BY KMOX-1120] 11/20/2002 2:48:37 PM Posted By: Jim Romenesko From CHARLES JACO: There's not much I can say about this in public, since the entire mess is now in the hands of AFL-CIO and AFTRA attorneys and the National Labor Relations Board. Suffice it to say there was no "gross misconduct." Period. "Gross misconduct", as all of us in this business know, is the artful phrase that can let an employer fire an employee without paying any severance. I'll advise one and all when I can say more. http://www.poynter.org/forum/?id=medianews (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. DASCHLE TIES THREATS TO FERVOR CREATED BY RADIO PROGRAMS November 21, 2002 By DAVID FIRESTONE WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 - Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, said today that the criticism leveled against him this year on the Rush Limbaugh radio show had increased the number of threats against him and his family. In a news conference in which he summed up the Congressional session, Mr. Daschle said that conservative shows like Mr. Limbaugh's had transformed politics into entertainment, to the detriment of the Democrats. Then he went a step further. "What happens when Rush Limbaugh attacks those of us in public life is that people aren't satisfied just to listen," Mr. Daschle said. "They want to act because they get emotionally invested. And so, you know, the threats to those of us in public life go up dramatically and - on our families and on us in a way that's very disconcerting." "If entertainment becomes so much a part of politics," he said, "and if that entertainment drives an emotional movement in this country among some people who don't know the difference between entertainment and politics and who are then so energized to go out and hurt somebody, that troubles me about where politics in America is going." On his show today, Mr. Limbaugh said the accusation was part of a pattern by Democrats to blame him and talk radio for their Election Day losses, and said the Democrats were trying to counter his influence. "It's not just against me," he said, "but it's against you folks, the entire audience. You all now are being characterized as unsophisticated barbarians. You don't know the difference between politics and entertainment." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/21/politics/21DASC.html?ex=1038899789&ei=1&en=974d91ec12e287d3 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) NOW MCCAIN BASHES LIMBAUGH: Arizona talk radio station KFYI 550 AM, morning host Barry Young asked Senator John McCain (R-AZ) about the flap created by Sen Tom Daschle's (D-SD) comments criticizing talkradio host Limbaugh. The Snowy-Haired Senior Senator from Arizona replied that he thinks of Limbaugh as a 'circus clown' and is 'entertaining' in much the same way as a clown... (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. WLS RADIO HANGING UP ON CALLERS WHO 'SOUND OLD' November 21, 2002 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST If you happen to sound like you're older than 54 --- regardless of what your actual age may be --- don't even bother calling in to any of the talk shows on WLS-AM (890). You're not welcome anymore. Like it or not, that's the official word from the new program chief of the ABC- owned news/talk station. In a confidential memo to staffers this week, WLS operations director Michael Packer ordered them to screen out "any old sounding callers" no matter what they have to say. The directive offers a rare glimpse into how far one radio station will go to zero in on its target demographic --- in this case, those advertiser- coveted listeners between the ages of 25 and 54."We do not want to air any callers who sound over 54," Packer wrote. "We NEVER air anything (content or callers) that sounds older than our very broad target, which is 25 [to] 54. On occasion, when it makes sense, we will air content or callers aimed at younger demos, but not older demos." A second memo from Packer this week reminded his hosts and producers to "make sure the content of your promo, the content of your show and every caller screened for airing is laser focused on the WLS target-- the 40-year-old." Packer, who joined WLS in September after six years as a radio consultant in Detroit, acknowledged that he wrote the memos, but said they were intended simply as internal guidelines. "I can tell you that we do put on some callers who are older than 54 years old," he said. "It is whether they are 'old sounding' that is the key --- not their chronological age. "You can have a person that is 80 years old that doesn't sound old. I would say that Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters don't sound old to me. Then again, you can have a depressed 35-year-old that does sound old. In any talk station, there is a screening process that takes place."So how should Packer's hosts and producers determine whether a caller sounds too old?"It is a subjective process that they go through," he said. "They're trained to listen to people and to their pace. Obviously, they're looking for good communicators--people that are articulate and have something to say and can get right to the point." In general, talk radio formats tend to appeal to older listeners, who also make up the majority of callers. In the latest Arbitron quarterly survey, WLS ranked eighth overall with a 3.7 percent audience share -- - down from second place with a 5.0 share in spring. Among listeners in the 25-to-54 category, the station was 14th, with a 3.1 share --- down from 10th with a 3.6 share in spring (via Brock Whaley, Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Whether they say it on the air or not, nearly all talk stations have a policy to severely limit the older demo[graphic] calls they get and put on the air. One station, WFLA, repositioned itself as younger in the early 90's under PD Gabe Hobbs. Hosts were instructed to say things like, "Oh, another blue haired old bat" during chats with old women and, "I guess none of the old guys had strokes tonight, 'cause they are calling me!" to old men. The idea was to sound hipper to the younger demos and drive away the 55+ or 60+ crowd that mostly wanted to talk about SSI benefits. It worked, magnificently. WFLA is now one of the biggest and youngest major market talkers (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Detroit Viacom update: CBS O&O channel 62 no news (CBS) CBS O&O channel 50 to run a newscast at 10 PM ELT produced by Scipps- Howard owned WXYZ channel 7 (ABC, former ABC O&O) Channel 50 is UPN (Brock Whaley, GA, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I was recently back in Minneapolis in June while visiting my parents. WCCO's single tower is located just off of hwy US 10 in Coon Rapids; NW of Minneapolis. It is completely surrounded by residential homes on three sides [sic]. I remember back in the late 80's reading an article in the Mpls. Star- Tribune that if the tower ever fell (sic), they would not be allowed to rebuild on the same site. Therefore, WCCO was trying to get historical status of some sort. I do not know if this ever evolved to fruition on their part. When I moved to Seattle in 1989, WCCO was heard occasionally; fighting it out with KIKI in Honolulu. Then, KNCO in Grass Valley, CA and CKKY in Wainwright, AB showed up on frequency; thereby pretty much eliminating WCCO. Here in Helena, MT, WCCO only rarely makes an appearance; CKKY dominating most of the time. KSTP-1500 is heard daily here with quite listenable signals. When I was camping in NW MN in June during severe thunderstorms, I would always tune in to WCCO @ 18 minutes past the hour when they give their weather reports. Even though I was in Clearwater, MN, about 40 miles NW of WCCO, their signal was atrocious! Day or night! WCCO NEEDS a new transmitter site and tower; I think I will inquire. C-C-O, 8-3- Oh needs help; it's an institution. By the way, I have an extra WCCO-830 coffee mug; black with gold letters. Free to the first person that shows me the earliest QSL card from them. If you're overseas, you pay shipping! I have one from 1980, so I probably won't count (Terry Palmersheim, KC7LDP, Helena, MT, Nov 22 DX LISTENING DIGEST) Haven`t heard from Terry about how he will adjudicate this offer, but same has already appeared e.g. on hard-core-dx (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. JONATHAN ADELSTEIN SWORN IN AS FCC COMMISSIONER FCC nominee Jonathan Adelstein was sworn in this week to fill the Commission's remaining open slot. The nomination of Adelstein, a Democrat and a protégé of South Dakota Sen Tom Daschle, had been held hostage for most of this year because of political wrangling over several judicial nominations. Adelstein will finish out the term of former Commissioner Gloria Tristani, which ends in June. The only other Democrat on the FCC, Michael J. Copps, called it "a happy day" for himself and the FCC. Copps said Adelstein will make "an exceptionally fine new colleague" whose addition will bring the FCC up and running at full complement. Okayed last summer by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Adelstein was confirmed by the Senate November 14 in a procedural floor vote. Earlier this year, Adelstein's FCC nomination appeared dead for the year as Senate Republicans and Democrats squabbled over judicial nominations, and some Republicans, placed anonymous holds on Adelstein's nomination. The election and the change in Senate control obviated the issues involved, however. The White House nominated Adelstein last February (ARRL Letter Nov 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC'S COPPS TO CONDUCT HEARINGS Fri Nov 22, 2:03 AM ET By Brooks Boliek WASHINGTON (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Frustrated with the Republican majority's foot dragging, Democratic FCC commissioner Michael Copps is planning to conduct field hearings on his own to examine the effect of media consolidation. Copps has been pushing FCC chairman Michael Powell for the hearings but has been rebuffed by the chairman and the agency's Mass Media Bureau. Copps told reporters Thursday that he planned to conduct the hearings despite the opposition from the chairman and FCC staff. "This is not an inside-the-Beltway issue," Copps said. "It goes to the fundamentals of Democracy." The FCC is reviewing a slew of media regulations that tell companies who can own what and how many media properties they can own. It is expected to take a vote on modifications to the regulations, including the rule that effectively limits the number of TV stations one company can own, the federal ban that prevents a newspaper from owning a TV station in a single market and the limits on media properties companies can own in a region. "Suppose we make a mistake. What do we do then?" he said. "How do we put that genie back into the bottle?" Copps described Powell's response to his call for hearings as "unenthusiastic" at best and that the Mass Media Bureau was "digging in its heels." A spokesman from the chairman's office said Powell was not standing in Copps' way. "The chairman not only welcomes public participation in the process, he encourages it," the spokesman said. "He has every confidence that the public understands how to participate, as evidenced by the fact that nearly half the comments filed to date -- halfway through the comment period -- in the media-ownership proceeding are from individuals. If commissioner Copps thinks something more can be gained from having hearings, he should feel free to do so." By having hearings on his own, Copps can make it embarrassing for Powell, who could end up being painted as anti-consumer in the debate over an issue that may be beginning to resonate nationwide. "I'm detecting as I travel around the country a growing interest and concern," Copps said. An aide to Powell said the chairman was unconcerned about the political fallout. His main concern is getting the evidence to back up the commission's decision that will stand up in court. The federal court has thrown out several media-ownership rulings, contending that they have not been backed up by empirical evidence. Powell's major thrust is to develop economic data that will allow the court to uphold the commission's decision. "What the head of the PTA in Kansas City has to say about the issue isn't going to add anything that's not already in the record," the aide said. "You spend an awful lot of resources on a hearing that could be better spent elsewhere. ... Sustainability is the key." Although Powell sees no need for hearings, at least one Republican member of the commission, Kevin Martin, said he wouldn't mind having hearings as long as they didn't interfere with the commission's timetable. The move was applauded by representatives of the creative community, who have been pushing the commission to retain media- ownership controls. "We think it makes sense to have hearings in Los Angeles and other major production centers where the creative community can be heard, not just in Washington where the lobbyists for the major conglomerates march the halls blaring their big trumpets," said Chuck Fries, president of the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers and Directors. "We've been urging hearings for the creative community ever since we sent a letter to the FCC in June." That sentiment was echoed by Greg Hessinger, AFTRA national executive director. "Colossal changes in ownership consolidation through the last decade has seriously reduced the diversity of voices in the marketplace, marginalizing the interests of local communities and restricting access to distribution outlets for creative talent," he said. "Regardless of what position one takes, it is imperative that the public -- whose interest the FCC is bound to serve -- is provided with adequate information to understand these issues." Copps and representatives from AFTRA and the caucus have scheduled private meetings with Copps on Sunday, when they plan to discuss their concerns. While Copps said he had no empirical proof, he linked the coarsening of television with the increasingly fewer number of media companies that control larger and larger chunks of the industry. "Why is it we seem to be in the midst of a race to the bottom at the same time the industry is in a race to consolidate? Has consolidation led to an increase in the amount of indecent programming?" Copps asked. "We must answer these questions before the commission votes on whether to eliminate our media-concentration protections this spring." Copps' comments come after CBS aired "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" on Wednesday -- the show in which supermodels pranced down the runway in what used to be called unmentionables. Copps showed reporters samples of the 250-300 e-mails he received Thursday morning complaining about the show. Copps called for a change in the FCC's indecency regulations, saying the agency receives "too many indecency complaints from consumers, and too many truly indecent broadcasts are falling through the cracks." Violent programming should also be included in the FCC's indecency definition, he said. "You can't tell me this is what the pioneers of the great broadcast industry had in mind when they brought radio and TV to us," he said (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) I had one eye on that show, which was delayed an hour at the last minute by the network; IMHO it wasn`t indecent enough, and I get so tired of the same prance, the same pouty expressions by all of them (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I have heard of DXers that really bug stations by calling them to complain about being on high power, overmod, etc. I am sure station CEs love to get that kind of stuff. :) I feel that way, too. All stations have monitors inside. I worked at a TV station (KOZK-TV 21) that would occasionally have a fritz go through the video. Turned out to be the local taxi transmitter causing it. It took four engineers and an electronically-savvy control room operator to figure it out. We did NOT need a viewer "expert" putting in his two cents! (Richard Dale, MO, NRC-AM via DXLD) There is something missing here. It sounds as if you believe that 100% of viewers are Not experts. What kind of experience have you had with viewers in this area? Does this mean that, if a viewer called with a technical complaint or comment, you automatically assign it to the two-cents category? If you call (at 10 pm) your local AM station and complain that they are at 1 kW instead of their licensed 16 watts, it is in the two-cents category and therefore subject to disbelief and ridicule? An outside viewer can be a ham with 40 years experience, own a spectrum analyzer, you name it. Does the TV station automatically disregard his input solely because he is just a viewer. Certainly 98 or 99% of viewers are just that. But I refuse to accept that it is 100%. It took FIVE people to resolve this ?? There is a story here, as well. This may be part of the reason that so many stations are cheating at night. They assume the listener is just Joe Schmuck. Every listener is Joe Schmuck. Unable to notice. Well it is dangerous to assume that every listener is in the two cents category. I have seen this attitude in calling help desks for technical issue resolution. It is discouraging to find out that you know more than the fellow at the help desk. How do stations react to listener comments? (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) I know of DXers that bug stations with complaints often. Most technical ones go to the CE. If it is a valid complaint then the CE may not be upset. But I have heard of DXers that do nothing but complain to a station about everything. You splatter a bit too much so you must be over modulating or your signal is strong tonight so you didn't drop power did you. This goes on and on. I am not taking about the technical DXer or Ham. I called KGUY 1010 Portland one time as they were not dropping power at LSS. They have a PSAA and a PSRA I believe. But they were staying on AN with 4500 watts. The CE checked and the timer had a problem. He appreciated that I caught that before the FCC. I think a CE appreciate "help" but not to be bugged by people that have no idea about skip and propagation, etc. 73s, (Patrick Martin Seaside OR, ibid.) ** U S A. Glenn, Received the December schedule for WGTE TV Channel 30, Toledo, OH today. Empire of the Air will be shown on "Ken Burns American Stories" Monday December 9 at 9:00 pm EST so it appears to be on PBS nationwide (Charlie Hinkle, Pioneer, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. EWTN EXPANDS CATHOLIC MUSIC PROGRAMS Hello Mike, I too am delighted you've passed the 200th issue milestone. May it never be a millstone! We are moving ahead with new episodes of our EWTN-produced music shows. ``Catholic Jukebox`` is a program of music by contemporary Catholic singers and songwriters. ``The Message in Music`` features devotional songs, chant and more serious and contemplative music. By the way, we have revised our Catholic Jukebox website, http://www.ewtn.com/radio/jukebox.htm Listeners can hear a continuous play of music, search for a particular artist, or get contact information about the artists we feature. If anyone would like to submit music for consideration for either program, they should send CDs to: Thom Price, EWTN Radio, 5817 Old Leeds Road, Irondale, AL 35210-2164. God bless! Most sincerely in Christ, Thom Price, Director of Programming, EWTN Global Catholic Radio, TPrice@ewtn.com (Nov 25 Catholic Radio Update, Nov 22 via DXLD) ** WALES [non]. Glenn, This is a correction to the Wales Radio International schedule information in DXLD 2-178. Wales Radio International is indeed on 9735 at 0300 Saturday. The schedule on the Wales Radio Int'l website appears to be correct. Geoffrey had Wales Radio Int'l and the BBC mixed up in the earlier e-mail (Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Geoffrey, Did I misunderstand your previous message? I had the impression you were hearing Wales Radio International on 9825 with QRM from R. Havana Cuba on 9820 (Daniel Sampson) Subject: So Sorry! Hello, Daniel, I think that this Welsh business if beginning to get to several of us. Yes, I made a major error about Wales and Cuba in my e-mail to you. It is the BBC, on 9825 kHz which is suffering QRM from Cuba on 9820 kHz, and not that other British station, Wales Radio International. When I contacted Merlin Communications I mentioned both WRI and the BBC and their respective transmission problems. When I communicated with you I mixed up the two stations in my own originally-correct message to Merlin. Wales Radio International does suffer general QRM on its new frequency of 9735 kHz. I have just received an e-mail from another employee of Merlin Communications questioning Canada being in North America and thus whether Canada is being targeted by Wales Radio International's transmissions to North America - a term which I suppose in some minds is an alternative for the USA. This being the case, she suggests, I cannot expect to receive WRI without QRM! [!! Actually, the primary country in North America is Canada... And Merlin obviously know nothing about propagation either, below... gh] As if that were not enough, the Merlin employee quotes 7325 kHz rather than 6010 kHz for the European transmission at 2130-2200 GMT. I have asked her to list the Welsh station's current broadcast schedule. She also declares that I will not be able to hear the WRI transmissions for Europe anywhere in the UK. My betting is that I will, though not presumably on the 7325 kHz which she quotes. I had the computer copy this directly from WRI website: Celtic Notes: ============================================ Winter Transmissions start October 27 2002 Country Season Frequency Time Day To N. America Winter 9.735 MHz 0300-0330 UT Saturday (Rampisham) Summer 9.795 MHz 0200-0230 UT Saturday To Europe Winter 6.010 MHz 2130-2200 UT Friday (Skelton) Summer 7.325 MHz 2030-2100 UT Friday To Australasia Winter 17.625 MHz 1130-1200 UT Saturday (Rampisham) Summer 17.845 MHz 1230-1300 UT Saturday WINTER FREQUENCIES APPLY FROM SUNDAY OCTOBER 27 2001 [sic] Information courtesy of Merlin Communications (via Geoffrey R., via Dan Sampson, DXLD) WALES RADIO INTERNATIONAL - OFFICIAL TRANSMISSION INFORMATION Glenn, We have some further information from Wales Radio International from Geoffrey. They indicate that they use 7325 to Europe at 2130 Friday. We may need confirmation on that broadcast if it is indeed 7325 not 6010 (Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello, Daniel, I have just received the following information from Marta at Merlin Communications. I trust that it removes any misunderstanding all round. I note the European frequency of 7325 kHz is listed rather than 6010 kHz. In fact, PWBR "2003" lists both frequencies thus: 6010/7325. I note that the WRI website, Celtic Notes, is only listing 6010 kHz for the winter season (R. Geoffrey Rose, via Sampson, DXLD) Dear Mr. Rose, Thank you very much for your prompt response. From the 27th of October WRI has the following services: 7325 kHz from 2130 to 2200 GMT targeting Europe (mainly the area of Italy). [7325 is displayed as a `summer` frequency above] 9735 kHz from 0300 to 0330 GMT targeting the North part of the United States and part of Canada. 17625 kHz from 1130 to 1200 GMT targeting Oceania. Lorne looks after all the BBC transmissions into America with me as his assistant but I am the account manager for the service we provide to Wales Radio International. Once again I would like to thank you for the useful information you have provide us with. Best regards (Marta Moran-Alija, Merlin, via Rose via Sampson, DXLD) Anyhow, WRI confirmed on 9735, UT Sat Nov 23 at 0300+; good signal, but heavy flutter. No QRM here, but there could be if Paraguay be active on 9737v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I just got another e-mail from Geoffrey. He hears Wales Radio Int'l to Europe on 7325 at 2130 UT Friday (Daniel Sampson, Arcadia, WI, Nov 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {`winter` timing, `summer` freq!} UNIDENTIFIED. 5903.70, 0440 Nov 22, Arabic OM talk, poor modulation, Good signal (Giampaolo Galassi, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ TRANSATLANTIC VHF CONTACT A NO-GO Groups of amateurs from Germany, Canada and Ireland had no luck in their attempt to make the first two-way transatlantic VHF contact in conjunction with this week's Leonid meteor shower. The effort was, in part, a quest for the Brendan Trophies http://www.irts.ie/brendan.htm offered by the Irish Radio Transmitters Society http://www.irts.ie/ One group was on the Irish coast, while the other operated from Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs (SONRA) http://www.sonra.ca/ club station VO1AA, located at Signal Hill National Historic Site of Canada. That's the spot where Marconi received the first transatlantic signal almost 101 years ago. "It's been quite an adventure," said Paul Piercey, VO1HE, who was at the Newfoundland end. "We never made the contact because the meteor shower didn't seem as big as predicted, he said." The Brendan Trophies will go to each of the operators of the two Amateur Radio stations that first establish two-way communication between Europe and North or South America on 2 meters. The teams in Ireland and Newfoundland attempted to use the ionized meteor trails to reflect FSK441 signals across the Atlantic. A 1999 effort to complete a transatlantic 2-meter contact between Newfoundland and Scotland on CW also was unsuccessful. The group conceded that bridging the more than 1920-mile gap between Newfoundland and Ireland via meteor scatter probably would require "an unusual kind of propagation." (Paul Piercey, VO1HE, ARRL Letter Nov 22 via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-182, November 21, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1157: WBCQ: Mon 0515 on 7415 WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Europe only Sun 0530; N America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1157.html MUNDO RADIAL: INFORME DX DESDE NORTEAMÉRICA POR GLENN HAUSER Nov-Dec: Desde 22 de nov., viernes 2210v, miércoles 2200 en 9475; (Corriente) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0211.ram (Bajable) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0211.rm (Guión) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0211.html ** ARGENTINA. RAE, 11710v. 2346-0003 11/20. Spanish service with talk regarding Venezuela, Ecuador and the Americas. ID and frequency announcement at 2354 followed by an IS, Spanish ID loop until 0001 when IDs noted in various languages, including English. Portuguese service begins. Good reception (Scott R Barbour Jr- NH USA, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RAE has two different DX programmes in all languages (Gabriel Iván Barrera, RAE, Japan Premium via DXLD) So when are they scheduled, what are they called, and what is the difference between them? You write one of them, don`t you? (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA [and non]. Re ``Liberty`` story in DXLD 2-117, which said transmissions remained on the air for 48 hours after Puerto Argentino [Falkland Islands] fell: La caída de Puerto Argentino fue el 14 de junio de 1982; sin embargo, yo he captado y grabado gran parte de la última transmisión de Liberty en castellano el 26 de junio de 1982 a 1910-1920 en la nueva frecuencia de 11740 kcs (ex-17740), o sea que continuó emitiendo hasta 10 días después de lo que cree el Sr. Mancini, y creí y aún creo identificar la voz sensual de Liberty en castellano con la de Ana Martínez, una locutora del programa en castellano de Radio Suecia que dejó de oirse en esa emisora hacia 1980 (Emilio Pedro Povrzenic Nawosat, Villa Diego, SF, Sept Latinoamérica DX of Asociación DX del Litoral, Rosario, via Nov Radio Nuevo Mundo via DXLD) I didn`t recall that Liberty broadcast much, if any in Spanish, as its purpose was to reach the British. Perhaps the 2-day extension refers only to English? Note he says that Ana Martínez had worked for R. Sweden before this (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Article in The Australian critical of a radar system because it uses shortwave: "I wasn't aware that the much-vaunted Jindalee radar depends on the ionosphere to bounce its signals over the horizon. However, when there is ionospheric disturbance the system doesn't work, just the way shortwave radio signals have been disrupted since they first began in the 1920s. So, let's hope no one attacks during high sun-spot activity." http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5518454%255E12284,00.html (via Kim Elliott, DC, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. VHF NARROWBAND AREA SERVICES (NAS) Glenn, Extract from the Australian Government "Radiocommunications Act 1983" - "Statutory Rules 1991 (#354) - VHF HIGH BAND FREQUENCY BAND PLAN 148-174 MHZ" #354 runs to 14 pages and is available as a PDF file to the general public from the Australian Communications Authority. It contains several detailed colored technical and geographic charts, as sub-extracts from the master "Australian Frequency Allocation Plan". There are hundreds of assignments in the range 151.39375 - 152.49375 MHz, mainly point-to-point Land Mobile services allocated to mining, surveying, local government/councils, sporting groups, boating organisations, Telstra, government agencies, shops, service companies, irrigation, car repair firms, etc. That freq range also includes a sprinkling of licences issued for Narrowband Area Services (Broadcasting), generally authorised for 50 Watts max. Many of these NAS licences are held by people who also have taken out multiple licences to operate in the range 87.6 - 88.0 MHz, known as "Information Services" with max power one Watt (yes, one), as Tourist Information Radio. These are also categorized as NAS Broadcasting. Examples (but not necessarily active): - The Hellenic Radio Servce of Western Australia, Marangaroo: 152.125 MHz - International Commercial Narrowcasting, South Australia: 152.2 MHz - (Private owner) Noranda, NSW: 151.8 MHz - Radio Lollipop Australia, Subiaco, WA: 151.775 MHz There is nothing new about all of this, which was described many months ago in an EDXP magazine! Regards (Bob Padula, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ================================================================= TECHNICAL PARAMETERS AND FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT CRITERIA FOR VHF NAS VHF NAS Technical Parameters VHF NAS station transmitters, in a technical sense, operate under similar arrangements to land stations in the Land Mobile licence type. Detailed information about frequency assignment for land stations is provided in the Radiocommunications Assignment and Licensing Instruction entitled 'Frequency Assignment Requirements for the Land Mobile Services' (LM 08). The technical parameters that apply to VHF NAS stations are: a maximum Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power (EIRP) of 83 watts; an emission bandwidth of 16 kHz (in the past, more than 16 kHz was permitted but new services will only be allowed a maximum of 16 kHz); and Radiocommunications Standard (Analogue Speech (Angle Modulated) Equipment) No. 1 of 1995. The band segments employed for VHF NAS are: 70.00000 to 70.24375 MHz and 77.29375 to 77.49375 MHz (segments A and G of the VHF Mid Band Frequency Band Plan [70 to 87.5 MHz]); 151.39375 to 152.49375 MHz and 173.29375 to 174.00000 MHz (segments F and W of the VHF High Band Frequency Band Plan [148 to 174 MHz]). Assignment of VHF NAS are restricted to the segment 151.39375 to 152.49375 MHz unless this segment is unavailable. VHF NAS Frequency Assignment Criteria Frequency assignment criteria for NAS stations in the VHF bands are the same as those for standard single frequency land stations in the Land Mobile service with the exception that transmission may be continuous. Care will be taken by the ACA regarding intermodulation products between VHF NAS stations and International Maritime Mobile (IMM) channels. While mobile receivers are not normally protected from interference, IMM services are primarily safety-orientated and will be protected, especially in areas where a NAS station site is in very close proximity to IMM equipment (via Padula, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA: In spite of the looming shutdown of ORF`s shortwave service, I received a schedule in the mail yesterday, allegedly valid until "29-03-2003". I guess we will wait and see regarding ORF's future plans (Scott R Barbour Jr- NH USA, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS`. Radio Minsk is the only English language external service in Belarus`. Structurally it comes as one of the departments at Radio Station Belarus` - the oldest international radio broadcaster in the country. The idea that lied behind the establishment of Radio Station Belarus` in 1962y was to provide the Belorussian communities abroad (mainly in the European region) with a link to their homeland. Originally the broadcasts went out only in the Belorussian language and focused on the politics, economy and culture of Belarus`. At that time the radio station was an integral part of the Soviet Union's unified external broadcasting system and the programs also had to convey Moscow's point of view on world affairs and events. The fact that the output was aimed at the Western listener affected the general nature and style of reporting. The senior management in Moscow realized that the programs would be more convincing and appealing if they were more or less comparable to international standards. Unlike all the other broadcasters catering for internal audiences in the country the staff of Radio Station Belarus` was allowed greater liberty in its coverage and analysis of news. In 1985y when on the threshold of Perestroika an enthusiastic team of journalists working at Radio Station Belarus` undertook an initiative to expand their audience and launch a new service in the German language. They had to get over innumerable bureaucratic barriers to obtain permission from the headquarters in Moscow. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991y, as the whole country plunged into the maëlstrom of independence, Radio Station Belarus` gained an opportunity to add to its traditional focus an international perspective and thus increase the interaction between Belarus` and the international community. Along with obvious advantages the independence however also brought in an array of new problems which have to a great extent been a drag on further development but which the radio station has been struggling to overcome. In January 1998y new programs started to go out in English and Russian. The English language service primarily deals with political and economic news from Belarus` and CIS states, relations between Belarus` and the world, analysis of current issues with an emphasis on the international aspect, culture and music. Postal address: Radio Minsk, vul Chyrvonaya 4, Minsk 220807, Belarus`. Fax: +(375-17) 2848574. E-mail: radio-minsk@tvr.by R. Minsk on the web at http://www.tvr.by (via Dr. Juergen Kubiak, Berlin - Germany, Nov WWDXC via DXLD) ** BIAFRA [non]. 12125, Voice of Biafra International, via Russia, Nov 17, 1950-2000*. Female indigene speaker in English, critical of "Islamic government of Nigeria" and suggesting that "the independence of Biafra is the only alternative" Abrupt closure in mid sentence after ID. Signal strength good but considerable degradation by atmospherics (Charles Jones, Australia, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** BURUNDI. Does anybody know the frequency that Radio Isanganiro is using on Short Waves? I got the information below on Glenn Hauser's DX bulletin but it doesn't inform the frequency. Thanks (Marcelo Toníolo, dxing.info via DXLD) I would guess that Radio Isanganiro is not on shortwave nor mediumwave - that's why you haven't seen news about it on DXing.info. A few months ago Studio Ijambo, which is a production studio and a partner in this radio project, told me that Radio Isanganiro would be operating only on FM (Mika Mäkeläinen, Finland, ibid.) I think they're on FM... found the following: ...NOUVEAU... Écoutez la nouvelle radio burundaise ISANGANIRO sur FM et online de 11h00 à 20h00 (locales) la semaine et toute la journée le week-end -Pour écoutez la radio, allez sur http://www.ijambo.net -Vous devez posséder un lecteur audio. Si vous n`avez ni Real Player, ni Windows Media Player, offrez vous Winamp ici. (un conseil). http://www.ijambo.net/ is Isanganiro's web-site though I can't find a frequency anywhere... (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, ibid.) Glenn, R. Isanganiro appears to be on FM only - found this on the web: ISANGANIRO 27, Avenue de l'Amitié, Tél :24 6595 ; 24 6596; 24 6597 Fax : 24 6600 BP : 810 Bujumbura-BURUNDI. Du lundi au vendredi 11h-21hoo // samedi et dimanche 6h00-21h00: 89.7 Bujumbura, 89.3 Manga, 101 Ruyigi, 90.6 Kirundo, 93.3 Bururi, 95.1 Bururi et sur http://www.in-burundi.net et http://www.ijambo.net dans le monde en entier see http://www.in-burundi.net/ijambo/programmes/lundi.htm Regards (Dave Kenny, UK, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ultra! ** CANADA. Hello, This Week on Quirks & Quarks our feature item is: ``When Smoke Ran Like Water:`` Over the past few decades, you could say that we've made enormous gains in linking environmental pollution to human health problems. We've taken the lead out of gasoline and paint; we've restricted or banned smoking in airplanes and most public buildings; we've put catalytic converters on cars; we've taken asbestos out of our walls. But according to Dr. Devra Davis, governments and industry have consistently ignored or even discredited the link between pollution and health. In her new book, she documents a long history of "death by contaminants", and calls for a new war against environmental deception. Plus - the spider who tricked the deceiving fly. All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One (Bob McDonald Host, Q&Q mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. 18990, (2 X harmonic of 9495), Radio Sweden via Sackville 0340-0358. Talk by young woman, "Don't miss SportsScan on Thursday Night", extensive talk of children's literature in Sweden. SIO varied between 444 and 111 on 18990 kHz, 555 on 9495 kHz using two radios to prove what I was hearing (Joe Miller, location unknown, Nov 20, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. A FEW IMPRESSIONS FROM LAS PALMAS Las Palmas, Gran Canary has a lot of churches, of different denominations and languages. These can be found spread over most parts of the island, but of course concentrated to the capital. There, on a rock that is protruding from the Alta Vista barrio over the city you find a Korean Evangelical Church. Las Palmas Full Gospel Church. It has a splendid view of the town and the Atlantic. Its modern and tasteful design reveals that rather much money has been invested there. In this week of Canary vacation I fled the heat of south coast for just one day and headed north, left my Norwegian travelmate to do his exploration of the marinas in Las Palmas, and hailed a taxi for the address of the church. This address was unknown to the driver, and to his colleagues over the taxi radio too, but I had it spotted on the city map and more or less did the navigation. Once there he said he couldn`t have dreamt that I was looking for a the Korean Church. I got there on a Thursday at 1.45 p.m. when an hour or so of prayer was coming to an end. Two or three dozens of Koreans were leaving, and I had the time to explain my mission there. The fellow I talked to was a very friendly one, he showed the church and even the roof with its antenna, just a coax cable. The operator of the transmitter was not present and had the keys to the shack with him. So the transmitter is indeed up there, and the pictures I took just show a 6 foot aluminum pipe. Really nothing spectacular. The church is also used for non-Korean gospel meetings, and one such would take place later that afternoon. I asked about reception reports; my guide couldn't show any, but seemed familiar with all the data in an entry in the HCDX from Giampero Bernardini, and on a desk just inside the entrance I snooped a look on an unopened letter from what seemed to be a Dutch DX-er. I made just one more radio contact on the island. The WRTH (edition 2002) page 149 about the Canary Tourist Radio over Radio Popular de Las Palmas, manager Xavier Palin, is unfortunately obsolete. Ingemar - which is his Swedish name - has retired from that activity, but still going strong writing books and enjoying retirement in his home in Playa del Inglés, Bungalows Santa Barbara to be more precise. Of course it was a great thing to see him after all those years. Just too many memories popped up. The FM band is of course crammed with a number of ondas that I have never heard of before, and it would take days and weeks to investigate it all. 73 (Johan Berglund, Trollhättan, Sweden, via Peter Åsberg, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Pictures on the Korean Gospel Church can be seen on the HCDX web site.] ** CONGO DR. 9549.97, R. Okapi, Nov. 15 2133-2150 23332-23322 French Non-stop African music. ID is heard at 2133 by female announcer (TOKUSA Hiroshi, Kanagawa, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. I gather that the 530 station here is much sought-after by North American DXers, who mostly hear instead CIAO or Turks & Caicos, or TIS stations (gh, DXLD) 530, R. Sinfonola (ex-R. Rumbo), Cartago. They relay FM 90.3. Per phone interview, they replaced all programming of R. Rumbo with R. Sinfonola from mid-April and they operate at 1000-0600. No mention of AM channel in their IDs. Interestingly, now R. Sinfonola uses the same opening music with R. Rumbo. According to my monitor on Oct. 15, their first program at 1003 was ``Escuela para Todos``. Opening announcement: ``TIJX, Radio Sinfonola de Costa Rica, la primer estación especial para Ud., le desea muy buenos días, y se compromete hoy como siempre a summejor esfuerzo por mantener vigentes los momentos más agradables de su vida. Sion capital extranjero, TIJX Radio Sinfonola de Costa Rica 90.3 estéreo para toda la república.`` (Tetsuya Hirahara, El Tiempo Hechicero DX News, Oct., who visited San José Oct 12-15, via Oct Radio Nuevo Mundo via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. A station some people have listened to all their lives will soon cease to exist. R. Alajuela 98.3 FM and 1280 AM [plus harmonics up to 4th! --gh], has been sold to two pastors, who will move the operation to San José. The format will be converted to evangelical religion tomorrow, named Estéreo Visión. The station was founded in 1939 as Ecos del Poás; sold several times, and in 1959 changed name to R. Progreso; in 1967 changed name to R. Alajuela to identify more closely with the inhabitants of the province (La Nación, Sept 29, via Tetsuya Hirahara, El Tiempo Hechicero DX News, Oct., who visited San José Oct 12-15, via Oct Radio Nuevo Mundo via gh`s summary translation, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. NEW ARCHBISHOP MAINTAINS HIS DISTANCE FROM CONTROVERSIAL NATIONAL LAY-OPERATED FM STATION San José, Nov 7 (ACI) --- The Archbishop of San José, Mons. Hugo Barrantes Ureña, refused to have anything to do with radio station La Paz del Dial and reaffirmed his support of TIAC Radio Fides as the official voice of the Church in the country. In the communiqué, the prelate said that ``to avoid confusion and conflicts`` it was necessary to make clear that La Paz del Dia --- which broadcasts on 100.3 FM --- is a private business and ``does not belong to the temporalities of the Archdiocese.`` ``As Archbishop I exercise no authority over the said station and consequently its operation, administration and programming are the direct responsibility of its owners,`` Mons. Barrantes added. The director general of La Paz del Dial, Eliécer Barrientos Rodríguez, explained for his part that ``we only want to continue carrying the message of the Catholic magisterium as laymen faithful to the Church.`` On the other hand, in reference to a recent creation of a trust fund en the Banco of Costa Rica on the part of the owners of the station to take care of its expenses of operation, the Archbishop indicated that ``the donations that this station receives are not contributions to the Church, in that the legitimate owners determine their purposes. On my part I have not authorized that a campaign to raise funds for the station be started.`` — Copyright © 2002 by ACI Prensa, Lima, Perú, and translated and reprinted with permission. MONSEÑOR HUGO BARRANTES UREÑA - ARCHBISHOP OF SAN JOSÉ - COMMUNIQUÉ To the archdiocesan priests, religious, and lay faithful: Considering: 1. That to the Church falls the right from its beginning, independent of any human power, to preach the Gospel to all people, utilizing the proper means of mass media (cfr. Canon 747 1, Code of Canon Law). 2. That Radio Fides is the property of the temporalities of the Archdiocese of San José and has completed faithfully the work that it has been assigned, broadcasting the Message of the Lord, for fifty years. Therefore: 1. I consider it my duty to give unrestricted help to Radio Fides in order that it can continue and improve its evangelizing work. 2. The help of all the faithful, including economic, is urgent in order to make our Catholic radio that mass medium that the new evangelization requires for the world of today. 3. To avoid possible confusion and conflicts that would be detrimental to the ecclesiastical community, I must make clear that the station ``La Paz del Dial, 100.3 FM`` is a private business that does not belong to the temporalities of the Archdiocese of San José, and thus consequently: w As Archbishop I exercise no authority over said station, by which its management, direction and programming are the responsibilities of its owners. w The donations that this station receives are not contributions to the Church and their applications are determined by its legitimate proprietors. w On my part, I have not authorized any campaign in favor of this station. Given in the Archiepiscopal See the fifth of November of two thousand two. I greet and bless you, + MONSEÑOR HUGO BARRANTES UREÑA (Catholic Radio Update Nov 18 via DXLD) RADIO MARIA DE GUADALUPE/LA PAZ DEL DIAL: THE BATTLE IS OVER BUT NOT THE WAR: A BACKGROUNDER San José, Nov 9 (CRU) --- For six months last spring and summer, a spectacular battle was waged in this Central American capital and nation over a Catholic radio station, a battle that held the nation spellbound and made front-page headlines and lead items on the evening news on television. The station was Radio María de Guadalupe, and the principal actors were its owner and operator, Padre Minor de Jesús Calvo; the Archbishop of San José, Monseñor Román Arrieta Villalobos; the Bishops of Costa Rica; and a group of laymen who injected themselves into the fray to save what had become an impressive national radio station. La Paz del Dial is the new name of the old Radio María de Guadalupe, a controversial station owned and operated by Padre Minor. Having bought the commercial FM station Radio Cristal 100.3 FM in San José, Padre Minor turned the station into a 24-hr spiritual life-programmed station that quickly rose to rank as the most-listened-to station in Costa Rica within six months of coming on the air. That was an all- time record and the Chamber of Radio Broadcasters of Costa Rica gave the station its top award. Nevertheless, there were allegations of mismanagement among other things, and the now-retired Archbishop, Román Arrieta Villalobos, demanded an accounting from Padre Minor de Jesús Calvo. The priest agreed to turn over the station to the archdiocese (Catholic Radio Update #124, May 21, 2001), but upon reviewing the financial books of the station, Archbishop Arrieta announced that he would close the station because of its huge debts (Catholic Radio Update #125, May 28, 2001). The following week things came quickly to a boil. Padre Minor reneged and sold it to a group of laymen, the present owners (Catholic Radio Update #126, June 4, 2001). The furious Archbishop Arrieta called in Padre Minor and demanded that he turn Radio Maria de Guadalupe over to the archdiocese. When Padre Minor moved to do so, the owners presented Padre Minor with the signed contract to sell it to them (Catholic Radio Update #126). Thereafter, the Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica stepped in and said that it would assume control of Radio Maria de Guadalupe from Padre Minor, pay off all the station`s debts, and make the station the flagship of the new national Catholic radio network that the bishops had been discussing (Catholic Radio Update #128, June 18, 2001). Caught in a bind, Padre Minor had to honor his signed contract to sell the station to the lay group and did so, infuriating the Archbishop and causing the Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica to side with the Archbishop (Catholic Radio Update #129, June 25, 2001). . During this time and previous to it, a journalist on a commercial San José station who was known for his biting political satires, Parmenio Medina Pérez, attacked Padre Minor relentlessly in scathing terms and brutal personal attacks. Señor Peréz was shot dead in front of his home by unknown assassins who were never caught (Catholic Radio Update #132, July 16, 2001). At the end of a summer of turmoil, the new owners were operating Radio María de Guadalupe 100.3 FM under the new name La Paz del Dial. In a letter to Catholic Radio Update in August, one of the principals, Orlando Aguilar, wrote that 90% of the RMG`s programs continued on the new station. Nevertheless, La Paz del Dial was operating outside the good graces of the Church in Costa Rica. The new Archbishop has continued the hostility towards the station exercised by his predecessor (Nov 18 Catholic Radio Update, Nov 16 via DXLD) Too bad the frequency 100.3 couldn`t have been occupied by a genuinely peaceful station, RFPI, and avoided all this mess (gh, DXLD) ** CROATIA [non]. CROATIA: Croatian Radio's "Voice of Croatia" (Croatian: "Glas Hrvatske") for Croatians abroad is scheduled for B02 as follows (all via Juelich, Germany, times UT): 0000-0200 9925-ju (to Argentina) (incl EE news at approx 0005, 0135) 0200-0400 9925-ju (to E N Am) (incl EE news at approx 0205, 0335) 0400-0600 9925-ju (to W N Am) (incl EE news at approx 0405, 0535) 0600-0800 9470-ju (to New Zealand) (incl EE news at approx 0605, 0735) 0800-1000 13820-ju (to Australia) (incl EE news at approx 0805, 0935) The same 2 hour programme is repeated 5 times, mainly in Croatian, but with two bulletins of news about Croatia in English (at approximately times indicated above) of around 5 to 10 minutes duration, followed by news in Spanish. Opening and closing IDs and frequency announcements are also in English and Spanish as well as Croatian. Their frequency announcements also persist in using the local time in the target area, not UTC - eg 0600-0800 UTC to New Zealand on 9470 is announced as "7 to 9 pm local Wellington time"! All transmissions are currently heard well here (Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ / longwire, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** CUBA. CMBF: LA EMISORA CULTURAL DE CUBA por Ramón Díaz-Marzo HABANA VIEJA, noviembre (http://www.cubanet.org) -- Del mismo modo que un tercer canal televisivo era un anhelo de los cubanos, y ese anhelo se está cumpliendo por el canal 4 con programas educacionales, científicos, culturales, con menor carga de propaganda política, apoyando su formato en materiales del patio y los mejores documentales técnico-científicos del mundo, también desde hace aproximadamente un año estamos disfrutando de una emisora radial de música culta, fundada el 25 de abril de 1948, que solo ofrecía, hasta hace poco menos de un año, un servicio de emisión comprendido entre las 7 de la mañana y las 12 de la noche. Mientras que ahora ofrece un servicio diario de 22 horas ininterrumpidas desde las 7 de la mañana hasta las cuatro de la madrugada del siguiente día. Yo soy fanático de esta emisora porque no puedo vivir sin escuchar música clásica, que es un modo seguro que tengo de no perder contacto con la civilización. Y desde que Radio Musical Nacional transmite también en la madrugada, tenía la necesidad de escribir este texto. Dejé pasar el tiempo porque pensé que el proyecto radial de abrir una ventana a la eternidad no se mantendría por mucho tiempo. Sólo ahora, al cabo de un año, sospecho que este acierto radial podría ser tan eterno como la música que ofrece. Yo siempre he tenido dos sueños: publicar un libro y viajar por el mundo. El primer sueño ya se me cumplió, e intentaré reiterarlo. En cuanto al segundo sueño, tenía algunas dudas. Por ejemplo: el día que yo estuviera en otras latitudes, ¿de qué modo podría defender mi espíritu contra la nostalgia? Evidentemente tendría que llevarme algo de Cuba. Ese algo podrían ser tres o cuatro libros, unos cassetes con la música de La Vieja Trova santiaguera en la voz de Barbarito Diez, fotos de familiares, pequeños papeles que durante 29 años los amigos han estado deslizando por debajo de mi puerta, quizás una vieja y pequeña bandera cubana, un viejo afiche de José Martí, y cartas de amor. Pero algo me decía que esta lista de objetos no cumpliría su rol de compañeros espirituales una vez que ya no estuvieran en su contexto natural. Sólo ahora que Radio Musical Nacional navega en Internet, y por lo mismo es que se transmite de madrugada en la banda de FM, sé que donde quiera que pudiera estar en el futuro escucharía mi emisora preferida como cuando en los viejos tiempos era mi compañera leal dentro de las calenturrientas habitaciones del ex-Hotelito "Monserrat". Y el milagro de esta compañía es el producto de las clásicas voces de oro de Angel Vázquez Millares, Laura Inclán Narvona, Nelson Moreno de Ayala, Otto Brana, Jorge Pérez Jaime, Miguel Ojeda, Juan Piñera, Verónica Puye, Jorge Iglesia, Lázara Castellano, José Ramón Neira, Jorge Perez Jaime, y todo el personal de realización que hacen posible el milagro de esta intensa actividad musical. Sin olvidar al amigo Pedro Pablo Romero. Vaya pues, para todos los mencionados y para los nombres no mencionados que harían de este texto una lista interminable, mi más cordial saludo. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente. 73's (via Oscar, Miami, DXLD) ** EGYPT. The printed July-December 2002 Weekly Programme Schedule of R. Cairo`s European service, 2115-2245 on 9990, has arrived, showing a few changes on Fridays and Sundays, compared to the 2001 schedule in DXLD 2-171: Friday 2125 LIGHT DOMESTIC NEWS 2140 COMMENTARY 2145 ARABIC SONG 2150 YOU ASK...WE ANSWER / BOOK REVIEW [alternating??] 2155 EGYPTIAN-EUROPEAN RELATIONS 2200 WOMAN`S CORNER 2210 ON THE SILVER SCREEN 2220 SCIENTIFIC LIFE IN EGYPT 2230 THE HOLY KOR`AN AND ITS MEANING Sunday 2125 QUIZ TIME I 2140 COMMENTARY 2145 ARABIC SONG 2150 QUIZ TIME II 2155 JERUSALEM THROUGH HISTORY 2205 LISTENERS` MAIL 2220 SUNDAY SHOW And an E-mail address has been added: englishprog@ertu.org (via Erik Køie, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUADELOUPE. 640, Radio Guadeloupe, Pointe-à-Pitre NOV 17 0001 - France Inter newscast with an item about inondations in the Rhône areas; mention of France Info at the end of another item (France Info is currently the only all-news radio station in France and the most listened news station there). Fair-good for a few minutes, then lost and overtaken by WNNZ at 0010 (Bogdan Chiochiu, QC, Nov 20, hard-core- dx via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. On SW I was only able to hear these stations (mostly during local mornings and evenings): 3325 TGBA R Maya, Barillas heard daily 1110-1230 and 2215-0327*. 3360 TGVN La Voz de Nahualá, Nahualá heard 0135-0408* on Nov 13 & 14. 4052 TGAV R Verdad, Chiquimula heard daily 1129-1225 and 2215-0405 (late program). 4780 TGLT R Cultural Coatán, San Sebastián Coatán heard 1115-1355 and 2215-0205 Nov 12, 13 & 14. 4800 TGMI R Buenas Nuevas, San Sebastián, Huehuetenango heard daily 1208-1425 and 2225-0140. 4845 TGVC R K`ekchí, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Alta Verapaz heard daily as the strongest SW-station in Guatemala 1131-1415* and 2225-0205. 5955 TGNA R Cultural, Guatemala City heard 0055-0210 Nov 11, 12 & 13. Thus the following stations appeared after many checks to be off the air (Their latest logging according to the Domestic Broadcasting Survey (DBS) is mentioned in brackets): 2360 TGBA R Maya, Barillas (APR00) 2390 TGDS R La Voz de Atitlán, Santiago Atitlán (I listened 15 km from the transmitter) (MAR98) 3300 TGNC R Cultural, Guatemala City (AUG02) 3370 TGTZ R Tezulutlán, Cobán, Alta Verapaz (DEC99) 3380 TGCH R Chortis, Jocotán, Chiquimula (MAR02) 4699 ? R Amistad, San Pedro La Laguna (I listened 8 km from the transmitter and it was not heard either on 4600-4800 or on 540 MW or 97.6 FM). (MAR02) 4825 TGMN R Mam, Cabricán, Quetzaltenango (AUG00) 4835 TGTZ R Tezulutlán, Cobán, Alta Verapaz (NOV00) 5980 TGMUA Unión R, Guatemala City (1999) (Only the Voice of Turkey was heard here) 6180 TGWB R Nacional, Guatemala City (JUL99) (Only R Nacional da Amazônia, Brazil was heard here) My observations proved that the status in DBS-4 is pretty much up-to- date and better than other reference sources. However, it was new that R Cultural was off on 3300, but this may be temporary. In Antigua I checked the FM-band and counted no less than 90 stations on the air out of which many were from Guatemala City just 25 km away. But it clearly showed that a developing country like Guatemala already has an extensive number of FM-stations with transmitters in all cities and at the hilltops and can cover the country very well. They are able to replace the SW transmitters to a large extent and obviously that is what happens! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, visiting Guatemala Nov 12-17, DSWCI DX Window Nov 20 via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. On my tour through Guatemala I heard the following stations on SW: 3250 HRPC R Luz y Vida, San Luís heard 1105-1225 and 0130-0354 on Nov 13 & 14. 4832 HRLW R Litoral, La Ceiba heard 1115-1305 and 2225-0330 on Nov 13, 14 & 15. The following stations were not heard and may be off the air: 4819 HRVC La Voz Evangélica, Tegucigalpa (AUG02) 4930 HRQO2 R Costeña Ebenezer, San Pedro Sula (NOV01) 5010 HRMI La Voz de Misiones Internacional, Comayagüela (JAN02) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, visiting Guatemala, DSWCI DX Window Nov 20 via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR, Nov 16 1955-2005+ on 10000, weak spur of 9950, heard way under WWV. Also heard 10050 spur. Tnx to WOR tip. Talk in language, ID, local music (Biran Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wolfy, Here is the reply from AIR. -Alok ----- Re: Fw: AIR Delhi 9950 kHz, 250 kW 1730-2230 UT Dear Sir, Thanks for your mail. We have decided to suspend the transmission on AIR's channel 9950 kHz to investigate the cause of spurious emissions. Hence there would be no transmission on this channel with effect from today i.e., 21 November 2002. Regards, (Devendra Singh, Deputy Director (SpM), Nov 21, via Alok Das Gupta via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. V. of Indonesia's schedule does appear to be erratic at best. Nothing noted at this time days prior to this log. V. of Indonesia, 15150v, 1834-1903 11/19. German service with Indonesian ballads and talk. ID in English at 1900, with mention of language service and "Thank you for listening to our program". IS and female announcer with beginning of French service, whose audio quality was much weaker than during the German service. The only time I can hear them on 9525 in around 1000-1100 UT, tho QRM via Radio Veritas Asia- 9520 hampers reception. Other times in the day the frequency is a mess of QRM via RFE/RL- 9520 (Scott R Barbour Jr- NH USA, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. [Cumbre DX] Voice Of Indonesia Freq Clarification Mr. Alan Davies, First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Endang from the English Service of Voice of Indonesia (VOI), External Service of the state radio. I got one of cumbredx`s mailing lists from Mr. Lim Kwet Hien, a DXer. Regarding your report, Mr. Eddy Heryono, Manager of Technical Department clarifies as follows: Since May 29, 2002, the component of one of our service`s transmitters of 9525 Khz has damaged; and we are still waiting for its spare parts. So, since October l4 2002, the external service of VOI has only made use of 9525 Khz frequency. If we persistently make use of the ll975 [sic] Khz frequency, its VSWR will be very high; while the l5l50 Khz frequency cannot be used. Please be advised accordingly. Best regards, Endang R, Voice of Indonesia PS. Here is the time schedule of our 10- language services [contradicting what he just said above about using 9525 only! -- gh] Operation Hour I 0030-0400 UTC NO Languages - Frequency U T C 1 Spanish 11785 0030-0100 2 English 9525 11785 1500-1600 [sic, must mean 0100-0200!] 3 Indonesian 9525 11785 0200-0300 4 Arabic 9525 11785 0300-0400 Operation Hour II 0800-1300 UTC 1 English 9525 0800-0900 2 Malay 9525 0900-1000 3 Thai 9525 1000-1030 4 Mandarin 9525 1030-1130 5 Jepanese 9525 1130-1200 6 Indonesian 9525 1200-1300 Operation Hour III 1730-2100 UTC 1 Spanish 15150 1730-1800 2 German 15150 1800-1900 3 French 15150 1900-2000 4 English 15150 2000-2100 (via Cumbre DX Nov 21 via DXLD) We have cleaned this up and corrected some more obvious errors in timing; deleted WIB times of UT+7 (gh) ** IRELAND. THE MYSTERY OF IRISH RADIO HISTORY - SHORTWAVE SUMMARY And so we come to the end of this seven-part mini-series of topics on the radio scene in Ireland under the title, ``The Mystery of Irish Radio History``. In our first presentation seven weeks back, we posed the question: ``Was Ireland ever on the air shortwave?`` As you have heard week by week here in Wavescan, the answer is of course ``yes``. Here now is a brief summary of all of the shortwave broadcasting in Ireland. A small 1.5 kW shortwave transmitter was installed at the mediumwave base at Moydrum near Athlone in Ireland. This unit was on the air with a bulletin of news on relay from the mediumwave station in two separate eras. The first era stretched from early in the year 1939 until the year 1941 during the European Conflict. The second era began in 1944 as an interim experimental service pending the installation of a larger 100 kW unit. The 100 kW unit was installed in 1948, though it never got any further than preliminary testing. The implementation of a regular shortwave service using their own transmitters was abandoned in 1953. However, relay services over other shortwave transmitters have been noted on many occasions. In 1961, there were relay broadcasts for Irish troops on duty in the Congo, and in 1997 shortwave relays were implemented on behalf of both RTE in Dublin and Mid West Radio in a regional city. Then, as previously noted, pirate radio broadcasts have been noted on shortwave; in particular from UCB with 1 kW, and Radio Dublin with even less power. We should remember also that the BBC was on the air shortwave from Northern Ireland as a wartime measure using 100 kW at Lisnagarvey. This station was on the air for six years, from 1941 - 1946. However, if you would still like to obtain a valid QSL from a shortwave station located on Irish soil, you can do so by tuning in to the voice broadcasts from a well known communication station. The Aeradio communication station, Shannon Radio, is on the air every day on many different shortwave channels with weather forecasts, and it is also heard in communication with international air flights across the Atlantic. Shannon Radio with just 2 kW under the callsign EIP is an excellent verifier. We would suggest that you check your favorite radio magazine for frequencies and times when EIP can be heard in your area. They issue a colorful and very descriptive folded sheet with full QSL details (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 24 via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. MANX RADIO DEBATE POSTPONED From http://www.manxradio.com/ The anticipated Tynwald debate on Manx Radio has been postponed. Members were due to consider an independent report into the future of the government owned station, but the item was withdrawn from the order paper and is now expected to be on next month's agenda. Agenda item 48 would have been moved by Chief Minister Richard Corkill, but he had to leave the sitting to travel to Scotland for tomorrow's meeting of the British Irish Council. He told Manx Radio that earlier debates had gone on longer than expected and he had to go because of important government business (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ITALY. RAI International usually dispatches QSLs in the end of each broadcasting season. A new QSL series (4 cards) has been printed in October. It features Italian volcanoes. Send your reports written in English to raiway.hfmonitoring@r... [truncated] or to RaiWay Monitoring Centre Via Mirabellino 1, 20052 Monza MI Italy (Mario Ballabio, RaiWay Monitoring Centre, Signal Nov 20 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Besides the harmonics reported under RUSSIA: 14280 = 2 x 7140 (Pyongyang, KRE) (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LEBANON [non]. FPM RADIO STATION ON NOVEMBER 22ND The France-based RPL, part of the Free Patriotic Movement has announced the start of radio broadcasts on Nov. 22. The initial trial broadcast is to begin between 6-7pm Beirut time on short wavelength 11515. It will include an address by General Aoun and will also feature songs, news bulletins and a wide range of political and economic programs. RPL can be contacted by e-mail at: fpmradio@yahoo.com or radio@tayyar.org We would like to clarify some points about the Radio Station: - The frequency is 11515 kHz SW (Short Wave). - The transmission time is 18:00 to 19:00 (Beirut time) - 16:00 to 17:00 (GMT) in the first testing phase. - The area covered is the Middle East. It might be received in some European regions. You could report it to us. You will be able to listen to the station soon on the web (we are working on it). We will notify you when achieved. It was not possible to broadcast through AM or FM due to the following reasons: In such case the antenna should be near the target area (which was not possible). If, by any means, we were able to: the possiblity of scrambling is very high. The best way was through SW from Europe targeting the Middle East. (from http://www.tayyar.org/contenu/PagePrincipale.php Nov 21 via gh, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. EQUIPMENT USED BY ILLEGAL RATSIRAKA RADIO, TV STATION IMPOUNDED | Text of report by Malagasy radio on 21 November Various pieces of equipment used by Canal 6 [Didier Ratsiraka's clandestine radio and TV station which stopped operating the day Ratsiraka fled the country on 5 July 2002] - packed in (?50) cardboard boxes - have been discovered in a well-stocked shop in Toamasina [eastern port formerly declared "capital" by Ratsiraka's supporters]. Canal 6 was a radio-TV station operating during the [post-electoral] political crisis. The equipment was found hidden in a well-stocked shop by the DGIDIE [Directorate-General for Internal and External Information and Documentation: national intelligence body]. Three people were arrested for having the equipment in their possession. The government immediately performed its duties. Communications Minister Mamy Rakotoarivelo went to the scene to take the measures needed for an assessment of the equipment. He was accompanied by technicians from the directorate for technical infrastructures, DIT, of the [national] radio and television. Source: Malagasy National Radio, Antananarivo, in Malagasy 1600 gmt 21 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** MEXICO. On SW I was only able to hear these stations: 5985 XERMX R México Internacional, Mexico City heard evenings only at 0055-0155. [really! Were 9705 and 11770 both on at same time? Evidently not, 11770 switches to 5985 evenings: see below -- gh] 6185 XEPPM R Educación, Mexico City heard regularly at 0150-1010. 9705 XERMX R México Internacional, Mexico City heard 1545 and 2150- 0115 // 5985. 11770 XERMX R México Internacional, Mexico City heard 1450-2150 // 9705. The following stations appeared after many checks to be off the air Nov 04-12: 4815 XERTA R Transcontinental de América, Mexico City (JUN02) 6010 XEOI R Mil, Mexico City was temporarily off, but La Voz de tu Conciencia was heard. (SEP02) 9600 XEYU R UNAM, Mexico City (FEB00) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, visiting Mexico Nov 4-12, DSWCI DX Window Nov 20 via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA/PRIDNESTROVYE. No sign of the announced Radio Pridnestrovya transmissions Wed from 1800 on 5960 here, also nothing elsewhere on 49 and 41 metres. There is a very faint carrier on 5960, but so weak that it should be rather Meyerton or whatever other station but not Grigoriopol`. Nothing on mediumwave either, 999 is running open carrier, 1467 has VoR programming with sharp-sounding studio audio (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1157, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. NEW ZEALAND BASE TO HOUSE US AIR FORCE TRANSMITTER | Excerpt from news release carried by New Zealand government web site on 21 November Minister of Defence Mark Burton has today announced cabinet approval for the installation of an unclassified United States Air Force (USAF) high-frequency (HF) radio transmitter and receiver at a New Zealand Defence Force [NZDF] communications site. The most likely location is Whenuapai, Waiouru or Christchurch. The project, known as the Rightsizing Initiative, will provide a voice-only, unclassified and unencrypted link between air crews and support personnel on the ground, relating to routine aircraft operations and safety only. Mark Burton says that the decision to install the equipment will "enhance HF communication coverage for transport aircraft in the South Pacific and Antarctic regions, thus improving their in-flight safety. "The service will operate on a publicly registered aeronautical frequency, and radio enthusiasts can easily listen in on the transmissions. All they'll need is a simple HF radio - which costs as little as 30 dollars - and they can listen to all the air to ground communications." Installation of the HF facility is part of a programme that will help streamline the USAF's high-frequency (HF) networks, and it will benefit both the NZDF and the USAF. There will be no cost to New Zealand in accessing the HF networks. Mark Burton says the project also offers benefits to the NZDF. "Participating in the Rightsizing initiative will give the NZDF access to global HF services in the Northern Hemisphere. This will eliminate the need to deploy an NZDF HF attachment to Singapore in order to communicate with our air detachments outside the Asia-Pacific region."... Source: New Zealand government web site, Wellington, in English 21 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Nice they`re so DXer-friendly, but WTFK?? (gh, DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. R. Miskut, 5770-RCUSB, Nov 15-16 2340-2401*. Tune-in to English VOA pop music program, ``VOA`` IDs. Sign-off with Nicaragua`s NA. Poor-fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria, 15120, Nov 16 1915-1945+ English. Program about DRM, ID, promos for upcoming programs. 1930 hi-life music show, good. Very weak on \\ 7255 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. 9965, Gospel Radio. Heard at 1430 till 1458 UTC signoff with Mandarin program on the significance of baptism. Fair to excellent reception. No callsigns heard. Announced maildrop(?) address of GPO Box 6804, Hong Kong. (Richard Lam, Singapore, Nov 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I was also listening to this around 1300 UT Nov 21, and heard no T8BZ ID either, as in previous report (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Re ``And R New Ireland starts its program on 3905 at 1930 with the melody of a well known German song ("Muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus").`` The melody is the same as the song by Elvis Presley "Wooden Heart". The Elvis song also contains some of the German lyrics. 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, hard-core-dx via DXLD ** PARAGUAY. Novedades de Radio América, Villeta: Reproduzco el texto completo de un mensaje electrónico enviado por Adán Mur, desde Radio América, Paraguay: --Estimado Arnaldo Slaen: ¡Saludos, desde el Paraguay! Para avisar a Usted que hemos realizado ajustes en el equipo de transmisión, en Villeta, para mejorar la calidad de modulación. También, ya está programada un aumento de potencia, en todas las frecuencias. Tenemos en mano algunos de los elementos importantes, y estamos esperando los demás. Mayormente, los DXistas captan la frecuencia de los 7737 KHZ. La frecuencia de los 9983 KHZ no se reporta, mucho. Tampoco los 2300 KHZ. La frecuencia "madre", de los 1480 KHZ sí se reporta, en nuestra región, hasta los 800 KM, apróximadamente. Sus reportes de sintonía son siempre bienvenidos. Atentamente (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay, via Slaen, Nov 21, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Yakutsk 4825 confirmed in parallel with 7200/7345 past 1200, so is operating and may be full time. No signal on 4940, 6150 or 7140. Krasnoyarsk 6085 also heard on 18255 = 3 x 6085. Old Novosibirsk transmitters continue to produce strong harmonics. From 1300 on 14610 (2 x 7305), 14780 (2 x 7390), 14875 (7390+7485), 14970 (2 x 7485), 18900 (2 x 9450, already reported). Other harmonic: 14500 = 2 x 7250 (R. Rossii, Noginsk). Apparently the problem is in the basic design of early Sneg transmitters since it affects 50, 100 as well as 200 kW units (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. Just heard Arabic Radio starting at 1600 on 7470 // 12085 although not running exact at the same time. Via Russia-Samara? Woman giving ID as 'Hureeya Hur-A-Arabeeya' twice at the start. Military style music and chanting. Then a man giving a long drawn out speach, mentioning Syria, Yasser Arafat... ID and sign-off at 1630. SINPO 35343 (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Nov 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1157, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7470 must be new replacing the other 12 MHz frequency (gh, DXLD) ** TOGO. Regarding Togo on 5047, an e-mail tip via Bob Montgomery says he's been hearing them, tho weak, for 3 nights in a row around 2230. I checked at 0600, after WWRB-5050 sign-off, and heard, very weak, talk in French for what it's worth. Could be anything, but something does appear to be on this frequency. The question is tho; what? (Scott R Barbour Jr- NH USA, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUKMENISTAN. Turkmen R., 4930 reduced carrier USB, Nov 17 *0059- 0240+: sign-on announcements by YL in language at 0059; choral anthem at 0100; talk at 0104. ME type vocals and instrumentals. Fair; tentative (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. U.S. HOPES TO WOO YOUNG IRANIANS WITH MUSIC, NEWS By Arshad Mohammed, Reuters, Nov. 20 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to start beaming new Farsi radio broadcasts to Iran next month, hoping a mix of pop songs and hard news may help make unpopular U.S. policies a bit more palatable to young Iranians. Radio Farda -- 'tomorrow' in Farsi -- is expected to offer at least five hours of news, features and other programming spliced into a mix of popular Persian and Western music from the likes of Britney Spears and New Kids on the Block. The broadcasts, due to begin in mid-December, are the latest salvo in a U.S. campaign of "public diplomacy" aimed at presenting U.S. policies, culture and institutions in a better light in the Middle East following the Sept. 11 attacks.... http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/reuters20021120_593.html First press mention of Radio Farda (Tomorrow), the new U.S. radio service in Farsi to Iran, co-venture of RFE/RL and VOA (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glen[n], I sent the following report to WJIE tonight; the transmission is garbled due to transmitter problems: I am monitoring your transmission on 7490 KHz at 11/20/02 23:45- 00:00 UTC -- the audio is chopping out on audio peaks it sounds like you have problems with the modulator, perhaps it is being overdriven. The signal strength is very good; too bad that it is difficult to make any sense out of the program. PSE QSL. Regards, (Bob Johansen WB2SRF, Staten Island NY, Nov 20, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, it is often/usually this way now, and unlistenable. I checked WOR at 1325 UT Nov 21 and roughly half of every word was dropping out. Sounds like an internet feed problem to me, inadequate bandwidth (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Joe: I accept your challenge. But your example is more hypothetical than real. The fly in the ointment is the proscription you correctly apply --- it makes no sense to compete with oneself. So, there is no competition. Advertisers must pay the rate set by the monopolist. Want to get your recording played? Pay the monopolist. Don't want to hear the commercial? Switch the station and they're all playing a commercial, often the same, damn commercial! --- even though the claim is that these slightly differing formats somehow serve different audiences that can be distinctly distinguished one from another. Your argument would hold more water if Clear Channel were willing to use its overwhelming market dominance to program one or two of its stations for a distinctly minority audience --- a classical network, e.g., or an ideas network like ABC Australia's Radio National or CBC's Radio One. After all, I would argue, how could it lose? It would have its other five stations of varying degrees of country music and the sixth could be used to program for an audience that --- at present --- isn't listening to radio (at least commercial radio) at all. (BTW, to obtain even further loosening of ownership limits, it will argue that this could happen if only a stronger monopoly is permitted.) However, that's not what happens. The country format (or whatever one you wish to name), as you point out, is sliced and diced and contorted into ridiculous proportions and commercials are synchronized to guarantee that the only alternative I --- the listener --- have is to turn the damn thing off. I agree that there is marginally an almost imperceptible bit more choice because now the listener can hit six different buttons and hear six different songs from marginally different country formats. But, in essence, he/she could do that before when there were six stations following the same format. This slice and dice is not what was proffered by Clear Channel when it lobbied for the liberalization of station ownership limits. The listener was going to be the big winner in Podunk because now Podunk would have a news station, a rock station, a country music station, a talk station, etc. For the most part, only the markets that had these "diverse" (ha!) formats before have them today. The listener has gained little if anything; the advertiser has actually lost. (Does radio really sound better to you today, Joe, than it did five years ago?) The real winner here is Clear Channel. It has absorbed or eviscerated most of its competition. How can anyone argue that this is to the good? BTW, it's interesting to note that this problem had its genesis during the Reagan Administration when the FCC increased the number of available broadcast licenses almost exponentially. This was supposedly to increase choice and the number of people who could own stations. But, the failure to base this nice-sounding policy on anything resembling sound market and economic analyses left us with a lot of bankrupt station owners in oversaturated markets. The "Clear Channel" solution attempts to address this. For the most part, I blame Clear Channel and its ilk less for this situation than one may think. They've recognized an opportunity and seized it. I blame --- as I said in an earlier post --- legalized corruption of our political system. I blame the poor policy that results from that and is based solely on ideological imperatives that ignore facts and reality. For the record, I work in telecommunications policy development on the state level. My training was in policy development and analysis. Do I sound frustrated? You bet. I've been fighting this fight for over two decades. One gets tired of the "spin" that this is all to the public good when the evidence on balance --- on a number of levels --- is clearly to the contrary. Sorry for the rant (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) The other big problem here is "professional management". Why? It's because Clear Channel has added tremendous "efficiencies" to their formatting of radio and their marketing of radio as an advertising vehicle, in the pursuit of profit maximization. There has been an interesting two-day debate on "Marketplace" regarding the appropriateness of shareholder value maximization versus other stakeholders (community, employees, etc.). The debate here fits into that. When broadcasting was more of a "mom and pop" operation, stations were run differently -- and, overall, less "professionally". One reason I attribute to this is that the owners lived in the community and listened to what they programmed. 'Tain't that way now with Clear Channel and Infinity. We have a good example of this in Reading and Allentown, PA. When I first moved here in 1983, WAEB (Allentown / 790) and WEEU (Reading / 850, now 830) were locally-owned, traditional "full-service" stations. WAEB was bought out, and four mergers later, is now owned by Clear Channel. It's now an "angry white male" right-leaning "news-talk" (emphasis on talk) format, with local origination by hosts who themselves have moved right-of-center over the years. By comparison, WEEU has remained its ownership by the Reading Eagle newspaper, and it remains much more "full-service" and apolitical in its local programming (though it does air Rush Limbaugh and his ilk over much of the day). "Ideas Radio" -- which is, frankly, most of what talk about in the swprograms list -- clearly is a minority format and seems hard to commercially justify given the "professionally managed" stations' tendencies to format stations in other formats. Like Joe, I tend to favor market-based solutions to issues like radio program formatting, but it appears the demongraphics of broadcasting don't favor "ideas radio". I guess that means that my preferred solution doesn't work for the kind of programming I enjoy. So, for that reason, we need to have a vehicle to ensure an appropriate portion of the radio spectrum can be programmed non-commercially. Keep in mind that, from the perspective of the advertiser -- the true "customer" of commercial radio -- Clear Channel has competition from billboards, newspapers, television, magazines, and other media. They are not a monopolist as an advertising vehicle. Now to weave in the shortwave thread, for kicks: Harry Helms gets it wrong when he discounts the importance of non-QSL listener feedback. It's the same here, but grumbling to the stations is useless. Instead, the kvetching should be directed at Commissioner Powell and your local congressman and senator, coupled with dollars and time devoted to supporting public radio. My two cents... (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) Yes, but to add to this further... First, I appreciate your mention of the shareholder vs. stakeholder factor. Maybe we need some regulatory attention (a la Canada, for example) to that *if* we want commercial media to serve more than the lowest common denominator mass audience (however "mass" is defined) and be something more than just a speculative business on the "big board". (You know where I would come down on this question |g|!) Second, I also appreciate the distant vs. local ownership mention. (The same factor is felt in the cable television business, the arm of "regulation" (term used loosely because the regulation is loose) in which I work --- and it is the source of the biggest complaints of subscribers.) In broadcast radio and tv, the stated intentions of the Communications Act (including as amended, btw, in 2000) are just ignored --- perhaps illegally. Broadcast radio and tv are identified first and foremost as local media whose first responsibility is to serve the local community. Of course, today the regs aren't worth the electrons used to transmit them. Finally, yes, how you define things is all important. For me, we have been giving the industry too much unfettered deference in determining the meaning of terms like "competition", "localism", "audience", "corporate responsibility" and "public service". But I'm just one of those out of step f___in' liberals..... |g| JAF (Figliozzi, ibid.) ** U S A. TV NEWS POISED FOR CHANGE IN DETROIT WJW TO DROP OUT AND 50 MAY ALLY WITH WXYZ BY JOHN SMYNTEK, DETROIT FREE PRESS WJW is ready to pull out of the local news business, and Channel 50 will soon farm out its newsgathering to local media giant WXYZ-TV. The changes mean that Detroit is on the verge of losing one TV news provider while another expands its reach. According to multiple industry officials, Viacom will likely cease local news operations on the two Detroit stations it controls -- UPN affiliate WKBD-TV (Channel 50) and CBS carrier WWJ-TV -- and contract with another local station, most likely ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV, to produce a 10 p.m. newscast to air only on Channel 50. Local news would no longer appear on WJW, according to tentative plans. The deal would reduce competing news operations in Detroit from four to three, taking the lowest-rated player out of the game. It would be a major coup for WXYZ, allowing its news to be seen at 10 p.m. without diluting its 11 p.m. viewership. WXYZ-TV is owned by Cincinnati-based Scripps-Howard Broadcasting. A formal announcement could come Wednesday. Executives at channels 50, WJW and XYZ declined comment or were unavailable Monday night. However, the WXYZ production on Channel 50 could start as early as Nov. 29, after the November ratings sweeps concludes, according to people who were aware of negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity. Local media attorney Henry Baskin said Monday night that people in the advertising community told him over the weekend that they had been approached about supporting a WXYZ-produced news program on Channel 50 and that a deal appeared imminent. Speculation about Viacom getting out of the high-cost local news business in Detroit started in late summer. Viacom corporate and local executives refused then to confirm that local news on channels 50 and WJW would continue beyond November. About 70 people are employed by Viacom's news operation in Detroit; not many are expected to be retained by the WXYZ production. Speculation had run high that new Viacom station chief Dennis Swanson had decided Viacom could not make financial or ratings headway in the Detroit TV race. On Monday, Dana McClintock, Viacom vice president of communications, said a statement made in the summer that local news could be dropped "still holds today." Viacom acquired ownership of the two stations in 2000 when it combined operations with CBS in a major broadcast industry consolidation. Channel 50 has had a small news presence since the 1960s, and was the first with a 10 p.m. newscast in the market. CBS was affiliated since the dawn of the TV age with WJBK-TV, but lost its local news presence in 1994 when WJBK was acquired by interests aligned with the FOX network. It changed its affiliation and took its news operation with it. CBS was then forced to buy minor player WJW (then WGPR-TV, now WWJ-TV) and start from scratch. It did not have a newscast until February 2001, when Channel 50 started an 11 p.m. newscast on WJW. The move will not affect CBS network news programming. WXYZ's move to produce a 10 p.m. newscast puts it up against WJBK and provides a major challenge for WJBK and WDIV-TV, its major competitors for lucrative newscast dollars that can provide up to 50 percent of a station's annual revenue. WXYZ will be paid by Viacom or share revenue for the 10 p.m. newscast. Matt Friedman, a former news executive at WDIV and now a public relations executive for Marx Layne, said Monday "this appears to be purely a financial decision. They must have decided in their mind that the station is going to be more profitable without local news." (via Brock Whaley, Nov 20, DXLD) Viacom O&O WWJ-TV Detroit, the CBS affiliate, will not air local news, dropping its 11 p.m. newscast. It will show reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond" in its place. I guess "Sea Hunt" was not available (Brock Whaley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WLS RADIO HANGING UP ON CALLERS WHO 'SOUND OLD' November 21, 2002 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST 11/21/02 here is website for entire article: http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder21.html November 21, 2002 --- If you happen to sound like you're older than 54 --- regardless of what your actual age may be --- don't even bother calling in to any of the talk shows on WLS-AM (890). You're not welcome anymore. Like it or not, that's the official word from the new program chief of the ABC-owned news/talk station. In a confidential memo to staffers this week, WLS operations director Michael Packer ordered them to screen out "any old sounding callers" no matter what they have to say (via Nancy and Larry Hall, NRC-AM via DXLD) RADIO LISTENER TURNING OFF BROADCASTERS WHO 'SOUND BLAND AND CORPORATE' November 21, 2002. If you happen to sound like you're duller than a rainy Sunday in February --- regardless of what your actual capability may be --- don't even bother trying to get the attention of radio listener Gerry Bishop. You're not welcome anymore. Like it or not, that's the official word from Gerry, chief of his own entertainment and information choices, as well as his wallet and bank accounts. In a post-it note at each of his radios, Gerry reminds himself to screen out "anything bland and corporate, designed to be salt-free" no matter what they have to say. WORKS BOTH WAYS (Gerry Bishop, Nicebutwithasharpedgeville, FL, ibid.) ** U S A. Pressroom Confidential --- A SIZABLE CONCERN MILWAUKEE MAGAZINE December 2002 http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/122002/pressroom_confidential.html On the day Timothy Dolan was installed as new archbishop here, joyful music filled St. John the Evangelist Cathedral and live media coverage captured the uplifting grandeur of the historic Mass. For a little while, at least, Milwaukeeans could almost forget about the sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church. That is, until WTMJ-AM (620) interrupted its live broadcast with an ad for a male sex-enhancing drug. That's right, Milwaukee's top news station ran a commercial for a product named Enzyte, which claims to boost the male function that rhymes with, ahem, election. In short, size does matter, according to Enzyte, and there is now hope for men with underinflated, um, egos. Mortified WTMJ officials promptly yanked the ad from the broadcast but not before it had run once in its entirety, says Jon Schweitzer, WTMJ general manager. It seems the station neglected to screen the ads it aired that afternoon. Broadcast news stations have long been ridiculed for undercutting serious news coverage with inappropriate commercials, and this comical mishap certainly qualifies for the hall of shame. "It was obviously a terrible oversight. There was no sweep of the commercials to see if there were any content issues," concedes Schweitzer. "In light of what has become a rather public issue for the Catholic Church, it just wasn't an appropriate commercial to run during that programming." Nevertheless, in an industry where the almighty advertiser is sacred, the station has no plans to discontinue the questionable ad in other news programming. Says Schweitzer: "We didn't see any reason to punish the advertiser for a mistake we made." ©2002 Milwaukee Magazine, All Rights Reserved (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A. EMPIRE OF THE AIR - FRANK GUNTHER The 1992 program, "Empire of the Air" is being rebroadcast on Monday, December 9 on PBS in NYC. [meaning WNET-13, WLIW-21, or???, and everywhere else??] Here is an article from the, "Staten Island Advance" about a Staten Islander who impacted the development of radio, and is featured on the show. http://www.silive.com/columnists/calv/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/opinion/10373751492432428.xml Inside Out --- Program devoted to Frank Gunther's achievements will air in early December --- Friday, November 17, 2002 If you mark Monday, Dec. 9 on your television-watching schedule, and make it a point to catch "Empire of the Air," you won't be disappointed. The show, a re-broadcast of a PBS program from 1992, features Staten Island's own Frank A. Gunther and the men who made radio what it is today. In case you didn't know, Mr. Gunther was a resident of Dongan Hills and a pioneer in the development of short-wave, two-way radio, and the FM radio system for military and public service applications. In the mid-1920s, Gunther was employed as a chief engineer for Radio Engineering Laboratories in Long Island City. It was there that he built and operated an experimental radio station that was among the first short-wave broadcasting systems. In 1931, he took part in the first public broadcast from an aircraft and installed one of the first airborne two-way mobile radios the following year. He built what is believed to be the first two-way mobile radio system for a police department when he "connected" the Bayonne Police Department. It was in 1933 that Gunther, along with Lt. Vincent J. Doyle of the Bayonne Police Department, developed and placed radio transmitters in patrol cars, enabling police officers to communicate with headquarters as well as with other squad cars. Two-way radio became standard for police departments throughout the country following the Bayonne hook- up. From 1938 through 1941, Gunther installed nearly all the pioneer FM broadcast stations and in the years surrounding World War II he designed and manufactured the first LORAN transmitters. These were part of the nautical navigational system used by Allied Forces. Gunther was personally involved in the development of FM (frequency modulation). He was known to military, police, fire and community leaders around the world, having designed, installed and proved the viability of communications at a time when few envisioned or understood the potential and impact this field would have on our lifestyles. At the time of his death in 1999, Gunther had headed up Highpoint Tower, a Florida based company with that tower-turned- lighthouse on Merrick Avenue on Todt Hill. The controversial tower, which drew objections from community organizations, has now been accepted as a cleverly disguised 130- foot fake lighthouse. In 1996, The Radio Club of America established the Frank A. Gunther Award for major contributions to the advancement of military electronic communications systems, with Mr. Gunther as the first recipient (via Daniel Rosenzweig, Nov 18, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. COULD RADIO DRAMAS STAGE A COMEBACK? By Raoul V. Mowatt, The Baltimore Sun, November 20, 2002 The economics of radio and the tastes of audiences may have changed dramatically since the Golden Age of the '30s and '40s, but interest from performers such as Ed Asner and Jake Lloyd may help radio theater make a comeback decades after its heyday. "I think there's a big future for audio drama," said Susan Loewenberg, producing director of L.A. Theatre Works, which has recorded more than 320 performances and is seeking to syndicate a program to major markets. "Anything that has a niche quality is great for this stuff. I'm not going to be able to compete with the latest rap record or whatever. But I think there's an audience out there." And the market is being tested: Martians invaded the Earth again recently in a new audio version of War of the Worlds that aired live nationwide. Another dimension - a dimension of sight, of sound and of mind - has come to radio with a Schaumburg, Ill., studio using well- known actors to adapt the classic The Twilight Zone television series. National Public Radio will broadcast a new farce in December in serialized segments for its popular Morning Edition. This may look like a boomlet to some observers, but others seem skeptical. "The state of radio drama is not strong," said Ken Mueller, radio curator for the Museum of Television & Radio in New York. "I think it's going to stay the way it is. I'd love to see more radio drama, but you have to get young people interested." Although Britain, Canada and Australia have thriving radio drama scenes, "we've decided in this country that we don't want to listen to that anymore," added Alan Bell, assistant communications professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. And even radio-serial supporters agree that may take more bizarre circumstances than can be found in the entire run of Twilight Zone. While tens of millions thrilled to the escapades of the Lone Ranger, the Shadow and others in yesteryear, the advent of television made radio dramas a lot less appealing. At any given time since the '50s, some scattered radio-theater programs remained on the air, and some stations still air the vintage productions. But even NPR, where one might expect to find the warmest embrace of audio theater, stopped distributing NPR Playhouse in September after its member stations showed a lack of interest. Nevertheless, the strengths of the format remain the same as during the radio drama's zenith, according to devotees. Actors enjoy doing them because of the challenge of conveying a character without using facial or body expressions and the possibility of being cast in ways that they could not be in stage or screen roles, supporters say. Most important, the human brain, picking up on subtle aural clues, can offer special effects that surpass those offered by even the most lavish blockbuster. "These radio shows give you a chance to flex your imagination muscles and to see a picture in your mind," said Carl Amari, chairman of the Falcon Pictures Group and executive producer of the new Twilight Zone radio dramas. And so aficionados of audio drama are hoping to help it find new venues and to use new approaches. Ellen McDonnell, executive producer of Morning Edition, said the problem is that people rarely sit for an hour or more to listen in their living rooms. She said by having I'd Rather Eat Pants air in eight-minute snippets in December, she hopes to remind the show's 13 million listeners how fun audio theater can be. "What I'm doing is dusting off a technique and putting a modern spin on it," she said, adding that she's open to doing more serials depending on the reception it gets. Pants, done in conjunction with L.A. Theatre Works and recorded two weeks ago, revolves around how an elderly couple teams up with a young slacker to go on a cross-country journey in search of fame and fortune, finding more than they bargained for along the way in crazy coincidences. It stars Asner (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant), Anne Meara (Rhoda, All My Children), Ed Begley Jr. (St. Elsewhere), Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons) and Derek Cecil (Push, Nevada). Similarly, Falcon Pictures, a Schaumburg firm adapting 150 episodes of The Twilight Zone from the Rod Serling era, features a star in each installment, including Begley, Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba), Blair Underwood (L.A. Law) and Lloyd (The Phantom Menace). Stacy Keach will be stepping into the announcer's role made famous by Serling and taken over by Forest Whittaker in this season's ratings-challenged television revival. Amari said the prominence of old-time radio shows and the success of audio books made him think there was a market for a radio version of one of the classic television shows. He's also distributing CDs and cassettes of the radio broadcasts. "I think audio content, if it's done right, could be very successful," said Amari. "There are so many platforms for it. I would like to think I have something to do with paving the way for others to make them." If things break right, radio dramas might even get a boost from two new technologies: satellite radio and the Internet. Since satellite radio is based on subscriptions, it can support formats that don't make financial sense to conventional stations and networks. Both major satellite broadcasters companies, XM and Sirius, offer such dramas, and Amari said they will both pick up The Twilight Zone next year. Along with about 100 affiliates of syndicated talker Glenn Beck, XM broadcast War of the Worlds on its Sonic Theater channel on Oct. 30. Officials said they added that option because of audience demand. "Our view is there's a robust market for radio dramas currently," said Steve Gavenas, executive vice president of programming for XM. Another potential plus for audio drama is the Web, which not only creates a low-cost distribution and marketing channel but also enables enthusiasts to network and congregate. "The birth of the Internet, that's a good sign for the radio drama," Mueller said. But an even better one might be a leap of faith by more radio programmers. "What has to happen is people have to start assigning it good time slots," Loewenberg said. "If you assign it time slots when people historically don't listen, it's hard to make inroads." Raoul V. Mowatt is a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun (via Artie Bigley, Mike Terry, Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. RE: [NRC-am] Re: [dxtip] WNVR-1030: ``so they now must be operating exclusively from their 4 tower site in Crystal Lake, Illinois.`` I visited this site while it was under construction. These are extremely short top loaded antennas that would look more at home at a TIS station. I'm surprised they get out that well (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, Nov 19, NRC-AM via DXLD) I don't know what their day pattern is but I assume that they beam SE towards Chicago and right at me in Barrington and that is also towards Perry's in VA (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) ** U S A. Now here is an interesting thing about 610. I find WIP [Philadelphia] is totally dominant if I listen in AM mode, or if I use the Sony sync feature and listen to the lower sideband. But, if I use sync and listen to the upper sideband, WIP is dramatically suppressed and other stations are audible. Is WIP using Kahn Stereo? (Rick Kenneally, Wilton, CT, Nov 20, NRC-AM via DXLD) If I recall, the stations that were originally Kahn could keep what was known as the "Powerside" portion of the Kahn system in place as a grandfathered item. There was definite improvement in mono reception using the Kahn Powerside. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will correct me... (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida, http://www.amtower.com ibid.) ** U S A. GROUND CONDUCTIVITY MAP. I just came across that might be useful for those of you haven't seen something like this before. The FCC has a map of the USA which shows you the ground conductivity levels for each reagion. Here's the link: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/m3/ (Matt Broadwater in Niagara Falls, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. WCCO [830 Minneapolis] has not been as strong in this area as prior years. I wonder if they have a ground system problem (Fred Vobbe, OH, NRC-AM via DXLD) The water table around their transmitter site is going down down DOWN (Mark Durenberger, Out West, ibid.) You know, that does have an effect. I remember when WABJ-1490 in Adrian [MI] moved to a newer, drier site. Signal went down in Toledo (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) WCCO's strength is down here too, in WNY, in the last 10 years. They used to be very reliable on almost any radio during the winter, but it's now only a 50/50 proposition, with some smalltimers clobbering their signal (Matt Broadwater, Niagara Falls, ibid.) Mark isn't kidding. This really can affect the signal. I noticed the same phenomena with the D/FW airport TIS stations during the severely hot and dry spell that hit that area in 1997. Before that I could even hear them on my car radio. I haven't heard them since (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, ibid.) ** U S A. KPFT Houston`s prison show, Fridays 9-11 pm CST: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6126975&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=6 (San Antonio Current Nov 21 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. FOR BULK E-MAILER, PESTERING MILLIONS OFFERS PATH TO PROFIT http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1037138679220447148,00.html (Wall Street Journal via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. -----Original Message----- From: Bernice Ramirez Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 11:09 AM To: Andrew Flynn Cc: Edson B[runo, the host]. Zilse; J. Mark Gallardo Subject: Portuguese DXer's (Altas Ondas) November, 2002 Andrew, Thanks for that bit of interesting information. Don't worry, Glenn Hauser is not news to us. In the beginning he wrote an excellent report about "Altas Ondas" Dx segment we created...when he found we were Christian he later published a note saying it was "vomit", and "we messed it up by taking the programming to the religious side". This atheist, who does not speak Portuguese, seems to think he is offending us, but what he's really done is created curiosity in people to search, find, listen and stay. We're still getting e-mails from DXer's who have stayed with us because the Gospel message has touched them! ...jeejeejeejee, Praise God!!! Also, Glenn, in my opinion, is a masochist who tortures himself. You see "Altas Ondas" has been strictly a dx segment, but if Mr. Hauser is hearing the Gospel it is because he's listening to the rest of the programming we carry....who knows, maybe he'll keep listening, and get saved... :) Thanks again! Bernice Portuguese Program Director, bernice@vozcristiana.com 15485 Eagle Nest Lane Ste.220 Miami Lakes, Fl. 33014 (305) 231-7742 Bernice was kind enough to send me a copy of the above message to her boss. It seems VC is not accustomed to critical reviews. Despite its sneering/jeering tone, I will give it a serious reply, since there are factual errors. ``When I found out it was Christian...`` ?? Come on, it was obviously Christian all along, starting with the name of the station. I did *not* say it was vomit; that would have been too rude and unkind. What I did say, as I occasionally do to express strong disapproval was, ``It made me want to puke``, which is rather different. FYI: I have not yet actually vomited over this. ``Does not speak Portuguese`` --- yes, I do; ask any Brazilian DXer. Tho when encountering this station I may wish I did not. I don`t care whether I offend VC or not. I am merely expressing my true personal reaxion to their programming. Nor do I care if my negative remarks attract listeners, as she would like to hope, tho I doubt it! I listened to one or two entire Altas Ondas shows (on webcast) shortly after it started, and found the DX segments of a few minutes each were intermixed with `praise`. This is what I strongly object to. She seems to be saying this is no longer the case, ``strictly a DX segment``. For a whole hour? Great, if true. Not sure I want to risk confirming it, so perhaps someone else can. It`s hard to imagine Edson exercising such self-restraint, but if so, my criticism has been helpful after all. There is certainly no reason for me to listen to the rest of their programming, for I am already `saved` from wacky superstitions propagated for millennia without an iota of proof (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 4796 Son La R & TV Station regular with sign on at 1158 Oct 20 4930/5734/6347 Yen Bai is inactive now on all frequencies 5597/6664 Lao Cai is inactive now on both frequencies Oct 20 6379.4 R Lai Chau, Oct 19 & 20, *1035-1254*, Vietnamese ID, new schedule 6493,7 Cao Bang, Oct 19 & 20, *1200-, Vietnamese ID 9650/9850 Voice of Vietnam Network 4, Xuan Mai, Hanoi, Nov 01 & 02, *0425-0600*, H`Mong service, ID, Hilltribe music at sign on, 35543, later 45544. New service and frequencies (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Nov 20 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. Christian Voice, 4965, Nov 16 0230-0300* in English; English contemporary Christian music, short religious messages, ID, poor-fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ NEW PROPAGATION CHART I have just posted a new feature on the propagation area of my website. It is a chart of FOT frequencies (Optimal Working Frequencies) for the current month, based on the projected smoothed Solar Flux and SSN. I made the charts for three general areas of the US, into a set of areas of the world. The page may be found at http://hfradio.org/latest_chart.html Enjoy. 73 de Tomas, NW7US // AAR0JA swl via DXLD) Very useful; nice to see some FOTs as high as 36 MHz, which means the MUF is even higher (gh, DXLD) see also USA: GROUND CONDUCTIVITY above RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ By BRIAN BERGSTEIN, The Associated Press, 11/21/02 2:04 PM NEW YORK (AP) -- It almost sounds too "Star Trek" to be possible: A multipurpose cell phone that also serves as an FM radio, walkie-talkie, garage door opener and TV remote control. And what if every time you made a call with that handset it increased the performance of other phones already in use -- instead of competing for airwaves with them? While such wireless wizardry remains a few years off, those days could be coming faster now, thanks to a rare confluence of technology breakthroughs and a rethinking of airwave regulation by the federal government. "It is kind of an interesting point in time when it comes to wireless networks," said Dallas Nash, co-founder of Mississippi-based SIGFX LLC, a player in the impending wireless revolution. SIGFX figured out how to transmit cell phone calls in a thin part of the airwave spectrum already used by TV stations. By dramatically reducing the cost and increasing the range of wireless phone networks, the invention could bring reliable service to rural areas and developing countries. Vanu Bose has big dreams, too: to create that new generation of radios -- that's really all that cell phones and garage-door openers are -- that can move between various functions with an icon click. The trick is to replace much of the circuitry found in radios with flexible software. Bose began working at it in a military-sponsored communications project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduating in 1998, he started his own company, Vanu Inc., to further develop the technology. Now Cambridge, Mass.-based Vanu Inc. has created an all-software base station -- which relays calls from wireless phones on cellular networks. Vanu also has built a prototype handheld computer that can make calls on different kinds of wireless networks and work as a walkie-talkie, baby monitor, FM radio -- "whatever you want," Bose said. The big challenge is that the device is limited to 10 to 20 hours of battery life. Bose -- son of the stereo engineer who founded Bose Corp. -- believes that with more development and improvements in low-power microprocessors, the device could be the size of a cell phone and have a much longer battery life. At the same time, other researchers are making progress in developing "smart" radio receivers that can, on their own, determine instantaneously when and where a bit of spectrum is going unused and switch their communications accordingly to avoid interference. (A method of doing that is already employed in cellular networks and cordless phones). In fact, advocates of an "open spectrum" or a "commons" policy believe new generations of radio receivers will routinely handle their own conversations and help relay others at the same time. "If every radio is both a transmitter and a receiver, as you add more, you add capacity to the network," said David P. Reed, a former chief scientist at Lotus Development Corp. and a leader of the "open spectrum" movement. "My gut feeling," Reed said, "is that in 10 or 20 years this will be as big as the Internet." That may seem a wide-eyed prediction, but ideas like this are not just grass-roots dreams. Intel Corp. backs software-defined radio in hopes it will ignite an explosion of demand for wireless chips. The military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on several ways to "increase spectrum usage by dynamically sensing and adapting in frequency, time and space." Researchers at Bell Laboratories, part of Lucent Technologies Inc., recently announced a breakthrough in their BLAST technology, which takes advantage of interference on a network to increase the rates at which data can be sent. Many technology experts say such breakthroughs should force a revolution in how we treat the airwaves. Since the 1920s, electromagnetic spectrum has been handled like real estate. The government licenses use of slices of spectrum and tightly regulates what can be done in those bands. Much of the spectrum is tied up -- largely by the military -- and there's only so much room for experimental and innovative new technologies in unlicensed bands, such as those occupied by cordless phones and the wireless networking system known as WiFi. But in what looks like the beginning of a historic policy shift, the Federal Communications Commission has been listening closely to the technology crowd -- and to cellular carriers that spent tens of billions of dollars for spectrum licenses and want more freedom to use or trade them as they see fit. "We have perhaps the most interesting debate in spectrum governance taking place in America since the 1930s," said Adam Thierer, director of telecommunications studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. This month, a task force appointed by FCC Chairman Michael Powell -- and headed by the former leader of DARPA's communications research -- offered a framework for a spectrum policy overhaul expected to begin next year. The group said the government should grant wireless carriers more flexibility with their expensive spectrum licenses so they may lease portions of the airwaves that go unused at certain times, for example. It also endorsed the "commons" concept in some circumstances, saying new technologies should have more freedom to operate in regulated bands -- as long as they don't interfere with cellular conversations or radio broadcasts -- and in unlicensed parts of the spectrum as well. In essence, the FCC finally would be treating spectrum like real estate in the physical world, where the public has easements and parks alongside private property, and airplanes can fly overhead. Such monumental changes probably will provoke some fights in Washington. "Certain ossified licensees will inherently be resistant to change," said Bryan Tramont, Powell's senior legal adviser. Even parties who are clamoring for change are circumspect. Wireless phone carriers, for example, praise the FCC's efforts to modernize spectrum policy. But some say technologies such as software-defined radio might be too unproven to form the basis of policy changes. They also worry that low-power transmissions by rival technologies on or near already-licensed frequencies could interfere with wireless phone conversations. "It's hard to oppose looking at spectrum policy anew," said Doug Brandon, AT&T Wireless' vice president of federal affairs. But, he added, eventually, "someone will say, `My ox just got gored."' ------ On the Net: FCC: http://www.fcc.gov Software-Defined Radio Forum: http://www.sdrforum.org Vanu: http://www.vanu.com SIGFX: http://www.sigfx.com David Reed: http://www.reed.com/dprframeweb/dprframe.asp (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ THE AUSTRALASIAN SHORTWAVE GUIDE - new edition available For immediate release. Thank you! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUSTRALASIAN SHORTWAVE GUIDE - EDITION 14 - B02 PERIOD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -->> Now available in hard or soft-copy versions Edition 14, with over 1400 entries, covers the international shortwave transmission period commencing on October 27, 2002, and concluding on 30 March, 2003, known as the B02 period The Guide has been issued twice annually for several years, and is regarded as the most detailed and accurate listing of its kind available - 36 pages, handy A5 format, saddle stitched. ASWG14 provides comprehensive information of - English shortwave schedules to Australia, Asia, the Far East, the Indian sub-continent, and the Pacific - broadcasts in all languages to Australia and the Pacific. The data is arranged in two sections, by studio country and starting time. Each entry shows broadcasting organisation, frequency, starting time, finishing time, language, target area, transmitter site, transmitter country, studio country, and days of operation. There are some 700 entries, representing over 1100 daily frequency-hours of relevant transmissions. Some of the data is not available elsewhere in this format. A special professional overview of Digital Radio Mondial developments is included, not published elsewhere. The ASWG is compiled from an extensive worldwide network of broadcasters, frequency planners, engineering consultants, professional monitors, and members of the Electronic DX Press. Information is also included from the detailed research by the author, himself a radio engineering consultant and journalist, with over 40 years experience at both the professional and hobby level. The Guide is available either in hard or soft-copy format. It is not a commercial publication, and the price represents a contribution towards the costs of editorial research, telecommunications charges, internet/E-mail fees, promotion, printing, packaging, and delivery. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HARD COPY VERSION (pricing includes postage) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POSTAL MAILED TO AUSTRALIAN ADDRESSES: A$10: cash, mint stamps, personal/bank/credit union/building society cheque, money order, six IRCs, or credit card via PalPay POSTAL MAILED TO ADDRESSES OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA: US$10 (or Euro 10/A$20, or equivalent in any other currency): cash (any currency), bank draft, international money order, GIRO transfer, 12 IRCs, or credit card via PayPal. Cheques and money-orders MUST be in Australian dollars, and payable at Australian banks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOFT COPY VERSION. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This will be sent as an unprotected ZIP'd Word 7.0 document, compressed to 100 KB; the document or parts of it may then be printed (36 pages). Data in the tables may be searched and/or sorted as required. DELIVERY VIA E-MAIL ORDERS FROM AUSTRALIA: A$10 cash, mint stamps, personal/bank/credit union/building society cheque, money order, six IRCs, or credit card via PayPal ORDERS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES: US$5 (or Euro 5/A$10, or equivalent in any other currency): cash (any currency), international bank draft, international money order, mint Australian stamps, GIRO transfer, 6 IRCs or credit card via PayPal. Cheques and money-orders MUST be in Australian dollars, and payable at Australian banks. To use a credit card via the PayPal system, you need to have a free PayPal account: visit http://www.paypal.com for details, and payment should be to bobpadula@bigpond.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ADDRESSES FOR ORDERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bob Padula 404 Mont Albert Road Mont Albert VICTORIA 3127 Australia E-mail: bobpadula@bigpond.com Thank you! (Padula, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-181, November 20, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1157: WBCQ: Wed 2300 on 7415, 17495-CUSB; Mon 0515 on 7415 WWCR: Thu 2130 9475, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Europe Sun 0530; North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [From early UT Thu:] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1157.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1157.html [from later Thu] WORLD OF RADIO STREAMING Glenn, I noted that you were asking for comments about your audio quality versus file size in WOR #1156. My comments apply to the streaming realaudio versions, but would presumably apply to the download versions as well. I will preface my remarks by saying that I have a high speed (ADSL) internet connection, SB Live soundcard, and decent speakers. This is typical of many listeners, I would think. I tested WOR #1156 (high, 44kbps), #1156(low, 21kbps), and #1155(low, 16kbps) by alternately playing the introduction of each version several times, and comparing them for overall audio quality. I found that there is a huge increase in quality from 16kbps (#1155, low) to 21kbps (#1156, low). The difference in overall quality is very marked. There is not, however, a corresponding increase in quality from 21kpbs (#1156, low) to 44kbps (#1156, high). I note a slightly more deep resonance to your sonorous voice, and somewhat more definition in the high end (on the essess,effs, etc). So, my conclusion is that the jump from 16kbps (#1155, low) to 21kbps (#1156, low), is most assuredly worthwhile, whereas the jump from 21kbps (#1156, low) to 44kbps (#1156, high) is not. 73's and good listening, (Shaun Merrigan, Alberta, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Dear Glenn, First of all, many thanks for extremely interesting listening digests! (Robertas Pogorelis, (currently in Kaunas, Lithuania), Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA Info vom Direktor des Internationalen Dienstes von R Tirana, Herrn Astrit Ibro. Ich habe Ihre Prospekte [Unterlagen] einmal schnell gelesen und dabei habe ich festgestellt, dass einige Informationen alt und nicht mehr gueltig sind. Wie Sie ja geschrieben habe, ergaenze ich diese Information, in der Hoffnung, dass die richtige Publikation fuer die beiden Seiten wichtig und hilfsreich sein kann. Die Kontaktadressen sind falsch. Sie sollen wie folgt formuliert werden: RTSH - Radio-Televizioni Shqiptar ist der oeffentlich-rechtliche Sender in Albanien Intendant: Artur Zheji, TV-Direktor: Agron Cobani Radio-Direktor: Xhelil Aliu Technischer Direktor: Irfan Mandia Direktor fuer Auslandsbeziehungen: Frau Mira Blushi Was Radio Tirana International anbetrifft, gebe ich Ihnen eine ausfuehrliche Information, weil ich selber dieses Programm leite. Radio Tirana International "Ismail Qemali"-Strasse 11 Tirana - Albanien Direktor: Astrit Ibro Tel: +355 4 22 32 39 E-Mail: aibro@a... [truncated] Radio Tirana International sendet taeglich, von Montag bis Samstag in sieben Fremdsprachen: UTC Deutsch 1830-1900 auf 1458 kHz und 7185 kHz Franzoesisch 2000-2030 auf 7210 kHz Italienisch 1900-1930 auf 7240 kHz Griechisch 1815-1830 auf 6130 kHz Tuerkisch 1800-1815 auf 6130 kHz Serbisch 2215-2230 auf 6135 kHz und 1215 kHz. Englisch - fuer England 1945-2000 auf 7210 und 9510 kHz 2230-2300 auf 7130 und 9540 kHz. fuer die USA 0245-0300 auf 6115 und 7160 kHz 0330-0400 auf 6115 und 7160 kHz. Diese Angaben sind fuer die Winterzeit gueltig. Die albanische Lokalzeit ist mit dem deutschen bzw. oesterreichischen Zeit identisch. Die Sendezeiten werden laut der mitteleuropaeischen Zeit gegeben. Radio Tirana International sendet auch auf Albanisch fuer Europa und Nordamerika. Die Sendezeiten sind fuer Europa 0900-1000 7110 und 1395 kHz 1500-1800 7270 und 1215 kHz 2130-2300 7295 und 1458 kHz fuer Nordamerika 0000-0300 7270 kHz 0300-0430 7270 kHz. Lieber Herr Suess, ich hoffe, dass ich mit diesen Informationen ein wenig helfen kann. Ich wuerde mich sehr freuen, wenn diese Verbesserungen auch im Handbuch dokumentiert werden. Ich danke Ihnen fuer Ihre Muehe im voraus und verbleibe Mit herzlichen Gruessen, (Astrit Ibro, Albanien, Nov 12 via Harald Suess, Austria, A-DX Nov 12/16 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Re an item last July: ``Cabe señalar que otras estaciones que operaban en esta parte del dial, actualmente se han mudado de frecuencia. Ellas son: 1470 / Radio M.E.C. (Caseros) - Ex 1710 KHz 1580 / Radio Restauración (Hurlingham) - Ex 1650 KHz 1600 / Radio Luz del Mundo (Rafael Calzada) - Ex 1610 KHz (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital July 21 via DXLD)`` RADIO MEC (CASEROS) TRANSMITE EN 1580 KHZ Y NO EN 1470 KHZ (Radio MEC, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Aqui el esquema completo de emisiones de la RAE, Radiodifusión Argentina al exterior, válido para su período B-02 hasta el 30/03/2003 UT 1000-1200 JAPONES 11710 LEJANO ORIENTE 1200-1400 ESPAÑOL 15345 AMERICA 1800-1900 INGLES 9690 15345 EUROPA 1900-2000 ITALIANO 9690 15345 EUROPA 2000-2100 FRANCES 9690 15345 EUROPA-N.AFRICA 2100-2200 ALEMAN 9690 15345 EUROPA-N.AFRICA 2200-2300 ESPAÑOL 6060 11710-15345 EUROPA-N.AFRICA 2300-2400 ESPAÑOL 6060 11710-15345 AMERICA- EUROPA 0000-0200 PORTUGUES 11710 AMERICA 0200-0300 INGLES 11710 AMERICA 0300-0400 FRANCES 11710 AMERICA Las emisiones son de lunes a viernes. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Nov 20, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. CONFUSION AT RADIO AUSTRALIA Confirmation of the confusion at Radio Australia is provided by the announcement at approx. 2359 UTC of frequency changes about to occur. Frequencies announced as leaving are 15415 15230 11695 17715 but 13620 via Darwin also closes at that time. Frequencies announced as coming on are 15415 (different beam heading) 15240 but also starting at 0000 UTC are 17580 and, via Darwin 17775. The latter usually takes a minute or two to appear. Frequencies announced as continuing are 9660 12080 17795 21740 but 21740 does not continue as it changes at 0000 UTC to 21725. The announcer almost every day is Roger Broadbent who is Programme Coordinator, English Service according to a letter he wrote to me on June 28th last. I have sent emails to Roger broadbent.roger@abc.net.au drawing his attention to these errors and omissions but after many weeks, the errors continue. One wonders if anyone really cares about these things! (Morrison Hoyle, Victoria, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. UNUSUAL NARROWCASTING In Australia we have a number of radio stations that I suspect are unknown by 99% of the population. I can receive at least 10 stations on various frequencies from 151.45 to 152.35 MHz using the NBFM (narrow band frequency modulation) mode, the same as used by most radio amateurs on the 2 metre band. All stations are in languages other than English such as Greek, Arabic, Cantonese and Hindi. Incidentally the second largest Greek speaking city in the world is Melbourne. Identifying these stations is easy by entering the frequency in the online database of the Australian Communications Authority at http://www.aca.gov.au They all seem to be 50 watts yet I hear them very clearly 170 KM from Melbourne where those in the state of Victoria are located (Morrison Hoyle, Victoria, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HF BROADCASTING LICENCING Glenn, These extracts from current regulations issued by the Australian Communications Authority may be of interest, concerning Australian HF broadcasting licencing. As at November 13, 2002, there is no record of any licence having been issued for operations on 2368.5 kHz, within the category of "HF Domestic Service Station". Regards (Bob Padula, Australia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ============================================================ High Frequency (HF) Broadcasting Stations HF broadcasting describes the operation of broadcasting services designed to provide either a domestic service within Australia and its territories, or an overseas service, in the HF bands. In December 2000, the Radiocommunications Services Act 1992 and the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, were amended to enable non-national broadcasters to provide an HF broadcasting service. The legislative changes were specifically designed so that HF international broadcasters should undergo a vetting process involving both the ABA and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The successful outcome of this vetting process would be an International Broadcasting Licence (IBL) issued under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. The ACA has developed three licensing options in the Broadcasting licence type to accommodate HF broadcasting. HF Overseas (IBL) Service Station This broadcasting licensing option accommodates the operation, in the frequency range 5.9 MHz to 26.1 MHz, of HF Overseas (IBL) Service station(s), operated by non-national broadcasters for the purpose of providing international broadcasting services. An International Broadcasting Licence (IBL) must be in force authorising the operation of the international broadcasting service. HF Overseas Service Station This broadcasting licensing option accommodates the operation of HF Overseas Service station(s) in the frequency range 5.9 MHz to 26.1 MHz for the purpose of providing broadcasting services to overseas locations. This licensing option is used only to authorise HF Overseas Service station(s) operated by national broadcasting services (that is, the ABC and the SBS) and other 'exempt broadcasting' services (as defined in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992). Holding an IBL is not a requirement of this licensing option. HF Domestic Service Station This broadcasting licensing option accommodates the operation of HF Domestic Service station(s) in the frequency range 2.3 MHz to 26.1 MHz, within Australia and its territories. An IBL may be required if the broadcasting service is targeted to a significant extent to audiences outside Australia. That would require the potential licensee to be also licensed under the appropriate overseas licensing option. Spectrum Use International High Frequency Broadcasting uses the frequency range 5.9 MHz to 26.1 MHz (see Table 1). Frequency assignment within this frequency range is subject to the provision of Article S12 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations. In addition, assignments in bands shared with non-broadcasting services must be coordinated by the ACA. Table 1 – Bands that may be used for HF International Broadcasting Frequency Range Shared Bands (kHz) Frequency Range Non shared Bands 5 900 – 5 950 5 950 – 6 200 7 300 – 7 350 7 100 – 7 300 9 400 – 9 500 9 500 – 9 900 11 600 – 11 650 11 650 – 12 050 12 050 – 12 100 13 600 – 13 800 13 570 – 13 600 15 100 – 15 600 13 800 – 13 870 17 550 – 17 900 15 600 – 15 800 21 450 – 21 850 17 480 – 17 550 25 670 – 26 100 18 900 – 19 020 – For more detailed information see the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan. Domestic HF broadcasting services may, in addition, use the frequency range indicated in Table 2. Services operating in these bands are not subject to Article S12 of the ITU Radio Regulations, although they are subject to frequency coordination by the ACA. Table 2 – Bands that may be used for HF Domestic Broadcasting Frequency Range (kHz) 2 300 – 2 495 3 200 – 3 400 3 950 – 4 000 4 750 – 4 995 5 005 – 5 060 International Broadcasting Licence (IBL) Broadcasters must hold an IBL in respect of each international broadcasting service, before the relevant transmitter licence (apparatus licence) will be issued. Applications for IBLs must be made to the ABA. (end of extract) (via Bob Padula, Australia, DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. R. Bangladesh, Dacca, noted Nov 18 on 7185 parallel 9550 with English 1845, Bangla 1920. Terrible modulation on 7185 - almost unintelligible! (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, Nov 19, EDXP E-Net via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. BRUSSELS 1043 covering for RADIO WORLD because of the program host injuring himself; he and the program will return on December 8th (Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It was reported on Sunday November 17, 2002 on RVI's Brussels 1043 that Radio World would be returning December 8, 2002. I wonder if anyone else has enjoyed 'Music from Flanders' using the Windows Media Player at 96 kbs on RVI's newly remodeled web page. Paul Rans sounds much better in near FM quality (Larry Nebron, California, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. We also used the first Camp night in order to listen to the Bhutan Broadcasting Service signing on at 0100 UT on 6035. Bhutan was a new radio country for the most of the participants. We heard flutes, drums and monk singing and had the impression to be in a buddhist monastery. Due to the local sunrise in the Himalaya the station faded out at around 0130 UT. Also in this case I can offer a mp3 audio clip (215 KB). 6035, Bhutan BS, Thimpu, November 15th, 0100-0125, Dzongha, s/on, anthem, announcement by OM, slow music with flutes and drums until 0115 followed by songs; SINPO 22322 (Michael Schnitzer, DX Camp Bavaria, 45 km northeast of Nuremberg, Germany, Receiver: NRD-525, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 6035.00, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, Thimpu; *0100-0125, Nov 19, bagpipes-like sign-on theme, national anthem and OM talks, then local music till the fadeout. Weak to Fair (Giampaolo Galassi, Italy, NRD 515, Eska, mod 60m LW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BURUNDI. NEW RADIO STATION BEGINS TRANSMISSION | Text of report by Radio Burundi on 18 November A new radio has joined the media landscape. Radio Isanganiro began broadcasting programmes today at 1100 [local time]. The radio joins several others, which have been operating. Radio Isanganiro director said the radio would promote dialogue between all Burundians without regard to their social class, adding that special emphasis would be put on various activities in favour of the restoration of peace in our country. This would be done through contribution by everyone, including Burundians in the diaspora, wherever they are. Source: Radio Burundi, Bujumbura, in French 1800 gmt 18 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK??!! See DXLD 2-138: it was awaiting a *SHORTWAVE* frequency ** BURUNDI [non]. BURUNDI REBEL GROUPS REPORTEDLY SET UP RADIO STATION IN EASTERN DRCONGO | Excerpt from report by Burundi news agency ABP on 19 November Grassroots administration officials in Rumonge Commune (southwest Burundi), meeting under the chairmanship of their administrator Maj Antoine Bashirahishize on Monday 18 November 2002, said reports reaching them from the Ubwari peninsula in [eastern] DRCongo indicated that rebels from the FDD [Forces for the Defence of Democracy] and FNL-Palipehutu [National Liberation Forces-Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People] have set up a radio station in the area. The sources said that fishermen approaching the Ubwari peninsula had picked up the signal of the station, which transmits on Thursdays and Saturdays at a time that has not yet been established. The officials at the same time said the rebels in Ubwari were recruiting in some areas of Rumonge Commune as well as in the communes of Bugarama, Muhuta and Kabezi in Bujumbura-Rural Province (in west). The recruits are dispatched to the peninsula, particularly to the Rubomo, Karira and Mwayenga areas, to undergo military training... Source: ABP news agency, Bujumbura, in French 1955 gmt 19 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CHINA. Un cordial saludo desde Beijing. Ahora te enviamos el nuevo horario del invierno, esperamos que sea de tu agrado. Para España Hora UTC Frecuencias 21:00-22:00 6020 y 9640 22:00-23:00 6020, 11690 y 9640 Para America Latina 23:00-24:00 11880 y 11650 00:00-01:00 11720, 11880, 15120 y 5990 01:00-02:00 17720 y 9665 02:00-03:00 13685 y 17720 03:00-04:00 9560 y 9660 Atentamente, (Sección de Español, Radio Internacional de China, Nov 20, GRDXC via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6011.10, La Voz De Tu Conciencia, 0910-0934 Nov 17. ID given at 0910 "La Voz De Tu Conciencia". Programming was in Spanish. Male gives apparent commentary with many mentions of Iraq. At 0929, slow instrumental music is played, almost like "funeral" music. Ended at 0934. Next selection was much more lively with the piano featured. SINPO 43343. Strong signal at S9. Intermittent "woodpecker" QRM on adjacent 6010 (Dave Palitsch, Averill Park, NY, Nov 20, NRD535D and 300 ft. longwire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 11690, R Okapi, sent another reply from Georges Schleger, VE2EK, Communications Officer, Head of Technical Services, R. Okapi, MONUC, in two days, confirming my report and indicating it will be forwarded to Hirondelle Foundation for a QSL-card. His E-mail notes that the station operates at 10 kW with a yagi 3-element antenna pointed to the east at 80 degrees from Kinshasa. He included pictures of himself at the transmitter and a nice shot of the antenna system. Georges can be reached at scheger@u... [truncated] (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DX-plorer Nov 17 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** FRANCE. A TIS station or network exists on 107.7 to cover many French motorways. The main purpose is to increase safety. The choice of a single frequency enables continuous program reception without drivers having to retune their radios, although RDS systems can make the retuning to the same network or program service automatic. Coverage is limited to a narrow area centered on the roadway itself. There is also a system to provide FM coverage in the Channel Tunnel, linking France and England. To provide information on specific routes, the broadcasts are divided into zones, with the motorist only hearing what applies to the area he or she is driving through. Most of the stations are 200 watts and utilize highly directional antennas (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) ** INDIA. New Delhi: Indian Airlines air hostesses are being trained by All India Radio experts to make more melodious and pleasing in- flight announcements. A five day voice culture training for cabin crew of the national carrier is underway in the staff training institute of AIR at Kingsway Camp here to train mid-carrier air hostesses in correct dictation and appropriate delivery. Personnel of Indian Railways and Indira Gandhi Open University will be the next to be trained (Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, 19 Nov 2002 via Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. Ref: 0215-0300 Pushtu, 0300-0345 Dari This morning I noticed spurious signals of the above mentioned AIR External service on 10000 kHz. I have identified it as spurious of 9845 kHz. Although 9910 is also used then in parallel, there was a short time when the 9845 transmitter was off and then the 10000 khz spurious also went off. 9910 continued then. There are many reports from Europe etc. that AIR is heard on 10000 and 10050 kHz etc. at other times as reported earlier in this reflector (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J, Nov 18, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. I cannot find any pattern in VOI's freq usage. They sometimes seem to be off air altogether on SW (for example today Sunday 17 Nov 0030-0400). My impression is that they are especially likely to be off air at weekends, but I haven't really checked carefully. I don't know what happens to their small FM transmitter in Jakarta 89.0 MHz when the SW transmitters are off. Until around August 2002 the morning transmission at 0030-0400 was usually on two frequencies in \\ (9525 and 11785), but since then I have only heard them on 9525 at those times (Alan Davies, Surabaya, Indonesia, BC-DX Nov 17 via DXLD) Hello Mr. Hauser- Regarding VOI changing frequencies, I heard them Nov 13 on 11785 kHz at 2020Z with English to Europe, with music and web site address (almost no English content or schedule information on it). Fair SIO 232 signal, but faded out completely by 2030Z. 73s (Ben Loveless, WB9FJO, Michigan, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Las QSLes de esta emisora suelen ser muy bonitas. Además, la política QSL de la radio es generosa y los tipos muy amables, ya que tienen abundante material para los oyentes. Un abrazo (Arnaldo Slaen, Nov 18, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA? 7460, Payam-e-Doost R (Presumed) 0224 Nov 19 with test tones and start of program at 0230. Talk by woman in Farsi, easy music. No ID I could get due to strong splatter, but matched to audio on website. Had been reported to be using 7465 for new 0230- 0315, but that frequency is blocked here by Overcomer via WWCR. Radio International, a clandestine directed to Iran, was reported to be using 7460 at *0230. A look at their website doesn't mention 7460 at 0230, just the well-established 7490 broadcast. The Baha`i site still lists 7465. My guess is that the report of Radio International here mixed them up with the Baha`i and that the latter is using 7460 instead of listed 7465. Site presumed on tones and the fact that they have been using Moldova (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. IRAQ REPORTEDLY RESUMES BROADCASTS TO MOJAHEDIN-E KHALQ Text of unattributed report entitled: "Mujahidin-e Khalq return to forefront of Iraqi-Iranian discord", published by London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on 19 November Baghdad, Al-Sharq al-Awsat - The Iraqi authorities have resumed Persian radio and television broadcasting dedicated to the Iranian opposition organization, Mojahedin-e Khalq. The Iraqi television - the main channel - dedicates one hour of its morning broadcasting to the Iranian programme, in addition to nightly broadcasting. Monitors have noticed that the return of the organization's activities to the media forefront comes in response to the Iranian support of political Shi'i organizations, which have joined an alliance against the Iraqi government. It is known that the Mojahedin-e Khalq have well-armed military camps in eastern and northeastern Iraq. In the meantime, there are armed Iraqi opposition organizations in Iran. The Iraqi and Iranian sides had earlier agreed to curb opposition activities in both countries against one another. Source: Al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, in Arabic 19 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. This is one of George Bush`s favourite targets to turn into smouldering ruins. The URL http://www.iraqtv.ws/ is a waste of time to visit as nothing is really operational other than the photo gallery of Saddam Hussein (Dr John Barnard, AB, Signals Unlimited, Nov CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. A website broadcasters can go to find out the latest on any war which might develop in Iraq, http://www.iraqjournal.org promises regular updated print, audio and video reports. ``All of the content is available free for use by noncommercial grassroots news organizations.`` Commercial organizations are asked to send an e-mail to request permission. All users are requested to credit ``iraqjournal.org`` in broadcast or print, reports the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Auf 1566 kHz kam R Mesopotamia via Kuwait mit O=3 durch, Nachrichten in arabischer Sprache und ID "I'dahat Wadi Rafidayn". (Stefan Dombrowki, Germany, A-DX Nov 17 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRELAND. MYSTERY OF IRISH RADIO HISTORY - 2ND SHORTWAVE ERA This is now the fifth episode in our search for information on the radio scene in Ireland and this time we take a look at the shortwave scene under the title, ``The Second Shortwave Era``. As mentioned in previous editions of Wavescan, a small 1.5 kW shortwave transmitter was installed with the high powered mediumwave transmitter near Athlone in Ireland This unit began test transmissions in the early part of the year 1939 and it was on the air intermittently until it was closed three years later at the end of the year 1941 due to war time exigencies. Three years later again, this transmitter was re-activated as an interim shortwave service pending the installation and activation of a large 100 kW unit, also co-sited with the other units at the transmitter site near Athlone. Again, this low powered transmitter was on the air somewhat intermittently with a program relay from the mediumwave service, usually a short broadcast consisting of a news bulletin and information about local events. This radio programming from Ireland was heard on occasions in various countries of Europe, in North America, and in the South Pacific. On one occasion a soldier on duty on an island in the western Pacific happened to tune in to this exotic little shortwave station on the other side of the globe. That was in the year 1945. After nine years of on-air service during this second spate of activity, making twelve years altogether, this little transmitter was finally switched off for the last time, some time during the year 1953. The Irish government decided to divert funding originally intended for the shortwave service into other projects within Ireland itself. Now, at the same time as the low power unit was in service on an interim basis, a large 100 kW unit was under installation at the same location. Installation began in 1948 and on air test transmissions were conducted in 1953. At this stage, due to uncertainty regarding the future, the transmitter was simply warmed up weekly, just to keep it serviceable. However, this unit was also switched of for the last time, at the end of the same year, 1953. During both the first era and the second era of the low power unit, QSL letters were issued to listeners in Europe, the United States and the South Pacific. At least one listener claims that he heard the large 100 kW unit and he received a QSL letter in acknowledgment. This historic QSL letter is now lodged in the Hocken Library in Dunedin, New Zealand, as part of the QSL collection of the New Zealand Radio DX League (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 10 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. THE MYSTERY OF IRISH RADIO HISTORY - MODERN ERA As we mentioned in Wavescan last week, the Irish shortwave service was switched off for ever at the end of the year 1953. It had begun as an experimental service using a small 1.5 kW shortwave transmitter located at Athlone in the year 1939 and it was on the air spasmodically for brief news broadcasts over a period of 15 years. Along with the low powered unit, the usage of the high powered 100 kW unit at the same location was also terminated. This transmitter was on the air with no more than a few test transmissions in the early 1950`s. Some eight years later, Ireland was on the air shortwave again for a series of special broadcasts beamed to Irish troops on service in the Congo in Africa. The frequency in use for these broadcasts in 1961 was 17544 kHz. Then 20 years later again, broadcasts from a pirate station, Radio Dublin International appeared on the shortwave dial, in 1980. Initially this was a very low powered unit at just 40 watts, though later the power was increased to 800 watts. Radio Dublin had found a loophole in the law and it was able to continue broadcasting on shortwave for many years. The current era of shortwave broadcasting from Ireland began in the year 1996 when Mid West Radio presented a series of broadcasts to the world in honor of St Patrick`s Day. This event proved so popular that a regular service on shortwave was subsequently introduced using a 100 kW transmitter located at Julich in Germany. The official government radio service, RTE, Radio Television Eire, introduced a similar shortwave service in 1997 with occasional broadcasts followed later with a regular schedule. RTE was on the air at first from a 100 kW unit at WWCR in Nashville USA for coverage of the Americas, Africa and the Pacific, and then later from Merlin BBC facilities. It was also somewhere around the year 1997 that UCB, United Christian Broadcasters, launched their own shortwave service, with a 1 kW transmitter on the air from probably somewhere near the border with Northern Ireland. QSL cards for the UCB broadcasts were issued from their headquarters in the Midlands in England (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 17 via DXLD) ** ITALY. 5020, RAI Rome, November 16th, 1920-1930, English, music, clear ID and closedown at 1930; probably spurious; attention: it's not SIBC!!! SINPO 24322 (Michael Schnitzer, DX Camp Bavaria, 45 km northeast of Nuremberg, Germany, Receiver: NRD-525, hard-core-dx via DXLD) This is the only transmission that fits; there is no English at that hour: 1910-1930 6130 7240 Serbian. Mixing product 1110 kHz apart, i.e., 7240 minus 1110 equals 6130 minus 1110 equals 5020! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. GUAM/JAPAN JSWC 50th anniversary program. Dear Sirs, The special broadcast in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of JPN Short Wave Club (JSWC) will be held as follows: Station: Adventist World R from Agat, Guam Language: Japanese and English Date, time and frequencies: 15 Dec 2002 / 2100 UTC / 11960 11980 16 Dec 2002 / 1300 UTC / 11755 11980 Program host: Masaru Kawagoe Guest: Toshimichi Ohtake (JSWC member). Program contents: Since our club's special broadcasts have already taken place 3 times by the Japanese service of AWR so far, we have received many reception reports for the second broadcast on 19 August from all over the world. So this time, these reports will be introduced during the regular Monday program by Mr. Kawagoe, with a guest Toshimichi Ohtake, a senior member of JSWC. It is a special bi-lingual, an approximately 20-minute-long program just after the opening ID at 2100/1300 UT. A special QSL card from JSWC will be issued for correct reception reports sent to: Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC), 50th Anniversary Committee, P. O. Box 138, Yokohama Port, 231-8691 Japan. Please write your report in English and enclose 1 IRC or U.S. 1 dollar bill. Source of information: Toshimichi Ohtake, a member of JSWC. We hope your continuous support of our club activities in the future. With kind regards, (Nobuya Kato-JPN, A volunteer staff of JSWC 50th anniversary project e-mail: jswc50@p... [truncated] Nov 1, BC-DX via DXLD) ** JORDAN. 11690, Radio Jordan, 1718-1723 17 Nov [Sunday]. Woman announces "If you have tuned in for the first time... this is Radio Jordan. Letters from listeners followed along with reception reports. SINPO 44554. Signal very strong at S+20/9 but the usual QRM RTTY interference a nuisance (Dave Palitsch, Averill Park, NY, Nov 20, NRD535D and 300 ft. longwire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. KFCA-LP, *104.5, Fresno CA, is on the air with Hmong programming. It covers only the south half of town, so arrangements have been made for KSJC *91.5 Fresno to carry the programming at no cost on SCS 92 kHz. People who live in other neighborhoods will have to get the program via SCS (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. FPM Radio 11515 kHz 22 Nov from The Daily Star, Lebanon: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/20_11_02/art28.asp 20 Nov 02: AOUN TO BEGIN RADIO BROADCASTS TO COUNTRY The France-based Rally for Lebanon, part of the Free Patriotic Movement of former Army Commander Michel Aoun, has announced the start of radio broadcasts on Nov. 22. The initial trial broadcast is to begin between 6-7 pm Beirut time on short wavelength 11515. It will include an address by Aoun, in exile in France for the past 11 years. The broadcast will also feature songs, news bulletins and a wide range of political and economic programs. The statement urged listeners to provide feedback about reception in Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole. Rally for Lebanon can be contacted by e-mail at fpmradio@yahoo.com or http://www.radio@tayyar.org (Item ends) (6-7 pm Beirut time = 1600-1700 UT. Nothing listed for 11515 on HFCC and it`s close to the 11510 registered for V of Russia via Armavir 1700-2000 and 11520 registered for TDP via Samara 1600-1800 UT. Is this a TDP relay?? Didn't High Adventure used to use 11515 from Lebanon some years ago??) The home page of the FPM website: http://www.tayyar.org/contenu/PagePrincipale.php and the page below: http://www.tayyar.org/files/revuedepresse/AR/assafir_radio201102.htm both contain Arabic items mentioning the 11515 frequency (but unfortunately I can't translate them.) The only English item on the site I can see about the station asks for name suggestions: The FPM Radio Station on November 22, 2002 - Fellow Lebanese and supporters, The Free Patriotic Movement will be launching its Radio Station on November 22nd. You are kindly asked to send us your suggestions about the best name that fits the station before November 20th on: tayyar_org@hotmail.com (Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham, UK, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. The Sitkunai transmitting centre has been conducting test transmissions on 1557 kHz in cooperation with R Baltic Waves on 14 and 15 Nov at 1900-2000, using a 150 kW transmitter with omnidirectional antenna (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX Nov 16 via DXLD) WTFK in earlier item ** MAURITANIA. Too bad that 24-hour 4845 for Ramadan must clash with the Guatemalan, which is pretty much on top here, in various checks 0000-0200+ Nov 20, but messing it up quite a bit with slight varying het and modulation. Wonder when K`ekchí closes; Petersen had them as late as 0205. Mauritania in the clear at 0630 check; due to its high power and westerly location, this one can hold up quite late past 0800 approaching 0900 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Having finally found out when it is scheduled, I have been trying to reacquaint myself with RMI`s DXperience. Tue Nov 19 at 2330 reception seemed promising, altho it was far from ideal: modulation level on 9705 seemed to improve after Antena Radio Summary finished; 11770 continues to be lowly and more distortedly modulated. The first 17 minutes dealt with a topic that for me, was passé 35 years ago, the SINPO code (pronounced with a long I). Then some reception reporters were to be acknowledged, but I didn`t catch any names. Final subject was something about DRM and the people involved in that. Aside from being a yawner, it was still hard to follow, with the soft-spoken announcer, and increasing QRM on 9705 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, Voice of Mongolia, 1028-1031. At 1028 YL provides the address for reception reports in English. At 1029 program ends but faint music is heard in the background. At 1030 a new program commences at reduced power or change in directionality, or both. SINPO 35443. Strong signal S+20/9, but poor audio quality...garbled sounding (Dave Palitsch, Averill Park, NY, Nov 20, NRD535D and 300 ft. longwire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5985.8, R Myanmar, Yangon, November 16th, 1450-1530, English, report about Buddhist ceremonies and festivals; ID: "This is Myanmar Radio", news in English at 1515; SINPO 33423 (Michael Schnitzer, DX Camp Bavaria, 45 km northeast of Nuremberg, Germany, Receiver: NRD-525, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Greetings to the good folks there at Radio Netherlands! As a long-time and frequent listener, I'm confused by the recent changes to your "Week Ahead" announcement block that follows "Sincerely Yours" on Sundays. I always listen to that to get the details of the next several days' programming, and I appreciate that you air this info. Several times in the past, I had considered writing to ask that you make sure you leave enough time for that feature so that it would contain details on all 5 of the upcoming programs: "Research File", "Euroquest", "Music 52-15", "The Good Life", and especially the Documentary. But I never did because I figured that you tried and sometimes the time just got away from you; the same thing happens to me with time disappearing when I don't expect it to, after all. But in recent weeks, there has been a drastic change in this timeslot, and it is distressing. Instead of the usual "Week Ahead" descriptions on all 5 of those programs, there has been just one or two, and then an explicitly-announced "Music Fill" item. Please stop this and return to the previous "Week Ahead" format. We want the information that conveys, and a couple minutes of music is of no particular value, even if it sounds nice. Thank you for your attention in this matter. I hope this has been just a brief aberration and things return to the way they were. Regards, (William Martin, Saint Louis, Missouri USA, letter to rnw.nl, cc to DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND/PORTUGAL. A bad clash collision on 11675 at 0705-0800 UT, when RDP Lisbon has a 0600-0800 UT service at 310 degrees towards WNAm, Mon-Fri only, and RNZI Rangitaiki appears from 0705 UT co- channel (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Nov 14, BC-DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. FMakings: Selected FCC applications: Tuttle (move from Tishomingo) KTSH 99.7 10500 h,v; 52m (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) So only 10 kW ERP instead of the usual 100; that will diminish QRM to KNID-99.7, as previously feared (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KOKB, 1580 Blackwell, which has been paired with KOKP, 1020 Perry for some time, heard IDing at 2000 UT Nov 19 as ``Double Talk``. Guess that means a right-wing lineup (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KWCO, 1560, Chickasha is silent. Had been classic hits (Nov FMedia! via DXLD) Indeed it is, checked Nov 19. Calls originally stood for Women`s College of Oklahoma, but was commercial (gh, Enid, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. The era of Dr. Gene Scott`s exclusive access to ch 32 in Enid seems over. Sunday night we found an auction back on the channel, and Tuesday Nov 19 at 2030 UT check, a poster mystic-taped to a tan background says ``KXOK -LP Enid / Live From Magoo`s / 120 E. Broadway``. We`d never heard of it but the place asserts to provide News Papers [sic], Magazines, Stationary [sic], Baseball Cards, Coffee, etc.... This is right next to the entrance to the Broadway Tower, 114 E. Broadway, atop which the KXOK transmitter and antenna are found. Music accompanying this fascinating picture is, what else, The Rocket, KUAL-LP 104.7. Oh, oh, at recheck 0145 UT Nov 20, both signals are off, air 32 and cable 18. The website http://www.kxok.tv featuring long outdated August primary elexion survey lasted thru most of DGS` tenure; now that he`s gone, DGS and a link to his own website appears. Oh oh oh, final check at 1850 UT Nov 20 finds DGS is back, at least part of the time; BTW, after a couple of weeks with no legal IDs, KXOK-LP added a permanent ID bug at the lower left when DGS is on (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What do I see when I tune into [cable] channel 18? Stuffed animals looking at me depressed on a table full of junk with signs reading 'Magoo's' with phone numbers and KXOK-LP covering them everywhere. Has that Crater-Face Theologian Dr. Gene Scott been taken off? That was horrible TV but this...this is worse. I don`t know how that is possible but those fine programmers at TV32 really try to top themselves. Listening to the 'Rocket' while looking at this fine array of 'not-quite-junk-auction-stuff' really gives good reason to debate suicide! Talk about nightmare fuel. Enid TV is sooo depressing. TV32 is now the Magoo Channel, 'ALL MAGOO, ALL THE TIME!' Some more programming for the public of Enid I guess? What genius devised this idea? I got sick of seeing that ugly old religious guy all the time, always in the same shot, but now I am starting to long for something that resembles a show. You know, actual moving cameras, not static, music a la soundtrack, actors and personalities, and possibly plots would be nice. Ignore local TV! Boycott it since it fails to uphold community standards. ALL MAGOO, ALL THE TIME! *snicker* *snicker* (Glen the Man [NOT gh], Nov 17, Enid Alternative yahoogroup via DXLD) It went from MTV2 to the Auction to a half-way decent TV station when it wasn't America One (being more than semi-biased, I preferred the local stuff to America One) to the Auction to the Gene Scott Channel and now back to the Auction. I think it will probably remain an Auction channel for awhile. I have heard so many different things about the future of KXOK from various different people that I don't know what is the truth anymore except what I experienced, and what I now see. Only time will tell (- Wappy, ibid.) It is not so much a matter of turning the channel simply because one does not like it, it a matter of local importance that these channels improve for the betterment of all. KXOK has failed to pull through and make itself an actual TV station. Now it is MagooTV...or a cheaper auction than before. It even makes Bid 'N Buy look good! At least they have bid screens and a lot of stuff to sell. The Magoo/Rocket auction does not. It looks to me like a scam, an attempt to fund someone's lifestyle and debts, not a useful and beneficial service for the community. I might be a cynic but I think it is right. You know it`s bad when even the Dr. Gene Scott satellite channel looks more interesting than the table full of junk that passes for items to sell. 18 is an embarrassment to Enid (Glen the Man, Nov 19, ibid.) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. [HCDX] DX-Camp Bavaria, November 2002 Hello to all, once again the DX-Camp Bavaria took place from November 14th to 18th 2002. As usual Beverage antennas were installed into all relevant DX directions up to 300m. I would like to emphasize some highlights: Already the first day of the Camp enabled a special DX experience on 3220 kHz at around 1950 UTC. Radio Morobe, a local station from Papua New Guinea, was audible on the Asia Beverage with sensational signal strength (S=9). On the following days the station was not to be heard any more. Sound file (mp3, 140 KB) available on demand. The enthusiasts of Pacific-DX sometimes can observe strange music pieces like German folksongs etc. played by PNG stations and others of the region. And R New Ireland starts its program on 3905 at 1930 with the melody of a well known German song ("Muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus"). 3220, R. Morobe, Lae, November 14th, 1950-2005,English/Pidgin, pop songs from the BeeGees ("Words"), national anthem, ID: "Morobe calling, Radio Morobe..."; news in E at 2000, fantastic signal partly with S=9, SINPO 44434 3905, R. New Ireland, Kavieng, November 14th, 1935-1950, English, south sea music presented by YL, ID, SINPO 34423 (Michael Schnitzer, DX Camp Bavaria, 45 km northeast of Nuremberg, Germany, Receiver: NRD-525, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. All HF broadcasts are in Portuguese; one RDPI broadcast is locally relayed in Tetum for Timor, called "Timor Loro Sae", and it's currently the sole foreign language broadcast aired by R. Portugal (Carlos de Assunção Gonçalves, Portugal, Nov 10, BC-DX via DXLD) See also NEW ZEALAND ** RHODES. GREECE [Rhodes] USCGC Courier, which for many years served as a floating radio station for the VOA. There is interesting material about the Courier on the Internet. Have a look at Fred's Place http://www.fredsplace.org/reunion/cutter/0820.shtml and Jack's Joint http://www.jacksjoint.com/greece.htm for information about Courier crew members. And http://www.geocities.com/grampanewell/ for some nice pictures of the Courier and environs (pages 1-3). Kim Elliott conducted an interesting "Communications World" program about VOA history on February 23, 2002 which can be found at http://www.trsc.com/cw/cw_20020223.html The RealAudio version contains (at 8:55) a brief early audio report about the Courier. There is also a nice picture of a Courier patch at this URL (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer Nov 17 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. The programmes for the Circassian minority in the Near East, produced by the regional state bc companies GTRK "Adygeya" in Maykop (Adygeya) and GTRK "Kabbalkteradio" in Nalchik (Kabardino- Balkariya) seem to be broadcast now on 6005 kHz (Tbilisskoye 100 kW, 190 ) from 1800-1900, after the end of the Voice of Russia broadcasts to that region. The languages used seem to be Adygei, Kabarda (both are belong to the Circassian language group), Arabic and Turkish. However, the exact schedule and language usage is rather unclear. Has anybody monitored these broadcasts? A good website about the background of the Circassians in the Near East can be found at: http://hobobob%d0%b8%d0%bb%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%b0%d0%bc%d0%b6%d0%b5.chat.ru/~abazapress/cbacken.htm 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very interesting, but it doesn`t make clear why there is such opposition to repatriation. And can anyone explain why some URLs get converted to a whole bunch of percentage signs? (gh, DXLD) {Later: Cyrillic hex conversion --Bernd} ** RUSSIA. Radio Samorodinka 3921 kHz v. V/s: Leo S. Shishkin Director. He speaks FLUENTLY English. QTH: Samorodinka, P.O.BOX 898, Moscow. Don't write Radio on the letter or he will be deported in SIBERIA !!!!!! (Dxer Anker Petersen, Danish Short Wave Club International, Dx-Window n 185) via Play DX 1164 - August 26, 2002. Nobody is being deported to Siberia nowadays, but if any proof is still needed that this is a pirate station - the reaction of Mr. Sishkin [sic] shows most clearly that his broadcasting activities are illegal (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS [and non]. Important information for all Pacific- enthusiasts: all DXers who hear something on 5020 at around 1915 UT should strictly avoid to send a reception report to Honiara. SIBC is not active on shortwave at present. What we heard here was the less exotic RAI from Rome, obviously a mixing product(spurious). (Michael Schnitzer, DX Camp Bavaria, 45 km northeast of Nuremberg, Germany, Receiver: NRD-525, hard-core-dx via DXLD) For explanation see ITALY Bisher nur Traeger-DX moeglich auf 5020 gegen 1900 UT. Fraglich ist, ob die Station ueberhaupt QRV ist. Wer haeufiger die "Pacific News" von RNZI (abends auf 15265) hoert, erfaehrt einiges ueber erhebliche Unruhen in diesem Staat. [und die schlechten wirtschaftlichen Verhaeltnisse ... wb] (Michael Schnitzer-D, A-DX Nov 12 I noticed last night (14 Nov) that SIBC Honiara was missing again from 5020 kHz. It is 1000 UT on Saturday 16 Nov and they are still absent. 5020 Solomon Isls. Sunday Nov 17, 0905 UT, they still ain't there! Today (18 Nov) they are back, their usual strong signal around 0900 UT (NWDXC via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from UK to SUDAN: 21550, Sowt Al Qarn. Clear again for the last half of its 1330-1430 broadcast; Voz Cristiana is now signing off at 1400. Same woman in Arabic with Ramadan greetings and comment on Sudan. English IDs as broadcasting to Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda. Signed off at 1430 but once again, no contact details at sign off. This one is just Mondays and Fridays at this time (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: In "HeartBeat" we meet the "Brain Lady", men and women DO think differently, and children need dangerous playgrounds Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Studio 49" Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic" young choreographers are not afraid to let go of what's cool and new, join two Swedish bands on tour, and take we a trip down memory lane with our surprise guest (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Nov 20 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Kinnekulle, Götene, a Swedish community (närradio) station on FM, located south of Lake Vänern, will be on the air on medium wave during the first week in December, starting December 1st, celebrating the station's 20th anniversary. Frequency: 1584 kHz, schedule: 0800-2000 UT, power: 200 W. A special medium wave program will be aired every day at 1600-1700 UT (Tore Larsson, ARC, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Earlier, frequency was uncertain ** TIBET. Lhasa noted at 2315 UT [Nov 18] in Tibetan, fair signal with heavy flutter on 7385 kHz, fading after 2340, \\ 5240 & 4905 weak. Also all three frequencies about equal and weak at 1115 with "Holy Tibet" program in English. Barely heard on 9490, which may be too high for the propagation path now (Icom R75, 80 foot Windom w/tuner.) 73, (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9490, "Holy Tibet" (English program), China Tibet PBC: "Me too." B&W Xerox copy of the George Maroti ppc with full-data (except power) penned in, station stamp applied; also sent form letter, sked, postcard view of Lhasa with handwritten greeting on back. Photocopied V/S's are Tsering Deky (ltr), hostess of the prgm, and Tse Ring Yuzen (ppc), their "president." Nice stamps on envelope. In 5 weeks for CD recording. Previously verified via Beijing only, so am pleased to get this direct reply. I had a direct reply from an English speaker at the station in 1992, but, despite multiple reports, nothing that could be called a QSL (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer Nov 17 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** TOGO. Is anyone still hearing Lomé reactivated on 5047, which made such an impact last week? Whenever I check, WWRB-5050 is in the way, and can`t find a carrier on 5047 (Glenn Hauser, OK, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TOGO reactivated its transmitter on 5047 kHz. Heard 19 Nov at 2230 UT in French (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia) AOR AR-7030 30 m Long Wire, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** TUNISIA. R. Tunis continues to emit a strong spur on 7190, 35 kHz down from the nominal carrier of 7225, noted Nov-18 1915, Arabic. Parallel with 12005. Unfortunately, PWBR 2003 shows 7190 as a real outlet! Regards (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, Nov 19, EDXP E-Net via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Re 6900, Meteorology: I have only noted activity on this frequency during Ramadan. As I indicated, this is only a presumed reception, due to my inability to understand the language. Perhaps special Ramadan programming is aired on this transmitter at a time much earlier in the day then the normal operating hours of the weather service. I wouldn't know because the long distance skip is terminated by D layer absorption by around 0630-0700. Perhaps one of your readers could clear this up for us. 73, (David Hodgson, TN, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. PICTURES ON THE WIRELESS From http://www.thetimes.co.uk November 19, 2002 By Margaret Reynolds (I am going to an evening with Libby on Friday night in New Milton and will get my copy of her book about radio autographed; it`s highly recommended - Mike Terry) Speech radio has been a long affair for Libby Purves, one of its best- known presenters. Our correspondent savours her memories IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to shut your ears. Sound penetrates the body and enters in to make you see, taste, smell, feel. Human speech, above all, has this power. Apart from our mother's heartbeat and the pulse of her blood, her voice must be the first thing that we hear. Growing up, we soon become attuned to the hard tone that comes with self- defence, the too-loudness that goes with uncertainty, the wistful fading of regret, the catch in the voice that tells of tears held back, the husky swallow of desire. Desire, pain, loss, terror, delight, justification: these are the subjects of the best speech radio. Or if not the subjects, the tools and the substance, toned by the magic of immediacy, the simplicity of one person with a microphone, and the judgment of editing, into an aural feast - or cocktail, lesson, titillation, joke, tease, debate, quarrel, hymn. It depends on what you are listening to. The best pictures are on radio, but so is ingratiating sense, lingering scent, pungent taste. It may be that Radio 4 is the closest most of us will ever come to a synaesethetic experience. Even a quick glance at a Sunday schedule finds that it offers worship, farming, reminiscence and revelation (Desert Island Discs), jokes and games, food, the shipping forecast, gardening, history (This Sceptr'd Isle) and financial advice (Money Box). BBC speech radio is like nothing else in the world, though it is admired and imitated in many countries. A combination of an intellectual tradition, a public service remit and the freedom to experiment handed down from the early days in the 1920s and 1930s meant that it has developed a format and style that would be impossible in these days of commercial constraint and market-led programming. Radio is cheap to make, accessible and free to the consumer. You can do something else while you listen, even while it takes you to strange places and into close contact with strangers. Or else it takes you to friends, as the newsreaders, the presenters and announcers come into your home and into your life. Libby Purves is one of those Radio 4 voices. She has now published her memoirs of life on the air, Radio: a True Love Story. For nearly 20 years she has presented Midweek on Wednesday morning, as well as numerous documentaries. Before that, for three and a half memorable years from the age of 28, she was a presenter on the flagship news programme Today. When she resigned, a disgruntled listener wrote: "How could you walk out on us with Christmas barely a month away?" He was probably the same man who wrote to complained about "that vicious chit" when she was appointed. His conversion isn't surprising. Purves was made for radio, as radio was made for her. She knows how to tell a good story. Like the one about her Radio Oxford days when the cleaner had to fit the hoovering in around the Home Choice selections - "a Schumann lied - two minutes, 25 seconds - dusting only, Brenda". Or there's the late night occasion at the World Service when admiration for a beautiful studio manager, working at her patchwork in quiet intervals, prompted a Latin American broadcaster to make a contribution to her quilt. He tiptoed up to the speakers during a live broadcast and cut off each of their ties just below the knot. But, delightful though they are, these behind-the-microphone stories aren't the best part of Purves's work. She knows how to explain what happens with the magic of radio. In this book you will be treated to a succession of those radio moments when you find yourself shouting back, or singing along, or bursting into tears, or still sitting in the car, unable to go to your appointment, because you have to hear the end of the programme. Purves and radio went through a rough patch in the 1990s. Now she is more hopeful. Audience figures are better than they are for television. There is a less dictatorial management tone; programme- makers are being encouraged to be creative again. Like the "true love story" of the subtitle, Purves's affair with radio is funny, tender, sad, disturbing, voyeuristic. She may be furious with the betrayal of her young passion, but she wants this relationship to continue. Hers is a peculiarly intimate partnership, but speech radio has any number of lovers. In her early days, doing sound effects for drama, she was congratulated on her "good bedsprings". "I sometimes think the secret of happiness is not having much ambition," she concludes. At the end she decides that the best programme-makers are those who are willing to be "joyfully obsessed" with their subject, whether it be urine, stethoscopes, Palestine, poems, truffles, stair rods or Bertrand Russell. Well that's what dedicated radio listeners are: obsessed and joyful, ready to let radio make us see, taste, smell... (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. RADIO INDUSTRY LIES IN WAIT FOR PIRATES From The Guardian, Julia Day, Tuesday November 19, 2002 The country's commercial radio companies are preparing to pounce on two pirate radio broadcasters as part of a crackdown on illegal broadcasting. The Commercial Radio Companies Association has instructed lawyers to swing in to action if the pair, who have been running an illegal station in the Black Country town of Dudley, are found guilty of illegal broadcasting in a forthcoming court case. London law firm Eversheds is waiting for the result of a magistrates hearing involving the two, who cannot be named at this stage for legal reasons. The pair have already been convicted once of illegal broadcasting, and if convicted a second time, CRCA intends to start legal proceedings against them that could result in an injunction against them making any future illegal broadcasts. The move comes after CRCA won a landmark case last year against Paul Hutchings, the owner of Walsall-based Magic FM. The case set a precedent by winning an injunction against Hutchings based on causing public nuisance. If the injunction is breached, the offender will immediately be in contempt of court and could be sent straight to prison. The measure is much more severe than the seizing of equipment and small fines - of around £200 - handed out by magistrates courts to pirates which mean they are usually back in business soon after. "Pirate broadcasting still has an air of glamour about it, but the reality is quite different," said Phil Sherrell of Eversheds, who led the case against Mr Hutchings and is working on the new case. "These people deliberately flout the law, moving locations regularly to avoid detection and endangering people's lives. "We are delighted to work with the CRCA in taking action where the criminal system has failed," Mr Sherrell added. Pirate radio was glamourised by the success of the now legendary Radio Caroline in the 60s - which started DJs including John Peel and Tony Blackburn on their path to fame - and modern, now legal, stations such as Kiss and Sunrise Radio. But the pirates pose a serious threat to emergency services, aircraft and legal stations, according to CRCA. Just last month a jet coming in to land at Heathrow had instructions from ground control drowned out by a garage music pirate station. Paul Brown, the chairman and chief executive of CRCA, said the organisation was happy to reinforce the work of the Radiocommunications Agency, whose job it is to find and fine pirates. "There is a limit to what the government and the Radiocommunications Agency can do, and we are happy to reinforce their work," he said. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) If the pirates had any sense, they would make damn sure their frequency choices could not possibly be accused of endangering human life (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I understand WIBW will go full time Dec. 2. So can you confirm that your final broadcast will be until 5:30 pm Friday Nov. 29????? I am disappointed not to find a word about this on your website. (If there is something, please give me the exact URL.) And not to have had a reply to my previous inquiry about plans for some audio/FM? service to replace KKSU. Regards, (Glenn Hauser, Enid, to KKSU, via DXLD) Thank you for your message, Glenn. Yes, KKSU will leave the ether at 5:29:30p [2329:30 UT] on November 27th --- that was confirmed by the FCC only last week, so the web-site has not yet been updated to reflect it. We have spend the last several weeks visiting with stations to have our materials aired on them --- our first contacts have been ag- oriented, but we are now visiting with other stations about other subject-area programs. We had hoped to announce some agreements by now, but it may be the first of the year before we have such partnerships established and have stations' permission to promote the developments. We are also exploring broadcast possibilities --- frankly, our mission is statewide, and standard FM stations would provide us only a local presence and have narrow (and expired) application windows. But we are exploring options, most of which we know will be long-term in nature. Thanks for the inquiry. KKSU will leave the air in 10 days, but we will be working more closely than ever before with other broadcast partners in the state --- and who knows but what we'll be back on the air sometime in the future with expanded services. Thanks again. Larry * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Larry Jackson * * Station Manager * * KKSU-AM 580 voice (785) 532-5851 * * McCain Auditorium Room #20 fax (785) 532-5709 * * Kansas State University ljackson@oznet.ksu.edu * * Manhattan, KS 66506-4701 * * * * http://www.kksu.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Larry, Glad to hear you have been working on alternatives. Just to be absolutely sure, you did mean Wednesday Nov 27, and not Friday Nov 29? I suppose you would be taking Thanksgiving off anyway? Cap Journal story said WIBW would go fulltime as of Monday Dec. 2, but looks like it will really be Thursday Nov 28. Correct? I hope you will be doing something special on your final day, like a history of KSAC/KKSU/and whatever the other call was. And that you have some archive audio. Hopefully beyond what your webpage says. If so, please let me know in advance with exact time. Best wishes, (Glenn Hauser, Enid, to Larry Jackson, via DXLD) Exactly. They get the 28th from the share-time agreement, and we traditionally have given WIBW the following Friday since KKSU employees are state employees and WIBW has access to Big 12 football coverage for that day. We'd agreed to let them have the 29th several months ago, so we honored that, meaning that because of the rest of the month falls on a weekend, our last day on-air is the 27th. Former KKSUer Ralph Titus is working on a 2-hour-plus retrospective based on the one he did for us for our 75th anniversary in 1999. It will likely air at 2p or 2:30p [2000 or 2030 UT] on that Wednesday (the 27th) (Larry Jackson, KKSU, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And by Nov 20, this is on the homepage of http://www.kksu.com : KKSU-AM will permanently leave the air at 5:29:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 27th, 2002. Thank you for supporting KKSU during its nearly 78 years of broadcasting from Kansas State University. News regarding radio services from K-State Research and Extension will appear on this site in the near future (via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. CHARLES JACO FIRED FROM KMOX --- BY DIANE TOROIAN Charles Jaco, veteran personality at radio news-talk powerhouse KMOX, was fired Monday. KMOX general manager Karen Carroll sent a memo to the staff Monday saying Jaco had been dismissed for "gross misconduct." The memo did not elaborate. Station officials did not return calls, and Jaco declined to comment. Wade Baughman, staff counsel for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Jaco's representative in contract negotiations, also did not speak about the circumstances surrounding Jaco's dismissal. Jaco's contract with KMOX expires in September, but it is unclear whether he will be paid through then. An act of "gross misconduct," a standard term in media contracts, allows broadcasters to terminate contracts. Jaco learned he had been fired on his first day back from a two-week vacation. During his seven years at KMOX, Jaco established himself as a sharp reporter and tough interviewer. He also gained a reputation for his acerbic exchanges with listeners he considered foolish - a trait one insider suggested may have contributed to Jaco's dismissal. Ratings would not appear to be a factor. Jaco started an evening current events show in February, but because Cardinals baseball pre- empted his show on many nights, it is difficult to ascertain the show's true performance. He also has spent much of the past year filing in-depth reports for the station. Ratings for Jaco's previous afternoon show had waned, although he still outperformed competing programs. Jaco covered the Persian Gulf War for CNN, has written three books and has won more than three dozen journalism awards, including the Peabody Award. He is pursuing a doctorate in international politics and relations and is writing a book about the oil industry. Radio personality J.C. Corcoran commented: "What message is the supposed news-talk leader sending when, on the brink of war, they take out the one person who can speak from experience, the one person who has been there and knows the Middle East like the back of his hand." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. WNVR-1030 Vernon Hill, IL is running day power with Ethnic programming (Polish?). Gave EE ID at TOH for // WRKL and WLIM, along with WNVR. Doing good against nulled WBZ (Perry Crabill, W3HQX Winchester, VA, ``11:04 PM`` Nov 18, NRC-AM via DXLD) Get this while you can. They are basically a super local to me and have been very abusive lately. I have a day off tomorrow and a threatening email or two is going out. i.e., threatening to tell the FCC and reminding them that they've been fined before. 73 (Neil Kazaross, KAZ, Nov 19, NRC-AM via DXLD) This station used to be on overnight apparently in violation FCC rules about a year ago. Few months back they stopped their overnight operations. At the same time I also noticed that couple months ago they dismantled their antenna tower next to the Arrowhead Pet Cemetery in Vernon Hills, Illinois, so they now must be operating exclusively from their 4 tower site in Crystal Lake, Illinois (Christos Rigas, Wood Dale, Illinois, ibid.) Am I to understand you heard WNVR in VA? (Mark Manuelian, Engineering Manager, WBZ Radio MManuelian@cbs.com (via Bruce Conti, ibid.) ** U S A. FCC PROPOSES FIRST-EVER FINE FOR RF RADIATION EXPOSURE The total fine against A-O Broadcasting's KTMN/Cloudcroft, NM is $28,000, but a good chunk of that --- $10,000 --- is for radio frequency radiation violations. The commission says KTMN's transmitter, which is mounted on an observation tower that's also used by the U.S. Forest Service to monitor wildfires, was installed lower on the tower than authorized by the station's license. At that location, FCC measurements show, operation of the transmitter at only 40% of its authorized power exceeds the FCC's RFR exposure limits by more than 300% on the observation tower and in surrounding areas accessible to the public. FCC agents also found A-O had not complied with special RFR operating conditions set forth in its license. If that wasn't enough, the FCC is also fining the station $8,000 for failure to install EAS equipment, $7,000 for not maintaining a main studio, and another $3,000 for failing to have an adequate transmission system control in place. A-O has 30 days to pay or appeal (radioandrecords.com Nov 19 via Brock Whaley, DXLD) This is at a very high elevation already; I suppose they figured they didn`t need to put it at the very top of the tower (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. KQWB, 1660, West Fargo ND is cited as an AM expanded band success story. It moved from the more crowded 1550 kHz frequency. Its transmitter is actually on the MN side of the border, near Moorhead. Because of a complex five-tower array, it was decided to turn off the 1550 channel and build just one tower for the 10 kW day and 1 kW night operation on 1660. With a new stereo transmitter, the sound is great, and it now runs local sports for cities that were in the nighttime nulls on the old frequency. The format is nostalgia, with its ratings said to be about the same as when it was on 1550. With more reliable equipment in use, ``the sailing appears to be clear for a station that had been facing financial disaster from engineering expenses,`` writes consulting engineer Mark Persons in Radio World (Nov FMedia! [sic] via DXLD) ** U S A. THINK TANK REPORT SAYS DEREGULATION HURTS RADIO By CRAIG HAVIGHURST, Staff Writer http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/02/11/25442764.shtml?Element_ID=25442764 The 1996 Telecommunication Act has failed to achieve any of its goals of enhancing competition, diversity and localism on radio, according to a new national study by an artist- and consumer-oriented think tank. The report was immediately challenged by the radio industry, which said parts of it were biased. According to the Washington-based Future of Music Coalition, ''deregulation has damaged radio as a public resource.'' The group says radio profitability has been studied extensively since 1996 but that the Federal Communications Commission's mandate to regulate radio in the ''public interest'' has not been carefully investigated. Consolidation of the radio industry is a widely recognized result of deregulation, but the coalition study clarifies how far it has gone. Two companies, Clear Channel Communications and Viacom, control 42% of listeners and 45% of industry revenue, they say. While 4,000 small companies account for one-third of radio revenue, 10 companies account for the rest. ''Oligopolies,'' defined as four companies serving over 50% of the audience, control most radio markets and 28 of 30 music formats, said study author Peter DiCola. ''We have less competition than before deregulation, not more,'' he said yesterday in a telephone press conference. The study also attempts to repudiate broadcasters' assertion that the Telecom Act led to greater diversity of programming. Radio ''formats'' did proliferate in recent years, but the study found extensive overlap of specific songs across formats. ''Formats with different names have similar playlists,'' the study says. Country was one of three formats (besides smooth jazz and contemporary Christian) to have no overlap with other formats in the sample week from August 2001 investigated by the coalition. The study sparked a quick and fierce reaction from the National Association of Broadcasters. Radio, it said in a statement, is far less consolidated than other entertainment media, from record and movie companies to cable providers. The broadcasters group also called a survey of 500 individuals on the state of radio biased. That survey, a core part of the study, produced ambiguous results. The music coalition's legislative director, Michael Bracy, said yesterday that radio programming marginalized older demographics. But the survey found that people under 30 are least likely to hear the music they most enjoy on the radio. Seventy percent of respondents said they listen to FM commercial radio more or the same as they did five years ago. The survey asked if respondents favored policies to stem consolidation, ban radio promotion that let record labels financially influence programming or encourage local music on the air and found considerable support for each. ''When given the opportunity to think outside the limitations of commercial radio now, they can imagine something better,'' said study author Kristin Thomson. Local music professionals had not had time yesterday to fully assess the 145-page study, but Belmont University assistant music business professor James Elliott said the recent sale of Nashville's The Phoenix, a locally focused and eclectic station, was evidence of the dominant trends in radio today. ''This study should get some attention. It's well-documented,'' he said (Nashville Tennessean Nov 19 via Charles Gossett Jr., DXLD) ** U S A. FMC ISSUES DAMNING REPORT ON RADIO-BIZ CONSOLIDATION From http://www.billboard.com A new report from the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) concludes that consolidation of the U.S. radio industry in the last decade has led to decreased competition, less diversity of programming, and unsatisfied listeners. The report -- which the FMC filed yesterday (Nov. 18) with the Federal Communications Commission for possible inclusion in its ongoing review of station ownership rules -- has riled the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which claims that the study's methodology is flawed and its assertions are "myths." The report analyzed current industry data compiled from Billboard sister magazine Airplay Monitor and other trade publications. It concludes that the U.S. radio industry is an "oligarchy," with every territory dominated by four companies with market share of 70% or more. It found that 10 companies control two-thirds of both listeners and revenues nationwide; of those, Clear Channel Communications and Viacom control 42% of listeners and 45% of revenues. It also finds that in 28 of the 30 major markets, four companies or less control more than 50% of listeners. Meanwhile, the report found "considerable format homogeneity," with "playlist overlap between supposedly distinct formats" of as much as 76%. As a result of shrinking playlists, it says, the five major record companies have limited their promotion efforts, creating "a double bottleneck" for artists that makes it more difficult for them to secure airplay. The FMC also conducted a survey of 500 radio listeners. It found that 80% support action to prevent further consolidation and want less repetition of songs and playlists with more variety. About 68% of respondents say they support Congressional involvement to curb the use of indie promoters who pay fees to have product they represent considered for airplay. A NAB statement says the survey results contradict the positive responses of 3,000 listeners in a recent poll conducted by Arbitron/Edison Research Service. As previously reported, the FMC's third annual policy summit will be held Jan. 5-7, 2003, on the campus of Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown University. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D- Calif.) will give keynote speeches during the event, which will also feature as panelists Fugazi principal/Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye, musician Patti Smith, and California State Senator Kevin Murray. -- Bill Holland, Washington, D.C. (via Mike Terry, UK, DXLD) I always like an intellectual challenge. Take the imaginary town of Podunk, Oklahoma. It had five radio stations all broadcasting some form of country music. Now don't laugh. Unless you have driven cross country and tried to find something other than country music on the car radio, you don't know how many towns there were with that situation. Along comes Clear Channel Communications. They buy up three of the five stations. Clear Channel knows it is counterproductive to compete with yourself. So they change the format of two of the three stations they now own -- presto, instant diversification. Now the article goes on to argue that because the formats are too finely tuned to really be considered diversification, the example above is irrelevant. Returning to my hypothetical example, lets say that Clear Channel decided to make one station classic country and another alternative acoustic music. To some ears looking to hear Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms that would not be diversification. To ears raised on Hank Williams Senior, Tammy Whinette, or Gordon Lightfoot it would be diversification. The answer is in the ear of the beholder. There is a real life example in Nashville, TN. Gaylord Communications decided to make WSM-AM a classic country format so it would not compete with the FM outlet that plays the country equivalent of top 40 pop. It is hard to argue that the present situation is not more diverse than it was before the switch. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms Nov 20 via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ I applaud the FMC for its efforts, but it is up against the most powerful interest group in America --- the NAB. The amount of legalized corruption dispensed by this den of thieves (perhaps a bit strong, but it gets the point across) ensures that it has both Congress and the FCC in its hip pocket. When's the last time, either of these guardians of public telecommunications voted against the NAB? Only in what is now our truly Orwellian world, can anyone hope to argue with a straight face that greater concentration of control in broadcasting leads to greater diversity in ideas and programming. Yet, that's exactly what the NAB, Congress and the FCC say every time they approve another merger or eliminate another regulation designed to prevent them. And the game is not just limited to the NAB --- the NCTA is in on it too. It just happened again this week with Comcast and AT&T. The loser is the ordinary citizen and small businessperson in telecom. And, by the way, it's the NAB that truly has the credibility of Miss Cleo (John Figliozzi, NY, Nov 19, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. CBS to drop news on O&O channel 62 Detroit and co-owned UPN affiliate on channel 50. All news staff blown out. This......is C.B.S. (Brock Whaley, GA, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) more in next issue ** U S A. CABLE --- Cable operator Comcast Corp. on November 13 won approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to buy rival AT&T Broadband for $30.5 billion, creating a pay television giant with about 27 million subscribers. The agency voted 3 to 1 to let Comcast, the No. 3 U.S. cable company, acquire AT&T Broadband, the nation's No. 1 cable TV operator, saying the deal would not pose harm to consumers in any market and would promote the rollout of high-speed Internet service. The new entity will be called AT&T Comcast. The companies have argued the deal's economies of scale will allow them to upgrade their systems faster as well as speed the rollout of digital television signals, high-speed Internet access and competing telephone service. The approval came despite the vociferous opposition of consumer groups, who argued the combined company would lead to higher prices and dominate the market, taking 40 percent of the cable market and 30 percent of the pay television market. Kenneth Ferree, chief of the FCC's media bureau, which led the review of the deal, said the FCC "found nothing in the record to suggest that this proposed combination would likely result in higher rates." The lone Democrat on the panel, Commissioner Michael Copps, voted against the deal, arguing it, among other things, would create opportunities for the newly created company to abuse market power over programming (Reuters via SCDX/MediaScan Nov 20 via DXLD) ** U S A. I thought there was something strange when I heard a WINB ID at 0330 a few nights ago on 9320. That usage is missing from the FCC schedule in DXLD 2-180, the only entry being: 9320 1600 0100 WGTG 50 90 [sic] WINB is supposed to be on 12160 at 2300-0600, and 13570 at 1000-2300, per FCC. However, from http://www.winb.com – Basic Frequency Schedule (EST) Sign on 9320 kHz at 6:00 AM [1100 UT] Change to 13570 kHz at 8:00 AM [1300 UT] Change to 12160 kHz at 7:00 PM [0000 UT] While there I scanned thru the program schedule, and again could not find anything recognizably secular; it`s dated October 20, and here we are 3.5 weeks post-DST, but UT/ET time conversions are still displayed 4 hours apart. Compensating for this, it appears WINB is actually off the air from 0430 to 1100 weekdays (depending on the unspecified length of the 0400 program), off 0430?-1130 UT Sat, off 0600?-1200 UT Sun (Glenn Hauser, OK, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRMI, 15725, noted with nice unannounced classical flute music at 1415 Nov 20. After 1500, some strange piano piece with narration by a woman. Rechecking the program schedule on http://wrmi.net dated October 29, I see that `MUSIC` is now shown during long hours on this frequency: M-F 1400-1600 [but we have also heard Prague bonus relays at times], Sat 1300-2300, Sun 1500-2100. Even tho it`s no doubt fill to protect the frequency, and the time would be sold if it could be, WRMI is providing a fine public service by doing this, as long as it stays classical (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In a Christian Science Monitor "live event," this Q to an A from CSM's Africa correspondent: "Helmut/Germany: Would it be of help to deliver shortwave radios to Africa and support more shortwave radio programs? Danna Harman: Yes. I think short wave radios are a very good idea. Don't forget batteries :)" http://www.csmonitor.com/monitortalk/events/transcripts/111402chat_har man.html Interesting, given that the Christian Science church is selling off its shortwave assets (Kim Elliott, DC, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. All Gospel for Asia transmissions via DTK T-systems Wertachtal, reduced power of 250 kW. kHz UTC zones degr antenna 15680 1430-1530 41,43,49 75 217 15425 1530-1630 40,41 90 217 11680 2330-0030 41,43,49 75 217 11680 0030-0130 40,41 90 217 9490 0030-0130 40,41 90 217 9765 2300-0030 41,43,49 75 217 (BC-DX Nov 19 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. Always of interest for European DXers is Radio Vanuatu, which can be heard at present under good conditions in the morning from 0600 to approximately 0710 UT on 7260. This station ran best on the 220 -Beverage, i.e. reception via long path. 7260.1, R Vanuatu, Malapoa, November 16th, 0605-0705, English/Bislama, religious program in English until 0625 followed by Bislama program, ID: "Radio Vanuatu, Malapoa", instead of the well known yellow bird one could hear drums only as interval signal, soft pop music and a Christmas song in November ("Silent Night, Holy Night"), fade out at around 0705; SINPO 23322 (Michael Schnitzer, DX Camp Bavaria, 45 km northeast of Nuremberg, Germany, Receiver: NRD-525, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Es afirmativa, en estos momentos tengo sintonizada a Radio Táchira en los 4830 kHz con un programa de música venezolana y en cuanto a Ecos del Torbes, acabo de llamar para la emisora. Hablé con el operador de audio Daniel Vásquez y me informó que sí, que actualmente a las 1200 UT estaban trabajando con la frecuencia 9760 kHz [sic; quiere decir 9640 como abajo???] hasta las 1300 y que desde las 1300 conectaban con los 4980 y apagaban 9640. Espero que esta información sea de su agrado. Lo que le informo de Ecos del Torbes, como le dije anteriormente, me lo dijo el señor Daniel Vásquez, Operador de studios a esta hora de la mañana. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, Nov 17, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. La siguiente información me acaba de llegar desde Caracas, via Jairo Martinez. y la paso a todos ustedes. Haré todo lo posible por conseguir estos sonidos y ponerlos a la orden de todos. Quiero recordarles que la otra emisora lleva por nombre Radio Libertad. Radio Dignidad transmite 24 horas desde la Plaza Altamira. Frecuencia 90.7 FM - Tiene mas potencia que la anterior pero aun es debil. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Nov 15, Noticias DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Some help needed with identifying two tropical band stations, both audible between 2300 and 0010 UT on 3345 kHz. I listened to them in the USB mode. One of them (stronger) was continuously playing Pacific-style music - I presume this was a regional service of RRI Indonesia (Ternate). The weaker station (at times getting stronger) was presumably relaying "USA Radio Network". I heard a reference to "Radio New Zealand" and "Australian media" at 2325, then "you are listening to USA Radio Sports". Some US advertisements at 2340 with the mention of Las Vegas. At 0010 - Ron Froster's(?) program "More Good Time Rock'n'Roll". Please note that I listened to it in USB (sounded much better than in normal AM). What station was this? Many thanks for any help (Robertas Pogorelis, (currently in Kaunas, Lithuania), Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? Suspect a mixing product, but of what? No US stations known to use 3345; may be a bit late for Ternate, too. Nearby Belarus` has USB transmitters like that (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. FW: Topband: Signal on 1907.2 For the past several days I have been hearing a moderately strong hum-modulated carrier on 1907.2 kHz. It is inaudible during the day and there is fading on the signal, so it is apparently not spurious radiation from some local consumer electronic junk. Early this evening, I thought I could hear faint broadcast audio beneath the hum, so it could be a spur from a BC station. Has anyone else heard this signal? (source lost in forwarding, via Chuck Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) It is definitely a BC station parasitic, and it is strong but appears to be at least a few hundred miles from me because directivity is very good on both verticals and beverages. As near as I can tell it is between 330 and 345 degrees true from my location. I'm about 30 miles north of Macon just west of I-75. From my place that would inside a line running approximately NNW east of Nashville and Minneapolis and west of Chicago. If anyone else can give a direction, e-mail me and maybe we can find them. I have always been able to get an audio match between the spurious and a BC station in the BC band, but that can several take hours without eliminating possible choices. 73, (Tom W8JI W8JI@contesting.com Topband mailing list http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband via Chuck Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) The 1907.2 fades in and out of the noise here in Austin. It appears to be in the direction of Chicago. On the peaks some weak audio can be detected, but not enough for any clues (Alan WA5DJU Schreier, Austin TX, Nov. 17, ibid.) I doubt my DX-398 would be a great help here. However if you read this carefully, this is greatly interesting. W8JI is seeming to say that, no matter what station is causing the spur, he can find the matching original signal somewhere in the Am band. By extension this seems to say that he can hear _any_ station - within the same skip range as the spur is - when desired. ("...have always been able to get an audio match"... ) Now I concede that, if he has a large network of beverages in all directions in a sort of hub-and-spoke arrangement, and can choose one at will, this may well be possible. If so this would make a great inspirational article for DX news at the least. Who says hams alone can have all the fun, hi. I have an old verie letter from, if I recall right, Fredericksburg VA on 1230 who said that RCA in Rocky Point NY could frequency-check them "any time after dark". Maybe that's what they did. When I was at ITT WorldCom in the 80's they still did f/c (using a Rohde and Schwartz synthesizer to zero beat the signal) but only on some daytime local signals that had no phase shift from fading. The old RCA RP site had many rhombics, but I don't think they had much in LF-MF antennas. Whatever MF they did, come to think, would have been at the Riverhead site which was still referred to generally as Rocky Point, some 30 miles west. I think Riverhead closed some time earlier than RP? (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) Tom Rauch (W8JI) indeed has an array of Beverages that would make any of us drool. They've made him one of the most successful 160 meter operators. I don't recall exactly what his setup is, but he does have a web page with some interesting writeups on Beverages that might give more info. As for Riverhead, it closed in 1978. I don't know how active it was in the years and decades before its closure. Rocky Point was essentially unused by the end of the 40's, and towers were slowly removed until the last tower was taken down in 1977. As best I know, there were only rhombics at RP (a bunch of them) and only Beverages at Riverhead although I'm not that much of an expert at all. There are people who know the history of the sites very well and I'm sure a web search will find that stuff easily (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. At 1115 till past 1130 UT, had audio on 4630. Male and female announcer in Spanish but the noise level too high and the signal too weak to get much from it. S4 signal level here. I am wondering if R. Soledad re-activated (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA, USA, Nov 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4630.81, BOLIVIA * R 11 de Octubre, Cobija [0025-0056*](30.81-32.5) Apr 99 4632.5, PERU R Soledad, Parcoy (4510-4689) [varies widely; no date gh] (Pertinent entries in Mark Mohrmann`s LA-DX archive, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. An interesting UNID was heard on 9685.91 kHz this morning (Nov 16) at 0434-0456+ (since 0456 I've lost their signal, seems went off). At 0435 lengthy Afgani-type song. Since around 0450 till 'off' M talk with dozens of mentions of "Baluchistani". No other countries been mentioned. Language - Persian or very similar. On my guess: an clandestine. Signal weak, SIO 242 (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer Nov 16 via BC-DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11610, Merlin testing for new Clandestine from Kvitsøy, Norway towards the Middle East, Nov 19, *1914-1930* Non stop fanfare. 23433. QRM Kol Israel 11605 (QSA 4) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING Ham radio / amateur radio, shortwave, CB, DSP software Just wanted to make you aware of my website for radio audio DSP for improved signal reception among other things. How about adding a link to your site? http://www.eSoftAnywhere.com (Konrad Byers, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 20 November - 16 December Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate. Region 198 is expected to present M-class potential until it rotates beyond the west limb on 29 November. Region 191 is due to return to visible disk on 04 December and is expected to present M-class potential through the rest of the period. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 22-27 November and again on 02-07 December due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels with isolated minor storm conditions possible. Active to minor storm conditions are possible on 20-23 November and again on 29 November - 02 December due to a recurring coronal holes. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Nov 19 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Nov 19 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Nov 20 175 12 3 2002 Nov 21 170 12 3 2002 Nov 22 165 15 3 2002 Nov 23 165 20 4 2002 Nov 24 165 15 3 2002 Nov 25 165 10 3 2002 Nov 26 165 10 3 2002 Nov 27 170 12 3 2002 Nov 28 170 12 3 2002 Nov 29 170 12 3 2002 Nov 30 170 15 3 2002 Dec 01 175 15 3 2002 Dec 02 175 15 3 2002 Dec 03 180 12 3 2002 Dec 04 185 10 3 2002 Dec 05 185 10 3 2002 Dec 06 185 10 3 2002 Dec 07 185 12 3 2002 Dec 08 180 12 3 2002 Dec 09 180 10 3 2002 Dec 10 180 12 3 2002 Dec 11 185 12 3 2002 Dec 12 195 12 3 2002 Dec 13 195 10 3 2002 Dec 14 185 10 3 2002 Dec 15 180 10 3 2002 Dec 16 180 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Nov 20 via WORLD OF RADIO 1157, DXLD) # ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-180, November 18, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1156: RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1156.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Thanks for the DX Service you provide. I am new to shortwave and the new terms are confusing to me. Nevertheless, I appreciated the work that you put in to creating your broadcasts (Mike Woodard) WORLD OF RADIO WEBCASTING Dear Glenn, Listened to your last shows via the WOR web site and the wide band audio sounding great - and without any kind of breaks (congestions). 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, Nov 18) Glenn, Paul David's comments in DXLD 2-179 inspired me to take a look at the k4cc.net server's usage logs to see if there were any clues there regarding his problems with the WOR stream. Paul doesn't mention whether he has a dialup or broadband connection, and if dialup, what speed. A low speed dialup modem would be less likely to stream smoothly than a higher speed dialup modem or a broadband connection. Since he doesn't seem to have a problem with the WRN stream, it is most likely an issue of his location rather than his connection speed. He is in the UK, which is where the WRN servers are located. The servers that host the k4cc.net site are located in California, so there are probably some satellite hops involved from Paul's location which could be affecting his download, especially if he is downloading during times of high traffic on either the satellite, the k4cc.net server, or both. Looking at the logs for the month of November, the peak time period during which users are accessing the WOR files on the k4cc.net server is 2100-0000 UTC. It would be interesting to know if other European users experience the same difficulties with the k4cc.net streams. The stats also show that, given a choice, users prefer the high speed download, followed, in order, by the high speed stream, the low speed download, and the low speed stream. Here are the stats for WOR 1155 and 1156 [so far]: File Mode Hits 1155h.rm High Speed Download 201 1155h.ram High Speed Stream 163 1155.rm Low Speed Download 101 1155.ram Low Speed Stream 60 1156h.rm High Speed Download 144 1156h.ram High Speed Stream 113 1156.rm Low Speed Download 64 1156.ram Low Speed Stream 39 Total High Speed Downloads 345 Total High Speed Streams 276 Total Low Speed Downloads 165 Total Low Speed Streams 99 The logs show hits from 15 countries, so WORLD of Radio is definitely an appropriate title! Best regards, (Dave White, W4UVH, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. PSYOP CAMPAIGN BROADENS WITH SECOND RADIO STATION by Takuya Hirayama, CRW Kabul and Tokyo [Nov 16] The American campaign to cement democracy in Afghanistan and flush out Taliban remnants has broadened with the launch of a second psyop radio station. The new station, a senior Afghan official has told CRW, is located at the U.S. military base at Kandahar airport and is meant to serve the Pashtun population. "I don't know much about the station," Abdullah Ali, Director of Radio & TV Afghanistan - Kandahar, said to CRW during a visit to his office. "(It) is broadcasting in Pashto, and (is) solely owned and operated by the Americans. But, of course, the station is out of our control." Its broadcasts can be heard in Kabul during the local evening mixing under Information Radio Bagram's signal on 864 kHz. Unlike Information Radio Bagram, which broadcasts a diverse selection of Pashtun and Dari music, Information Radio Kandahar has only been heard airing Pashtun music. US Information Radio Bagram, meanwhile, still broadcasts on 8700 kHz AM in parallel with 864 kHz Medium Wave. According to long-term monitoring, the station no longer broadcasts 24 hours a day. Though its schedule varies, the station usually signs on at around 0500 Kabul Time, or 0030 UT both on 864 and 8700 kHz. The broadcast continues until around 2300 Kabul Time, or 1830 UT on 864 kHz. 8700 kHz, however, usually signs off around 2000 Kabul Time, or 1530 UT. The station mixes occasional identification announcements and public service announcements on behalf of the American forces and the transitional government given in Pashto and Dari between songs. As reported in an earlier dispatch Information Radio's programming seems to have switched from "intervention-style" psyop to "nation building" psyop. Information broadcast relates mainly to the daily life of its listeners - for example, notifying parents where they should vaccinate their children, and so on. Announcements in Arabic are no longer heard. However, the "rewards" announcement begun in December 2001 to those who provide information on the whereabouts of Usama Bin Laden and other members of al-Qaeda continues to be broadcast. During the morning until around 0900 Kabul Time, statements and identification announcements are frequently given (approximately every ten minutes, or between every other song). However, during the day (between 0900 and 1800 Kabul Time), the station seldom identifies itself and rarely broadcasts public service announcements. After sunset, the station again starts to give ID's and offer information. Reception of 864 kHz in Kabul is stable during the day. The signal becomes unstable after approximately 2000 Kabul Time. As for 8700 kHz, the signal is usually quite strong. The frequency faces heavy interference from unlicensed "out of band" point-to-point communications in Dari. Clear reception of 8700 kHz, therefore, is extremely difficult in Kabul. Reception in Islamabad, Pakistan, however, is extremely loud and clear. Contrary to DX reports that Information Radio is active on 6100 kHz, nothing could be heard on that frequency from either Kabul or Islamabad. The station is quite popular during the daytime, when electricity for most of Kabul is shut off to conserve power, and there is no television. It's not the "information" broadcast that draws listeners, but the voices of popular singers like Ahmad Zahir and Farhad Darya whose music is often played. Many residents, especially young men, say that they "tune out" when announcements are made. Another factor boosting the station's popularity... Second-hand Japanese cars. Kabul nowadays is crowded with these used cars, which are equipped with radios that can tune only into the Japanese FM band, 76 to 90 MHz. Only the BBC World Service on 89.0 MHz FM can be heard within that frequency range, besides the state-run Radio Kabul on two MW frequencies. During the day, the BBC broadcasts in English, which few people can understand, and Radio Kabul's music library is actually much smaller than the U.S.-run psyop station. It is not clear how long the stations will remain on the air. Afghanistan remains a dangerous place, where the threat of a Taliban revival or dispute among rival warlords can destroy the progress begun one year ago when Kabul fell to the Northern Alliance. American officials were unavailable for comment about Information Radio (Nov 16 Clandestine Radio Watch, Nov 18 via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. Radio Nacional de Angola had a good signal two weeks ago on 4950 kHz, when received in Namibia. On Nov. 15 only the STP-Relay of the VoA was audible at 2000 UTC. One day later RN de Angola was on again, but with a slight hum. At 0500 a program in vernacular was heard on 7217. (That fits the frequency of RN Angola as reported in spring 2002 - Passmann) (Markus Weidner, currently in South Africa, as reported to the A-DX Mailing List via Willi Passmann, Nov 18, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN DOMESTIC SHORTWAVE RADIO STATION X GOLD COAST GRANTED 2368.5 Recent reports about a private commercial SW licence being granted in Australia are true. Yes, this does open up a whole new world of downunder SW DX targets, as the stations will generally have a power of around 1 kW. What`s happening? How come these stations are starting to be licenced? The answer lies in changes made to the Broadcasting Act as far back as December 2000. The laws had to be changed to permit Christian Voice International to begin using the Radio Australia SW transmitters in Darwin, and to allow HCJB Australia to build a new facility at Kununurra in Western Australia. These, and other major SW broadcasters need to go through a detailed process for an international broadcasting licence, as their primary target audiences are outside Australia. If a broadcaster wants to target a domestic audience within Australia, all they need do is apply to the Australian Communications Authority for a Domestic HF Licence (DHFL). It costs a few hundred dollars and the lower range frequency allocations are specifically exempt from ITU Regulations. The frequencies just have to be allocated and coordinated by the ACA. The frequencies available are anywhere in the range 2300- 26100 kHz for broadcast `within Australia and its territories` and the following frequency blocks are only available for the DHFL broadcasters: 2300-2495, 3200-3400, 3950-4000, 4750-4995 and 5005- 5060. According to the ACA, the first licence granted is to Peter Tate, Gold Coast, Queensland for 1 kW on 2368.5 kHz. Peter operates an internet only radio station called Station X which operates via servers in Sweden, USA and Australia. He also has four currently inoperative licences issued by the ACA for expanded AM band broadcasts to the Gold Coast (1665/1694), Adelaide (1694) and Melbourne (1656). Station X webcaster [caption] Gold Coast_ studio (c)DoubleXandStationX It so happens that a visit to the Station X website also links you with The Double X Network and here the plot thickens, because here you find another expanded AM band station already broadcasting in Melbourne on 1611. This uses the broadcast band callsign 3XX (even though no actual callsign has been allocated by the ACA to the Hoppers Crossing location) and reaches as far west as Geelong and covers SE Melbourne with 400 watts. The owner of `3XX` is Double X Radio (Aust) Pty Ltd, although the licence is actually held by Anton Vanderlely. Anton is the founder of HitzFM and founding director of CityFM, both of Melbourne. These operated as short-term FM community stations in the 1990s but failed to obtain fulltime community licences. The 1611 AM licence allows the station to begin commercial broadcasts immediately. Double X claims to have a `voluntary associate member` of the Double X Network with 3KGB- FM 87.6 located at Moorabin in SE Melbourne, and expects to expand the network soon. It looks like this could now be through Peter Tate`s licences on the Gold Coast, in Adelaide and in another part of Melbourne not covered by the 1611 transmitter. And, now through SW on 2368.5. So what`s all the fuss, some might ask. These are just flea power AM stations in a rarely visited part of the dial, and the Double X audience is unlikely to rush to buy a SW receiver for the 1 kW broadcasts from the Gold Coast. There`s a simple answer. It`s called digital radio. You see, if you own a broadcast licence in Australia when digital radio is introduced, you'll automatically be granted a licence to broadcast Australia wide in digital. That`s a lot of data and new services, potentially lucrative, which will come on stream. '3XX 1611' DJ [caption] (c) Double X and Station X You`ll have much the same rights whether you`ve spent $25 million at auction for a metropolitan FM licence, $400,000 for a metropolitan Adelaide AM narrowcast licence, or next to nothing for a 400 watt expanded AM band channel on the Gold Coast. Or, a few hundred bucks for a Domestic HF Licence. Becoming clear now? Look for the Australian Expanded AM Band Guide at http://www.radiodx.com soon and find out more about the multi-million dollar investments and networks which will shortly bring the Aussie X-Band to life (Nov New Zealand DX Times [pdf illustrated] via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. IT`S ALL IN THE CALL! Callsigns for Broadcast Band 531-1602 are issued by the Australian Broadcasting Authority to community, national and commercial stations. The stations are able to nominate a preferred callsign to the ABA. These are issued as a combination of: (1) a number in the range 1-8 (2) a letter in the range A-Z and (3) another letter in the range A-Z. For example, 2CH. Callsigns for Narrowband Area Service 1611-1701 are issued by the Australian Communications Authority. Not all licences are issued with a callsign. Callsigns, when issued, use a combination of: (1) a prefix from the list VJ/VK/VL/VM/VN/VZ/AX (2) a letter in the range A-Z (3) a number in the range 1-9 (4) a number in the range 1-9 and (5) another number in the range 1-9. For example: VKA714. Some of the NAS stations, are known to publicly use BCB style callsigns. For example: 2KM 1620 or 2NTC 1611. These are unofficial callsigns used for marketing purposes only, to help listeners find familiar sounding stations in the expanded AM band. Clearly sounds better than `Hi, you`re in touch with AXZ123 for hits and memories` so we can expect more pseudo BCB callsigns to be used by the hundreds of NAS stations (David Ricquish, NEW ZEALAND DX TIMES NOVEMBER 2002 PAGE 41 via DXLD) (Footnote: It would be interesting to know if these X band stations have any audience, although the possible sale of 2KM values 1620 kHz at $40,000. I`d like to know which `everyday` radios cover to 1700! According to a radio exec I know in Sydney he doubts they have an audience because of the band on most analog receivers finishing at about 1610.) (Tony King, NEW ZEALAND DX TIMES NOVEMBER via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. B-02 schedule for RTBF in French on 9970 via WAV 100 kW / 165 degrees: 0600-2100 Mon-Fri; 0700-2200 Sat; 0530-1800 Sun (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 18 via DXLD) All of the English and most of the other broadcasts are now via relay sites, so here is a way still to hear Belgium itself (gh, DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE. R. Independent Mekamui on 3850 kHz: A screenshot of that [first] QSL for that station can be seen in the CRW Clandestine Radio QSL gallery at http://www.schoechi.de/pic-cla.html (M. Schöch, CRW via DXLD) ** BULGARIA: Updated schedule for Radio Bulgaria's DX programs: Bulgarian French (cont.) 1445-1500 Sun 1224 Balk 2140-2250 Sun 5800 WeEu 12000 WeEu 7500 WeEu 15700 WeEu 0240-0250 Mon 7400 NoAm 2045-2100 Sun 6000 WeEu 9400 NoAm 7400 ME Russian English 1545-1600 Sat 1224 Balk 2245-2300 Fri 5800 WeEu 7500 EaEu 7500 WeEu 9400 CeAs 0045-0100 Sat 7400 NoAm 9900 EaEu 9400 NoAm 1715-1730 Sat 7500 EaEu 0345-0400 Sat 7400 NoAm 9900 EaEu 9400 NoAm 1945-2000 Sat 7500 EaEu 0745-0800 Sun 12000 WeEu 9900 EaEu 13600 WeEu 0045-0100 Sun 7500 CeAs 1245-1300 Sun 12000 WeEu 0445-0500 Sun 1224 Balk 15700 WeEu 7500 EaEu German 9500 EaEu 2030-2040 Thu 5800 WeEu 1145-1200 Sun 11700 EaEu 7500 WeEu 15200 EaEu 0600-0610 Fri 5800 WeEu Spanish 9400 WeEu 1945-1950 Sun 9700 SoEu 2020-2030 Sat 5800 WeEu 11700 SoEu 7500 WeEu 2215-2220 Sun 6000 SoEu French 7300 SoEu 2140-2150 Tue 5800 WeEu 0015-0020 Mon 5900 SoAm 7500 WeEu 11600 SoAm 0240-0250 Wed 7400 NoAm 0215-0220 Mon 5900 SoAm 9400 NoAm 7500 CeAm (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 18 via DXLD) 11600 SoAm I expect these are approximate, as we recently had a report that the English shows started anywhere from :35 to :48 past the hour (gh, DXLD) ** CHECHNYA [non]. Radio Chechnya Svobodnaya Habe diese Woche auf Langwelle 171 kHz über den Sender Tbilisskaya (Sendeleistung?) das russische Programm von Radio Chechnya Svobodnaya, (Radio "Freies" Tschechenien) gehört. Bis 1. März 2001 wurde dieser Dienst auch über Kurzwelle ausgestrahlt. Wird dieser Programmdienst eigentlich in Moskau produziert? Von welcher Abteilung des Russischen Runfunk: Radio Rossi, Stimme Russlands, oder? Radio Chechnya Svobodnaya kommt auf 171 kHz bis 2100 Uhr, danach meldet sich Radio Rossii (E. Bergmann, Germany, Nov 1, 2002 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) Re : Sendeleistung : 1200 kW Re : Wird dieser Programmdienst eigentlich in Moskau produziert? Ja; anscheinend in der Pjatnizkaja-Straße, jedenfalls klingt es danach Re : Von welcher Abteilung des Russischen Runfunk? M.W. ist das eine Auftragsproduktion für Der Kreml, wohl realisiert von der Stimme Rußlands in Kooperation mit Radio Rossii und Radio Majak. Re : bis 2100 Uhr, danach meldet sich Radio Rossi Das ist dann aber die vor kurzem neu aufgenommene Ausstrahlung über Bolschakowo (Gebiet Kaliningrad). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 1, 2002 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Falun Dafa Radio. Re address: Mr. Chenxi Lou, 2626 W. Ball Rd. Apt J2, Anaheim, CA 92804-5097. I`d just received their QSL card 2 weeks ago and the above was their address on the envelope (L. K. Hian, Indonesia, Nov 4, in Jembatan DX 141 via CRW via DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. 11690, Radio Okapi, Rep of Congo, Nov 17, 0602-0706 French talk and various music by John Lennon, Johnny Clegg, etc. Numerous mentions of Congo, Congolaise, l'Afrique, several clear IDs including one at 0654. News mentioned Microsoft, Africa, America. Strong and steady with no sign of //9550 or 6030. Got this after constant search starting on Friday: Did also hear them as an unID at 0505-0517 with an extremely weak signal and interference. Other station went away at 0600 and Okapi's signal went up dramatically (Ross Comeau, Chamberlain ME DXpedition, Nov 18 hard-core-dx via DXLD) Are you aware, as previously discussed in DXLD, that R. Africa International, the Methodist service via DTK Germany is also scheduled on 11690: 11690 0600 0800 37,46 305 190 217 1234567 271002 300303 UMC It would also be talking about Africa! And that could explain the jump in signal strength you noticed at 0600. Furthermore, Okapi is NOT in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) but in the OTHER Congo, DR (Kinshasa). Other DXers continue to overlook this (gh to Ross, DXLD) Hey Glenn, I've been monitoring 11690 since 0535, and have a man speaking French faded up above the hash at 0604. The signal seems to be strengthening. Naturally no ID, but if you're still up and at the dials, give it a listen (Gerry Bishop, FL, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Gerry, Beware of R. Africa International, Methodist via Germany, scheduled on 11690 at 0600-0800 in French. People keep jumping to conclusion this is Okapi. 73, (Glenn to Gerry, via DXLD) Indeed, that's the thing, it faded up rather than came on abruptly, and also kept changing accents with each speaker. The tape awaits my full attention, and since I couldn't log Okapi from the eastern side of Africa earlier in the year, I'll wait until a solid logging comes along now. This, of course, could be anything until an ID comes along. [Later:] Glenn, it is, in fact, Radio Afrique International, 11690 I heard from 0604-0700 on 18 Nov. Want a copy of the ID at 0700? Clear, by YL, then into news. Will monitor earlier for Okapi. 73s (Gerry Bishop, Niceville FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR [and non]. Une radio clandestine appelée ``la Radio des Patriotes`` a été entendue dans la région de Bukavu sur FM début du mois de novembre en français et swahili. Cette station demande à la population de résister aux ``envahisseurs tutsis et à leurs laquais rwandais, burundais et ougandais``. Lors de la dernière émission a été lue un message de Padiri Bulenda David, le chef des Maï Maï [=Mau Mau?]. La radio des Patriotes avait été entendue la première fois le Ier septembre 1997, puis par intermittence en 2000, et 2001. Il semble bien qu`il s`agisse d`un émetteur mobile des forces armées des Maï Maï et non des Interrahamwe comme certains l`ont un peu prématurément signalé. La radio de Goma, ainsi que la région avaient été conquises par les Maï Maï au mois d'août puis reprises par le RCD-Goma (Rassemblement Congolais pour la démocratie) au mois d`octobre. Les Maï Maï aspirent mettre en place une radio à ondes courtes permettant de couvrir l`ensemble de la RDC. Nota: Les milices Maï Maï sont entrées en dissidence contre le nouveau régime congolais de l`AFDL (Forces Démocratiques pour la libération du Congo) dès 1997 dirigé alors par Laurent Désiré Kabila (assassiné en janvier 2001), puis au premier semestre 1998 ils soutiennent ce dernier lorsque les relations entre Kinshasa et Kigali se détériorent. Les Maï Maï intègrent alors l`armée congolaise. Déjà dès le premier trimestre de 1997 un bloc ``bantou`` comprenant les Maï Maï, le FLOT (Front de Libération contre l`Occupation Tutsie) FULB (Front Uni pour la libération du peuple Bantou), CRLK (Conseil de Résistance et de Libération du Kivu), et des mouvements burundais comme le PALIR, FDD et des ex-FAR (Forces Armées Rwandaise – pro hutu) se met en place. Ces derniers partisans ont en commun une haine farouche des batutsis. Le Kivu sert de base arrière à de multitudes de groupes armées. Le terme Maï Maï provient d`une déformation du mot swahili maji (eau). Il fait référence à une pratique rituelle commune à toute l`Afrique équatoriale (cf la rébellion des Simbas des années 64-65 ou actuellement la LRA ougandaise) consistant pour les combattants à s`asperger d`eau magique censée les protéger des balles et les rendre [in]vulnérables. Se présentant comme d'ardents nationalistes, les Maï Maï sont farouchement opposés à la présence étrangère au Kivu (contrôlé par le Rwanda, le Burundi et l`Ouganda et ses supplétifs du MLC, du RCD Goma, etc..) considérées comme des envahisseurs. La zone d`activité des Maï Maï couvre le Masisi, la région de Walikale, et le nord de Bukavu. Les groupes Maï Maï opérant plus au nord, dans la région de Beni et de Butembo, face à l`Ouganda, portent l`appellation spécifique de Ngilima, nom qui découlerait d`une coopérative agricole. Les Maï Maï disposent depuis quelques mois d`un site internet dont le principal défaut est qu`il n`est pas mis à jour régulièrement: http://www.congo-mai-mai.net E-mail: webmaster@congo-mai-mai.net (via Bernard Chenal, France, Nov 18, DXLD) QELFK? ** CUBA. Desde Dentro de Cuba. Distribuido por Cuba Free Press, Inc. - http://www.cubafreepress.org 8 de Noviembre del 2002 FELICITAN A RADIO MARTÍ VECINOS DE PINAR DEL RÍO. Edel José García Díaz, de CNP, para Cuba Free Press. La Habana: Un grupo de vecinos del municipio La Palma en la provincia de Pinar del Río, felicitan el trabajo informativo que realizó la emisora Radio Martí, durante el paso por Cuba, de los ciclones Isidore y Lily, en el mes de septiembre del 2002. Según el señor Normando Pimentel, líder del Movimiento Humanitario ``Ayúdanos Señor``, en la zona conocida por Secundaria 34, en el citado municipio, los vecinos estuvieron bien informados sobre los dos meteoros, gracias a que podían escuchar las noticias de su trayectoria por esa provincia en un radio de pilas de las que donó el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos a los cubanos. Allí los vecinos se agrupaban, sigue diciendo Pimentel, para escuchar Radio Martí y hasta algunos militantes del Partido Comunista se presentaban en la vivienda para conocer detalles de la situación atmosférica. ``Felicitamos a la emisora Radio Martí por el excelente trabajo informativo que realizó al paso de los dos últimos eventos meteorológicos sobre Cuba y por el que efectúa diariamente por tener bien informado a los cubanos en la Isla``, dice, el documento que enviaron los vecinos de la Palma. Reportó: Edel José García Díaz, para Cuba Free Press. http://www.cubafreepress.org Copyright © 2002 - Cuba Free Press, Inc. 73'S (via Oscar, Miami) ** ETHIOPIA. I wonder if Radio Fana is considered a clandestine?? [Later :] Radio Fana statement... that they're not a clandestine... http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/eng_newspaper/Htm/No310/r310law.htm (P. Ormandy, NZ, Nov 16, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Note: schedule below is essentially same info as in a different version in 2-170; we have not cross-checked them! (gh, DXLD) OBSERVER #222 / 15-11-2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GERMANY: B-02 Winter Schedule for Deutsche Telekom (DTK) Hrvatska Radio/Voice of Croatia: [also English, Spanish segments] 0000-0200 9925 JUL 100 kW / 230 deg Daily to SoAm Croatian 0200-0400 9925 JUL 100 kW / 300 deg Daily to NoAmEa Croatian 0400-0600 9925 JUL 100 kW / 325 deg Daily to NoAmWe Croatian 0600-0800 9470 JUL 100 kW / 230 deg Daily to AUS Croatian 0800-1000 13820 JUL 100 kW / 270 deg Daily to NZ Croatian ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Gospel For Asia/Athmee Yatra He - new via DTK in S Asian languages 0030-0130 11680 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Daily to SoEaAs 1430-1530 15680 WER 250 kW / 075 deg Daily to SoEaAs 1530-1630 15425 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Daily to SoEaAs 2330-0030 11680 WER 250 kW / 075 deg Daily to SoEaAs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: 0230-0330 6010 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Pashto 0330-0430 6010 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Dari 0630-0730 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Pashto 0730-0830 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Dari 0830-0930 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Pashto 0930-1030 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Dari 1230-1330 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Pashto 1330-1430 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Dari 1500-1600 6055 JUL 100 kW / 075 deg Daily to CeAs Kazakh 1600-1700 7105 JUL 100 kW / 070 deg Daily to CeAs Kazakh 1600-1700 6180 JUL 100 kW / 108 deg Daily to CeAs Tatar- Bashkir 1630-1730 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Pashto 1730-1830 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Dari 1800-1900 9785 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Daily to ME Arabic 2230-2330 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Pashto 2330-0030 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 deg Daily to ME Dari ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voice of America: 0400-0600 11875 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to ME Arabic 1230-1300 17555 JUL 100 kW / 080 deg Daily to CeAs Uzbek 1600-2030 12110 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Daily to ME Persian ---------------------------------------------------------------------- United Methodist Church/Radio Africa International: 0400-0600 9815 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Daily to SoAf French 0600-0800 11690 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Daily to EaAf French 1700-1900 11735 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Daily to SoAf English 1700-1900 13820 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Daily to EaAf English ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IBRA Radio: 0500-0530 9710 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to ME Arabic 1645-1715 5840 JUL 100 kW / 075 deg Daily to ME Pashto/Dari 1730-1745 15120 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Daily to EaAf Somali 1900-1930 13840 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Daily to NoWeAf Hausa 2000-2100 9470 JUL 100 kW / 175 deg Daily to NoAf Arabic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Swiss Radio International, daily to NE Africa: 0600-0800 9885 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Fr/Ge/It/En 0600-0800 13790 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg En/It/Ge/Fr 1630-1815 9755 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg It/Ar/En/Fr 1630-1815 13790 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg It/Ar/En/Fr 1830-2130 13660 JUL 100 kW / 165 deg It/Ar/En/Ge/Fr 1830-2130 15485 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg It/Ar/En/Ge/Fr ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Deutsche Welle: 0600-1900 6140 JUL 100 kW / 175 deg Daily to Eu English ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Netherland Wereldomroep: 1130-1325 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Daily to Eu English 1130-1325 9860 WER 125 kW / 300 deg Daily to Eu English ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voice of Hope/High Adventure Ministries: 1330-1430 15715 JUL 100 kW / 070 deg Daily to Vietnam Vietnamese ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bible Voice Broadcasting Network/BVBN/ - new via DTK 1630-1700 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Daily to EaAf Amharic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WYFR/Family Radio: 1700-1800 13720 JUL 100 kW / 165 deg Daily to NoAf Arabic 2000-2100 9595 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to ME Arabic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Salama Radio - new via DTK 1830-1915 13855 JUL 100 kW / 165 deg Daily to Ce&SoAf Hausa 1915-2000 13855 JUL 100 kW / 165 deg Daily to Ce&SoAf English ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Democratic Voice of Burma: 2330-0030 9435 JUL 100 kW / 080 deg Daily to SoEaAs Burmese ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Universelles Leben: 0100-0130 9435 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Sun to SoAs English 1600-1630 15275 JUL 100 kW / 175 deg Sun to NoAf French 1730-1800 6015 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Tue,Wed,Thu to Eu German 1800-1830 11840 JUL 100 kW / 155 deg Sun to EaAf English 1900-1930 9470 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Sun to ME English ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RTBF: 0400-0600 9490 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Mon-Fri to Af French 0530-0600 9490 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sun to Af French 0530-0700 9490 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sat to Af French 0600-0810 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Mon-Fri to Af French 0600-0905 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sun to Af French 0700-1100 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sat to Af French 1100-1215 21565 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Mon-Sat to Af French 1200-1315 21565 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sun to Af French 1600-1815 17570 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sun-Fri to Af French 1700-1815 17570 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sat to Af French ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AWR/Adventist World Radio: 0500-0600 9885 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily EaEu Bulgarian 0600-0730 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Daily NoAf Arabic/French 1000-1100 15195 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Sat,Sun Eu Italian 1730-1800 5840 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily EaEu Romanian 1800-1900 12015 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily EaEu Bulgarian 1900-2030 11845 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Daily NoAf Arabic/French ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VRT/Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal: 0600-0755 13685 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to ME Dutch 0800-0825 5985 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Daily to Eu English 1830-1955 13650 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to ME English/Dutch 1900-2055 5910 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat to Eu Dutch ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voice of Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity: 0700-0800 21550 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Sun to EaAf Amharic 1830-1930 11840 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Wed to EaAf Amharic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Rainbow: 0900-1000 6180 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat to Eu Amharic 1900-2000 11840 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Fri to EaAf Amharic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WSHB/Christian Science Monitor: 1000-1100 5985 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Sun to Eu German ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Evangeliumsradio Hamburg: 1000-1100 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sun to Eu German 1830-1900 6015 WER 125 kW / non-dir Wed to Eu German ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TWR/Trans World Radio: 1130-1200 7340 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg Sat to Eu Slovak 1330-1345 5945 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Daily to Eu Croatian/Slovenian 1700-1745 5850 NAU 125 kW / 125 deg Sat to EaEu Romanian 1700-1745 7180 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Sat to EaEu Romanian ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Brother Stair/TOM: 1200-1500 5975 JUL 100 kW / 290 deg Daily to Eu English 1300-1600 13810 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to ME English 1500-1700 6110 JUL 100 kW / 290 deg Sat to Eu English 1700-1800 6110 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat to Eu English ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voice of Democratic Eritrea: 1500-1600 5925 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat to Eu Tigrina 1700-1800 15670 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Mon,Thu to EaAf Tigrina ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tigrean International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy: 1600-1630 15275 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Wed,Sat to EaAf Tigrina ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bible Voice Broadcasting Network/BVBN/ - new via DTK 1630-1700 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Daily to EaAf Amharic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Huriyo: 1630-1700 15670 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Tue,Fri to EaAf Somali ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voice of Ethiopian Salvation: 1600-1700 15670 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Thu,Sun to EaAf Amharic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voice of Oromo Liberation (Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo): 1700-1800 15670 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Wed,Fri,Sun to EaAf Oromo/Amharic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Reveil Paroles de Vie: 1830-1900 11840 JUL 100 kW / 155 deg Thu to Af French JUL=Juelich NAU=Nauen WER=Wertachtal 73 from Ivo and angel! (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 15 via DXLD) DTK corrections (cf. OBSERVER #222): Additional transmission for Voice of Hope/High Adventure Ministries via JUL: 1330-1430 English; 1430-1530 Urdu both on 15775 090 deg SoAs 1530-1615 English; 1615-1700 Persian; 1700-1730 Arabic 9860 115 deg ME Brother Stair/The Overcomer Ministries via JUL: 1200-1300 (not 1200-1500) English on 5975 290 deg Eu (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 18 via DXLD) ** GREECE. Dear Glenn, This morning (0000-0550 UT) Greece is back on 7477 kHz in // with 5865. 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, also here around 0500 check (gh, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Radio Verdad 4052 0340-0505* 16 Nov. Excellent signal, with hymns/inspirational music to 0405, when aired a program that was all about "amigos." Back to hymns at 0423, then to Christmas music to end the broadcast day, wrapping up with "White Christmas" and "Silent Night" (in English) before closing down at 0503. Not heard 18 Nov, when looking for rumored local Sunday evening English broadcast (Gerry Bishop, Niceville FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. Radio E-Mail: Deep inside the warm green interior of Guinea, centered in the frontal lobe of West Africa, field personnel in the widely scattered village-towns of Dabola, Kissidougou and Nzerekore now enjoy access to regular internet e-mail, without phone line or satellite dish in sight. Instead emails are sent through wavelengths of high-frequency (HF) radio. Read more: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6299 (Scott Gurian, Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. So what does a 10 kW AM station in Honolulu cost these days? If you had US$650,000 a month or so back, you could have bought KHCM 940. It was KJPN until then, and goes way back to KAHU, and has changed format from Japanese to Country Music. It's the fourth Honolulu station owned by Salem Communications. If you`re confused about all the changes in Hawaiian radio lately, check out the Hawaii Radio & TV Guide which is maintained by Melvin Ah Ching. Not only will you find up to date lists of AM/FM stations, websites and links, but chat columns where current and past DJs and station personnel exchange news and views on the Hawaiian radio scene. [no link given] There are currently 27 AM stations on air in Hawaii: Honolulu 590 KSSK, 650 KHNR, 690 KORL, 760 KGU, 830 KHVH, 940 KHCM, 990 KHBZ, 1040 KLHT, 1080 KWAI, 1170 KENT, 1210 KZOO, 1270 KNDI, 1370 KMDR, 1420 KKEA, 1460 KHRA, 1500 KUMU, 1540 KREA; Big Island 620 KIPA, 670 KPUA, 790 KKON, 850 KHLO, 1060 KAHU; Maui 550 KMVI, 900 KNUI, 1110 KAOI; Kauai 570 KQNG, 720 KUAI (David Ricquish, Nov NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Radio Litoral, 4832, 0420 Nov 18 with music in English, including "People Get Ready" before airing "Searchlight" program out of Jacksonville, Oregon at 0434. Good signal, some QSB evident. HRMI, 5010, 0300 and rechecks Nov 18, notable by absence. Are they silent Sundays? 73s (Gerry Bishop, Niceville FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. Members of this group might find Harry Helms' guest editorial in the November Monitoring Times to be of interest. See http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtclosing.html (Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) I think Harry nailed the issue pretty squarely, though maybe one should substitute "international broadcaster" for the term "shortwave broadcaster" to cover both over-the-air HF and digital delivery systems. Most international broadcasters operate as if it's still 1965, and they are the only source we have about events and life in their particular country. And it's killing them. Austria, Finland, Switzerland, etc. all have declined as international broadcasters at least in part because of the perception that nobody's listening. Maybe it's because they are largely state-run behemoths, and it takes state-run behemoths a long time to change. If they change at all. Whatever the reason, the sad state of affairs is that if you want to know what's going on in a particular country or region, international radio, with a few exceptions, is not the place to go. DRM isn't going to save it, either. I liken it to the state of American AM radio in the early 1980s. Media pundits opined that listeners were turned off because of AM's poor sound quality. Various technical schemes were developed (AM stereo etc.) to save the medium. What did save it was a format innovation: talk radio. The technical improvements DRM brings aren't going to improve the quality of the programming (Jim Tedford, Bothell, Washington, swprograms via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SATELLITE RADIO COMPANIES REPORT BIG LOSSES From http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4522823.htm Posted on Thu, Nov. 14, 2002 NEW YORK (Dow Jones/AP) -- The two pioneers of the satellite radio business, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., Thursday reported large third-quarter losses and difficulties in finding financing. Both companies broadcast radio from satellites to receivers usually mounted in subscriber's cars. XM, said its third-quarter loss was $109.6 million, or $1.26 a share. Analysts expected a loss of $1.25 a share, according to Thomson First Call. Revenue was $5.5 million. XM's service launched in September last year. In that quarter, it lost of $65 million, or $1.14 a share, on revenue of $1,000. The Washington-based company said it has cut 80 jobs. It did not provide the current number of employees. At the end of last year, it had about 450 employees. XM also said is in talks with General Motors Corp. to defer up to $200 million in payments. XM said it hopes to see break-even cash flow by mid- to late 2004. It now expects to break even with much fewer subscribers than it had previously forecast. The company ended the quarter with 201,544 subscribers, up from 504 subscribers a year earlier and a 47 percent increase over the second quarter. Shares of XM closed Thursday at $2.32, down 73 cents or 24 percent, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. New York-based Sirius, which launched its service in July, lost $108 million, or $1.56 a share, on revenue of $17,000, compared with a loss of $47 million, or $1.06 a share on no revenue last year. Analysts were expecting a third-quarter loss of $1.48 a share, according to Thomson First Call. Sirius expects its operating expenses to increase as it continues to expand and build its subscriber base. It also expects to incur more expenses until it finishes restructuring its debt and equity. If Sirius doesn't complete its restructuring plan, it will need an additional $600 million of funding until its operations become self-sustaining. That requires signing up about 3 million subscribers, which the company doesn't see for at least several years. Sirius reported its results after the close of regular trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, which saw its shares at 82 cents, down 7 cents. In 6 p.m. EST after-hours trading, the shares were down a further 16 cents (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Yesterday Radio Caroline announced in a trailer that they will cease to transmit via Astra 1G on December 2 at midnight [British time? CET?]. Word is that they intend to return early in 2003 but on Astra 2 (28.2 degrees East) instead. This according a posting in a German webforum; the reporter assumes that this is the result of a closure of the currently used uplink at Maidstone. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. Radio Payam-e-Doost: I wonder if this is considered a clandestine?? They're apparently not hostile and not proclaiming the overthrow of a government by any means (including peaceful). Here's some background: http://www.bahai-library.org/newspapers/050901-1.html (P. Ormandy, NZ, Nov 16, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non?]. Radio al-Mustaqbal heard 1410-1530* and *2100-2400* on MW 1575.3 (Nov. 1-9) (Robertas Petraitis, Lithuania, Nov 9, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) Radio Mesopotamia on AM 1566 changed format of the programs a little - -- western pop and rock music also included now (only Arabic popular music were earlier). English music has own time in a program schedule; not mixed with Arabic music as in the programs of Radio Sawa. Radio Mesopotamia had allotted for the music about 90% of time, rest of time-for information (R. Petraitis, Lithuania, Nov 12, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) aus KUWAIT ** IVORY COAST. COTE D`IVOIRE -- LES REBELLES FONT DE LA RADIO Après avoir créé une chaîne de télévision à Bouaké en détournant à leur profit les équipements de la Radiodiffusion Télévision ivoirienne (RTI, publique), les rebelles lancent une chaîne de radio. ``La Voix du mutin``, c'est son nom, émet depuis le début de novembre 2002 et couvre la région de Katiola, au centre du pays, où l'on ne capte plus Radio Côte d'Ivoire. La voix mutine émet de 6 h à 18 h et veut expliquer les tenants et aboutissants de la rébellion aux populations locales. Des séquences musicales viennent en complément de ces programmes d'édification (Source : Fraternité-Matin, 8/11/02 http://www.fratmat.co.ci/story.asp?ID=15055 via Bernard Chenal, France, Nov 18, DXLD) QELFK? ** KURDISTAN [non]. V. of Iranian Kurdistan: Received a no-data e-mail response from PDKI Canada in 2 days for an e-mail report that I originally sent snail-mail to PDKI in France for the Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, but did not receive a reply to. Thanks to Arnaldo Slaen, who I noted used this method for a reply a few days ago. In fact, he was copied on my response. Reception was in February 2001 on 3985 kHz. I also attached 2 audio files. Response is below : "Thanks for your kind reports, We are delighted by your enthusiastic reports on our Radio in Iran. Let me give you a short history of this radio station. It began broadcasting in early years of Iranian revolutions in 1979-1980. It was one of the revolutionary voices of the Kurdish people in Iran. During the first decade of struggle in Iranian Kurdistan that took the lives of more than 50000 people and more than 5000 Party fighter, this Radio became the inspirational voice of the people broadcasting in Kurdish, Persian and Turkish. Due to the aggression of the regime in Iran, it has relocated itself many times, and broadcast with limited resources in the high mountains of Kurdistan. I remember when I was a kid, people would leave their work to tune into this radio to hear the heroism of Kurdish fighters struggling for the rights and freedoms of the Kurds in Iran. After the Gulf War and the liberation of Iraqi Kurdish region, the Iranian regime forced the main Iraqi Kurdish parties to close down the radio in any way possible. In 1995, the Radio was shut down for a few weeks, but it was on air again somewhere else. The regime in Iran has always tried to set up intercepters for the radio, but it has not been successful and the radio that you are hearing in this part of the world, has millions of listeners every day in this part of our planet. It might soon be on the internet. However, I am interested in your receivers, and how it could be obtained and at what cost. Thanks for all of your efforts and enthusiasm, Hazhir, PDKI Canada" (John Sgruletta, NY, Nov 6, 2002 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) I sent a thank you E-mail back to Hazhir and asked him if the audio files I enclosed were indeed the Voice of Iranian Kurdistan. I can now consider this a valid, no-data, QSL. His response: "Thanks for your advice too. Yes, it is the Voice of Iranian Kurdistan Radio that you had reported and the files that you had enclosed. Thanks again. Hazhir." (Sgruletta, Nov 11, 2002 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) A briefer version of the above appeared in DXLD 2-176 (gh) ** LESOTHO. During the whole stay no shortwave transmissions could be observed from Lesotho (Markus Weidner, currently in South Africa, as reported to the A-DX Mailing List via Willi Passmann, DXLD) ** MAURITANIA [and non]. Mauritania on 4845 apparently on all day for Ramadan, and noted at *strong levels before* 1900 UT! Listlogged just after 1900 on Sat 11/16 4950 VOA, 4976 Uganda, 4820 Botswana, and 5030 Burkina Faso (Ross Comeau, Chamberlain ME DXpedition, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA/PRIDNESTROVYE. Radio Pridnestrovye in English one day per week (from announcement in Russian program): Wed., 1800 UT, 5960 kHz Length not mentioned, 30 min. on my guess (1800-1830), like Russian. BTW, in Russ: Fri. only 1800-1830 on 999 kHz. Announced address (Russ): Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika, Tiraspol, ulitsa Rozy Luxemburg 10, Radio PMR, Programa "Pridnestrovye". These two are the only "External services" from Tiraspol` these days. (Vladimir Titarev, Ukraine, Nov 16, in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Winter B-02 Schedule for RTMorocco in Arabic: 0000-0500 NF 5980 MOR 250 kW / 083 deg, ex 7185 for B-01 0900-1500 on 15340 NAD 250 kW / 110 deg 1500-2200 on 15345 NAD 250 kW / 110 deg 1100-1500 on 15335 MOR 250 kW / 027 deg 2200-2400 NF 7135 MOR 250 kW / 027 deg, ex 7160 for B-01 (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 18 via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. NBC Windhoek improved modulation on 3290 kHz. Only a slight hum. 3270 kHz is still inactive, while 6060 kHz is operated 24h (Markus Weidner, currently in South Africa, as reported to the A-DX Mailing List via Willi Passmann, Nov 18, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. ITU information. The stations may be anything from wishful thinking to operating. Freq AMS Site name, Sync Geocoördinates kW Antenna Height 216 ADD KRUCHINA CHIT 113E43 51N50 150 B 612 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 10 B 657 MOD GROZNYY 045E40 43N20 100 A/B 120 657 ADD KRUCHINA CHIT 113E43 51N50 150 A/B 40 666 ADD PERVOMAISKOE 124E42 55N05 150 B 684 ADD NACHODKA 132E52 42N53 5 B 756 MOD NOVOSIBIRSK 082E58 55N04 150 A/B 110 756 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 20 B 765 ADD BIKIN S 134E12 46N50 5 A 60 765 ADD EKATERINOSLAV S 135E08 47N57 5 A 60 765 MOD KHABAROVSK S 135E07 48N30 20 A 52 765 ADD VIAZEMSKII S 134E44 47N31 5 A 60 810 ADD IRKUTSK 104E16 52N15 10 A/B 30 828 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 4 B 882 ADD SHELEHOVO IRK 104E07 52N12 10 A/B 70 891 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N09 50 B 945 ADD KALININSKII ROST S 041E50 49N32 5 A 50 945 ADD MEGET 104E02 52N26 50/25 A/B 150 945 MOD NOVOCHERKASS S 040E02 47N25 40 B 945 ADD SALSK ROST S 041E35 46N32 5 A 50 945 ADD VOLGODONSK R S 042E09 47N30 5 A 50 990 ADD SERPUHOV 037E25 54N54 60 A/B 55 990 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 50 B 999 ADD TAVRICHANKA P 131E54 43N20 10 B 1017 ADD MOSKVA 037E08 55N54 500/125 A/B 120 1017 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 25 B 1044 ADD MOSKVA 037E08 55N54 40 A/B 60 1044 ADD VESTOCHKA SAK 142E54 46N50 10 A/B 60 1062 ADD IRKUTSK 103E55 52N32 5 A 40 1062 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 5 A/B 70 1071 ADD MOSKVA 037E38 55N45 10 A/B 120 1098 ADD IRKUTSK 104E15 52N16 5 A 30 1098 MOD MOSKVA 037E08 55N54 20/10 A/B 70 1116 MOD BOLSHAKOVO KA 021E42 54N55 75 B 1116 ADD KHABAROVSK 135E10 48N32 25 A 53 1125 ADD PODLESNYI SAM 050E28 53N28 7 A 80 1188 ADD KHABAROVSK 135E10 48N32 5/2.5 A/B 50 1197 ADD BALAKOVO SAR 047E44 52N04 5 A 100 1197 ADD BALASHOV SAR 043E01 51N35 5 A 100 1197 ADD ERSHOV SAR 048E18 51N22 5 A 100 1224 ADD ELISTA 044E13 46N19 30 A/B 100 1260 MOD NIZHNEUDINSK IR 099E03 54N54 10 A 32 1269 ADD STAVROPOL 042E01 45N06 10 A/B 60 1296 MOD IRKUTSK 104E18 52N18 10 A 30 1305 ADD MOSKVA SVETLII 038E09 55N44 300 A/B 100 1332 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 5 B 1386 ADD OBNINSK 036E35 55N09 5 A 120 1395 MOD ATAMANOVKA CH 113E39 51N55 50 A/B 50 1458 ADD IRKUTSK 104E20 52N17 10/5 A/B 80 1476 ADD KARGALI TATAR 050E54 55N13 25 A 40 1503 ADD USOLYE SIBIRSK 103E32 52N48 0.5 A 70 1503 ADD USSURIYSK 132E15 43N47 15/10 B 1539 ADD CHOIY ALT S 086E31 52N00 1 A 30 1539 ADD ONGUDAI ALT S 086E07 50N44 5 A 30 1539 ADD SHEBALINO ALT S 085E40 51N17 1 A 30 1557 MOD IRKUTSK 104E16 52N16 2 A 20 1557 ADD VLADIVOSTOK 131E53 43N07 5/2.5 B AMS = added to plan or modified from plan. Antenna = A for omnidirectional, B for directional. A/B = directional night only. Height = antenna height for omnidirectional antenna (ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Some frequency changes for Voice of Russia: 0000-0100 Portuguese NF 6185, ex 7310 0100-0300 Spanish NF 6185, ex 7310 1200-1500 Urdu/Hindi/Urdu NF 9940, ex 12025 1500-1600 Hindi/Bengali NF 9940, ex 12025 1500-1600 Russian Comm ADD 12015 1500-1700 Persian NF 7510, ex 9360 1500-1700 Persian ADD 7155 1700-1900 Russian Comm ADD 7155 1800-1900 German ADD 6235 1900-2200 English WS ADD 6235 2100-2200 Russian WS ADD 5975, 6045, 7370 73 from Ivo and angel! (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 18 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I SURE DIDN'T RECOGNISE VLADIMIR POSNER ON RUSSIAN TV Oy --- for those of you who remember the old Phil Donahue shows (or the cover of VP's book "Parting With Illusions"), be prepared for a shock. If it wasn't for the (still!) combative voice, I would have not recognised him at all. He's got the weight of an NFL linebacker, and I just sat there with my mouth open, saying to my friend Lena "Oh. My. God." VP did the show "DailyTalk" on the old Radio Moscow and the radio station has a very small mention in his "Parting With Illusions" book. Slightly OT: really strange to see how Russian TV covered the aftermath of the "Nord-Ost" siege versus, CNN Intl., BBC World, Sky News, etc. --- BUT we in Moscow saw the "blood and guts" aftermath, (which I don't think was shown over here.) ORT and RTR (Ch 1 and 2) did not skimp, and there were constant replays for days of the Alpha squad making the initial assault into the theatre for the rescue. My Aunt has asked me if I will go back to Moscow. Hell yes, because once you cave in to fear, you let the other side win, and I won't slight out my friends because of a few bunch of punks who *thought* they were going to hold ALL of Moscow in fear and contempt (Maryanne Kehoe, GA, swprograms via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. MADAGASCAR(non): IBC Tamil Oli Radio in Tamil via Madagascar 050 kW / 055 deg: 1230-1330 NF 17525 (34443), ex 17495 (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 18 via DXLD) ** TOGO. Nothing was heard on 5047 kHz, a frequency which was reported as reactivated recently (Markus Weidner, currently in South Africa, as reported to the A-DX Mailing List via Willi Passmann, Nov 18, DXLD) ** TURKEY. 6900, Turkish Meteorolgical Radio (presumed), 0447-0530, 18 Nov. This station is active during Ramadan, so I've been checking the frequency from time to time over the past few weeks. I heard only an open carrier on 17 Nov, and again today (18 Nov) from 0442-0500, then weak audio due to undermodulated carrier by recheck at 0513. Program consisted of Mideastern type music. Signal strength was fair, but began fading after 0530, presumably due to sunrise over Eastern Europe (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTIENING DIGEST) Are you saying it is not usually active? One would think there would be weather info to report whether it be Ramadan or not (gh, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Quite a good signal here in Newmarket from Radio Ukraine International in English at 0100-0200 on 9810 kHz (Harold Sellers, Ont., UT Nov 18, ODXA via DXLD) Better be, for a megawatt ** U S A. NYC Jewish pirate, 1710 kHz: Chabad.org-oriented religious talk in Yiddish, English lecture on problems of children in Chassidic families with Q&A from audience still going on now at 5:30 A.M. local [1030 UT] (Joel Rubin, Queens, Nov 18, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Tentative Winter B02 Version 1 of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission - FCC, October 27, 2002 - March 30, 2003. FCC authorized US Stations are: KAIJ Dallas, TX KFBS Northern Mariana Islands, SA KHBN Medorn, Aimeliik, Palau (freq. Advisor: US State Dep.), PL {a.k.a. T8BZ; see later discussion} KIMF Piñón, NM [not yet on] KJES Vado, NM KNLS Anchor Point, AK KSDA Agat, GU KTBN Salt Lake City, UT KTWR Agaña, GU KVOH Rancho Simi, CA KWHR Naalehu, HI WBCQ Monticello, ME WEWN Vandiver, AL WGTG McCaysville, GA [sic] WHRA Greenbush, ME WHRI Noblesville, IN WINB Red Lion, PA WJCR Millerstown, KY [sic] WMLK Bethel, PA WRMI Miami, FL WRNO New Orleans, LA WSHB Furman, SC WTJC Newport, NC [what about WBOH?] WWBS Macon, GA WWCR Nashville, TN WWFV McCaysville, GA [sic --- what about WWRB??] WYFR Okeechobee, FL Freq. Start Stop Call Pow Azm Comments Days 3210 0000 1000 WWCR 100 85 271002-011202 3210 0000 1000 WWCR 100 85 010303-300303 3210 2300 1000 WWCR 100 85 011202-010303 5070 2200 1300 WWCR 100 40 011202-010303 5070 2300 1300 WWCR 100 40 271002-011202 5070 2300 1300 WWCR 100 40 010303-300303 5085 0100 0700 WGTG 50 90 5745 2000 1000 WHRI 100 42 5755 0000 1400 KAIJ 100 320 5810 0445 0800 WYFR 100 44 5810 2000 2300 WYFR 100 44 5825 0000 1300 WEWN 500 20 5825 0000 1300 WEWN 500 285 5835 0000 1800 KIMF 50 135 5850 0200 0300 WSHB 500 315 5850 0300 0400 WSHB 500 42 5850 0400 0600 WSHB 500 25 5850 0600 0800 WSHB 500 25 5935 0000 1400 WWCR 100 46 011202-010303 5935 0100 1300 WWCR 100 46 271002-011202 5935 0100 1300 WWCR 100 46 010303-300303 5950 0245 0800 WYFR 100 285 5950 0945 1300 WYFR 100 355 5950 1945 2145 WYFR 100 355 5950 2145 0600 WYFR 100 355 5985 0445 0700 WYFR 100 315 5985 2145 0445 WYFR 50 181 6040 1000 1600 WHRI 100 42 6065 0100 0445 WYFR 100 355 6085 0945 1400 WYFR 100 181 6095 1000 1300 WSHB 500 173 6095 1000 1300 WSHB 500 25 6105 0745 1100 WYFR 100 160 6175 0800 1000 WYFR 100 142 6185 2000 2100 KSDA 100 330 6890 0100 0700 WGTG 50 90 7315 0000 1000 WHRI 100 157 7355 0300 0745 WYFR 100 44 7355 1045 1245 WYFR 100 315 7355 1400 1500 KNLS 100 285 241102-260103 7355 1500 1600 KNLS 100 285 241102-260103 7355 1600 1700 KNLS 100 285 241102-260103 7355 1700 1800 KNLS 100 330 271002-230203 7355 2300 0300 WRNO 50 20 7365 0900 1000 KNLS 100 300 241102-260103 7365 1000 1100 KNLS 100 285 241102-260103 7365 1100 1200 KNLS 100 300 241102-260103 7365 1200 1300 KNLS 100 300 241102-260103 7385 0000 0300 WRMI 50 317 23456 7385 0300 1000 WRMI 50 317 7395 0300 1600 WRNO 50 20 7395 1600 2300 WRNO 50 20 7415 1300 2100 WBCQ 50 245 7415 2100 0700 WBCQ 50 245 7425 0300 1300 WEWN 500 220 7455 1100 1615 KTWR 100 320 7455 1700 1800 KSDA 100 300 7465 2200 1400 WWCR 100 90 7490 0000 2400 WJCR 50 55 7505 0000 1600 KTBN 100 70 7510 2200 2300 WSHB 500 57 7510 2300 2400 WSHB 500 72 7520 0045 0200 WYFR 100 44 7520 0500 0800 WYFR 100 44 7535 0000 0100 WSHB 500 25 7535 0000 0100 WSHB 500 173 7535 0100 0200 WSHB 500 315 7535 0200 0300 WSHB 500 245 7535 0300 0400 WSHB 500 42 7535 0400 0600 WSHB 500 25 7535 0600 0800 WSHB 500 72 7535 0800 1000 WSHB 500 42 7555 0200 0300 KJES 50 335 7555 0300 0330 KJES 50 20 7580 0500 1000 WHRA 250 90 7580 1945 2245 WYFR 100 44 7580 2300 0500 WHRA 250 45 9320 1600 0100 WGTG 50 90 9335 2100 0500 WBCQ 50 245 9355 0300 0800 WYFR 100 44 9355 1300 1600 WEWN 500 220 9355 1845 2300 WYFR 100 44 9355 2300 0300 WEWN 500 220 9370 0000 2400 WTJC 50 40 9385 1600 1800 KSDA 100 300 9430 0000 0100 WSHB 500 173 9430 0000 0100 WSHB 500 25 9430 0100 0300 WSHB 500 315 9430 1100 1200 KTWR 100 285 9430 1200 1300 WSHB 500 167 9430 1300 1400 WSHB 500 315 9430 1400 1445 KTWR 100 278 9430 1500 1530 KTWR 100 345 12347 9445 2200 2315 KTWR 100 305 9455 0900 1000 WSHB 500 137 9455 1000 1100 WSHB 500 152 9455 1100 1200 WSHB 500 167 9455 1300 1400 WSHB 500 245 9465 0400 0900 WMLK 125 53 9465 1200 1300 KTWR 100 345 9465 1400 1900 KFBS 100 323 9465 1600 2100 WMLK 125 53 9475 1000 1100 WWCR 100 85 9475 1400 2200 WWCR 100 90 9475 2100 2300 WWCR 100 85 011202-010303 9475 2200 0000 WWCR 100 85 010303-300303 9475 2200 0000 WWCR 100 85 271002-011202 9495 1000 1300 WHRI 100 157 9495 1615 1700 KFBS 100 312 9495 1800 2400 WHRI 100 157 9505 0000 0445 WYFR 100 315 9515 2000 2100 KSDA 100 330 9525 0100 0400 WYFR 100 285 9555 0800 1100 WYFR 100 160 9575 0900 1200 WYFR 100 160 9575 1200 1245 WYFR 50 285 9605 0800 1000 WYFR 100 142 9605 1100 1245 WYFR 100 222 9615 0800 0900 KNLS 100 270 271002-260103 9615 0900 1000 KNLS 100 300 260103-300303 9615 0900 1000 KNLS 100 300 271002-241102 9615 1000 1100 KNLS 100 285 271002-241102 9615 1000 1100 KNLS 100 285 260103-300303 9615 1100 1200 KNLS 100 300 260103-300303 9615 1100 1200 KNLS 100 300 271002-241102 9615 1200 1300 KNLS 100 285 260103-300303 9615 1200 1300 KNLS 100 300 271002-241102 9615 1300 1400 KNLS 100 270 241102-260103 9615 1400 1500 KNLS 100 285 271002-241102 9615 1400 1500 KNLS 100 285 260103-300303 9615 1500 1600 KNLS 100 285 260103-300303 9615 1500 1600 KNLS 100 285 271002-241102 9615 1600 1700 KNLS 100 285 271002-241102 9615 1600 1700 KNLS 100 285 260103-300303 9615 1700 1800 KNLS 100 330 230203-300303 9680 0145 0700 WYFR 100 315 9680 0845 1045 WYFR 100 140 9690 0045 0200 WYFR 100 160 9690 2245 0045 WYFR 100 142 9705 0445 0600 WYFR 50 285 9715 0400 0600 WYFR 50 285 9715 2345 0100 WYFR 50 285 9840 0400 0600 WSHB 500 72 9845 0800 0900 WSHB 500 245 9865 0930 1100 KTWR 100 315 9870 1300 1330 KTWR 100 315 9870 1330 1400 KTWR 100 285 9870 1400 1430 KTWR 100 285 6 9870 1400 1445 KTWR 100 285 12345 9870 1400 1500 KTWR 100 285 7 9910 0915 1100 KTWR 100 320 9930 0800 1230 KWHR 100 300 9930 1230 1630 KWHR 100 285 9930 1630 2200 KWHR 100 300 9955 0000 0300 WRMI 50 160 17 9955 0400 0900 WMLK 125 53 9955 0800 1700 KHBN 50 280 9955 1000 1300 WRMI 50 160 9955 1300 1600 WEWN 500 20 9955 1300 1600 WEWN 500 285 9955 2200 2400 KHBN 50 280 9965 0700 1700 KHBN 80 318 9965 2200 2400 KHBN 80 318 9975 0100 0800 KVOH 50 100 9975 1300 1500 KVOH 50 100 9975 2200 2400 WEWN 500 285 9975 2200 2400 WEWN 500 20 9985 0100 0300 WYFR 100 151 9985 0300 0445 WYFR 100 44 9985 0445 0800 WYFR 100 87 9985 0700 1600 KHBN 50 345 9985 2100 2400 KHBN 50 345 11530 0345 0800 WYFR 100 44 11530 1600 2300 WEWN 500 220 11560 1700 1800 KSDA 100 300 11565 0500 1300 KWHR 100 225 11565 2000 2145 WYFR 100 44 11580 0345 0900 WYFR 100 87 11580 0945 1615 KFBS 100 312 11625 1400 1500 KSDA 100 285 11625 1500 1530 KSDA 100 300 11625 1530 1600 KSDA 100 285 11650 0845 1100 KFBS 100 341 11650 1100 1400 KFBS 100 323 11650 2000 2200 WSHB 500 25 11665 1945 2245 WYFR 100 44 11690 2100 2200 KTWR 100 345 11705 1000 1100 KSDA 100 270 11715 1400 1500 KJES 50 70 11715 1500 1600 KJES 50 350 11715 1600 1700 KJES 50 150 11720 1300 1330 KTWR 100 278 11720 2100 2200 KSDA 100 315 11720 2245 0145 WYFR 100 142 11725 1045 1400 WYFR 100 222 11740 0145 0600 WYFR 100 222 11740 0945 1300 WYFR 100 151 11740 1300 1500 WYFR 100 355 11740 2145 2345 WYFR 100 315 11755 1300 1400 KSDA 100 345 11765 0800 0900 KNLS 100 270 260103-300303 11765 1100 1200 KTWR 100 345 11765 1300 1400 KNLS 100 270 271002-241102 11765 1300 1400 KNLS 100 270 260103-300303 11770 0000 0100 KSDA 100 285 11775 1200 1300 KSDA 100 285 11775 2200 2300 KSDA 100 255 11800 1500 1600 KSDA 100 270 11825 0045 0300 WYFR 100 160 11825 1200 1300 KSDA 100 330 11830 1045 1700 WYFR 100 315 11850 1200 1300 KTWR 100 255 11855 2145 0500 WYFR 100 222 11855 2245 0145 WYFR 100 140 11870 1000 1100 KSDA 100 315 11870 1100 1200 KSDA 100 300 11870 1400 1500 KSDA 100 300 11875 0800 1300 WEWN 500 155 11875 2200 2230 KTWR 100 293 6 11875 2200 2245 KTWR 100 293 12345 11875 2200 2300 KTWR 100 293 7 11885 1800 0000 KIMF 50 135 11900 0000 0200 WWBS 50 30 Sun,Sat 17 11900 1000 1100 KSDA 100 315 11900 1030 1100 KTWR 100 248 11900 1100 1200 KSDA 100 330 11960 2100 2200 KSDA 100 315 11970 1145 1345 WYFR 100 285 11970 2100 2200 KSDA 100 315 11970 2200 2300 KSDA 100 300 11970 2300 2400 KSDA 100 330 11975 0000 0200 KSDA 100 315 11975 2300 2400 KSDA 100 300 11980 1300 1400 KSDA 100 315 11980 1300 1400 KSDA 100 315 11980 1600 1700 KSDA 100 285 11980 2100 2200 KSDA 100 345 12020 0400 0500 WSHB 500 72 12020 0500 0600 WSHB 500 102 12105 2230 2300 KTWR 100 285 12120 1300 1430 KFBS 100 278 12130 0915 1615 KTWR 100 305 12130 2200 2315 KTWR 100 305 12160 1000 1600 KHBN 50 270 12160 1300 2300 WWCR 100 40 010303-300303 12160 1300 2200 WWCR 100 40 011202-010303 12160 1300 2300 WWCR 100 40 271002-011202 12160 2300 0600 WINB 50 242 12170 1600 0100 WGTG 50 90 13570 1000 2300 WINB 50 242 13595 0000 2400 WJCR 50 270 13615 1600 2200 WEWN 500 285 13615 1600 2200 WEWN 500 20 13615 2200 0800 WEWN 500 155 13695 1045 1500 WYFR 100 355 13760 1600 2400 WHRI 100 42 13770 2200 2300 WSHB 500 57 13770 2300 2400 WSHB 500 72 13780 2000 2200 WSHB 500 25 DCI [drop carrier immediately] 13815 1400 2400 KAIJ 100 320 13840 1100 1600 KHBN 50 270 13845 1300 0100 WWCR 100 46 271002-011202 13845 1300 0100 WWCR 100 46 010303-300303 13845 1400 0000 WWCR 100 46 011202-010303 15105 1300 1800 WHRI 100 157 15130 1245 1500 WYFR 50 285 15130 2145 2245 WYFR 100 142 15170 2245 0045 WYFR 100 160 15195 0500 0600 WSHB 500 102 15195 2200 2230 KTWR 100 255 15200 0900 0915 KTWR 100 248 12567 15200 0900 0915 KTWR 100 248 34 15200 0915 1000 KTWR 100 248 15200 1100 1230 KTWR 100 248 15215 0715 0900 KTWR 100 278 12345 15215 2300 0300 WYFR 100 160 15225 1200 1300 KSDA 100 270 cs [crash start] 15260 1000 1100 KSDA 100 315 15260 1100 1200 KSDA 100 255 15265 1700 2200 WMLK 125 53 15275 1600 1700 KSDA 100 270 15285 0000 0200 WSHB 500 167 15285 2200 2300 WSHB 500 137 15285 2300 2400 WSHB 500 167 15330 0745 0915 KTWR 100 165 12345 15330 0800 0915 KTWR 100 165 67 15330 0930 1100 KTWR 100 255 15330 1415 1445 KTWR 100 285 15330 1445 1545 KTWR 100 285 15355 1245 1400 WYFR 100 222 15375 1300 1800 WEWN 500 155 15380 0800 1230 KFBS 100 242 15380 1230 1300 KFBS 100 260 15385 1900 2000 KJES 50 270 15385 2000 2100 KJES 50 100 15395 1330 1400 KTWR 100 293 CS DCI 15420 1600 2300 WRNO 50 20 15440 2145 0200 WYFR 100 285 15565 1800 1945 WYFR 100 44 CS 15565 2000 2245 WYFR 100 87 15590 1600 0000 KTBN 100 70 15660 1300 1400 KSDA 100 285 15660 1400 1500 KSDA 100 270 15665 1600 1700 WYFR 100 44 15665 1800 2000 WSHB 500 25 15665 2000 2200 WSHB 500 72 15685 1100 2100 WWCR 100 85 011202-010303 15685 1100 2200 WWCR 100 85 010303-300303 15685 1100 2200 WWCR 100 85 271002-011202 15725 0700 1100 KHBN 50 270 15725 1100 1500 KSDA 100 315 15725 1300 2400 WRMI 50 317 15745 1000 1700 WEWN 500 40 15745 1800 2200 WEWN 500 155 15770 1845 2000 WYFR 100 87 17495 1400 2200 WBCQ 50 245 17510 0000 0400 KWHR 100 300 17510 1300 1500 WYFR 100 160 17510 2200 2400 KWHR 100 285 17575 1245 1600 WYFR 100 140 17575 1945 2245 WYFR 100 140 17595 1700 2400 WEWN 500 85 17635 0000 0200 KSDA 100 315 17640 1500 1530 KSDA 100 300 17640 1530 1600 KSDA 100 285 17650 1600 1900 WHRA 100 45 17650 1900 2300 WHRA 250 90 17760 1345 1700 WYFR 100 285 17760 1700 2000 WYFR 100 44 17775 1500 0100 KVOH 50 100 17780 0400 0800 KWHR 100 300 17790 1545 1945 WYFR 100 87 17815 1500 1600 KSDA 100 285 17835 2200 2400 KSDA 100 270 17845 2300 0045 WYFR 100 160 17880 0000 0200 KSDA 100 300 17880 2200 2400 KSDA 100 315 18910 1600 1800 WSHB 500 72 18910 1800 2000 WSHB 500 102 18930 1600 1845 WYFR 100 44 18980 1545 1945 WYFR 100 44 21455 1545 2000 WYFR 100 44 21525 1945 2245 WYFR 100 87 21745 1545 1745 WYFR 100 44 Note Days: 1=Sunday .. 7=Saturday (FCC webpage via Dr. Juergen Kubiak, Berlin - Germany, WWDXC via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Re gh`s comments in 2-179 on Voz Cristã: Mui prezado Glenn. Cordiais saudações. Porque estes comentarios? Seus comentarios são altamente ofensivos a milhões de cristãos de todo o mundo, do Brasil, e também ofensivos a mim. Desde criança, vou todos os fins-de-semana à Igreja Evangélica, e com certeza absoluta, posso afirmar que o que a Voz Cristã transmite juntamente com outras boas emissoras evangélicas cristãs do mundo de fala portuguesa (TransWorld Radio, Family Radio, HCJB, etc...), de uma forma que refletem exatamente o estilo de comunicação que o povo brasileiro está acostumado a ouvir. Bem diferente do estilo norte-americano, ou europeu, que tem uma comunicação mais coloquial. Portanto, Glenn, sendo seu amigo, e considerando-o como um grande amigo meu, gostaria sinceramente de não mais verificar comentários anti-religiosos em sua ótima coluna diária, pois isto tem afetado diversos colegas dexistas brasileiros, que como eu, além de serem evangélicos praticantes, não tem visto este tipo de comentário com bons olhos. Um forte abraço, e espero que continuemos juntos nesta boas causa do dexismo, que tem trazido muitas alegrias a todos (Rudolf W. Grimm, São Bernardo, SP, Brasil, Nov 18, http://www.radioways.cjb.net DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rudolf, no offense was meant to you personally. But the `millions of Christians` who want to shove their totally imaginary beliefs down our throats --- are offensive to me. And once in a while I remark on this, if nothing else than to make it clear there is another point of view, which is all too seldom expressed. My occasional brief remarks are a drop in the bucket compared to the 24/7 torrents of evangelism emanating from gigawatts of transmitters and terareams of print. If Voz Cristã were to do a genuine DX program without interrupting for religious elements every few minutes, they would be in for no such criticism. But can you imagine this ever happening? Everything is viewed as a means to pulling in and converting innocent bystanders. Believe me, in order to report on SW, so much of which is religious, I put up with a lot more than you have to with my occasional remarks promoting rationality. As long as there are evangelical broadcasters, it will be impossible to divorce this subject from DXing. Program content matters. However, I deal with monotheists all the time, and as long as they don`t start preaching at me, there is no problem. Unfortunately the very raison d`être of stations such as VC is --- to preach --- constantly. I can accept and tolerate the fact that you believe in this, and still coöperate with you in matters of DXing. I hope you and others can do the same with me (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Subject : Liberal Oxide http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/radio/cl-et-carney18nov18,0,7085848.story?coll=cl%2Dradio TELEVISION & RADIO Saving voices of a generation The Pacifica radio network is in a race against time to salvage its disintegrating library of historic tapes. By Steve Carney, Special to The [L.A.] Times, November 18 2002 Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abbie Hoffman, César Chávez -- these and other famous figures from American history may be gone, but their voices live on in a massive library of recordings at the Pacifica radio network. But those are in danger of fading away too. Housed at the network's local affiliate, KPFK-FM (90.7) in North Hollywood, most of the 47,000-tape collection resides in a packed storage room, cooled by an air conditioner meant for a space half the size. Faced with inadequate facilities and deteriorating acetate and magnetic recordings, Pacifica's five-station network, which includes stations in Berkeley, Houston, New York and Washington, D.C., is planning a daylong pledge drive Tuesday to raise $200,000 to help restore, preserve and house the tapes. "It's a recorded history of the 1st Amendment," said J. Brian DeShazor, the Pacifica archives manager. "Every American should understand it and appreciate it and help fund it. It is our collective history." Among the selections from the network's 53-year history is a recording of King's 1968 jailhouse visit with Joan Baez, imprisoned in Northern California during an antiwar protest. A Pacifica reporter was there and taped the meeting. "That tape has already deteriorated in sound quality. We could lose some of those rare, valuable recordings that represent our 1st Amendment," DeShazor said. The recordings are significant not just because of the speakers and the messages they convey, he said, but also because of the power of the voices themselves -- greater than simply words on a printed page. For example, DeShazor described a recording of civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, who was brutalized by police for leading voter registration efforts in Mississippi. "You hear in her voice how she had been beaten for so many years, but you can also hear how she had been empowered," he said. "You can hear all of her struggle. It's very powerful." Tuesday's programming will feature selections from the archives, focusing on topics including civil rights, civil liberties, women's studies, Native American rights and the peace movement, and donors can receive excerpts as premiums. "They are sitting on a treasure," said Ruth Seymour, general manager at KCRW-FM (89.9), who was arts director at KPFK in the early '60s and program director in the 1970s. "If you really wanted to go back and do a compendium on American life, they have stuff that boggles the mind. It's very valuable." But the recordings aren't all political rhetoric and firebrand speeches. The library also includes landmarks of arts and literature, with performances by jazz great Duke Ellington, folk singer Pete Seeger, blues singer Big Mama Thornton and pianist Bill Evans, among many others. Ernest Hemingway reads "In Harry's Bar in Venice," Bette Davis discusses youth and age in Hollywood, and Maya Angelou recites a poem about womanhood. And in a nod to the radio drama that had been a staple of Pacifica programming, the network commissioned a remake of the classic thriller "Sorry, Wrong Number," starring Shirley Knight and Ed Asner. That will air at 4 p.m. Tuesday [0000 UT Wed] on KPFK (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. KICA-980 Clovis NM and KMUL-1380 Muleshoe TX are owned by the same people. They are presently building improved facilities for both stations that have some unique features. KICA will increase to 50000/118 UT and KMUL will move to Farwell, TX and leave 1380 for 830 kHz with 50000/9 U5. The NM license will have a three-tower system in TX while the TX license will have a two-tower system in NM. The non- direxional night powers for both stations will share a common 170 foot tower at a third site in downtown Clovis. Even tho Clovis and Farwell are fairly close we wonder how well the 9 watts at KMUL will cover the city of license from a distance of 12 miles. Construxion on both will begin in 2003 (Buffalo K. Foonman and his imaginary friend Jerry Starr, AM Switch, NRC DX News Nov 18 via DXLD) ** U S A. PROJECT TO STOP RADIO 'RAIN FADE' http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/v-print/story/1904568p-1888269c.html BY GLENN MAFFEI, Special to The Packet Published Tuesday, November 12th, 2002 Loyal public radio listeners in Beaufort County notice lost signals in areas that usually get perfect reception. The intermittent dead air on Beaufort County's National Public Radio affiliate, WJWJ-FM -- most recently Monday and Friday -- lasts for minutes or extends for hours, depending on the rain. "Rain fade," as radio representatives call it, occurs when the Green Pond tower in northeastern Beaufort County is hit with at least an inch of rain an hour. All summer, the 20-year-old satellite-feeding system has left listeners at the mercy of the weather, which, when severe enough, acts as a "metal blanket across the satellite dish," said John Crockett, manager of transmitter operations at South Carolina Educational Television in Columbia, which operates the radio station. Technicians constantly monitor the state's weather radar for signs severe conditions may interfere with signals, Crockett said. But even fair warning of an approaching storm doesn't give technicians in Columbia any leeway to prevent the lost signals. "Unfortunately, we don't have any alternative to getting a signal there," Crockett said. That will be the case until April, when an $18 million state-funded project to update the antiquated system to a digital microwave system is completed, effectively stopping the dead air from occurring. The new system will have two receiver towers instead of one, and will give South Carolina Public Radio's affiliate in Bluffton the ability to broadcast Beaufort-specific information during hurricane evacuations and other emergencies, which it cannot do now. Infrastructure work at the transmitter site to prepare to install the microwave equipment shut down broadcasting for six hours on two days during off-peak hours last week, Crockett said. Copyright © 2002 The Island Packet (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. US PUBLIC NOT IN TUNE WITH WEATHER RADIO USE From: The Tennessean, By ANDY HUMBLES, Staff Writer The number of transmitter towers for weather radios, intended to warn the public of deadly storms such as the ones that struck Tennessee last weekend, is increasing nationwide and in the Midstate because of homeland-security funding. Only about 10%-15% of both the national and state populations are still out of reach of weather radio transmission, said Anthony Haynes, director of the state 911 board. He and National Weather Service officials agree that some areas within range do not receive a high- quality signal. But few people own radios that would pick up the warning transmission. Seventeen people were killed in Tennessee by tornadoes and severe storms that struck last weekend. ''We want to make sure a very high percentage of the population will be within weather-radio range. It's the fastest way to get weather warnings, but weather transmitters have also been used for emergency situations,'' said Jerry Orchanian, National Weather Service warning coordinator at the Middle Tennessee office in Old Hickory. ''They can be used in emergencies such as biological or chemical attacks, which the government has stressed since 9/11. It could help with different wrecks, where you might have toxic fumes. As soon as there is an emergency, emergency management agencies call us.'' But while the number of towers is going up, officials such as Haynes and Orchanian still face the challenge of getting people to purchase weather radio equipment, which can blast an alarm signal for broadcasts of new watches and warnings. Orchanian estimated that only 10%-15% of the Nashville-area population owned weather radio equipment. And many radios that are purchased probably are not being used, said Sam Herron, a Weather Service meteorologist. ''It's $40-$60 and can save your life. . People spend more on smoke detectors,'' Haynes said. But Haynes says weather radio, run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is now ''at least on the radar screen'' in Washington. And in Middle Tennessee new weather radio transmitter towers in Centerville and Lobelville became operational in September, increasing the Midstate's number from six to eight. Orchanian says five more sites in Middle Tennessee have been approved by the National Weather Service's Southern Region Headquarters for new towers. A sixth, in Lincoln County, is being considered. Weather service officials say directors of emergency management agencies or local electric companies requested the federal grants. ''The last remaining parts to deploy a signal to are the most difficult,'' Haynes said. ''It's a classic example of how rural America gets left behind.'' Haynes served as a deputy administrator of the Rural Utilities Service U.S. Department of Agriculture 1993-2001 and worked with a group that then-Vice President Al Gore organized to upgrade weather radios to receive warnings about all types of hazards including bioterrorist threats. ''The vice president said he wanted coverage completed and weather radio systems as common as smoke detectors,'' Haynes said. ''But for the last 15 years completing coverage of NOAA weather radio never really got off the ground. There has never been the needed political support behind NOAA weather radio to get the job done.'' If weather radios were as commonplace as smoke detectors, Herron said, it would be hard to determine how that would have changed the impact of last week's storms. ''I would only be speculating,'' Herron said. ''But we have found most people felt they were warned in most cases and were able to take some action and came out better because of that.'' (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. BAD NEWS -- NATIONWIDE STUDY PANS CHANNEL 4, PRAISES 2 AND 5 [Nashville TN] By Matt Pulle If Channel 4 were a horse, it would be shot. The Project for Excellence in Journalism has released a study concluding that WSMV- Channel 4's newscast is among the worst of the 53 stations it surveyed and "by far the worst in Nashville." The study, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, slapped the station with a grade of "D," marking yet another public setback in what has been a humiliating year for the tradition-rich Channel 4. Over the last 12 months, WSMV has endured slumping ratings, high- profile staff defections and a series of devastating stories in the Nashville City Paper chronicling the station's use of a "Time Machine" device to shrink prime time broadcasts and squeeze in more advertising. Channel 4 news director Mark Shafer admits that the station has gone through a challenging period, but he insists his outfit is starting to click. "While I respect the opinion of the people at the Pew Center and think they are fine folks, I respect the people of Middle Tennessee more," he says. "I think we have a great television station here and have a really good product that people are responding to right now." Although it's early in the November sweeps, Channel 4 has a slim lead in the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts for the first time in nearly a year. Those were time slots that Channel 4 used to dominate without breaking a sweat. The station is losing, however, to its rivals for the morning, midday and 10 p.m. newscasts. During the critical May sweeps, Channel 4 lost to Channel 5 in every time slot. Critics have claimed that management's recent emphasis on short, fast-paced news is not only ratings cancer, it's bad journalism. "I assume there are going to be many changes at Channel 4," says Robert Spires, chairman of the Department of Electronic Media Communication at MTSU, who says the station's grade may be too harsh. "They are going to look at this and say, wait, we don't want to be graded with a 'D.' " Meanwhile, Channel 4's two main rivals, which once barely even registered on the station's competitive radar, garnered impressive scores from the Washington, D.C.-based think tank. In fact, top rival WTVF-Channel 5 landed an "A," finishing 11th overall. The study concluded that Channel 5 "had the most stories focusing on public malfeasance, the most mix of opinions in the market and strong enterprise reporting." "I think this clearly said to my staff that they are doing quality journalism," Channel 5 news director Mike Cutler says. In the study, researchers for the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is loosely affiliated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, reviewed two weeks of newscasts--March 4-8 and April 29-May 3--the latter period representing the start of May sweeps. (That's also when Channel 5's Phil Williams began airing his series on Davidson County Clerk Bill Covington and his beer- fetching employee.) Because the study only reviewed 10 p.m. newscasts, WZTV-Fox 17 wasn't included. The Project's extensive survey evaluates each station according to several journalistic standards, including the local relevance of stories, the depth of stories, original reporting and the number of sources typically interviewed per story. In addition to Channel 5, WKRN-Channel 2 scored well in the survey, receiving a "B" and surpassing several larger stations in Chicago, Houston and New York. According to the study, Channel 2's stories "had the most local relevance and the fewest national stories without an angle." WKRN, an ABC affiliate, typically finds its newscasts a distant third in the ratings behind Channels 4 and 5, dragged down in no small part by the low ratings of ABC's prime time shows. "Because we're generally third in the ratings, people may think we're the third station in the market," says Channel 2 reporter Jay Korff, "but day in and day out, we hold our own and sometimes do better than anyone." The study's critique of Channel 4 was particularly strong, detailing a laundry list of journalistic transgressions. "The station has the most stories from feeds or other wire sources and aired the most national stories with no connection to the local audience," the report reads. "It had the most stories sourced anonymously or using only passing references, the fewest stories featuring a mix of opinions, and was the least likely to air stories featuring expert sources. Many of WSMV's stories had no sources at all." Channel 4's Shafer says that the report's disdain for shorter stories is misplaced. "There's no secret that we're airing more stories, which in some cases means shorter stories. But that means that we're getting into a lot more neighborhood and more hometowns than our competitors are, and we're proud of that." Although the report gives sterling reviews to Channels 2 and 5, it doesn't give them a free pass. Channel 2 is criticized for too many crime stories and "no stories focused on public malfeasance or significant trends in the news." Still, Channel 2 is perhaps the most consistent and reliable station in the market. To use an industry phrase, it needs to air more "appointment television"--news stories that viewers arrange their schedules to catch. Meanwhile, the report makes note of Channel 5's fascination with "pop culture." The station corroborated that criticism this week airing a news series called Tennessee CSI, a blatant sweeps ploy based on the popular forensics drama that just happens to run on Channel 5. But while Channel 5 can overstep the bounds of sensible journalism, it also shows an admirable dedication to hard news. Last August, in the wake of a series of reports from Phil Williams investigating state contracts given to Gov. Don Sundquist's friends, the governor's office pulled $160,000 in highway safety ads from the station. In many mid- market stations, that might have made Williams a pariah among the money people. Not at Channel 5. "I ran into the general manager in the parking lot that day, and she told me to keep doing what I do," Williams recalls. "That was an outstanding example of the kind of support I get." All content is © 1995-2002 Nashville Scene unless otherwise noted (via Charles Gossett, TN, DXLD) ** U S A. Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day is December 7 From ARRL NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 16, 2002--The fourth annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) takes place December 7 (UTC). This is the day that Amateur Radio operators set up stations at National Weather Service (NWS) offices and contact other operators around the world. The event is sponsored by the ARRL and the National Weather Service. "The purpose of the event is to recognize the vital public service contribution that Amateur Radio operators make during National Weather Service severe weather warning operations," said David Floyd, N5DBZ, warning coordination meteorologist, at the NWS Goodland, Kansas, office. "It also strengthens the bond between Amateur Radio operators and the local National Weather Service office." For several decades now, hams have assisted the NWS by providing real- time reports of severe weather and storm evolution. Although the NWS operates a network of 120 Doppler radars to track severe storms, at greater ranges weather radar has a difficult time sampling conditions close to the ground. The information radio operators located near a storm can provide plays a key role in aiding forecasters. Just this month, SKYWARN operators in several states activated to spot and track an outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes November 10. SKYWARN Recognition Day will take place December 7 from 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC. Scott Mentzer, N0QE, who's the meteorologist-in-charge of the NWS office in Goodland, Kansas, is the creator and annual organizer of SRD. "There are currently 92 stations officially registered to participate," Mentzer said this week, adding that he expects the number to rise to at least 96. That's up from the 80 NWS sites that participated during last year's event. In previous years, participating operators have communicated with stations in Chile, South Korea, New Zealand, The Philippines, Denmark, Croatia, South Africa and Japan. Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, the assistant Amateur Radio coordinator for W4EHW at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, operates the station during the 2001 NWS-ARRL SKYWARN Recognition Day event. Most participating NWS stations will operate on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, and 2 meters using SSB and FM. Some sites will employ other modes, however, including PSK31, packet and CW. The use of repeaters is allowed. All contacts will be made utilizing the General or Novice portion of the bands. Stations will exchange signal report, location and a one-word description of the current weather at their respective locations ("sunny," "partly cloudy," "windy," etc). This is not a contest, so no scoring will be computed. Since SRD is being held on Pearl Harbor Day, each NWS office will transmit a special message from approximately 1800 to 1900 UTC-- approximately the time of the Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, attack on December 7, 1941--to honor the World War II veterans. Operators working the NWS office in Honolulu during the SRD plus any NWS office between 1800 and 1900 UTC during this year's SRD will earn a special endorsement. Mentzer says the digital mode endorsement will be eliminated this year, however. "There simply haven't been too many people who have qualified for this in past SRDs," he said. The digital endorsement may be replaced by an endorsement for working stations having a WX prefix. A full endorsement list will be available on the SRD Web site. In another twist, Mentzer says, a number of NWS offices will be equipped to support Internet Radio Linking Project stations. The deadline to register an NWS site is December 1. Contact Mentzer to register. The NWS offers participation and endorsement certificates to Amateur Radio operators who request one along with their log sheet(s). To obtain your certificate, submit a list of all NWS SRD stations that you worked and indicate any endorsement applied for. Enclose a self- addressed, stamped envelope and mail it National Weather Service, 920 Armory Rd, Goodland, KS 67735. Complete information is available on the 2002 SKYWARN Recognition Day Web site. http://hamradio.noaa.gov/ (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. SOUR TIMES FOR WEB RADIO From BBC News Sunday, 17 November, 2002, 09:05 GMT http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/technology/2481895.stm As the number of online radio stations grows, ClickOnline's North American Technology Correspondent Ian Hardy looks at the challenges facing webcasters. It has never been easier to own and operate a radio station. One quick click online reveals hundreds, if not thousands, of music streams that provide beats all day and all night Many music fans argue that traditional terrestrial radio in America has reached an all-time low - a small number of huge companies playing the same tiny selection of well-known hits to maximise listenership. Internet radio pioneer Air Shohat, founder of the DigitallyImported website, is fed up with the whole system. "What happens is that everything which could be considered niche programming can be cut out and you practically have the top 40 all over the place," he said. "That way they don't take the gamble that if somebody doesn't like a specific kind of jazz or electronic music they don't have to worry about this." Mr Shohat's station plays a number of streams covering trance, hard trance, hard house and Eurodance - music that is difficult if impossible to find on the FM dial in New York. There is an argument that if people hear something they're going to want to buy it, but people are not consuming music that way Thousands of people are listening at any given moment. No wonder the music industry, fronted by Soundexchange, has long wanted to collect royalties for the songs being played. "Webcasters think of themselves as being promotional, helping to sell records," said John Simson, executive director of Soundexchange. "Record companies are not so sure that it's promotional and I think the evidence is spotty at best. "There is the knee-jerk argument that if people hear something they're going to want to buy it, but more and more people are not consuming music that way. "If they have a great channel that plays great Chicago blues all day long then maybe that's all they need. They don't need a compilation record of Chicago blues anymore because anytime they want to hear it they just switch on their computer and go to that station." The Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998 formally made webcasting an act of publishing and hence performance fees are due retroactively. The costs involved per listener are now about a couple of cents an hour, maybe a penny each for streaming costs and licence fees The Librarian of Congress initially set the rate at 0.14 cents per song per listener then slashed it in half after an outcry from the internet radio operators. But almost no webcasters have been handing over the cash. That is because small time streamers cannot afford the fees which in some cases amount to tens of thousands of dollars. The music industry has had little sympathy claiming that everyone from students to serious music buffs are operating with non-feasible business models, something internet radio enthusiasts deny. "It's clearly a sustainable model, it's exactly the same model as broadcast radio," said Kurt Hanson, from the lobby group, SaveInternetRadio. "The costs involved per listener are now about a couple of cents an hour, maybe a penny each for streaming costs and licence fees. Radio commercials sell for a penny per commercial per listener. "So theoretically once advertisers get comfortable with the idea of digital streaming radio being just a different delivery medium then you get revenues. The idea that it's not a viable model is silly." The likes of Yahoo and AOL have no problem paying the royalties on a per song per listener basis. But for DigitallyImported it could spell the end of a highly popular, yet unprofitable enterprise because as yet revenues are tiny to non- existent. "If it's a fair share of the proceeds then fine," said Mr Shohat. "For example if I could make $10,000 a year and they want a fair share of that then by all means. "But what actually happened is that the rates that were set in the US come out to way over 200% of what we make a year." Last month there looked to be a breakthrough. Small webcasters and Soundexchange reached an agreement in which the former was to pay the latter between 8 and 12% of their revenues as royalties. But as the Bill reached the Senate for final approval one senator, Jesse Helms, placed a hold on the legislation, putting the entire future of small online stations in jeopardy. Now everyone is waiting to see if the Senate will reconsider the bill and jumpstart a technologically advanced industry that suffers from a lagging legal structure (via Ricky Leong and Mike Terry, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos Colega Glen[n] Hauser. Espero se encuentre bien. El motivo de mi correo es para saludarlo y hacerle llegar el sonido de esta nueva radio [90.7 FM] que se encuentra transmitiendo desde La Plaza Altamira en Caracas donde se encuentran los militares disidentes. Espero que el mismo sea de su interés. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Locutor y Productor del Programa Sintonía DX en Unión Radio Porteñas 640, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos colegas diexistas. Espero que todos estén bien. Hace pocos minutos fue atacado el Canal de Televisión Globovisión. Fueron lanzados artefactos incendiarios hacia el local de la televisión; esto motivó que varios automóviles pertenecientes a trabajadores de la empresa se incendiaran. La rápida intervención del cuerpo de bomberos impidió que el fuego se extendiera para los estudios de la planta televisiva. Las llamas que cubrían a los automóviles eran impactantes. La dirección de este canal en la web para más noticias es la Siguiente: http://www.globovision.com Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Nov 18, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 9779.65, Radio San'a Yemen 1824-1900 Nov 16, English broadcast with gradually improving signal. Commentary and Western pop music. News including Iraq coverage, Radio Sana`a IDs, and (to borrow a phrase) a very "tubby little anthem," before switching to Arabic and ME music at the hour (Ross Comeau, Chamberlain ME DXpedition, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. During the whole stay no shortwave transmissions could be observed from Zimbabwe (Markus Weidner, currently in South Africa, as reported to A-DX Mailing List, via Willi Passmann, Nov 18, DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-179, November 17, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1156: RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 7445 and/or 15039 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415; first airing Wed 2300 7415, 17495 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1156.html WORLD OF RADIO WEBCASTING You might recall me telling you last week that it took me 47 minutes to listen to the 29-minute programme World of Radio. Well, this week, I started listening again via the World of Radio website using the highest-quality version. Once again, the breaks (or should they be called pauses, since none of the programme was missed) caused presumably by buffering were extremely long and of considerable nuisance value, causing loss of concentration on the programme. So after about 5 minutes of the programme, which took about 10 minutes to listen to, I decided to abandon listening via that site, and switched to the WRN site instead. This resulted in uninterrupted listening, so that the 29-minute programme actually took 29 minutes to listen to via streaming audio. So, I reckon I will use the WRN site in future, remembering to wait until Friday evening at least to do so. (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, swprograms via DXLD) Paul: Someone might have suggested this before, but why not download the program to your hard drive and listen offline? That would likely solve the dropout problem. If disk space is a concern, you can just delete the file after listening to it (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Paul seems to be unaware of it, but people in his situation are exactly the reason I am now availablizing both high and low versions of WOR; why doesn`t he use the low version? I tested the high version from k4cc.net site where I upload it, and there were no buffering interruptions on my computer (gh) Another place you can hear WOR if you can`t get WBCQ on shortwave at 2300 GMT Wednesday is via the WBCQ live webcast on http://www.live365.com/stations/18390 They say it`s a relay broadcast -- so does that mean someone is picking it up on a shortwave radio like the old RFPI webcast? (if so they must be pretty close) (Joel Rubin, NY, swprograms via DXLD) Pittsburgh, Complex Variables Studio, I think. Probably ideal skip distance on 7415 (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. PRESS GROUP CRITICIZES CENSORSHIP, INTIMIDATION BY AFGHAN REGIONAL OFFICIALS --- By Ron Synovitz The Paris-based nongovernmental organization Reporters Without Borders says that a year after the collapse of the Taliban regime, many Afghan journalists still face the threat of physical attack, even death, if they report on sensitive issues. The remarks were published on 13 November in a study that highlights a series of incidents where provincial governors or regional militia commanders have clamped down on Afghan journalists and the Afghan nationals who help foreign journalists report critically about the commanders. Reporters Without Borders says there are many positive signs about press freedom within Kabul itself. For example, today`s report notes that there are now some 150 news publications circulating in Kabul. But a spokesman for Reporters Without Borders, Vincent Brossels, told RFE/RL that many Afghan journalists are prone to self-censorship out of fear of reprisal from allies of government ministers or commanders of the regional armed factions across Afghanistan. "One year after the fall of the Taliban, especially in Kabul, I think the situation is quite positive. But there are still some dangerous aspects for journalists, especially outside of Kabul, because the situation in the capital and other Afghan towns is very different," Brossels said. Brossels said the efforts of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to encourage a free and independent press differ sharply from the actions of some provincial leaders. Brossels pointed to Herat Province Governor Ismail Khan and ethnic Uzbek militia commander Abdul Rashid Dostum in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif as local leaders who Reporters Without Borders believes are actively suppressing journalists. "We know that the government of President Hamid Karzai has made many efforts toward [establishing] press freedom, especially to permit the private press to develop in the capital. But other [governing officials in the provinces], like Ismail Khan and Abdul Rashid Dostum, or others, have been trying to prevent the development of a free press in the country," Brossels said. As an example, Brossels noted cases of Afghan journalists being beaten by members of regional militias after they have filed reports that are critical of regional commanders. "Currently, there is a huge problem in Mazar-i-Sharif. When you are trying to investigate about sensitive issues like the mass graves of Taliban soldiers, or when you are trying to investigate the wrongdoings of local warlords or even government ministers, you can be in trouble," Brossels said. Delegates from Reporters Without Borders met recently with officials in the Afghan Information Ministry to discuss legal changes needed to bring Afghanistan`s press laws in line with international standards. Brossels said those talks have been encouraging. "We`ve gotten some good feedback from [the Afghan Information Ministry], especially about the [Afghan] press law. And we hope that soon they will make real reforms of the press law, and also of the Criminal Code, to prevent the jailing of journalists because of their writings. Because still, this threat is [hanging over the] heads of the journalists in Afghanistan," Brossels said. Reporters Without Borders points out that it is still forbidden for many subjects to be written about by Afghan journalists. It says such restrictions often lead Afghan journalists to approach with caution any story focusing on Islam, ethnic tensions, the alleged crimes of regional militia commanders or other threats to Afghan national unity. It notes that at least one Afghan newspaper has been closed since the fall of the Taliban due to allegations that it had "insulted Islam." The group also notes the kidnapping and beating of an Afghan cameraman named Najib who had helped a British reporter make a documentary film about the deaths of hundreds of Taliban soldiers near Mazar-i-Sharif. The documentary blamed the deaths on General Dostum. Brossels said there is an enormous difference emerging in the kind of reporting done by Afghanistan`s state broadcast media compared to the private Afghan newspapers and international radio stations that work in Afghanistan. "There is a very specific style in the news of the government [broadcast] media. And the government is still controlling this media. There is not much voice for criticism of the authorities. But the opportunity is there now for Afghans to get a few international radio stations with programs in Pashto and Dari. It`s really a big opportunity," Brossels said. Reporters Without Borders is also accusing the U.S. military of keeping international media, including the Associated Press Television Network, out of some zones where U.S. troops have been operating. It says U.S. troops or their Afghan allies have suppressed at least six journalists and detained one Pakistani newsman. The group also says the U.S. military tried to prevent journalists from investigating the killings of some 50 Afghan civilians attending a wedding party in July when U.S. aircraft targeted villages in the central province of Uruzgan. Ron Synovitz is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Prague (RFE/RL Media Matters Nov 15 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. What is with these European Broadcasters????? This kind of news is all too common. I wish these people would get a clue, and stop dismantling. I find it very hard to believe that every fricken government in Europe does not have any money to fund their shortwave service. It`s getting mighty old! (Vince Ponzio, KA3NRX, Pittsburgh, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here some further news items and comments from Christoph Ratzer. Summary: ORF expected a loss of 50 million EUR for 2002 but instead the outcome of the first three quarters is a profit of 25 million EUR. Members of the council state that they are against a rash closure of ROI and criticize the ORF management for already preparing the wind-up of ROI although there is not any decision to close the service so far. Re the mention of the Moosbrunn station in one of the first press reports: This was basically just a statement that the operation of the facilities can be maintained by leasing airtime to other customers. So the site is hardly affected by the situation. If ROI really disappears Moosbrunn will continue to transmit some ORF programming for a few hours per day and otherwise try to sell even more airtime. ORF will still have access to the site; it`s simply their own. It`s not like Radio Australia, it`s like Radio Norway: The management no longer wants to maintain a foreign service (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subject: [A-DX] Dem ORF geht es gut! Hallo A-DXer, Sachen gibt`s... Hier hat uns jemand die besten Argumente für den Weitererhalt von ROI frei Haus geliefert. Nachdem in der - hörenswerten - aktuellen Ausgabe von Intermedia, dem Medienprogramm von Radio Österreich International auch das Thema ROI behandelt wurde, und Chefredakteur Kerbler sinngemäß ausführte das ROI ja deswegen eingestellt werden KÖNNTE weil der ORF so sparen müsse und die Zeiten schlecht sind, kann man sich aus den folgenden Meldungen sein eigenes Bild machen. Übrigens waren gerade die sinkenden Werbeeinnahmen (welche 50% des ORF Budgets ausmachen) der Hauptgrund den ROI Chefredakteur Kerbler für die mögliche Schliessung von ROI nannte. Zuerst ein Auszug aus der österreichischen Werbezeitung "medianet" vom 15.11.02, auch in deren Netzausgabe zu finden: http://www.medianet.at/dynamic.cfm?SID=16024 ORF Zwischenbilanz: Gewinne statt Verluste Wien. Während seine Branchenkollegen krampfhaft angehalten werden ``nicht zu raunzen``, setzt Alexander Wrabetz sein schönstes ``Sunnyboylächeln`` auf: Ihm gehe es gut, weil es dem ORF gut gehe. Zur Überraschung der Branche und entgegen seiner eigenen Prognose legt der Kaufmännische Direktor des ORF einen Periodenüberschuss von 21 Mio. E für die ersten drei Quartale des heurigen Jahres im medianet- Exklusivgespräch auf den Tisch: Hatte sich doch das Führungsduo Lindner und Wrabetz vom Stiftungsrat ein Budget für 2002 mit einem geplanten Jahresverlust von 50 Mio. E genehmigen lassen. Zuwachs bei Werbeerlösen ``Die werbetreibende Wirtschaft hat nach den großen Umstellungen der letzten Monate wieder Vertrauen in den ORF gefasst``, ist Wrabetz überzeugt. Und die Zahlen geben ihm recht: Trotz stark rückläufiger Werbeausgaben in Österreich konnte der ORF im heurigen Sommerquartal sogar gegenüber dem Vorjahr bei den Nettowerbeerlösen zulegen: Mit 64,1 Mio. E lagen diese im Quartal III/2002 gegenüber 63,4 Mio. E 2001 deutlich besser als ursprünglich angenommen. Dazu passend ein Auszug aus einem Artikel der österreichischen Tageszeitung "Die Presse", Abendausgabe vom 13.11.02 in der im zweiten Absatz der oben erwähnte kaufmännische Direktor Wrabetz zu Wort kommt. "Diese Entscheidung ist sicher noch nicht gefallen", meinte Wirtschaftskammer-Generalsekretär und VP-naher ORF-Stiftungsrat Christian Domany am Dienstag auf Anfrage der "Presse". Über das geplante Aus für das ORF-Kurzwellenradio "Radio Österreich International" (RÖI) muß das oberste Gremium des ORF, der Stiftungsrat im Dezember entscheiden. Bis dahin erwartet sich Domany von der Geschäftsführung die Erarbeitung von "entscheidungsreifen Unterlagen". "Ich will genau wissen, wo der Markt und wer die Zielgruppe ist sowie in wie weit das Internet das Service von RÖI übernehmen kann." Am Montag hatte sich bereits SP-Stiftungsrat Karl Krammer gegen ein übereiltes Zusperren des Senders ausgesprochen und kritisiert, daß die Geschäftsführung die Schließung des Senders betreibe ohne den Beschluß des Rates abzuwarten. Dem widerspricht der kaufmännische Direktor des ORF Alexander Wrabetz: Zwar sei die RÖI-Schließung Teil des Finanzplanes 2003, der dieser Tage zur Begutachtung an die Räte ergehe, "der Beschluß ist aber Sache des Stiftungsrates". "Wenn der Stiftungsrat anderer Meinung ist, muß der Plan umgeschrieben werden." Bis dahin setze der ORF jedoch keine irreversiblen Schritte. Weiterhin guten Empfang aus Salzburg! (Christoph Ratzer, A-DX via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. 6715U, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, 2253-2329 (possible sign off) Nov 15, male preacher with sermon in Korean followed by religious vocals and hymns. Fair signal but occasional overrun by RTTY QRM. At 2329 after brief piano segment, the station was covered by RTTY. When noise subsided, the station was gone. Report sent to pulse@121.net bounced (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** CHINA. PRESS FREEDOM IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS Thu Nov 14 12:27AM ET BEIJING (Reuters) - China`s state media trumpeted the 16th Congress of the Communist Party as the most open ever, but some things just never appear to change. Pressed by Reuters about whether the first plenum of the new Central Committee would be held on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, an official at the congress press centre snapped: "It`s none of your business." The week-long congress, due to end on Thursday, has been shrouded in secrecy, with Chinese journalists warned of imprisonment if they leak information. The Chinese people were just as in the dark as journalists about the secret leadership reshuffle, which will see Jiang Zemin retire as party chief and hand the post to Vice President Hu Jintao, head of a younger generation of leaders. As votes were cast to elect the new Central Committee, the country`s top state television channel CCTV 1 aired a children`s show featuring a man dressed as an enormous chicken (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. "BOMBAZO" EN RCN Cristián Herrera, Redactor, La Opinión A las 11:15 de la noche de ayer un carrobomba estalló frente a las instalaciones de la cadena radial RCN, en la calle 5 con avenida 0, del barrio Lleras Restrepo de Cúcuta. La explosión, que se sintió en casi toda la ciudad, provocó alarma y conmoción. Minutos antes del atentado, nueve individuos intentaron tomarse la casa fiscal del comandante de la Policía, pero la escolta respondió el ataque. Cerca a las instalaciones de RCN tiene su residencia el comandante de la Policía y en el frente funciona una emisora que pertenece a la curia arquidiocesana. Los sospechosos se desplazaron en dos taxis que fueron robados en las horas de la tarde. Como la toma no se llevó a cabo, los terroristas procedieron a accionar la bomba que detonó frente a las instalaciones de la cadena radial. Sus oficinas quedaron totalmente destruidas al igual que la emisora de La Misericordia, de la Diócesis de Cúcuta. Según testigos, los autores del atentado llegaron en los dos taxis y en uno llevaban el artefacto con más de 40 kilos de explosivo. En el lugar se vivieron momentos de terror y miedo, la gente corría despavorida al saber que podría haber otra bomba. El otro automotor fue dejado al lado del carrobomba, lo que hizo pensar a las autoridades que se trataba de un vehículo con igual poder explosivo y destructivo. Luego de una intensa revisión, las autoridades pudieron establecer que el vehículo fue robado en las horas de la tarde, pertenecía a la empresa Cotranscúcuta, y el conductor dejado en El Rodeo. Dos heridos En el atentado resultaron dos personas heridas, uno fue el celador de la emisora y el otro un agente de la Policía. Un vecino, que vive a 20 metros de las oficinas, afirmó que los hombres llegaron y comenzaron a disparar; cuando el vigilante intentó reaccionar le hicieron dos disparos. Doscientos metros a la redonda fueron destruidos ventanales, puertas y enseres dentro de las casas. En 1997, RCN fue objeto de otro atentado, y sus instalaciones también fueron destruidas. Una de sus periodistas resultó herida. Alonso Vellojín, secretario de Gobierno, se hizo presente anoche en el lugar y repudió el hecho. "En las próximas horas nos encargaremos de hacer un consejo de seguridad para tomar las medidas necesarias y replantear un nuevo plan de seguridad", dijo el funcionario. El coronel Carlos Alberto Barragán Galindo, comandante saliente de la Policía, indicó que este fue un hecho terrorista cometido por parte de los grupos al margen de la ley en represalia por el accionar de las autoridades. Según testigos, luego de cometido el hecho los agresores huyeron en una camioneta Luv blanca que minutos más tarde fue abandonada y baleada en el barrio Nuevo Horizonte. Las autoridades anunciaron que intensificarán los operativos para dar con el paradero de los culpables (La Opinión, Cúcuta, Nov 14, website http://www.laopinion.com.co via Henrik Klemetz, DXLD) Same news item as in La Opinión from RCN Televisión, http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/nacional.htm CARRO BOMBA EN RCN RADIO. Cúcuta, Colombia, 14 Noviembre (RCN) - Un carro bomba con 40 kilos de amonal, estalló en las instalaciones de RCN radio, en el barrio Lleras de Cúcuta, al norte de Colombia, en el departamento de Norte de Santander. La explosión destruyó casi toda la edificación, además de causar daños en una emisora cristiana y la casa Fiscal del Departamento de Policía. El suceso se produjo a las 11:15 p.m. de la noche del miércoles, después de ser abandonado por desconocidos un taxi, presuntamente miembros del Ejercito de Liberación Nacional (ELN), como lo manifestó el comandante de la Policía de la zona, Carlos Alberto Barragán. La bomba dejó dos heridos, un miembro de la Policía y el celador de la estación radial. Las autoridades buscan a los sospechosos, gracias a los testimonios de los testigos, quienes permitieron una elaboración rápida de los retratos hablados (via Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Nov 14, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Acá hay uno [armónico] permanente en 2200 (2 x 1100) desde Planeta Rica de Emisora Ideal que ha alcanzado USA; en las últimas semanas está Radio Super de Cali en 4800 (4 x 1200). Incluso escuché La Voz de tu Conciencia en 12022 y LV del Guaviare en 12070 (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 11690 3.11 1930 Radio Okapi med mest non-stop musik samt en "Okapi"- jingle. 2 CB 11690 14.11 1900 Radio Okapi. "Okapi"-jingle, nyheter och sedan ett program om barnens situation. 2 CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) 11690 13.11 1915 Radio Okapi här också, men mycket svag vid denna tid. FF-prat. Inget ID, så den är egentligen OID. S 2. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) CONGO-KINSHASA. R. Okapi, noted as follows on Nov 9, 0415-0425: 6030, barely audible; 9550, weak under another weak station (probably Havana) but improving; 11690, not strong but the best frequency by far, on a clear channel (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. VISTA ONLINE November 2002 - Vol.1, Issue 1 [excerpts] ------------------------------------- Welcome to Vista Online, the first edition of our e-newsletter aimed at bringing you news and information about Radio For Peace International. Internet Woes As many of our members and listeners are aware, RFPI suffered a small setback last month when our high-speed Internet connection was disabled causing some disruption to our radio programming and work in general. Due to the loss of our high-speed Internet connection, we have been unable to provide to our listeners some of the programming that has made RFPI the station that it is. The two programs that have been most affected by this have been our extremely popular Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman, and Free Speech Radio News. Although we have periodically been able to bring you these programs over the past few weeks, the un- reliability of our dial-up Internet connection has meant that new editions of these programs have been few and far between. We are happy to report, however, that our Internet problems will soon be a thing of the past! Thanks to generous donations by Democracy Now!, Free Speech Radio News, and Pacifica Radio, we have received the funding necessary to set up a new, direct high-speed Internet connection. We are hopeful that this new system will be up and running in two or three weeks, and as soon as it is, we will resume broadcasting our outstanding programming. Thank you to all our listeners and members who wrote to us with both moral and financial support, and a BIG thanks to Democracy Now!, Free Speech Radio News, and Pacifica Radio! Power Troubles No More! In more good news, we are also happy to report that our electricity problems have also been solved thanks to generous donations from you, our members and listeners. Early this month, we learned that our electricity would soon be cut by the Costa Rican power company due to financial difficulties. Faced with a bill of $6,000 US that we did not feel we could pay, a call for support was issued over the airwaves to help keep RFPI on the air. Within a few days, a number of listeners and members responded to our fundraising request and we are happy to report that we have received above and beyond our funding needs. We would like to thank Tin Jo Restaurant here in San Jose for their generous donation. If you are live here in Costa Rica, or if you are ever in the San Jose area, a visit to the Tin Jo Restaurant on Calle 11, between Avenidas 6 and 8, is well worth the effort as their Indian, Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisine is the best in the area (RFPI via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. FIDEL`S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS TO AIR IN U.S. Nueva York, Reuters, Yahoo News, La Nueva Cuba, Noviembre 11, 2002 Just days after Steven Spielberg warm and fuzzy summit with Fidel Castro in Havana, a set of smuggled home videos of the Cuban leader could sour his take on Hollywood. Starting Monday, Spanish-language newscast Noticias 41 will begin airing "The Secret Life of Castro," a 10-part series that offers the first-ever glimpse into the carefully guarded life of Cuba`s president and perpetual revolutionary. Univisión TV stations in New York, Miami (its station there, WLTV, produced the documentary) and Puerto Rico will run the series, which delves into the family life of the 76-year-old Castro, who has led Cuba for 43 years. The videos were reportedly shot by Castro`s own adult children and fell into the hands of an estranged girlfriend of Fidel`s son, Antonio Castro Soto del Valle. The girlfriend, Dashiell Torralba, arranged for Univision to get the tapes after she left Cuba, claiming that the broadcast is a way to even the score with Castro`s wife and Antonio`s disapproving mother. A casually attired Castro (the signature military fatigues are evidently for official appearances only) is shown to keep his family in relative comfort and privilege. The family home, Punto Cero, features a wine cellar with individual bottles worth up to $400. The videos are intercut with interviews with Torralba and other former members of Castro`s inner circle, including sister Juanita Castro and daughter Alina Fernández. The Noticias 41 report begins airing Monday night at 11 p.m. It will continue Tuesday-Friday and Nov. 18-22. Copyright © 2002 - LA NUEVA CUBA NOSTROMO PUBLISHING CORP. All Rights Reserved. (via Oscar, DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. As it seems to me, the audio is clean and they are only slightly high in frequency. Were it not for the megasplash from 6155, reception on 6150 would be useful at times (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CYPRUS? 6150, Nov 15 2321 and earlier: I do not know if R. Bayrak is transmitting but there is a musical program with some modulation errors under strong QRM from a multi echoed CNR at same frequency (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. FORMER COMMUNIST OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH SHUTTING OFF BROADCASTS DURING 1968 INVASION. A former high-ranking communist official, Karel Hoffmann, was Charged on 1 November with treason for his alleged role in the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, AP and CTK reported. Prosecutor Dagmar Machova said Hoffmann is accused of having ordered Czechoslovak state radio and television to stop broadcasting during the invasion, thus preventing statements by the country`s leaders condemning the invasion from reaching the public. Hoffmann was in charge of communications at the time the pact`s troops invaded Czechoslovakia. Machova said Hoffmann, 78, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 12 November via RFE/RL Media Matters Nov 15 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. An announcement was made on the show today (November 16) that next week there would be a special one hour show, a mixture of "Saludos Amigos" and "DX Partyline" to be called "DX Amigos." The hosts of the popular mail bag show on HCJB will join (or be joined) by Allen Graham from DX Party Line, and take phone calls. I did not catch the number though it may be announced more this week and / or be on their web site. Presumably, that will be on at 0100 UTC on the 23rd (Saturday evening here in eastern North America) and I suppose, it will last an hour. (9745 kHz). The announcers will be on live for all the regular broadcasts that day, except for the evening broadcast to Europe. (Roger Chambers, Nov 17, ODXA via DXLD) Why would it be at 0100? DXPL is now at 0000 UT Sun (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 15275, CLANDESTINE (Ethiopia) Radio Solidarity, *1600-1629* Nov 13, brief instrumental music opening followed by a woman announcer with ID and News in Tigrean language. Flute music at 1606 followed by long talk commencing at 1608. During a vocal selection beginning at 1626, the carrier was terminated before the song was complete. Poor to fair with noisy conditions (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Story of DW`s move, in their Radio Training Centre magazine called "Dialogue" http://www.dwelle.de/rtc/dialog/dialog2002e/02-03.htm BYE BYE COLOGNE! by Frank Lemke For almost 40 years, Cologne has been the home of Deutsche Welle and the RTC. In 2003 this will change when DW moves to Bonn, the former provisional German capital. The decision to move 27 km south is connected to the German unification process. In 1991, the German Parliament voted to move the seat of government to Berlin. At the time, however, construction was already underway in Bonn for a new building on the banks of the Rhine for German parliamentarians. With the government's decision to move to Berlin, the Bonn building was threatening to become redundant . The government decided to go ahead with construction and instead make it the new home of the Deutsche Welle. DW had in fact been looking for new premises because of asbestos contamination in its Cologne building. Neptune, the river god, had other ideas, and flooded the building site two years in a row. In the mid-90's, it became questionable whether DW's new headquarters would ever be completed. Construction is almost finished now, however, and it looks as if we will be working in Bonn from 2003 onwards. The RTC will have a brand new, digitised infrastructure, with well- equipped studios and newly-furnished offices and seminars – in short, all the trimmings of a fully-fledged Training Centre. The Rhine and its wooded banks are just next door and are perfect for short breaks for participants and trainers. There will be a restaurant and a coffee bar in the building, and the international flair contributed by DW staff members from some 50 different countries will be as prevalent in Bonn as it has been in Cologne. We will be exchanging our current skyscraper for a set of four-storied buildings. With the exception of the studios, the new premises will not be air-conditioned – a relief in our rather temperate climate! We will finally be able to open the windows and breathe some fresh air. The buildings are rather stretched out; in the case of the RTC, we will have to walk about 400 metres from the main entrance to our section, but a bit of exercise won't do any harm. On the contrary! As the move approaches, we are trying not to become too nostalgic at the thought of leaving Cologne. Change is unavoidable and sometimes even offers advantages. Our donor ministry, the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, will be within walking distance, for example. And Bonn's policy to attract UN organisations will soon turn the city into Germany's centre for international development. This will certainly offer a conducive working atmosphere for the RTC (via Daniel Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re Gospel for Asia: ``Not sure why Hans heads this Germany.`` 15680 is Wertachtal. Probably all the following frequencies are related: 15680 1430 1530 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 15425 1530 1630 40,41 90 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 11680 2330 0030 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 11680 0030 0130 40,41 90 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 9490 0030 0130 40,41 90 217 1234567 011202 300303 DTK 250kW 9765 2300 0030 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 011202 300303 DTK 250kW (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some supposedly UAE (gh) ** GOA. INDIA. AIR Panaji noted signing off on 11825 rather than the scheduled 11835 at 0415 UT today Sunday. 11835 is scheduled at 0315- 0415 in Hindi to West Asia. For detailed schedule of AIR Panaji go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dx_india/files/AIR%20Panaji 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx-india via DXLD) ** INDIA. The B-2002 schedule of AIR is now available from their offical site: http://www.allindiaradio.org/schedule/fqsch1.html 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india via DXLD) Previous seasons` had lots of time conversion errors; let`s hope they got them right this time; if not, Jose`s own site should be accurate. A quick check of the External Service sections, GOS listings (English) seems to show correct times. See also GOA; KASHMIR (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. I have been trying to listen to RRI`s extended broadcasts during the month of Ramadan. So far only one station has been heard: 4925, 13.11.2002, RRI Jambi, 1853- Nov 13 with lagu-lagu popular dan Warta Berita di RRI Jakarta on the TOH. Very strong signals with my Sony ICF-7600GR and ALA1530 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, dxing.info via DXLD) ISLAMITISCHE VASTENMAAND Deze week begon de islamitische vastenmaand ramadan. Gelovige moslims vasten overdag en het sociale leven concentreert zich in de avonduren. Veel radiostations uit de islamitische wereld verlengen daarom hun uitzendtijden. Kortegolf luisteraars profiteren van die extra uitzenduren. Zo zijn er de komende weken ruimere mogelijkheden om Indonesische zenders op de tropenbanden te ontvangen. Bijvoorbeeld twee regionale stations van Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) op Sumatra. RRI Padang gaat de hele avond door op 4003.2 of 4000 kHz. Hetzelfde geldt voor RRI Jambi op 4925 kHz. Het einde van de ramadan wordt rond 6 december verwacht (Michael Schaay, kortegolf.info via DXLD) ** IRAQ. RADIO - INTERNET OFFER IRAQIS RARE PEEK AT OUTSIDE WORLD Baghdad | By Michael Slackman | 17-11-2002 Nearly every night, Murtadha Eqabi manages to escape from the control that the Iraqi government tries to exert over everything the college student hears and sees. He turns on a radio. Tuning in to foreign news broadcasts is a ritual Eqabi shares with his father inside their small apartment here. They listen to the news broadcast in Arabic by French-run Radio Monte Carlo, getting information the regime tries to keep from them. "Despite the fact that there are severe sanctions on our country, we do have connection with the outside world," said Eqabi, an archaeology student at Baghdad University. "I listen to the news. It is part of our life." President Saddam Hussain remains determined to restrict what Iraq`s 22 million citizens know about the world beyond their borders. His people are cut off by trade sanctions and censorship, both of which limit access to technology, and they are force-fed government news accounts that frequently differ greatly from what much of the world hears. Satellite television is banned. Some foreign radio broadcasts are jammed. All internal media are state-controlled. These days that kind of strict control is especially important for Saddam`s regime as it works to maintain order in the face of a possible U.S.-led attack. Anything that might chisel away at the appearance of unity in Iraq makes the leadership nervous. A new U.S. government programme, Radio Sawa - which mixes Western and Arabic music with short bursts of news and is very popular among young people - is one target of the regime`s electronic scramblers. "What they fear most now is domestic unrest," said a European diplomat based in Baghdad. "They need to feel and look unified. For months they have been working on that." In trying to maintain that order, the regime has realised that it needs to balance its reflexive leaning toward censorship with a rising public appetite to live in the modern world. To say the regime is becoming soft would be an overstatement. But it is recognizing the value of making people happy, or at least happier than they were. It recently issued a broad amnesty freeing almost every prisoner from jail. It has lifted taxes on travelers. It is making it easier for dropouts to return to school. And it has given the people the Discovery Channel. Iraqi television now offers, for a fee and to a select group only, new choices that include Discovery and a movie channel that serves up Hollywood fare, including recent broadcasts of "The Hunt for Red October" and "The Spanish Prisoner." The regime also has provided wider access to the Internet and the use of e-mail. It first permitted Internet access for government ministries two years ago, but even top officials were not permitted to send e-mail from their offices. They had to go to a special government office. Internet access to all mail-related Web sites, such as Hotmail and Yahoo, is still blocked, but individuals can buy government monitored e-mail accounts to use at home. On the Internet, Iraqis can access most Western media, but sites tied to groups opposing the Iraqi government are blocked. At a cost of about $75 for three months of Internet access, plus additional fees for e-mail, both services are beyond the reach of most Iraqis. Many rely instead on Internet cafes, where they can surf the Web and send e-mail for the equivalent of about 50 cents an hour. Ida Mustafa is the director of the first Internet center at Baghdad University. Her job is to collect fees (25 cents an hour for students), offer advice on how to use the Internet and make sure no one is finding his or her way to banned sites. Even before the students sit down, they must register their intent to use the Internet with their college and list several "keywords" they plan to search out. "You are free to search whatever you like," Mustafa said, adding: "We have monitoring. Later I check for forbidden sites." Mustafa`s centre is in the library on the campus outside downtown Baghdad. The room is small, with just eight machines, and very quiet. The centre has become so popular that students are restricted to two hours of access each week. There is no sense of playfulness here. Students recently were researching school topics, such as "inertia rockets" and "radiation detection." Ask them about the Internet and they offer a touch of defiance. "It is a way around sanctions," said Ebtisam Fadel, 31, a postgraduate student who was researching "video image compression." Many Iraqis may have First World expectations, a hangover from what is seen as the nation`s modern golden age - before the 1980-88 war with Iran and Iraq`s 1990 invasion of Kuwait - when the ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party poured money into education and infrastructure. But the 1970s are long gone, and Iraq is in Third World shape due in part to international sanctions. For most people, that means the only escape comes in the form of scratchy radio waves. It seems that everyone is listening. Yadulah Nouri Ali, 61, lives with 10 family members in a crumbled apartment bloc and can barely come up with the $5 a day they all need to survive. He has listened to BBC, Radio Monte Carlo and, he admits, Voice of America. Shukur Jassim, 52, works for the Ministry of Information and sells books in an open-air market to make some extra cash. "Every night before I go to sleep, I listen to VOA, BBC and Monte Carlo," he said. At Baghdad University`s downtown campus, where students study liberal arts, everyone who was asked described an avid interest in radio broadcasts from abroad. Vian Amjad, 23, who is majoring in German language studies, tunes in daily at midnight to listen to Radio Monte Carlo with her mother, brother, uncle and grandmother. "We are listening mainly to hear about political problems," she said. "We are following the news. Sometimes there is news about Iraq mentioning that countries are against the military option. We get happy and feel relieved." With so many people listening to contradictory news reports - as Baghdad says one thing and the West another - a logical question is which side do people believe. In Baghdad, where criticising the government can lead to prison time, that question elicits either a predictable endorsement of the regime or feigned confusion. Radio Monte Carlo "is the same as Baghdad radio," Amjad said before she and her cousin giggled and looked away. "Why?" © Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** KASHMIR. INDIA. 4950, Srinagar, 2332 Nov 14, with imam praying. Signal closed at 23.32.54. On 15.11 at 0010 with S5 (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also INDIA ** KOREA NORTH. KRE technical data Technical parameters for North Korean shortwave transmitters, unfortunately not in full readable without knowledge of Japanese (and a browser able to show Japanese characters): http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/VOK.html http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/KCBS.html http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/PBS.html http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/Others.html No idea if this is original data but it sounds plausible: 6070/6100 kHz the Brown Boveri transmitter at Kanggye, back-up feeder 3250 from Pyongyang, regular foreign service outlets all from the Kujang centre. Also some of the information about FM outlets is new, just to mention Pyongyang 93.8 with KCBS programming (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for this link, Kai! My system shows and prints it all correctly in Japanese, but this does not help too much. Anyhow, a quick look does not reveal anything that looks wrong or contradicts my own findings from a few years ago. Mr Oka must have superb sources if this information is original (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 17885, Radio Kuwait, 7 Nov, 1022, SINPO 45333. Reading of Islam basics in English (!). Formerly the frequency carried Radio Pinoy broadcast, intended for guest workers of Philippines origin. Probably the program I heard was a special one for Ramadan (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) ** LAOS. 12070, CLANDESTINE, Hmong Lao Radio, 0132-0200* Nov 15, program of traditional music with brief talk by a man announcer in presumed Hmong language between selections. Apparent ID and sign off announcement at 0159 followed by brief IS of flute music until carrier cut. Poor to fair in strength but in the clear (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Re R. Vilnius via 666 kHz at 1900-1930: this is not an "extra" transmission for listeners in Europe, but Lithuanian HS (LR1) which every evening carries a repeat for local listeners of the English morning transmission on SW. Lithuanian Radio 1 goes out on FM and 666 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Glenn, Interesting bit of Information for your next edition 4880.1, Radio Transcontinental de América, XERTA Acknowledgment/Date letter along with 2-PPC`s, stamped received via the assistance of Héctor García Bojorge from Radio Mil, who visited the station with my report in September. I initially wrote to Roger Chambers, who was good enough to forward my tape report while attending the Conference in Mexico back in August. Roger stated it could be rather difficult stating that Pepe Gonzales and his wife Lucha Olivares (Hosts, attending the Conference in August) both seemed to feel, as did almost every one else, that it would be next to impossible to get a QSL from them. Pepe did give a talk on that topic, briefly, on how difficult, indifferent, etc. it seems that Radio Transcontinental could be. In the letter they acknowledge my tape recording and that it agrees with the programming of that hour (which is good enough for me). They also thanked me for the postcard from Canada. Unfortunately there was no verie signature either on the cards or the letter. Their studio office address is: Plaza San Juan No. 5-2, Centro Histórico, C.P. 06000 MEXICO. e-mail: xerta@radiodifusion.com Web site: http://www.misionradio.com Reply took 3-1/2 months from the time the report was sent to Roger Chambers. My SASE was used. Total of Five years trying. Special Thanks to both Roger Chambers, of New York and to Héctor García Bojorge of Radio Mil for their assistance (Edward Kusalik-Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Re: ``Three LW parallels found: 164, 209, and 227 kHz (Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia) ...Mentioned LW frequencies belong to the old distribution pattern. A misprint, or they really did not move to 9 kHz multiples? (Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine)`` That was not a misprint. LW frequencies of Mongolian Radio do adhere to old frequency distribution pattern (Igor Ashikhmin, Primorskiy kray, Russia, Signal Nov 13 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Recent changes in Oklahoma radio: greetings; well, it seems when it rains it pours. WKY has accepted an offer from the Citadel group for WKY 930 AM, legendary station which has been choking with lame programming from the lamer Clear Channel outfit. Also KMMZ 96.9 FN out of Enid was soft oldies, now evidently being LMA`d by same Citadel group and playing country Christmas songs. From now The Bull formerly K-bull but 104.9 is still playing the over repetitive (pardon the expression) same old bull*&%$. From what I hear the AM dial will be full of sports from 1000 AM and 1210 AM [moving in from Guymon] will go news when the lame outfit shuts down 1220 AM from Midwest City and covers news on 1210 AM. WKY deserves the legendary status that it has in this community and I hope that these outfits from foreign lands, Las Vegas, knows how to bring this sleeping giant back. And speaking of giants, KOMA AM 1520 is rumored to go all news/talk after the first of the year; as long as it is credible and not bring in a lot of lame hosts from the Clear Channel outfit and even sorrier spin doctors, they should do better than KTOK. Thanks for your time as always (Bill Eckart, OK, http://www.geocities.com/billeckart Nov 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CITADEL LMAS 96.9, FLIPS TO CHRISTMAS TUNES Champlin Broadcasting [Enid], owner of KMMZ 96.9 (Memories 96.9), has entered into a Local Marketing Agreement with Citadel Broadcasting. Citadel has flipped the Soft AC/Oldies format to All-Christmas music under moniker of "The Bull`s Country Christmas." Citadel also owns KQBL (K-Bull 104-9). Permanent plans for the station remain uncertain. (OKCityRadio.com Nov 14 via DXLD) Yes, `Country Xmas` Nov 17 afternoon ** PARAGUAY. 7737, 14/11 0328, R. América, Villeta, SS, Hino religioso, OM com leitura bíblica. A melhor recepção desta emissora até o momento. 24232 SCM (Samuel Cássio Martins, Brasil, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** PERU. Re: R. Corazón de Huandoy, DXLD 2-177: Bueno, la cuenta da que es aproximadamente 952-954 kHz y sus correspondientes 3, 4 y 6 armónico; Aunque a veces estos toman fuerza, es poco probable que alguien fuera del Perú pueda escucharlos (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) see also COLOMBIA ** PERU. RUEGO ME DISCULPEN por el error de tipeo que he cometido en el LOG...MUCHAS GRACIAS. DICE 9975 Radio San Antonio 01:00 34423 S DEBE DECIR 3375 Khz MUCHAS GRACIAS Y DISCULPEN SPACEMASTER. DEAR FRIENDS !!!!!! EXCUSE ME PLEASE!!!! I made it in the recent LOG. It says: 9975 Radio San Antonio 01:00 34423 S. IT SHOULD BE: 3375 (SPACEMASTER, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. 6114.67, Radio Unión, Lima, 0519-0533, Nov 16, Spanish, Musical program, ads, (acceptable modulation), ID "Radio Unión, la emisora más potente del Peru", 24342 (Nicolás Eramo, Villa Lynch, Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina; Receivers: ICOM IC R-75, Kenwood R- 2000, SONY ICF 2010. Antennas: T2FD V Inverted 15 mts V Inverted 12 mts V Inverted 20mts, MFJ 959B Receiver, Antenna Tuner/Preamplifier, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 18900, Voice of Russia, 6 Nov, 1000 and later, SINPO 35333, in Korean. Radio Bulgaria promised to carry out some tests on this frequency, but I didn`t notice them yet (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal Nov 13 via DXLD) Don`t recall VOR using this band before; or could it be 2 x 9450? (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. There is a Voice of Russia English frequency that is coming in well here on the East Coast; it`s 11820 which is intended for Europe, airing at 07-10 UT with 200 kW from St. Petersburg (per PWBR 2003). Commonwealth Update was heard at 0811, Moscow Mailbag with Joe Adamov was heard at 0911. A good bet to try since all the other frequencies used for Australasia are coming from the Russian Far East sites, and those are best bets for reception on the US West Coast. (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, USA, Nov 16, EDXP via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. 7235, Warna PBS, 1512 Nov 17. Nice pop and melayu deli songs, S9 42443, QRM by monitor (carrier at 37) (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBCWS foreign correspondent turns to brewing favourite beer http://www.observer.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,9950,834739,00.html (Guardian via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. RIGHT OF THE BEEB http://www.transdiffusion.org/ The perception of the BBC as run by and for "liberal lefties" (or, if you`re a particularly rude right-winger, "Marxist pinkos") is a strong and abiding one in certain segments of British life. Rod Liddle was recently forced to resign as editor of Radio 4`s Today programme after he had criticised the Countryside Alliance march in London, a demonstration dominated by Tory supporters. He had said that one might forget why one had voted Labour in 1997 until one saw the foxhunting lobby in full force. It is true that the BBC does not paint an antiquarian picture of British life - while it is concerned above all with providing something for everybody in the UK, most of its output unequivocally reflects modern culture and society, on whatever level and for whatever audience. But this is not remotely the same as "left-wing", and indeed, if one looks through the BBC`s wider history one can see that it has often been a generally traditional, small "c" conservative broadcaster, whose many examples of innovation have often been opposed to its abiding official culture. If the BBC were still the traditional conservative broadcaster that many of us grew up with, it might have managed to stay on the side of the Daily Mail and its ilk, but it would have largely lost the support of many other significant sectors of the population. The changes it has made in recent years have cost it a lot of cultural capital among the political, social and cultural conservative right, but it had to make the changes. Otherwise it would have been completely out of touch with its audience and the general cultural tide in the country, and would have been heading towards privatisation. Even in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Radio 4 was broadcasting programmes like "The Countryside In ..." series, "Down Your Way" and certain others defining and evoking "Englishness" in terms that you would never get now. I have no problem with that worldview in its own time and context, but the world has changed (even the Countryside Alliance don`t think in those terms - their rhetoric is couched in a more aggressive, hard-line, quasi-Thatcherite style). The greatness of the BBC`s archives is, of course, down in large respect to the light they shed on 80 years of social and cultural history. But the point that the right-wingers miss is that, when it still made sense (and arguably *after* it had ceased to make sense) the BBC still presented the archaic view of England and Britain beloved of papers like the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. It did not simply give itself over entirely to the liberal-left position. If it now reflects a more "modern, inclusive" Britishness and a less "traditional, exclusive" identity than at any time in its history, it is because of wider changes. The Blair government has had an effect, but so has the opening of British radio and television to wider, more international, and often overtly commercial and consumerist influences in the wake of the 1990 Broadcasting Act and successor legislation. The BBC reflects arguably more often than it leads. In this case, it might not actually have made its recent changes had the pre-1990 broadcasting environment remained largely unaltered, but it has responded excellently on all fronts to the changing world around it. If you were to put together a list of charges that might have been raised against the BBC in former times, you would find that they would have frequently offended the very same "liberal-lefties" who the right now accuse of having "taken over" the Corporation. You could start off with the effective censorship of all jazz from the airwaves under Reith, and his absurdly puritan policy on Sunday broadcasting. You would certainly have to recall the stuffy inward-looking culture it reflected in the late 50s, totally unrepresentative of the consumer boom of the day reflected by ITV and Radio Luxembourg. After the welcome liberalism of the Hugh Greene era, you would have to sadly note the sacking of Kenny Everett from Radio 1 in 1970 over a harmless joke, as Charles Curran asserted hardline moralism as a reaction against the new cultural tide of the 1960s. You might move on to Radio 1`s former policy of banning records on absurdly flimsy premises, recalling in particular the ban on XTC`s "Respectable Street" in 1981 for a reference to Sony, which is hurtled through at such a high speed that a casual radio listener could not have heard it, certainly not on medium wave. I certainly wouldn`t have noticed it if I hadn`t read the lyrics before hearing the song. Such an account of the BBC`s more socially and culturally conservative side, throughout history, would culminate in the banning of Frankie Goes To Hollywood`s "Relax" (1984) and George Michael`s "I Want Your Sex" (1987) for what now seem like harmless sexual references when compared to certain songs on the current Radio 1 playlist. It is true that, after that, the list of reasons for liberal-left people to disapprove of the BBC, while right-wing reactionaries would support it, largely peters out. But, whatever the more right-wing newspapers and politicians might tell you, the changes are not really the BBC`s work. It isn`t the BBC itself these people hate, it`s modern British culture, and they`re just taking it out on the most obvious moving target they can think of. One might call it the "whatever happened to Housewives` Choice, oh and isn`t that Steve Wright frightfully vulgar?" mentality. Ventures like 1Xtra - the BBC`s new digital radio station devoted to what is often called "urban" music (a term this writer dislikes intensely) infuriate the reactionary right. There is a direct and understandable reason for this - they represent the official sign of approval from the establishment towards the cultural developments they hate. The reactionary right know that the existence of a black / "urban" music station funded from the licence fee is a sign of how far this music has worked its way into British culture. What they want more than anything else is to push it "back where it comes from" (the cultural equivalent of repatriation of immigrants). When the Radio 1 hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood was on Capital Radio, I don`t recall him being anything like the hate-figure for the right that he is now. In a sense, it`s a sign of how important the BBC still is - if the BBC broadcasts something, it shows that this thing is accepted within British culture, and so that inspires those who want this thing sent out of the country to new heights of apoplexy. There is one other important element here. The fact that 1Xtra listeners and Radio 3 listeners fund each other`s programmes is one of the last remaining signs of 1945-79 collectivism. Ever since the 1986 Peacock Report, which advocated the privatisation of Radios 1 and 2, it has been obvious that ideologues of the right would love to see the licence fee abolished or, at the very least, reduced considerably. When they are feeling more positive towards the BBC, they do at least advocate a subscription system where people would pay only for the channels they watch or listen to, but of course this would remove the collectivist element, and by extension it would also remove part of the point of the BBC`s existence. The greatest irony of all, however, is that the changes the BBC has made which the Murdoch press denounce as "dumbing down" - turning BBC1 into more of an entertainment channel and less of an all-round "formal national broadcaster", putting a lot of licence fee money into a 24- hour news channel, giving more live coverage of the Queen Mother`s death and fewer recorded tributes, the list goes on - have mostly been in response to the dramatic effect that Sky has had on British television. I think it should be common knowledge that Sky is also a Murdoch company. The modern British political right have an uncanny ability to contradict themselves at every turn. Their view of the BBC is an outstanding example of this tendency. -- (Robin Carmody, Portland, Dorset, Op-Ed? Letter to the editor? Via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. US GIANT TO MAKE GRAB FOR CAPITAL RADIO By Damian Reece (Filed: 17/11/2002) http://www.telegraph.co.uk Clear Channel, the world`s biggest radio company, has drawn up plans to acquire at least two of Britain`s biggest commercial stations, including Capital Radio. It is selling all its smaller British radio interests to clear the way for these ambitious bids. Clear Channel, valued at $24bn, owns 2,000 radio stations in the US [no, it doesn`t; only 1200+ --- gh]. It is pressing ahead with the UK acquisitions following last week`s confirmation that the Communications Bill will relax media ownership rules. A bid for Capital would cost up to £500m, although the company is currently valued by the stock market at £380m. "We are selling our minority stakes but this does not mean we have lost interest in UK radio," Roger Parry, chief executive of Clear Channel International, told The Telegraph. "Clearly we want scale and there is no point buying just one business. You have to have a coherent strategy to allow you to consolidate the industry. Any buyer considering a UK play has to include Capital high on their list of potential candidates. It is the largest and the most visible," he said. "The slide rule has been well and truly worn out working out what assets are worth". Capital, whose most famous presenter is its breakfast show host Chris Tarrant, saw its shares fall 18 per cent last week after it reported a near-halving of annual pre-tax profits to £14.6m caused by a slump in advertising. "It is no secret we would be loathe to pay more than 10 to 12 times future cash flow and Capital is trading at that level. But that is the cash flow of the business being managed now. With our outdoor advertising business there would be some synergies [or a boost to cash flows]," said Parry. Parry said Clear Channel would not pre-empt the new legislation by bidding before the Bill became law, probably next summer. Clear Channel will this week confirm the sale of its minority stakes in several radio businesses, including Switch Digital, which is being sold to the Wireless Group and Carphone Warehouse. Two weeks ago Clear Channel sold its radio advertising sales house to the Guardian Media Group, which also bought Clear Channel`s 32 per cent stake in Jazz FM in July. Other potential targets for Clear Channel include GWR and Emap. Parry said a deal to buy GWR, the company behind Classic FM, would depend on agreement being reached with Viscount Rothermere, chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns 26.7 per cent. "If he wants to sell then it is a candidate. If he doesn`t then it`s not," said Parry. An acquisition of Emap would be more complicated as it would involve breaking up the business and separating its core magazines division from its radio and television assets. "We think UK radio is very attractive because it is so very dysfunctional. There are too many radio companies. You are moving toward a single ITV company but there are still eight or nine radio companies," said Parry (via Mike Terry, DXLD) A shorter version: http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=humannews&StoryID=1753145 (via Artie Bigley, Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. From http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/16/opinion/16ELLI.html November 16, 2002 Is There an Audience for Public Diplomacy? By KIM ANDREW ELLIOTT ARLINGTON, Va. - Public diplomacy - the current and gentler term for international propaganda - has lately been the subject of task force reports and articles in Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs, and both houses of Congress will be considering relevant legislation early in their next session. One of the first applications of the new thinking on public diplomacy is State Department mini-documentaries about the lives of Muslim Americans, currently broadcast as commercials on Indonesian television. The State Department is trying to emphasize American values and their wide applicability, as well as the accomplishments of Americans. I have been doing international broadcasting audience research for 25 years, and I am not aware of any persons huddled by their radios to hear about the achievements and values of the United States or any other country. People do listen to foreign broadcasts if they are in countries where information is controlled by the government. They listen to the stations that best provide a credible substitute for the news they are not getting from their domestic media. During most of the postwar years, Radio Moscow was the behemoth of international radio. Yet its audience was normally a small fraction of that of the major Western stations. This is because Radio Moscow transmitted propaganda. Britain spent much less than the Soviet Union on international broadcasting and still spends less than the United States. But its BBC World Service has the largest audience and most prestige of any international radio station. This is largely because the BBC World Service has with rare exceptions remained independent of British government control. The American radio stations - Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia - have generally adhered to their news missions and have earned good reputations among their audiences. There is, nonetheless, a persistent ambiguity to American international broadcasting. The BBC is prohibited from broadcasting editorials; V.O.A., by contrast, is officially required to broadcast United States government editorials. Almost all of the recent reports, articles, bills and speeches about public diplomacy put international broadcasting in the same basket as public diplomacy. Public diplomacy, however, manages information to put the United States and its policies in the best light. In my experience, this is exactly the type of pro-government reporting that audiences seek to escape by tuning to foreign broadcasts. American decision-makers may wonder why on earth they should provide money to a radio or television station that merely tells the truth. For the answer, let us consider the Arab target audience. Arabs are largely opposed to American policies toward Israel and Palestine and to any possible American invasion of Iraq. No amount of spin will make a dent in the public opinion of the Arab world. However, Arabs will listen to a radio station or watch a television channel that provides news that is more comprehensive and reliable than what they get from their domestic media. Well informed, they can make up their own minds about current events. They will be grateful to the United States for providing such a service. The independent journalism of such an American station would be an example of how democracy works. Arab audiences will hear debate in Congress, among pundits and in assembly halls. Sometimes it will be raucous, but that`s part of its attraction. They may wish for such open differences of opinion in their own countries. Sooner or later they will hear a viewpoint, perhaps from a member of Congress, perhaps from an American newspaper editorial, that is not so far from their own. They will understand that such an opinion may not be the Bush administration`s foreign policy, but it is American, and something that will help them relate to America. Then audiences in the Arab world and elsewhere may understand America a bit more and dislike it a bit less. All told, it might be enough to make a difference. (Kim Andrew Elliott is an analyst in the Office of Research of the United States International Broadcasting Bureau, which includes the Voice of America). (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. The request at wbcq.com for donations in the name of "WBCQ Kansas" is gone. We first broke this story on Saturday November 9. No answer was ever received from anyone associated with WBCQ as to whether WBCQ Kansas is a legitimate part of the WBCQ operation. We`ll keep our eye on this issue (Daniel Srebnick, http://swradio.us Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WOR Digital: Just wanted to say `hi` to all IRCAns. It`s been a while since I have been on the list. The big news here, and everywhere, is WOR`s digital signal. It blocks out up to three adjacent channels. This is by plan. You should read the technical white papers at Ibiquity.com. In our case, the world from 690 through 730 gets blottoed (technical term) at my QTH about 50 miles from their tower site. They turn it on in the morning when they feel like it and turn it off sometime before sunset. These signals, on skywave at night, would be one royal mess. Here`s a spin on it you may not have thought of: Smaller stations will be put at a disadvantage if they can not afford digital exciters and other expensive appropriate-to-digital transmission gear (like broadbanding their antenna). The smaller stations will be dealt their last death blow from the Clear Channels of the world who will either buy them up in distress or simply watch them die. Small stations are financially hurting as it is, and will not be able to afford to upgrade to digital. I see digital as an arrogant move to help big business. I`m not sure if the Motorola idea is viable. If IBOC is allowable, at least the smaller stations should be able to remove their NRSC filters and revert back to wideband operation. Anyway, the DXer is going to get it in the nose with noise and splatter. Does anyone remember the "Theme from Shaft" effect? (Ibiquity IBOC digital sounds like `Attack of the Killer Bees`") Why try to "improve" a medium that still proves to be wonderful and robust after over 80 years of use (good old AM radio)? I`d love to see anyone come up with another system that requires nearly no equipment or satellite transmission to send signals thousands of miles with regularity....I`m still at CBS TV and an active CW ham (callsign N2KZ). If you are interested in a QSO, please let me know. 73 de (N2KZ Karl Zuk near NYC, Nov 16, IRCA via DXLD) During the 2002 NAB Convention, KIXI - 880 Mercer Is (Seattle) was testing IBOC. At 150 miles away to the SW, I get an S9 signal on KIXI, with their main lobe to the W/NW. Where a station like KIRO-710 is at S9+15 or so. When KIXI tested IBOC I found the "white noise" on 890 about S7 and on 870, S5. Why the difference in signal between 890 & 870? I don`t really know except 870 does have KFLD-Pasco WA I get fair during the day at about S5. KFLD was above the noise. On the other hand, a very weak CJDC (mostly carrier) I get in the Summer was totally buried by the S7 white noise on 890. When KIXI was not using IBOC 870 and 890 were totally clean. I was told that in the metro Seattle area the IBOC noise was so bad KHHO-850-Tacoma (30 miles South of Seattle) could not be received clearly within 10-15 miles from the KIXI TX site the IBOC noise was so bad. The IBOC signal caused all sorts of cross modulation across the dial the closer you were to the KIXI site. That QRM was there 10 miles out. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO LAW: COURT STRIKES DOWN DESCRIPTIVE VIDEO FOR THE BLIND Bad news for the visually impaired. A Federal appeals court says that the FCC overstepped its authority in ordering broadcaster to provide descriptive video to accommodate the blind. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports: -- On Friday, November 8th the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out Federal Communications Commission rules requiring television programs to include these oral descriptions of the action on the screen. In rendering its decision, the court said that Congress did not give the FCC the power to order the creation of this service. The court maintained that Congress only authorized and ordered the commission to produce a report on how best to accommodate the needs of the visually impaired. Nothing more and nothing less. And that it definitely did not direct the agency to create a federal mandate that a descriptive audio service be made mandatory. Under video description, a narrator describes the action during natural pauses between dialogue. The description is available on the secondary or SAP audio channel which is usually used for second language broadcasting. The Motion Picture Association of America had challenged the rules in court. It claimed that the FCC was not authorized to issue them. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says that it agrees. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m, Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- Blind advocacy groups are criticizing the court decision. They say its a setback for those who are visually impaired (Published reports, Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 15 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS VIA CHILE - A Voz Cristã transmite o programa Altas Ondas, nas sextas e sábados, às 1600 UT, pela freqüência de 21500 kHz, em 13 metros. O Altas Ondas possui os seguintes quadros: "Correspondente Dexista", com as principais notícias do mundo das ondas curtas; "Distante Conhecido", com respostas aos informes de recepção dos dexistas; "As escutas do Samuel Cássio", com áudios interessantes enviados pelo colega; "DX Interview", com Carlos Felipe entrevistando algum dexista brasileiro; "DX File", com a divulgação de algum áudio interessante que faz parte da história do veículo; "Sintonia Fina", com dados técnicos do dexismo, escrito por Rudolf Walter Grimm. Também pode ser ouvido, no mesmo horário, pela Internet, no seguinte sítio: http://www.vozcrista.com (clicar em "áudio e vídeo", no lado esquerdo). O programa possui um endereço eletrônico exclusivo para o recebimento de informes de recepção: altasondas@v... [truncated] Endereço postal: Voz Cristã, Caixa Postal 2889, Miami, Flórida, 33144, Estados Unidos. (Célio Romais, Brasil, @tividade DX Nov 17 via DXLD) That`s fine, seems like the DX segments have increased, but in between them you have to put up with nauseatingly unctuous evangelism. The only conceivable way to listen to this would be ondemand or on tape to skip past the nonsense (gh, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Broadcast jamming: Privet Martin, Below is my personal opinion, but nevertheless it may be put to CRW as well. Recently, many DX listeners and station officials (such as people from VOA and BBC) discussed the continued jamming of Uzbek-language broadcasting by Chinese authorities. They presume that Uzbek language can be easily understood by Uighur people, which is a national minority in Western China. Then, Uzbek broadcasts from Western radios may disturb stability in that region of China, they say. Well, but I still wonder: Kazakh and Kyrhgyz languages are understandable for Uighurs as well. To my ear, Kazakh is even more close to Uighur than Uzbek is. But those languages are not subject to jamming at all. I do not exclude the possibility that initiative of jamming comes from Uzbekistan government. Possibly they have no technical possibility to do this, so maybe some agreement with Chinese authorities has been established. Regarding possible FM relaying in Tashkent, Uzbekistan capital (is it really carried out?), they may keep a good play for Western diplomatic missions, to show that "we do not violate the information freedom". Remember, Eastern rulers are very sly... Anyway, that`s only a hypothesis (Dmitri Mezin, Russia, Nov 3, for CRW via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. La situación en venezuela es muy tensa por la situación que se conoce a nivel mundial. Hoy me acaba de llegar otro correo que dice lo siguiente: 90.7 FM en directo con todo lo que ocurre en la Plaza Altamira Si usted quiere enterarse de las actividades y acontecimientos diarios de la Plaza Altamira, puede sintonizar 90.7 FM, emisora que transmite las 24 horas. Desde donde se encuentre en la ciudad, podrá tener acceso de los acontecimientos en pleno desarrollo. Los invitamos pues, a mantenerse en sintonía con la Plaza Altamira, para que pueda enterarse de los llamados, manifiestos y proclamas que los Oficiales disidentes den en la Plaza La Libertad. Por cierto colegas diexistas, ya tengo el sonido de 90.7 FM y parte de lo que se transmite a traves de la misma. Atte: José Elías, Venezuela, Nov 17 `4:00 pm`, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Only local impact ** VIETNAM [non]. Clandestine to Vietnam from Russia: 11560, Voice of Khmer Krom Radio, Nov 12. *1400-1430. Initially sign-on with I.S., with opening announcements in Cambodian, followed with news clips and programming. Station was interfered by WYFR (via Taiwan Reply, Radio Taipei International ID on the Hour) in English. This interference could have been a punched error for 11550, but whatever it was, it caused quite a problem on this date. Checked the following day, no sign of WYFR either on 11550 or 11560 (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. One of my best programs is DX Partyline on weekends. I have a nice reception via 9745 however, there is a whooping sound on the back of the moderator. Its like a bubbling noise similar to a "store alarm" I wonder what`s that noise. Regards to all (Héctor (Luigi) Pérez, San Juan PR, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Mideast jammer UNIDENTIFIED IDENTIFIED. One of my reporters in TN has a couple of unID beacons 500+. Wonder if you know where they are: 510.4 HMY Lexington OK (carrier is at 512 kHz) 513.4 ONH Jefferson City MO (carrier is at 515 kHz) Both have been heard here in MI as well -- the one from Lexington is a common one here. You`re welcome! 73 (Ken Zichi, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED IDENTIFIED: 4930 station at 1100+: I got information, the station was R. Turkmenistan (Y. Uemura, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a Latin American as hypothesized UNIDENTIFIED. Re 27105: Good Afternoon Mr. Hauser, I just noticed your questions to my posting of the unID on 27105 kHz. in the 11/14/02 Cumbre DX listings. Thank you for your interest. I have always enjoyed your shows and used to subscribe to your hard copy newsletters. I shall answer your questions below: 1. Question: Do you have any reason to believe this is not a few miles from you on ground wave? Answer: I do not know. I have never taken interest in the CB bands so I am not familiar with the signal characteristics and ground wave effects of a CB transmission. I am picking up the transmission in the AM mode. My first thought was somebody had bought a LP transmitter kit or modified a baby monitor and was broadcasting music to their garage or basement or it might be a relay of some kind to a MW station. After I finally caught on that it was a standard CB channel, my thought is that it might be somebody keying the microphone and playing records. The first few times I heard the broadcasts, there was a noticeable "clunk" between songs. The last few times the transitions between songs has been smoother. I am curious why this transmission does not include any IDs. I have picked up "pirate" stations for years. One thing that the ones that transmit regularly have in common is they almost always give some type of ID-- sometimes many more IDs than a licensed station. Since there is a lack of IDs, I still lean toward the transmissions being likely somebody playing around with sending up signals around their house. 2. Question: Is there any fading? Answer: Most of the signal seems evenly modulated. I cannot hear if there are any peaks and valley in the audio. However, the weak signal could be masking fading. 3. Question: Is there any "skip" on nearby CB frequencies when you hear it? Answer: The closest frequency I have heard presumed CB`ers during the broadcast is 27465 kHz and 27555 kHz. The transmissions tend to be around 0200Z and I have heard them for up to 40 minutes. I have never heard any continuous music anywhere near this frequency. 4. Question: Where in TN are you anyhow? Answer: The reception location is in Upper East TN. My opinion is the transmission is probably somewhere around the receiving location. I do not have a high dollar receiver and usually pick up the transmission with the built in antenna. Various reports have been posted to several shortwave sites, including CumbreDX, without any other responses. I hope that this answers your questions, if not please contact me. 73 (Joe Wood, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ HAM RADIO BUSINESS: KENWOOD TO RESTRUCTURE Some big changes at a company considered one of ham radios "big three. Ken Butler, W1NNR, tells about the news coming from Kenwood: -- Kenwood Corporation is merging five U.S. based subsidiaries. As part of the restructuring, Kenwood will combine home and car audio marketer Kenwood U-S-A, its repair company Kenwood Service, Kenwood Communications and Kenwood Systems with their parent Kenwood Americas. The merged entity will simply be called Kenwood. As part of the merger, Kenwood will expand its U.S. based home and car audio engineering team. The communications business which includes Amateur Radio products will continue to maintain its own sales and marketing staff. The consolidation won`t shut down any offices or warehouses and the company plans to add people in an engineering capacity. Ken Butler, W1NNR. -- The changes here in the United States are a are part of a total Kenwood corporate restructuring announced earlier this year (ARNewsline from press release, Nov 15 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GROUPS TO AGAIN ATTEMPT TRANSATLANTIC VHF CONTACT From November 17 through November 21, two groups of amateurs from Germany, Canada and Ireland will attempt to make two-way transatlantic contact using VHF in conjunction with the Leonid meteor shower. The effort will be in accordance with the quest for the Brendan Trophies http://www.irts.ie/brendan.htm offered by the Irish Radio Transmitter Society. The Brendan Trophies will go to each of the operators of the two Amateur Radio stations that first establish two-way communication between Europe and North or South America on 2 meters. One group will be based at Kells on the Irish coast (using a call sign not yet announced), while the other will operate from Admiralty House Museum and Archive in Mt Pearl, Newfoundland, some eight miles west of St John`s and use the call sign VO1BZM. The two teams will attempt to use the ionized meteor trails to reflect FSK441 signals across the Atlantic. Traveling to Ireland will be Nicolas Exner, DK5DQ, and Volker Muehlhaus, DL5DAW. They will collaborate with Tony Baldwin, EI2FSB/EI8JK, and Tony Moore, EI7BMB. On the Canadian side, Harry Schleichert, DL2DAO, will join a team from the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs (SONRA) http://www.sonra.ca/ The Newfoundland site is not far from Signal Hill National Historic Site of Canada, where Marconi received the first transatlantic signal in 1901. The Leonids occur when Earth passes through the orbit of comet Tempel- Tuttle. The resulting meteor shower is expected to peak November 18- 19. A 1999 effort to complete a transatlantic 2-meter contact between Newfoundland and Scotland on CW was unsuccessful. Additional information will be posted on the VHF Transatlantic Experiment 2002 Web site http://www.dx144.de (Paul Piercey, VO1HE, ARRL Letter Nov 15 via DXLD) METEOR SPECTACULAR OVER UK MAY BE CENTURY`S BEST Usually the Leonids result in interesting propagation effects. Here`s more on this story (an extract) from The Sunday Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk (do a search and then register). . Jonathan Leake and Judith O`Reilly, November 17 2002 THE biggest visible shower of shooting stars for decades is due to light up the sky above Britain tomorrow night. The shower, known as the Leonid meteors, is expected to reach a peak in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The meteors - fragments from the tail of a comet - are predicted to appear at the rate of about 1,000 an hour. The Leonids, visible at the same point in the sky as the constellation of Leo, are fast- moving dust particles. They leave bright trails across the sky as they are incinerated by friction with the upper atmosphere which they enter at speeds of about 160,000mph.... (much more on the web site). (via Mike Terry, DXLD) TUNE IN THE LEONID METEORS ON TV OR RADIO TOMORROW NIGHT The ionizing effect of shooting stars boosts your reception Visit http://www.msnbc.com/news/835527.asp?0bl=-0&cp1=1#BODY (Picture) (A spectrogram recorded in Portugal shows the effect of a Leonid fireball explosion on a carrier signal from a shortwave-radio station in the 15 MHz broadcast band. Click to hear radio "whistlers" recorded by NASA during the Leonid meteor shower). THOUGH NOT widely known outside the circle of serious meteor observers, you can always detect shooting stars on a regular FM radio or a television set. When a meteoroid whizzes through Earth`s upper atmosphere, it leaves in its wake a trail of ionized gas. Radio stations operating on the FM band broadcast by virtue of line-of-sight reception (the curvature of the earth normally prevents such signals from being heard much beyond the horizon). These signals can be briefly heard across rather great distances when bounced off the trail left behind by a meteor. Typically a meteor drags a long cylinder or column of ionized air behind it that can be several miles or more in length and appear at altitudes of 60 to 90 miles (95 to 145 kilometers) above the earth. The ionization effect tends to decay rather rapidly. However, the larger the meteoroid particle, the more persistent the meteor trail and the longer the duration that the trail can reflect a distant radio signal. HOW TO LISTEN On the FM band, you stand the best chance of success by monitoring the low end of the band, below 91.1 MHz. That`s because most low-power stations are found there, generally free of local interference from the higher-power commercial stations that are found farther up the dial. "I think the FM broadcast band would be best for most people, if they can find a clear frequency, preferably near the low end of the band," says longtime amateur radio operator Shelby Ennis (W8WN) of Kentucky. "A small external antenna would help." Tune to a blank spot on a specific frequency. From altitudes of 60 to 90 miles, meteors are capable of reflecting signals from stations 1,000 miles or more away. So exactly what are you trying to hear? WHAT TO LISTEN FOR A bright meteor can cause a distant radio station to suddenly come blaring in loud and clear for a fraction of a second (referred to by radio amateurs as a "ping"). Or, depending on how long the trail of ionized gas persists, you may continue to hear the station`s signal - albeit much weaker - for perhaps 10 to 20 seconds or more. You`ll have better success if you can turn off the stereo and "mute" functions on your FM radio. Radios with an indoor antenna are OK, but you`ll do much better with an antenna that is mounted outdoors. Another radio amateur who monitors meteor showers on radio, Ilkka Yrjölä (OH5IY) of Kuusankoski, Finland, notes that "indoor antennas pick up noise from household electronics, and FM radio signals may actually be severely attenuated by the walls, though one may receive all the local stations just fine. An outdoor antenna is something to have, or if the conditions are no good, drive a car to a park, or outside the city to a relatively clear spot, and listen to FM from there." Ennis agrees on this final point. "Some have done well just sitting in their car, watching the sky and monitoring the FM band that way." You can try listening anytime after the Leonid radiant comes above your local horizon (generally after 11 p.m. local time). For those in New England and the Canadian Maritimes, this is around the time of the first predicted Leonid outburst. As such, it might be worthwhile to try to listen during the two hours or so surrounding this first peak, regardless of the actual geometry of the radiant`s location. However, the very best time to listen is when the radiant is roughly halfway up above the horizon as seen from a point halfway between you and the station transmitter. From a given location, the Leonid radiant is at this height at around 3 a.m. local time when it is in the east- southeast sky, and again around 9 a.m. when it`s in the west- southwest. You should try tuning to a station located in a direction perpendicular to the radiant. So, if you are listening when the radiant is up in the east-southeast sky, the better listening directions are to your north-northeast and south-southwest; when the radiant is in the west-southwest sky, try for stations to your north- northwest and south-southeast. People in North America`s Mountain time zone are particularly favored, since the Leonid radiant will be at or very near the proper height above the east-southeast horizon around the time when the second outburst of meteor activity is expected to occur. Again, you stand the best chance of success if you try tuning your receiver to a blank spot on the FM dial that is at or below 91.1 MHz. Unfortunately, prospective listeners who live in or near large cities may run into a problem analogous to visual observers trying to find a location free of light pollution - namely, there might not be any blank spots to be found on the FM dial. If you find that this is the case in your area, don`t despair. Try watching for meteors on your TV. TELEVISED EVENT Basically, television is nothing more than FM radio with pictures [video is amplitude-, not frequency-modulated –gh]. Of course, in this case we are not talking about a TV set that is hooked up to a local cable outlet or a satellite dish! We`re talking about using an old- fashioned TV antenna, either mounted on your roof or at the very least a smaller external antenna (such as "rabbit ears"). Look for a vacant channel between channels 2 and 6. Along with occasionally hearing the audio from a distant station suddenly bursting forth, you may actually see a picture for a few moments, or some lines across the screen as the TV set tries to lock up on a sudden signal, especially if the meteor`s ionization trail is particularly dense. One thing you might want to keep in mind if you`re listening to your radio while simultaneously watching the sky: Not every meteor that you see visually will result in a ping of reception. More often than not, you`ll probably be hearing activity without actually seeing any meteors. The reason is that the majority of the meteors that induce enhanced reception are streaking through the atmosphere many hundreds of miles away, near or beyond your horizon. On a typical non-Leonid night, listening for meteor activity on radio means waiting to hear an occasional ping coming through between lengthy intervals perhaps lasting many minutes. But if the Leonids attain predicted rates of 1,000 per hour or more, the shower could translate into almost continuously hearing a distant station whose signal will seem to vary dramatically in intensity as it bounces off numerous meteor trails. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York`s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester in New York. © 2002 Space.com. All rights reserved (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Best with lower-power stations below 91.1 MHz??? That`s total nonsense. There are loads of high-power stations below 91.1 --- and I suppose they meant below 92.1, i.e. the so-called noncommercial band (in US terms, clearly the angle of this article). You just need to find a frequency anywhere on the FM band with little or no marginal groundwave signal, and no adjacent channel interference, an increasingly difficult task unless you`re far away from cities. Stations above the educational bnad have a higher probability of being IDed, not playing lengthy classical music, but with frequent commercials giving local clues, and jingles. Furthermore you don`t have to be a licensed ham to DX meteor scatter FM, as this seems to assume! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GRAND FINALE --- THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SEE A LEONID STORM. By Joe Rao http://skyandtelescope.com On the morning of November 17, 1966, skywatchers in western North America were spellbound by an awesome flood of Leonid meteors peaking around 5 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. It was probably the greatest meteor shower of the 20th century. At New Mexico State University Observatory, A. Scott Murrell used a camera tracking the stars to capture this 10- to 12-minute exposure with a 50-mm f/1.9 lens and Kodak Tri-X (ISO 400) film. The bowl of the Little Dipper is at bottom. Photo by A. Scott Murrell/NMSU; courtesy Sky & Telescope. (Want to watch this meteor shower? "Observing the Leonids" will tell you when to look and how to observe.) As most Sky & Telescope readers know, the Leonids are the dross of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. A meteor stream is like an enormous highway of moving particles, strung out along the entire elliptical path of the comet, and we become aware of only those particles that actually encounter our planet (a comparatively tiny target - a mere dot in space). The geometry of the encounter makes them appear around November 18th each year from the direction of the Sickle of Leo, hence the name "Leonids." We normally see no more than about 10 meteors per hour. But that`s just an average Leonid shower. Every third of a century, for several Novembers in a row, there is the chance that the Leonids will put on a truly prolific showing. There can be hundreds or even thousands of shooting stars per hour. In fact, we are in this window of potential Leonid storms right now. Each time Comet Tempel-Tuttle sweeps through the inner solar system and passes nearest to the Sun, it spews new sets of particles into space that quickly elongate into long, narrow, extradense ribbons of debris. Such ribbons of meteoroids likely have a complex structure and almost certainly contain denser sheets or clusters, each perhaps spawned by an individual outburst on the comet nucleus. A typical dust trail must be at least several astronomical units (Earth-Sun distances) long to have been encountered for several years running, but it is probably only a few Earth diameters thick. Leonids appear ultrafast compared to the meteors of other showers, for this stream`s particles enter our atmosphere at 71 kilometers per second (near the theoretical speed limit for particles belonging to our solar system). Because of their tremendous speeds, Leonids can be extremely bright and are often tinged with hues of blue or green. Roughly half leave luminous vapor trains - some hanging in the air five minutes or more. The curtain on the current Leonid saga rose in November 1998, just eight months after Comet Tempel-Tuttle passed perihelion. On the night of November 16-17 that year, practically the whole world witnessed a remarkable and unexpected 18-hour bombardment of brilliant fireballs, at times numbering up to a few hundred per hour. In 1999 fewer fireballs were seen, but they were replaced by a true storm of more typical Leonids with rates reaching one per second over Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. A very good display (but no storm) appeared in 2000. Then in 2001, not one but two Leonid storms materialized. And now, in 2002, we prepare for what indeed will be the grand finale. It`s one final opportunity to see Leonid displays capable of producing rates in excess of 1,000 per hour - one last chance, for probably a very long time, to see a Leonid storm. As it nears the Sun every 33 years, the icy nucleus of Comet Tempel- Tuttle ejects a flurry of small particles, which spread out along its orbit over time. Earth crosses this stream of comet crumbs every November, creating a "shower" - and rarely a "storm" - of meteors in our atmosphere. These frames come from an animation; click on the image to download a 2-megabyte QuickTime movie (via Mike Terry, DXLD) WRC-03 ++++++ IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL CONTINUES WRC-03 PREPARATIONS Preparations for next year`s World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC- 03) dominated discussions during the annual meeting of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Administrative Council. The gathering, November 7-8 in San Marino, reviewed WRC-03 agenda items of importance to amateurs, including harmonization of amateur and broadcasting allocations in the vicinity of 7 MHz. Several of those attending the San Marino session will head directly to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Conference Preparatory Meeting in Geneva November 18-29 (see below). The Administrative Council reviewed and refined IARU strategy for WRC- 03. Other WRC-03 agenda items of concern to the amateur community include possible revision of Article 25 of the international Radio Regulations. Article 25 includes the current requirement to demonstrate Morse code proficiency. In San Marino, the Council reaffirmed its policy supporting the removal of Morse code testing as an ITU requirement to obtain an amateur license to operate on frequencies below 30 MHz. In other business, the IARU Administrative Council noted the growing use of power lines for high-speed data communications and expressed concerns that radiation from power line communications--sometimes called PLC or PLT--could interfere with Amateur Radio reception. The Council resolved to urge member-societies to recognize the importance of studies now under way and to share information on investigations conducted in their respective countries. The Council also reviewed and updated a working document on the present and anticipated future Amateur and Amateur-Satellite spectrum requirements. The document reflects progress made by member-societies in achieving amateur access in the low-frequency bands--135-200 kHz. The Council adopted the theme "Amateur Radio supporting technology education in the classroom" for World Amateur Radio Day. World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, 2003, marks the anniversary of the founding of the IARU in 1925. Attending the Council meeting were IARU President Larry Price, W4RA; Vice President David Wardlaw, VK3ADW; Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ; regional representatives Lou van de Nadort, PA0LOU, Tim Hughes, G3GVV, Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, Pedro Seidemann, YV5BPG, Rod Stafford, W6ROD, Fred Johnson, ZL2AMJ, Peter Naish, VK2BPN, and K. C. Selvadurai, 9V1UV; and recording secretary Paul Rinaldo, W4RI. The Council recognized van de Nadort, who`s retiring as Region 1 Chairman, and Hughes, who`s stepping down as secretary, for their long and devoted service to their region and as Administrative Council members. The next IARU Administrative Council will be September 6-8 in Taipei, Taiwan, following the IARU Region 3 Conference. WRC-03 ISSUES TO GET FIRST WORLDWIDE AIRING AT CPM Amateur Radio will be represented as preparations for World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03) take a big step forward November 18. That`s when the WRC-03 Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/study-groups/rcpm/index.asp convenes for two weeks in Geneva. ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, described the CPM as "a mini-WRC-03."When we come out of the CPM, we`ll have a good idea of where things stand in terms of Amateur Radio issues," Sumner said. Both events are sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) http://www.itu.int/home/index.html As he did at WRC-2000, Sumner will represent Amateur Radio interests at the CPM as International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) http://www.iaru.org/ secretary. IARU President Larry Price, W4RA, will lead an IARU team that includes Wojciech Nietyksza, SP5FM, in addition to Sumner. Among amateurs serving on national delegations will be ARRL Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, and IARU Vice President David Wardlaw, VK3ADW, of Australia. The CPM represents the first worldwide airing of the various agenda items that will come up at WRC-03 next June and July. At the CPM, Sumner explained, approximately 1000 delegates from around the world will pore over some 500 pages of a draft CPM Report. Sumner says that only a small portion of the paper pile --- such as the question of a worldwide 300-kHz allocation in the vicinity of 7 MHz --- directly affects Amateur Radio, however. The CPM is held, Sumner explained, so that administrations "won`t be starting out with a blank sheet of paper" when WRC-03 rolls around. A separate agenda item at WRC-03 that`s not entirely unrelated to the 7-MHz issue is the consideration of allocations for international broadcasting in the vicinity of from 4 to 10 MHz. Other amateur issues include a request to allocate up to 6 MHz of spectrum for so-called synthetic aperture radars (SARs) from 420 to 470 MHz to be operated under the Earth Exploration Satellite Service (Active). The ARRL and the IARU oppose SARs in the most active portions of the amateur 70-cm band. CPM delegates also will deal with the amateur allocation in the vicinity of 5 GHz, which is facing growing competition from so-called Radio Local Area Networks (RLANs) and other unlicensed services. Article 25, which -- among other things -- deals with the requirement to demonstrate proficiency in Morse code to operate below 30 MHz, has been another high-profile issue for amateurs. It`s virtually certain that a Morse examination will no longer be a requirement. But the updated Radio Regulations could include language making clear that administrations may continue to require code tests if they wish. Meanwhile, volcanic activity in Ecuador has led to the postponement of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) PCC.II meeting that was set to take place November 11-14. ARRL Technical Relations Specialist Jon Siverling, WB3ERA--on the US delegation for the event-- said volcanic ash had closed the airport. An IARU delegate also will attend the session, once it`s rescheduled. "It`s a very important meeting to prepare for WRC-03, and we hope they reschedule it as soon as possible." Siverling said this week, adding that CITEL now hopes to hold the meeting in mid-December (ARRL Letter Nov 15 via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-178, November 16, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1156: RFPI: Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415; first airing Wed 2300 7415, 17495 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Europe Sun 0530; North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1156.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL --- See FINLAND ONE STOCKPILE OF B-02 SCHEDULES As for Schedules, I use the following web site to keep abreast of schedule changes - http://www.bclnews.it/b02schedules. Tis in Italy and they do a great job in keep up with schedules change by Country. I visit them often for updates. They currently have about 88 B-02 Schedules on the site. Have a very good weekend of radio listening. (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, swl via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. RELIGIOUS PROGRAMME TAKEN OFF AFGHAN TV | Text of report by Afghan newspaper Payam-e Mojahed on 14 November "Sada-e Monber", or "the voice of the pulpit", was a program on Kabul Television that existed for a long time. This program was on every Friday evening broadcasting the voice of preachers giving sermons in Kabul congregational mosques, and followed by Friday prayers [usually broadcast between 1200 gmt and 0130 gmt]. The program was stopped by the order of the minister of information and culture. Instead, a new program started under the name of "On the way toward lights". This new program contained the speeches made by four people. The minister of information and culture might have sent this order to realize the ideas of a democratic society. Source: Payam-e Mojahed, Kabul, in Dari 14 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Tajikistan. Radio Free Afghanistan, the joint service of RFE/RL and VOA (in Dari/Pashto to Afghanistan), is relayed in the B02 season via the following MW transmitters: Orzu 801 (1000 kW, 230 deg) at 1230-1930 and 2330-0430, Orzu 972 (500 kW, 230 deg) at 2330-0130 and Yangiyul 1143 (Dushanbe, 150 kW ND) at 1200-1300. The 801 transmitter is now used exclusively for this service (Bernd Trutenau. Lithuania, 27.10.2002, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** ALASKA. THE GRANDDADDY OF U.S. CATHOLIC RADIO RACKS UP 7 ALASKAN BROADCASTER AWARDS Nome, Nov 10 (CRU) --- KNOM Radio Nome 780 AM and 96.1 FM racked in seven awards from the Alaska Broadcasters Association convention, general manager Tom Busch reported today. The stations, owned by the Diocese of Fairbanks, won 7 ABA "Goldie" Awards Friday night for Best Radio Entertainment Program, Best Radio Specialty Program, Best Radio Live Sports Event, Best Public Affairs Program, Best Comedy Program, Best Radio Web Site, and the big one, Best Radio Service to the Community. ``We're busting our buttons!`` Tom e-mailed CRU before heading out on a volunteers-recruiting campaign at St John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. While there he plans to meet Andy Hilger, general manager and former owner of KKJM 92.9 Collegeville-St Cloud, who gave the station to the Diocese of St Cloud, which operates it as an ecumenical, Christian contemporary station. (Catholic Radio Update/Radio Católica al Día is published for Catholic broadcasters and program producers and sent to those who ask for it at no charge. Display ads are published at no charge. This newsletter is not subsidized by any organization, individual, or corporation, whether profit or nonprofit. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Catholic Church or any one individual or organization. This newsletter is not published in conjunction with any product or service. Its appearance is strictly the product of the neurosis of the editor. This is not a solicitation, direct or indirect, for funding or donations. I have all I need. I do not have all I want, but God help those who have all they want.) (Mike Dorner, Nov 18 Catholic Radio Update Nov 16 via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. 567 Ouargla 10 kW new station. 603 Adrar 10 kW new station. 612 Tamenghasset 10 kW new station. 702 Djelfa 50/25 kW new station. 756 Alger 3 10/5 kW new station. The stations may be anything from planned to operating (ITU via Olle Alm, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6059.96, Radio Nacional, Nov 14, 0933, news, IDs and announcement. Good signal, way past Buenos Aires sunrise (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Re: DXLD 2-177: It's not correct to say that private commercial stations on MW in Australia are 'independent'. Commercial radio in Australia in recent years has gone through a period of considerable ownership consolidation. Many stations in metropolitan and regional markets are commonly owned by publicly-listed corporations. For instance, the Southern Cross Broadcasting group operates 2UE in Sydney, 3AW Melbourne, Magic 693 in Melbourne, 4BC Brisbane, 6PR and 96fm in Perth, in addition to television stations in Adelaide, Canberra, northern New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. DMG Radio operates 62 regional and metropolitan stations, including the new 'Nova' brand FM stations in Melbourne and Sydney. It has won the new commercial FM license in Perth. In Western Australia, it operates the Radiowest network of 11 stations located in the towns of Bunbury, Collie, Busselton/Margaret River, Bridgetown/Manjimup, Albany, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Merredin, Northam, Narrogin and Katanning. Stations produce some local programming which is complemented by the network programme. From its main studio in Bunbury, the Radiowest service is carried via PanAmSat2 to network stations. The RG Capital Radio operates 32 regional stations throughout eastern Australia. On a smaller scale, there are groups such as ACE Radio broadcasters which operates stations in rural Victoria, including Colac, Swan Hill, Horsham, Warrnambool and at its headquarters in Hamilton. Other AM stations form part of multicultural or sporting broadcasting networks. Regards, (Matt Francis, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. OPPOSITION SLAMS CUTS TO STATE RADIO'S ASIA-PACIFIC PROGRAMME | Text of report by Radio Australia on 13 November The shadow parliamentary secretary [i.e. opposition spokesman] for northern Australia says the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's plans to make radical cuts to Radio Australia's "Asia-Pacific" programme" is against the national interest. Warren Snowdon says he has confirmed the ABC is cutting 100,000 dollars in funding from the programme, and one staff member. He says the programme is a vital service to Southeast Asia, especially after the Bali bombings. [Snowdon] The withdrawal that's being proposed will mean that we are actually depriving people of an opportunity to get access to information about Australia or about Australia's views and understandings of what is happening in Southeast Asia. [End of recording] ABC management says it is aware there is a lot of speculation about the "Asia-Pacific" service, but cannot comment until sister network Radio National, which also carries the programme, releases its schedule for next year. Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 1300 gmt 13 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RADIO AUSTRALIA. RA management steadfastly refuses to provide its composite schedule for B02, either via the Web or anywhere else. Personal requests to Transmission Management by telephone, fax, postal mail, and E-mail are totally and rudely ignored. Despite that non-cooperation, here's the actual operating schedule effective Oct 27, compiled from engineering data submitted to the ITU and monitoring here in Melbourne. Note that the data shown in the public version of the HFCC Master file is misleading. 5995 0800-0900 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 5995 0900-1100 Brandon Tok Pisin 10 10 PNG Pac 5995 1100-1400 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 5995 1400-1800 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 6020 0900-1100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 30 100 PNG Pac 6020 1100-1400 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 6080 1800-2000 Shepparton English 5 100 As Pac 6080 2000-2100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 5 100 As 6080 1400-1800 Shepparton English 334 100 As 7240 1800-2000 Shepparton English 30 100 As Pac 7240 2000-2100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 30 100 As Pac 7240 2100-2200 Shepparton English 30 100 As Pac 9475 1330-1600 Shepparton English 329 100 As PNG 9475 1600-1900 Shepparton English 329 100 Eu PNG As 9475 1100-1300 Shepparton English 329 100 As PNG 9500 1900-1130 Shepparton English 329 100 As PNG 9580 0800-1100 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 9580 1100-1130 Shepparton English 70 100 NAm Pac 9660-2300-0800 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 9660 2000-2200 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 9710 0800-0900 Shepparton English 353 100 PNG As Pac 9710 0900-1100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 353 100 PNG As Pac 9730 2300-2330 Kranji Khmer 13 100 As 9815 1700-2100 Shepparton English 30 100 As PNG Pac 11550 0900-0930 Taipei Indonesian 205 250 As 11550 2130-2330 Taipei Indonesian 205 250 As 11650 1100-1700 Shepparton English 30 100 PNG Pac 11660 1330-1430 Shepparton English 329 100 As 11660 1430-1700 Shepparton English 329 100 Eu As 11695 2330-0000 Shepparton English 329 100 As 11695 2130-2330 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 As 11880 1700-2200 Shepparton English 65 100 Pac 11880 1100-1330 Shepparton English 329 100 As 11880 0900-1100 Shepparton English 100 Pac 11935 2130-2330 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 12080 2300-0900 Brandon English 80 10 PNG Pac 12080 0900-1100 Brandon Tok Pisin 80 10 PNG Pac 12080 1100-1200 Brandon English 80 10 PNG Pac 12080 1900-2200 Brandon English 80 10 PNG Pac 13620 2200-0000 Darwin English 317 250 As 15110 2330-0030 Taipei Vietnamese 225 250 As 15230 2200-0000 Shepparton English 329 100 PNG As 15240 0700-0900 Shepparton English 90 100 Pac NAm 15240 2200-2330 Shepparton English 329 100 As 15240 0000-0700 Shepparton English 353 100 As PNG 15240 0700-0800 Shepparton English 353 100 As PNG 15415 2330-0900 Shepparton English 329 100 PNG As 15415 2130-2330 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 PNG As 15435 1400-1530 Kranji Mandarin 13 100 As 15515 0200-0700 Shepparton English 70 100 NAm Pac 17580 0000-0800 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 17715 2100-0000 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac As 17750 0000-0400 Shepparton English 329 100 As 17750 0400-0430 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 As 17750 0430-0500 Shepparton English 329 100 As 17750 0500-0530 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 As 17750 0530-1100 Shepparton English 329 100 As 17775 0000-0130 Darwin English 317 250 As 17795 2200-0200 Shepparton English 50 100 NAm PNG Pac 17865 0500-0530 Kranji Khmer 13 250 As 17865 0530-0600 Kranji Vietnamese 13 250 As 21615 0000-0030 Tinian Indonesian 255 250 As 21680 0000-0030 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 21680 0400-0430 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 21680 0500-0530 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 21725 0000-0900 Shepparton English 329 100 PNG As Pac 21740 2100-0000 Shepparton English 70 100 NAm Pac 21780 0400-0430 Tinian Indonesian 255 250 As 21820 0900-1400 Shepparton English 329 70 As (Bob Padula, EDXP Nov 15 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Voice International - planned changes: 0100- 0400 11850 via Tashkent (to India) Hindi from Nov-9; 1900-2100 13770 via Darwin to India/As English from Nov 11. The official schedule, via Darwin, including those additions, as at Nov 13 is: 11685 English 1630-2100 11750 Hindi 1400-1700 11935 Indonesian 2330-0000 13635 Hindi 1100-1400 13660 Indonesian 1300-1800 13685 English 0900-1300, 1630-1900 13690 English 1300-1630 13770 English 1900-2100 15150 Mandarin 1400-1700 15165 Mandarin 2200-0100 15365 Indonesian 0900-1300 17635 Mandarin 0900-1400 17775 English 0130-0200 17820 Indonesian 0600-0900 21680 Indonesian 0030-0100, 0430-0500, 0530-0600 I regard the usage of the leased Tashkent relay as unusual, for a morning service into India 0100-0400, instead of using Darwin! Three of the four Darwin transmitters are in use from 0100-0130 (17775 15165 and 21680) and only two from 0130-0200 (17775 and 15165). None of the Darwin transmitters is in use between 0200 and 0400! With all that transmitter capacity lying idle, station is now paying for a leased relay in Uzbekistan! The Uzbek relay is being brokered by Merlin. No sign of anything yet on 13770 (Nov-14) - perhaps not a wise frequency choice as channel is already occupied by RDP Lisbon with special events (soccer) to CAm, 2000-0000, which is well heard right across Asia and Australia (Bob Padula, EDXP Nov 15 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.78, Radio Santa Cruz, Nov 13, 0928, Andean ballads, canned ID, 0947 ad block. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOUGAINVILLE. PAPUA NEW GUINEA (BOUGAINVILLE). 3850, R. Independent Mekamui: Full data QSL letter v/s Sam Voron (QSL agent as well as the person that spearheaded setting up this station, a station in Somalia, and the Ham training center in Solomon Islands!). "Broadcasting from the 15 km no-go zone centered on the Panguna Copper mine and defended by the peoples Mekamui Defense Force (MDF). The No- go zone is set up by the current traditional landowner Francis Ona, President of the Makamui National Congress. This congress is the voice of the traditional chiefs supporting the no-go zone in Central Bougainville. ..... (more plus full data)... 3.850 MHZ AM using 80 watts output.." In about 80 days for $5 US, a CD (required or tape) for reception in W Coast (Don Nelson, OR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Catholic Conference for musician plus V Canção Nova Catholic Music Festival. From Thursday, 14 to November, 17 you will have the opportunity to follow the Catholic Conference for musician plus V Canção Nova Catholic Music Festival. Musicians and several ministries from the whole country will be celebrating the Fifth Festival of Catholic Music at Canção Nova. This event will be promoting all Catholic musicians through this Festival; besides it will be a moment where everybody will have a chance to improve in their ministries by lectures. At Conference, will have lectures of Fr. Jonas Abib – Founder of Canção Nova Community and other musicians of Canção Nova. All events will be available `live` through Canção Nova Communication System – TV, Internet and Radio through frequencies: AM 1020 kHz - SW 49m 6105 kHz - SW 60m 4825 kHz - SW 31m 9675 kHz. Acampamento para Musicos e V Festival Canção Nova de Musica Católica Da próxima quinta feira, 14 a 17 de Novembro estará acontecendo na Canção Nova Acampamento para Musicos e o V Festival Canção Nova de Musica Católica. Musicos de varios ministerios de todo o país estarão comemorando o 5º festival na Canção Nova. Este evento tem como bjetivo promover os músicos Catolicos através do Festival, além de momentos onde todos terão a chance de aprofundarem em seus ministerios atraves de palestras ministradas por: Padre Jonas Abib - Fundador da Canção Nova e outros musicos. Todo o evento será transmitido pelo Sistema Canção Nova de Comunicação - TV, Internet e Radio, através das frequencias: AM 1020 kHz - SW 49m 6105 kHz - SW 60m 4825 kHz - SW 31m 9675 kHz (via Célio Romais, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. O Programa Além Fronteiras, é voltado de maneira particular aos Dxistas (Rádio escutas) do Brasil e do Exterior. Para as ondas eletromagnéticas não existem fronteiras e aproveitando essa vantagem a nosso favor, a Rádio Canção Nova tem transmitido todos os sábados às 19h [UT -2?] o Programa Além Fronteiras. O programa consiste em identificar e estimular os países mais distantes a sintonizarem nossa emissora. O público- alvo dessa nova empreitada visa àqueles que têm como hobbie, o Dxismo; atividade que consiste em escutar estações de rádios e informá-las através do informe de recepção. É uma atividade muito difundida por todo o mundo, tendo também entre eles os radioamadores. Com a interação da informática presente também em nossos estúdios, toda a programação ``Ao Vivo``, está disponível aos ouvintes para que tenham a oportunidade de uma maior interatividade através de nosso Chat. http://www.cancaonova.com na sala ``Radiochat``. Nos informes de recepção, como assim são chamados, nos é informado qual o programa que está sendo ouvido, a sua intensidade de sinal e, muitas vezes, os Dxistas nos enviam também informações sobre o país ou região onde vivem. Dos 28 programas já veiculados até a presente data, identificamos a presença de 45 diferentes países. Dentre os países confirmados, o maior número de ouvintes estrangeiros pertencem aos países nórdicos – Finlândia, Suécia e Noruega. Entre os registros confirmados, temos também informes de ouvintes que estiveram sintonizados com a nossa emissora-irmã de Gravatá-Pernambuco. Esta iniciativa vem confirmar os esforços de todos aqueles que compõem a família Canção Nova, bem como de nossos amigos que colaboram com suas participações no programa através do chat, como é o caso de Célio Romais, Jailton Amaral , os quais por meio de seus informes muito têm nos ajudado. Sobretudo, devemos salientar os esforços de nossos sócios que acreditando no trabalho evangelizador desta obra, cooperam para que a palavra de Deus atinja regiões que jamais pensaríamos e poderíamos alcançar. Nossos agradecimentos a todos aqueles que conosco têm se empenhado no ministério de evangelizar pelo éter. Parabéns ao Programa Além Fronteiras! Parabéns a você ! radio@cancaonova.com (via Dado via Célio Romais, Nov 14, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Cultura de Araraquara, SP, 3365: Olá Célio, um grande abraço e parabéns pelo excelente trabalho realizado. É de muita importância para o Rádio, este informativo que você realiza. Somos uma Emissora tradicional, com 70 anos de espetacular história de entretenimento, informação, educação e prestação de serviços à comunidade. Profissionais que por aqui passaram, chegaram a ficar 50 anos realizando suas funções, numa mostra da credibilidade e respeito conquistados no seu trabalho. Por termos nossa Onda Tropical de 90 metros em 3365 Khz, conseguimos ser ouvidos em várias partes do Brasil e até bem longe dele. Somos solicitados de uma confirmação através de um cartão de "QSL". Sempre enviamos esse cartão, respeitando a solicitação de quem nos ouve. Mas, por uma mudança em nossas instalações e o falecimento de amigos a mais tempo na profissão, não conseguimos mais localizar tais cartões. O que lhe peço, como auxílio e orientação, é um modelo de cartão QSL, para poder-mos novamente estar fazendo as confirmações e respeitando os pedidos que recebemos. Sempre fui de ouvir muito as emissoras em todo o mundo, com enormes antes ou incríveis amplificadores de sinal(ou ruído), mas nunca solicitei uma única confirmação ou correspondência, não recebendo então, tal cartão. Parabenizando-o mais uma vez pela sua dedicação e no aguardo de um breve retorno, saudamos respeitosamente com estima e apreço (Francisco de Assis Bergamim, Departamento Artístico, Rádio Cultura Araraquara, via Célio Romais, Nov 14, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Glenn, Paulo Roberto e Souza é uma excelente fonte de notícias de emissoras da Região Amazônica brasileira. Parabéns a ele! (Celio Romais, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz: No dia 15 dezembro a Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé estará complentando 39 anos. Quem informar à emissora como está chegando o som na nova frequência estará concorrendo a prêmios nesta data. O endereço da emissora é: Rua Benjamin Constant, 343 - Centro, 69470-000-Tefé-AM e-mail: rert@osite.com.br No Boletim da Prelazia de Tefé, saiu a seguinte nota sobre a nova frequência da Rádio Educação Rural: Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé transmite em nova freqüência. Segundo a portaria nº 1341 de 19 de julho de 2002, o Ministro de Estado das Comunicações autorizou a Fundação Dom Joaquim a mudar sua freqüência de operação da Onda Tropical de 3.385Khz nos 90 metros para 4.925Khz nos 60 metros. Após o tempo de aquisição das peças necessárias e os preparativos para efetuar a mudança, finalmente entre os dias 31/10 a 05/11 foi feito um verdadeiro mutirão derrubando as antenas, cavando valas para o sistema de irradiação, levantando as antenas em sua formação nova para operar em 4.925 kHz. Enquanto isso, o engenheiro Eurico efetuava as mudanças dentro do transmissor da Onda Tropical. Agora, aguardamos o retorno de todos os ouvintes da Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé, de longa, média e curta distância, relatando, como está chegando a transmissão da Rádio no seu receptor, em sua comunidade, em sua cidade! Mandem uma cartinha para nos contar o que vocês acham da mudança. Todas as cartinhas concorrerão a um sorteio a ser realizado no dia 15 de dezembro, dia do aniversário da Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé. (Thomas Schwamborn, Gerente Admnistrativo da Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé) Emissora do sistema A Crítica de Rádio e TV - Manaus, a Rádio Jornal A Crítica desde o dia 12 passado está fazendo testes com a sua estação de OT (5055 kHz) para voltar a operá-la. Semana que vem deve sair a autorização da ANATEL determinando o horário de operação da estação. A emissora pretende manter a estação no ar em caráter permanente. As informações foram prestados pelo técnico da emissora Josimar. A emissora foi sintonizada em Tefé no dia 13 de novembro entre as 2320 / 2354, com sinal regular, retransmitindo a programação da estação de FM (93,1 mHz). (Paulo Roberto e Souza, Nov 14, via Célio Romais, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4885.02, Rdif. Acreana, Nov 14, 1003, Canned IDs, live announcer with heavy reverb, Portuguese pop vocal. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC previews for Mon., Nov. 18: IDEAS: All this week, the 2002 Massey Lectures by Margaret Visser. Beyond Fate: "One of the proudest achievements of modernity is its investment in freedom. However, we seem in important respects, now to be letting that freedom slip from our grasp. We are falling back into Fate." In the 2002 Massey Lectures, Margaret Visser explores how the struggle to find meaning in our lives is helped by an understanding of the ancient world from which we came. Hear her tonight on Ideas at 9 (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CANADA. 5 MHz Experiment. Glenn, some info on another 5 MHz test from Canada (Wade Smith, VE9WGS, New Brunswick, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subject: RAC Bulletin 02-085E 5 MHz Experiment Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 22:46:11 -0500 From: "RAC-Bulletins from HQ" rac-bulletins@mail.eton.ca From: RAC Headquarters Date: November 14, 2002 The Marconi Amateur Radio Club of Newfoundland, under the leadership of Joe Craig, VO1NA, will conduct a three phase propagation experiment at approximately 5.3 MHz. The three phases have been authorized for 22-25 November 2002, 20-23 December 2002, and 20-23 June, 2003. The call sign will be VO1MRC. Planned frequencies and modes are CW (A1A) and USB SSB (J3E) on: 5260, 5269, 5280 5290 5319 and 5329 and possibly 5400 and 5405 KHz. For further details, contact Joe Craig, VO1NA at: jcraig@morgan.ucs.mun.ca Industry Canada authorized the experiment plan which was developed by Mr. Craig with the endorsement of Radio Amateurs of Canada. Comments to: rachq@rac.ca (via Wade Smith, NB, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Korean Yoido on 6715. I finally heard this station on this frequency at 1920 Nov 10 [Sunday] with dictation style talks in Korean and a mention about Jesus and relatively big gaps between pastors speech. Very poor signal in USB (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Glenn: I've notice that several schedule in Nagoya DXer Circle is outdated, so here's all the Taiwan service from China: Even frequency announcement and website information are all wrong. CNR-5 0055-0615, 0955-0005 549, 765, 9380, 11100, 11935, 15710 (HF frequencies all silent) CNR-6 2055-0105, 0355-1805 (Wed 0605-0955 stop broadcast) [siesta] 684, 909, 927, 1089, 9170, 11000, 15880 (HF frequencies all silent) V. of the Strait 2225-1700 (Wed 2230-1000 stop broadcast) Literature channel 7280, 5050, FM 90.6 News channel 666, 1269, 11590, 4940 Amoy channel 6115, 4900, 873 Note: first SW frequency transmits between 0000-1400, second SW frequency transmits between 2225-0000, 1400-1700 CHINA HUAYI BC. CO. (Wed 2225-1000 stop bc) 2225 - 1700 6185, 4830, 783, FM 107.1, FM 99.6 Note: same as V.O.STRAIT CHINA SE BC. CO. 0955-1600 585 V.O. PUJIAN 1155-1600 3280, 4950, 5075, FM 97.7 V.O. JINLING 1125-1400 5860, 1206, 846 (Miller Liu, de Taiwan, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Haixia PBS on 5050 kHz is now my second strongest Chinese station in the 60 meter band (No. 1 is CNR 1 on 4800 kHz). Best at the Sunrise time in Fuzhou (2225 UT) when the station starts its daily transmission. Haixia zhi Sheng (Voice of the Strait) PBS starts at 2223 UT: 2223 Interval signal (bells) 2225 Identification: "Haixia zhi Sheng guangbo dientai...", followed by schedule (?) 2230 Instrumental versions of "western" hits until 2254 UT 2254 Long chain (6 mins.) of commercials With 2300 approaching the signal loses its strength. Very bad at 2310 (45 minutes after local Sunrise in Fuzhou). The Chinese transmitter on 4800 kHz (CNR 1) starts now at 16 UT (ex 1300). It seems the transmitter is used on other frequency until 1600. That is why it appears on 4800 kHz usually at 1601, delayed by retuning (?)... GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia) *********************************** AOR AR-7030, 30 m Long Wire, hard-core-dx via DXLD) --- Odchozí zpráva neobsahuje viry. Zkontrolováno antivirovým systémem AVG (http://www.grisoft.cz). Verze: 6.0.410 / Virová báze: 231 - datum vydání: 31.10.2002 ** CHINA. CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL AND WRN RENEW COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP At a signing ceremony in Beijing, China Radio International (CRI) has renewed and extended its agreement with London-based World Radio Network (WRN) for the provision of broadcast transmission services. The new contract for WRN`s services was signed by CRI Vice President Mr Xia Jixuan at CRI`s headquarters on 24th October 2002. WRN and CRI have worked closely since the two broadcasters signed a collaborative agreement in August 1999 to bring CRI`s programmes to a wider global audience. Under the auspices of the agreement, WRN established the broadcasting of CRI`s daily French, English and German programmes to western Europe on 1440 kHz AM via RTL Radio`s powerful transmitter based in Luxembourg – the famous 208 Metres medium wave. WRN is now undertaking an extensive marketing campaign, on behalf of CRI, to promote these programmes to a potential audience of 500 million Europeans. CRI`s English, French, German and Russian programmes are also broadcast on WRN`s own global radio networks: WRN English, WRN Français, WRN Deutsch and WRN Russkij. Furthermore, in February 2000, WRN placed CRI`s daily English and standard Chinese programmes on Spectrum Radio 558 AM that broadcasts to listeners in London and South East England (WRN quarterly newsletter via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Sutatenza probably laughed hardest at the huge amount Caracol paid to buy them out; they don't exist any more. And the larger joke is TODELAR, named for Bernardo TObón DE LA Roche, the owner. Since Caracol has about 40% of all radio billings in Colombia, and is owned by the Santo Domingo family, I don't expect to many people joke about them... they want to end up working there some day. Caracol means both snail and seashell or conch. In the early days, Caracol identified as Primera Cadena Radial Colombiana. And back then, it was prohibited to write the name in any way except all-caps. When I sent out a lot of HJED veries in 1963, I was told that in no uncertain terms! A CARACOL ID on 750 would be Caracol Antioquia, the 50 kW O&O in Medellín, Antioquia. This one used to get out very well with its site on the high plain to the East of Medellín... the rest of that city`s stations are in the deep valley and have bad skywave angles (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) {I remember hearing this one in the 1960s? during auroral conditions when it was on 770 -- gh, Enid OK} ** COLOMBIA. 6035.08, La Voz del Guaviare, Nov 11, 1008, ballad followed by sign-on ID and a Guaviare Anthem?, 1013 live announcer, canned ID/jingle. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. 11690, R. Okapi (tentative); been flirting with a station playing music just after 0400 Nov 13-15. Weak, but wonder if it is better on the ECNA? No hope on 9550 and 6030 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. I have read some people wondering if they have heard Radio Bayrak broadcasting on 6150 KHz. Well, I got the information below from Radio Bayrak's web site. They inform that both 1494 kHz and 6150 kHz are OFF AIR. Please check by yourself on the like below (Marcelo Toníolo, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) http://www.brt.gov.nc.tr/brt/FREKANSLARRD.htm RADYO FREKANSLARI Bolge 1 (DODU)- Konum:Sinanda?y - 35?19' N / 33?55'E Frekans Guc Program 90.6 MHz 10 kW Radyo 1 87.8 MHz 10 kW Bayrak INT 98.1 MHz 10 kW Bayrak FM Bolge 2 (Baty) - Konum: Selvilitepe - 35?19' N / 33?20' E Frekans Guc Program 102 MHz 5 kW Radyo 1 105 MHz 5 kW Bayrak INT 92.1 MHz 5 kW Bayrak FM 88.3 MHz 0.5 kW Radyo Klasik MF Servisleri - Konum: Yeni Yskele - 35?13' N / 33?55' E Frekans Guc Program 1098 KHz 50+50 kW Radyo 1 1494 KHz 10 kW Bayrak INT (OFF AIR) 6.150 MHz 25 kW Bayrak INT (OFF AIR) ______________________________________________ (Marcelo Toníiolo, NY, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We already had a reference to this some time ago. While 6150 may be inactive, surely you don`t believe everything you read on stations` websites? (gh, DXLD) R. Bayrak has indeed been confirmed with ID on 6150 kHz: Bei mir kam auch noch keine Antwort auf meine e-mail zurück, aber Bayrak ist zur Zeit auch nachts zu hören (vielleicht auch hier ein verlängertes Programm wegen des Ramadan). Ich habe an zwei verschiedenen Tagen bereits eine ID gehört: Einmal ein Jingle "Bayrak International 87,8 105 FM", und ein anderes mal hat sich die Sprecherin verabschiedet und auch dabei "Bayrak International" genannt. 73, Patrick Robich, Austria, Quote from A-DX mailing list, 16 November 2002, via Trutenau) The station is heard quite regularly in Germany and Austria during nighttime with mainly nonstop music. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scenario: Since recently the Bayrak International network of BRT does not sign off at 2200 anymore but kills overnight airtime by merely playing music and probably canned announcements now. But another question: They are off-frequency and have poor modulation. This raises the question whether this is really a new transmitter as reported (if I recall correctly) or just the old rig again? Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [and non]. The ITU website has published the latest circular with MW/LW stations currently under coordination: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2002/ge75_109.pdf The file shows a curiosity in regard to the Radio SAWA relay in Cyprus on 981 kHz. Instead of a re-coordination of the 100 kW ND assignment in the Geneva Plan to the 600 kW that are now in use, the file shows a modification application for just 6 kW D (11.7 dbkW) - a rather obvious typographic error which seemingly hasn't been discovered yet in the coordination process. The modification requires an approval by Lebanon, since it might affect the 100 kW Geneva Plan assignment for Lebanon on neighbouring 990 kHz. The file confirms that no transmitter in Cyprus has been newly registered with the ITU for 990 kHz (nor has it been done before) that was intended to be used by Radio SAWA instead of 981 kHz. Obviously, this move is no longer on the agenda, due to the Lebanese assignment on 990 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also MONACO non ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 2700.1, Ondas del Yuna, Bonao, (harmonic 2 x 1350) Nov 14, 1029, Bachata vocals and canned ID, barely audible in LSB below powerful utility QRM (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Dear Glenn: I am an old DXer (since 1945 when I started at the age of eleven) but I have not been a really active station hunter since the 1960'ies. I am more interested in monitoring and program listening in general. (Which makes me the guy the International stations love). Was in Turkey in September after winning the Voice of Turkey's essay writing contest and spent two wonderful weeks there, enjoying the excellent Turkish hospitality. We were in all five winners from the different language sections. I read the comments last week concerning the fate of Radio Finland's English language broadcasts. I forwarded these texts to Radio Finland and here is the reply: ``Tack. Jag skulle tillägga dock att hela Radio Finland inte har inställts, bara sändningar på tyska, franska samt engelska. Vi sänder fortfarande på finska och svenska. Vårt utbud på svenska är stort - i några världsderlar t.o.m större än utbudet från Stockholm. Jag har läst Glenn Hausers netsidor. Med vänlig hälsning, (Juhani Niinistö, YLE Radio FInland via Ullmar Qvick, DXLD) Translation: Thank you. However I would like to add that Radio Finland has not been closed as a whole, only transmissions in German, French and English. We are still transmitting in Finnish and Swedish. Our supply of Swedish programs is big - in some continents even bigger than that from Stockholm. I have read the net pages by Glenn Hauser. - Kind regards from Juhani Niinistö, YLE Radio Finland My comment: Not much of a defence. Swedish is understood by around 15 million people in the World - about 0.25% of the world population, Finnish by about 6 million people - equal to 0.1% of the potential world audience. This means that Finland rejects international radio as a medium for information on tourism, culture, political and social events etc. I can hear Radio Finland in my language but who cares in Germany, UK, USA etc.? Thanks for your great efforts, Glenn (Ullmar Qvick, Norrköping, Sweden, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Gospel For Asia Website explaining what they are up to: http://www.gfa.org/site/major_projects/radio/index.html Checked 15680 at 1437 Nov 15 and found talk in language, decent signal. 1444 with amen and giving PO Box addresses in India (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) For the past 17 years, Gospel for Asia has produced and aired radio broadcasts using air time purchased from other radio ministries. These programs have been going out across the Indian sub-continent in more than 20 Asian languages. Now our radio ministry is entering a new era as we launch our own broadcasting network, GFA Radio Network. Using several powerful transmitters, we will be broadcasting the Gospel to some of the neediest countries in the Indian sub-continent, the heart of the 10/40 Window. Through the GFA Radio Network, we are able to transmit programs in even more languages so that we can reach the most unreached for Christ. Similar to other radio networks (such as Trans World Radio, Far East Broadcasting Association and HCJB), we can now give hundreds of other ministries the opportunity to carry on evangelism and discipleship over the airwaves in Asia. Our goal is to broadcast in at least 200 languages as soon as possible... (above site via gh, DXLD) Not sure why Hans heads this Germany. Contact info shows primary address in Carrollton, TX; also in Canada, UK, Germany (gh, DXLD) ** GHANA. 4915, Radio Ghana, Accra 2023-2033 11/14. Alternating male and female, in English, with news. IDs," Radio Ghana" and "Ghana B.C.", with TC at 2030. Language switch to Vernacular. Very good, except for sweeper QRM (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 4830, R. Litoral here again for the moment, ex 4832 Nov 14 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Según Mundo Dx de Radio Austria, Radio Budapest ha suspendido sus emisiones en serbio, croata, eslovaco, rumano y ucraniano. Saludos desde Venezuela, 73's and DX (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Radio Republik Indonesia's domestic service relay from Jakarta on 15125 kHz has not been heard for over a week. The external service continues to be heard at 0030-0400, 0800-1300 and 1730-2100, usually on 9525 kHz but some language services seem to operate irregularly. 11785 and/or 15150 kHz may be used instead of 9525 at 1730-2100. Regards (from Surabaya, Alan Davies, Cumbredx mailing list Nov 16 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Leonid Meteor Shower: see PROPAGATION below ** IRAN [non]. Nov. 16, 2002. Hello Glen[n], I hope you are well. I received an email from a Bahai friend informing me that Payam-e-Doost Radio is expanding its services to Iran and I wanted to pass the information along. Included is the official email from the station as well as their web address. Regards, (David S. Lesh, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Bahai Friends, Payam-e-Doost Bahai Radio which has been broadcasting to Iran and other countries on shortwave since April 21st, 2001 is further expanding. We are pleased to announce that as of today, November 12, 2002, Payam- e-Doost daily 30-minute programs have expanded to 45 minutes. These programs are also packaged and broadcast on Telstar5 satellite for the United States of America, Canada and some parts of South and Central America 24-hours-a-day. In addition, these programs are archived on the Bahai Radio website, and are also available on the telephone. Details are provided below. Shortwave Radio: 41 Meters, 7465 kHz 0230-0315 UT (6:00-6:45 am Tehran Time) 41 Meters, 7480 kHz 1800-1845 UT (9:30-10:15 pm Tehran Time) North American Satellite: Telstar 5 (24 Hours/Day) 12, 152 MHz, Horizontal 20.000 Msym, FEC: 3/4 Teleradio: (212)990-6397 (24 Hours/Day-Daily program) Website: http://www.Bahairadio.org Current and archived programs Payam-e-Doost programs provide an opportunity for Persian-speaking people around the world to acquire accurate information about the Bahai Faith, its teachings. As Payam-e-Doost develops and receives positive response from its worldwide listeners, its needs are also on the rise. To learn more about our needs please contact Payam-e-Doost at: Payam-e-Doost Radio, PO Box 765, Great Falls, Virginia 22066 USA Phone: (703) 671-8888 Fax: (301) 292-6947 Email: Payam@BahaiRadio.org With warmest Bahai greetings, Siamak Monjazeb, For Payam-e-Doost Radio To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: pimabahais-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com (via David S. Lesh, DXLD) Site would be... Moldova? Norway? ** IRAQ [non]. PENTAGON PREPARES PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE CAMPAIGN FOR IRAQ By Tom Bowman, The Baltimore Sun, November 14, 2002 WASHINGTON — Sometime after the first of the year, residents of Baghdad could find some new programming on their FM radio dial: a soothing Arabic voice urging them to remain in their homes or away from the approaching U.S. troops who will liberate them from Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, the faxes or cell phones of Iraqi military and security officers may whir or chirp with more explicit and personal messages: "We know who you are. Lay down your arms or else." Top Pentagon officials and members of the Iraqi opposition are now crafting what could be the most widespread and complex psychological operations campaign mounted by the American military since the Vietnam War, should President Bush give the order to invade Iraq, said defense officials and retired psy-ops officers. "If you can minimize the conflict by way of information warfare, that's a significant thing," said a source familiar with recent psy- ops discussions that have included Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. "Communicating with them is a very high priority." The ambitious plan includes sending targeted radio messages to the groups that make up the 5 million residents of Baghdad, a polyglot of urbane Sunni Muslims, impoverished Shia Muslims and pockets of anti- foreign nationalists. In addition, though Iraq is a modern and secular country, there are elements of fundamentalism in both Muslim communities. Another part of the operation will be to persuade members of Saddam's military and security forces not to resist the invading allied force. Keeping the citizens of Baghdad on the sidelines will be an important part of any U.S. military operation in the Iraqi capital, a city that could quickly turn into a bloody battlefield should Saddam's forces dig in and fight and civilians get caught in the mix, officials said. But some military analysts and retired officers are cautioning that not all psychological operations employed in past conflicts have had good results. Moreover, reaching the different groups within Iraq and cutting through anti-Western feelings or anger over the decade-old U.N. sanctions may be difficult, they said. "I think it's going to be a terribly challenging effort. There are all kinds of different audiences. You've got to somehow figure out how to reach people," said retired Army Col. Charles P. Borchini, who commanded the 4th Psychological Operations Group during the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Serbia. The group, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., takes the lead in writing scripts, beaming radio and TV messages and publishing newspapers aimed at foreign foes and their civilian counterparts. William Arkin, a former Army intelligence officer and now a military analyst, said that if the United States invades Iraq, "bombs are going to do the talking," rather than any psychological operation that attempts to influence the entire country. Some elements of Iraqi society might not trust an American-led campaign to set up a new government, said Arkin, who also doubted U.S. operatives would be able to reach any Iraqi officers with the "Gucci methods" of cell-phone calls or faxes. Still, Iraqi opposition officials and longtime observers of Iraq contend that after nearly a quarter-century of living under a brutal dictator, strong support exists within the country for an overthrow of Saddam, even if it has to be carried out by the United States. "Nobody wants a continuation of the regime. They want a return to normalcy," said Phebe Marr, a former professor at the National Defense University. "I think they want the job done and over with, and they don't want any long-term American occupation." Marr said U.S. forces must send a simple and straightforward message: "We are not occupiers, we are liberators. We are going to help you set up your own government as rapidly as possible." Said an Iraqi opposition official, "These folks don't support Saddam. What's necessary is to explain to them what's happening and what they can do." Meanwhile, officials with the opposition Iraqi National Congress are providing the Pentagon with cell phone numbers, fax numbers and home addresses of key Iraqi security officials in an effort to drive a wedge between them and Saddam. The message would be, "We know who you are. It's definitely in your interest to lay low," said the source familiar with the Pentagon plans. "We are working actively to get that message to them when it counts." U.S. military plans for city fighting say that "the key to success" might lie in the ability to "influence the thoughts and opinions of adversaries and noncombatants," according to "Doctrine for Joint Urban Operations," a Joint Chiefs of Staff publication that was updated in September. To do this, U.S. forces must seize what the plan terms "the information environment." Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales Jr., who has written extensively on urban warfare, said it's vital in any conflict to immediately capture and control the sources of information for civilians. "The images have to be ours, not (Saddam's)," said Scales. "Mao said the surest way to win a war is to separate the army from its people." Radio transmissions are expected to be the most effective way of getting the message out, officials said, since televisions aren't nearly as widespread as radios. Moreover, some of the initial targets of U.S. warplanes would likely include TV transmitters and other communications facilities, thereby preventing Saddam from contacting the population or his military once the war starts. Sophisticated broadcasting planes operated by the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania National Guard, together with ground transmitters in Kuwait and elsewhere, would be used to transmit anti-Saddam programming to the Iraqi populace, officials said. The psychological operation also is expected to include leaflet drops — some of which started last week over the southern no-fly zone in Iraq with a warning to Iraqi soldiers not to fire on patrolling allied aircraft. And, once troops are on the ground, newspapers printed in Arabic by specialized U.S. Army units are to be distributed. Daniel T. Kuehl, a professor of information warfare at the National Defense University, said a psychological operation in Iraq may be the most extensive effort since the Vietnam War, which included a 6-year- long wave of loudspeaker announcements, radio and TV broadcasts, newspapers and leafleting by U.S. forces. Although U.S. psychological operations units were active during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, they did not focus on the civilian population. Instead, they concentrated on the Iraqi forces in Kuwait with leaflets and radio broadcasts. Such tactical efforts were effective, said Arkin, the military analyst. Specific Iraqi army units were named in the leaflets and radio messages, which urged them to abandon their vehicles or risk being bombed. Iraqi units fled their armored vehicles and surrendered in droves. "It was sending a message of omnipotence," said Arkin. "That kind of message had an enormous impact." Copyright 2002, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (via David E. Crawford, Titusville, Florida, DXLD) WTFK??? ** LEBANON. See CYPRUS ** LIBERIA. 4760, ELWA Radio, 2104-2115 11/14. Male announcer, in English, with music request program. ID and mention of "Monrovia". Poor, muffled audio (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. The Sitkunai transmitting centre has been conducting test transmissions in cooperation with Radio Baltic Waves on 14 and 15 November at 1900-2000, using a 150 kW transmitter with omnidirectional antenna (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX via Mike Terry, DXLD) WTFK?? {1557 per follow-up in DXLD 2-181} ** MALAYSIA. 9750, V. of Malaysia, 1043-1109 11/13. Indonesian ballads and instrumentals with female announcer between selections. IDs noted at 1045 and 1102 by male; "Voice of Malaysia" and "Suara Malaysia". Kuala Lumpur mentioned also. Fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. 12060, V. of the Mediterranean. card 1 of 6: Ggantija Temples, Xaghra, Gozo (free standing stone). No v/s, for report of Sept. 30 (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. Hola Glenn... Saludos desde Catia La Mar, en Venezuela. -He llegado a la conclusión de que la Radio de la República Islámica de Mauritania está emitiendo durante las 24 horas del día. Radio Mauritania se escuchaba a las 0330 UT, en los 4845, con un SINPO de 4/4, en idioma árabe, cuando se suponía que la emisión debía haber finalizado a la 0100. Eso fue el día viernes 8/11. La tendencia ha proseguido desde mi primera escucha, ese mismo día. El anterior esquema era de 0630 a 0100 (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. Hi Glenn, A widely printed AP news item, for example http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/319/nation/Iraq_newspaper_sees_more_discord_with_US+.shtml says that Radio Monte Carlo is "the most popular shortwave station reaching Iraq." That's interesting, given that RMC Middle East is only on shortwave three hours per day, at 0500-0600 and 1600-1800 UT, on 5925 and 7135 kHz, according to its website, http://www.rmc-mo.com It might be that RMC's medium wave transmitter at Cyprus, 1233 kHz, is audible in Iraq. But I don't think anyone knows for sure which foreign station is currently number one in Iraq (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also at: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=54210210&p=54zyx9y6 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. From Suzanne Woolridge, The Arts Report http://www.cbc.ca/artsCanada/stories/nfldradio141102 Last Updated 2002-11-14 A special cultural anniversary is being marked in Newfoundland and Labrador Thursday as the province celebrates 70 years of public radio. On Nov 14, 1932, the Dominion Broadcasting Company announced the official opening of VONF. While many Newfoundlanders believed the letters stood for 'Voice of Newfoundland', one local historian says that wasn't the case. According to Paul O'Neil, the decision came from an earlier convention of amateur radio operators from across North America. "Stations were springing up in all sorts of places. Basements, attics and wherever people had some room. So they decided to regulate it. And each country around the world would be given call letters. Newfoundland was given 'VO'," said O'Neil. As a public radio station, VONF played a vital role linking isolated Newfoundland communities, said O'Neil. It was later taken over by the newly-formed Broadcasting corporation of Newfoundland (BCN). When Newfoundland became a province in 1949, the radio station became a part of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as CBN (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** PALAU. Glenn, Greetings once again from NH. Here are some logs you may be interested in. Reception of Oceania and Pacific Rim has been quite good in the early AM here in NH. 9965, T8BZ, V. of Hope, 1239- 1305 11/14. Continuous talk, in Mandarin, by female over stringed instrumentals until 1255. Ballad until 1259 when male and female with ID and call letters, "T8BZ" over up-beat music. Fair with signal fade beginning at 1305 (Scott R Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Definitivamente inactiva por casi un mes ha estado Radio Nacional del Paraguay en 9737.1 (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Re: ``4260.4 ***UNID**** Nov 11 0102 12211 S QTH: Cutervo [I believe we had an unID on same reported from Japan]`` Possibly Radio Ilucán (3 x 1420). I've logged their 2nd harmonic on 2840 in the past (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4824.41, La Voz de la Selva, Nov 14, 1007, Announcer with saludos over Andean song, 1014 ads, live announcer with ID and time check. Muffled audio but very strong signal. PERU 5005.70, (presumed) Radio LTC, Nov 14, 0951, Spanish conversation, very weak. PERU 5486.72, Reyna de la Selva, Nov 13, 1013-1035, Andean music, announcer with time check and talk. Weak signal which improved slightly by 1030 with more talk and ID at 1035. PERU 5996.69 Radio Melodía, Nov 13, 0955-1008, Ad block, announcements, news items, 1008 canned ID "...en Melodía". Fair to poor signal. PERU 6193.47, Radio Cusco, Nov 13, 0924, Andean vocals, announcer with time check and ID in passing. Fair signal with het from 6195.0. PERU 6479.56 Radio Altura, Nov 11, 1022-1050, Andean vocals, announcer between songs with IDs and time checks. Good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Por correio de ontem, 13 de Novembro, o Grupo Redes de Emissores da RDP informou-me de que o horário B-02 apresenta um lapso de impressão interna: a emissão para a Venezuela, de terça-feira a sábado, 0000-0300 em 13700 kHz é uma emissão regular e não extraordinária, pelo que o símbolo (seta horiz.) introduzido pela RDP deverá ser suprimido; assim, aquela é emitida normal e diàriamente 3ª- fª - sábado. The Transmitter Network Dept. of the RDP has informed me yesterday, 13th November, the B-02 schedule contains a printing mistake of their own: the broadcast. beamed to Venezuela, Tue-Sat. 0000-0300 on 13700 kHz is a regular broadcast, not a special one, meaning the symbol used by the RDP (horiz. arrow) should be erased; it is therefore a normal, daily Tue-Sat broadcast (Carlos Gonçalves, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA [and SLOVENIA]. Estimados colegas y difusores DX: Una impactante noticia que se publicó en octubre pasado y cuya fuente remitía a la dirección web http://planeta.terra.com.br/lazer/transamania/dhp/index.html en cuyas columnas participa el colega brasileño Célio Romais, anunciaba que a partir de abril de 2003 RADIO ESLOVAQUIA tiene previsto iniciar su programación en idioma español. La fuente original de la información es la Redacción Francesa de la emisora eslovaca que la envió al radioescucha argentino Juan Carlos Velasquez. Gracias al excelente contacto vía e-mail que mantengo con Andrej Rot, Director de Radio TV Eslovena de Ljubljana, quien pudo averiguar al respecto comunicándose con sus colegas eslovacos, estoy en condiciones de dar la noticia que textualmente recibí de Rot "Es cierto que los eslovacos comienzan el 1* de marzo del próximo año con el castellano como uno de los tantos idiomas con los que emiten, supongo que en onda corta. Van a comenzar siempre y cuando el gobierno les de la financiación que precisan". Como observarán, Andrej habla perfectamente el español porque vivió mucho tiempo en Lanús (Provincia de Buenos Aires) Argentina y desde hace 9 años se desempeña como Director de la emisora pública eslovena. Mención especial para mi amigo Juan Carlos Buscaglia quien obtuvo el primer contacto con la Radio Slovenija después de haberla escuchado en los 918 Khz desde Vasto, en Italia. ¿Qué relación existe entre Radio Eslovenia con Radio Eslovaquia?. La misma que puede producirse entre cualquiera de las emisoras internacionales o de ellas con sus oyentes. Lo cierto es que ya nadie puede discutir que el DX es a la RADIO lo que la información es al INTERNET y si algo tienen en común es la fuerza inagotable de la COMUNICACION (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from UK to SUDAN, 21550, Sowt Al-Qarn usually blocked by Christian Voice [CHILE, sign-off still 1400?], but in the clear with programs in Arabic and IDs in English announcing 21550. Pulled plug in middle of closing announcements at 1430 Nov 15 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Kinnekulle "near radio" will be on the air on MW for a week from 1st December. The reason for this transmission is that the station celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The station can use any of 1485, 1584 or 1602 kHz. They would prefer to use 1485, but the MW transmitter at hand does not go down to this frequency as it covers only 1500 kHz upwards. Unless they succeed in tuning the transmitter to 1485 kHz, transmissions will be on 1584 or 1602. The radiator will be an L antenna from a 20 m tower next to the studio building. The presumed power is 150 to 200 watts. The location is Götene, south of Lake Vänern (Tore Larsson, ARC, from a telephone conversation with the station director, Sten Johansson, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** SYRIA. 1125 carries Voice of People 04-16, then it joins 783 kHz in Hebrew 1600-1830 and Russian 1830-1900. A "promo" in English and French 1900-1905 (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** SYRIA. The usual audio problems are aggravated it seems. Often the carrier is on without any audible program. But frequencies still 13610 and 12085 kHz for English 2005-2105 and 2115-2215 hours approx. QSL received twice in recent months, after 3-5 months' waiting (Ullmar Qvick, Norrköping, Sweden, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. R. Free Afghanistan relays on MW: see AFGHANISTAN [non] ** TURKEY. See FINLAND ** UGANDA. Nice African reception this afternoon also. I am pleased with the R. Uganda log. Last November I logged the same frequency and made the newcomer mistake of thinking I could hear it every day. What did I know? This marks the first log since last year! Believe me, I have tried during the last 12 months. 4976, Radio Uganda, Kampala 2033-2101* 11/14. High-life music in (presumed) Swahili. Announcers with IDs, "Radio Uganda, Kampala" during music. Production credits (presumed) at 2052, "engineer" was mentioned, NA at sign-off. Good, clear signal. Booming! (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Additional monitoring of Radio Ukraine Int November 15, 2002 9810 between 0100 - 0200 UT. 0128 UT All India Radio ident signal on 9810 causing moderate QRM. 0131 UT RUI S8 to S9 +20 dB. Still AIR QRM. 0145 UT RUI S7 to S9. AIR slightly heard on 9810. [Later:] Glenn, Following is from Alexander Egorov of RUI. "Thank you, Kraig, for a prompt report. BTW, today's schedule of 9810 has been shortened on 1 hr from 0400 to 0500 (second English transmission to NA)." I checked 9810 kHz on November 16, 2002. I'm still hearing EE. 0100 UT S8 to S9 +27 dB, slight splash from RHC on 9820. 0115 UT same at 01 UT 0130 UT S4 to S9, QRM RHC on 9820. 0132 UT hearing Indian type music on 9810. Probably All India Radio. No ident signal heard, just right into music. RUI very difficult to understand. 0135 UT RUI gone. 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINE TO INCREASE RADIO, TV BROADCASTS OVERSEAS - MEDIA REGULATOR | Text of report by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN Kiev, 15 November: The State Committee for Information Policy, Television and Radio [SCIPTR] intends to expand Ukraine's broadcasting to foreign countries, the committee head, Ivan Chyzh, told a news conference in Kiev today. In Chyzh's words, there are currently certain economy-related problems with external broadcasting. "The mechanism behind them is awfully simple. There are private structures that control the energy market. If someone does not pay their bills, they cut electricity off and that's it," Chyzh said. According to him, such actions are a crime against the state. At the same time, Chyzh said that SCIPTR had set up an external satellite broadcasting service, a TV and radio organization called Ukrayina-Svit [Ukraine-World]. It will incorporate the external Ukrainian radio service. Chyzh said that a special blueprint for external broadcasting would also be drawn up. Chyzh said that SCIPTR is also launching a project to start satellite broadcasting to Poland. He noted that Ukraine had come under extreme pressure from foreign broadcasters whose broadcasts can be received in many Ukrainian regions, primarily in regions close to the border. For instance, it is possible to listen to Romanian FM-broadcasters in Chernivtsi Region, while 52 stations from four neighbouring countries broadcast to Transcarpathia. According to Chyzh, the situation in eastern Ukraine is worst of all, because a lot of Russian radio companies operate there. "You know, a Chechen radio station - Free Chechnya - can be heard as far out as in Vinnytsya [central Ukraine]. Transmitters in [Russia's] Krasnodar Territory are so strong that they block out ours. We do not have anything to counteract this," Chyzh said. SCIPTR has come up against certain obstacles in developing external broadcasting, Chyzh said. According to him, despite the fact that information policy should be shaped by the SCIPTR, broadcasting mechanisms are placed in the hands of communications agencies, the National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting, etc. Ukraine's National Radio Company started broadcasting overseas in 1950. It now broadcasts in four languages: Ukrainian, English, German and Romanian. Broadcasting in Ukrainian covers 49 countries, while a total of 64 countries are covered by [Ukraine's] overseas broadcasting. The first deputy director of the Ukrainian radio external service, Oleksandr Dykyy, told UNIAN that broadcasting in Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic is due to start soon. Source: UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1124 gmt 15 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. UAE Radio - Dubai: here's the B02 Engineering Schedule (this is not available in the HFCC Master File, nor anywhere else as far as I know!): 11795 1700-0000 Eu 11950 1700-0000 Eu 13630 1200-0000 NAf 13675 0600-0000 Eu 13675 0400-0600 Au NZ 15370 1000-1200 NAf 15395 0600-0000 Eu 15435 0400-0600 Siberia As 17830 0400-0600 Au NZ 17865 0600-1700 Eu 21605 0600-1700 Eu [really 21598v --- gh] 21700 0400-0600 Au NZ 12005, 15400 and 17890 are registered for 24-hrs on an "as required" basis. {Note: no mention of NAm target! But at least two of the "as required" frequencies, 12005 and 15400 are/were used at 0330 toward us --gh} Note that UAE Radio Abu Dhabi is also scheduled for 13675 1800-2300 to Au/NZ, but not audible here in Melbourne - only Dubai, in parallel with 13630. The B02 schedule for UAE Radio (Abu Dhabi) may be found in the HFCC Public Schedule (Bob Padula, EDXP Nov 15 via DXLD) So check the appropriate frequencies when English has been appearing: 0330, 0530?, 1030, 1330, 1600 (gh, DXLD) ** U K. This license was mentioned on the BDXC Tape Circle this month and here is some additional information from ARRL: Andrew Finch, M3FMA, is only 11 years old and suffers from lysdexia. But nothing was going to keep the young scout from becoming a ham. And now he is the 5000th person to obtain that nations new and very popular Foundation Class license. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, has more: The Radiocommunications Agency has been so pleased with the numbers taking up the license, that it decided to commemorate the 5000th amateur with a special award. Alan Betts of the Agency's Amateur Radio section, commented: "The radio amateur community was around 50,000 strong before the new license was introduced, and so this level of interest is very welcome". He also added "The License has proved very popular with young people and amateur radio is very much an up-and-coming hobby for them". The presentation of Andrew's prize took place at a ceremony held at the Radiocommunications Agency's monitoring station in Baldock, Hertfordshire on Tuesday the 22nd of October. Andrew was also presented with membership of the Radio Society of Great Britain by its President, Bob Whelan, G3PJT, who also presented a host of radio amateur goodies and books. Andrew's day was not over after the ceremony - he was given a tour of the Radiocommunications Agency monitoring station at Baldock. 'Heartbeat FM' from Hertfordshire then conducted an interview with him before he was whisked off for another interview with 'Dream FM' of Chelmsford. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH. -- Andrew had told his parents that he was going to begin saving his pocket money to buy a radio. He won't have to do that. Among the gifts he received for becoming the 5000th Foundation license holder was a brand new F-T 817 transceiver donated by Yaesu. The Foundation License has only been available to UK residents since earlier this year (GB2RS, via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. From The RSGB: GB60OF [that's GB Sixty Oscar Foxtrot] will be on the air this Wednesday, the 20th of November, from the Yorkshire Air Museum. The station commemorates the 60th anniversary of the glider-borne assault by airborne engineers on a hydro-electric plant in Norway on the 20th of November 1942. The plant was producing heavy water for the manufacture of atomic bombs. GB60OF will be active on the HF bands only (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. "TOPEKA GAINS 24-HOUR BROADCAST RIGHTS" from The Topeka Capital Journal, November 15, 2002 WIBW-AM 580, a Topeka radio station owned by Morris Communications, on Wednesday secured exclusive rights to the area's most powerful AM signal. New programming will officially begin at 12:30 p. m. Dec. 2. A 78-year-old, shared-frequency agreement between Morris, its predecessors and Kansas State University was dissolved at 3 p.m. Tuesday upon the transfer of five hours of air time from the university to WIBW. According to the most recent agreement, last amended in 1969, K-State had non-commercial broadcast rights to the hours between 12:30 and 5:30 p. m., Monday through Friday. In return, WIBW had broadcast rights to K-State football. In the exchange, the football rights reverted to the university (via Paul Swearingen, Topeka, DXLD) Tnx, so presumably KKSU`s final broadcast will be the preceding Friday afternoon, Nov 29 until 2330 UT. I am incensed that most of the press about the demise of public radio station KKSU is written from the viewpoint of WIBW – this item did not even mention KKSU call letters (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WKSH is apparently in pre-Disney stunting mode tonight, playing a continuous recording of birds chirping, and occasional Disney-style "AM 1640 WKSH Sussex-Milwaukee" IDs by a kid. This is a good opportunity to hear something else through their mostly-open carrier. Mostly a TIS jumble here, but KBJA is starting to break through with SS music and talk. Good hunting! (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, Ont., Nov 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Another great shot at radio's service these days... http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021114&Category=COLUMNIST34&ArtNo=111140107&Ref=AR Article published November 14, 2002 AUTOMATED RADIO STATIONS MISS STORM The contrast in radio's programming philosophies - live vs. automated - was never more evident than on northwest Ohio's recent dark and stormy day. Clear Channel stations, which rely extensively on automated programming on weekends, "were caught with their trousers down" - at least that's how one radio veteran described it - on Sunday, when severe weather ravaged several communities in the region. Judy, who lives on Kelleys Island with her 94-year-old father, sent a rather chilling e-mail that should serve as a wake-up call for all stations that have lost the human touch. While she spoke specifically of WLEC-AM (1450), a Clear Channel-owned station in Sandusky, her criticism applies to all stations that use automated programming. "We had seen warnings on TV before our power was knocked out. Imagine my surprise, as we sat in the dark with the wind wailing outside and the battery-operated radio on, when it was business as usual with WLEC," Judy wrote. "Obviously, no human was around, as the station continued to predict `possible thunderstorms` with no mention of severe weather. The oldie tunes played on, oblivious to the havoc around us." The storm, which killed five people in the area, uprooted "about a dozen big trees" on Kelleys Island, Judy said. WLEC program director Mark Fogg said a weather alert was broadcast at 5:38 p.m. and bulletins from the National Weather Service break into programming automatically. He said he didn't know how many weather bulletins were broadcast from 5 to 7 p.m. Judy said that after the power went out, she listened to WLEC "for at least an hour" and didn't hear any weather alerts- just the forecast for "possible thunderstorms." "I always have felt that the radio was our link to information when the power is out and weather is threatening. But no more," she said. "It was very upsetting." In Toledo, all five Clear Channel stations rely heavily on automated programming on weekends. Additionally, the newscasts on WSPD-AM (1370) originate from Columbus. WSPD's status as a "local" news station is a running joke with the morning crew on sister station WVKS-FM (92.5). In the day-after discussion of the storm, one sidekick said that, despite the ominous conditions on the drive home, no one in the car turned on the radio to get a weather update. "Because you knew it was WSPD, and they wouldn't have anybody there local talking about it anyway? So why turn on [W]SPD?" morning-show host Denny Schaffer asked. (Seconds later, he backtracked when he found out that WSPD did break into programming.) Five Cumulus-owned stations in Toledo were "live and local" Sunday and, consequently, were able to quickly spread the word about the severe weather. WKKO-FM (99.9) and WRQN-FM (93.5) simulcast the coverage of WNWO-TV, Channel 24, which featured reports from meteorologist Bill Spencer in the NBC affiliate's new "storm-chasing" van. On stations with automated programming, the bands played on (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. WLQV-1500 SIGNAL IMPROVEMENT-- Something I stumbled across... From the Michigan Broadcast Guide http://Michiguide.com Religious WLQV-AM 1500 Detroit (Victory 1500) is now successfully operating on its new 50 kW day and 10 kW night patterns. The final negotiations with KSTP-AM 1500 Minneapolis/St. Paul and WTOP-AM 1500 Washington D.C. called for those stations to pay for the WLQV modifications and legal fees, plus reimbursement of other related expenses. Station owner Jon Yinger reports that while the 50 kW day signal is somewhat close to the old pattern (which had a little more power to the west), improvements to the new night signal are dramatic. WLQV is currently in program test authority. The deal between WLQV and the other 2 stations on AM 1500 came about because both KSTP and WTOP desired better nighttime signals and needed WLQV's agreement to accept more skywave interference at night (via Wally Wawro, WFAA-TV, Dallas, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) Funny how the FCC talks out of both sides of their mouth. I thought the expanded band was to get rid of some of the congestion on the AM band. Now we have 3 of the 50 kW stations on 1500 pay off in order to create more interference. Seems I recall Fred Vobbe telling about 1500 in Detroit doing this once before, loosening up the pattern and going from 12 towers to 9. IBOC at nite is really going to cause interference to the medium wave band. But we must have 3rd adjacent protection on FM from the puny Low power FM's... Money talks, BS walks (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida http://www.amtower.com NRC-AM via DXLD) And now... the rest of the story. (Scott, be sure to get Paul to cut a promo for WNRC). The original incarnation of WLQV, WJBK, had a beautiful 10 kw, 1 kw night facility. The signal was heard into Ohio and west to Ann Arbor. In the late 50s and early 60s, George Storer (Storer Broadcasting), wanted 50 kW to compete with then WCAR-1130, CKLW-800, WJR-760 and even WWJ-950 which had decent coverage. Since ratings were not really in yet, the fact that he could put 50 kW on his promotional literature was important. After all, he had WGBS, KGBS, and others in major cities. The 50k, nine tower day ... and 5k, twelve tower night was built in Lincoln Park just south of Detroit (when there were actual listeners in Detroit). One problem. The array was unstable, and was classified "critical" by the FCC. In fact, the FCC mandated that the phases of the towers be maintained to within a degree, and ratios were plus or minus 3%. Starting from the early years of construction, and even into 1985 when a young Fred Vobbe was engineer there, the station always was filing variances and had STAs [special temporary authorizations]. How unstable was the array? I recall in May 1985 when Wayne County built a water treatment plant next to the site, about .37 miles to the west, when the crane would move to lift in pipe, the array would change and I would have to do some tuning. Some three tunings were done per shift at times. Oh, and did I mention detuning? You know those large power towers you see that feed primary power to substations. About 56 of them in the first mile needed to be tuned at times due to the fact that they re-radiated the station`s signal, and distorted the pattern. We would go out with a long "tuning wand" and have to go to these boxes and "tune" them for max rejection. Something that I found more troubling that monitor points. Nothing like standing under a buzzing power line with a 10 foot stick in your hands, looking straight up trying to find the max on a meter 8 feet above your head. In the 90s, the station started to fall on hard times, which was sad from the fact that many of us lived through the WJBK Radio 15, and The Big DEE days. The owner (not sure if it's the same fellow who owns it now), sold the property to K-Mart where the east three towers were located. He instructed his engineer to keep it on 9 towers day and night, and took down the east towers. The land was sold, and the rest is history. He got his ass in a jam over that move, since he did not have commission approval, and subsequently had to run for a while at 50k day and 1 kw night. However, I was told by someone at the station there were many nights when it was 50k day/night. The argument before the commission was that he *thought* he had permission, and only needed to inform them after the deed was done. There was always some conflict between the three 50k's at times. Because WDEE/WLQV put so little signal to the west, KSTP and WTOP would propagate in making management think that WTOP and KSTP were cheating. How tight was the pattern? At the time I lived in Westland OH. I would drive into the site on I-94 from the west. MANY mornings I recall seeing the WLQV towers flashing in the distance, but on my radio was WTOP-Washington. Anyway, now that they have it finally licensed, so ends a 40 engineering venture that was quite the talk of antenna people in this area. Did I enjoy working there? YOU BET. It was the best hands on training that one could get on high power, multi antenna arrays! And you gotta love an RCA Ampliphase. http://www.nrcdxas.org/bios/fredwlqv.jpg Yes, that's me (Fred Vobbe, OH, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Both the 1150 and the 1240 in Albuquerque have been listed on my Radio Disney page for some time. I update the page frequently so make sure that you refresh or reload so that you are seeing the latest version. The current version is marked as having been updated on 11/10/02. I suspect that RD is buying air time on the 1150 just to establish a presence in the area until they get their own station up and running on 1240. This isn't the first station I've seen that runs part-time RD. WHKT/1650 is another example of a part-time RD format. Please remember that I maintain the RD page as a shared resource for you. Despite numerous requests I have received absolutely no info from Disney. I rely heavily upon you, my fellow DXers, to help me to keep the info up to date for the benefit of everyone. My thanks to all who contribute (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ NRC-AM via DXLD) WHKT is owned and operated by ABC Disney these days --- so they are for the most part running Radio Disney full time except for running Tidewater Tides ballgames and the Admirals hockey games. ABC Disney bought the station after those contracts were put into effect, so they have to honor them to the end. Should be interesting to see if they renew those contracts next year. Bob Carter Operations/Engineering-- Max Media Radio Group Yes, that will be interesting to see. Received a very nice QSL letter from WHKT this past June when they were still owned by Chesapeake - Portsmouth Broadcasting. Ironically the letter stated that the station was "becoming a leader in this market for sports broadcasting" and mentioned that they also play Radio Disney part-time. I believe that ABC bought the station very shortly afterwards (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. URL for TIS equipment info: http://www.theRADIOsource.com (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Earlier this afternoon, I heard Spanish on 1700, and believed it was coming from KBGG Des Moines IA. I concluded that the station had undergone a format change. The station's slogan was "La Lem Mil Setecientos AM," or something similar, although no English ID was heard during the time I listened. At 1800 ELT [2300 UT], I heard the SS programming end, a legal ID was given for KBGG, and the station moved back to its news format (beginning with a simulcast of WHO-TV's 5 o'clock newscast). So, it appears that KBGG broadcasts part of the day in Spanish and for the balance continues its all news format. Can anyone in the area please give more details? Thank you 73 (Bill Dvorak Madison WI, Nov 15, AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) Not `Lem` ** U S A. 2760.00, WBTK Richmond, VA, (harmonic 2 x 1380) Nov 9, 1000, raspy audio ID "This is Big Talk AM 1380 WBTK". Fair signal with good peaks (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25950, KPM566: Anyone still hearing this one? Untraced here, but I can hear WLW on 26 MHz daily. Oct/Nov (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. BUSH'S NEW MEDIA STRATEGY: POP-AGANDA, By Michael Theodolou In the Middle East, the USA has shut the highbrow Voice of America and started a Radio 1-style station... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-480293,00.html (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) See also MONACO non ** U S A. Herald Broadcasting (Christian Science). A blank QSL, Slewable 4*4 curtain Antenna. but v/s starts with something like Synus? I am used to receiving blank QSL card from them, I fill and sent it back to them. But of late I realised that they never return the cards, so am keeping this one (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. R. Caracas (750) was originally founded as Broadcasting Caracas in the 20's by John Phelps, an American expatriate who had gone to Venezuela as a practicing ornithologist. He loved the country, and founded a major store, then building the radio station. His grandson just recently published a biography, where he details Phelps` return to ornithology in the 50's and the publishing of the definitive guide to Venezuelan birds; he died at age 95 and the highest peak South of the Orinoco is named in his honor. Author is his grandson, John Phelps. It was published, in Spanish of course, by the Fundación Cisneros in Venezuela and went on sale exactly 11 months ago in Caracas. The wife of Gustavo Cisneros is Phelps' daughter. The Cisneros are the richest family in Venezuela, owning Venevisión, the Coke bottlers, the largest supermarket chain and parts of Sky TV Latin America, Univisión (USA) and AOL Latin América (David Gleason, Los Angeles, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos, queridos colegas diexistas. La siguiente información me acaba de llegar desde Caracas, via Jairo Martínez y la paso a todos ustedes. Haré todo lo posible por conseguir estos sonidos y ponerlos a la orden de todos. Quiero recordarles que la otra emisora lleva por nombre Radio Libertad. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Viz.: Radio Dignidad transmite 24 horas desde la Plaza Altamira. Frecuencia 90.7 FM – Tiene más potencia que la anterior pero aún es débil (via Díaz, ibid.) Ad-hoc stations for demonstrators ** VENEZUELA [and non]. MEDIUMWAVE-BANDSCAN ON ISLA MARGARITA After 2 beautiful weeks vacation on the Isla Margarita, Venezuela back to the everyday life... (in a very cold Germany ;-))) ) But first, here is my bandscan on Mediumwave from beach near Juan Griego in the northwest. All receptions during the day, except 620, Antigua & Barbuda. No reception in Hotel-room. 535 Klassic 535 - Grenada 550 Mundial Caracas - Venezuela 555 ZIZ Radio - St. Kitts & Nevis 600 Radio Sucre, Cumaná - Venezuela 610 NBS Radio 610 - Trinidad & Tobago 620 ABS Radio - Antigua & Barbuda (bei Dunkelheit) 640 Unión Radio, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 670 Radio Rumbos, Caracas - Venezuela 680 Radio Continente, Cumaná - Venezuela 720 Radio Oriente, Porlamar - Venezuela 730 TBC - Trinidad & Tobago 740 Voice of Life - Dominica 750 RCR, Caracas - Venezuela 760 Doble Q, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 790 Gospel 790 AM - Barbados 820 Radio Paradise - St. Kitts & Nevis 830 Radio Sensación, Caracas - Venezuela 870 Radio Pueblo, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 895 Voice of Nevis - St. Kitts & Nevis 900 CBC - Barbados 920 Radio Nueva Esparta, Porlamar - Venezuela 970 Radio Mundial, Barcelona - Venezuela 1000 Radio Caribeña, Morón - Venezuela 1020 Mundial Margarita, La Asunción - Venezuela 1080 Radio Barcelona, Barcelona - Venezuela 1110 Radio Carúpano, Carúpano - Venezuela 1140 Radio Porlamar, Porlamar - Venezuela 1160 Caribbean Radio Lighthouse - Antigua & Barbuda 1210 Radio Anzoátegui, Barcelona - Venezuela 1290 Radio Puerto Cabello, Puerto Cabello - Venezuela 1380 Ondas del Mar, Puerto Cabello - Venezuela 1400 The Harbour Light of the Windwards - Grenada 1430 Radio Bahiá, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 1500 Radio Dos Mil, Cumaná - Venezuela 1550 Radio Metropolitana, Los Teques - Venezuela 1580 RM, Cumaná - Venezuela 1620 WDHP - US Virgin Islands No reception of: 595 Dominica Broadcast. Corp. - Dominica 640 RFO Guadeloupe (zu erahnen unter Unión Radio) 660 Radio St. Lucia - St. Lucia 705 NBC 705 Radio - St. Vincent & the Grenadines 840 Radio Caribbean International - St. Lucia 860 Voice of the Islands - Dominica 1100 Radio ZDK - Antigua & Barbuda Does someone have information to the missing stations? So, next days I will write the reception reports, let's hope for QSL's... Greetings (Michael Grill, Germany, Nov 15, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Hi Michael, Dominica moved to 590 in mid-late 2000; R Caribbean Int'l- 840 is now FM only. They and Dominica-860 were silent when I was on St. Lucia in December 2000. St Vincent 705 is silent per info I saw earlier this year. Don't know about the others (Bruce Portzer, WA, ibid.) ** WALES [non]. Hello, Daniel, For the past few Friday evenings I have been tuning in to Wales Radio International. I regret to have to inform you that the information which you list for this station on your excellent Prime Time Shortwave site is now incorrect. With the clock changes at the end of October this station has been transmitting at 0300-0330 GMT on 9825 kHz - presumably from Rampisham. Unfortunately there is considerable interference from Radio Havana Cuba on 9820 kHz. This frequency is used by Havana from 0000 GMT for one hour in Spanish and from 0100 GMT until 0700 GMT in English for North America (Geoffrey Rose, Montreal, Canada, via Sampson...) The Wales Radio International website list B01 winter schedule info identified as B02 which is not completely accurate per Geoffrey's monitoring. Fri 2130-2200 6010 Europe Sat 0300-0330 9735 (monitored on 9825) North America Sat 1130-1200 17625 Australasia Can anyone confirm the broadcasts to Europe and Australasia? (Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Normally I would take little notice of Numbers stations. However, on approx. 15720 kHz (+/- 1kHz) at 1616 UT I monitored a "heavily voiced" OM reading numbers in twin groups of 5. Concluding at 1621 with a single group (zero, zero, zero, zero, zero). This transmitter "sounded" very different to other numbers stations I have heard in the past. Has anybody got any ideas where this might have originated? Using a Panasonic RF-B45 portable, (whilst static mobile), hence the "approximate" freq. reading. Cheers (RAO, Robin Banneville Guernsey, Chan. Isles. (UK), hard-core-dx via DXLD) This is the "English Man" from Russia. Details available at http://www.spynumbers.com/profiles/index.html?ENIGMA=E6 73 (Chris Smolinski, ibid.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ [Cumbre DX] Propagation Report A few M class flares early in the week combined with some coronal hole activity has kept the geomagnetic field slightly disturbed and MUFs elevated early on. More recently high latitude MUFs have been somewhat depressed. A coronal hole has just passed the centre of the solar disk and the impact from this should hit Nov 16. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at active to storm levels on Nov 16-17 and 20-22. A relatively large sunspot region is nearing the centre of the solar disk. This region has good flare potential, but has yet to produce significant activity. This region will be in a very geoeffective location (just west of the centre of the solar disk) over the next few days. If this region "wakes up" mass ejection induced geomagnetic activity may be experienced over the coming week (Richard Jary, Australia, Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au Cumbredx mailing list Nov 15 via DXLD) LEONID PEAK, TIME FOR METEOR SCATTER This NASA press release mentions tuning a "shortwave" receiver to 67 MHz (TV channel 4) to detect meteors. "When a meteor streaks overhead, the system records a brief ping -- the echo of a TV signal bouncing off the meteor's trail." Presumably they chose channel 4 because they have no nearby station on that channel. ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2002/02-221.txt 73 (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Indeed, you would think NASA should know the difference between HF and VHF; and ch 3 or 2 would work just as well if unoccupied locally. Furthermore, the video carrier frequencies which this apparently refers to rather than audio, would be 67.25, 61.25 and 55.25 MHz respectively, plus/minus .01 MHz for offsets. Guess what: you can *see* meteor scatter TV DX not only on the low band but up to ch 13 if you are really lucky, and many TVDXers including myself have done a lot of such DXing. It`s more difficult than it used to be, when many stations ran test patterns with IDs for an hour or more each early morning. It`s also fun on FM, but you have to be lucky to get anything identifiable in a burst lasting from a fraxion of a second to a few seconds. Evidently NASA has no interest either in identifying where these 67 MHz pings are coming from, which would add more dimension to such research! Furthermore, the fullness of the Moon is irrelevant for this kind of meteoric observation! Another sent the NASA article itself: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SHORTWAVE METEOR LISTENING [sic] "Our system is pretty simple," said Suggs. "We use an antenna and a computer-controlled shortwave receiver to listen for 67 megahertz signals from distant TV ... NASA Prepares For "Last Chance" Meteor Shower The early morning hours of Nov. 19 may be your last chance to see the spectacular Leonid meteor shower in its full glory, according to astronomers. "Even with the full Moon, this year's Leonids will probably be better than any other for the next hundred years," said Dr. Don Yeomans, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "If you're ever going to see them, this might be the year to try." NASA is taking advantage of the event for several research efforts around the world. The shower is predicted to have two peaks, each a couple of hours long, during which the most meteors can be seen. The shower's second peak, most prominent in North American skies, is expected at around 2:30 a.m. (Pacific time) [1030 UT Tuesday] Nov. 19, and promises the rare spectacle of a few meteors every minute or even more. "Observers in good locations away from city lights might see a few hundred per hour. You'll only get to see the bright ones because the moonlight will wash out the ones that aren't as bright," said Yeomans. Last year, observers did not have to contend with the Moon and saw meteors at a pace of several hundred per hour. An earlier peak is expected over Europe and Africa the night of Nov. 18, and observers in North America might see a few grazers -- meteors skimming the top of the atmosphere -- from this first peak starting around 8:30 p.m. (Pacific time) Nov. 18. [0430 UT Tue Nov 19] The Leonids are grains of dust from comet Tempel-Tuttle colliding into Earth's atmosphere. Most Leonid particles are tiny and will vaporize very high in the atmosphere due to their extreme speed (about 71 kilometers or 44 miles per second), so they present no threat to people on the ground or even in airplanes. As it progresses in its 33- year orbit, the comet releases dust particles every time it comes near the Sun. Earth intersects the comet's debris trail every year in mid- November, but the intensity of each year's Leonid meteor shower depends on whether Earth ploughs through a particularly concentrated stream of dust within the broader debris trail. The dust that Tempel-Tuttle shed in 1866 makes up the stream predicted to give Americans a good show this year. Last year, people in Asia saw the plentiful collisions within that stream. A dust stream from 1767 provided last year's peak hour of viewing in North America and will provide this year's peak hour of viewing in Europe. After 2002, Earth won't hit either of those streams again for decades to come, and is not predicted to encounter a dense Leonid stream until 2098 or 2131. The golden rule for watching the Leonids -- or any meteor shower -- is to be comfortable. Be sure to wrap up warmly -- a sleeping bag placed atop a lawn chair facing east is a good way to enjoy the show. Put your chair in a clear, dark place with a view of as much of the sky as possible. Don't stare at any one place. Keep your eyes moving across the sky. Most Leonids will appear as fleeting streaks of light, but watch for the bigger ones that produce fireballs and trails. Some trails will remain visible for several minutes or more. The Leonids get their name from the constellation where they appear to originate; the meteors will be radiating from the Sickle pattern in the constellation Leo the Lion, which will be rising out of the east- northeast sky. Don't look directly at the constellation, but at the area above and around it. And, though you don't need them to see the Leonids, a pair of binoculars could come in handy. Researchers think meteors might have showered the Earth with the molecules necessary for life's origin. A two-aircraft campaign, led by astronomer Dr. Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., will investigate this possibility. "We are looking for clues about the diversity of comets and their impact on the chemistry of life's origin on Earth," Jenniskens said. "We are eager to get another chance to find clues to two puzzling questions: What material from space rains down on Earth, and what happens to the (meteor's) organic matter when it interacts with the atmosphere?" said Dr. Michael Meyer, senior scientist for astrobiology at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. On Nov. 15, a team of 42 astrobiologists from seven countries will depart from southern California's Edwards Air Force Base on a mission to Spain to observe this year's two Leonid storm peaks. The DC-8 Airborne Laboratory, operated by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., will carry high-speed cameras; a radio receiver to listen to upper atmosphere molecules; and a team of meteor observers, who will keep track of the meteor activity for satellite operators concerned about impact hazards. "This final deployment of the Leonid Multi-instrument Airborne Campaign program promises an important and unique database for the development of instruments targeted at in situ sampling of cometary materials and for the future definition of comet missions," said Dr. John Hillman, lead scientist for planetary astronomy at NASA Headquarters. "It is hoped that these scientific data will provide new insights for the comparative studies of comets." Although the meteors are harmless to people, there is a slight chance that a satellite could be damaged if it was hit by a Leonid meteoroid. The meteoroids are too small to simply blow up a satellite. However, the Leonids are moving so fast they vaporize on impact, forming a cloud of electrified gas called plasma. Since plasma can carry an electric current, there is a risk that a Leonid-generated plasma cloud could cause a short circuit in a satellite, damaging sensitive electronic components. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., is responsible for controlling a large number of satellites for NASA and other organizations and is taking precautions to mitigate the risk posed by the Leonids. These include pointing instrument apertures away from the direction of the Leonid stream, closing the doors on instruments where possible, turning down high voltages on systems to decrease the risk of a short circuit, and positioning satellites to minimize the cross- section exposed to the Leonids. Minimizing the threat meteoroids pose to satellites is the second major area of NASA's Leonid research. From five key points on the globe and from the International Space Station, NASA researchers will use special cameras to scan the skies and report activity around the clock during the Leonid shower. Led by Dr. Rob Suggs of the engineering directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., the research is part of a long-term goal to protect spacecraft from potentially damaging meteoroids. Using "night-vision" image-intensifier video systems and sky-watchers outfitted with Palm computer software developed to record visual counts, NASA engineers and astronomers will record their observations for later analysis. Another tool at Marshall's disposal is "forward- scatter radar" -- an early warning system built by Suggs, Dr. Jeff Anderson, also of Marshall's engineering directorate, and Dr. Bill Cooke, an astronomer at Marshall. "Our system is pretty simple," said Suggs. "We use an antenna and a computer-controlled shortwave receiver to listen for 67 megahertz signals from distant TV stations." The transmitters are over the horizon and normally out of range. When a meteor streaks overhead, the system records a brief ping -- the echo of a TV signal bouncing off the meteor's trail. Like the image-intensified cameras, this system is capable of detecting meteors too dim to see with the unaided eye. The research data from the Leonids shower will be analyzed to help NASA engineers refine their forecasts for spacecraft; by better determining where, when and how the meteors will strike, NASA can improve protective measures to prevent or minimize damage to spacecraft. For more information, including predicted peak times for major cities and NASA media contacts, refer to http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2002/1114leonid.html. Editor's Note: The original news release can be found here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote any part of this story, please credit NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the original source. You may also wish to include the following link in any citation: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021115071029.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) DRM +++ [Re previous items:] This has nothing to do with providing an alternative to Internet streaming audio. My understanding is that it's simply a method for listeners to check out DRM well before stand-alone receivers become available in 2004. The DRM web site is interesting. The iBiquity web designers could learn a few things from the DRM site in terms of providing information. The question and answer section is most informative. I found it interesting that the ITU has it on record that the DRM group and iBiquity will cooperate in developing digital receivers capable of decoding both DRM and IBOC (Bruce Conti, Nashua NH, NRC-AM via DXLD) WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE (WRC-03) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ will be in Geneva, Switzerland, 9 June to 4 July 2003. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/conferences/wrc/wrc-03/index.asp (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-177, November 14, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1156: WWCR: Thu 2130 15825, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415; first airing Wed 2300 7415, 17495 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800; Europe Sun 0530; North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1156.html [from Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO ON WJIE USA. 7490. WJIE. 0800. Fair in English here in NZ with World of Radio programme. Improving by 0830 (Ian Cattermole, NZ, Nov 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Unscheduled airing; day of week not given, but report arrived before 0800 UT Thu Nov 14 (gh) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Thanks AGAIN for your fine work - very much appreciated (Eric Floden, Vancouver BC) Estimado amigo Glenn: no haga caso a críticas infantiles y muchas veces llenas de molestias por "no ser los mejores". Su publicación y sin la menor duda es la mejor en el DX. 73'S (Oscar de Céspedes, FL) CIRAF ZONE MAPS --- ITU numerical target area designations, often appearing in schedules: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/maps/index.html from which you may pick various regions or a blown-up world map at http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/images/broad-ciraf2.gif (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. U A E/NORWAY: B-02 schedule for Radio Afghanistan in Pashto/Dari: 0130-0227 6000 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg [UAE] 0230-0327 9655 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg [UAE] 1330-1627 18940 KVI 400 kW / 095 deg [Norway] (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 11 via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Hola Amigos, RAE, Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior, para su período B-02 válido hasta el 30 Marzo 2003, tiene el siguiente cambio: De 0000-0400 emite sólo en 11710 (no más // a 6060 khz!) Otros horarios y frecuencias, sin cambios. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Nov 12, Conexión Digital via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) So affects English at 0200-0300 UT Tue-Sat to NAm; anyway, it has been coming in pretty well on 11710, Nov 13 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 950, LR3, R. Belgrano AM ex R Libertad ASL Information about ``unofficial`` stations in Gran Buenos Aires: 930 R Cooperativa, ``La Voz del Jubilado`` from the Centre of Capital Federal is new. MAC 1450 R Presencia ex 1130 Nicolás Eramo 1630 R Restauración ex 1650 Nicolás Eramo 1650 R Conurbana, Gregorio de Laferrere, Partido de Matanza is new. MAC (ARC Newsdesk via Tore Larsson, DXLD) MAC and ASL not explained ** AUSTRALIA. The Australian MW scene is a mixture of private and government-operated stations. Unlike New Zealand, almost all private commercial stations are independent, though they may use a networked news cast, etc. Australian Broadcasting Corp. is the governmental broadcaster and offers four networks to the medium wave listener. ABC Radio National: A specialist network broadcasting programs on the arts, religion, politics, the law, news and current affairs, science and technology, history, including features, documentaries, magazine programs, specialist analysis, music, drama and comedy. Most transmitters of the 200 transmitters are on the FM band, however, at least one major AM outlet exists (with an RN call) in most major cities. 576//729//792//9580//Internet ABC Metropolitan Radio: A network of nine stations, one in each state capital, Darwin, Canberra and Newcastle. News, current affairs, talk, information, sport, entertainment programs and other networked programs of interest to urban audiences. 612//702//774 ABC Regional Radio: The most extensive radio network in Australia - 49 studios and outposts and a national network of around 70 AM and 180 FM transmitters as well as State and national satellite services. A mix of local, regional, state and national programming for audiences outside the capital cities. Usually parallel in the evenings and overnight. 594, 684, 738, 1548 ABC News Radio/Parliament: Live broadcasts of Parliament and NewsRadio, a continuous news service broadcast when Parliament is not sitting. 936//1026 (John Bryant, Grayland WA Dxpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) See also NEW ZEALAND et al. {+ followup, DXLD 2-178} ** AUSTRIA. Never be done! As a reputation int. Radio, they must be exist in international broadcast to contribute world news and others. (Lim Kwet Hian, Jakarta, Indonesia, DX Listening Digest) Hello Glenn... I have been in correspondence with Radio Austria International's Listener's Department, and am passing on the following info. Here is their email to me, in response to my query as to their possible shutdown: ``Dear listener, Thank you very much for your e-mail! Unfortunately we have to tell you that the rumors are true. The directors of the ORF Corporation are thinking about the complete shut down of ROI. We have no detailed information about it so far because we only start to have meetings on our future today. But it seems that the situation right now is rather serious. It would help us quite a lot if our listners would open state how they think about ROI and that they want us to stay on air. This could be done per mail or letter to the ORF headquarters or to us and we will forward it to the headquarters. The listeners who send regularly reception reports have already began to send letters or mails to our support. But it is very important that our regular listener's who don't write to us on regular base state their mind to the director too, so that they may see that we have a lot of listeners who care about our broadcasts and future. We appreciate any reaction on the possibly shut down of Radio Austria International from you. Best to address your letter or e-mail to our office, we will redirect it to the proper receiver. For e-mail: roi.service@orf.at and for mail: Radio Austria International, z.H. Hr. Michael Kerbler, Argentinierstr. 30A, A-1040 Vienna, AUSTRIA. Mr. Kerbler is our chief-journalist, so it would be best to send a letter to him. We really appreciate your proposal to post our situation on different webpages and message forums, so that other friends of our service as well know about the situation. With kind regards, Radio Austria International Listener's Relations Department`` Let's hope SWL's start writing! (Fred Newlin, New York, WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DX LISENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. RADIO AUSTRIA INTERNATIONAL TO STOP BROADCASTING IN MARCH 2003 | Text of report by Austrian newspaper Die Presse on 12 November The ORF [Oesterreischer Rundfunk] has decided to close down the ORF shortwave station "Radio Austria International" (ROEI). ROEI chief Michael Kerbler has been asked to present a plan for the closure of the radio station. ROEI is to stop broadcasting in March. Instead, Oesterreich Eins programmes will be aired for a few hours on the shortwave frequencies. The decision has triggered sharp criticism of the ORF. A decision can only be made by the ORF foundation council at its session at the beginning of December. Resistance has already been observed to the proposal within this body. Source: Die Presse, Vienna, in German 12 Nov 02 p 1 (via BBC via DXLD) RADIO AUSTRIA INTERNATIONAL TO BE CLOSED DOWN The foreign shortwave service of the Austrian national broadcasting company Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) is to be phased out gradually in 2003. According to plans aimed at cutting costs, Radio Austria International (ROI) should be closed down almost entirely in March 2003, leaving only a few programs on the air. The final decision will be taken by the Foundation Council, the top governing body of ORF, in its meeting on December 2. Already on November 15 the ORF management is expected to submit the budget for 2003, including the cost-cutting measures affecting ROI. Foreign service programming on shortwave is to be replaced largely by a news service on the Internet. Several top politicians have expressed their concern over the plan. Conservative People's Party (VP) Foreign minister Benita Ferrero- Waldner says she regretted the closure. Also Wolfgang Petritsch, the Social Democratic candidate for the foreign minister's post, said the shortwave service was of the greatest importance. Until last year ROI was funded by the government, but in 2001 financial responsibility was given to ORF. Currently ROI broadcasts in German, English, French and Spanish. ROI has already cut costs by ending programming in Arabic and Esperanto, and by replacing much of the ROI German programming by ORF domestic service programs (DXing.info, November 12, 2002 VIA WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA: B-02 schedule for ORF's DX programs: DX TELEGRAMM Fri 1755-1800 6155 13730 1955-2000 1476 Sat 1755-1800 1476 6155 13730 Sun 1755-1800 6155 13730 INTERMEDIA Fri 1805-1830 5945 6155 1930-1955 1476 Sat 2005-2030 1476 5945 6155 Sun 1730-1755 6155 13730 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 11 via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) Best chance in NAm should be Sun 1738-1800 on 13730; also ondemand from website ** BHUTAN. 6035.00, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, Thimpu; *0100-0130, Nov. 12; s/on with I/S, two unreadable announcements, national anthem identical with the NA on the BBS web site http://www.bbs.com.bt/news/audio/anthem.wav --- later into Buddhist prayers and traditional music. Fade out at about 0130. Weak. Propagation conditions from southern Europe towards Bhutan should get better in the coming weeks (Fabrizio Magrone, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Just in time for their 27th anniversary, Nov 9, Radio Camargo have uploaded a "listeners' page" including a couple of pictures at http://www.radiocamargo.cjb.net/ Station manager José Luís García Pastrana wishes more DX listeners to get in touch with him in order to make the listeners' list a bit more comprehensive. His address can be found on the webpage (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, dxing.info via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Radio Bulgaria DX program in English: Fri 2235 5800, 7500; Sat 0035 and 0335 7400, 9400; Sun 0748 12000, 13600; Sun 1248 12000, 15700 (as of Nov 1) (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria [responsible for the program], BC-DX Nov 14 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Latest issue of the Messenger has this schedule for English from China Radio International from November 30th: [some known relay sites and comments bracketly added by gh] North America (East Coast) 2300-0000 13680 [Canada] 0100-0200 9580 9790 [Cuba, Canada] 0300-0400 9690 [Spain] 0400-0500 9560 9730 [Canada, French Guiana] [they screwed this one up again: 0400 on 9730, 0500 on 9560 in winter] 1300-1400 9570 [Cuba] 1300-1400 1120 (Washington D.C.) North America (West Coast) 2300-0000 13680 [Canada] 0100-0200 9790 [Canada] 0300-0400 9690 [Spain] 0500-0600 9560 9730 [Canada, French Guiana] [they screwed this one up again: 0400 on 9730, 0500 on 9560 in winter] 1400-1600 7405 17720 [direct, Cuba; 7405 recently still at 1300] Caribbean Sea 2300-0000 5990 [Cuba] Europe 2000-2100 5965 9840 2100-2200 1440 5965 9840 2200-2300 7170 2300-2330 558 (London) Southeast Asia 1200-1300 1341 9730 11980 1300-1400 1341 11980 15180 South Asia 1200-1300 1188* 1400-1500 9700 11675 11765 1500-1600 7160 9785 South Pacific 0900-1100 11730 15210 1200-1300 9760 11760 15415 1300-1400 11760 11900 East and South Africa 1400-1600 13685(M) 15125 [M = Mali? The only one so marked??] 1600-1700 7190 13650 1700-1800 7150 9570 9695* 11910 2000-2130 11640 13630 West and North Africa 1900-2000 9440 9585 2000-2100 9440 *Testing frequencies (Michael Beesley, Hampshire, UK, World DX Club via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6010v, LV de tu Conciencia: "Many things are happening here in Colombia. Russell left today for Lomalinda with a load of materials for the radio stns and many boxes of books. The lines are drawn for battle not far from Lomalinda, but fighting has not erupted as yet. Right now one of the paramilitary leaders wants to live at Lomalinda. It would be a good opportunity for ministry to him, but we need to avoid the appearance of being committed to one side or the other in order to keep ministering to both. Pray about this. We are getting good rpts on the SW station. Response is coming in from Norway, Sweden, other parts of Europe, Australia, and all over the Americas. So far all broadcasting is in Spanish." (Colombia Para Cristo newsletter via DX-plorer via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. RADIO OKAPI EN KINYARWANDA NAIROBI, 11 novembre (IRIN) - La station de radio Okapi de la Mission de l'ONU en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), connue sous son acronyme MONUC, a commencé ce lundi à diffuser ses programmes en langue rwandaise, le kinyarwanda, pour informer des milliers de miliciens de l'existence d'un programme de désarmement, de démobilisation et de rapatriement dont ils pourraient bénéficier. ``Nous transmettons sur ondes FM et sur ondes courtes afin de pouvoir être entendus par les combattants qui sont dans le maquis ou les forêts,`` a indiqué Sébastien Lapierre, producteur de programmes sur radio Okapi. La MONUC a ciblé entre 8 000 et 12 000 Rwandais, des miliciens opposés à leur gouvernement. Les programmes radiophoniques sont diffusés, entre 5 heures du matin et 14 heures, à l'intention de miliciens rwandais qui ont gagné le nord-est du pays après avoir fui la base militaire de Kamina dans la province sud du Katanga, théâtre de récents combats. ``Nous allons informer les mouvements armés rwandais en République démocratique du Congo des mesures armées mises en place pour les aider à rentrer chez eux et à se réintégrer dans la vie civile,`` a indiqué M. Lapierre. La station diffusera une série d'entretiens réalisés avec des anciens combattants qui sont rentrés chez eux et qui ont été réintégrés dans la vie civile, des soldats en cours de démobilisation, des responsables du gouvernement responsables du processus de réintégration et des responsables de la MONUC. Le gouvernement de la RDC a identifié environ 4 000 combattants rwandais opposés au gouvernement dans l'est du pays. Près de la moitié d'entre eux ont été désarmés et enregistrés à la base de Kamina. Près de la moitié des soldats cantonnés à la base de Kamina ont fui les heurts survenus le 1er novembre entre certains de leurs camarades et des troupes de l'armée congolaise dans la région. La MONUC a informé avoir rapatrié vendredi 64 anciens combattants de Kamina, portant à 278 le nombre total de combattants rwandais rentrés chez eux dans le cadre de ce programme. Le rapatriement, effectué vendredi, a marqué la reprise des activités de démobilisation et de désarmement à Kamina après une interruption temporaire due aux affrontements. La MONUC a ajouté, par ailleurs, que 201 ex-combattants, 110 femmes et 147 enfants étaient prêts à entamer le processus de contrôle pour la démobilisation. Le gouvernement rwandais a envoyé environ 23 400 soldats à l'est de la RDC, de toute évidence pour faire front aux troupes de l'ancienne armée rwandaise et leurs alliés hutus de l'Interahamwe. Le Rwanda a commencé à retirer ses troupes de la RDC en octobre, conformément à l'accord de paix de Pretoria signé le 30 juillet, qui prévoit le retrait de toutes les forces étrangères de la RDC ainsi que le désarmement et le rapatriement des anciens rebelles rwandais (Les informations sont issues de IRIN 11 novembre 2002 http://www.irinnews.org via Bernard Chenal, France, Nov 13 via DXLD) ** CUBA. I was tuning around the 49 meter band this morning at 1500 UTC, looking for any Mexican or other C/S American SW broadcast stations that might still be in existence, when I stumbled across a numbers station on 5760 kc. The AM modulation was poor but it was the female version in Spanish. The signal was 59+30-40 so the station was regional to Florida (Thomas Giella, KN4LF, FL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) This station is from Cuba. The Cuban numbers stations are infamous for poor audio, as well as other technical mishaps. There are CW transmissions as well, and sometimes they'll accidentally swap frequencies, or mix the two signals on one frequency (analysis seems to indicate that they transmit CW by feeding audio to a transmitter running in SSB mode). More fun is when they mix a little Radio Havana audio in as well. We've even caught an open mike and a rooster call! I wonder if Arnie Coro could forward a reception report to the correct authorities for a QSL? ;-) (Chris Smolinski, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CUBA. I sure hope those little Chinese radios we are handing out in Cuba are better than the ones I have seen, or anyone without a previous knowledge of shortwave will be really challenged to find and then hear anything. By the way, how about the irony of USA purchasing Chinese made radios to hand out in Cuba while China jams our VOA broadcasts! 73, (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RHC no show on 11705-USB for quite a while. Continues on 6000 and 9820; English to NAm starts at 0100 (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH [and non?]. Again last night listened to 6150 for a period from 0015. At that time SNG had faded out. A station with light music was heard on 6150.05, evidently the same one as heard at 2230. At appr. 0023 presumed Iran switched on its strong carrier, but still no modulation a minute or two after 0030. This afternoon just before 1700 Austria 6155 was off for a minute and left 6150 clear from splash. At that time I heard a lady announcing in English on 6150.05, but no ID noted. At this time SNG had closed for the evening. It seems to be a good chance that 6150.05 is Bayrak, but only a definite ID can tell. Bernd - has anyone reported a 100% ID for Bayrak? (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi, 2200-2300 nothing heard of western or Turkish music so far. I checked 6150 last night [Nov 10] at 2200-2220, but heard nothing at 2200-2215, and later on a transmission of S=2 level, supposed to be in Chinese language. Today - Nov 11 with much better conditions - around 2200-2232 UT two Chinese language station could be observed co-channel on 6150, the stronger with S=2, and underneath another with S=1 level. [See previous complete Taiwan schedule, including:] TAIWAN VARIETY NETWORK ONE (in CHINESE) 2200-0200, 0400-1700 (local Mo-Fr; 0600-1000 stop tx [meaning silent period for maintenance, siesta?]) 6150 2230-0000 C CHN NEWS NETWORK (in CHINESE) 2200-1700 6150 2300-0000 C CHN So it seems Taiwan, heard a music like National Anthem at 2230 UT at the stronger station ahead, of I guess a Chinese Mainland music 'jamming' service underneath ?? It seems the former Kimje, Korea outlet on 6150 of A-02, ceased in B-02 already. 73 wb df6sx (Wolfgang Bueschel, Stuttgart, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Actually, it was a report from Austria, not Germany as I first wrote. [re: Bayrak on 6150 in the 0000-0100 period] A detailed, daily schedule of the Bayrak INT programme can be found at http://www.brt.gov.nc.tr/akislar/bayrakint.htm According to this schedule, the transmission time of Bayrak INT (disregarding the frequency usage) is 0430-2200. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuiania, Nov 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. See USA -- WRMI ** FIJI. 1152, Radio Fiji 1, Raki Raki, Nov 5, 1430, Heard at good level running a program of beautiful Polynesian music. Hosted by male. Heard also Nov. 6, 7 and 8 (John Bryant, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** FRANCE. RFI English: all I`m getting is their 1400 on 17620. Quite good; nothing intended to North America (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Including David Page`s Club 9516 Nov 10 Sunday 1430; should also be at 1205 on 25820 (gh) Tuned in at 1400 on 17620 in an effort to hear RFI in English, but program was in French (Mike Cooper, GA, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non?]. Radio Marabu next 24 hours shortwave broadcast is scheduled for the coming weekend, 16th/17th of November on 6210 kHz, starting early Saturday morning. Give it a try an check it out. E-mail reception reports are highly appreciated. Every reaction to the broadcast will be verified by free CD and other goodies. ********************************************************** RADIO MARABU e.V. - Postfach 1166 - D 49187 Belm - Germany Tel.: 05406/899484 -- Fax: 05406/899485 E-mail: marabu@r... [truncated] - Homepage: http://www.radio-marabu.de Europe´s radio station for alternative music (srsnews via Valter Aguiar, radioescutas via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) ** HAITI. Hi Glenn, just a few comments re- WOR 1156. As for 4VEH handing out pre-tuned radios, I don't think that is new. I seem to recall, in the 1960's or '70's, when they had an English language mailbag program, they mentioned doing that (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. There is a Cyclone threat in the East Coast of India now. Last night, the following stations of AIR in Andhra Pradesh state (including the one in my city) did not sign off as usual but were on air continuously to give the cyclone weather info. Hyderabad 738, 4800 kHz Visakhapatnam 927 kHz These stations were playing music and giving the latest updates on the cyclone. Note: Cricket commentaries scheduled today 0330-1200 UT approx. on 6 and 7 MHz frequencies of AIR Regional stations (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda Hyderabad, India, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. INTERNATIONAL PHARMACISTS HAM GROUP http://www.malpensa.it/iphg/index.htm (Andrea Pagliula IZ7ECB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. NEW WRN WEBSITE - UPDATE. The new website is almost complete! An internal WRN launch will occur week beginning Monday 18th November and the site will be opened to the public at the end of November. INTERNET AUDIO QUALITY UPGRADED As we prepare to launch the new WRN website we have upgraded the audio encoding and quality of the Internet files from the current RealAudio 3 at 16 kb/s to RealAudio G2 at 20 kb/s. When we launch the new WRN website, we will also offer Windows Media encoding of files to give visitors as much choice of formats as possible (WRN quarterly newsletter via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) Several other items from World Radio Network are in this issue under respective countries of [non]origin (gh) ** IRAN. VOIRI noted in 75 mb on new 3985 (via Ahwaz) with Arabic network 1820-1900, parallel 6065 where co-channel Sweden. Another NF is 6180, where noted with French at *1830, Nov-12. Good listening to Iran! (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA/NORWAY: New B-02 schedule for R. Anternational/ R. International in Farsi: 0230-0315 7460 KCH 500 kW / 116 deg ||||| new morning transmission 1730-1815 7490 KVI 200 kW / 105 deg ||||| ex 7520 KCH 500 kW / 116 deg for B-01 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 11 via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) Sites: Kishinov, Moldova; Kvitsøy, Norway ** IRAQ. ANALYSIS: IRAQI MEDIA OVERVIEW | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 11 November 2002 Introduction The Iraqi government exercises absolute control over the domestic media, except in the Kurdish enclaves in the north. President Saddam Husayn's son Uday runs two of Iraq's broadcast outlets. Iraqi radio's domestic service broadcasts in Arabic, Kurdish and other languages, which in the past have included Assyrian, Persian and Turkmen. The authorities are reportedly preparing to maintain broadcasts from mobile installations in the event of attacks. Radio Iraq International, the foreign service, has in the past broadcast in Arabic, English, German and French. However, since 1991 broadcasts from Iraq have been highly erratic and almost inaudible outside its borders. Considerable damage was done to Iraq's once impressive broadcast installations. Radio Iraq International has never recovered from the battering it took during the 1991 Gulf war. In the UN-mandated Kurdish enclaves in northern Iraq, which are not controlled by the government, rival Kurdish factions such as Mas'ud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan operate their own radio and TV stations and newspapers beyond the reach of official Iraqi control. The Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan and other small groupings also have their own media outlets in northern Iraq and abroad. The latest to launch was a radio station identifying itself as "Mesopotamia Radio and Television from Arbil", heard in October 2002. Iraq's airwaves are saturated with transmissions beamed to the country from abroad, whether those of established international broadcasters in the USA and Europe, or clandestine media operated by political opposition groups. Baghdad officially forbids the reception of satellite broadcasts, although a scheme to allow controlled viewing of selected foreign Arabic entertainment and sports channels has been introduced. Private internet access and email services are still in their infancy. In autumn 2002 a public company received permission to open private internet cafes in Baghdad. The same company plans to open internet centres at schools, universities and other educational institutes. The official Iraqi News Agency has an extensive English-language site. Foreign correspondents who are permitted to enter Iraq are required to travel with government minders from the Ministry of Information. Travel outside Baghdad requires written approval, and travelling to a location not specified in the request is forbidden. Domestic radio and TV Audience research data from Iraq is non-existent, which makes it difficult to assess the impact of any individual programme, broadcaster or nation. State-run radio and TV are assumed to be accessible in the parts of Iraq controlled by Saddam Husayn. The main domestic TV service and Uday Husayn's Youth TV are available terrestrially. The Iraqi Information Ministry plans to launch two new TV channels, including one in English for foreigners living in Iraq, the Baghdad newspaper Al-Rafidayn reported in November 2002. Baghdad radio's main service in Arabic has been heard on six mediumwave frequencies. The station has also announced six different regional FM frequencies. Baghdad radio has reportedly also used mobile transmitters, probably on FM frequencies. Other domestic services heard recently have been Voice of Youth (run by Saddam's son Uday) and Holy Koran Radio. Services that have not been heard recently are Voice of the Masses, the domestic and Persian and Kurdish services from Baghdad and Mother of Battles Radio (set up during the 1990-91 Gulf conflict). Given the erratic operation of some Iraqi broadcasts, there is little evidence of an infrastructure that could jam incoming radio or TV services to any great effect. External broadcasts The state-run Iraq Satellite Channel broadcasts via a number of satellites to viewers across the Middle East and Europe. For several years, Iraqi radio has had only one, and occasionally two, operational shortwave transmitters. These have been heard only intermittently and with a highly variable schedule, often with extremely poor audio modulation. Therefore, broadcasts by Radio Iraq International are highly erratic. In recent months audio modulation has become so poor that it has often not even been possible to determine what languages are being broadcast. Broadcasts to Iraq from abroad Shortwave and mediumwave radio listeners inside Iraq have access to a wide range of general Arabic-language services from the Middle East and from international broadcasters. The main international stations heard in Iraq are the BBC, the USA's Radio Sawa (which has a strand of programmes beamed to Iraqi audiences) and US-funded Radio Free Iraq (operated by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from studios in Prague). In June 2002 the Iraqi press reported that a subscription-based service providing a selection of foreign satellite broadcasts (probably through some form of local cable or MMDS network) would be available to Iraqis, who would have to apply through the Information Ministry. The annual subscription for a service offering over a dozen channels including films, sports, cartoons and documentaries was set at about 60 dollars (the equivalent of a civil servant's salary for 10 months). After its launch in Baghdad, the service would be extended to Basra and Ninawa before being rolled out to other regions of Iraq. Kurdistan, opposition and clandestine services There are several Kurdish, opposition or clandestine stations representing various factions and ethnic groups within Iraq broadcasting from different locations on a mixture of frequencies in a combination of Arabic and Kurdish. The major ones include: \ \ Radio \ \ Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan - broadcasts from Salah al-Din in Kurdish and Arabic in support of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Mas'ud Barzani. \ Voice of the People of Kurdistan - broadcasts from Sulaymaniyah in Kurdish and Arabic in support of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Jalal Talabani. \ Voice of Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party - mouthpiece of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party, a member of the Democratic Alliance of Kurdistan, an alliance of five parties under the leadership of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, formed in December 1996. \ Voice of the Iraqi People in Arabic - mouthpiece of the Iraqi Communist Party. \ Radio Freedom - mouthpiece of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan. \ Voice of Kurdistan Toilers - mouthpiece of the Iraqi Kurdistan Toilers party. \ Voice of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq - opposition radio sponsored by the pro-Iranian Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. \ \ Television \ \ Kurdistan TV - based in Salah-al-Din, mouthpiece of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. \ Kurdsat - based in Sulaymaniyah, mouthpiece of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. In September 2001 the London-based Iraqi National Congress (INC), a US-funded umbrella organization of groups opposed to President Saddam Husayn, launched Hurriyah or Liberty TV - aimed at Iraq. It broadcast on a westerly trans-Atlantic satellite in a digital format unlikely to be available to many Iraqi viewers. Liberty TV broadcasts were suspended in May 2002 owing to concerns expressed by its US backers over the INC's financial management practices. There is likely to be an upsurge in clandestine media activity if the political and military temperature continues to rise. One possibility is that a station with INC and US backing could be established, broadcasting from a mountainous site on the Iraq-Iran border in an area controlled by the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party. It could reach Baghdad on FM - but could also be blocked by relatively small local jamming transmitters. Updated information on external broadcasts to Iraq can be found on the web site of Clandestine Radio Watch - http://www.clandestineradio.com US psyops Commando Solo flights, delivering radio broadcasts from aircraft, have been used in recent conflicts, most recently in Afghanistan. A report in the New York Times on 15 October 2002 quoted US military officials as saying that the Pentagon planned "to start a psychological operations campaign, which would probably include broadcasts and leaflet drops in coming weeks" urging Iraqi military leaders to defect or rise up against Saddam Husayn. Publications While the 1968 Constitution provides for freedom of the press, the government tightly controls all news media. Iraqi newspapers are all pro-regime. The Journalists' Union is headed by Uday Saddam Husayn. The two Iraqi papers that are most daring in criticizing domestic government policies are Babil and Al-Zawra, both of which are headed by Uday. However, in August 1996, Babil was closed for four days for publishing two articles critical of the Information Ministry's performance and for failing to publish the ministry's response to them. According to Taha al-Basri, former chief editor of Al-Thawrah, the paper used to print 250,000 copies daily but this number was reduced by 92-94 per cent after the trade embargo imposed by the United Nations. More than 130 periodicals ceased publication after the embargo. All Iraqi papers continue to carry a front-page picture of Saddam Husayn, either separately or in the context of a previous day's activity. There are five major daily newspapers (Al-Iraq, Al-Thawrah, Al- Jumhuriyah, Al-Qadisiyah, and Babil) and one English-language newspaper (Iraq Daily) and one sports daily called Al-Ba'th al-Riyadi. There are also nine Iraqi weeklies. These are: Al-Zawra, Nabd al- Shabab, Sawt al-Talabah, Al-Rafidayn, Al-Iqtisadi, Al-Ra'y, Al-I'lam, Al-Ittihad, and Alif Ba. Uday Saddam Husayn is the board chairman of the first four weeklies, in addition to the daily newspaper Babil and Al-Ba'th al-Riyadi. All these Iraqi dailies and weeklies have an Internet version that is updated regularly. Many of them post a version in PDF format, in addition to the usual selections posted from each paper. Other hard-copy publications are issued in the Iraqi governorates, but they do not have Internet versions. Source: BBC Monitoring research 11 Nov 02 (via DXLD) ** ITALY. Rai, Roma, 0055-0110 North American service still announces 6010. No show! It is on usual 9675 and 11800, and sometimes no show on 11800 (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. JORDAN TV AND YEMEN LAUNCHED IN AMERICA VIA GLOBECAST America`s third largest direct-to-home television provider has launched broadcast services in America via the GlobeCast WorldTV Direct-to-Home platform on Telstar 5. Jordan TV, the international satellite service of the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation, broadcasts 24/7 live from Amman to all Arab countries, southern Europe, Turkey, West Iran and parts of Africa http://www.globecast.com (AIB Newsletter, Nov via DXLD) Rest under YEMEN ** KIRIBATI. 846, Radio Kiribati, Nov 8, 0830, fair to poor level with beautiful island choral music. Often heard from Grayland and a favorite listening station (John Bryant, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 972 kHz, HLCA Dangjin, Nov 6, 1358. Heard here throughout the DXpedition with listed first Liberty Program beamed north to DPR Korea. Often good to excellent. PLEASE NOTE: HLCA is running an hour of Japanese language programming from 1600-1700 UT. The program appears to be all talk and by a native Korean speaker (the JJ is unusually slow and heavily accented.) HLCA returns to Korean language at 1700. This program is on at 1-2 AM Japanese time. Who are they broadcasting to? Why? 1053, Jammer, South Korea, Nov 5, 1155. I'm not sure how effective this station is as a jammer beamed north from South Korea, but it sure is a great beacon station for judging the quality of propagation to East Asia. Heard throughout DXpedition (John Bryant, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. Hi Glenn, While tuning 31m today [Nov. 13] around 1020 I found Radio Korea International on 9760 in the Spanish language. This frequency does not appear in the version of their sched published in DXLD recently [via Wolfgang Büschel, retyped into text version by Alan Roe]. Spanish is listed at 1000-1100 to SAm/Eu. Listed 11715 via Sackville was good and strong as was new 15210 direct from Kimjae, but there was no trace of RKI on listed 9580 - only Shepparton. However, in the HFCC listings I find Sackville 9760 1000-1100 via 163 degrees to Ciraf 11- 16. So, are two transmitters in use via Sackville - if so, 9760 does not appear in their list of relays - or was 9760 direct and replacing 9580? Co-channel on 9760 were Chinese language broadcasts - I believe this was RFI Paris until 1030 then D. Welle at 1030-1055 and both via Irkutsk, but not easy to follow due to the strength of RFI. From 1100 VOA via PHT took over. RKI in Korean from 1100 then English from 1130 to NAm on 9650 via Sackville also came in well. 73 (Noel Green, England, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I had a report in Spanish, which I thought was in a previous DXLD, that RKI would be testing these two frequencies via Canada for a few weeks, until Nov 27, to determine which worked better in South America (gh to Noel, via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. In order to comply with directives of the European Union (Lithuania is going to join the EU on 1 January 2004), the country will return to Daylight Saving Time (like all other EU countries) on 30 March 2003. During the last few years, Lithuania kept the clocks on UT +2h all year round. In future, winter time will be UT +2h, DST (end of March to end of October) UT +3h (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Then joining EU is obviously not worth it (gh) ** LITHUANIA. R. Vilnius in English also 1900-1930 on 666 MW as of Oct 27 (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST){see DXLD 2-179} ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. 1098, Radio Majuro, Nov 10, 0805. Noted with island music at 0805 on this date. R. Majuro are leaving their transmitter on after 's/off' and it was present as an OC every morning of the DXpedition. It has been this pattern for at least two years (John Bryant, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Glenn, I just noticed that 6185 and 1060 are simulcasting sometime after 06 UT. This may be very old news but new to me. Regards (Dave McDonald, location unknown, Nov 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Educación I assume he is talking about, country not mentioned either. Yes, they have been for some time, but I believe there was talk of resuming original SW programming at last August`s DX convention (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. Is it really possible that 540-XESURF in Tijuana is only 100w? I'm hearing "The Surf" here in the San Fernando Valley both day and night, barefoot with the DX-398. Not that loud mind you, but it's definitely there (Brian Leyton, NRC-AM via DXLD) Ah, the joys of getting accurate technical data on the Mexicans. I don't believe 100 watts either; the signal is just too darned good heading up the coast. The tower is on top of a "Gigante" supermarket building not too far south of the Otay Mesa border crossing; it doesn't look like it could handle the rumored 25 kW, either, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's cooking with 5 kW or so. My speculation on what's happening with this one goes like this: the Tijuana 540 is operated by Saul Levine, who also has 1260 KSUR in the Valley as well as his big gun, 105.1 KMZT Los Angeles. In addition to those, Saul also had the 540 that was licensed to Costa Mesa, which used a transmitter site something like 80 miles away in the high desert east of San Bernardino and a very directional antenna to focus the power over the LA basin. Once he had Costa Mesa on the air, he picked up the 540 Tijuana to simulcast, and eventually shut down the Costa Mesa in favor of using the frequency south of the border. My speculation is that the "100 watts" dates back to the period when he was running both signals; by notifying the FCC of such a low power on the Mexican, he avoided having to protect it with his California 540. Now that the Costa Mesa 540 is gone (it spawned the 1650 allocation that's now under different ownership as Korean KFOX), Tijuana can operate at much greater power; it's just not notifying the FCC, methinks. -s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC- AM via DXLD) Oh the tangled web we weave... I saw the listing for the Costa Mesa station and wondered what that was all about. Your scenario looks pretty reasonable, though I still wonder why he'd drop Costa Mesa's 25 kW daytime in favor of anything less out of TJ. I guess it's a night vs. day tradeoff (Brian Leyton, ibid.) The Costa Mesa station had to shut down to comply with the X-band Sol Levine got for Costa Mesa; he sold the X-band and just shut down the 540 dog. The transmitter was about 60 miles away in Hesperia, across the San Andreas fault, and it never had a great signal in Orange County. 1260, based on power increase, is now licensed to Beverly Hills, not in the Valley by any means. 540 did not even cover Orange County, let alone the LA Basin. The lobe was so narrow, and so far away that it was not useful except as a way of getting an X-band station based on the city over 100,000 population with no local service ruling. Sol rents the Mexican station form the local licensee under a joint sales and programming agreement. US citizens cannot own stations in Mexico (David Gleason, Palm Springs, ibid.) Just how do they get away with that? I mean the transmitter is clearly in the Valley, not in Beverly Hills (though I'd love to watch the city council meeting where Sol asks them to let him plop a few towers in the Beverly Hillbillies' back yard). (Brian Leyton, ibid.) COL [city of license] can be anyplace in the coverage area where a minimum signal strength is placed. KTNQ is in Industry, licensed to LA. KFI is in Buena Park, licensed to LA. I think Sol wanted a more attractive COL than San Fernando, which is, politely, a depressed area (David Gleason, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Veo que no paso el archivo pdf, que me dieron el RMI con el horario vigente, y que estara cambiando el dia 1 de enero del 2003. Este horario, ya lo verifiqué y ya está actualizado en su página Web. http://www.imer.gob.mx/estaciones/rmi.html En la parte inferior está la liga de carta de programación. Saludos (Héctor García Bojorge, México DF, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Héctor, Gracias. Acabo de verla, pero indican solo 5 horas entre HCM y UTC; cuáles horas debemos creer? 73, (Glenn to Héctor, via DXLD) Hola Sr. Glenn, No me habia percatado, pero exactamente está mal el horario UT; éste debiera empezar a las 1300 UT, que corresponde a las 7:00 Hora del Centro de México. En estos momentos tenemos la diferencia de 6 horas atrasados de la UT. Saludos (Héctor García Bojorge, México DF, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There have been lots of time changes, not just a one hour shift, and concerning when English and French are broadcast rather than Spanish, as we had suspected. Assuming the local times are correct, and the UT needs to be 6 hours later, we now find, among others: ANTENA RADIO SUMMARY [in English of preceding Spanish news magazine]: M-F 1500-1530, 2300-2330, Tue-Sat 0400-0430 [repeats, or new shows?] TALKING MEXICO: Same times as above Sat-Sun except UT Mon when LA HORA NACIONAL is on at 0400-0500. MAILBOX: Tue 1530, Sun 1530, Thu 0430 DXPERIENCE: Thu 1530, Tue 2330, Sun 0430, Sun 2330, RADIO CORREO DEL AIRE: Sun 1630, Fri 2100 ESTACION DX: Sun 2000, Tue 2100, Fri 0330 ** MOROCCO. MAROC. Medi 1 joue toujours au yo-yo avec sa fréquence OC; le 11 novembre, la station était de retour sur 9595 kHz. Suite à un courrier envoyé, voici la réponse obtenue (le 11 novembre): "Merci pour votre courrier du 10 novembre. Nous n'avons pas de yo-yo dans notre centre mais vous pourriez peut être nous prêter celui que vous devez avoir dans votre récepteur. Plaisanterie mise à part nous avons un synthé dans notre émetteur de 250 kW et un compteur qui nous permet de controler la fréquence d'émission qui est bien de 9.575 kHz. La 9575 est très utilisée car c'est une fréquence favorable principalement en Afrique et il y a "embouteillage" à certaines heures. Nous devrions la modifier dans la journée mais c'est une volonté de notre Direction Générale de conserver une fréquence unique. Il y a une importante activitée solaire en ce moment mais les effets devraient se faire sentir sur le fading et pas la fréquence. Bonne écoute, quand même. Cordialement C. Roussillon" Encore une fois une station qui ne sait pas trop sur quelle fréquence elle émet! Le 12 novembre, Medi 1 était retournée sur 9575 kHz (les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Over two-thirds of New Zealand AM radio now consists of simulcast programming carried over seven networks. Happily, there are very few instances of a network having two outlets on the same frequency. This makes identifying stations quite easy, as long as one can hear a known network outlet. National Radio: Government-owned news and features network of about 20 transmitters. There is a single 50 kW station (2YA-567) and five 10 kW stations. The remainder are primarily 2 kW outlets. 567//756 News-Talk ZB: Now privately owned simulcast news and phone-in + interview talk programming. The network consists of about 20 stations, with one 20 kW station (2ZB-1035), five 10 kW stations and the remainder being primarily 2kW stations. 1035//1008//1044 Radio Sport: Sporting events, features and talk carried on over a dozen outlets. 792//1332 Classic Hits: Top pop hits of the 60s, 70s, 80s from a network of 9 stations. Some of the automated stations run local commercials, IDs, etc. within network programming until 1200 UT. After that time all are simulcast. Difficult to hear in NAm. Strongest is only 2 kW. Note: some Classic Hits stations carry Radio Sport programming during important national sports events. 1026//1215 AM Network & Southern Star: These two networks primarily share the same transmitters. There is one 50 kW transmitter (2YC-657), three 10 kW stations (882, 900, 963) and a single 5 kW outlet. The AM Network simulcasts NZ Parliament when it is in session (there are regular afternoon and EVENING sessions. A schedule may be found on the web at http://www.radionz.co.nz/am/f-am.htm.) When Parliament is not in session, these transmitters simulcast the Southern Star Network of contemporary Christian music. 657 Radio Rhema: This simulcast network of a dozen transmitters is relatively difficult to hear from North America. About half of the network is 5kW transmitters and most of the rest are 2kW. Radio Rhema programming is Christian talk and features. 1251?? Radio Pacific: This small all-talk network consists of a single 10 kW transmitter (702) and two 5kW outlets. Difficult to hear in NAm. 702//711 (John Bryant, Grayland WA Dxpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) See also AUSTRALIA et al. ** NIGER. Yesterday evening I was able to receive Niamey with a nice live phone-in program on 9705 with O=3-4 around 22h, with only little QRM by an unID, constant carrier. I can hear Niamey nearly daily on this QRG, but best reception is always on a Saturday evening- I think the sign-off on a Saturday is much later than within weekdays...???! RX: ATS-909, Ant:CB-vertical with Magnetic Balun and MFJ-16010 (Yves Wechlin, Eimeldingen (GER) near Basel (SUI), Nov 11, dxing.info via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Wow, what will they do with this frequency, get rid of the boring syndicated programming? http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=945619&pic=none&TP=getbusiness OKLAHOMA. WKY RADIO OFFER ACCEPTED --- 2002-11-12 An offer by Citadel Broadcasting to purchase Oklahoma City radio station WKY-AM has been accepted by OPUBCO Communications Inc., officials said Monday. The transaction, which requires FCC approval, is expected to close by the end of December. WKY is currently operated under a Local Marketing Agreement 2003. WKY is reported to be the first radio station west of the Mississippi to hold an FCC license and has been continuously owned by OPUBCO or its related entities since 1928 (via Bill Eckart, OK, DXLD) The LMA meaning Clear Channel/KTOK et al. has been running it (gh) ** OKLAHOMA. TYLER TO MOVE 99.7 KTSH TO OKC --- KTSH-FM 99.7 Tishomingo OK has applied to move to Tuttle OK, in the Oklahoma City market (SOURCE: 100000watts.com via OKCRadio.com news via DXLD) We saw this coming long ago; to the detriment of KNID-99.7, Enid, transmitter site actually near Helena halfway to Alva. I`ll bet we get QRM to our own `local` here in Enid, unless KTSH be direxional away (gh, OK, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KOMA-1520 appears to be on day facilities. Blowing WLAC out of the water here 18 miles from the WLAC towers (but in the KGA null). KOMA isn't rare here but it's MUCH louder than normal and probably easy copy much further northeast. (Doug Smith, Nashville, 0722 UT Nov 12, NRC-AM via DXLD) {WLAC and KGA being on 1510} ** PAKISTAN. From http://frontierpost.com.pk/home.asp?id=17&date1=11/10/2002 CALL TO UPGRADE RADIO SKARDU 11/10/2002 SKARDU (APP): Up gradation of Radio Pakistan Skardu must be started immediately, Federal Minister for Information and Media Development Nisar Memon said during his visit to Skardu and Gilgit. There were strong demand from general public of both districts of Baltistan (Skardu and Ghangche Siachan and Kargil sectors of the country) to install a high power Shortwave transmitter at Radio Pakistan Skardu to counter the poisonous propaganda of Indian Radio Stations (their words not mine - Mike) of Ledakh, Srinagar and Kargil in Balti language against Pakistan. Though Radio Pakistan Sakardu is doing this job since inception of the station in 1979 but capacity of transmission is very limited (via Artie Bigley, Kim Elliott, DXLD) Much the same thing was being said in a very similar item a couple months ago; WTFK? (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Some Pakistan changes noted today [Nov.13]: World Service to Gulf & ME 1330-1530 on new 15070 [ex 15105 - co-channel Romania]. I didn`t have the opportunity to monitor it but I guess English News & Commentary 1600-1615 was also on this frequency. Parallel remains 11570 World Service to W Europe 1700-1900 on new 9400 [ex 9290, which was suffering intermittent jamming from Iran - probably meant for V. of Mujahadin]. Parallel remains 11895 (Noel Green, England, Nov 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. PAKISTAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION HF BROADCAST SCHEDULE B-02. Effective from 27 Oct, 2002 to 30 March, 2003. [Including CIRAF numerical target zones; see top] Chinese 11570 15105 1200-1230 42-45 S & SE Asia Urdu 15485 17895 0045-0215 41 44 45 49 50 51 54 55 59 S Asia Assami 11655 15455 0045-0115 41 [partly in English] Bangla-1 11655 15455 0045-0115 41 Bangla-2 15625 17680 1200-1245 41 Nepali 15625 17680 1245-1315 41 Hindi-1 11655 15455 0215-0300 41 Hindi-2 11555 15625 1100-1145 41 Tamil-1 15455 17540 0315-0345 41 Tamil-2 15625 17680 0945-1015 41 Sinhali 15625 17680 1015-1045 41 Turkey Gulf ME and NW Af Turkish 9385 11655 1630-1700 38 39 Irani 7555 9375 1715-1800 40 (x9385) Arabic 9385 11565 1815-1900 37-39 Urdu 15100 17835 21460 0500-0700 37-39 Urdu 11570 15070 1330-1530 37-39 (x15105) English 11570 15070 1600 1615 37-39 (x15105) Urdu 7555 1800-1900 40 E & SE Africa English 15530 17725 1600-1615 48s 52 53 57 Gujrati 15485 17825 0400-0430 48s 52 53 57 Europe Urdu/English 17835 21465 0800-1104 17 18SE 27-29 Urdu/English 9400 11895 1700-1900 17 18SE 27-29 AFG C Asian Reps, Rus (x9290) Turki 5860 7375 1330-1400 39NE 40 Dari 5860 7375 1260 1515-1545 39NE 40 Russian 7375 9385 1415-1500 29 30E (R. Pakistanvia Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX, Oct 26, updated by monitoring observations Nov 14 via DXLD) ** PERU. Hola amigos; Sobre la nueva peruana reportada por el colega Carlos Maldonado desde Chile, via Mark Mohrmann y que me remitiera el amigo Henrik Klemetz, (Aclaro que esta información se reprodujo también en DXLD) informo que ayer en la noche me llegó con una aceptable señal aunque con un bajo audio la señal de RADIO SAN AGUSTIN operando en los 4627.2 kHz escuchada luego de la 2350 y con cierre abrupto a las 0140* con musica folklórica de Ecuador y Perú e interpretes como Segundo Rosero, el Chapulín del Arpa; además un grupo de cumbia argentino llamado Rafaga. Identicándose como: "...Somos Radio San Agustín desde la provincia de Celendín en los 65 metros de amplitud modulada..." tan solo hubo publicidad de campaña electoral provincial; elecciones que se celebran el próximo domingo 17 de Noviembre (desde ya les anuncio que debe ser una buena oportunidad para escuchar emisoras peruanas en horarios extendidos). "...este saludo va para la gente que se encuentra en sintonía de su radio, su Radio San Agustín..." Mencionan QTH: Entre Jirón Moquegua y Bolognesi. El colega Carlos Maldonado la escuchó identificándose como Radio San Isidro; durante la transmisión el locutor hizo referencia a esta emisora "...un saludito a nuestra radio hermana Radio San Isidro..." Aún tengo problemas con mi computador pero confio en hacer un archivo de audio de esta emisora. Lamentablemente en los 10354v ninguna señal y soy de la opinion que pueda tratarse de un armónico (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Nov 10, Conexión Digital via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) RADIO SAN AGUSTIN FROM PERU ON 4627.2 KHZ Radio San Agustin from Celendín, Departamento de Cajamarca, Perú, has been logged on 4627.2 kHz by Rafael Rodríguez in Colombia and by Carlos Maldonado in Chile. During several days in the beginning of November, the station has been heard with folk music from Perú and Ecuador, signing off between 0140 and 0300 UT. According to an announcement, the station is located at this street address: Entre Jirón Moquegua y Bolognesi (ConDig and Mark Mohrmann/DXplorer via DXing.info, November 10, 2002, updated November 12 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4627.2 R. San Agustín Nov 9 2350 33222 S QTH: Celendín, (ex Radio Cosmos?) 2861.5 R. Corazón de Huandoy Nov 5 1041 24432 S // 2863.3 R. Corazón de Huandoy Nov 10 0142 24412 S 3811.1 R. Corazón de Huandoy Nov 4 1045 22212 S 3813.3 R. Corazón de Huandoy Nov 5 1040 23312 S // 5723.2 R. Corazón de Huandoy Nov 5 14422 S // [harmonics up to 6th from 954v, must be – gh] 3865, R. Sur Oriente, Nov 4 0155, 22211 Spanish from Tayabamba 4260.4 ***UNID**** Nov 11 0102 12211 S QTH: Cutervo [I believe we had an unID on same reported from Japan] 5218 R. Tropical Nov 11 0151 44422 S, Huarmaca 9975 R. San Antonio Nov 11, 0100 34423 S [is that correct? Harmonic?] 10354.1 R. Willkamayu, Nov 3, 1103, 22211 Spanish from Cuzco (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna: Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH: Chaclacayo (27Kms East Lima), Lima, PERU, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 1458, DWRF Iba (presumed), Nov 7, 1613. This FEBC station (which according to my QSL broadcasts at 100 kW, not 10 listed in some references) noted as presumed with Tagalog programming at fair level. In 12 years of DXing from Grayland, I've heard only three Filipinos. This AM, I heard all three of them again [1062, 1143 the others]. Conditions to coastal E Asia were very good this AM, though Mainland Asians were largely missing (John Bryant, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. RRI English observations: I got 2300 on 9510 and 11940. 9510 is poor to fair. 11940 JBA scratching. I heard your WOR 1155 [about this]. It`s useless at 0200. 11740 has Taibei in English [via Florida] to Central America. No show on 11940 and 15270. 15370 covered by 15375 [Voz Cristiana]. At 0400 9550 quite good, slight 9540 REE. 11830 not audible. 15330 and 17535 nothing heard (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RWANDA. Re 6055, anthem at 2100: Suggest you compare the anthem with the clip on the Interval Signals Archive at http://www.intervalsignals.net/countries/rwanda.htm Regards, (Dave Kernick, UK, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: In "GreenScan", Iceland back in the International Whaling Commission and the EU on Sweden's nuclear energy Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: In "Spectrum" the Stockholm Film Festival, Next Stop Atlantis, and the Cullberg ballet Sunday: Another chance to hear "Sounds Nordic" with Cosi Fan Tutti at the Folkopera, Frederik Kempe, and Sahline (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Nov 13 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. SWEDISH RADIO --- With Radio Sweden's help, our mother company, Swedish Radio, is testing a new digital radio station during the week of November 19 to 23. SR Sverige will be a multicultural channel, reflecting this country's diversity. Seventy percent of programming will be non-American music. The channel will be carried in DAB, as well as in streaming RealAudio. Links to the RealAudio, and more about the station (in Swedish) can be found at: http://www.srp6.net/red/page_srs_start.html (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Nov 13 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [and non]. CIBAR --- November 6-8 Radio Sweden hosted the annual Conference of International Broadcasters' Audience Research Services (CIBAR), which brings together audience researchers from a number of international broadcasters. While dominated by the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, BBC, Radio France International, and Deutsche Welle, smaller stations like ours send representatives to the CIBAR meetings, because there's always something of interest for us. Since the increase in Internet radio listening, Radio Sweden suddenly finds itself with many new languages reaching international audiences (Farsi, Arabic, Kurdish, and Somali to name a few) (and how many other broadcasters have programs in Romani, that is Gypsy?). This is the first time we've ever hosted the conference. Colin Wilding of the BBC said that he has worked out that there are 16 different ways the BBC World Service can reach a listener, making things difficult for researchers, since listeners don't always know if they were listening to cable radio, digital satellite, or a relay from the domestic Radio 4. Eutelsat demonstrated a new technique to work out exactly what satellite is the source of viewing, an inaudible audio watermark that shows up in a little box hooked up to a household's TV set or satellite receiver. Gene Parta from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said Internet listening is showing up more and more in surveys. The problem is that web statistics don't show the same things as regular audience surveys, and it's hard to combine the numbers. Graham Mytton, formerly of the BBC, gave a passionate plea not to forget shortwave in our embracing of all the new ways to reach listeners. He showed how he had worked out that there are around 250 million adults who listen to shortwave from other countries at least once a week. Michel Penneroux from TDF talked about the development of digital short and medium wave radio. The DRM consortium is trying to avoid the DAB disaster, and has put together broadcasters, receiver manufacturers, retailers, chip-makers, and auto manufacturers. Last month the ITU approved the DRM standard, and both China and Russia have adopted it as the standard for their domestic shortwave broadcasting. Mass production of chips is scheduled to start in December 2003, and receivers are expected to be on shop shelves in time for Christmas 2004. One advantage of DRM is that a station's schedule is included in the digital signal, so that just as in the case of RDS FM radios, the receiver can switch frequencies when necessary (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Nov 13 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. SWISS RADIO INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHES NEWS-BY-PHONE SERVICE | Text of report in English by Swiss Radio International's Swissinfo web site on 11 November The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation has introduced a news service for radio listeners who can't tune in at set times. People can now hear Swiss Radio International's international news bulletins in English over the phone, 24 hours a day, all year round. The English service launched on November 11 is part of a wider project to make news more accessible. A larger news on demand service is also available in Switzerland's four national languages - German, French, Italian and Romansh - and also includes sports information, weather and traffic reports. The English bulletins are produced by swissinfo/Swiss Radio International's English department. Switzerland's domestic radio services deal with the news in the national languages. The basic steps to listen to radio on demand are simple. Users have just one number to dial - adding the international code for Switzerland, 41, if they are phoning from abroad - 0900 365 365. The system then responds to voice commands. English-speaking callers need only say "news" to get to Swiss Radio International's latest two- minute bulletin. If the user wishes to listen to a broadcast in another language, he or she only has to say "German", "French", "Italian" or "Romansh" at any time. Calls cost 0.50 Swiss francs, plus 0.50 Swiss francs per minute. Callers from abroad have to add the cost of the international connection. Source: Swissinfo web site, Bern, in English 0900 gmt 11 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) What a novel idea! I can appreciate the true value of Swiss news by paying for it by the second. But... why not just broadcast it on SW? (gh, DXLD) The phone scheme introduced by Swiss Radio International is one of the most preposterous things I've ever heard of. A 1-900 news service "to make news more accessible"?! I doubt that too many people will be calling them. And I wonder if international calls would go through at all. I call Europe quite often but I'm not going to try it with SRI. I really enjoyed this station about 15 years ago for its great folk music. I remember listening to it almost daily in Moscow, Russia. But now, with all its crazy ideas SRI is more of a shame for its home country than anything else (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. Dear friends, First, happy Ramadan to my brothers Muslims. I listened yesterday 10/11/2002 to Arab Radio 12120 kHz. This frequency is not declared. Please, where is the transmitter site? 73's from Tunisia (Achraf Chaabane, Sfax, Tunisia, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Time? 1600 hour, I suppose as in DXLD 2-172; we wish we knew the site (gh, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 1143, BEL3 Penghu (presumed), Nov 7, 1602. Taiwan Area Fisheries station heard in standard Chinese QRMing DWVA, Voice of America at fair level (John Bryant, Grayland WA DXpedition, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. FRANCE/TAIWAN: Updated B-02 schedule for Radio Taipei International via Issoudun 2200-2300 Chinese to Eu on 3965 (55555) 2200-2300 French to Af on 7315 (53443) co-ch RFI in Chinese via Vladivostok (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 11 via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN/RUSSIA. B-02 schedule for Radio Tatarstan: 0500-0600 15105 SAM 150 kW / 065 deg to FE 0700-0800 15105 SAM 250 kW / 060 deg to CAs 0900-1000 11915 SAM 100 kW / 305 deg to Russia (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 11 via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. A couple of times V. of Turkey came on late and I heard RUI reasonably well on 6020 at 0400 (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. RUI Kiev 9810 kHz: Hello, It is expected, on November 15 the Mykolaiv's 1 megawatt transmitter will be switched on with RUI transmissions to North America: 0000-0500 9810 kHz 314 degrees. Please monitor if possible. -- Best regards, (Alexander Yegorov, RUI, Nov 14 via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) Comment: Super power Mykolaiv station near Odessa Ukraine, also used at times for Voice of Russia's external services towards North America in 41 mb. [7240?] Same location - but registered by GFC as SMF = Simferopol`. At other times also backup for Voice of Armenia = ARM too! (wb) 7150 0300 0700 19,20 SMF 100 4 UKR/E UKR RUI RRT 7180 2200 0600 8,9,27N SMF 1000 309 UKR/E UKR RUI RRT 7240 0200 0400 27N SMF 500 305 UKR VOR GFC 7240 2000 0600 8,9,27N SMF 1000 303 UKR/E UKR RUI RRT 7285 0300 1200 19,20 SMF 100 4 UKR UKR RUI RRT 7285 1700 2300 19,20 SMF 100 004 UKR UKR RUI RRT 9385 2300 0700 8,9,27N SMF 1000 314 UKR/E/G UKR RUI RRT 9870 1000 1800 8,9,27N SMF 1000 309 UKR/E UKR RUI RRT 9905 0400 0500 38-40,48 SMF 100 184 UKR UKR ARM RRT 9905 1600 1700 38-40,48 SMF 100 184 UKR UKR ARM RRT 9960 0400 0600 38-40,48 SMF 100 184 UKR UKR ARM RRT 9960 1500 1700 38-40,48 SMF 100 184 UKR UKR ARM RRT 11980 0400 0700 29N SMF 5 000/360 UKR UKR RUI RRT 11980 0800 1200 29N SMF 5 000/360 UKR UKR RUI RRT 11980 1600 2000 29N SMF 5 000/360 UKR UKR RUI RRT 12030 1700 2100 8,9,27N SMF 1000 309 UKR/E UKR RUI RRT 15560 0800 1800 13-15,37,46 SMF 1000 245 UKR UKR RUI RRT (HFCC via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** U K. London Radio Service (LRS) stopped production of its weekly programmes and daily newsbreaks in October. This followed an internal review by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office that funded the service. Money Matters, New Horizons, Eco-Watch and the award-winning, Russian language programme Big Ben iz Londona were the four LRS programmes broadcast on WRN (WRN quarterly newsletter via DXLD) ** UK. NEW BBC7 DIGITAL RADIO NETWORK TO LAUNCH IN DECEMBER | Text of press release from BBC on 12 November BBC7, a new digital radio network, launches on Sunday 15 December 2002. A great mix of entertainment with the best of BBC comedy, drama and books as well as a brand new daily live kids' radio show, BBC7 is the fifth BBC digital radio station to launch this year and completes the BBC's digital radio portfolio. Jenny Abramsky, Director of BBC Radio and Music, says: "The launch of BBC7 marks the end of an astonishing year for BBC Radio in which we have doubled the number of national radio stations. "With BBC7 and its companion digital services 6 Music, Five Live Sports Extra, 1Xtra and the Asian Network we have made a huge addition to public service broadcasting which should prove attractive to new as well as existing listeners. "They mark a major step towards the digital future." Broadcasting 18 hours a day, from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., the BBC7 schedule is "stripped" across the week, with regular programme zones at the same time each day. The first day's broadcasting, Sunday 15 December, features a special two-hour programme (8 to 10 p.m.) showcasing BBC7 and simulcast on BBC Radio 4. Featured shows include: Knowing Me, Knowing You; Dr Who; Hancock's Happy Christmas; The Goons; The Woman In White; Fatherland and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. BBC7's comedy is zoned across the day and includes all-time classics such as Hancock's Half Hour, The Goons and Round The Horne, great panel games like I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Just A Minute and, in the Comedy Club zone, the best in stand-up from Greg Proops, Jo Brand, Rory Bremner, Graham Fellows and Sean Hughes. Recent radio comedy hits such as The Boosh and Little Britain get another airing as well as shows that have successfully transferred to television: Room 101, They Think It's All Over, Goodness Gracious Me, Alan Partridge and The League Of Gentlemen. All in all, BBC7 presents over six hours of comedy every day. The 7 Drama zone offers a daily feast of great drama - A Suitable Boy, The French Lieutenant's Woman, This Sporting Life - and the best in crime and thrillers, from Inspector Rebus to George Smiley. And BBC7 provides a daily fix of science fiction and horror in 7th Dimension from Dr Who and A Wizard Of Earthsea to Pet Sematary. The best reads in fiction and non-fiction can be found each weekday morning, including The Shipping News, Behind The Scenes At The Museum and Notes From A Small Island. Seven days a week, from 4 to 6 p.m., there is BBC 7's Big Toe, a live, interactive show for nine to 11 year-olds packed with stories, competitions, quizzes, interviews, discussions, games and music. Each day there are continuing stories from the best authors including Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman and Roald Dahl. Younger children have not been forgotten - each morning Little Toe airs the best children's stories for the younger age group, starting with Wiggly Park and including Thomas The Tank Engine, read by John Gielgud. Mary Kalemkerian, Editor BBC7, says: "Nothing beats being asked to create a brand new network from the biggest broadcasting archive in the world. The underlying theme throughout the schedule is quality. BBC7 offers a treasure trove of treats for people who love good radio." Helen Boaden, Controller BBC Radio 4 and launch controller for the new station, adds: "It's not every Radio Controller who has the privilege of launching a totally new station. I'm tremendously proud of the team that has developed such an exciting, fresh sound and programmed such an innovative schedule for BBC7." As the place for entertainment, BBC7 is asking people to vote for who they think is the funniest person they have ever heard. Nominations can be for comedy groups as well as individuals and votes can be registered via the web site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7 or by phone on the BBC7 Information Line on 0800 100 700. Nominations are welcomed from the whole range of comedy talent featured on BBC7 - from The Goons to The League Of Gentlemen, from Tony Hancock to Steve Coogan, from Kenneth Williams to Julian Clary. Voting opens on Wednesday 13 November and closes on Wednesday 11 December. The winner will be announced on launch day (15 December). BBC7 will broadcast across the UK on digital radio, digital television (cable, satellite, Freeview) and online. Archive material is drawn from BBC Radio 4, Radio 2 and Radio 1, with other acquired material not previously heard on radio before. Source: BBC press release, London, in English 12 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U K [non]. CHRISTIAN VISION CONTRACTS WITH WRN FOR DAILY SHORTWAVE TRANSMISSION TO INDIA Christian Vision International has started a daily three-hour shortwave transmission to India with the broadcasts being organised by WRN. The service was inaugurated with a special live programme broadcast at 0100 UT on Saturday 9th November. The contract for WRN`s shortwave services marks the first time Christian Vision has leased capacity outside of its own network of shortwave stations. The transmitter being used for the service is located in Central Asia and the service is broadcast on 11850 kHz. The programme is called The Voice and is broadcast in Hindi from Christian Vision International`s studios in the UK. (WRN quarterly newsletter via DXLD) Site?? (gh) Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN per DXLD 2-175 (Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. RUSSIA/UAE/GERMANY(non): B-02 schedule of Bible Voice Broadcasting Network/BVBN/ 5880 SAM 250 kW / 280 deg to EaEu: 1800-1845 Sat Polish 1845-1900 Sat English 1800-1830 Sun English 1830-1900 Sun Russian 7180 DHA 250 kW / 075 deg to SoAs: 0030-0100 Daily Bengali 7380 SAM 200 kW / 295 deg to WeEu: 2000-2115 Sat/Sun English 7435 ARM 100 kW / 195 deg to ME: 1700-1800 Mon Russian 1800-1815 Mon English 1700-1800 Tue Amharic 1800-1815 Tue English 1700-1815 Wed/Thu English 1700-1730 Fri Arabic 1730-1815 Fri English 1700-1845 Sat English 1845-1900 Sat Arabic 1700-2000 Sun English 9610 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs: 0200-0230 Daily Hindi 12035 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg to SoAs: 0030-0130 Sat/Sun English 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg to EaAf: 1630-1700 Daily Amharic (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 13 via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS. UN RADIO WEEKDAY ENGLISH PROGRAMME TO JOIN WRN UN Radio will imminently be placing its daily 15-minute news programmes on all of the WRN`s English networks. Produced and broadcast live at 1800 UT from UN Radio`s studios in New York, the programme begins with a 5 minute news bulletin, which briefs the audience on the significant global developments for the UN that day and is followed by in-depth reports on the UN's ongoing work in various parts of the world (WRN quarterly newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. Noticed WRMI 15725 relaying Prague in Spanish at 1510 UT Nov 13, in the clear, except for occasional hit-and-run QRM from a carrier and unID talk/communications about 15726. 1530 announcements in Russian, and into Czech, but abruptly lost audio at 1537; then to classical music fill. Prague relays are supposed to be 0300-0430 on 7385; guess this be a bonus or time-filler to discourage further encroachments on WRMI`s highest frequency. 1559 into Christian Media Network, The Apocalypse Chronicles, whereupon I rapidly tuned out (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I haven't heard you mention this, but I have noticed that, for about three weeks now, WWRB is carrying separate programming on 5050, while 5085 and 6890 are in parallel. The spur on 5015 which you mentioned a while back has not been heard here, and we are almost ground wave distance from that station. Perhaps it was a receiver mixing product? (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think not... 5015, 5050, 5085, WWRB McCaysville GA; 2311-2331+ 13-Nov; English religious program. 5050 S30 and 5085 S20 producing mixing product on 5015 SIO=3+22. At 2325 WWRB, Manchester TN ID on 5050 but not on 5085. At 2326, 5050 went to Full Gospel Broadcast while 5085 continued past 2330 with previous religious program. Can hear both on 5015 with the 5085 program dominant. WRB = We Ruin Bands? (Harold Frodge, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO SAWA, Sabine Darrous, [Lebanon] Daily Star staff From http://www.dailystar.com.lb/11_11_02/art18.asp While Arab leaders continue to stall on plans to create an English- language station to expose the Western world to Arab viewpoints, the United States has made good on promises to establish an Arabic- language radio station. The station, Radio Sawa, began broadcasting two months ago in Arabic on various FM and AM wavelengths to almost all countries of the region. In Lebanon, Sawa hit the air just two weeks ago and can be heard on 981 AM. Many believe that Sawa was created in the wake of Sept. 11, but according to the station's news editor, Mouafac Harb, it was not a reaction to the tragic events, nor is it aimed at swaying Arabs to change their views about the US. "We are not trying here to apologize to anybody," Harb told The Daily Star in an interview. "I don't think Americans need to improve their image. "What the Americans need is to make sure that their positions are clearly understood in the Arab world," he said. Harb, who is Lebanese, said that the idea of the radio station started "way before" Sept. 11, but he did not rule out that these events have affected the station. "The tragic events of Sept. 11 gave a boost to our founder, Norman Pattiz. He felt that Voice of America was not doing a successful job and not appealing to the younger generation," Harb said. Like Voice of America, Radio Sawa is a service of US International Broadcasting, which is operated and funded by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an agency of the US government. According to the station's website, www.ibb.gov/radiosawa, "one of the guiding principles of Radio Sawa is that the long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly in Arabic with the peoples of the Middle East by radio. "Radio Sawa seeks to win the attention and respect of listeners. In reporting the news, Radio Sawa is committed to being accurate, objective and comprehensive," it adds. The station broadcasts seven days a week on FM frequencies in Amman, Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha; on medium wavelength frequencies in Egypt, the Levant, Iraq and the Gulf; and on satellite via Nilesat, Arabsat, and Eutelsat. Harb stressed that the station was not a "mouthpiece" in the Arab tradition of government-owned media, noting that while the US government provides funding, it is not involved in management. Harb said that the format of the station, unlike Voice of America, was designed to appeal to younger audiences. Radio Sawa's current broadcast consists primarily of popular Arabic and English songs, interspersed with news bulletins that are aired every hour and include reports from across the region. The station does not air political programs or commentary, at least for the time being. The station has correspondents in almost every Arab country, including Iraq and now Lebanon. Harb said that there were many programs in the making that focus on interaction and talk shows. As for the news bulletins, Harb denied that the station highlights the American point of view, saying that the aim of the station was to report accurate and balanced information. However, he said there was a need to promote American values such as freedom of speech and diversity of opinions. Shortly after its launch, Radio Sawa was rumored to have been broadcasting on one of Radio Lebanon's airwaves, to the dismay of the Lebanese authorities. However, it was discovered the airwave was not that of the government- owned station, but one owned by Cyprus and leased to Radio Sawa by the Greek-Cypriot government. The head of the National Audio-Visual Media Council, Abdel-Hadi Mahfouz, said during an interview with The Daily Star that the "great nation" of the United States was interested, in light of the Sept. 11 attacks, in highlighting its policies and to trying improve its image in the Arab world, where a strong feeling of animosity toward America endures. Mahfouz said he does not see any danger in the station's broadcast, which is largely objective in its news reporting: "We do not see it as serving the interests of Israel in the region. But we see it more as an attempt to promote the American globalization policy and reducing the feeling of hatred that many Arabs feel toward the US." Mahfouz said that the failure of Arab nations to implement the resolution of Arab information ministers to create English-language television and radio stations to broadcast to the West was due to the "political interests" of each Arab country. He said that each Arab regime was pursuing its own interests with regard to the US, adding that another obstacle toward implementing the resolution was the "lack of a common Arab vision and interest." He criticized Arabs for spending millions of dollars on other issues, but none on a media initiative that would foster awareness of their cause and improve the image of Arabs and Islam in the West. He said that only Syria had taken a personal initiative by launching a broadcast in Hebrew via its national radio station to address Israeli public opinion (via Mike Terry, Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. Ha! I had no idea there was a pirate in Dexter, much less that Koernke was jailed. I was still in the Philippines when Koernke was jailed. I don't listen to much local FM but it's more than likely I could have monitored the station from my house or from my apartment at U Towers. I had no idea "Mark from Michigan" was in jail... (Des Preston, MI, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) allaccess.com 11/7/02: The FCC sends U.S. Marshals to raid a pirate station in MICHIGAN at the home of a jailed MICHIGAN militia leader, and the Marshals found more than they expected. The property owned by MARK KOERNKE contained a cache of weapons, requiring deputies to call in the ATF. The search warrant came about when the FCC sent the Marshals in to confiscate the transmitter of a pirate station on 90.7 FM in DEXTER, MI. KOERNKE has been in prison since leading police on a high-speed chase in MARCH 2002, and his wife and two sons live on the property (via Des Preston, DXLD) Was that not in 2001, or 2000? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. STATION TO CUT HISPANIC PROGRAM --- WMNF says that Oye Latino's audience is too small and that the radio station wants to focus on drawing black listeners. By KATHRYN WEXLER, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published November 13, 2002 TAMPA -- WMNF calls itself the area's community radio station and says its mission is to celebrate "local cultural diversity." But while the station will continue to broadcast polkas and Jewish music, WMNF has proposed eliminating much of its programming aimed at Hispanics, the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the Tampa Bay area. Instead, the station will aim to woo back the African-American listeners it lost over the past decade. Program director Randy Wynne says the station (FM 88.5) has never been able to draw a significant Hispanic audience and needs to make changes. "Maybe if we had a whole day of Latino stuff, maybe we could, but we don't have a history of that," he said. As a result, the station is poised to ax Oye Latino, a blend of traditional Latin music, Hispanic news, public announcements and guest DJs. Wynne says the show isn't drawing enough donations or listeners to justify its sesquihour block on Sunday nights. That reasoning has drawn the ire of fans and the program's DJ, Franco Silva, a volunteer who has anchored Oye Latino (Listen up, Latino) for most of its eight years. "How can you tell a whole community they don't matter?" said Silva, 38, who works at Pinellas County Animal Services. If Oye Latino goes, that will leave just one program on WMNF geared to Hispanics -- a party mix of contemporary Latin jazz and salsa. There are several other Spanish-language stations in the Tampa Bay area, but fans of WMNF say they don't offer the same range of culture and tastes. Wynne says Oye Latino has never had the following of the station's Caribbean show, which features music of that genre, or the Jewish music program that netted $10,000 during an October fundraising drive. Silva said his show raised $1,400 during its recent on-air fundraising drive -- $200 more than the station's target. He said WMNF has handicapped Oye Latino by not promoting the show the way it has others, a contention Wynne disputes. If there aren't enough Hispanic listeners, WMNF should be working harder to get them, said Juan C. Vila, a cardiologist who lives in Tarpon Springs. Vila says he is a devoted listener of Oye Latino and a frequent contributor to the station. "The fact that they have not gotten the community involved speaks against the station, not against the community," he said. That community is growing. Hispanics are the largest minority in Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties, and the second largest behind African-Americans in Pinellas. Statewide, the number of Hispanics grew by 70 percent over the last decade, to 2.7-million. WMNF first hit the airwaves in 1979, after volunteers went door-to- door to raise enough money to support its broadcast. The 70,000-watt station is commercial free and largely supported by listener donations. Wynne says that he likes Oye Latino and that his proposal to kill it was never based on its quality. Sunday nights are traditionally unpopular slots in radio. Wynne said he may move the other Latin music show to Saturday. That won't placate Maura Barrios, one of the original activists who got Oye Latino on the air. She said she never felt WMNF was committed to its Hispanic audience. "It was always a struggle, like we were the uninvited guests," Barrios said. "Why give up a Latino show? Why not give up one of the thousands of white southern shows?" Wynne said that as the station has matured, it has realized it can't be all things to all people. "We can't serve everybody and be an effective radio station," Wynne said. "And if we're going to make a major commitment to the black community, we don't have enough hours to make that commitment to the Hispanic community and still have our regular core of listeners." Black listeners make up about 10 percent of the audience, down from 40 percent less than a decade ago, Wynne said. The station wants them back. "We don't want to write them off," Wynne said. -Staff writer Bill Coats contributed to this report (via Terry Krueger, FL, DXLD) ** U S A. I received an interesting newsletter today from Information Station Specialists. They are a manufacturer of TIS stations. One of the TIS systems featured in the newsletter is Pinellas County (Clearwater and Saint Petersburg) FL. It says that they have the nations largest system of synchronized TIS transmitters utilizing 5 overlapping synchronous transmitters all operating on 940 kHz with the call sign WPTI814. It says the system went on the air in 2001. It also mentions Naperville IL as the first TIS operator to utilize synchronous transmitters to increase coverage. They have several transmitters operating on 1610 kHz as WPFP929. Synchronous transmitters appear to be catching on with TIS operators as a way of increasing coverage while still maintaining low power. I was asked to price a TIS station for my community a couple years ago and the estimate was around $18,000. We didn't get one! The Pinellas County system must have cost around $100,000 (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, NRC-AM vias DXLD) Interesting since you can purchase a full kW broadcast BC band transmitter for around $13,000!!! (Powell E. Way, ibid.) That IS interesting, Powell. I do recall that I got competitive bids from 3 sources and they were all too expensive for our budget. Keep in mind that the bids were for complete "turnkey" systems which include frequency search, licensing, transmitter, antenna, antenna matching network, battery backup, voice storage devices, NOAA receiver, weatherproof enclosure, shipping, installation and setup, etc. But they did not include the cell phone remote access option or the multi transmitter synchronization equipment. Just like buying a car, all the options add to the price (Patrick Griffith, CBT, CO, ibid.) Well, that said, that's simply price gouging. A lowpower transmitter for about 30 watts isn't that expensive. Lets say well more than half of that is profit....WELL MORE. I guess it would be like a $130,000 BASE Honda Civic? (Powell E. Way, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Here's a picture of the staff of "KRS", which I suppose was the forerunner of KRSN-1490 Los Alamos NM: http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/LA/Photo-Pages-2/LAP-497.htm (Mike Westfall, NM, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Disney: In my experience - and that now includes the RD outlets in San Diego, LA, Oakland, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Omaha, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Syracuse, NYC, Boston, Providence, Hartford, Albany, Atlanta and probably one or two others I'm forgetting - I have always gotten a legal ID if I roll tape from :53 past to :03 after. Always. (I have the tapes to prove it, and so does John Bowker, whose input on this point would be valuable here...) I know it's fashionable to bash RD as being a waste of good signals, but I actually like the station. The production values are EXTREMELY high (thanks to Wally Wawro I got a quickie tour of the network's Dallas studios, where they have something like four full-time production people), the music mix puts a lot of good CHRs to shame, and they do more listener involvement than just about any local station you can think of. One could quibble about the loss of a few formats that gave way to Disney (I'm thinking the standards on WQEW, WWJZ and KAAM and the R&B oldies on KDIA), but most of the Disney signals are making some pretty decent use of some fairly marginal AM stations, and bringing young ears to AM, to boot. How exactly is that a bad thing? Actually, "Radio Disney AM 1260" *here* is very confusing and forces me to wait for the TOH, since it can be (and has been) either Cleveland or Boston. But no, what I'm hearing is "Radio Disney AM 1260, WMKI Boston" (or "WMIK Cleveland" as the case may be)...it runs right before the network's "top-hour" sounder and a mic set from the jock forward- selling the hour, which is then followed by the "Radio Disney, We're All Ears" jingle. -s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) I've personally found RD stations to be both good identifiers and good verifiers. I've heard 6 RD stations and they have all verified for me. And every QSL I have received from an RD station has included some swag goodies (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, ibid.) WWJZ wasn't exactly a rousing success pre-Disney. Its audience was those people who had trouble hearing longtime standards/MOYL WPEN-950. While I think RD's content is weak - mostly covers of someone else's music - and also, IMHO the focus seems quite a bit younger than their claimed target, if they fill a void, I'm fine with that. I don't have to listen to it, thankfully! But I really wonder how many of these outlets have actually experienced any notable increase in audience, RD vs. pre-RD.... Let's face it, tight production and technical excellence aren't going to be noticed by young children (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) {more on this: DXLD 2-178} ** U S A [non]. WRN TRANSMISSION UPLINKING TWO AWR CHANNELS TO HOT BIRD 6 Since the beginning of November, WRN Transmission has been uplinking two channels to the HOT BIRD 6 satellite on behalf of Adventist World Radio (AWR). AWR is using the first channel (128 kb/s stereo) to distribute its programming to local FM affiliates across Europe and the second, a 64 kb/s stereo channel, to feed programming to its existing shortwave sites (WRN quarterly newsletter via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Tashkent 2030-2100 and 2130-2200 English broadcast has been heard on 7185 (Edwin Southwell, Hampshire, UK, World DX Club) Not listed in their registrations but also monitored here, 5025 and 11905 noted in parallel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. Frequency change for Radio Tashkent to ME: 1630-1700 Farsi 1700-1730 Arabic 1730-1830 Uzbek (Vatandosh) 1830-1900 Farsi 1900-1930 Arabic all on NEW 5885 (54454) QRM Vatican Radio on 5890, ex 6025 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 11 via DXLD) ** YEMEN. International public channels -- Yemen TV and Sanaa Radio have also launched service in America via GlobeCast. Yemen TV is the international broadcast service of the Yemen Radio Television Corporation, whose mission is to provide quality national programming to Yemeni communities around the world and in their homeland http://www.globecast.com (AIB Newsletter, Nov via DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM +++ AN INVITATION TO A DIGITAL RADIO EXPERIMENT Digital Radio Mondiale, or DRM, is a project aimed to revitalize the short-wave, medium-wave and long-wave AM radio broadcast bands. This, by using digital signals to provide near-FM quality. Radio amateurs and serious broadcast listeners are being invited to become part of the DRM Software Radio Project. They may also be among the first to access the initial DRM programs when test transmissions begin next month. James Briggs is the DRM Projects Coordinator with Merlin Communications in Dorset, England. Briggs says that the project relies on adding an extra down-converter board to existing receivers and then using software to decode the signal via a PC soundcard. The interface is simple and the sound - hopefully - will be superb. The following website should have technical information available next month: http://www.drmrx.org/ Adapted from Amateur Radio Newsline #1317 (via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) If "The Onion" had a DX column, it would run items like that! If you have to demod the DRM signal with a PC sound card, why not just listen to the station via streaming audio from the internet and not bother with a receiver, antenna, propagation irregularities, etc.??? What is it about digital broadcasting that toggles the stupid bit in so many broadcasters, both domestic and international? DRM is a Rube Goldberg-esque solution that does nothing to address the real problems of shortwave broadcasting (propagation variations and the need for frequency changes during the day/year, deadly dull programming, etc.). Too many broadcasters (especially shortwave) think they have a technology problem when the problem is really content. (Harry Helms AK6C Ridgecrest, CA DM15, NRC-AM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ TRANSATLANTIC MW DX IN THE 1920s I blundered into this site http://www.ipass.net/~whitetho/index.html (while searching for louvered fans!) and thought it would be interesting to a lot of people. There are a couple of pages about the transatlantic DX tests during the mid 20's when THOUSANDS of Americans logged European stations. Beat that, CPC. Lots more too (Chuck Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 13 NOV - 09 DEC 2002 Solar activity is expected be low to moderate. Region 191 has the potential for further development and could produce M-class activity. Old Region 162 (N26, L=121) is due to return to the visible disk on early in the period. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 22-27 November and again on 02-07 December due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to minor storm levels. Minor storm levels are possible on 13 November due to a CME shock arrival. Active to minor storm conditions are possible on 15-17 November, 20-23 November and again on 29 November - 02 December due to a recurring coronal holes. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Nov 12 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Nov 12 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Nov 13 175 20 4 2002 Nov 14 170 15 3 2002 Nov 15 175 15 3 2002 Nov 16 175 15 3 2002 Nov 17 175 15 3 2002 Nov 18 170 12 3 2002 Nov 19 165 10 3 2002 Nov 20 165 15 3 2002 Nov 21 165 15 3 2002 Nov 22 160 15 3 2002 Nov 23 160 15 3 2002 Nov 24 160 12 3 2002 Nov 25 160 10 3 2002 Nov 26 165 12 3 2002 Nov 27 165 12 3 2002 Nov 28 165 12 3 2002 Nov 29 165 12 3 2002 Nov 30 170 15 3 2002 Dec 01 175 15 3 2002 Dec 02 175 15 3 2002 Dec 03 180 12 3 2002 Dec 04 185 10 3 2002 Dec 05 185 10 3 2002 Dec 06 185 10 3 2002 Dec 07 185 12 3 2002 Dec 08 180 12 3 2002 Dec 09 180 12 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1156, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-176, November 11, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1155: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1155.html WORLD OF RADIO STREAMING [Re DXLD 2-175:] This is a similar case where people complain to a shortwave station about interference on a shortwave frequency ten kHz away, not because of real interference, but because they are using a $10.00 portable radio with no selectivity! WOR sounds great on 44 kHz bandwidth. Please don't lower the standard because people refuse to use a decent ISP or continue use a cheap Winmodem. Thanks (Larry Nebron, CA, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO SHORTWAVING With the approach of winter, reception of WWCR and WBCQ is becoming more difficult here. As for WWCR, 15825 at 2030 Thursday was the best option during the summer, both from reception and listening convenience points of view; however, that has not been particularly audible recently at 2130. Things may well change when that frequency drops down to its winter home on 9475. Mind you, 15685 held up quite well last winter. The other airings of WOR on WWCR are either at inconvenient times and/or do not give listenable reception here in the UK. As for WBCQ, 7415 has to do battle with a certain station funded by your Government. WBCQ usually comes second to VOA when they are both on that channel. I have *never* heard WBCQ on 17495, despite several attempts during the summer. Also, I have yet to hear WJIE, and RFPI rarely seems to make it to London these days with anything like a good signal (its best days seem to be in the summer). So, given that WOR is no longer on Spectrum 558, I'm left with either the internet, or going out and splashing out on a new satellite system to hear WRN on Sky Digital (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, Nov 10, swprograms via DXLD) The VOA-Botswana clash with WBCQ, which I agree should not be allowed to happen, is no longer an excuse for not hearing WORLD OF RADIO, as VOA is not on at either WOR time in winter, Wed 2300 and Mon 0515. Current IBB schedule shows complete usage of 7415: 7415 0300 0500 VOA B ENGL BOT 03 010 7415 1900 2100 VOA B ENGL BOT 04 010 7415 2100 2200 VOA B ENGL BOT 04 010 7415 2200 2230 VOA B ENGL BOT 04 010 12345 (gh, DXLD) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Thanks as always for the effort that you put into providing news that folks in the hobby can really use. (Daniel Srebnick, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. Dear Glenn, do you know Radio France International has opened an FM frequency in Kabul on 95 MHz. details at link: http://www.radioactu.com/deliaGo/flash/11942_6.html Best regards, (Dario Monferini, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Starting Nov 11, 24 hours, in French, Persian, English. Do they mean 95.0, or roundabouts? (gh, DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 11955.76, 0139-0145, R. Nacional Angola 1. Female announcer with long talks in Portuguese. S5 signal level with some fades to S2 and back to S7. Male announcer at 0140 with more talks and then to music. Noted // 4950 but 4950 very poor. 8 Nov 2002 (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA USA, NRD535db, T2FD, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15475.5, LRA36, 2055-2127* Nov 4, seemed to be playing through an album with occasional SP comments, light instrumental at 2119, closing announcements and ID by a man at 2127. Poor (Fred Kohlbrenner, FCDX/PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 2050-2128* Nov 4, vocal selections hosted by a woman announcer. At 2210 [sic – means 2110?], the woman interviewed a man. After a closing musical selection, the woman gave a closing ID followed by a man with another ID and sign off announcements. Poor but clear (Rich D`Angelo/FCDX-PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. 9th November: 9960: Voice of Armenia, strong signal, YL with talk about Armenia and surrounding area then ann. "English World Service of the Voice of Armenia" 2056-2100. 73 (Sean, G4UCJ [Gilbert, WRTH] RECEIVER: ICOM IC756; GRUNDIG SATELLIT 600, 3000 ANTENNA: Low Band vertical with 32 x 10m ground radials Indoor dipoles for 14-30MHz and 50 MHz/Band I TV 1.3m diameter MW loop + FET Preamp., hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. My two cents: I put the German text which followed Kai's [previous] note through the Google translator, and the result seemed to focus primarily on the rôle of the Moosbrunn transmitter as the vehicle for ORF output. What the text *didn't say* was the use of shortwave relays or transmitters owned by others to transmit ORF programming elsewhere. The decision looks suspiciously similar to the process Radio Australia used when it closed Darwin --- and then decided to lease back airtime once they sold the site. The news article seems to suggest that ROI itself will be shut down if the higher-ups have their way. It would appear that the plan is to repurpose content from elsewhere in ORF (FM4, OE1) and to maintain an English language Internet service (shades of Swiss Radio International). (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, swprograms via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Enclosed an APA report from the website of the newspaper Der Standard; summary: Today at noon the ROI works committee confirmed that ROI will be closed by the end of March 2003. From then only some Ö1 programming and a few foreign language broadcasts will remain on shortwave. ROI editor in chief Michael Kerbler was instructed by the ORF management to develop a plan for a "phase out". The closure of ROI still needs to be confirmed by the ORF council ("Stiftungsrat"), its next session is scheduled for December 2. The report also states that further informations were to be given on a staff meeting today at 2 PM. I have not seen reports about results of this meeting so far. So today it is called "phasing out" what is familiar to me as "winding up" (in German: abwickeln). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ---Ursprüngliche Nachricht--- From: "Ladner, Franz" To: "Liste A-Dx" <adx@elitas.com> Subject: [A-DX] RÖI Grad im Webstandard gefunden (http://www.derstandard.at) [+]ORFREFORM Einstellung von ROI scheint besiegelt Betriebsrat: Schrittweise Stilllegung bis März 2003 Das Aus für Radio Österreich International (ROI) scheint besiegelt. Der ROI-Betriebsrat bestätigte am Montag gegenüber der APA, dass der Finanzplan der ORF-Geschäftsführung eine Stilllegung des Auslandsradios bis Ende März 2003 vorsehe. Ab diesem Zeitpunkt soll es demnach nur noch stundenweise Ausstrahlungen von Ö1-Sendungen sowie einiger Fremdsprachen-Programme auf Kurzwelle geben. Informationsversammlung Künftig solle die ORF-Auslandsinformation über Internet erfolgen. ROI-Chefredakteur Michael Kerbler habe am Montag dem Betriebsrat offiziell mitgeteilt, dass die ORF-Geschäftsführung ihn mit der Erstellung eines Plans für die schrittweise Stilllegung ("phasing- out") von Radio Österreich International beauftragt habe, der bis Mitte Dezember fertig gestellt werden soll. Für Montag um 14.00 Uhr ist APA-Informationen zufolge eine Informationsversammlung für die ROI-Mitarbeiter angesetzt. Unter Hinweis auf dieses Treffen wollten Kerbler sowie ORF-Hörfunkdirektor Kurt Rammerstorfer am Montagmittag auf APA-Anfrage vorerst noch keine Stellungnahme abgeben. Die Einstellung von ROI müsste vom Stiftungsrat des ORF abgesegnet werden, der am 2. Dezember das nächste Mal tagt. Am 25. November tritt der Finanzausschuss des obersten ORF-Gremiums zusammen, für diesen Tag ist auch noch ein Hearing zum Thema ROI mit Chefredakteur Kerbler angesetzt. Bereits am 15. November aber muss die ORF-Geschäftsführung den Finanzplan für 2003 vorlegen, die Stilllegung von ROI sei daher bereits fixer Bestandteil des Sparpakets, hieß es aus dem ROI- Betriebsrat. Krims will sich mit endgültigem Ende nicht abfinden Dessen Vorsitzender Adalbert Krims will sich dennoch mit dem definitiven Ende des österreichischen Auslands-Rundfunks nicht abfinden. Er appellierte heute an alle Parteien sowie an die künftige Bundesregierung, sich klar zur Beibehaltung der "Stimme Österreichs in der Welt" zu bekennen. In fast allen Ländern der Welt sei es eine Selbstverständlichkeit, dass die Regierung einen Auslands-Sender finanziere, betonte Krims. Daher sei es völlig unverständlich, dass sich Österreich als eines der reichsten Länder der Welt seit dem Jahr 2002 dieser Aufgabe entziehe. Kritika am neuen ORF-Gesetz In diesem Zusammenhang bekräftigte Krims seine Kritik am neuen ORF- Gesetz, das dem öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk einerseits zusätzliche Aufgaben, andererseits aber Einschränkungen bei den Einnahmen gebracht habe. Wenn es tatsächlich zur Einstellung des ORF-Weltradios komme, sei dies nicht in erster Linie der ORF-Geschäftsführung anzulasten, betonte Krims, sondern der Regierung, die sich aus ihrer langjährigen gesetzlichen Verpflichtung zurückgezogen habe. Krims betonte, dass Radio Österreich International in den letzten Jahren bereits mehr als zwei Drittel seiner Kosten eingespart habe. Ein Großteil der deutschsprachigen Eigenproduktionen sei schon durch Übernahmen aus dem Inlandsprogramm ersetzt, zwei Fremdsprachen (Arabisch und Esperanto) gestrichen und die TonteChinaik weitestgehend durch "Selbstfahrerbetrieb" der Redakteure substituiert worden. Zugleich begrüßte der Betriebsrat jedoch die ausdrückliche Klarstellung der ORF-Geschäftsführung, dass man auch im Falle der Einstellung von Radio Österreich International die über 30 ROI-Mitarbeiter im Rahmen des ORF weiter beschäftigen werde. (APA) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Diese Mail wurde ueber die A-DX Mailing-Liste gesendet. Sponsored by ELITAS Enterprises. http://www.elitas.com und Christoph Ratzer - OE2CRM. http://www.ratzer.at ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Private Verwendung der A-DX Meldungen fuer Hobbyzwecke ist gestattet, jede kommerzielle Verwendung bedarf der Zustimmung des A-DX Listenbetreibers (via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE. CLANDESTINE --- R. Independent Mekamui on 3850 kHz: fulldata letter in 81 days. V/s: Sam Voron. QTH: VK2BVS, 2 Griffith Ave., Roseville N.S.W., Australia 2069. Address of e-mail: svoron@hotmail.com (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. PV2DAE - 101 years Hello friends, Next november, 15 and 16; the "Radioamateurs of Japy" and "LABRE/SP Jundiaí Region" will be active as PV2DAE celebrating the 101 years of public services made by DAE, the water department of Jundiaí City, S. Paulo State, Southeast Brazil. We will ready at 2 - 6 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 40 - 160 meters in CW/SSB. In 2 meters mainly for local QSOs by our "Grape´s Land Repeater" and in top band, one very experimental emission. It´s possible more long operation, depending the conditions, till day 17. The station will be placed in longside of the new dam, where are development several projects making the water treatment and distribution in harmony with ecological principles. Nearby the "City Park" is building, devoted to citzen´s delight with the nature. More informations at http://www.daejundiai.com.br The confirmed PV2DAE team till now are: Ark (PY2ZX - PX2X, ex-PS0S, PS2V, PQ2A, etc), Ric (PY2EVN, ex-ZY2EVN), Milton (PY2MTM, ex- PU2OCZ/PY2, PU2KAZ/PY2, etc), Luís (PU2OCZ), Marco (ZZ2KEZ), Lizanias (ZZ2LZC), Thiago (PY2GEJ). The QSL is VIA PY2LDJ by Bureaux or P. O. Box 1292 - Zip 13202-970 - Jundiaí - SP - Brazil. PSE spread these info to the lists, bulletins, QTCs, media. etc. Thank you very much the attention. We hope that PV2DAE can be loud heard in your ham or SWL station. Many thanks for supported by Jundiá Scouts Club, Louvetel Telecommunications and DAE for support. Sorry english mistakes. Radioamateurs of Japy japy@radioamador.com Jundiaí - S. Paulo - Brazil LABRE/SP: http://www.labre-sp.org (via PY2ZX, DXLD) ** CANADA. NEWS from The ROUNDUP- CBC --- Hello Sadgoaters! Here`s what's coming up on The Roundup for the week of November 11: Monday November 11th A Remembrance Day Special - ON CONVOY "On Convoy" tells the story of the great neglected heroes of World War II, the Merchant Marines. These were the sailors who shepherded convoys of supplies and soldiers to Great Britain, suffering incredibly high losses, especially in the early years of the war. This new CBC drama honours their contribution. ... Thursday November 14th 70 YEARS OF PUBLIC RADIO IN NEWFOUNDLAND Today is the 70th anniversary of public radio broadcasting in Newfoundland, the first public broadcaster in our country. Award- winning radio producer Chris Brookes will play recordings from the broadcasting archives, the sounds of Newfoundlanders over 70 years of audio history. [not including Broadcasting Corp. of Newfoundland??] SAD GOAT TARTAN CONTEST -- You have until Nov. 22 to send us your entry! Roundup listener Joel from Duncan, BC, suggested that the Goat might look good in a tartan. So Bill is asking YOU to be the designer of the Roundup Tartan. Send your design and explanation of your choice to Box 4600 Vancouver BC V6B 4A2, or via e-mail to roundup@vancouver.cbc.ca and you could win a Roundup gift pack! You have until Friday November 22 to send in your entry. The winner will be announced on the eve of St. Andrew`s Day on Nov. 29, 2002. Visit our website at http://www.sadgoat.ca Our e-mail address is roundup@vancouver.cbc.ca or call 1-888-SAD-GOAT ____________________________________________________________ Listen to Richardson's Roundup on CBC Radio One Monday through Friday at 2:06 pm (2:36 in Newfoundland) or listen live to CBC Radio on your computer by visiting http://cbc.ca/audio.html Marie-H*l*ne Robitaille, Richardson's Roundup, CBC Radio One British Columbia, 604.662.6082 (via Bill Westenhaver, QC, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Der 100-Watt-Sender der koreanischen "Full Gospel of Las Palmas Church" auf 6715 kHz USB kommt heute mit der Freitagssendung mit sehr gutem Signal herein. 2210 UT, koreanische Acapella-Gesaenge, 35343. Deutlich staerker als letzte Woche (Martin Elbe-D, A-DX Nov 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) The Korean religious operation on 6715U had a good signal when I tried it on a recent Friday night. According to the fellow who answers email on behalf of the church, they have "pre-hymns" from 15 minutes before the start of the service, i.e. presumably 2145 now that western Europe is back to non-summer time. The service itself, with sermons, seems to last for at least an hour but presumably less than 1 hour 25 minutes, because at/after that time the studio administrator is scheduled to give a home-brew Korean news bulletin. On my last reception the service seemed to take 67 minutes. This was followed by some more informal noises, apparently the congregation talking and drinking tea or ginseng extract while being serenaded by what sounded like a religious mariachi band. Nice to hear something different in these days of homogenised broadcasting. My antenna was on the ground, a garage roof, a small hedge etc. at the time, which may account for the good signal. Just previously I had been able to compare this set-up and the antenna at its normal height, during pruning of the local jungle. In comparative tests the ground- level version came out noticeably ahead on performance. I'm not sure of the physics behind that, which contradicts John Kraus and various other published authorities on antenna theory, but I'm thinking about it. It may have been a Hallowe`en effect (John Campbell, UK, DX-plorer Nov 10 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** CHAD. 6165, Radiodiffusion Nationale, 2159-2203* Nov 4, caught last musical selection prior to ID and sign off routine followed by orchestra national anthem (Rich D`Angelo/FCDX-PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** CHINA. The nonstop C{P}BS music jammer, 15060, fluttery but very strong at 1545+ Nov. 11 (Terry Krueger and David Crawford at Krueger QTH, Clearwater FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST){Or jammer against CBS Taiwan} ** CONGO DR. KINSHASA 6030, R. Okapi, 2130-2150, now also heard here in French with local pops, few announcements, sung IDs; fair signal, \\ 11690 (relatively strong but ruined by a ute station on frequency) and 9550 (quite weak). (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DX-plorer Oct 31 via BC- DX via DXLD) 11690, R. Opaki, replied to my E-mail to the Fondation Hirondelle Info@h... [truncated] with an E-mail in 4 mins. and 33 secs. stating: "Thank you very much for your message. We shall ask for some patience from you: the colleague who deals with the QSL requests is off for two weeks. She will give confirmation to your report when she is back. Best regards, Dominique Jaccard, Desk Officer." So it would seem reports for this one to the Fondation Hirondelle is the way to go. For those interested, Dominique's E-mail address is Dominique_Jaccard@h... [truncated, but you might guess] (Rich D'Angelo, PA, DX-plorer Nov 10 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. Aló Presidente: see VENEZUELA [non] ** CYPRUS TURKISH [non]. Re DXLD 2-175: I tried 6150 last night from 0045 to 0105. What I heard was obviously Iran with the listed Azeri service. Strong signal, much distortion, the frequency rather precise, the programme in parallel with MW 702, which is listed as Rasht (Turkey also heard with a different programme). This one could certainly easily be confused with Bayrak. (There are about 15 m. Azerbaijani in NW Iran as compared to 7.5 m. in the independent republic.) (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That is interesting. In fact, the website of Bayrak Radyo Televizyon Kurumu http://www.brt.gov.nc.tr gives the following frequency info: MF Servisleri - Konum: Yeni Ýskele - 35 13' N / 33 55' E 1098 KHz 50+50 kW Radyo 1 1494 KHz 10 kW Bayrak INT (OFF AIR) 6.150 MHz 25 kW Bayrak INT (OFF AIR) Bayrak INT is the international channel. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CYPRUS [North], 6150.08 Radio Bayrak sendet zur Zeit auch nachts auf 6150.08 kHz. Beste Empfangszeit ist zwischen 0000-0100 UTC, da die Frequenz zu dieser Zeit fast frei ist (nur Gene Scott stoert etwas). Man muss aber einige Geduld mitbringen, da fast nonstop internat. Popmusik gespielt wird, und Stationsansage sehr rar sind (Patrick Robich, Austria, A-DX Nov 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) At 2230 there's a station with nonstop soft western pops on 6150.05. This should not be Iran (or Singapore), so could be Bayrak. QRM from co-channel CBS-RTI in Chinese and jammers and much splash from 6155. Nothing similar to "Bayrak" on 1494, but I can't recall that this frequency has ever been reported. 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. ARMOURED CARRIERS NO LONGER GUARDING RADIO FREE EUROPE IN PRAGUE - CZECH POLICE | Excerpt from report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 9 November: The headquarters of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in the centre of Prague are no longer protected by armoured carriers since last night, Prague police headquarters spokeswoman Iva Knolova told CTK today. "They were replaced by barriers of reinforced concrete. The carriers were moved to fulfill other tasks," she said. RFE/RL broadcasts from the former Federal Assembly (former Czechoslovak parliament) building near Wenceslas Square. After the terrorist attacks in the USA last September there was a suspicion that the station might become a terrorist target... Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1936 gmt 9 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. 11805, R. Georgia 0635-0701 Nov 11. English language news by man. Frequent mention of Georgia. ID at end of news "This is world wide ... from T`bilisi, Republic of Georgia". Short program of slow pop music followed. Interval signal at 0701. Poor signal at start of reception, improving and peaking at around 0650, then declining slowly. Hampered by atmospheric noise, fading, and somewhat muffled audio. SINPO 33222 (Evans, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6085, 0101-0130, MDR INFO MUNICH. ID at TOH by male announcer in German. Then to news items in German. Fire reported on Paris to Munich train in sleeping cars. Several dead. ID again by male announcer at 0108. Excellent reception at 15/S9 with some fades. ID again heard at 0116 by same male announcer as MDR Info Radio. Continuous news items. Traffic report at 0118. ID by female announcer at 0118. 7 Nov 2002 (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA USA, NRD535db, T2FD, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 177, 603 and 693. A recent trip to the Zehlendorf site brought the final confirmation that VOR 603 is indeed operated from there now; until now this was only an assumption I made when I found in last Dec to my surprise that the signal no longer originates from the Berlin Dammheide site. The site now includes a fifth mast, alongside with the 365 metres tall mast of the main antenna and the three masts of the trideco back-up antenna (picture 2 gives a hint of the trideco system). Probably this new mast carries the antennas of the modest power FM outlets but it needs also some further clarification now if really all 177, 603 and 693 use the longwave mast, especially because this is not a simple self-radiating mast (Kai Ludwig, Germany, BC-DX Nov 9 via DXLD) ** GERMANY EAST. Re 1323 kHz: GLENN, My goodness, this has turned into a 'real corker', I am now almost 'totally lost' except that I have learnt a lot about the Implementation of the Copenhagen Wavelength Plan. I think I was about 6 Years old then (I an now 58) and certainly did not understand, at that tender age, the workings of International Co-Ordination Plans!!! All I can say is 'phew' and WELL DONE to ALL concerned, including your GOOD SELF for ALL the work that has gone into this, FASCINATING. This Frequency can be heard in the mornings here, at present, more or less fading out at 0900 (Ken Fletcher, UK, 1556 UT 10th November 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GHANA. 4915, Ghana BC, 1835 NOV. 6; A male (Isamal) reporting about proceeding in parliament, mostly relating to sport. Female gave station ID as ...Radio 1 of GBC. Strong and steady (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also NIGERIA ** GOA. AIR Panaji which was noted on 9820 instead of 7115 at 1615- 1830 to West Asia in Persian and Malayalam on 7th November 2002 was an error it seems. It was noted back on the regular frequency of 7115 on the following days. All their transmissions are are now noted as normal, although their morning transmissions were missing on 8th Nov. 2002 (Jose Jacob, dx_india via DXLD) ** HAITI. 840, R. 4VEH, Cap-Haïtien, NOV 7 0303 - Slow-talking man with French religious talk and occasional short instrumental musical interludes, then clear "Radio 4VEH" ID at 0303, fair over nulled WHAS and presumed Cuba (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, ON, NRD-525, 1 m air-core loop, 40 m inverted-vee, MFJ-1026, NRC-AM via DXLD) 4VEH, 840, very good this morning from 0540-0600 EST, lost to sign on of Cuba @0600. They must have done some teChinaical upgrades. Still no RFO-640 [GUADELOUPE] (Greg Myers, Clearwater, FL, Nov 10, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** INDIA. 15075, 0314-0330, ALL INDIA RADIO. Female announcer after IS with ID and short announcements in unknown language. By 0317 announcements over and into local music. S6 signal level with some fades and fair to poor audio quality. Male announcer at 0320 with what I believe to be news items. 12 Nov 2002 (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA USA, NRD535db, T2FD, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDIA. Public Broadcasting Day etc. 12th November 2002 is being observed as Public Broadcasting Day by All India Radio. This is to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the visit of Mahatma Gandhi to the Broadcasting House of AIR. There will be a special program on that day at 0930 UTC to be relayed by some Regional SW stations of AIR. At 1630 to 1800 UTC on that day, there will be a special music program from the archives. AIR External Services are now noted back on their regular schedules after facing some transmitter problems in Aligarh recently. For All India Radio's B-2002 Schedules by Frequency/UTC/Language please go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dx_india/files/ (Jose Jacob, dx_india via DXLD) See also GOA ** INDIA [and non...?]. Dear Glenn, I notice that different AIR related news from different Indian states are coming separately. Not under India. All those states, Kashmir, Goa and Sikkim, which I am referring, are sovereign part of integral India. Hope in future editions of DXLD I will see all those Indian states under India (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Swopan, I am well aware of this. Please do not take offense. For radio country/DX purposes, certain areas formerly independent or separate colonies are considered distinctly from their present country. Also countries which do not really exist, e.g. Kurdistan, Oklahoma.... 73, (Glenn to Swopan via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Hi Glen[n]: Re: DXLD 2-175 and Wolfgang's log of the VOI on 9525v: It's important to note that the Voice of Indonesia uses 9525, 11785, or 15150 and can, and often does, change its frequency on a day to day basis. Over the summer I noted them quite often using 15150 for their 2000 - 2100 UTC broadcast but lately they seem to be favouring 11785. Regardless of the transmission, it's important to check all three frequencies before giving up on them (Mark Coady, Editor, Your Reports, Listening In, the monthly magazine of The Ontario DX Association, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9524.9, V. of Indonesia, Cimanggis, Japanese program at 1144 with mention of Ramadan season, Indonesian pops. Recently the signal has been weak but now returned good. Maybe maintenance of the transmitter completed (Nov 10, 2002, Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) 9524.9, Voice of Indonesia, 2101-2105* Oct 27, woman announcer reading the News in English with ID at 2102 ("This is the Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta"). She gave program details still announcing that they were on 15,150 kHz along with 11,785 kHz (both unheard). Off with Love Ambon at 2104. Fair signal (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Nov 9 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. I heard morning Low band Indonesian situation Nov. 9; Some station on air for Ramadan. Freq. UTC Station 3266.43 2015 RRI Gorontalo, Fair 3325 @ 2015 RRI Palangkaraya, Fair [decimal places sic] 3344.84 2017 RRI Ternate, Fair 3976.05 2019 RRI Pontianak, Good 4000.05 2053 RRI Kendari, Weak 4753.3 2020 RRI Makassar, Good 4925 2022 RRI Jambi, Fair (Nobuo Takeno, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. I'm willing to pay $1 a month to get RFI in French through Dish Network. The service is billed separately and there is no requirement to purchase any other channel (though Dish Network charges $5 per month as a service fee). I have no interest in spending $10+ per month to Sirius or XM to get a lone BBC audio channel. My money would largely go to subsidizing the rebroadcasts of U.S. radio programs I'm trying to get away from. If there are 100 channels, then I'm presumably paying $.10 per audio. After Sirius or XM takes its cut, how much does the BBC get? Tuppence? Or less? At this rate, millions of people would have to subscribe to make the revenue stream meaningful for BBC -- and even then, BBC would have no assurance that subscribers are paying to get BBC, as they could be stuck with the BBC even though they really subscribed to get the Sporting News channel or the oldies channel. This is the same marketing travesty foisted upon cable television subscribers. ESPN gets almost $2 per month per subscriber. So, if I pay for cable, I'm forced to subsidize a channel I would never watch. As a result, I don't pay for cable. I would, if I could choose the channels that I wanted, but this is only possible with a C-band dish system. The same rationale applies to BBCWS via satellite. We're not significantly helping BBCWS to subscribe via Sirius or XM. Thank goodness, BBCWS remains freely available via audio subcarrier on C- band satellite, even though they seem to go out of their way not to promote it. I agree with John Figliozzi`s comment money is better spent getting a better SW receiver or antenna -- and supporting the international broadcasters who remain committed to shortwave (Mike 'don't get me started' Cooper, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. EMR is about to restart broadcasts on the 22 metre band 13840 khz on Sunday the 23rd and 24th of November 2002 via the Italian Radio Relay Service (IRRS) from Milano in Italy, and also on the 14th and 15th of December. EMR was a pirate station but is now going legal. Please would you mention this in your DX radio programme. Many thank's 73's (Tom Taylor, UK, EMR, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) times: 0830-0930. Pueden escribirle a: EMR c/o IRRS- Shortwave; P. O. Box 10980; I- 20110 Milan, Italia (John Sgrulletta, USA, en DXplorer 6/11 via Conexión Digital via DXLD) {EMR = European Music Radio} ** KOREA NORTH. D.P.R. Transmission Schedule of the V of Korea, Pyongyang, D.P.R. Korea. Valid from: 4 Nov Juche 91 (2002). Last modified: 8 Nov Juche 91 (2002) 0000 Chinese 9325 11335 SEAs 0000 Korean (PBS) 6195 7140 9345 NE China 0000 Spanish 6520 7580 11735 CAm 0100 English 6195 7140 9345 NE China 0100 English 6520 7580 11735 CAm 0100 French 9325 11335 SEAs 0200 Chinese 6195 7140 9345 NE China 0200 English 9325 11335 SEAs 0200 Spanish 6520 7580 11735 CAm 0300 Chinese 9325 11335 SEAs 0300 English 6195 7140 9345 NE China 0300 French 6520 7580 11735 CAm 0700 Japanese 621 3250 6520 7580 J 0700 Korean (PBS) 7140 9345 NE China 0700 Russian 6575 9975 FE 0700 Russian 9325 11335 Eu 0800 Chinese 7140 9345 NE China 0800 Japanese 621 3250 6520 7580 J 0800 Russian 6575 9975 FE 0800 Russian 9325 11335 Eu 0900 Japanese 621 3250 6070 6520 7580 J 0900 Korean (KCBS) 7140 9345 NE China 0900 Korean (PBS) 6575 9975 FE 0900 Korean (PBS) 9325 11335 Eu 1000 English 9335 11710 CAm 1000 English 9850 11735 SEAs 1000 Japanese 621 3250 6070 6520 7580 J 1000 Korean (PBS) 7140 9345 NE China 1100 Chinese 7140 9345 China 1100 French 9335 11710 CAm 1100 French 9850 11735 SEAs 1100 Japanese 621 3250 6070 6520 7580 J 1200 Japanese 621 3250 6070 6520 7580 J 1200 Korean (KCBS) 9335 11710 CAm 1200 Korean (KCBS) 9850 11735 SEAs 1200 Korean (PBS) 7140 9345 NE China 1300 Chinese 9850 11735 SEAs 1300 English 7505 11335 WEu 1300 English 9335 11710 NAm 1300 Korean (PBS) 6575 9325 Eu 1400 French 7505 11335 WEu 1400 French 9335 11710 NAm 1400 Korean (KCBS) 9850 11735 SEAs 1400 Russian 6575 9325 Eu 1500 Arabic 9975 11735 ME, NAf 1500 English 7505 11335 WEu 1500 English 9335 11710 NAm 1500 Russian 6575 9325 Eu 1600 German 6575 9325 WEu 1600 English 9975 11735 ME, NAf 1600 French 7505 11335 WEu 1600 French 9335 11710 NAm 1700 Korean (KCBS) 7505 11335 WEu 1700 Korean (KCBS) 9335 11710 NAm 1700 Russian 6575 9325 Eu 1700 Spanish 9975 11735 ME, NAf 1800 German 6575 9325 WEu 1800 French 9660 11710 SAf 1800 French 9975 11735 ME, NAf 1800 Spanish 7505 11335 WEu 1900 Arabic 9660 11710 SAf 1900 Arabic 9975 11735 ME, NAf 1900 English 7505 11335 WEu 1900 German 6575 9325 WEu 2000 French 7505 11335 WEu 2000 Korean (KCBS) 9660 11710 SAf 2000 Korean (KCBS) 6575 9325 WEu 2000 Korean (KCBS) 9975 11735 ME, NAf 2100 Chinese 7140 9345 NE China 2100 Chinese 9975 11735 China 2100 English 7505 11335 WEu 2100 Japanese 621 3250 6520 7580 J 2200 Chinese 7140 9345 NE China 2200 Chinese 9975 11735 China 2200 Spanish 7505 11335 WEu 2200 Japanese 621 3250 6520 7580 J 2300 Japanese 621 3250 6520 7580 J 2300 Korean (KCBS) 7140 9345 NE China 2300 Korean (KCBS) 7505 11335 WEu 2300 Korean (KCBS) 9975 11735 China All times in UT, all frequencies in kHz, subject to change at short notice. Programmes last 47 to 57 minutes. Data based on announcements of the Voice of Korea and own monitoring. KCBS = Korean Central Broadcasting Stn (Choson Jungang Pangsong) PBS = Pyongyang Broadcasting Stn (Pyongyang Pangsong) (Compiled by Arnulf Piontek, Berlin, Germany, Nov 8, BC-DX via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. QSL: Received a no-data e-mail response from PDKI Canada (v/s as "Hazhir") in 2 days for an e-mail report that I originally sent snail-mail to PDKI in France for the Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, but did not receive a reply to. Thanks to Arnaldo Slaen, whom I noted used this method for a reply a few days ago. In fact, he was copied on my response. Reception was in February 2001 on 3985 kHz. I also attached 2 audio files. The e-mail I received included a history of the station and some memories from the veri signer about listening to the station when he was a child. He also asked for information about SW radios. I sent a thank you E-mail back to Hazhir and asked him if the audio files I enclosed were indeed the Voice of Iranian Kurdistan. I can now consider this a valid, no-data, QSL. His response: "Thanks for your advice too. Yes, it is the Voice of Iranian Kurdistan Radio that you had reported and the files that you had enclosed. Thanks again. Hazhir." (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, USA, JRC NRD-515/K9AY & A/D Sloper, Cumbredx mailing list Nov 11 via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. FRANCE: 11715 Libyan Jamahiriya, 1943-2030*, 11-Nov; Vocal music to 2000:30 chimes and announcement; 2002:30 brief anthem; 2003-12 world news. Music and commentary after news. Jamahiriya ID finally at 2018:30. Mentioned Libya at s/off but not Jamahiriya. Off without anthem. All music and talk in Arabic. SIO=343/ LSB to avoid roar; signal improved throughout. No sign of listed Algeria. Site per 2003 Passport (Harold Frodge, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MALAWI. Malawi Broadcasting Corporation is currently transmitting on 3385 instead of 3380 kHz. Even in South Africa reception is not too good (Markus Weidner, currently in Namibia, as published in the German ML A-DX via Willi Passmann, DXLD) ** MALTA [non]. Checking out the info in DXLD 2-167 about VOM`s DX program in Italian, Onde Radio, on Nov. 11 I listened to the audio file of the Sunday Nov. 10 hour (0800 on 9630 via Roma) at http://www.vomradio.com Yet another case of a magazine program, forcing you to hunt thru or listen to all of it to find the DX segment. This week it started at 34:20 minutes in, including low-audio quality interview via telephone, discussing catches made at a DX camp in September; then back to the studio, reporting that AWR has cancelled its Italian DX program, and a few other items. Wrapped up at 42:40 for a total of 8:20 duration. Wolfgang Bueschel also lists some kind of DX program in English on VOM, Fridays at 1730 on 9850 via Roma; I suppose we have only 24 hours to listen to this one ondemand, until the `latest` show becomes Saturday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. It's 2035 UT and Mauritania is already in with decent audio on 783 (Keith McGinnis, Winthrop MA, Nov 9, NRC-AM via DXLD) 783 is audible here, with woman speaking in Arabic. Fair signal, but it is definitely parallel to 4845. I had it logged last year as presumed, so now it goes into the confirmed category. I didn't think Arab women were permitted to speak publicly to audiences... Time is now 1730 ET [2230 UT]. (Dave Hochfelder, New Brunswick, NJ, Nov 9, Sony ICF-2010 with Quantum Loop, NRC-AM via DXLD) Good signal here also. Male a capella chanting in Arabic //4845 kHz at 1735 EST. [2235 UT] (Marc DeLorenzo, Marstons Mills, Mass., NRC-AM via DXLD) 783, Radio Mauritanie, Nouakchott, audible at S9+60dB with a KIWA aircore loop on 1 Nov at 2250, rating being 54444. Signal was even stronger than via other external aerials. 4845 kHz observed on 24 Oct 0708-0821* airing vernacular and Arabic programming with talks, tribal music and songs. 45333. 7245 kHz observed on 25 Oct s-on 0758-past 1200 f/out airing Arabic program, ID, (long) prayer, talks, music. 35443. To Jerry Berg in the USA: you may be certain of your 26 OCT log of MTN 7245 at 0820-0900, but the station doesn't keep a normal schedule std., meaning you may hear it on one day and not on the next even though propagation is good then too, and it seems to me power varies too, just like with stations in the area (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Nov 4, BC-DX Nov 11 via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. There is no frequency switch from 6060 to 3270 kHz at 1600 UT. So 6060 is 24h, 3270 is inactive. The switch from 6175 to 3290 works, but there is a strong hum on 3290. Both transmitters are operated with 70 kW and the very last tubes are used to keep them on the air... The AM frequency 594 kHz (Tsumeb) is not in use any more (Markus Weidner, currently in Namibia, as published in the German ML A-DX via Willi Passmann, DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. 740, YNRS R. Sandino, NOV 8 0358 - Was just tuning past 740 and noticed some Spanish. It turned out to be a sign-off announcement, mentioning the frequency and ending with "transmitting from Managua, capital of Nicaragua" (my rough translation), then "muy buenas noches" and the national anthem. Good, way over CHWO (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, ON, NRD-525, 1 m air-core loop, 40 m inverted-vee, MFJ-1026, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. WHAT CAN I DO? Dear Glenn, It`s another opportunity to write you again. I never knew that you pasted my club info on your site, http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld2160.txt, until someone, Mauno Ritola, I believe from Finland wrote to me asking for information about Radio broadcasting in Nigeria. I have since replied him or her with the information I have and could gathered I hope there were useful. This is because most other DXers/website wouldn`t put it on theirs, fearing it was a scam. It is only now that I have started to understand why most stations and DXers are not replying me. It must have been because of the huge and annoying mail scam and dubious financial deceptions originating from Nigeria. So many of my mails are always and in most cases discarded as Spam. It is very unfortunate for me. I am just a DXer, like every other person in the world, who has taken interest in Radio broadcasting for sometime now, and who of no fault of my own happens to be a Nigerian. It seems despite everything I do, I am still treated with suspicion. Despite all my follow ups to many stations they are still not verifying my reports. The internet seem the worst, they keep pretending that they are receiving my mails, while life, and DXing goes on for other DXers. All I am asking for is a chance to share my loggings, QSL recepts and information about Radio broadcasting, especially from this part of the world were very few information are known and reception may be difficult to pick, and explore distant ones with other DXers. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN ANYBODY'S BANK RECORD, NOT ASKING FOR MONEY NOR ANY SUCH INFORMATION. I AM JUST A DXER. While I do not deny the existence of these scam and fraud in this country, which in fact may be on the rise, (I, too have received such mails, and know a lot of Nigerians who are victims too), I think that a lot of people have misinterpreted such information as illustrating that every Nigerian is a fraud. I have been denied membership recently from a DXers website mailing list, and wouldn`t contributing my log ons simply because I was a Nigerian. They were afraid that I could be tricking them into something. I guess some of them have been receiving such scam mails. I have never felt so much insulted in my entire life. I think it is important to point to you and other listeners and DXers that there are still honest and sincere DXers and radio listeners in this country. I refuse to be held hostage because of the crime of very individuals. I know what it took me before I was included in the Cumbredx mailing list. It is very very unfortunate. Sometimes I feel like the proverbial, lone voice in the wilderness. Glenn, How else can I be convincing? Best Wishes. Yours, (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Nov. 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You have convinced us. I am sure you will be treated fairly as long as you stick to DX information. The scam situation is so bad, however, that many people don`t even want their E-mail address to become known in Nigeria (even to official radio stations), since it seems to result in more spam. One thing you can do is make your subject line personal, or DX-oriented. Thanks for your accompanying reports: (gh, DXLD) Please, permit me to share some of my recent loggings. Though I know they could not be called that recent, the problems associated with internet in developing cities like mine means that I can't use the internet always. So I wait and compile the information and send out when I can. Hope you understand now. My recent loggings: 6050, RADIO NIGERIA, IBADAN, 0550 NOV. 4TH. A religious program Voice of the Lord, in English. At 0600 joined the network service for National news. strong, but slight interference. 4770, RADIO NIGERIA, KADUNA, 0545 NOV. 4TH. A male voice (malam Abdulhali Yaro) talking about fasting and Islamic explanation, and breaking fast. This was followed by an advert of Panadol. Then Ibrahim presented a program about Goat rearing. Strong and steady. [English?] 4775, RADIO NIGERIA, ENUGU, 0540 NOV. 4TH. A male voice talking in Igbo language about health care, followed by traditional music. Then a preacher also in Igbo talking about Israel and their relationship with God in their numerous ancient victory in world. [Enugu?? This is unlisted, so may be new. TWR Swaziland, however, is in SW Guide and PWBR 2002. Current TWR website sked does not show it on 4775 as late as 0540, however --- gh] 7255, VOICE OF NIGERIA, 0548 NOV. 8TH. A Female talking about Nigerians abroad, followed by an interview with a Nigerian musician. Strong and Steady. Equipment used: PANASONIC RX - CT990; ANTENNA : EXTERNAL, with 10m wire (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also GHANA ** PARAGUAY. There's a list of licensed Paraguayan radio stations at: http://www.conatel.gov.py/licenciatarios.htm No frequencies, unfortunately. On shortwave there are listed a.o. Emisoras Paraguay (6015 kHz) and Radio Guairá (5975 kHz). I don't recall seeing any loggings of those recently. Are they inactive? On the website of Radio Guairá http://www.galeon.com/radioguaira/ the SW frequency is mentioned. Radio América is not on the short (sic) short wave list (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** PERU. The Peruvian radio station, Radio Libertad Trujillo, has a website at: http://www.radiolibertadmundo.com/ The site mentions the shorwave frequency 4910 kHz and states proudly: "Radio Libertad, se escucha ahora en Norteamérica, Europa y Asia por nuestra Onda Corta ..." However it has not been logged on shortwave since 1989(?). So this must be the usual web-hype or a surprise re-activation. 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** PERU. 5486.7 kHz, Radio Reina de la Selva, 1003 Nov 7, was on frequency as they signed on with some instrumental music. Male announcer spoke including giving a Reina de la Selva ID, but signal was weak. Slowly improved to almost fair by 1010. Heard chimes at 1014 and what others have called a sort of rooster sound 3 different times by the male announcer at the 1015 minute mark. Laser sound effects heard at 1022. Mostly talk with one or possibly two male announcers (only one song heard between 1010 and 1032). Appeared to give a Cinco Treinta Ocho time check at 1035. A couple of OA songs after that, but signal was fading with the coming sunrise. 6819.5 kHz, Radio La Voz de las Huarinjas, 1000 hrs Nov 5, flute music heard as transmitter signed on at exactly the top of the hour. Opening remarks given included a time check at 1002. Radio La Voz de las Huarinjas ID heard at 1005. Into OA music. Echo-type announcements made at 1012. The music program continued until 1030 tune out. Unlike Reina above, their clock appears to be right on the money (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, USA, JRC NRD-515/K9AY & A/D Sloper, Cumbredx mailing list Nov 11 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. This is to inform you that R. Veritas Asia are to effect a frequency change on 17th November 2002. The changes are as follows: TO 12010 FROM 11705 2300-2325 CANTONESE (QRM by RCI) TO 17860 FROM 17845 0100-0125 URDU (QRM by NHK) TO 9590 FROM 9540 1400-1425 BENGALI (QRM by BBC) TO 15520 FROM 15240 0030-0055 TAMIL (QRM by China Jammer) (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. O horário B-02, revisto em 25 OUT 02, apresenta apenas ligeiras modificações: supressão dos períodos 2000-2400, de 2ª-fª a 6ª-fª, e 1300-2100, sáb. e dom., p/ as emissões extraordinárias destinadas ao Brasil, a Cabo Verde e à Guiné. The B-02, as revised on 25 OCT 02, carries just minor changes: special b/cast periods to Brazil, Cape Verde and Guinea (Bissau) 2000-2400 Mons-Fris & 1300-2100 Sats/Suns were deleted (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The following is no amendment, but something missing in the WORD format: the Mons-Fris broadcast to Europe 2000-2400 on 11860 kHz applies to a "special broadcast", not a regular or daily one (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Nov 9 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. GTRK Magadan has no regular programs on SW My question: (Privet, u vas est eschsho regionalnye peredachi na 5940/7320/9530 kGts? Po kakomu raspisaniyu?) Hello, do you still have regional broadcasts on 5940/7320/9530 kHz? What is the schedule? Reply: (K sozhaleniyu, uzhe net.) Unfortunately not any more. (S uvazheniem) Best regards, Igor Beznutrov (Glavniy redaktor) Chief Editor 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. FOREIGN RELAY VIA SHORT WAVE TRANSMITTERS OF RUSSIA 27/13/2002 -- 29/03/2003 (B02) kHz - UTC - kW - Station CRR-1 (Moscow) ------------------------------ 5835 2030-2125 200 RNW 7170 2200-2300 250 CRI 7200 1830-1930 200 CRI* 7350 2000-2130 250 DWL 7385 1700-1800 250 BBC 7430 1600-1630 250 RCI 7440 1200-1600 500 DWL 7440 2000-2200 250 VOM 11895 1830-1930 200 CRI** CRR-2 (S. Petersburg) ------------------------------------ 7130 1600-1700 400 CRI 7130 1800-1830 400 CRI CRR-3 (Samara) ---------------------------------- 5935 2000-2115 250 IBR 6035 2100-2200 200 FGM 7215 2030-2130 250 CRI 9925 2100-2200 200 RVI 9945 2100-2200 200 FGM 12015 1330-1400 250 DWL 12125 1700-1800 250 DER Sat (A) 12125 1730-1800 250 ORO Mon, Thu (A) 17765 0400-1700 100 WUN (A) = alternative frequency 12115 kHz TCR-4 (Krasnodar) ------------------------------------------- 5965 1800-1900 200 DWL 7400 1600-2300 250 MAR 7425 2100-2200 100 RCI 9475 1600-1630 200 TWR 9925 1800-1900 100 RVI 12060 0600-0815 250 MAR Mon-Sat 12060 0700-0900 250 MAR Sun 12125 1900-2000 200 VBI Sat 13685 1400-1700 200 RVI Sun 15195 0600-0900 200 RVI 15195 1200-1230 200 RVI 15220 0900-0930 500 DWL 17860 1000-1030 200 DWL CRR-8 (Khabarovsk) ----------------------------------------- 6210 2200-2245 120 VAT* 9885 1330-1425 100 RNW 11830 2200-2245 120 VAT** 13820 1030-1125 100 RNW 17570 2330-0025 100 RNW CRR-8 (Komsomolsk-na-Amure) ------------------------------------------------------- 9880 1200-1300 250 HBS 15560 0500-0600 250 VOM Sun CRR-10 (Irkutsk) --------------------------------- 5905 2200-2300 250 VOA 5905 2300-2350 250 DWL 5925 2200-2400 500 DWL 5945 1500-1800 100 DWL 6225 1300-1350 500 DWL 7400 1000-1400 250 DWL 7460 1300-1400 250 HBS 9445 0030-0200 250 TWR 9445 1115-1650 250 TWR 9760 0930-1030 500 RFI 9760 1030-1055 500 DWL 9770 0900-0945 250 DWL 9940 2300-2345 500 DWL 12015 1100-1300 500 RFI 12065 0930-1125 250 RNW 17710 0230-0300 250 BBC 17710 0800-0830 250 BBC 17800 0300-0500 100 DWL CRR-11 (Novosibirsk) ---------------------------------------------- 7390 1300-1500 200 VOA 7425 1700-1800 500 DWL 7430 1200-1300 500 RFI 7420 2200-2300 200 RFI 7460 0000-0100 200 IBC 7485 1200-1500 200 HAM 9470 2300-2345 500 DWL 12025 2300-0100 500 RFI 12030 1200-1400 500 DWL 17650 1000-1200 500 DWL TCR-12 (Chita) ----------------------------------------- 6205 1315-1400 500 VAT Vladivostok Radio Centre ----------------------------------------------- 7315 2200-2300 500 RFI 7330 1100-1530 500 BBC 11560 1400-1500 250 VKK Tue 12075 2300-2400 500 RFI 15600 2300-0100 200 DWL Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy Radio Centre ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5895 1200-1330 200 IBR 5910 1000-1300 250 DWL 6205 1030-1055 200 DWL 7260 0930-1125 250 RNW 7375 1330-1425 250 RNW 7390 1130-1230 250 RVI 11695 0000-0100 250 DWL 12065 2130-2200 250 VOA 15250 2200-2400 250 DWL 21790 2300-2345 250 DWL * = Till 01/03/2003 ** = From 02/03/2003 BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation CRI = China Radio International DER = Dejan Radio DWL = Deutsche Welle FGM = Fang Guang Ming Radio HAM = High Adventure Ministries HBS = Herald Broadcasting Syndicate IBC = International Broadcasting Corporation IBR = IBRA Radio MAR = Radio Maryja ORO = Voice of Oromiya RCI = Radio Canada International RFI = Radio France Internationale RNW = Radio Nederland Wereldomroep RVI = Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal TWR = Trans World Radio VAT = Radio Vaticana VBI = Voice of Biafra Intternational VKK = Voice of Khmer Krom VOA = Voice of America VOM = Voice of Mediterranean WUN = World University Network Absence schedule Bible Voice Broadcasting Network and Radio Ezra (Nikolay Rudnev, Belgorodskaya obl.) 73! --------------------------- (Anatoly Klepov, Russian DX League. Bulletin "RUS-DX". Moscow. RUSSIA. http://rusdx.narod.ru Nov 9 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Permit me to share with you a letter I received from Voice of Russia for my reception report. From: "The Voice of Russia" letters@vor.ru Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 17:53:12 +0300 Dear Mr Ezeani Emmanuel, Many thanks for your today`s e-mail letter; we were happy to hear from you again so soon. Thank you also for your reception report. It has been found to be correct, and we gladly verify it with a QSL card sent by air mail. It will take about a month to get to your place. Wishing you good listening and looking forward to hearing from you soon again. Sincerely yours, Elena Osipova, Letters Department, World Service, Voice of Russia (via Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Nov 11, DXLD) ** RWANDA. I think I heard Rwanda yesterday on 6055 kHz. The frequency was busy with a program in French language from Radio Slovakia International until a few minutes before 2100 UTC. Right after R. Slovakia s/off I heard a national anthem that finished at 2101 and the carrier remained for a while. I compared the anthem I heard (that was a sung anthem) with the anthem I have in MIDI format and they seem to be very similar but I am not totally sure. Has anybody ever heard Radio Rwanda on this frequency around 2100 UTC? Thanks (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, NY, JRC NRD 545, Longwire 15 meters + MFJ 959B, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes Radio Rwanda is frequently audible on 6055 in Europe. Station closes down with National Anthem that begins at 2055 UTC and ends 2100 UTC. Signal is usually good. 73's (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard- core-dx via DXLD) Marcelo, I haven't tried for them in quite a while, but my logbook shows that I received them on 6055 kHz on October 13, 1997 from 2025 to 2059 UTC with SIO of 444. Reception was with a Sony ICF-2010 and 30 meter dipole. They QSLed my report in French a month later (George Maroti NY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Many, many times from the East Coast during this time of year (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Hi, can anybody receive SIBC? In spite of low Kp index I get no signal on 5020, neither via long nor short path. Vanuatu came in clear this morning on 7260, nothing heard on 4960. 73, (Enzio Gehrig, Denia /Spain, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Yes, still on air, though they were off for a few days a couple of weeks ago. Audible as I write this on usual 5020, 1045 on 11/11 (Craig Seager, Bathurst, Australia, ibid.) 5019.9, SIBC Honiara, not active October 19-28. Last reception was on Oct 15th, heard with English news at 1000 UT. Appeared again on Oct 29th (Roland Schulze, Philippines, Nov 5, BC-DX Nov 11 via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 13695, 0030-, R. THAILAND. Male announcer with ID at 0030 and then to news items. Female with talks about Thailand local news. Business opportunities for locals. Nice signal at tune in but rapid flutter increased by toh. S9 signal level. Phone number given at 0055. Library with annual book fair announcements at 0056. Book at fair to be 12 Nov. Sports talk about the Volvo open by a different male announcer. Weather at 0059 with temp from 21 to 31 C, with ID at 0100, IS. Excellent program and reception. Gave time as 8 pm in the Kingdom of Thailand and to NA. IS at 0101 language change 10 Nov 2002 (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA USA, NRD535db, T2FD, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** TOGO. Hi Glenn, regarding Togo logs on 5047 kHz, 2-175: In the database I am using for the Tropical Band List I noticed that the station was reported as inactive by OM Chris Greenway in BCDX in April 2001; the last log was in February 2001, published in the German magazine Radio-Kurier. Regards, (Willi Passmann http://www.radio- portal.org/ Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5047, R. Togo (presumed), 2121-2201 9 Nov, Found this one back on w/strong signal and weak modulation, as it was when it left the air. Rapid tlk by W accompanied by M at t/in. Sounded like a remote. Into Afro Hi-life mx. M anncr later in FR. More Hi-life mx. What sounded very much like an ID starting anmnt at 2201, then pres. nx by M. Sometimes the modulation was so weak as to be almost inaudible. 73's (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Two transmitters are in use alternately at Taranivka from Oct 27: #1 on 5905, 6020, 9610 (evening); #2 on 9610 (morning), 17760, 7240. Officially, 207 kHz (Brovary) is not terminated, only "temporarily" switched off. As to UR-1 Internet Real Audio, its rise was stimulated by such circumstance too. But for whom? In Ukraine, perhaps, there are only rare Internet subscribers to use Real Audio normally. Perhaps, there are a little more Internet listeners in the Ukrainian language abroad. To the point, on Nov 6, 207 kHz was on the air again (Alexander Yegorov, RUI, Ukraine, Nov 7, WWDXC via BC-DX Nov 11 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Funding for London Radio Service was cut September 30, so those programs are no longer available. They hope to be able to resume by yearend (Adam Lock, Ask WWCR fortnight of Oct 25 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. The new guide for Bible Voice that was sent to me via the internet. From: "Don McLaughlin" biblevoice@sympatico.ca Subject: BVB Winter Frequencies Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 14:51:02 -0500 Bible Voice Broadcasting Winter Schedule mail@biblevoice.org www.biblevoice.org (mid Nov.) [same as in DXLD 2-169, q.v.] (via Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Nov 11, DXLD) I just tried to listen to Bible Voice on 7435 from 1700 UT, but here in Italy I heard with very strong signal the English Service of Deutsche Welle. Where Bible Voice is broadcasting from? 73 (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, Nov 11, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: WBCQ Websites The break with Allan had to do with the lack of a coherent web strategy. As you know, Tina and I got wbcq.net started way back at the request of Randi, at the time a lifelong friend, at least when she was a he. After Randi and Allan broke ranks over Ralph Stair and the Hate Speech issue, I decided to hang in there and support Allan. The only thing I ever asked of him was that we develop together a coherent strategy for the internet. wbcq.com was an impediment to this, as I would try to link to content, including audio on the site at Allan's request, and Scott would constantly change audio URLs to avoid the linkage. So I finally declined to have anything to do with wbcq.com. The last straw was when Allan told his "Program Director" Michael Ketter to put up a site at wbcq.us. At that point, I just decided to quit, for lack of a strategy. My feeling is that since I was trying to assist Allan pro bono, I should at least have his support. I felt that I did not. Attempts to discuss this with Allan were fruitless as he lacks understanding of the internet and what it could offer. I also had issues with the "uncensored free speech" statements being made on the wbcq.us website. I pointed out to Allan the conflict between "complete uncensored speech" and the obvious limitations of the Hate Speech Policy. Allan would not allow himself to see the hypocrisy. So we got into conflict when I told him that I would only publish his "complete uncensored speech" notice if the Hate Speech policy, which places conditions on speech, was no longer in effect. Anyway, whenever Allan gets around to doing the paperwork, I plan to transfer the wbcq.net domain over to him for whatever he wants to do with it. What I have, though, is a nice schedule database and dynamic web page generation system available for implementation for other radio websites. The entire schedule was dynamically produced from an SQL database, and UTC for the correct time of year was automatically computed from the local time. So it made schedule maintenance a breeze (Daniel L. Srebnick, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rather than answer my questions, Allan asked Scott Becker, whom Allan has referred to in that past as his "partner", to call Big Steve Cole with threat of a lawsuit (over the ownership of wbcq.net) against Steve and me. I won't address the issue of the ownership of wbcq.net today, as frankly I have no interest in continuing to own it anyway (Srebnick, http://swradio.us Nov 10 via DXLD) An interesting article on the web caught my attention. It talks about how Allan Weiner (of WBCQ) never had clear title to the alleged M/V Sarah, home of the short-lived Radio New York International. The story is written as told by John England, whom I had the chance to meet outside of the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in 1987, when Allan's case was being disposed of. We have a link from http://swradio.us (Daniel Srebnick, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. EWTN Global Catholic Radio: According to Global Catholic Radio, the Crusades weren't really that bad. And the Inquisition gets a bad rap. Really, I heard a whole program about how little these things are understood (Dan Srebnick, http://swradio.us via DXLD) Dan reviews a number of other US SW radio stations/shows, reflecting his peculiar (?) political angle (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I was curious as to the power for the Test broadcast for WBOH / 5920 back on October the 9th of this year. Below is the reply I got after two attempts: Subject: Re: [Fwd: Power of Test Broadcast] Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 08:49:05 -0500 From: "Fundametal [sic] Broadcasting Network" fbn@mail.clis.com Dear Sir, The tests were conducted at variable low power levels around 1000 watts. Our antenna is rhombic. In Christ's service, Mrs Robinson That would explain the poor reception I experienced (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbre DX Nov 11 via DXLD) ** U S A. 4950.00, WHKT Portsmouth VA (x 3), 10 Nov 2032. Possible 3rd harmonic of this station with Radio Disney programming. Harmonic is intermittent, but clearer than the original on 1650 when present - enough to block VOA São Tomé (Receiver: Drake R8A / Antenna: 100' longwire with MLB -- Mark J. Fine / mark.fine@fineware-swl.com Remington, Virginia, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mark, I've heard this harmonic in Mount Kisco, NY, 40 miles north of New York City. I first heard them on October 29 between 1130 and 1200 UTC. They seem to come in stronger just after sunrise. I haven't heard them during our afternoons yet (but I didn't try to hear them either). I called their chief engineer a couple of days after first hearing them, and mentioned that their harmonic was audible. It looks like he hasn't done anything about it. I have the station's phone number at work, I'll post it to the list on Tuesday, in case anyone else would like to call them (George Maroti, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) That wouldn't surprise me. A local here in Warrenton, WPRZ (1250) had a strong harmonic right on top of WWV. I called up the engineer and the engineer forwarded me to the GM. The basic response was, "Oh, it can't be true since we just inspected the system. It *must* be your receiver." Yeah, right (Mark J. Fine / Remington, Virginia, USA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) WWV should certainly be protected at all costs, but would you really rather hear VOA on 4950 than a DX catch like WKHT? Telling a station about its *harmless* harmonics defeats the whole purpose of DXing, and I am astounded that some DXers try to get such harmonics fixed rather than enjoy them, and give others a chance to hear them (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re Wisconsin site, unidentified K9EZ. QRZ.com Lookup shows: K9EZ, KENT A WINRICH, WAUKESHA WI 53189. Also has photo of three unID people, one of whom may actually be Kent (via Bill Smith, W5USM, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. COLLEGE RADIO, STRUGGLING TO BE HEARD By Michael Papish, Sunday, November 10, 2002; Page B02 They leave empty pizza boxes on your lawn, play loud music way past midnight and spill beer on, well, everything, but college kids are also helping to preserve a piece of American culture: the culture of interesting radio. If we want to help them do that, we'll need to get college radio back on the Internet. Since last spring, dozens of campus webcasts have been shut down, and more may follow, because of new federal regulations that threaten to bankrupt the small, volunteer-run radio stations that produce them. The shutdowns were premature, and in the end will probably turn out to have been unnecessary. But they illustrate the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the regulations, which were supposed to take effect last month but are now in limbo. Why the big fuss over campus radio? From a music lover's point of view, the mainstream American radio landscape is abysmal. Motivated only by profit margins, commercial radio conglomerates have turned our publicly owned airwaves into a bland wasteland. College radio, with its dedication to original and exciting programming, stands in stark contrast. The typical commercial station airs 500 or fewer songs a year, playing them over and over. The station I advise, WHRB-FM at Harvard University, plays 70,000 to 90,000 different songs every year. Some commercial stations no longer even bother to use humans, preferring canned voice-tracks recorded at a central studio and automated algorithms to determine their programming. Campus and small community stations feature live DJs making their own creative programming choices. Commercial radio fears alienating listeners with anything out of the ordinary. WHRB recently featured 178 straight hours of Haydn history and compositions, and four full days of the entire sonic output from the obscure '60s avant-garde and underground label ESP-Disk. But while college and community stations have no lack of imagination and enthusiasm, many are handicapped by weak broadcast signals; some of them can be heard over an area of just a few square blocks or only within closed campus networks. To overcome that problem, low-power stations began to broadcast simultaneously over the World Wide Web. WHRB introduced its digital "streaming" in 1999. Like other small webcasters, we saw ourselves as pioneers in an effort to bring back an era of exciting radio by using the Internet to reach new listeners. Something stands in the way of that revival: the cost and terms of licensing music. FM and AM radio stations pay songwriters for the rights to broadcast their music, but not performing artists or record companies. The record industry looked to fix that inequity in the digital world by lobbying for, and getting, Congress to pass the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998. The DMCA requires webcasters to pay royalties that are distributed to composers, performers and record labels. There's nothing wrong with paying artists and copyright owners a fair price for their music, but the approved rates will prevent college and nonprofit webcasters from ever reaching more than a handful of listeners, if they choose to continue webcasting at all. In 2001, a Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel was convened to set royalty rates. Arbitration began with the Digital Media Association, a trade group representing larger, for-profit webcasters, suggesting a rate of .015 cents per song per listener. The Recording Industry Association of America, representing record labels and artists, countered with a rate 26 times higher: .4 cents per song per listener. Due to the high cost of participating in the arbitration, small nonprofit stations were unable even to have a seat at the table. In June, the government announced the final rates: .02 cents per song per listener for noncommercial stations and .07 cents per song per listener for commercial entities, with an annual minimum fee of $500 for both groups. The fee-setting process had effectively barred college and other small webcasters from participation, and the resulting fees were too high for them.To put those fees in perspective, a college webcaster such as WHRB, with a steady Internet audience averaging six or seven listeners per hour over 24 hours (yes, six or seven -- about average for college radio today), would owe $170 a year but pay the $500 annual minimum. However, if WHRB's Internet audience increases over the next decade to something similar to the audience for its FM signal (approximately 1,000 concurrent listeners on average), the station would owe $26,280 -- quite a contrast to the $3,203 per year the station now pays to composers for playing the same songs over the air. In addition, the law required retroactive payments for any webcasting during the four years since the law was passed. The payments were due Oct. 20. By the time the fee ruling was handed down, many small and suddenly alarmed stations had already begun to stop streaming. Then, beginning this past summer, a hubbub of complaints by disgruntled webcasters, artists and record labels grew in pitch and volume as the Oct. 20 deadline approached. Most of the panic was caused by the size of the four-year bills some webcasters would owe and the fines they might face if they didn't pay up. Some small, commercial webcasters like Ultimate80s.com, Beethoven.com and radioio.com, with large listenership but limited revenues, faced certain bankruptcy. The RIAA, the industry trade group, came to an agreement with a subset of small, commercial webcasters that became the text of the Small Webcaster Amendment Act and was passed in the House of Representatives on Oct. 7. In plain terms, the SWAA reduces retroactive fees for a class of small webcasters in return for setting dangerously high royalty levels in the future. None of that has helped college and community radio, and the near passage of the SWAA by the Senate, prevented only by the last-minute heroics of Jesse Helms, acting at the behest of a group of small webcasters operating in North Carolina, certainly would have hurt us. Instead of fixating on the Oct. 20 deadline, college radio should be worried about the long-term survival of the Internet as an alternative to the conglomerate-controlled airwaves. Contrary to the opinions of many, I believe that the roadblock in our way, the RIAA, shares that goal. Unfortunately, our joint progress stands in the crossfire of the largest intellectual property war to occur in the last 25 years. In the digital world, the future of music (and intellectual property in general) is cloudy. The record industry is at a confusing crossroads, knowing only one, sure truth: It owns a lot of sound recordings. What no one knows is the future medium or method by which those recordings will be heard. Will CDs become as obsolete as eight- tracks? Will music continue to be produced in an "album" format, or will we see a hybrid emerge, combining elements of both records and radio? With that uncertainty, the RIAA fights for the highest valuation of sound recordings possible. The battle over webcasting royalties playing out in Congress, courts and conference rooms is one of the initial struggles in a war that could decide the future survival of all companies that own, promote and sell copyrighted materials. In the music world, the stage was set in 1978 by a report published by the Register of Copyrights on performance rights in sound recordings. In that report, a prescient Copyright Office warned that "Congress, in its deliberations on performance rights, should not be unmindful of the possibility that teChinaological developments could well cause substantial changes in existing systems for public delivery of sound recordings. In that event, it is equally possible that a performance right would become the major source of income from, and incentive to, the creation of such works." Historically, the United States, unlike many other countries, has not granted copyright owners of sound recordings the right to be paid for the public performance of their music over the radio. What's occurring now is the first attempt to set the value of those sound recordings on the Internet. The disappearance of college and community webcasters would be an unfortunate and unwanted side-effect. But even though a future featuring diverse webcasters would be in the RIAA's best interest, the group is afraid of letting down its guard and allowing the value of its sound recordings to be reduced. Five years from now, if the government were to create a compulsory license for Napster-like services, rates set today for webcasting would form an important precedent. It's time to recognize college radio's unique and pioneering role in establishing the Internet as an incubator for diverse, edgy and creative broadcasting. The government should rework its royalty- setting procedures to give small webcasters a voice. The RIAA needs to stop trying to unfairly link college webcasting with the specter of students illegally downloading free music. And the RIAA should make the enlightened decision to compromise with small, non-profit webcasters in an agreement that will allow Internet radio to flourish for the benefit of both. If each side tries hard to hear the other, they'll find more in common than they might think. Michael Papish is teChinaology and policy adviser for WHRB, the undergraduate radio station at Harvard University, and for the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, a nonprofit organization representing more than 750 educationally affiliated stations. He is co-founder and CEO of MediaUnbound, a software company in Cambridge, Mass. © 2002 The Washington Post Company (via Tom McNiff, DXLD) TERP AIR Even if you live within commuting distance of the University of Maryland, you might not have heard WMUC, 88.1 FM, the university's 10- watt radio station. To pick up our broadcast signal, you'd have to be within about 10 miles of College Park. But with our webcast, you can find us wherever you can find a computer and an Internet connection. Hip-hop fans in Houston can hear us play the latest from Blackalicious. Alumni in Australia can hear the Terps play basketball. Like other campus radio stations, we're unique -- and proud of it. Our Web site brags: "As one of the region's only truly free-form radio stations, WMUC airs progressive music you won't hear anywhere else on the dial. "Unlike many other stations, WMUC is fortunate. We are generously funded by the university's Student Government Association. The new federally mandated music royalty fee will force us to divert some of those funds. It will mean we can't upgrade or replace equipment as quickly as we'd like to. It will hurt us, but it won't silence our sound. It's a different story at some smaller schools, where the radio stations operate on a shoestring. Even the proposed minimum fee of $500 a year is out of reach for them. So now when you go to radio Web sites at the University of Richmond, Arkansas State University, Clemson University and many, many others, you won't hear a note, but you'll see a notice. It will explain that the webcasting operation has been shut down to avoid having to pay royalties the station can't afford. Unless the rates are lowered or waived, those stations will lose the opportunity to broadcast throughout the world. And their world once again will be the size of a few square miles. -- David Goldberg is general manager of WMUC-FM at the University of Maryland, where he is a senior education major (sidebar to previous story, Washington Post via Tom McNiff, DXLD) ** U S A. ENFORCEMENT: BIG FINE AGAINST FLORIDA PIRATE BROADCASTER The FCC has levied a $10,000 fine against a Florida man who has allegedly been operating a radio transmitter without a license. Richard Munoz of Naples was issued the forfeiture notice for operation of a radio station on 105.1 MHz without Commission authorization. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bill Burnett, KT4SB, is in Miami with the details: -- The story begins on April 20 if this year. This, when agents from the Tampa Office investigate a complaint alleging that an unlicensed radio station was transmitting on frequency 105.1 MHz in the Naples, Florida area. A search of Commission records shows that there was no FM radio station licensed on 105.1 MHz in Naples. So, using a mobile direction finding vehicle, the agents trace the station to the Tree of Life Church in Naples. The agents then interview several witnesses at the church who identify Richard Muñoz as the operator of the radio station transmitting on 105.1 MHz. The witnesses also provide the agents a business card identifying Richard Muñoz as the pastor of a Spanish- language ministry called Mission Possible Ministries. A brochure advertises a radio program called "Mission Possible" on 105.1 MHz. The agents interview Muñoz. He admits that his ministry owns the radio station equipment and is operating it. The agents ask Muñoz if he had a license for the station. He replies that a friend has submitted an application to the FCC. Also that the friend has advised him that he could operate the station while the paperwork was being processed. The agents advise Muñoz that he cannot operate the station without a license and directed him to terminate the unlicensed operation. Muñoz requested additional time to notify his listeners that the station had to go off the air. The agents again tell Muñoz that he could not operate the station without a license and order him to take the station off the air. Muñoz directs another person to turn off the transmitter. But the story does not end there. On April 30th the FCC's Tampa Office receives another complaint alleging that an unlicensed FM station is again operating on 105.1 MHz in Naples. Also that it is causing interference to the reception of an FM broadcast station licensed to operate in that area. On May 14th, agents again trace the station to the Tree of Life Church and on May 17th the Tampa Office issued a warning letter to Andrew dealing, the head pastor of the Tree of Life Church. The warning letter advises DeLong that operation of a radio station without a license violates Section 301 of the Act, ordered him to cease operation of the unlicensed station transmitting on 105.1 MHz immediately. Then, on May 24, 2002, the Tampa Office receives a letter from Pastor DeLong. In the letter, DeLong states that Richard Muñoz is the operator of the radio station transmitting on 105.1 MHz. Also that that Muñoz leases space for the radio station from the Tree of Life Church, and that the Tree of Life Church had no control over the operations of the radio station. Based on the facts before it, On June 5th the Tampa Office issues an Notice of Apparent Liability for a $10,000 forfeiture to Richard Muñoz for operating a radio station without a license in willful and repeated violation of Section 301 of the Act. In his response to the notice, Muñoz admits that he operated the unlicensed station on 105.1 MHz, but requests cancellation of the forfeiture. He tells the FCC that his church, Mission Possible Ministries, had agreed to purchase 50% of the radio station for $15,000 from Daniel Morisma approximately eight months earlier. According to the reports, Muñoz maintains that Morisma told him that there was an application for the radio station on file at the FCC and that the station could go on the air while they were waiting for the application to be processed. According to Muñoz, Morisma told him that the station should go back on the air because the FCC would not visit again, and that if the FCC did visit again, it would issue a second warning before proceeding with any penalties. Muñoz asserts that the station had been using the time between the FCC's first and second visit to explain to listeners that they would soon be off the air because they had been lied to and scammed and that the station was a week away from dismantling when the FCC visited the station the second time. But the FCC sees it another way. In its order the FCC says that it is unfortunate that Muñoz may have been duped into believing that there was an application for the radio station on file with the FCC and that he could put the station on the air while the application was being processed. Nonetheless says the FCC, Muñoz clearly knew following the inspection by its agents on April 20th that the station was unlicensed. The bottom line. The FCC says that under these circumstances, it concludes that no reduction of the forfeiture on this basis is warranted. From Miami, I'm Bill Burnetrt, KT4SB, reporting for the Amateur Radio Newsline. – Muñoz was given the customary 30 days to pay the fine. If he fails to do so the FCC indicates that other punitive action may be taken (Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 8 via DXLD) ** U S A. TOCOBAGA DX #65 - 11 November, 2002 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA E-mail: tocobagadx@earthlink.net "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" is at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html © 2002, Terry L Krueger. Retransmit or quote only with full credit given to TOCOBAGA DX and all attributed sources. All times/dates are GMT, frequencies are in kiloHertz unless otherwise stated. ------------------------------------------------------------ David Crawford and myself made a half-day of FM pirate tracking in the Tampa Bay area (exact addresses DF'ed to withheld) on Sunday, November 11th. This after a good lunch at my old fave Viet restaurant, Mekong, in Pinellas Park. (I think one of you receiving this reported the specific 102.1 MHz St. Petersburg site to me a few months ago, which I forgot; nonetheless, it was fun as always DFing that and the other renegade boys.) As usual, the car radio, my RadioShack Pro-60 handheld scanner (stock whip removed when near the transmitting site), sharp eyes for antennae, and the 35mm for documentation are the tools. Included are a few observations by Crawford on his way home, through Tampa and Lakeland. Note especially the two new pirates on 87.9 and 92.7 MHz. 1640 kHz "La Primerísima 1640 A-M", (PIRATE), Tampa; this one was not active, and upon pulling in to the Arena strip center on West Columbus, I noted that the plastic banner advertising 1640 attached to the guardrailing on the second floor has been replaced by a new one. This banner states "1490 La Primerísima, Bradenton, Pura Salsa." The La Primerísima URL http://www.primerisima893.com/ continues to work, and still references 1640 (my cursory check did not see any info on 1490). As for 1490, it's still listed as [licensed] WWPR on the FCC dB, as well as http://www.100000watts.com which lists as follows: WWPR 1490 kHz Format: WW1- 50s-70s oldies "Pier 1490" ID: Bradenton FL Facilities: 1000w/1000w Transmitter: 27 30' 0" N 82 34' 25" W. However, the format is indeed now Latin American music (salsa and tropical, some tejano blocks in the eve, etc.). One canned English "WWPR" ID just before 9 p.m. ET noted back at home. And listening today (Nov. 12), seemingly canned "la Primerísima" slogan at 10:51 ET, and live female DJ with the slogan, and "WWPR" ID (no city) in Spanish at 10:55. Not sure what the relationship is with La Primerísima (block time, part owners, program/production suppliers?). Actually a pretty good station, destined to be my background music service while it lasts. Haven't even heard any commercial spots yet. 87.9 MHz UNIDENTIFIED (PIRATE), Tampa; a new pirate noted here (or at least someone moved to a new channel). Noted "87-X" with the usual mosh pit/grunge music, but quickly overtaken around Westshore/Boy Scout Blvd. area and on the Courtney Campbell Causeway (FL-60), heading west. Signal pretty much gone just past the Bayside Bridge overpass, though bits and pieces still there. The format of this one is 60's pop and soul, lots of Motown-era tunes, New Vaudeville Band "Winchester Cathederal," etc. And, per Crawford (returning home to Titusville, through Tampa): "Nothing audible on the Howard Frankland Bridge until Tampa "landfall" when I started getting Michael Jackson 80's stuff, full stereo; not as strong as on FL-60. Stereo. By Ybor City the punker had taken over with "Bob Noxious" the deejay and bogus traffic report by Janet Q. Licker or something like that; that's gotta be 87-X." 87.9 MHz "87-X" (PIRATE), Tampa; still active with the usual punk/thrash/metal format, reported recently as from a new location and with a weaker signal. Coverage does appear a little smaller. Stereo. 89.3 MHz "Rare Sixties Radio" (PIRATE) [east of] Lakeland; per Crawford: this one was active on the return trip, audible up to the US-27 exit when lost to WPIO. 60's pop format, stereo. 92.7 MHz UNIDENTIFIED (PIRATE) Tampa; another new one. Stereo. Noted by Crawford mid-morning on I-4/I-275 through Tampa briefly around Ybor and lost around Dale Mabry. Kreyol kompa music, one possible announcement by a man. We crossed the bay, determined to locate this one. The signal did not appear until near Ybor, partly due to the usual FM crossmod hash from downtown Tampa and a bad frequency choice what with Country format WYUU on 92.5 MHz. Signal ultimately DF'ed to a small house on East Annie Street at North 27th Street, (semi-rundown neighborhood near Busch Gardens). Simple pole attached up the center of a large tree on the side of the house. Nonstop kompa all the while, no announcements heard. This would make at least the third active Kreyol in Hillsborough County. 99.1 MHz "Radio Sonique" (PIRATE) Tampa; the Kreyol format station was DF'ed to a house on West State Street at North Habana. Nice stacked array in the back yard, parked taxi cabs in the front. No photo here, not so nice 'hood. Usual big signal in stereo. 102.1 MHz "Essence FM" (PIRATE), Tampa; continues mono mode and cruddy audio. This one eluded us (we were rather burned out on pirate chasing and gave up). Maybe in the Henderson/MacDill area? We never got any decent peaks, and lots of reflectivity from the downtown skyscrapers also threw us. 102.1 MHz "102.1" (PIRATE) St. Petersburg; our first DF of the day, and found quickly. Located in a storefront on M L King (9th Street) at Central Avenue, downtown. A cellphone reseller, planned parenthood office and a couple of others are housed in the building. Nice stacked stick atop the building (two or three story, I forget). Got a shot of the stick from the bank parking lot across the street. Format is mostly reggae/ska, except on Sunday when gospel and Caribbean gospel music is aired. Stereo (Terry L. Krueger, Tocobaga DX Nov 11 via DXLD) ** U S A. From this story, you`d never know there are any Haitian pirates (gh) TALK RADIO `LIFEBLOOD' OF HAITIANS By Thomas Monnay, Staff Writer, South Florida Sun Sentinel Nov 11 MIAMI On the eighth floor of a building on Biscayne Boulevard, a politically diverse group of Haitian community leaders packed a radio station hallway, preparing to send a get-out-and-vote message. The group may disagree on tax increases and gubernatorial candidates, but its members are united on the vital role of radio. "It's the lifeblood of the Haitian community," said State Rep. Phillip Brutus, D-North Miami. "Everything that happens here is influenced by radio ... I have people at home who listen to the radio while watching television." Events over the past few weeks have contributed to one of the most dynamic moments in Haitian radio broadcasting's history in South Florida. Haitians in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have been tuning in brokered Creole shows to learn about the plight of more than 200 Haitian refugees detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Community activists have used those same airwaves to mobilize thousands of Haitians in street protests against immigration policies. In Haiti, most people turn to the radio for news, entertainment, education and even for learning the time. That's because radios are cheap and easy to carry, as opposed to television, where signals are limited mostly to Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. A low literacy rate has made it difficult for the masses to read newspapers. In South Florida, radio stations WLQY AM 1320 in Miami and WHSR AM 980 in Boca Raton carry Creole programs around the clock to the area's estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Haitians. "We would be paralyzed [without Creole radio.] Our upward movement would suffer; we wouldn't be able to navigate through the system," said Herntz Phanord, whose Haiti Antenne Plus news-talk show airs from 4 to 6 p.m. daily on WLQY. "As you know, information is power, and radio represents power in promoting the community." Phanord, like all Creole program hosts in South Florida, runs his own show, which he said costs him some $25,000 a month. Haitian radio hosts pay stations $250-$350 an hour for airtime. The money to support the shows comes from advertisers. Phanord tries to interact as much as possible with his listeners, who call and, sometimes, show up without an invitation. On Election Day, an angry caller said: "I'm going to place all my eggs in one basket," explaining he would vote for all Democratic candidates "because Republicans don't like Haitians." An angry woman then called to criticize that view and the community leaders who push it. "We should diversify. We should have people in both parties," she said. "I have six people who can vote in my house. But we're not voting because I'm so angry with those community leaders." Emeline Alexis, a community liaison for Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, said radio is the "surest way to get the word out." Lesly Jacques, a journalist who runs Creole programs daily on WHSR, said even Haitians who read newspapers use radio for commentary and news. "Without radio in South Florida, our community would live in more desperation, and they would have no voice," Jacques said. Marvin Dejean, of Minority Development and Empowerment Inc., a social service agency in Fort Lauderdale, said he uses radio to educate people about HIV/AIDS programs and other services. "The beauty of radio is that people get to know you on a personal level. The people who are listening can call and ask questions," Dejean said. "It's a quicker way of communicating with the community." (Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Petition campaign against KIKK format change: http://kikk.here.ws/ And other info such as: "The KILT Texas Roadhouse" On Saturday, November 9, 2002, [no time given] KILT-FM will debut, "The KILT Texas Roadhouse" featuring the music of your favorite Texas artists: Pat Green, Cory Morrow, Roger Creager, Jack Ingram, and many more. The debut of this show will be a live broadcast on 100.3 KILT at Gulf Greyhound Park with Roger Creager... (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. BAYONNE, JERSEY CITY IN RUNNING FOR TV TOWER The broadcasters said a tower in New Jersey needs to stretch nearly four-tenths of a mile into the sky to give it the same coverage, because the ground is lower in Bayonne and Jersey City, waterfront cities that had views of the Trade Center. http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=7&page=5384766 (via Jilly Dybka, TN, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. Greetings from the US. A group of us here in the US Southwest have been operating pirate beacons for a few years now. They are located at remote sites in the southwestern deserts in Arizona and California. They are all solar powered with a 12V gellcell (lead-acid) battery with the exception of one that operates with a solar panel only and transmits daytime only. The typical power output is about 100 to 200mW using a CMOS crystal oscillator and a 2N2222 or similar output transistor. Here is a list of the beacons and frequencies: 8000.55 kHz: Sends Morse code letter "S"; daytime only from about 1500 to 0000 UT. Located in western Arizona. Dipole antenna, 250 mW at mid- day. 4095 to 4096 kHz: A "cluster" of 5 beacons mostly sending either "dits" or long dashes. They operate 24 hours. One periodically sends Morse "W" between series of dits. Located in Arizona and Southern California deserts. About 150 mW each. 6700 kHz. Sends a series of "dits". Located in California. Operates 24 hours (Frank, K3YA, Tucson, Arizona, SW Pirate egroup Nov 11 via Jem Cullen, ARDXC via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Interesting that I was listening to Radio Uzbekistan exactly on the same day and time that Mark was, however I heard them only on 6025 kHz (I didn't try other frequencies). 6025.00 Radio Tashkent 1205 English program presented by YL, news and ID "Radio Tashkent". Local songs at 12:15. SINPO 34333....quite good signal but it was hard to understand because the sound was muffled (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, NY JRC NRD 545 DSP Longwire 50' + MFJ 959B, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Radio Tashkent is now using at least one new frequency in the extended bands. It's noted here in Melbourne on 5885, with Uzbek 1730, Farsi 1830, Arabic 1900, until sign-off at 1930. Other channels remain untraced for the above service! Regards (Bob Padula Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia, EDXP via DXLD) B-02 registrations, including relays of outside stations: 5025 0230 0330 28 TAC 100 310 UZB UZB GFC 5025 1530 1630 28 TAC 100 310 UZB UZB GFC 5025 1730 1830 28 TAC 100 310 UZB UZB GFC 5025 1930 2100 28 TAC 100 310 UZB UZB GFC 5025 2130 2200 28 TAC 100 310 UZB UZB GFC 5040 1330 1500 42,43 TAC 50 55 UZB UZB GFC 5060 1200 1500 41 TAC 100 180 UZB UZB GFC 5060 1930 2030 28 TAC 100 300 UZB VOR GFC 5885 1630 1930 38,39,47,48 TAC 50 235 RUS VOR GFC 5955 0100 0330 40,41 TAC 100 180 UZB UZB GFC 5975 0100 0230 41 TAC 100 180 UZB UZB GFC 5975 0230 0330 39,40 TAC 100 220 UZB UZB GFC 5975 1200 1230 41 TAC 100 130 UZB UZB GFC 5975 1230 1300 41 TAC 100 165 UZB UZB GFC 5975 1300 1500 41 TAC 100 130 UZB UZB GFC 5975 1520 1830 39,40 TAC 100 220 UZB UZB GFC 5975 1830 1930 39S TAC 100 220 UZB UZB GFC 6025 1200 1230 41 TAC 100 130 UZB UZB GFC 6025 1230 1300 40,41 TAC 100 180 UZB UZB GFC 6025 1300 1500 41 TAC 100 130 UZB UZB GFC 6025 1500 1930 40,41W TAC 100 180 UZB UZB GFC 6070 1700 1930 40 TAC 100 235 UZB UZB GFC 6210 1700 1750 29,30 TAC 100 310 UZB VAT GFC 7105 1830 2200 30 TAC 20 310 UZB UZB GFC 7135 0100 0130 41N,49 TAC 200 130 UZB UZB GFC 7135 0100 0230 40,41N TAC 100 165 UZB UZB GFC 7135 0200 0230 41N TAC 200 130 UZB UZB GFC 7215 0100 0330 40W TAC 100 235 UZB UZB GFC 7215 0100 0330 40W TAC 100 255 UZB UZB GFC 7285 1515 1550 41 TAC 100 165 UZB UZB GFC 7285 1515 1930 39,40 TAC 100 235 UZB UZB GFC 7285 1550 1930 39,40 TAC 100 255 UZB UZB GFC 7375 0100 0130 41 TAC 200 130 UZB BBC GFC 7430 1330 1530 41 TAC 200 130 UZB BBC GFC 7450 0000 0200 41,49,54 TAC 100 130 UZB VOR GFC 9445 0030 0200 41 TAC 200 131 UZB TWR GFC 9445 1130 1630 41 TAC 200 131 UZB TWR GFC 9445 2315 0030 41 TAC 200 131 UZB TWR GFC 9540 0230 0330 39,40 TAC 100 270 UZB UZB GFC 9540 1545 1830 39,40 TAC 100 270 UZB UZB GFC 9715 1200 1500 41,49 TAC 240 130 UZB UZB GFC 9865 1300 1315 41 TAC 100 130 UZB VOR GFC 9865 1428 1600 41 TAC 100 130 UZB VAT GFC 11530 1100 1300 39 TAC 100 255 UZB VOR GFC 11905 1930 2100 28-30 TAC 240 310 UZB UZB GFC 11905 2130 2200 28-30 TAC 200 310 UZB UZB GFC 11975 1430 1515 41,42,49 TAC 100 130 UZB WRN GFC 12070 0100 0200 44,49,54 TAC 200 131 UZB MNO GFC 12070 1315 1630 41 TAC 100 130 UZB RNW GFC 15330 0600 1200 39 TAC 100 270 UZB UZB GFC 15400 1200 1300 41,42 TAC 100 130 UZB WRN GFC 15675 0500 1300 39 TAC 250 256 UZB TDP GFC 15675 0500 1300 39 TAC 250 256 UZB MEZ TDP 17690 1145 1230 41E,49,54 TAC 100 130 UZB VRT GFC 17690 1200 1230 41,43,49-51,54 TAC 100 131 UZB VRT VRT 21780 0800 0830 41 TAC 200 130 UZB BBC GFC (wb df5sx, Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4830, 0253-0315, R. Táchira. Very nice music at tune in. Slight het from R. Litoral, 4832 but best in LSB. S10 signal level with slight fades. Continuous music thru top of hour. ID by male announcer at 0302 and back to more fantastic music. Excellent audio quality. 9 Nov 2002 (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA USA, NRD535db, T2FD, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Checking for Aló, Presidente, Sunday only, Nov 10 at 1500, found Habana`s 17750 clear of WYFR for a change with music, then Pres. Chávez came on with his guest in Barquisimeto, the Governor of Lara. I suppose there are still four other frequencies; not sure if the show still starts an hour earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CUBA RHC, 6140, the usual Hugo Chávez Sunday rambling at 1605+ Nov. 11. Muffled audio, no parallels noted (Terry Krueger and David Crawford at Krueger QTH, Clearwater FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. It is widely known in DX circles that the main transmitter at Sana`a usually noted on 9779.63 kHz. But on some days the station uses - supposedly - another unit and antenna too, which is centered at 9780.4 kHz. The latter installation is heard much better in Asia/Japan, than in Europe for instance. wb df5sx (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Nov 11 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi, Glenn. I am a Japanese, my name is Y. Uemura. We did DX Pedition of the Latin America aim by Iwate Prefecture on last week. Then, the unknown station which is carrying out the broadcast start between 11:30-11:55 UTC on 4th Nov. was received. The antenna has turned to the northeast (LA) and I am surmising that it is not the time when Africa can be heard. Music is like the Middle East or Africa. Language cannot take ID in local language. When there is a station which has an idea to you, have you teach -- is there nothing? Thank you for your consideration (Yukiharu Uemura, Odawara- city, Kanagawa, Japan, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mark Mohrmann`s LA DX lists are the best place to check out such things. The only current station on 4930 at http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/sw.htm is 4930.04 DOM REP * R Barahona, Barahona [1006-1136/2210-0300](4911- 4930.12) Dec 01 B (p)Nov 02 C) (r)VOA See the webpage for explanation of abbreviations. 1155 UT is a bit late for DR, however, so let`s look at the accompanying archive at http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/swarchive.htm 4930.3 HONDURAS R Costeña, San Pedro Sula [1152-1331/2310-0625](.3-.7) Sep 01 H (a)Ebenezer 12-20 exInternacional *1207/0500* Possibly the latter transmitter has been reactivated by someone (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi by all! Suggest who can, that behind the radio station in English was audible yesterday on November 10 on frequency 10000 kHz after 1900 UT. News was transmitted, spoke about terrorism. Thanks!! By all of the more same days with excellent propagation as these!!! (Vlad, Russia, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably All India Radio, spurious from 9950, as reported by others. Also every 50 kHz either way from 9800 to 10100 or more (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION BALLOON EXPERIMENTS REVEAL NEW INFORMATION ABOUT SPRITES In January, Bering will begin a study of phenomena other than sprites when he sends three balloons into the air over Antarctica to investigate the electrodynamics of the polar ionosphere. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021016075852.htm (via Jilly Dybka, TN, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-175, November 9, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1155: WWCR: Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15039 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; North America Sun 1500 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1155.html WORLD OF RADIO WEBCASTS On 7 November I decided to listen to WOR 1155 via the WOR web site. I started listening at 23:14 UTC, expecting to finish listening in time to join the BBC domestic coverage of the cricket from Australia, which commenced at 00:00 UTC. However, due to the huge amount of buffering (or at least I assume that is what it was) which caused extensive breaks in programming - often mid-word, it took me all of 47 minutes to listen to the 29-minute programme, thus not finishing until 00:01 UTC on 8 November. Unfortunately, Spectrum 558 International no longer carries WRN programming during the daytime, so the extremely short period of time in which I was able to listen to WOR at 09:00am local time on Saturday mornings in London ended a few weeks ago, and with SW listening opportunities reducing due to propagation conditions, the only real way I have to listen to WOR and COM is via the net (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, swprograms via DXLD) Use the low bandwidth version or download it. If you use a program designed to do so, you can stop downloading to do something else and then resume downloading from where you stopped. I'm not sure why people need a high bandwidth version of a program that is almost all talk and is intended to be heard on shortwave but de gustibus non est disputandem (Joel Rubin, swprograms via DXLD) GH: I prefer hearing W.O.R. via the low version and streaming. Using streaming in this case is better since the complete show is heard without interruption; in download the file stops about two-thirds through the program (and the echo increases more as the recording continues, especially after 10-15 mins.). (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia) ** AFGHANISTAN. [Cumbre DX] Commando Solo Notes Here is what I noticed/heard on the Discovery show- Two frequencies seen- 864 and 8700 kHz. Information Radio was played out using a Sony MD player. The show talked about the 4th PSYOPS and its role in creating leaflets, but never really indicated that they produced the programs. I don't believe that they did. At least 40% of the broadcasts were music. The base of the aircraft was not revealed, but they said it took them an hour to get over Afghanistan. The radios dropped were limited Commando Solo's frequency (I suspect this refers to the AM freq.) (All via Johnson Cumbre DX Nov 9 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15475.55, R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel Nov 1 2055- 2056* Spanish, Talk. Full ID at 2056 by man. 2056 s/off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) Reminding us that this is regularly heard in Japan, seldom reported from North America ** ASCENSION ISLAND. See SAINT HELENA ** AUSTRALIA/UZBEKISTAN. Some changes of Christian Vision, Voice International, B-02: 11850 0100-0400 41 TAC 100 153 Hindi, fr Nov 9 UZB VIL CVI 13770 1900-2100 41,49,54 DRW 250 303 English, fr Nov 11 21680 0530-0600 54 DRW 250 290 Indonesian AUS VIL CVI (NWDXC, Nov 9 via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. ROI TO BE CLOSED Just a quick and dirty summary; I am tired and was already to shut down the PC when I found this: ORF plans to wind up Radio Austria International and to keep only two hours of ORF programming per day on shortwave; otherwise the transmitter will be leased out. Attempts are being made to convince the ORF council to reject this plan. Well, not really a surprise. Yeah, bring on the gospel huxters!!! Seems I should indeed go to bed now... (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ---Ursprüngliche Nachricht--- Subject: [A-DX] ROI, wieder einmal Gute Nacht. 73 Christoph Ratzer, Austria, A-DX via Ludwig, DXLD) Aus der österreichischen Tageszeitung "DIE PRESSE" 08.11.2002 ORF-Kurzwelle bangt um ihr Überleben Besorgnis und Betroffenheit herrschen bei den 35 Mitarbeitern des ORF-"Radio Österreich International", deren Sender, wie einst Blue Danube Radio, eingestellt werden könnte. Chef und Betriebsrat kämpfen. VON BERNHARD BAUMGARTNER Es geht um eineinhalb Millionen Euro pro Jahr. So groß ist der Einsparungseffekt, den der ORF laut internen Papieren durch das Zusperren des Kurzwellenradios "Radio Österreich International" erreichen will. Eine kleine Zahl nur in einem großen Konvolut von Einsparungen. Doch für die nach zahllosen Kürzungen noch verbliebenen 35 Mitarbeiter des Senders könnte das das Ende ihrer Tätigkeit bedeuten. Denn etliche sind leicht kündbare freie Mitarbeiter, andere - obwohl Redakteure - fürchten, daß sich wegen mangelnder Deutschkenntnisse kein Job für ihre Weiterbeschäftigung finden lassen wird. Entsprechend gedrückt ist die Stimmung im Sender, der in den vergangenen Jahren wahre Kürzungs-Stakkati über sich ergehen lassen mußte. 1998, als noch auf Rechnung der Bundesregierung gearbeitet wurde, standen jährlich 160 Millionen Schilling zur Verfügung. In den vergangenen Jahren wurde zunächst auf 90, dann auf 45 Millionen Schilling gekürzt. Für heuer - als erstmals der ORF die Kosten für das Radio tragen muß - stehen 2,5 Millionen Euro zur Verfügung. Was einst 80 Mitarbeiter leisteten, muß nun von 35 erledigt werden. "Wenn nicht alle so viel Goodwill einbringen würden, könnten wir hier gleich zusperren", meint ein Redakteur zur "Presse". Der aktuelle Plan der Geschäftsführung, so heißt es, umfaßt die Schließung von RÖI als Redaktion, wobei die Sendeanlagen bis auf zwei Stunden pro Tag, in denen Ö1 gesendet wird, vermietet werden. Die verbliebenen RÖI-Redakteure sollen Nachrichten für Ö1 und FM4 zuliefern und ein englischsprachiges Service für den Internetdienst "ORF ON" gestalten. Doch bis dahin versuchen Betriebsrat Adalbert Krims und RÖI-Chef Michael Kerbler zu retten, was noch zu retten ist. Zwar ist die Entscheidung zur Schließung intern gefallen, eine Zustimmung des Stiftungsrates steht jedoch noch aus. Krims appellierte daher in einem offenen Brief an die Räte, den Sender nicht sterben zulassen: Nicht nur daß Österreich bei einer Schließung von RÖI der einzige Staat der Welt ohne Auslandsdienst sei, die Kurzwelle sei zudem das einzige Medium, das "jederzeit, überall und für jedermann sofort verfügbaren Zugang zu Informationen gewährt". RÖI-Chef Kerbler ergänzt: "Zwei Drittel der Menschen haben keinen Zugang zu unzensurierter Information. Für die sollte die Stimme Österreichs nicht sterben." Frequenzen aufgeben? Zudem seien die Frequenzen, die im kommenden Oktober digitalisiert und somit wertvoller werden, bei einer Aufgabe von RÖI für den ORF und Österreich verloren. Kerbler schlägt daher vor, den Sender mit Werbung zu unterstützen: "Es geht nicht darum, uns was zu schenken. Wir sind der einzige Sender, der ohne Streuverluste internationales Publikum erreicht." Das Sendezentrum in Moosbrunn erhalte sich zudem durch Vermietung an andere Sender mittlerweile fast selbst. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Diese Mail wurde ueber die A-DX Mailing-Liste gesendet. Sponsored by ELITAS Enterprises. http://www.elitas.com und Christoph Ratzer - OE2CRM. http://www.ratzer.at ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Private Verwendung der A-DX Meldungen fuer Hobbyzwecke ist gestattet, jede kommerzielle Verwendung bedarf der Zustimmung des A-DX Listenbetreibers. ------ (via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Correxion: Tnx to TIN for pointing out the correct station name: 6054.42, R. Juan XXIII (tentative) 2210-2233 Weak signal at tune-in, with OM in Spanish. A jingle at 2217, then brief talk by OM, and prerecorded announcement by YL. At 2222, some theme music on flute, which was heard several times during the next 10 minutes. In between the flute theme music was alternating talk by a male and female. By tune-out, signal strength had improved to S7, with SINPO of 32232. (Maroti Nov 07) George Maroti NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I also pointed out in DXLD... (gh) ** BOUGAINVILLE. Radio Independent Mekamui Hi all, Just received a QSL letter from Sam Voron for Radio Independent Mekamui, 3850 kHz 80 watts. To quote (verbatim): "Broadcasting from the 15 km no-go zone centred on the Panguna copper mine and defended by the peoples Mekamui Defense Force (MDF). The no- go zone is set up by the current traditional land-owner Francis Ona, President of the Mekamui National Congress. This congress is the voice of the traditional chiefs supporting the no-go zone in Central Bougainville." "The short wave radio station is the people's only communications to the outside world. Living in the mountains and jungles around the mine site, the people set up the no-go zone to stop efforts to regain control of the mine now that the 10 year civil war has ended and peace restored" Sam now has an e-mail address: svoron@hotmail.com Regards, (Paul Ormandy, Host of The South Pacific DX Report http://radiodx.com Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see SOLOMON, SOMALIA ** BRAZIL. Radio Nacional da Amazônia has been heard on air on every morning of the week Nov.4 to 9th around 0730 on both 6180 and 11780. Previously, the station had only been heard at this time on Sundays. They have the usual mix of phone in and music programme. Reception good and clear on both frequencies currently (Noel R. Green [Blackpool-NW England], Nov 9, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Desde que foi ao ar pela primeira vez, o programa Além Fronteiras, da Rádio Canção Nova, já recebeu informes de recepção de 45 países. A informação foi dada no programa de 09 de novembro. O Além Fronteiras vai ao ar, nos sábados, entre 2200 e 2300, em 4825, 6105 e 9675 kHz (Célio Romais, RS, @tividade DX Nov 10 via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. New updated schedule for Radio Bulgaria's DX MIX px in Russian: Sat 1545-1600 1224 7500 9400 9900 Sun 0045-0100 7500 1715-1730 7500 9900 0445-0500 1224 7500 9500 1945-2000 7500 9900 1145-1200 11700 15200 (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 8 via DXLD) How about DX programs in English and other languages? ** CANADA. 2040.00, CFTR Toronto, (presumed) (harmonic 3 x 680) Oct 28, 1059, male/female announcer team with local news, partial ID "C...News Time", ads for HEPCOE Credit Union, phone numbers with 416 Toronto area code, poor signal with fair peaks(Mark Mohrmann, Coventry VT, NRD 535D V-Beam 140m @180 degrees; "VT-DX": http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Maybe it is only in the Pacific region (i.e. not mentioned in the CBC daily "Hotsheet") is a 7 a.m. PST Saturday? tribute to the late Otto Lowy and his nostalgia and operetta program "The Transcontinental" with host Gordon Hunt coming out of retirement to narrate (Dan Say, swprograms via DXLD) Used to be on at 7 am PST Sunday. Presumably same show as ON STAGE: (gh) ON STAGE: This week, OnStage presents A Tribute to Otto Lowy, the late and much-beloved host of CBC's The Transcontinental. Soprano Phoebe MacRae and violinist Joan Blackman join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey. Works include Richard Rodney Bennett's The Orient Express Waltz, plus works by Lehar, Dvorak, Elgar and more. That's On Stage, with host Eric Friesen, Sunday afternoon at 2 (2:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two. Sunday night at 8 (9 AT, 9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. CBC Previews for Monday, November 11: REMEMBRANCE DAY SPECIAL: ***also available on CBC Television as part of today's Big Picture special*** Join host Bernie McNamee today for the Service of Remembrance live from Parliament Hill and the National War Memorial in Ottawa. This broadcast includes the traditional two- minute silence at 11 a.m. ET, but the special actually begins a few minutes earlier. That's the Service of Remembrance, live from Ottawa, this morning starting at 10:57 Eastern Time on CBC Radio One. AS IT HAPPENS SPECIAL: Tune in to As it Happens tonight for a special on Iraq. The program examines Iraq's future if Saddam Hussein is overthrown. You'll hear Iraqi exiles living in Canada, as well as experts on the Middle East. The main question is whether Saddam's regime can be replaced by a true democracy, or whether, as Iraqis fear, they will end up living under an American military occupation for years to come. That's on As it Happens, with Mary Lou Finlay and Barbara Budd, tonight at 6:30 (7 NT) on CBC Radio One. (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. REMEMBRANCE DAY 2002 http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/remembranceday.htm Gander Academy`s web page dedicated to Remembrance Day in Canada. It also features links to Veteran`s Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Australia. REMEMBRANCE AND THE POPPY http://www.legion.ca/english/rday.htm From the Royal Canadian Legion web page, this page features information and history on Remembrance Day in Canada, the poppy, the emblem of Remembrance Day and other related material (Sheldon Harvey, Radio HF Internet Newsletter Nov 8 via DXLD) ** CANADA. CANADIAN FORCES STATION CFH MILL COVE, NOVA SCOTIA http://webhome.idirect.com/~jproc/rrp/mc_mill_cove.html A historical perspective on the Canadian Forces radio station in Mill Cove, Nova Scotia, call sign CFH (via Jerry Proc, Toronto, Ontario, Nov 8 Radio HF Internet Newsletter via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Unidentified (presumed, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church) 6715-USB 2203-2227(S/off?). Male singing, possibly in Spanish, hymn-like vocals without musical accompaniment. Spoken word, briefly at 2217, barely audible, followed by more singing until 2227. Nothing else noted after this. Poor and weak with lots of static. I have info (via DXLD of course) stating FGLC broadcasts twice on Sunday,1000 and 1800 UTC. I'll give a listen and see if an ID is possible (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Doubt it`s Spanish, tho possible in Spain. Since the station has not been known to emit a formal (or any kind of) ID, we can safely make presumptions without it (gh, DXLD) {should now run Fridays to -2330v*} ** CHINA. The 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party opens on Friday. In the past 13 years since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee, a historic breakthrough for China's reform and opening up has been achieved. CRI will present a series of in-depth reports on the conference beginning on November 10. (--Jim, CRI Shortwave http://pw2.netcom.com/~jleq/cri1.htm swprograms Nov 9 via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. I see that nobody seems to hear Radio Bayrak on 6150 kHz? In Germany it is being heard even past midnight UT, seems to be on "all-night" now. The transmitter is reported slightly off- frequency. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {rather, heard in Austria} ** CZECH REPUBLIC. 15725, Radio Prague; English magazine program. ID at 1409. SIO=3+53+ (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 8 via DXLD Date/day? Actually, [non], I suppose WRMI playing back Prague at a time additional to scheduled 0400 in English. Sat Nov 9 at 1400-1420+ was playing classical piano music, very welcome even if only filling? (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Antes tarde do que nunca! Quando tudo parecia perdido, eis que a Rádio Cairo resolve mudar a freqüência em que emite em português. A decisão ocorreu após anos de torturas para os ouvidos dos brasileiros, já que a freqüência antes utilizada, 15420 kHz, em 19 metros, sofria problemas técnicos gravíssimos. Então, tome nota: a Rádio Cairo, em português, agora, transmite em 11790 kHz, entre 2215 e 2330. Já foi ouvida, em Porto Alegre (RS), em 6 de novembro, às 2311, quando o locutor fazia o seguinte anúncio: "queremos lembrar que agora estamos na faixa de 25 metros, freqüência de 11790 kHz ...". Parabéns à Rádio Cairo pela mudança! Oxalá que todos passem a prestigiar a emissora, enviando suas reportagens de sintonia. Endereço para contato: Caixa Postal 566, Cairo 11511, República Árabe do Egito (Célio Romais, RS, @tividade DX Nov 10 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 9704.2, R. Ethiopia Oct 30 *1459-1509 34332-33332 Amharic, 1459 s/on with IS. ID. Tree gong. News (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Nov 8 via DXLD) ** GAMBIA. RADIO HAM SHOT BY GAMBIA KIDNAPPERS By Nicola Woolcock (Filed: 07/11/2002) telegraph.co.uk A former soldier who retired to The Gambia was kidnapped and murdered 12 days after arriving in Africa. Ronald Ford, 66, moved to the country in September after building a house there, believing it would be a peaceful place to live. His body was found, however, less than two weeks later in a shallow grave, just across the border in Senegal. He is believed to have been kidnapped by a gang, robbed and shot in the stomach and head. The radio ham from Waterlooville, Hants, wanted to move mainly because of The Gambia's good quality signal and reception. But friends became worried when his broadcasts stopped with no explanation and alerted his family. The widower was reported as officially missing when he failed to return to Britain as intended on Oct 14. Four London officers were then sent to The Gambia and, helped by the country's police force, followed a trail that led to Mr Ford's body. A post-mortem examination conducted in Britain showed he had suffered wounds to his wrist and ribs while trying to escape his attackers. An inquest has been opened and adjourned. The father-of-five's manservant, Dawda Bojang, has been charged with murder and four other men have been charged with being accessories to murder. 73 (via Kim Elliott, DC, DXLD) ** GOA. On 7th November 2002, AIR Panaji was noted on 9820 instead of 7115 at 1615-1830 to West Asia in Persian and Malayalam. By the way, 9820 is used at 1300-1500 and 1530-1545 in Sinhala and English. Today, 8th November, their morning transmissions were missing. The complete schedule of AIR Panaji is now uploaded in dx_india files at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dx_india/files/AIR%20Panaji ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda Hyderabad, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** GERMANY EAST. What a FASCINATING Account or should I say Accounts (leaving 'mine' out, which was only speculation) of the 1323 kHz situation in (East) Germany. It must have been a lot of effort, printing all this up, also for the knowledgeable Contributors. Unfortunately it looks as though VOR are not using this frequency in the B-02 1800-2200 UT to Europe 'Block'. I see it is listed though for 0600-1000, possibly some interesting alternative listening at Breakfast Time, for at least December 2002, January 2003 and possibly for a short while at beginning of February 2003, when a partial Darkness Path exists between Germany and UK, for at least part of this 'Block' (Ken Fletcher, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Continuing the discussion in DXLD 2-171; delayed as I try to sort out who is saying something new and who is quoting whom. Still not sure I have it clear --gh :] Re Andy Cadier`s comments of Oct 29 in DXLD 2-169: Comment: There is something wrong with the facts given above. 1323 Zyyi CYPRUS BBC relay is broadcast with 200 kW towards the Middle East at 150 degrees, never disturbed the V. of Russia (Radio Moscow) target in western Europe. Re: 1322/1323 kHz. Radio Moscow / Voice of Russia relay in Germany between 1950 and 2002. Already in WRH 1950/51 (edited Oct/Nov 1950) 227 m (1322 kHz) is listed for R Moscow German and English. A Swedish frequency list from 1951 (edited by Arne Skoog) mentions Leipzig II with MDR on 1322. In WRTH 1947 (the very first edition, edited Nov 1947), R Moscow German is listed on 1571 m LW [= 191 kHz the former Nazi Deutschlandsender frequency, which was then co-channel with Motala, Sweden, when Copenhagen plan came into effect on March 15, 1950, wb]. It seems that 1322 was introduced with the implementation of the Copenhagen plan in March 1950, although the site assigned by the plan was Uzhgorod, Ukrainian SSR. The second MW transmitter at Wiederau became operational already in April 1947 on 722 kHz. Obviously due to co-channel interference from Hilversum, it moved to 1465 according to Arne Skoog's freq list from late 1948, so that is from where it arrived on 1322 in 1950. The third 100 kW MW transmitter, made by Funkwerk Koepenick, became operational on 19 Dec 1963 according to "100 Jahre Funktechnik in Deutschland". Indeed the situation in the GDR became troublesome from March 1950. The GDR authorities tried to keep to the plan during the first months of the Copenhagen plan, but very soon reopened a number of lower power transmitters. The exclusive frequency that was handed over by the Soviets was 782, not 1322, as 1322 obviously remained in the hands of the Soviets, although from a different site than the one assigned by the plan. The measures taken to restore broadcast coverage in the GDR also included the reopening of the 191 kHz LW transmitter, now on 185 kHz. The 191 frequency had been "confiscated" by the allied powers and was assigned to Motala (Sweden). As a result, there was a bad whistle on 191 all over the part of Sweden south of the primary coverage area of Motala (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Nov 2 via Bueschel) A GDR publication from the eighties described as reason for the quick establishment of FM broadcasting after 1945 the very unfavourable frequency allocations in the Kopenhagen schedule. The book states, there were coverage problems on mediumwave despite the forced construction of high power transmitters and the help of the Soviet Union who left an exclusive frequency to the GDR. Now it is quite clear that this "exclusive frequency" was in fact 1322! [and 782 & 263, see BELOW, wb] As well-known many former USSR frequencies are operated from other places than the officially registered ones: Bolshakovo instead of Kaunas on 1386, Grigoriopol` instead of Vinnytsa on 1548 etc. etc. Certainly we can put 1323 into this list as an especially remarkable case: Leipzig [now Wachenbrunn] instead of Uzhgorod (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 2, via Bueschel) On the booklets "Technik im Rundfunk" of 1985, ISBN 3-87533-004-8 and "Der deutsche Rundfunk" of 1994, ISBN 3-7685-2394-2 cleared up on the Copenhagen Plan figures. Issued at the conference on 14-09-1948. Plan started on 15-03-1950 at 0100 GMT. All Germany lost its long established powerful MW frequencies as loser of WW II totally. On 15-03-1950 the GDR had to SWITCH OFF of the GDR transmitters at Potsdam, Schwerin, Bernburg, Erfurt, and longwave KoenigsWusterhausen 191 kHz units too. Silence on these frequencies lasted til August 1950! But nobody in Europe kept peace on the frequency registration plan of Copenhagen, and the GDR decided to use Schwerin 20 kW again on 1439 kHz from 15-05-1950. In August 1950 the 20 kW units at Erfurt 1061 kHz and Bernburg 1196 kHz started again regular service too. One declaration of the conference was to suppress all German transmitters, strictly limited to 70 kW of power. The entries for Soviet Zone of GER was 70 kW on 1043 and 1570 kHz only! To fill the need of the society gap the USSR loaned the USSR- registered frequency of 782 kHz [Kiev II] to the GDR authorities in addition. 782 kHz, which was first aimed for the Radio Wolga Red Army radio seervice in the Soviet zone of Germany. There was a frequency loan between USSR and Soviet Zone of Germany (GDR), as the GDR station could take over the frequencies originally registered for USSR at the Copenhagen Conference in 1948. Moscow II / KoenigsWusterhausen-GDR 263 kHz [Soviet Red Army Radio "R Volga"] Kiev / Burg-GDR 782 kHz Ushgorod / Leipzig-GDR 1322 kHz [Radio Moscow External Sce] GDR 1950. I have access to the WRH/WRTH's of 1952/1953, and 1959 to 2002. WRH editoring final date was in October 1952. And WRH 1952 had already the entry: 1322 Leipzig 100 kW [USSR zone]. Leipzig Wiederau consisted of TWO 100 kW Lorenz transmitters at the Nazi Germany era, one of 1935 on more or less fixed frequency, the other from 1939 with variable frequency selection, the latter in order to jam UK black radio outlets during WW II and also to mislead the radio officers on the allied bomber fleets. Similar ones of the latter type, used on all main German Reichspost transmitter sites during the years of Allied bombing actions. A third transmitter of GDR Koepenick type was installed at Leipzig Wiederau in 1963. But apart from the R GDR domestic service outlet 575 kHz, I guess to remember me, that the second LORENZ Leipzig transmitter was already in use on 1322 kHz for Soviet Army R station (R Moscow in Russian relay) and interspersed by R Moscow services in German language, at least from mid 1950. At this time from July 1st, 1952, Koenigswusterhausen have got the new GDR-made 200 kW transmitter, and freed the old 100 kW Deutschlandsender unit which used for R Moscow relays/Radio Wolga army service, previously on longwave 191 kHz. From the Nazi era Leipzig Wiederau transmitter site consisted of two LORENZ MW transmitters of 100 kW each, built up in 1935 and 1939. One transmitter on 1322 kHz used for combined Radio Volga Red Army radio service and Radio Moscow relay in German, English and Dutch[!], latter RM service consisted also of the radio service of "Committee For Returning Into The Home Country" - remove the USSR immigrants from Western Europe into USSR. The second transmitter on 575 kHz broadcast the GDR program "Berlin III", in 1952 during the centralization of the GDR radio renamed to "Radio DDR I". (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx Nov 3) Kai Ludwig wrote in an e-mail on this matter: During the years both transmitters were used alternately for each service. See this page: http://mitglied.lycos.de/JanBalzer/wiederau/mittel.htm From top to bottom 100 kW LORENZ transmitter installed in 1939 (theoretically still ready for operation), 100 kW Funkwerk Koepenick transmitter from 19-12-1963 (stand-by for 783; note the ordinary radio as modulation monitor), 5 kW Lorenz (ex 729 kHz, shut down in 1991 but at least two years ago still ready for operation), 100 kW Thomcast transmitter from 1998/1999 (current 783 kHz unit). 1323 move from Leipzig to Wachenbrunn. Work at the new Wachenbrunn installation started in 1987, and real on air tests could be heard in July and August in 1989. In 24-09-1989 the new facility at Wachenbrunn took over the transmissions on 1323. Perhaps WB can tell more about the switch-over, he noted a stronger signal and changed modulation characteristics, wrote to the unit of the GDR postal office responsible for transmitter operations and got a reply which revealed that the new 1323 site was not Nauen, as the DX community believed until then, because Nauen site was registered in the Génève registration schedule [of 1978] but instead Wachenbrunn. In 1987-1989 at Wachenbrunn the transmitter building got an extension where a 1000 kW [2 x 500 kW] and a 150 kW [2 x 75 kW] transmitter of Kominterna Leningrad were installed; the transmitters are labelled as PDSW-1000 and DSW-150. Also a four tower antenna [of 125 meters tall each] was constructed, placed in some distance from the old facilities, the feeder line even crosses a public road. In main direction of 220 degrees even the Spanish and French services were relayed, and of course English, German and Russian language sections too. For many years 1323 was always transmit towards 220 degrees, but since some time during daytime a beam of 310 degrees is in use instead. Apparently this resulted in a noticeably stronger signal in the UK, leading to the misbelief that VOR would be new on 1323. Head of the Russian staff was Juri Wladimirowitsch Kudin who had built up many of the USSR superpower stations before (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct; 100 Jahre Funktechnik; Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subject: Re: GDR 1956 / 1952 I have access to the WRH/WRTH's of 1952/1953, and 1959 to 2002. October 1952, WRH editoring final date. Longwave co-channel Motala 191 [SWEDEN] ceased already [20-08-1946- 1951], 185 Berlin II, KöWu on 185 kHz 100 kW [from July 1, 1952 with 200 kW Köpenick unit]. Maybe the other KöWu unit soon after July 1st, moved to 263 kHz (Moscow II) 100 kW. Like as a frequency loan, as Uzhgorod/Leipzig 1322 kHz, or Kiev/Burg 782 kHz. 575 Potsdam 20 kW 728 Berlin I 20 kW [Schwerin, 01-09-1946 on 1231 kHz, 19-11-1946 1235.2, March 1950 1484 and then 1439, from April 1951 on 728 kHz, 13-10-1953 with 250 kW] 782 Berlin I 300 kW [KöWu 100 kW, moved from Tegel West Berlin, from 20-03-1949 on 841 kHz, from 15-03-1950 on 782 kHz, later on 15-12-1953 the 782 kHz moved to Burg, new 250 kW unit; KöWu from 15-12-1953 on 881 kHz] 800 Berlin I 20 kW [to jam Munich Ismaning Bavaria 100 kW] 910 Berlin II 2 kW [rather Dresden-Bautzen-Reichenbach unit, later on 917 kHz] 1016 Berlin II 2 kW [to jam SWF Rheinsender 70 kW] 1043 Berlin III 100 kW [Leipzig 100 kW, 1043 kHz moved 01-09-1953 to Dresden Wilsdruff, or at 08-05-1954 according to another source] 1196 Berlin II 20 kW [Bernburg unit, to jam VoA Ismaning 150 kW] 1322 Leipzig 100 kW [USSR zone] 1484 Berlin III 2 kW 1570 Berlin III 2 kW and SW 6115 7150 9730. The usage of 575 kHz at Leipzig Wiederau [co-channel Stuttgart !] is not printed out, seemingly happened around Sept 1953, or in May 1954 according to another source. The Berlin Uhlenhorst unit started on ?611? or ?782? kHz at 06-07- 1952. No start frequency of Uhlenhorst could be found so far. - - - - - - - - - - - - - Also the booklet "Technik im Rundfunk" of 1985, ISBN 3-87533-004-8 and "Der deutsche Rundfunk" of 1994, ISBN 3-7685-2394-2 clears up on the Copenhagen Plan figures. Issued at 14-09-1948. Start on 15-03-1950 at 0100 GMT. On March 15, 1950 the GDR had to SWITCH OFF the GDR transmitters at Potsdam, Schwerin, Bernburg, Erfurt, and longwave KöWu 191 kHz unit. Silence on these frequencies lasted till August 1950! But nobody in Europe kept peace on the frequency registration plan of Copenhagen, and the GDR decided to use Schwerin 20 kW again on 1439 kHz from 15-05-1950. In August 1950 the 20 kW units at Erfurt 1061 kHz and Bernburg 1196 kHz started again regular service. All German transmitters limited to 70 kW of power. Soviet Zone 70 kW on 1043 and 1570 kHz only ! In addition the USSR loaned the USSR-registered frequency of 782 kHz [Kiev II] to the GDR authorities. 782 kHz, which was first aimed for the R Wolga Red Army service. British Zone 70 kW on 971 1586 and BFN 1214 [! Ex-Nazi Norden Osterloog propaganda unit] kHz. French Zone 70 kW on 1196 [!! later in 1951 confiscated by VoA Munich 150 kW RCA unit] 70 kW on 1538, 25 kW on 1403 kHz, but latter frequency confiscated by France for the Parisienne program via five 20 kW within France. American zone 70 kW on 989 1602, and AFN 1554. Real situation on 01-04-1951: British Zone Hamburg and Langenberg 50 kW 971. Hannover and Oldenburg 20 kW, Bonn 2 kW, Osnabrück 5 kW, 1586. [Hannover ex movable/portable Nazi army tx "Martha" ex used in Ukraine during WW II. Later changed to the longwave range, and moved from Hannover to Mainflingen, started on 01-12-1962 on longwave Deutschlandfunk 151 kHz with 20 kW. At 24-06-1963 dismantled, because no tubes of the WW II era were available then. The technical staff of Mainflingen re-built that "Martha" 20 kW unit in 1975 in order to use the frequency of 209/207 kHz for DLF in south-east Germany, registered previously for USA/Germany {ex 171 kHz}, when the Geneva plan came into effect on 23-11-1978. The "Marta" unit was in use between 23-11- 1978 and 04-07-1979. According to a contract between USA and German Bundespost, at 01-03-1979 the German Post technicians had access to the Continental beasts at Erching. On 04-07-1979 the DLF started usage of ex VOA transmitter Munich Erching, 209 kHz 500 kW at daytime, and changed to 207 kHz on 01-02-1988. Erching was replaced by DLF Aholming on 01-02-1989.] Braunschweig and Flensburg 2 kW 755. 2 kW 1484 at Göttingen, Herford, and 5 kW Osterloog. Special agreement WestBerlin 15 kW on 566 Athlone- IRELAND. BFN 1214 kHz Berlin 5, Hannover, Langenberg, Pinneberg 20 kW each, Herford 10. [Langenberg 20 kW unit: ex movable/portable Nazi army tramsmitter "Anton", ex used in France at Channel and Atlantic coast area during WW II]. BFN Bonn 1 kW 1367 kHz. French Zone Wolfsheim 70, 1016 kHz. Bad Dürrheim 20, Reutlingen 5, 1538 kHz. Freiburg 18, Sigmaringen 5, Kaiserslautern 2, BadenBaden and Trier 1 kW, 827 kHz. American Zone München 100 962 kHz, replaced by 800 kHz on 12-07-1951. Nürnberg 20 1602. Regensburg 2 1484. Frankfurt 100 593 kHz. [ex movable/portable Nazi army tx "Gustav"] Fritzlar 5 917 kHz Stuttgart Mühlacker 100 575 kHz. Bad Mergentheim 1 890. Ulm Jungingen 1 980. Bremen 2 kW 1358 kHz. (US American harbour) AFN Munich Ismaning 100 548. Berlin 1 611. Bayreuth 10 665. Frankfurt 10 935. Stuttgart Mühlacker 40 1106. RIAS Berlin Britz 100 989. [Britz reserve unit of 20 kW, started on 01-06-1947 at Britz, ex movable/portable Nazi army tx "Heinrich", ex used in Belgrade Stubline "Soldatensender Belgrade" during WW II] Hof 40 719 kHz. [latter frequency used later in 1951/1952 for RFE Holzkirchen, 135 kHz RCA unit] VOA Munich Ismaning 150 kW 1196. French controlled Saargebiet: 20 kW 1421 kHz. Berlin 611 kHz - 20 [from 03-05-1952 with 250 kW from Berlin Uhlenhorst site, also two Nazi war time transmitters of 1 x 5 kW and 2 x 2 kW at Berlin Uhlenhorst] (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. I've had them as a tentative before, but tonight at 2202 EST on 840 I got a clear 4VEH ID ("Radio quatre-vay-uh-ash"). Still in with a great signal here at 2220 - gent with slow FF preaching, somewhat muffled audio, and occasional musical interludes... go get 'em! (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, Ont., Nov 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) 840 HAITI, 4VEH, R. Evangélique, Port au Prince, 11/7 0400 [UT?] fair to good at peaks under WHAS and mixing with Spanish music, presumably Cuba. Male speaking with occasional music; very poor and muddy audio. No ID heard, but format and content matches Barry McLarnon's dxtip. (Thanks, Barry!) New (David Hochfelder, NJ, IRCA via DXLD) ** INDIA. At 1200 I heard All India Radio in Tamil on 13710, 15770 and 17810; it switches to Telugu at 1215 (and those channels are listed in PWBR-``03`` sans languages). Good signals on the 16 and 22 mb outlets, coming from high-power transmitters. 15795 in Chinese is very bad here at 1200, likely suffering from Chinese jamming (it's not the music jammers tho). (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GOA ** INDONESIA. Despite the conditions were not good tonight (compared to previous two days) I noted V. of Indonesia in English playing lovely Indonesian music at 2030 UT on 9524.87, 33333. Station's European service heard very irregularly lately. 73 (Wolfgang df5sx Bueschel, Germany, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. There seems to be a general misunderstanding of the issues involved in bringing BBCWS to you via Direct TV. Maybe I can help. First: Direct TV has no ability to generate a SAP signal from your satellite receiver. The receivers are not designed to do this. Second: As I understand it, the "Music Choice" channels are provided by a third party music service. I talked to Echostar's Dish Network at one time about a problem I was having with their equivalent music service and I was told that their music service is a pass-through from the provider. They had neither the ability to modify the stream nor to correct the problem I was experiencing. They also seemed unwilling to lean on their provider to get the problem fixed. The problem was that one of the classical music services was in mono when their advertising said in should be CD quality stereo. It was still in mono when I downgraded my service to eliminate the Dish Network music services a week ago. Dish does not seem to think the music channels are a big draw according to the customer service rep I chatted with. If Direct TV were to add BBCWS and/or WRN as a separate service their are also rights issues to be overcome. Third: BBC has entered into an exclusive agreement with Public Radio International to redistribute BBCWS in the USA for rebroadcast via public radio stations. BBC and WRN also have contracts with Sirius and XM satellite radio for direct broadcast to homes and vehicles. Distribution of BBCWS via other means would likely require modification of these existing contracts which may not be possible until contract renewal time. Fourth: The audio channels on both Direct TV and on Dish Network are not encrypted. Anyone with a free-to-air MPEG-2 receiver can pull in the audio services from Dish Network without a subscription and because the transmissions are not encrypted, doing so for personal use, is legal in my opinion. The MPEG-2 receivers are sold legally in the USA. There are also ways to use the Direct TV receivers with obsolete conditional access cards to listen to the unencrypted audio on Direct TV. That would also be legal in my opinion. If BBCWS or WRN were included in Direct TV or Dish Network audio streams, they could siphon off listeners from the existing services which generate revenue for the BBCWS and WRN. Thus, there is little incentive for BBCWS or WRN to agree to such an arrangement. Fifth: Dish Network runs a program called "Charlie Chat" once a month where Echostar Chairman Charlie Ergen answers the mail and promotes upcoming service changes. I remember once a subscriber asking that Dish Network ad CBC's Newsworld International channel that is presently carried on Direct TV. Charlie essentially said "no" because there was no demand and they had lots of news channels already. Lets face it, until the people who control the satellite services can be convinced that there is sufficient demand for them to try to bust the existing contracts with PRI, Sirius, and XM, why should they spend any money to add these services. Until the give-a-shit level of the typical USA listener/viewer rises to a more global understanding and caring, that demand will never develop. Now you see BBCWS and WRN on high-end market services like public radio and pay radio. Over time, these services may influence the collective American psyche sufficiently to interest mass market media. Until then, I don't think it will happen. My advice is to get a Sirius receiver if you are happy with WRN and BBC news or an XM receiver if you want the broader BBCWS stream. (Joe Buch, DE, Nov 8, swprograms via DXLD) Or, better yet, invest in a decently sensitive shortwave receiver and/or improve your home antenna system. My own personal feeling about Sirius and XM is that I would pay for either the hardware or the monthly carrying charge, but not both. And I'm an investor. Given the extremely limited circumstances under which one can make use these satellite services, the expense is just too great. Yes, XM has taken steps (with Sony and Delphi) to make them available more ubiquitously; but at a cost that just doesn't make sense to me at this point. Your mileage may vary (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) ** IRAN. Re: DX Listening Digest 2-174 November 7th 2002 Hi Glenn, The station I hear on 711 kHz is the VIRI regional station at Ahwaz, which is the capital of the Iran-Iraq border province of Khuzestan. This station carries programmes in Arabic as well as Persian, to cater for the province's Arabic-speaking minority. Local programming in Arabic has been noted at 2130-2230, followed at midnight local by Voice of Rebellious Iraq ("Sawt al-Iraq al-Tha'ir") 2230-0030 GMT. Regards, (Dave Kernick, UK, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 7070.65, V. of Mojahed, Nov 1 1628-1634 34333 Farsi, Talk. ID at 1629. (Kouji Hashimoto) 13420V, V. of Mojahed, Nov 4 1430-1447 34333 Farsi, Talk. ID at 1432. //13400. 13420. 13430 kHz (Kouji Hashimoto) ** IRAQ [non]. 9155, V. of Dem. Assyrian Movement, Nov 3 1640-1704 34433, Talk. ID at 1651 and 1701 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. SITE??- Amisnet News Agency via IRRS 6280 2134-2200* 11/08. English/French. End of English report mentioning the IMF and New World Order(!) [in a positive sense???]. Female with ID and frequency at 2135; web address. French programming until 2151,then choral music until cut-off at 2200. Poor, choppy signal (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re IRRS test on 6280: Only a weak signal here in eastern Germany. Frequency probably a bit low, but it is hard to make out the zero-beat in the local noise floor. That's all I can say about this poor signal (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [non]. 5102, V. of Jammu Kashmir Freedom, Oct 30 *1300-1310 33443 Kashmiri, 1300 s/on with opening music. ID. Koran. Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium Nov 8 via DXLD) 4790, Azad Kashmir Radio in Urdu, lots of talk with frequent mention of Pakistan and Musharraf, obviously they are not carrying their 1500- 1515 English broadcast anymore, 1500-1510, Nov. 08 (TR) OK, I could go on and on. At this time of the day the entire subcontinent comes in with armchair-copy-quality. Instead I shall now head into town, to my favorite hangout and have myself a great meal of Tandoori-chicken, Naahn, Birjani, Saag etc., yum... ;-) (Thomas Roth, Nepal, swl via DXLD) ** KENYA. Glenn, Why would Kenya plan an external service, go to the trouble and expense of building a plant with two new 250 kW transmitters and then abandon the project altogether? I listened to the new Koma Rock site when it was first activated in 1984, during a morning English domestic service on the 9 megs. This service, which I was able to hear for several months, included public service announcements and commercials for businesses in and around the Nairobi area. So, the site was at least activated for several months but no sign of external programs during this period. Could it have been that the government lost interest in the project from the time that it was envisioned to the time it was built?? It looks like this site may have been on the air a year or two at the most?? Any thoughts on this?? (Artie Bigley, OH [then TX?], Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. There seems to be a bit of confusion about the Mesopotamian broadcasts. There are two different stations operating, according to the IDs given, and the schedule provided through TDP. Dengi Mezopotamya-Voice Of Mesopotamia, Kurdish: 0500-1300 Daily 15675 TAC-UZB 100 kW / 256 deg 1300-1700 Daily 11530 KCH-MDA 500 kW / 116 deg Mesopotamian Radio & Television 1700-1800 7560 .tw.f.. Kurdish (ex- 12115) (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. 4025 V. of People of Kurdistan, Nov 5 1448-1507 25232-35332 Kurdish, Talk. ID at 1500. News (Kouji Hashimoto) 11530, V. of Mesopotamia, Oct 30 1333-1404 34333 Kurdish, Talk. ID at 1359. (Kouji Hashimoto) 11530, Denge Mezopotamiya, Nov 4 1258, 45444 Kurdish. Some regional music was heard till 1310, then ID by man. Strong and clear. (Gaku IWATA, Japan Premium via DXLD) 15675, Dengue Mesopotamya, 0500 - 0541, Oct 28, IS with long time of silence, also in the frequency signal in CW, at 0534 Music at 0536 March and ID "....Dengue Mesopotamya....Democratic....Dengue Mesopotamya.." by man and female announcer, 24442, (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. UNIDENTIFIED. Actually the frequencies should be 4049.95 & 4939.95. "Hit Shortwave - Hit Music on Shortwave" seems to have settled down to 4939.95. Earlier this week I heard an UNID here, but today this station gives the same IDs as did the 4050 station, inactive on 4050? (Jari Korhonen, FIN-82500 Kitee, dxing.info Nov 8 via DXLD) {time??} ** MOROCCO. Durante os últimos dias, a Rádio Medi Un está intercalando emissões em 9575 kHz e 9595 kHz. Seria um erro técnico ou ensaio para uma futura mudança? A Medi Un tem fiéis ouvintes no Brasil. São aqueles que não aceitam o que a indústria fonográfica impõe nas emissoras brasileiras, ou seja, músicas de muito mal gosto e cheias de obscenidades. Se a mudança de freqüência se efetivar, em certos horários, a sintonia da Medi Un seria dificultada, principalmente por volta de 0100. É que a All India Radio entra muito bem, neste horários, em 9595 kHz (Célio Romais, RS, @tividade DX Nov 10 via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Radio Nepal have been long known as BAAAD QSLers. Two years ago I actually visited them and asked on behalf of a German friend who had sent them a dozen reception reports over the years. And they said, "Oh yes, we have those reports!" and showed me a big stack of UNOPENED mail from all over the world, some of it years old, and "What about it?" I tried to explain to them the idea of reports and QSLs which just earned me blank stares and shrugs... On top of that they ARE desperately poor, Radio Nepal that is. So, apart from that fact I just think there isn't anybody who cares enough - that's the sad state of affairs. The idea of folks listening to far- away radio stations and then even send them a report about it, expecting some sort of verification is just a bit too alien to folks in a country where the station engineer goes taxidriving in the evenings to feed his family. With the present crisis, an unpopular king who ousted the elected government and appointed a new one, so-called Maoist rebels who don't seem to have any program beyond killing people and the economy in a complete shambles, I think we can all just bury our hopes for a QSL from Radio Nepal. Matter of fact, my personal believe is: if it weren't a good propaganda instrument which the king makes good use of, a 'Radio Nepal' would have long ceased to be... Tape them if you can and let that be your QSL. OK, now I'm really off. Get back to you folks in about two weeks. Good luck with the 'South-Asia-Country-Challenge"!!! Don't forget to check 10330 kHz with India's Vividh Bharati Sce. 73 de (Thomas, DL1CQ, Roth, FISTS #6402, presently in Kathmandu/Nepal, 9N Sony ICF2001D/2010, Sangean ATS-909 swl Nov 8 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4790.02, Radio Atlántida, 8 Nov, 1020, slow ballads, announcer with religious talk, 1030 canned ID and ads including Christmas announcements. Fair signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry VT, NRD 535D V-Beam 140m @180 degrees; DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. RDPI: Nas terças-feiras, às 0025, Teresa Morgado apresenta o Correio do Ouvinte, com espaço para informações dexistas no espaço DX - Internet. Confiram! De terças a sábados, as emissões ocorrem no seguinte esquema: entre 0000 e 0300, em 9715, 11655, 11980, 13700 e 13770 kHz (Célio Romais, RS, @tividade DX Nov 10 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. [Continuing thread in DXLD 2-174 about regional stations] The next question would be: are 5940-7320-9530 with or without regional program? And is 9600 inactive now? (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That's a super question - Bernd. I've been trying to find some regional activity when I hear Yakutsk and Magadan around 0700 / 0800 but have not succeeded in doing so yet. Yakutsk used to have programmes in a local language, but I haven`t heard these either. I tune regularly over 9600 at this same time, and have not heard Magadan on this frequency for a long time - not even when 9530 has been audible. I do recollect reading that this frequency had closed - it would be interesting to know if their fourth transmitter is still operational. Is Yakutsk operating on 60m? Or just 7345 & 7200? Arkhangel`sk, Perm and Krasnoyarsk are not now audible here at times I have been listening, and reception of Murmansk is very variable - they used to have a local news and "reklama" session around 0800 - I'm not sure if they still do. Any information from all of you Russian experts up in the north is always very welcome! It would be nice to get together an accurate listing of Russian regional activity - and any local programmes they broadcast. Best 73's, (Noel Green, England, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The "Magadan" transmitters were heard with R. Rossii only, so strictly speaking the location is only tentative. Just like Noel I have not noted any local programming for some time. No trace of 9600 for a long time, well over a year, so this one may be gone for good. One or two years ago I heard 4825 // 7345,7200, but closing early in the day, just like 4940 (the commercial channel). The signal on 4825 was poor (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Many many years ago I heard 5940/7320/9530/9600 with Chukotka autonomous region's programme from 0720 onwards, but I don't think these fq's carry any regional services nowadays. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. Linkname: Guardian Unlimited Travel | Travel | Bonaparte's retreat http://travel.guardian.co.uk/saturdaysection/story/0,8922,836219,00.html ``....On board the RMS, we sailed in a style and comfort that da Nova could not have dreamt of - captain's cocktail parties, deck quoits, fancy-dress shindigs and multiple-course meals morning, noon and night. But the St Helena's days are probably numbered - it is the last Royal Mail ship in the world, and the islanders have voted in favour of a #102m, 10-year development project that will include an airport, a five-star hotel, golf course and luxury villas. Aboard the St Helena were about 40 tourists, mostly British with some South Africans. About 800 tourists visit the island every year, attracted by its history, but also by the natural beauty of one of the world's most remote landfalls, particularly the walks, birds, plant life, dolphins and fishing.....`` No mention of radio towers of the annual broadcast. The larger Ascension island to the north is administered from St. Helena. You might do a scan for "Ascension Island" on http://www.google.sh/images (yes, they have a CN designation!) and find the various maps and 360 views of the islands mentioned there. and the arrays of BBC, VOA etc and NASA antennas on Ascension. (Dan Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** SIKKIM. 3390, AIR Gauhati in Hindi, Gantok/Sikkim transmitter, pretty weak here in Kathmandu as usual, sounded like local news and stuff with frequent mention of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and places in the neighborhood, 1320-1330, Nov. 08 (Thomas Roth, Nepal, swl via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Sam Voron has a website, http://www.h44a.com (which doesn't work at the moment); to cut & paste from Sam... I am back in Australia with good news. On the 25 Oct. 2002, the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands attended the graduation ceremony for 21 students and presented them with the certificate of successful completion of the amateur radio training course. The Australian High Commission deputy head presented each student with a donated CB or Amateur radio on behalf of the HAM and CB donors from the outside world. The Minister of Home Affairs gave each student an antenna. The Community Peace and Restoration Fund Ausaid gave each student a power supply. Solomon Islanders now run the school and the National Disaster Council will download onto www.h44a.com photos of that ceremony, the list of students and their home locations and a copy of the Prime Minister's speech together with the call signs of the 21. Sadly one of our 21 students died of asthma before that ceremony. The Prime Minister presented the certificate to his parents who asked that their other son take his place as a student at the school. Collection of unwanted CB and HAM transceivers is underway so that the second graduation class can also graduate with complete stations. If you can help with a transceiver you can mail it to: The Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation of the Solomon Islands Government, Mr Loti Yates, Amateur Radio Training School, National Disaster Council, P.O. Box G11, Honiara, Solomon Islands. Telephone Loti between 2130 to 0230 UTC Monday to Friday on Tel- 001- 677- 27937 or 27936. Email- Lotiy-@yahoo.com {truncated} I want to thank everyone who has helped get the Solomon Islanders onto ham and CB radio. A great result and a big thank you. They can only come on air if they have donated radios so keep that help coming for their second graduating class. Answering a question, the school has no computer and no telephone. We thank the National Disaster Council for the use of their building. The economic situation is such that even the government NDC telephones have over a year been prevented by telecom from dialing outside the Capital although anyone can ring in worldwide. Internet is available to those with money to pay the internet cafe owner. Many students don't have $2 bus fare to travel to the school; they walk a very long distance. The school is operated by the students themselves. No one is paid. This is the only school in the country which is operated by unpaid volunteers. Parents of these students don't have money to pay fees. The Amateur Radio Training School of the Solomon Islands is the only free of charge school in the country, open to any person off the street. The purpose of the activities is to open amateur radio as a zero cost activity to give youth direction and benefit the nation. The school is not set up for the purpose of using QSL as a way to get money. People at the bottom of the power structure of this country have been honoured by the man at the top. Why? because with nothing but the interest to turn up each day the very first nativeborn to get a ham licence is not the intellectual person with degrees or the well off business person but someone who never had a chance to take up something before. That is something the Solomon Islanders have now embraced without the floods of money people keep telling us we have missed because we do not QSL. In the ham course we learn that when you have money everyone wants to know you, when you don't its a different story. In ham radio we are not a business radio: we build respect so that one day, when you need help you are measured not by how much money you have but by how much of a ham, helping all mankind person you are. Amateur Radio is not a be all and end all in QSL cards as some comments imply. If all you can do is tell people who have discovered a new love called ham radio and who don't have $2 to catch a bus to their ham radio school each day that they operate a scam, if you can make fun of them, if you say they should not be on air without QSL cards just think, did the Prime Minister of your country say "well done" to you when you became a ham? Every student received a CB or ham station on graduation: because of you, the donors, if that can be maintained for each graduating class these students who have no other way of joining the world wide airwaves could wish for no more. Anyone who would like to go to Solomon Islands and show the students the trill of a DXpedition and QSLing would be very welcome. $100 AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE FEE DROPPED TO $12 FOR STUDENTS AT THE AMATEUR RADIO TRAINING SCHOOL. None of the first 9 to qualify for the amateur radio licence had the $100 license fee and after 6 months, all 21 licences were sitting uncollected at Spectrum Management Division. A meeting with the SMD director and the schools director Margaret H44MKA and her deputy director Rusa H44RTK has brought the amateur radio license fee down. SMA said $20. ``But it was $12 last year``, said Margaret. ``OK you win`` said the SMD. Congratulations to the countries first native born ham radio operators- NAME AGE CALL SIGN VILLAGE, ISLAND Volunteer position at the school Alfred Selo 20 H44SAT Ferasubua, Malaita. All night security Ms Margaret Koi 27 H44MKA Atori, Malaita. School director Augustine Bisafo 23 H44AB Dairana, Malaita. Fix what needs fixing Willie Sande 26 H44WSB Mbabasa, Guadalcanal. Instructor Duddley Misiosi 21 H44HMD Aesiko, Malaita. Instructor Adrian Legua 19 H44ZL Thathaje, Isabel Instructor Ms Nesta Olita 18 H44NO Rurusie, Malaita Instructor Rockson Latu 17 H44EE Pututu, Choiseul Instructor Nicholas Sie 20 H44NS Gove, Isabel Instructor Ronald Foakali 20 H44RF Rurusie, Malaita Instructor Rowland V. Kito 27 H44RVK Patutiva, Western fix what needs fixing Ms Doris Tim 26 H44DT Taraharau, Makira Instructor Foster Bobo 23 H44SF Faufanea, Malaita Instructor Andrew Leeson 24 H44ALK Veramogho, Guadalcanal Instructor Lionel Arudola 17 H44LA Forodo, Malaita Instructor Hudson Auga 25 H44HA Nukumaro, Malaita died before license issued. Ms Rusa T. Kenioriana 28 H44RTK Masupa, Malaita School deputy director Ms Viola Pitisopa 18 H44VP Pangoe, Choiseul Instructor Arthold Gwali 21 H44AG Dukwasi, Malaita Instructor Moffet T. Dakatia 18 H44MD Tataba, Isabel Instructor Dicaprio. Wanna. L. Pauku 23 H44D Babarehgo, Choiseul. Fix what needs fixing 19 of these 21 licenses remain on the table at the SMD office because 19 students don`t have $12, that`s $US 2. Its hoped that as in the USA and New Zealand it may be possible to introduce a no license fee service to match what a free course and donated equipment have accomplished. In the mean time the successful students are saving where they can so that new students can use these call signs under their supervision at the ham radio training school. There are no radio hams in the country to help all the new people who want to join the school so these new hams are doing everything they can to help new people just as they were helped. Most radios donated from overseas are CB radios and the school operates throughout the day and night on CB channel 29 27.295 MHz LSB. For training purposes amateur radio procedures are always used so that students can train on CB before going on to the international ham bands using the amateur radio donated to the school. Local contacts between the new hams using the donated CB radios is on CB channel 13- 27.115 MHz AM. All this activity from the Solomon Islands on both AM and LSB can be heard daily by CB and amateur operators around Australia who have commented on the excellent behaviour of these students over the last year. After completing 10 contacts on CB under supervision new students are ready to start their 10 required amateur radio contacts on 28.490 MHz USB plus or minus 10 kHz. GIRL RADIO HAMS IN SOLOMON ISLANDS: The 2 top ham (Helping All Mankind) students are both girl students who have become the director and deputy directors of the school. These are both volunteer unpaid positions. So many boys want to join everyday that they are now only taking girls to give them space at the ham school. Next year boys can join again. I did suggest that any boy who could bring 10 girls be allowed so that new males are not totally excluded. We had 5 girls out of the first graduating class of 21 and we hope we can improve the male female balance by aiming for more girls than boys. Rusa our deputy brings her 4 year old girl who plays morse code sounds with another 4 year old at the ham school. There is a 14 year old boy who walks to the free ham radio school every day from the other end of the Capital city, Honiara because he can't pay fees to go to government or private schools and he is not the only one. The ham school has no age limit or qualification requirement but right now if you are a girl in Solomon Islands you get instant access to the ham radio training school. School radio clubs might like to check 28.490 MHz USB where the Solomon Islands ham school have many radio contacts. Foreign Amateur radio operators visiting the Solomon Islands must still pay the $100 license fee which is equal to $US 16 and are welcome to stay at the school and help the students. 73... (Sam Voron, via Paul Ormandy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. Sam Voron has also given a couple of web-sites... http://www.radiogalkayo.com which is very interesting and well designed (Paul Ormandy, NZ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) and SOLOMON above ** SPAIN. REE does a much better job than Brazilian stations with music and news: Certamente levaria um susto o ouvinte brasileiro que, subitamente, ligasse o rádio, em ondas curtas, nas freqüências da Rádio Exterior de Espanha. Acontece que a distância entre a programação das emissoras brasileiras, seja em FM ou OM, é imensa em relação à estação espanhola. Aqui, temos pagodes e músicas com apologias ao sexo. Na REE, temos o melhor das obras de grandes compositores internacionais, dentro do programa Nuestro Sello, emitido de segunda a sexta, entre 1600 e 1650, em 21570 e 21700 kHz. Aqui nas emissoras brasileiras, os apresentadores acreditam que "sabem tudo e que são os bons" (mesmo que não tenham passado da 8ª série do ensino de primeiro grau!) e tratam o ouvinte com a convicção de que todos nasceram sofrendo de burrice crônica. Na REE, apresentadores como Ángel Rodríguez Losano, de Amigos de la Onda Corta; Carlos Garrido, de Nuestro Sello; Wenceslao Pérez Gómez, de Con Respuesta; levam ao ouvinte, de forma educada, polida e inteligente, a certeza de que estão ensinando. Nas emissoras brasileiras, as notícias são compradas (e muito bem pagas!) de agências internacionais que globalizam as mesmas pautas. Já a REE tem correspondentes nas principais cidades do mundo. E assim caminham as diferenças. Que o ouvinte brasileiro possa descobrir, em algum dia, as ondas curtas e a Rádio Exterior de Espanha! (Célio Romais, RS, @tividade DX Nov 10 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. While checking for SLBC All Asia Service on 7115 this morning, I noticed that it was absent there and on their old frequencies of 7190 and 7440. However, shortly I was able to get them with distorted audio on 7049 in the middle of the 40 Meter Amateur Band. 11905 was in parallel. Their sked is: 0050-0400, 0800-1530 Indian languages (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, ATOJ, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** TOGO. 1800 UT, 5047 kHz: program in French, with African style music. Very weak (SIO 122) with heavy QRN (static) Impossible to get the ID. Is Radio Lomé back? So many signals, so little time... Pat, French Alps [45.28N 5.58E], JRC 545-DSP, AOR 7030+, MFJ 784B DSP. Wellbrook ALA-100, ALA-1530, L-W antennas (Pat Vignoud, 1805 UT Nov 8, dxing.info via DXLD) Yes, something on 5047. On 8 Nov at 2200 talk what sounded like news in French. The carrier strength is OK but the audio is very very weak. No chance to get any ID (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) Loud carrier on 5047.0 tonight, but very low modulation, even lower than yesterday); can barely hear the announcer. Hope they will soon fix the problem (Vignoud, Nov 9, ibid.) French speaking station heard last night (8 Nov) on 5047 kHz at 2158 tune-in with reggae type tune. African news at 2100 about Côte d'Ivoire, Congo, Benin. Tentative Radio Lomé ID noted. Into music px again at 2225. Presumably this is reactivated R Lomé, Togo which has not been heard on 5047 for many months - weak but clear last night until 2226 when it suffered splatter from much stronger China on 5050. (Alan Pennington, AOR 7030+ / 500m beverage, Sheigra, Sutherland, NW Scotland, Nov 9, BDXC-UK via DXLD) 5047, Radiodiffusion Togolaise heard 2248 November 9th, Afropops with French announcements, 2300 possible news bulletin and back to Afropop music 2305, weak but steady signal, best on LSB due to splash from China on 5050. 2350 recheck, music, announcements in French, off with anthem matching the Togo one at http://TheNationalAnthems.net Thanks to Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK for the tipoff (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Have been listening to 5047 kHz since 2215 UT, with mostly talk in French by a male. Signal strength around S6, but very poor modulation makes it difficult to copy anything. If Radio Lome, it's nothing like it's former self when it was a reliable propagation beacon for Africa (George Maroti, NY, Nov 9, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) How long had this been inactive? Two previous mentions this year merely confirmed it missing. In 2001y, two issues reported a delayed QSL being received, for a report in Oct 2000, but was it heard then?: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld2121.txt http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld2122.txt We have NO TOGO headings in our 2000y dxldmid contents file, nor in 1999, altho country headings were not compiled until November of that year (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. Johno here noticed Dubai not in the blue pages under 21695 was in English at 0530 thru signoff abruptly 0545 Passport pages I am talking about (John Wright, Australia, ARDXC via DXLD) ** UAE/UNITED KINGDOM. VT MERLIN RENEWS SHORTWAVE SITE AGREEMENT | Text of report by press release from UK transmission company Merlin Communications on 6 November VT Merlin Communications, part of VT Group plc has secured its broadcast presence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the recent renewal of a high profile contract with partners Emirates Media. The contract to operate and maintain Emirate's short wave and medium wave transmitter site has been extended for a further 5 years, securing VT Merlin's presence at the site until 2011. The signing of this contract will allow VT Merlin to continue to offer short wave and medium wave services to its customers who require exceptional coverage of the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Indian Sub Continent. The short wave facility consists of four 500 kW transmitters that are able to operate at half power, providing customers with cost effective services. The site also includes 41 fixed antenna systems, as well as 2 rotating antennas, which will enable broadcasters to accurately pinpoint their target audience. VT Merlin's Director of Broadcast Services, Rory Maclachlan said: "This is a very important location for us to enable us to provide much needed services for many of our customers. We are extremely pleased with the site that we have been using now for over a year and hope to be able to offer further services from here in the future". Source: Merlin Communications press release, London, in English 6 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U K. PEEL TO HOST WORLD SERVICE ANNIVERSARY From mediaguardian.co.uk Julia Day Friday November 8, 2002 John Peel has been handed the prestigious job of hosting a live concert spanning five cities and four continents to celebrate 70 years of the BBC World Service. Stars including Mercury Music Prize and Mobo winner Ms Dynamite will take part in the three-hour World Service Global Party next month. Veteran radio broadcaster Peel will anchor the concert from the World Service HQ at Bush House in London. Other countries hosting sections of the concert are Senegal, where renowned singer Baaba Maal will perform, as well as India and Mexico. And Afghan musicians, who once feared for their lives under Taliban rule, will perform from Kabul during the concert. "It's an example of the way BBC World Service, which now has a global audience of 150m and an internet presence in 43 languages, continues to stretch itself and to embrace the future," said Phil Harding, the World Service director for English networks. A fortnight of programmes to celebrate seven decades of broadcasting kicks off with the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, delivering a World Service 70th birthday lecture from the UN building in New York on December 11. And on the actual birthday, December 19, World Service programmes will be presented live from Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Earlier this year the Foreign Office agreed to increase the World Service's grant to about £180m, which amounts to an extra £48m over the next three years - significantly above the rate of inflation. And the World Service has earmarked an initial £8m for Afghanistan and the Arab broadcasts, and to expand news and current affairs programmes for Africa, where audience levels are rising. New programmes will focus on development and health issues, including Aids. It will also start an English language business service for China. But although the service was listened to by an average of 150m people last year, the figure was 3m down on the previous 12 months and 5m below its audience target. The biggest shortfall was in Asia and the Pacific region, where audience figures fell by 11.5m, mostly a result of a slump in radio listening in India. Meanwhile the government is considering a radical plan to invest public money in a television equivalent of the World Service. Foreign Office officials are examining ways of using public and private funding to turn the BBC's struggling international TV news channel, BBC World, into a global player along the lines of the World Service radio network (via Mike Terry, Mike Cooper and Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K. BBC NEWS SAYS IT MAY MAKE STAFF REDUNDANT Ian Griffiths, Saturday November 9, 2002, The Guardian The BBC has told its staff that compulsory redundancies may have to be considered as part of its programme to cut costs across the board. An email circulated to all staff but addressed to BBC News says: "Discussions are going on about how we will meet our savings targets in the next financial year ... we will seek to avoid compulsory redundancies - but, of course, we cannot give guarantees." The email also seeks to dispel rumours within the BBC that the corporation is facing financial difficulties. "There is no BBC crisis and there is no financial black hole in News," the message says. The BBC confirms it embarked on a specific programme of cash accumulation in order to finance its expansion during the last two years. "It is true that the BBC deliberately built up a cash surplus over the last two years to bolster our programmes and to establish new channels. "Those investments are now under way. The BBC will use this cash and normal temporary bank finance to pay for them," the email says. It also accepts that the corporation is expanding the reach of its cost-cutting programme. The email, signed by Mark Damazar, the deputy director of BBC News, explains: "I have never hidden that we will need to make savings next year. "In addition to existing commitments there are some extra costs we have to fund." Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Seldom hear a TIS here well enough to identify; apparent new one on 1610 kHz is WPCV-702, outside Petersburg IL, Menard County, at New Salem Lincoln State historical... audible in daytime 2030 UT Nov 9 (Ron Trotto, Wagner IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Surprised to hear WPHT 1210 Philadelphia overriding the Illinois 1210 station at midday, 1700 UT, and peaking at 30 over 9 by 2200 Nov 7; also heard Nov 8; Nov 9 around 2120 WPHT was audible but underneath (Ron Trotto, Wagner, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More surprises like that are in store for the next two sesquimonths with lowest solar angles at noon unable to build up the D-layer adequately to block skywave. Best in December, and sometimes lasts into early February, I have found. Well worth tuning around MW in the daytime (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. According to Larry Russell the Wisconsin Radio page has moved. He adds that it took him a long time to find this after it moved without a forwarding address. Look for them at http://www.qsl.net/k9ez (MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) Apparently K9EZ has no real name other than ``me``. At least I could not find it on the home page or some pages I looked at. A lot of personal websites are like that; I wonder why? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 2430.00, WGY Schenectady, NY (harmonic 3 x 810), Nov 8, 1002 // 810 with local news and ads. Very weak. 2980.00, WSGB Sutton, WV (harmonic 2 x 1490), Nov 7/8, 0959-1104, rock music from the 80's and 90's, ABC network news, ID "...The Buzz, WSGB Sutton..." Weak with fair peaks(Mark Mohrmann, Coventry VT, NRD 535D V-Beam 140m @180 degrees; "VT-DX" http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Kim Elliott`s second appearance on VOA`s Main Street shrank to only 4 minutes, and ended at the same minute it started the previous week, i.e. 0244-0248 UT Sun Nov 10. But we did point out that exact time will no doubt vary within the 25-minute show. This time he talked about VOA`s new Ventana a Cuba program, interviewing Richard Araujo, head of Spanish department, who said VOA had built up its own audience in Cuba and this was not in competition with R. Martí (and no mention of the foulup last week); and of BBC settling libel case brought by Antiguan PM (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The http://wbcq.com website is asking for donations to replace equipment damaged by a fire. The address that they give is called "WBCQ Kansas". So, putting on my reporter's hat, I emailed the following questions to Allan Weiner, alleged owner of WBCQ in Monticello, Maine: What is WBCQ Kansas? Is Becker raising money with your authorization? Do you think it is possible that those donating money to Becker via wbcq.com may mistakenly think that they are donating money to WBCQ? Since Scott Becker is raising money for something he is calling WBCQ Kansas, it seems reasonable to ask these questions. Allan has not answered the questions. It has been reported that he is disturbed and agitated by the questions. Why? (Dan Srebnick http://swradio.us Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Last week, Spectrum announced that the Nov 10 show could be their last, unless they are able to find sponsorship; UT Sun 0400-0500 on WWCR 5070 (Ron Trotto, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Started at 0400 instead of 0405 this week, Nov 10 saying they would remain in temporary facilities for next 6 to 12 months... First caller referred to previous WOR item about IBOC tester on 1700, asking the Spectrumers to tune it in, being reasonably close. At least in the first dekaminute, nothing unusual, and no indication of imminent demise; Ron himself was the next caller, about WPHT in daytime; the Spectrum hosts advanced lots of theories except mine (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Nov. 4, 2002, 6:27PM KIKK NOW IN A JAZZ FORMAT By CLIFFORD PUGH, Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle KIKK has bitten the dust. Houston's legendary FM country-western radio station, which has fallen on hard ratings in recent years, has been replaced with a smooth-jazz format. The station was rechristened KHJZ "Smooth Jazz 95.7 The Wave" at noon Monday. Sade's Smooth Operator was the first song played. The new station will feature Anita Baker, David Koz, Kenny G and Luther Vandross, along with classic jazz by Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock and Dave Brubeck. "It's all about the mood. It's sophisticated, contemporary and very metropolitan (music)," said Laura Morris, vice president and general manager of Infinity Radio's four Houston stations. "Houston is a sophisticated, metropolitan city that deserves this kind of a mix." Infinity has been successful with smooth-jazz formats in Los Angeles and Dallas. Morris said Houston was one of only two of the top 10 radio markets in the nation without a smooth jazz station. She also noted that, before the change, Houston was one of only two markets among the top 50 with three country radio stations. The other country stations in Houston are KILT-FM, also owned by Infinity, and KKBQ-FM, owned by Cox Radio. "The market can't support three country stations. At a certain point you have to recognize there are other options," Morris said. Some longtime listeners were shocked by the change. Dennis Clark, a 25-year-old maintenance man for the Pasadena Independent School District, was listening to the station in his van when he stopped for lunch. When he got back into his van, he was astounded to hear jazz. "I thought I had hit the wrong button. As long as Houston has had country radio, KILT and KIKK have been around," said Clark, who has been listening to the station for 10 years. "Of all the country stations, I thought they'd be the last to go. They played the artists that were just getting started that you hear on KILT or 93 Q Country two years later. It's just unbelievable." KIKK began operation in 1959 and was a country powerhouse for years. It regularly ranked as the top station in Houston. As recently as 1993, it ranked No. 2 among all Houston radio stations, just behind KILT. But its fortunes changed when Westinghouse Broadcasting, owner of KILT, acquired KIKK in 1993. New management fired many longtime KIKK DJs and ratings plummeted. The station tried a "young country" format that alienated longtime listeners. More recently, it tried targeting young men with Texas music by such artists as Robert Earl Keen and Pat Green, without much ratings success. The station was tied for 20th place in the most recent Arbitron ratings, for the summer period of July through September, among listeners 12 and over. The KIKK call letters will remain on 650 AM, which has a business-news format. Several KIKK promotions, including the 10 Man Jam concert on Nov. 14, are being moved to KILT-FM. A Saturday night country show called Texas Roadhouse will also debut on KILT. Five KIKK on-air personalities were let go in the transition. A new morning show will debut within a month, Morris said. "It's a bittersweet moment, because it's very sad to say good-bye to KIKK. I think what we did with the station over the past two years was a great critical success. But it lacked the commercial success that we had to produce. I absolutely believe in the future of what we're doing." (Houston Chronicle via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Tsk tsk, and there goes its fabulous logo of kkowboy boots (gh) ** U S A. WYNY OWNERS LIQUIDATING THEIR STATIONS November 6, 2002 By DAVID HINCKLEY, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Less than a year after trying to ease its severe debt problems by killing country music on its four-station WYNY quadrocast at 107.1 FM, Big City Radio has put those stations up for sale. You can view the entire article at http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/33023p-31296c.html (via Bill Westenhaver, Nov 7, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO WAVES THERAPEUTIC FOR KIDS LYONS TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL STATION LIFTS SPIRITS OF SICK CHILDREN {rather misleading headline, which no doubt never occured to the writer: NOT referring to RF! but to programming} By Ted Gregory, Tribune staff reporter, November 8, 2002 For ECHO radio, success is gauged not by Arbitron ratings, but by the joy that young hospital patients get from answering trivia questions and winning a Grinch electric toothbrush or an inflatable dinosaur. Bragging rights also come from the experience of a teenage deejay interacting with kids often facing serious illness. ECHO, or Every Child Has Opportunities, is run by the award-winning staff of Lyons Township High School's student station, WLTL-FM 88.1. It is broadcast only to the 48 beds at the Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where young patients being treated for illnesses ranging from stomach aches to cancer can tune it in on their bedside speakers. Since June, the program has been airing from 4 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays from a tiny studio, funded by Loyola, and carved into the $5 million renovation of the children's area on the fourth floor of the medical center. About 18 students work on the show at the studio while another 40 produce segments and perform other tasks from the high school station. Some receive class credit; others do it for the experience. None is paid. "The experience is so unique," said Jennifer Mann, 17, senior who is special events director at WLTL and a deejay at ECHO. She recalled repeated visits from Molly, a 6-year-old patient who recently was discharged. "It just meant so much to me," Mann said. "She was so into it, and it was really nice to know that we were making her stay in the hospital something she would enjoy." ECHO was the idea of Cindi LaPorte, manager of the pediatric floor, when she and Richard Taylor, coordinator of the hospital's education program, were brainstorming in 1997 for the hospital renovation. Taylor contacted Lyons Township High School in La Grange, which he had worked with in the past. The school had started WLTL in 1968. The station already was something of a rarity. Only about 110 high schools in the country have radio stations. And, in April, WLTL earned the honor of best high school radio station in the country out of 25 entering a competition at North Central College in Naperville. "It was too wonderful of an idea to pass up," said WLTL general manager Kate Singletary, adviser to the station and a teacher for 26 years at the high school. "The thought that the students would take what they learn here and help kids, that wasn't a hard sell. They just flocked to it." Taylor said he has found nothing equivalent to ECHO radio anywhere in the country. "We thought this could be a fun and unique way to expose both our patients and the students with valuable, hands-on experience," Taylor said, adding that "strong evidence" suggests music and "other positive diversional activities" help in the recovery of young patients. ECHO features contests, giveaways, "positive and inspirational" contemporary music and segments on "Kids News" and "Speaking About Health." The show closes its broadcasts with "Imagine," an uplifting story segment narrated by Lyons Township High School students. One recent evening, Vivian Logan, of Maywood, was watching her daughter, Mikyala Logangranderson, 3, visit the studio to claim a prize and chat with the DJs. deejays. Mikyala, born 26 weeks early, suffers from has asthma and has been in and out of the hospital most of her life. She is a big fan of the show. "It's good for the kids who can't get out," said Logan of the program. "It's good for them to hear up-to-date music, to see young men and women doing something positive." The only problem with the program, LaPorte said, is that some patients fight their discharge because they haven't been on the air. And a few parents have groused. "The only complaint we get is from parents who say something like, `Do you guys have any Rolling Stones?'" said Kate Price, 17, a senior and student director at WLTL who helps run ECHO. "I wish we did." Copyright (c) 2002, Chicago Tribune (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** U S A. ENFORCEMENT: NO RADIO CALL-IN SHOW PERMITTED ON 75 METERS The FCC is asking a California ham why he allegedly ran a radio call in show on 3.830 MHz and requested shortwave listeners to participate. The regulatory agency alleges that James C. Watkins, KI6GU, of Burbank ran such an operation last August 16th and 24th and used a reverse autoptach system to facilitate the call-ins. Along with the FCC inquiry Watkins was furnished 9 pages of material relating to the complaints against him. He was given the customary 30 days from the date of the Commission inquiry to respond. (FCC) (Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 8 vi DXLD) ** U S A. ON THE AIR: THE MIGHTY MO CELEBRATES VETERANS DAY The "Mighty Mo" is coming to the ham radio airwaves for a very special event. Bob Maguire, KA2WXU, reports over the Internet that on November 9, 10, and 11 the Battleship Missouri Amateur Radio Club will be on the air each day from 1700 to 0400 UT on 14.263, 21.363 and 28.363 MHz, in honor of Veteran's Day weekend. There is no special event QSL card for Veteran's Day event but if you QSL via KH6BB you will receive a regular Mighty Mo QSL in return. More information is on the web at http://www.kh6bb.org (KA2WXU, Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 8 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. US ARMY MARS OPERATION HOLIDAYS NOW IN 12TH YEAR The holiday season offers plenty of opportunity for good deeds by hams in general and members of the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) in particular. "Operation Holidays," sponsored by US Army MARS, marks its 12th year in 2002. The program offers the chance for families and loved ones to send US servicemen away from home free MARSgrams and phone patches. In addition, "any servicemember" messages also will be delivered to selected overseas bases, and "any veteran" messages now can be sent to veterans in participating Veterans' Administration hospitals. The "any veteran" program inaugurated in Michigan and California two years ago is the newest wrinkle in MARS morale and welfare traffic. Initiated by Frank Wegori, WD8NIK/AAA9AX, the Army MARS auxiliary membership coordinator, the new -- and expanding -- program is aimed at bringing recognition and hope to the 100,000 hospitalized veterans who may not have family or friends nearby during the holiday season. Any Amateur Radio operator can participate by either initiating or relaying traffic through a MARS member or via the Internet. For many, the simplest way to send a MARSgram is to connect to the United States Army Military Affiliate Radio System Web site http://www.netcom.army.mil/mars click on "MARSgrams" in the lefthand column and follow the instructions. Each message must include the full military address and, if available, the addressee's telephone number. Radio phone patch connections must be arranged by the overseas service member, and, in most cases, are available only where there no public telephone or e-mail link exists. In recent months, Army MARS has handled phone patch traffic from the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, where Americans are stationed on peacekeeping missions. MARSgrams can be used to facilitate the connection. Sending an "any servicemember" message is a worthy gesture for those who do not have loved ones of their own in uniform--a sort of pen pal arrangement. MARSgrams will be delivered to participating installations or organizations for forwarding to a serviceman or servicewoman. The largest overseas deployment is in Europe, and the active MARS organization there has challenged its members to initiate 100 "any servicemember" messages during the holiday season. MARS asks senders to limit individual MARSgrams to 50 words each. There is no official limit on the number of MARSgrams a person may send, however (Bill Sexton, N1IN, ARRL Letter Nov 8 via DXLD) ** U S A. For anyone wanting to know the real explanation of XDS, it can be rather lengthy. If you want the total scoop, read this page: http://fiddle.visc.vt.edu/courses/ee4984/Projects1996/bass_mcdaniel.html Attempting to put it in a nutshell, XDS stands for "extended data services". It`s actually technology that has been implemented to work with the V-chip technology; you remember the bill, Bill Clinton passed in 1996? All television sets 13" screen and larger would have to have the V-chip technology for parental control. This is how it all shakes out: Project 1, EE 4984: Telecommunications Networks bill, signed by Bill Clinton, on May 1, 1996, is supposed to give parental control of their television sets, allowing them to 'block' objectionable programming, a.k.a. violence and extreme sexual content. Proponents like it; opponents say it violates the First Amendment. Nonetheless, its up to each broadcaster to program into the data stream program content, along with ratings. It`s up to the broadcaster to include their call letter identification. As a DXer, consider yourself lucky if you catch any TV DX on a set with XDS technology, AND the broadcaster has been thoughtful enough to include their call letters. Broadcasters are still yelling about this one; it costs each television station $5000 to implement CC/XDS technology, plus they say they are being forced to 'violate' the First Amendment, through censure. Bottomline: RDS has a much better chance of flying as a friend to DXers than XDS ever will (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. DTV Website Updated: http://www.oldtvguides.com/DXPhotos/ All picture IDs, including today's, are now up. I also finally did see KDIN-DT-50 on Nov. 7, and also WXFT-DT-59 and WGBO-DT-53 were never reported here (Jeff Kadet, Macomb IL, Nov 9, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. From ARRL: To recognize Veterans Day and the anniversary of the birth of Gen Curtis E. LeMay, K0GRL/K4FRA/W6EZV (SK), the Strategic Air Command Memorial Amateur Radio Club (SACMARC) will operate special event station K0GRL on Monday, November 11, from 1200 to 2400 UTC. Operation will be in the General-class phone bands on or near frequencies ending in 47 -- for 1947 when the Air Force became a single entity) -- 3947, 7247, 14,247, 21,347 and 28,347 kHz. Operation also may take place on 51.47 MHz and on 146.46 MHz simplex. LeMay held K0GRL when he was the Strategic Air Command, Commander assigned to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska. LeMay later obtained K4FRA when he served as the USAF Vice Chief of Staff (later Chief of Staff). When he retired in California, he became W6EZV. SACMARC obtained K0GRL via the vanity call sign program in 1997. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with QSL requests to SACMARC, PO Box 1292, Bellevue, NE 68005-1292.--Darwin Piatt, W9HZC (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Also the inspiration for Dr. Strangelove ** UZBEKISTAN. 5975.00, Radio Tashkent, 9 Nov, 1220 English broadcast, heard parallel to 6025 and 9715 with middle-eastern style music programming. ID by man at 1224, "This is Radio Tashkent". Not heard on 5885 as previously reported elsewhere. Signal on 5975 was fair when tuned in LSB to avoid adjacent channel Radio Martí on 5980, but 6025 and 9715 much clearer at this time. Receiver: Drake R8A / Antenna: 100' longwire with MLB 73, (Mark J. Fine / mark.fine@fineware-swl.com Remington, Virginia, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Serving the Shortwave Community since 1988: Owner/Proprietor, FineWare: http://www.fineware-swl.com East Coast Monitor, Monitoring Times: http://www.grove-ent.com English Schedules Editor, NASWA Journal: http://www.anarc.org/naswa R. Tashkent monitored usage of 5885 shows Uzbek 1730, Farsi 1830, Arabic 1900, to sign-off at 1930, as at Nov-9. My original report never implied nor stated that 5975 had been replaced by 5885! Regards from Melbourne! (Bob Padula, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM/UK. VIETNAM BLOCKS ACCESS TO BBC VIETNAMESE WEB SITE Internet service providers in Vietnam have confirmed that the authorities are blocking access to the BBC Vietnamese language service web site. The site has been blocked for a week. Internet users see only a bogus password prompt or a message to contact their ISP. There has been no official comment on the move, but the BBC correspondent in Hanoi says sources at two ISPs have confirmed the erection of a firewall - a computer security measure which prevents internet users from reaching the particular BBC web address. The BBC Vietnamese web site - which carries a wide range of news and information, including interviews with dissidents - has been gaining in popularity among internet users; the number of visits is running at about 180,000 each week. According to the official Vietnamese News Agency, the number of internet subscribers in Vietnam is 250,000, but three times that number are believed to surf the net, mainly through some 4,000 cyber cafes across the country. Last month, the government introduced regulations which require web sites to be licensed, and also tightened the ban on Vietnamese receiving foreign satellite TV channels. On 7 November, a Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told the BBC that Vietnam was fully aware of the importance of the Internet. She said Vietnam uses firewalls against pornographic sites or those which incite people or encourage violence. Cyber dissident jailed On 8 November a court in Hanoi jailed a Vietnamese dissident for four years for publishing criticism of the Communist government on the Internet. Analysts described the sentence as a warning to others tempted to use the Internet as a platform to criticize the Communist authorities. Le Chi Quang, a 32-year-old lawyer, was convicted of "offences against the state and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," a court official said. Quang was accused of breaching anti-government legislation after posting articles criticizing land and sea border agreements signed between Vietnam and China in 1999 and 2000. Source: BBC Monitoring research 8 Nov 02 (via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. 11560 V. of Khmer Krom R., Nov 5 *1359-1410 35333 Cambodian, 1359 s/on with opening music. ID and opening announce. Music. ID. Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD){Tue only} UNIDENTIFIED. 3749.75, first heard Oct 2, 0125-0205 with definite Bachata music and Spanish announcements. Since then on frequent checks I've had the carrier only with no audio. Nothing heard in the mornings. Maybe a Dominican harmonic 3 x 1250 or 5 x 750? (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry VT, NRD 535D V-Beam 140m @180 degrees; "VT-DX" http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 27105 kHz. AM. Date: 11/08/2002. Time 0205-0245* (UT). SINPO: 2/3/2/2-/2-. This is the first time in several weeks I have logged this station. This reception is much better than any of the prior receptions although it was still too weak to read well. The signal was good enough to understand a few of the lyrics, and get a tentative ID's on a few songs: "Changes in Attitudes" at 0213, "Thank you Lord" at 0236, "Something's Wrong in America" at 0241. Most of this program seemed to be focused on country and western influenced gospel and inspirational music. Continual music without announcements. It sounded like the transmitter was switched off between songs. The signal was lost at 0245 without signoff. Does anyone have any ideas on the station? (Joe Wood, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Do you have any reason to believe this is not a few miles from you on groundwave? Is there any fading? Is there any skip in on nearby CB frequencies when you hear it? Where in TN are you, anyway? (gh, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ LONGWAVE OPENING Glenn: With a brief break in solar activity on 9 Nov, I managed to log a few transatlantic longwave broadcast stations. At 0600 the Boulder SFI 189, A 7, K 1. Not a great opening, but considering the recent near continual occurrence of flares and coronal hole passages I'm surprised to hear any TA broadcast stations on LW. Algeria, 153, Bechar (presumed), 0540, Light copy of Mideastern music. France, 162, Allouis, 0537, Discussion about Israel, by man in FF. Fairly good copy. Must be back at full power at night again. Morroco, 171, Nador (presumed), French language program with Mideastern music. Fair copy. Also, I noted a few navigational beacons just below the MW broadcast band around 0700 Nov 9. Do you know what these might be, perhaps Maritime? There were a few that were interfering with each other, but a couple that I logged were: 510.4 HMY 513.4 ONH 73, (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Coronal hole activity kept the earth's magnetic field slightly southward in the early part of the week, leading to depressed high latitude daytime conditions until about Nov 6. At other times and latitudes MUFs were generally enhanced. Geomagnetic levels remained active at times at higher latitudes for most of the week. Solar activity was generally low except for an M4 flare on Nov 9 which appears to have a coronal mass ejection associated with it that may hit us around Nov 12. Conditions are expected to remain similar for the next week or so apart from this event. Some polar cap absorption has been noticed in the last 24 hours. Prepared by Richard Jary using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Cumbre DX Nov 10 via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ IRCA MEXICAN LOG, 8TH EDITION (WINTER 2002) The IRCA MEXICAN LOG lists all AM stations in Mexico by frequency, including call letters, state, city, day/night power, slogans, schedule in UTC/GMT, formats, networks and notes. In addition, stations that have changed frequency since 2001 are cross-referenced on the old frequency. The call letter index gives call, frequency, city and state. The city index (listed by state, then city) includes frequency, call and day/night power. This is an indispensable reference for anyone who hears Mexican radio stations. Size is 8 1/2" x 11" and three hole punched for easy binding. Prices: NRC/IRCA members - $9.50 (US/Canada/Mexico/sea mail), $10.50 (rest of the Americas airmail), $11.00 (Europe/Asia airmail), $11.50 (Australia/New Zealand airmail). Non-members: add $2.00 to the above prices. Order from: IRCA Bookstore 9705 Mary Ave NW Seattle WA 98117- 2334 Make checks/Money Orders out to "PHIL BYTHEWAY" (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-174, November 7, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1155: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630... on 7445, 15039 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; North America Sun 1500 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] This week we start providing two different audio files of WOR, high quality, 9.6 MB, 44 kbps; and low for easier downloads, 3.6 MB, 16 kbps. The High file will be up for only one week until replaced by the next edition. Your comments welcome. [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1155.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Glenn, Sorry for the short notice but while flipping through "TV Guide" this morning I found that tomorrow, Friday, 08nov2002, at 21.00 - 22.00 CST Discovery Channel is listed as showing "Commando Solo: Afghan Skies". To quote from "TV Guide": "Profiling the 4th Psychological Operations Group, a joint Army / Air Force unit." It will be repeated at midnight (00.00, Sat. CST). If you have satellite tv, "On Sat" shows that it will run on the Discovery West feed (G5, 12) Sat at 00.00 and 03.00 CST. The earlier run, on East feed, is on C4, 21. Enjoy! (Paul Spurlock, Old Hickory, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s 0300, 0600 and 0900 UT Saturday (gh) ** AFRICA. SHORTWAVE UPDATE No transmissions have been observed from Malawi since it briefly reactivated a transmitter on 3380/7130 early this year. Other countries and territories in east and southern Africa with no shortwave broadcasting at present include Burundi, Comoros (including Mayotte), Djibouti, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique and Reunion (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) Much more under KENYA, UGANDA, TANZANIA ** AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT PLANS TO BLOCK PROTEST WEB SITES The federal government plans to stop Australians gaining access to web sites used to organize protests, The Australian daily said on its web site http://www.theaustralian.com.au on 7 November. The Justice Ministry will look at upgrading federal powers to block certain web sites after the regional police ministers agreed that it was "unacceptable for web sites advocating or facilitating violent protest action to be accessible from Australia", the daily reported. The police claim that World Trade Organization protest web sites advocate violence against police and only last week, the Australian Broadcasting Authority, the Internet regulator, decided not to block access to web sites organizing protests for the WTO meeting in Sydney Source: The Australian web site, Sydney, in English 7 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. LIKELY ABC CUT THREATENS ASIA PACIFIC - November 7 2002 At a time when many Australians are searching for information about events in the Asia-Pacific region, ABC radio appears poised to cut funding to a Melbourne-based program that specialises in Pacific rim current affairs. Asia Pacific is a current affairs magazine program jointly funded by Radio National and Radio Australia - the ABC's international broadcaster. The program began life in 1998 and airs nightly at eight o'clock on Radio National. But sources inside the ABC say Radio National is preparing to withdraw its portion of the program's funding, which represents about $100,000 from the total budget of $380,000. It also appears likely that Radio National will no longer broadcast the program, leaving the Parliamentary News Network as its sole domestic carrier. And it will only broadcast the program during times when Federal Parliament is not sitting. The program is beamed to other nations in the region by Radio Australia. Another option being discussed is retaining the program but moving it to an inhospitable timeslot, such as 5.30 am. It is believed that Radio National management think the show's format does not work well in the 8 pm timeslot and have been considering a funding withdrawal for several months. A $100,000 funding cut would equate to the loss of a full-time position as well as a substantial reduction in travel resources - cuts that ABC insiders say will make the program more reactive and diminish its capacity for broader investigative journalism. Asia Pacific undertakes about four major reporting trips within the region each year. The last of these was in August when reporter Trisha Fitzgerald travelled to Jakarta to report on Indonesian politics and obtained an interview with Abu Bakar Bashir - the Muslim cleric suspected of links to al Qaeda. Asia Pacific also played a prominent role in reporting the lead-up events behind coups in the Solomon Islands and Fiji and, in 1999, reporter Di Martin won a Walkley Award for the program with her coverage of events in East Timor. A Friends of the ABC spokesman said the group was shocked by the rumoured changes and called upon RN's management to reconsider. "Never before has the community been so keenly interested in, and needed to understand more about, what is happening in our region," says FABC spokesman Terry Laidler. "It is inexplicable that the ABC would cut a significant, unique program, which provides invaluable information and important insights into our region." Radio National spokesman Nick Bron responded to the rumours by denying any decision had been made regarding the program's future. "At this stage, it's just speculation. We are reviewing our programming for next year and different things are always discussed but no decision has been made on this," he said (The Age, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 9624.69 kHz, Radio Fides, 0046-0122+ y 0211-0231*, 6 Nov, transmisión deportiva de la "Copa Sudamericana de Fútbol", entre los equipos Bolivar (BOL) y San Lorenzo (ARG), partido que finalizó 2-1, jingles de "Radio Deportes, la mayor cadena deportiva", "Radio Deportes, un país en sintonia" y "la emoción del deporte en Radio Deportes" & "Radio Deportes, ....40 emisoras....la mayor cadena deportiva", también IDs "Radio Fides". Radio Deportes es el nombre de una cadena nacional deportiva. SINPO: 23442, en // a 6155 (35433). (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6054.42, R. San Juan 23 (tentative) 2210-2233 Nov 7. Weak signal at tune-in, with OM in Spanish. A jingle at 2217, then brief talk by OM, and prerecorded announcement by YL. At 2222, some theme music on flute, which was heard several times during the next 10 minutes. In between the flute theme music was alternating talk by a male and female. By tune-out, signal strength had improved to S7, with SINPO of 32232 (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) No San; he`s not a saint yet, is he? (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Desde o dia 12 de outubro, a a Rádio Educação Rural, de Tefé(AM), está operando em sua nova frequência de 4925 kHz, conforme informações de Paulo Roberto e Souza. Confiram ! (Célio Romais, Brasil, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMBODIA. MINISTER ON BANNING OF RELAY BROADCASTS FROM US-BASED RADIOS Television Kampuchea (TVK), the Cambodian government-run television station, on 6 November carried an interview with State Secretary for Information Khiev Kanharit. He talks about the ban on FM-105 Sambok Khmum radio station relaying broadcasts by Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. The following is an excerpt from the interview: [Khiev Kanharit] ... The reason is this. In principle, in each country, if a local radio station wants to sell broadcasting hours to a foreign station, it has to go through the government. Otherwise, [changes thought] for example there are Voice of America [VOA] and Radio Free Asia [RFA]. In the past the ministry closed down Roat Theani [Capital City] radio which went into agreement with the Australian radio for live broadcasts without going through the Information Ministry. If we think this is infringing upon the freedom of disseminating information, this is entirely false. For example, suppose tomorrow Taiwan wanted to buy broadcasting hours from one or two [local] radio stations, and then later on Beijing radio, Arab radio and then other radio stations; then 100 radio stations wanting to do this without going through the government. This would cause chaos in the administration and dissemination of information. Moreover, if the radio station happened to belong to the government, it would even cause a clash between governments. For this reason [changes thought] for example French radio, the BBC radio, and so on, before they set up stations here they went through the Foreign Affairs Ministry. In other words, there was an agreement between governments, in principle; and then it was down to the Information Ministry. This is the principle of broadcasting. What was wrong was not a political mistake; it was a mistake in procedures. All local radio stations, before selling broadcasting hours to foreign radios, have to seek permission from the government; this is the first point. The second point, as I said, the freedom of information dissemination is not affected. Sambok Khmum radio station used to be only one kilowatt strong. It can be heard only in Phnom Penh. Even if we ban it, people throughout Cambodia can still listen to VOA and RFA. "So those making this accusation do not understand the law and possibly have some political motives in accusing the Information Ministry for banning Samkok Khmum radio from relaying the broadcasts of VOA and RFA. This is the procedure and the principle in running a state. Thank you. Source: Television Kampuchea, Pnomh Penh, in Cambodian 1200 gmt 6 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CANADA. Just to let everybody know, CFYI (Mojo 640) Toronto, ON, changed their call letters as of Nov 1 to CFMJ. They always ID as Mojo 640 (Eric Conchie http://ontarioamdxer.tripod.com/ Nov 6, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. If I remember correctly, they also did this last year. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) From globeandmail.com, Thursday, November 7 RADIO STATION BROADCASTS DAILY PRAYERS OF RAMADAN, by GAY ABBATE It's a radio station that caters to tourists, but for the next four weeks it is helping Muslims across southern Ontario celebrate Ramadan and those of other faiths to learn about the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Daily during Ramadan, CJRN AM 710 in Niagara Falls is broadcasting a half-hour program of prayers and religious readings, just as it has done for the past five years. Before that, the program aired on other stations for nine years. The program begins broadcasting exactly a half-hour before sunset and ends with a call to prayer that signals the end of the daily fasting period. Devout Muslims are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or have sexual relations during daylight hours. The program, said David Dancy, president of CJRN 710 Inc., is for people who want to exercise their religion in a non-commercial environment. There are no advertisements or other interruptions at this station, which switched to its new format on Sept. 1. Its signal reaches Western New York. Muslims aren't the only ones who tune in. Put together by Reflections on Islam, a Toronto-based organization active in radio and television, the program is in English, with quotes from the Kor`an, said Ezz E. Gad, the show's producer at Reflections. With prayers and instruction in English, the program helps educate non-Muslims about Ramadan, Mr. Dancy said. "People appreciate it." He does not know how many people listen in because the station does not subscribe to the radio-rating service that reports such figures. What he does know, he said, is that the program helps people learn about each other. "The world is going through such a difficult time right now that understanding is a key to a lot of things," he said. "How can you understand something if you know nothing about it?" During Ramadan, which started yesterday and lasts for four weeks, Toronto residents may have to wait a little longer for a taxicab while Muslim drivers, who make up 40 to 50 per cent of Toronto cab drivers, stop to pray five times a day. Or they may take a day off. Copyright 2002 | Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC RADIO ONE OVERNIGHT PROGRAMMING Hi Glenn, I checked out the CBC Overnight webpage, at http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/overnight/schedule.html and here is the rundown of the programming blocks. Weekday Schedule: 1:05 AM -- Radio Netherlands 2:05 AM -- Radio Sweden & Radio Australia 3:05 AM -- Channel Africa & BBC WS 4:05 AM -- Deutsche Welle & Radio Polonia 5:05 AM -- Radio Australia, Radio Prague, Deutsche Welle and Voice of Russia Weekend Schedule: 1:05 AM -- Radio Netherlands 2:05 AM -- Radio Prague & Voice of Russia 3:05 AM -- Radio Sweden & BBC WS 4:05 AM -- Deutsche Welle 5:05 AM -- Radio Australia Radio Australia's "The Media Report" (actually originating with Radio National) runs in the 2:30 AM slot on Friday mornings. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QC, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Five different timeshifts, e.g. 1:05-6 AM in AST/NST zone is 0505-1000 UT ... in PST zone, 0905-1400, as on the two 6160 stations. However, some stations start their own local programming at 5 or 5:30 am, I think (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. WEEKEND HOT SHEET, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2002 --- THE SUNDAY EDITION: This week on The Sunday Edition, more in the series Apocalypse When? The Coming War with Iraq. Michael talks with author James Fallows about the world after Saddam Hussein. Also, contrarian Christopher Hitchens on his book, "Why Orwell Matters," and why he left the Left behind. And in Hour Three, historian Michael Marrus looks at "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." It has been THE work of anti-Semitism, and this month, Egyptian television will begin a 30-part series about it. Why, in our enlightened society, has this book survived? That's The Sunday Edition, right after the 9 a.m. news (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. ON STAGE: This week, OnStage presents A Tribute to Otto Lowy, the late and much-beloved host of CBC's The Transcontinental. Soprano Phoebe MacRae and violinist Joan Blackman join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey. Works include Richard Rodney Bennett's The Orient Express Waltz, plus works by Lehar, Dvorak, Elgar and more. That's On Stage, with host Eric Friesen, Sunday night at 8 (9 AT, 9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. Sunday afternoon at 2 (2:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two. (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CHILE. Muzak now in on 47.8, 47.83, 47.9, 47.910, 48.3 MHz. All are not parallel. Also some are playing music with English lyrics. Had only been instrumental previously (Jeff Kadet, Macomb, IL, Nov 3 1936 UT, WTFDA via DXLD) Not to rub it in, but 47.910 is now S9 ++ full quieting. The others are in but a lot weaker. (ibid. 2109 UT Nov 3) Same thing here on 47.910 Jeff, @ 3:55 P.M. [2155 UT] (Jerry WW0E, Davenport, Iowa, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHINA. OPENING CEREMONY OF CHINA'S PARTY CONGRESS TO BE BROADCAST LIVE | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency); all times local Beijing, 7 November: The opening ceremony of the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be live broadcast via China's television and radio stations. The party congress will open at 9.00 a.m. Friday [8 November] at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Central People's Broadcasting Station will live broadcast the opening ceremony from 8.50 a.m. on Channel 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. China Central Television Station (CCTV) will beam the ceremony from 8.45 a.m. on Channel 1 to 12. China Radio International will cover the ceremony from 8.55 a.m. in Chinese Standard Chinese and Cantonese, and English, Russian, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean and Mongolian, among others. In addition, the opening ceremony will also be covered real-time by http://www.xinhuanet.com http://www.people.com.cn and http://www.china.com.cn Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0942 gmt 7 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) 8:55 am Friday = 0055 UT Friday (gh) ** CHINA. RE: `Ying Lian` can be the words meaning `English practise` (Edwin Lowe, Revesby NSW, Nov ADXN via DXLD) Lian also means a link, to contact, etc., and that seems to make sense: English (language) contact (person or section). (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR [non]. CONGO DR 11690 R. Okapi 0602-0630. Program of talk (French) by man and Afro pops. More talk than pops. Frequent mention of "Congo" and "Congolaise" between 0616 and 0619. Rather weak signal with atmospheric noise and fading. SINPO 23222. No parallels heard. First log of this station (Evans, TN, Nov 5, Cumbre DX) On 7 Nov at 0635 heard a strong station on 11690 in French with news about Congo DR and other African countries plus African music. But this station identifies as "Radio Africa International". It is the UMC program via DTK. I think they use this frequency 0600-0800. No chance for Okapi here during that time slot (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. I added the RHC MAILBAG SHOW to the DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS list. They have been making announcements at the beginning of the program, including some reception reports, some made by Arnie Coro. UT THURSDAY 0140-0150 Havana MAILBOX SHOW NAm 6000 9820 Eu/Med 11705 0340-0350 Havana MAILBOX SHOW NAm 6000 9820 Eu/Med 11705 0540-0550 Havana MAILBOX SHOW NAm 9550 9820 Eu/Med 9830 (Bill Brady, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Cuba Free Press, Inc. learned on 05/05/24 [sic] that tethered blimp had been lowered because of the proximity of hurricanes and would not be raised again until the danger of hurricanes passed. This explains the fact that Cuba Free Press`s network of observers inside Cuba, have been not seen not heard TV Martí since 09/05/02. Cuba Free Press, Inc. learned on 09/24/02, that the horizontal angle of transmission of the tethered blimp`s antenna system was only 7 degrees or less than 6.4% of the 110 degree geographical angle that represents the entire island of Cuba from the location of the tethered blimp`s, TV Martí`s TV antenna. Cuba Free Press`s volunteer observers were preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Isadora on 09/20/2002. TV Martí was not heard or seen at any of our observation sites inside Cuba, during these dates. Please note that several volunteers that traveled to Key West, FL, on the morning 09/16/2002, observed the tethered blimp on the surface at TV Martí`s transmitting premises, which may explain why TV Martí has not been seen or heard inside Cuba since 09/05/2002. Courtesy of Cuba Free Press, Inc. (via Oscar, Miami, Nov 7, DXLD) ** EUROPE. Pirate, R. Bandonica, 11469.9, Nov 3 0753-0801* Euro-pops, hip-hop music, IDs, fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. PARIS PLANS TV NETWORK FOR MUSLIM WORLD http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en13577&F_catID=&f_type =source PARIS, Nov 5: France has decided to concentrate its foreign TV broadcasts on the Islamic world, and rather than set up an entirely new network, it will make use of Euronews, the Lyons- based Pan- European TV service. The Pan-European TV service broadcasts in six languages, notably in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa. The project, which is being developed under the aegis of the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, would allow France to give itself at last its own world broadcast service. France, sources said, needed its own foreign broadcast facility to allow it get its own point of view across, for example, in the recent standoff with the United States over a UN Security Council resolution on a possible attack on Iraq. Indeed, it is the difficulty experienced recently by the French government in getting across its message with regard to the possible US attack against Iraq that prompted authorities at the highest levels to decide to give themselves an international broadcast capability, especially turned towards the Islamic world and the Middle East. At present the Middle East is covered by TV5 Orient, the Francophone channel, whose capacities are relatively modest, especially when compared to the estimated audiences of its rivals: BBC World (222 million households), CNN International (172 million), and Al-Jazira (35 million). As for Euronews, it has a potential audience of 123 million households, which France would like to increase substantially, notably by increasing its broadcasts towards the Middle East and Asia, perhaps in association with TV5, which has estimated that it will need a special budget in excess of 120 million euros (Hi Pakistan Nov 6 via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Survey from Texas Nov 8: 2360 Radio Maya not heard, 3300 Radio Cultural still off, 3324.8 Radio Maya morning/evenings heard, 3360 Radio LV de Nahuala irregular in evenings, 3380 Radio Chortis untraced last LA-DX log is March. 4052.4 Radio Verdad mornings/evenings heard, 4698 Radio Amistad untraced last LA-DX log is March. 4780 Radio Cultural Coatan morning/evenings heard, 4800 Radio Buenas Buevas morning/evenings heard, 4845 Radio K'ekchi morning/evenings heard, 5955 Radio Cultural irregular in morning/evenings. Stations not heard in years remain unheard here: Radio Tezulutlan 3370/4835, Radio Mam 4825, Union Radio 5980, LV de Guatemala 6180 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Observations: 3250 Radio Luz y Vida noted mornings/evenings but signal seems to be weak. 4819 LV Evangélica untraced, last LA-DX log is June. 4832 Radio Litoral pounds in, used to be a tough catch when they first came on, not any longer. Nov 8 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR 9950 kHz produces spurious signals AIR Delhi 9950 kHz, 250 kW 1730-2230 UT Hi Glenn, this strong outlet on 9950 towards Europe produces spurs every 50 kHz in the range 9800 to 10200 kHz, 9800, 9850, 9900, 10000, 10050, 10100, 10150, 10200 kHz. This has been traced by many European DXers, lasting at least for a week now. I tried to contact all known AIR e-mail addresses, but all contact failed due of server faults, and over-quota etc. So I asked some Indian private persons to forward the AIR FAULTY REPORT to AIR Technical Department. 73 de wb df5sx - - - - - - Please forward this collision report to: -- AIR Delhi transmitter site. -- and All India R, Director Frequency Assignments. All direct e-mail towards Delhi failed so far. Subject: AIR Delhi 9950 kHz, 250 kW 1730-2230 UT Mon 4th produces four spurious signals nearby. [eight spurs on Tue 5th, Nov, 2002] Dear Sirs, in past week, and also tonight on Nov 4th, the AIR Delhi transmitter of 250 kW on 9950 kHz is accompanied by an output of 4 spurious signals also on 9850, 9900, 10000, and 10050 kHz. Observed also on various places in Central Europe, and featured in the German A-DX Newsgroup. Kind regards, Wolfgang Bueschel DF5SX, Stuttgart Germany. Yesterday, Tue, 5th observed in Germany: AIR 9950 kHz. 9800 disturbed Audio poor 9850 " fair 9900 " well signal "9950" regular S=9 +20 dB 10000 well signal 10050 fair signal 10100 poor 10150 poor 10200 thiny but readable O=1-2 20:15-20.40 UT RX: AR7030 ANT: T2FD (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Note: AIR External Service is now facing some transmitter problems and so several of their scheduled frequencies are off air currently. ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda Hyderabad 500082, India, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 6155, AIR Delhi (presumed) 0100-0130 Nov 6. Instead of R. Sarandí del Yí, heard this instead. Devotional type SC vocals for the whole half hour, with only brief talk by YL at 0118. USB + sync required, SINPO 23432. Audible until 0130 sign on by RTE via UK (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAN. VOIRI English to NAm: they announce 6015 and 6135 at 0030. 6135 is no good due to heavy splash from 6130 VOA. Someone else is on 6015. However, I hear them on unannounced 9580 very well (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. IRAN (?) 711, 30 Oct, Iranian ID at 1857 ("djumhuriye islaniye iran"), silence at 1900-1906, then audio appeared again. Broadcast was in Arabic, but not in parallel to other known frequencies of VoIRI Arabic Service (1080, 6025). SIO 333 in peaks. QRM by other Arabic-speaking stations. I observe such a broadcast since 25 Oct, almost every day. (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) Editor's note: remember an item from Signal No. 64: ...EGYPT and IRAN. 711 kHz: 1852, live talk in Arabic, phone-ins and traditional Arabic mx. ID at 1901, not sure about details, but in my ear it sounded like "Idhaat Shabap-ul Naha min al-Kahira". Well, I turned my ferrite aerial by 90 degrees (to minimize that Egyptian signal), and heard another Arabic voice. It was more traditional, with serious talks and march music. ID "Idhaat-il Ahwal (or Awal ???), Sawt-il Djumhuriyah-til Islamiyah-til Iran" at 1928. Then, after a couple of minutes of silence, music sounded, and a male voice started a hearthly speech, ended by "Sawt-il-Intifadah,... Sawt- il Iraq". Strange frequency of 1406 kHz (or was it my ear's error???) was announced for the first broadcast, while 711 kHz (the right one!) has been given for the second one. ID "Sawt-il Iraq" repeated several times during the broadcast (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia) (Mauno Ritola, Finland, recently wrote about a mysterious station on 711 kHz in Real DX list, with an ID like "Sawt-ul Iraq at-ta'ar". Henrik Klemetz identified it as The Voice Of Rebbelious Iraq. It's quite possible we all heard the same station, broadcasting from Iranian territory - Ed.) (all: Signal Nov 6 via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. MANX RADIO'S LOSSES "FUTURE HANGING IN THE BALANCE" Manx Radio made a loss of £132,000 in the year to the end of March. http://www.manxradio.com/ The station's annual results will be reported to this month's sitting of Tynwald, when a future broadcasting strategy for the Isle of Man will also be debated. The government financed study, by independent consultants, recommends increased funding for the national broadcaster, which Chairman, Charles Fargher, says must be supported if Manx Radio is to continue in its present role. He is urging members of Tynwald to secure the future of the station, by putting it on a firm financial footing: Manx Radio briefs MHKs. Members of Tynwald have been given a presentation by the Board of Manx Radio, on why the station is in its current difficult financial situation. They were also briefed on why it was considered important for them to support the strategy for the future, outlined in a four hundred thousand pound Tynwald backed review of broadcasting in the Isle of Man. The independent review recommends considerably increased financial support for the government owned operation. A letter to members from Manx Radio's Managing Director, leaked to last Thursday's local paper, made it clear the station suffered considerable losses in the last financial year, and its future was hanging in the balance (via Mike Terry, Nov 7, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Galei Zahal, 6973.36, Nov 2 0325-0359* Hebrew talk. Local folk music, ballads. Usually signs off around 0300; very good. Heard next night, Nov 3, 0250-0312* with local pops, US Broadway show tunes, US pops, ballads. Also on 15785.64, Nov 2 0414-0430+; signed on around 0410. Local pops, Hebrew talk. Also heard at 1605 check. Weak. Beware of Euro-pirates that operated around this frequency (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. SITE? Due to some internal problems at Radio GAP, they just announced that they had to cancel their scheduled broadcasts on Shortwave this week. Instead, on Nov. 7, Nov 8 and Nov. 9, 2002 Amisnet News Agency will be airing via IRRS-Shortwave on 6280 kHz from 2100-2200 UTC reporting in various languages on the European Global Forum taking place in Florence (Italy). All broadcasts in parallel with http://mp3.nexus.org (Cotroneo, IRRS, Cumbre DX, Nov 6 via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) AmisNet special HF Broadcasting from European Social Forum - Florence Italy. The special program will be broadcast 7/8/9 November on 6280 khz (100 kW transmitter from IRRS) at 21.00/22.00 UTC from the European Social Forum - Florence Italy by AmisNet http://www.amisnet.org Please send report to amisnet@amisnet.org Special QSL card will be sent for any report. Wishes, (Andrea Borgnino, Italy, hard-core-dx via DXLD) The event may be in Florence, but the 100 kW transmitter – hardly (gh, DXLD) ITALY [sic]. 6280.20, Amisnet News Agency via IRRS, *2100-2131 7 Nov, Carrier popped on around 2057. M on in EG at 2200 w/ID and Milano Italy addr, phone number, fax number, and ended w/ID "This is I-R-R-S shortwave Milano ??". Then a short period of deadair. Relay began at 2102 w/M in middle of long tlk in poss. IT, although it sounded like SP to 2108. At 2109, switched over to W tlk in SP w/ment of "...politica radio Europea...", camposina, and America. Went into EG at 2112 w/tlk on apparent conflicts throughout the world. Also had a phone interview w/M in EG. Ended the EG segment w/ID "That's all for today. Stay tuned for more news ?? European Global Forum ??". Then went into FR segment. Even though its 100 kw, I was kind of surprised it would come in with a readable signal this early. Was hampered by local buzzing QRM from time to time (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Sorry but really I don't understand this message of Alfredo Cotroneo, of IRRS, he said no programs will be aired this week, from Radio Gap.....but will be aired programs of AMISTNET NEWS AGENCY (this is the AMARC ORGANISATION in ITALY) so this has nothing to do with Radio Gap, so this will be no direct broadcasts from the meeting but just a "collage" tapes ....filtered ....and controlled.....before to be put over the AIR....surely not the true spirit of the Global Forum Meeting. Concerning the "SITE" matter, the IRRS transmitter is located near TREZZO D'ADDA in the countryside, 30 km east to Milano, so should be better to write "TREZZO D'ADDA" not Milano. The transmitter is remotely controlled by computer system, look like in New Zealand they do with RNZI transmitters (and you don't write WELLINGTON as TX site) .....finally yesterday at 2100-2200 no signals has been traced here in Italy from IRRS, on 6280 kHz. Good listenings, (Dario Monferini, Milano, Nov 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** JORDAN. R. Jordan, 11690, Nov 2 1700-1730* English news, ID. ``Jordan Weekly`` news program. Rap music to sign-off. Stronger than usual over the ever-present RTTY station (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Then *1730 Turkey, q.v. Since Oct 25 R Jordan in English at 1400-1730 11690 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 6 via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. Friends, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar is noted with their winter schedule now. The sign on is now at 0120 UTC on 4950 (ex Summer 0025). The special programs for Ramzan from this station are likely to start tomorrow. It was not on this morning. Look out for this month long transmission like last year on 4950 at 2345-0015 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad 500082, India, Nov 5, dx_india via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) The special Ramazan broadcast from Radio Kashmir, Srinagar started today 7th November 2002 and will continue till December 6, 2002. The timings are 2330-0008 UT on 4950 and 1116 kHz. They sign off at 0008 and the normal transmission starts from 0120 UT. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500082, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KENYA. EAST AFRICAN REPORT with Chris Greenway in Nairobi EXPEDITION TO KOMA ROCK One of the radio-related web sites I find impressive is Ludo Maes's Transmitter Documentation Project (TDP) at http://www.tdp.info Among other things, it attempts to list all of the world's known transmitter sites ever used by shortwave broadcasters, with some information going back many decades. The Kenyan section lists four shortwave transmitter sites: Kisumu, Mombasa, Langata and Koma Rock. I know that both Kisumu and Mombasa closed at least 20 years ago (if not much further back), but what about Langata and Koma Rock? The Langata station is relatively familiar to me, being located about seven miles southwest of Nairobi city centre, and just three or four miles from where I work. The TDP listing says that six shortwave transmitters have been installed at Langata at various times over the years (2 x 5 kW, 2 x 10 kW and 2 x 100 kW). I know that at present the station is only used to carry the KBC's Eastern Service on a single frequency (4915 kHz). According to the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation's own web site, this is from a 10 kW unit. If the TDP information is correct, this would be a Marconi transmitter installed at Langata in 1959. And what of the fourth site, Koma Rock? TDP says that one 20kW transmitter and two 250kW senders were installed there (in 1976 and 1984 respectively). I know that the 250 kW units were originally intended for use by a Kenyan external service that in the end never got on the air. But is the Koma Rock site still in existence? This was the question I set out to answer one Sunday back in August. Koma Rock is now a housing estate on the eastern outskirts of Nairobi and so, equipped with map and compass, I headed out there. I had noticed adverts in a local paper promoting the sale of plots of land in Koma Rock, saying they were "adjacent to the KBC", so I was hopeful of finding at least something. In the end, and to cut quite a long story short, I discovered that the KBC site no longer exists. Local residents were able to point me towards roughly where it used to be, and I'm fairly confident that I can now say where it was to within about half-a-mile. But I discovered no remnants of it: no signboards, no buildings and certainly no antenna masts or towers. The area is now in the process of being built up with residential and industrial premises. It seems to have been quite a good choice for a transmitting site: flat, open ground adjacent to a main road. I wonder what happened to the transmitters, in particular those two 250 kW ones? Incidentally, the TDP web site gives the coordinates of the Koma Rock site as 37.09 degrees east, 1.16 degrees south. On my map, that places it well over 20 miles to the east of Nairobi, in fact outside the boundaries of Nairobi Province. My own estimate is that the site is (or, rather, was) at 36.55 east, 1.16 south. That's about seven miles east-northeast of Nairobi city centre. Before I leave the subject of Kenyan shortwave, here's a small piece of good news. The KBC's only remaining shortwave outlet - the Eastern Service on 4915 kHz (from the above-mentioned Langata site) - has extended its schedule. It's on the air Monday-Friday at 0300-0700 and 1300-1910 GMT. In Europe, evening reception during the winter is likely to be marred by co-channel Ghana. However, for early risers (or late-to-bedders) the 0300 sign-on may offer a good chance. Listen for a distinctive flute-and-drum interval signal, followed by the rather mournful Kenyan national anthem. The English phrase "KBC Eastern Service" is used as an ID, even when the announcement is given in an African language. Sunrise in Nairobi varies by only a few minutes either side of 0330 GMT throughout the year, and so the signal is likely to fade out by 0430 GMT or shortly afterwards. Unfortunately, the service doesn't operate at weekends. [this graf: via WORLD OF RADIO 1155] EXPEDITION TO TIMBOROA AND KISUMU On 7th October I attended the official launch of the BBC World Service's FM relay station in western Kenya. My journey there took me on a well-worn route, but one that it is always a joy. Leaving Nairobi (already at 5,500 feet above sea level), I climbed up the escarpment on the eastern side of the Great Rift Valley to over 8,000 feet, before plunging down onto the floor of the valley. Once across the valley it was a climb up the western escarpment until, in time for a picnic lunch, I arrived at Timboroa, 10,000 feet high, just a mile or so north of the equator and the site of the KBC transmitting station which is being used for the BBC relay. The beautiful location of the Timboroa station gives coverage of millions of people living in western Kenya. The station is home to a KBC TV transmitter (10 kW on VHF channel 2), two KBC radio FM transmitters (5 kW each on 88.6 and 91.5) and now the BBC World Service FM relay (3 kW on 88.2). After lunch it was downhill again and by tea time I was in Kenya's third largest city, Kisumu, by the shores of Lake Victoria, where the sultry atmosphere was a contrast to the invigorating highland air I had enjoyed just a few hours earlier. The official launch ceremony of "BBC Kisumu 88.2" was held that evening in the gardens of the British Council. It was a very pleasant occasion, with live link-ups in English and Swahili to the BBC African Service in Bush House, and dancing to a local band. Local dignitaries were joined by the chief guest, the information minister, who spoke warmly of the BBC's role in Kenya (where a third of adults are regular World Service listeners). This is the third BBC WS relay on FM in Kenya (the others serve the Nairobi and Mombasa areas) and the BBC is already planning two more. In neighbouring Uganda, the BBC now says that "almost the whole" of the country can now receive the World Service on FM (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** KENYA. From The East African Standard, By Standard Team The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Radio yesterday went off-air for hours triggering a wave of anxiety across the country. The situation was aggravated by the fact that in a move which evoked memories of the 1982 abortive coup, the station did not carry two of its early morning news bulletins. The worrying phenomenon started at midnight and persisted until 8 am. Unconfirmed reports indicated that several parents stopped their children from going to school until the situation became clear. And a statement from the station explained that radio services, including Metro FM, were temporarily off air from between 5 am and 7.45 am owing to a technical hitch. In a signed statement, the KBC Managing Director, Mr Caxton Munyoki, explained that the hitch occurred during the installation of a new switching control gear. "The gear is designed to eliminate persistent failures and functional problems," said Munyoki. He added that the one being replaced was installed in 1960 and had become unreliable. Munyoki said the operation to install the new gear started when the station closed down at midnight and was to continue until 5.00 am when the station was due to resume. He said that a technical problem developed at 5.00 am and frantic investigations started which went on until 7.45 am when the hitch was identified and rectified. Munyoki said the station has embarked on replacing old equipment and the modernisation was successfully carried out for the television studios last year. "KBC management is focused on enhancing its services by replacing all equipment with new reliable ones," he added. He apologised to all the KBC and Metro FM radio listeners throughout the world for the inconvenience as the Kiswahili service is hooked to World Space. Insiders at KBC blamed the hitch on the technicians who did not alert the management to have the Outside Broadcast (OB) facility on stand- by. According to the sources the OB equipment can broadcast throughout the country. Calls inundated the East African Standard switchboard from as early at 6:00 am when the first staffers arrived. Anxious callers sought to find out what was happening fearing that a repeat of the 1982 coup was in the offing. On the morning of the coup, an announcement was made that the Kenya Government had been overthrown after which both Ling'ala and martial music was played interspersed with announcements of the take-over. Ms Helen Njeri, who commutes to Nairobi from Kikuyu, said when she turned on the radio and there was no broadcast, she thought KBC was about to announce a major development about the Government. A caller from Kitale Mr Wycliffe Muluka sought to find out if all was well in Nairobi as KBC had been off air from the time he switched on his radio at 6:00 am. Some of the worried listeners who spoke to the Standard in Kilgoris said they thought something had gone awfully wrong. "I thought the Government had been overthrown or something nasty had happened to the State," said John Gachie, a newspaper vendor in the town. Residents of Kakamega were shocked when they failed to receive KBC and Metro FM radio programmes for nearly three hours which included the news bulletins at 6.00 am and 7.00 am (via Mike Terry, Nov 7, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 19195, domestic service from Pyongyang heard here for some days yet. For instance, noted it 30 Oct at 1021-1151 and later, in Korean, with standard content: speeches and patriotic music. SIO 353. Compared it with Pyongyang external services (9335 and 9345), no parallel at all (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal Nov 6 via DXLD) ?? unseems harmonic ** KOREA NORTH. D.P.R. Starting Nov 4 V of Korea Pyongyang switched to winter schedule. 0000-0400 6520, 7580 (x13760, 15180), En at 0100. 9325, 11335 (x11845, 15230); En at 0300. 0700-1300 6520 (x9650). 0700-0950 6575, 11335 (x11735, 15245). 1000-1350 and 1300-1450 9850 (x13650), En at 1000. 1300-1750 and 1800-2350 7505, 11335 (x13760, 15245), En at 1300, 1500, 1900, 2100. 1800-2050 6520, 9660 (x9640, 11710). 2100-2400 6520 (x9650). (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 4 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Hi Glenn, For the last three mornings (11/5 - 7/02) I have been listening to 11530 khz between 1325 - 1445 +. On 11/5/02 I heard a clear ID for Dengi Mesopotamia ("Voice of Mesopotamia") in Kurdish. SINPO 34333 with signal deteriorating after 1447. Presumably Kurdish music, ID (1407) Mixture of music and call in for remainder of the hour until sign off at 1507. I presume the language was (presumably) Kurdish. The same programming has been on each day, with Arabic from as early as 1325, switching to (presumably) Kurdish at 1400. This is the previous frequency and a shorter schedule from A 02. There were tests noted in DXLD 165, at 1700 UT on 12115 reported by Anker Petersen and BBC monitoring, so there may be two broadcasts or a return to the previous schedule? (Mark Taylor, Madison WI, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN [and non]. Just got back today (after some delays in Halifax due to 10" of heavy wet snow and high winds) from 5 days of DX'ing in Cappahayden, Newfoundland. Fellow DX'ers on this trip were Jim Renfrew, Rochester, NY, Neil Kazaross of Chicago and our usual ringleader Jean Burnell, now living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As Jean has recently moved to Halifax, it is possible that this may be our last visit to our usual site. I will have a more detailed log report in about a sesquiweek as I am on a plane again tomorrow to northern China for week (with radio packed of course!), but I wanted to get a few of these logs out. While MW conditions were so-so, SW was generally quite good. We heard, by my count, 15 SW Europirates and numerous UnID Dutch, Greek and Serbian pirates in the 1600-1700 band. Tibet on 4820, 4920, 5240 and 5935 was so strong around 2300 that we could take the headphones off to listen to the local ID's. English news on Kyrgyzstan at 0024 on 4010 was SINPO 44444! Generally reception around 0000 to Central and South Asia was excellent - one of the few stations that we didn't hear though, was Bhutan on 6035. Turkmenistan on 5015, Tadjik on 4635, Kyrgyz on 4795 were all heard well. Quetta, Pakistan on 5027 at *0047 was also a first for me (John Fisher, Kingston, Ontario, Nov 7, ODXA via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to ASIA 12070 (Presumed) Hmong Lao Radio 0056 Nov 8 with test tones, 0058 with open carrier. 0100 long flute tones, sort of an IS, and then talk by man in presumed Hmong. One female vocal song after he talked just for a bit and then had him speaking again. Fair signal on a clear channel (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5470. RADIO VERITAS. Monrovia, Liberia 2210-2301* Nov. 2 Nuevamente escuchada esta emisora con ritmicos temas africanos, el locutor habla cuando aún suenan los temasn musicales lo que hace dificil entender lo que dice pero envia saludos a oyentes. "...This is Radio Veritas from Monrovia for the all people..." En noviembre 3, escuchada con bajo audio y solo audible los temas musicales (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. At 10:10 p.m. EST on 6 NOV (0310 UTC: 7 NOV), Mauritania-783 is absolutely blasting in here with Koranic chanting. It's at least 10-15 dB better than the CFDR/WBBM/R. Coro mélange on adjacent 780. Ramadan has started and many stations in the Islamic world will be on extended schedules (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA 25 km / 15 miles NW of Boston, NRC-AM via DXLD) 783, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott NOV 6 0116-0120 - Loud and clear in peak with discussion between two men in Arabic parallel to 4845 kHz. On late undoubtedly for Ramadan holy month which began this date. [Marc DeLorenzo, MA, NRC International DX Digest via DXLD] ** MEXICO. Spent several hours trying to track down the schedule of XERMX, no luck. Their web page schedule is April 2002 October 2002. I did make a tape the week before October 27th. I reviewed the tape which, although very noisy, allowed me to know that it was not a DX program, but a political interview show. I did not log the recording, likely because it was so noisy, but it was in one of the time/day slots on the old DXPGMS list. So they were not following the schedule even then. I found a number of logs on the web, but none were newer than 1999 (Bill Brady, MD, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 29/10, 2305, 4865 kHz, Mongolian Radio resumed its domestic service broadcasts on this frequency. Three LW parallels found: 164, 209, and 227 kHz (Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) I noted a broadcast on this frequency back on 24 April. Frequency value was floating from nominal. I confirm that Khekh Tenger (2nd domestic program in Mongolia) transmits news in Russian every day (at least in week-days) at 0002- 0012. SW frequency is 4850 kHz (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) Mentioned LW frequencies belong to the old distribution pattern. A misprint, or they really did not move to 9 kHz multiples? (Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine, Signal via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Radio Medi 1 is a favourite of mine. I like the mix of exotic Middle Eastern music and Western, mostly French pop music. I`ve heard it on SW and via the internet --- in fact I`m listening to it as I type this. I suppose I like the variety, the unique mix of cultures. Give it a listen via radio (9575 kHz in our afternoons [or 9595] or the computer and see if you don1`t agree (Fred Waterer, Ont., Programming Matters, Oct ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. 5770.00-USB, R Miskut, Puerto Cabezas, 0012 Nov 7, SS OM talks like news, weak to fair (Giampaolo Galassi, Italy, NRD 515 Eska mod 60m LW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 5770, Radio Miskut (Presumed) Thanks Cumbre DX tip. Checked at 2355 to a weak signal that rapidly got better. Tons of interference though and a tough catch without any ID. Needs more work, but nice to hear them again. Seemed to sign off around 0100. Nov 7/8 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. PUBLIC RADIO TO DEDICATE SITE Web posted Wednesday, November 6, 2002 4:09 a.m. CT PERRYTON - High Plains Public Radio will conduct a dedication ceremony of its KTOT Transmitter site outside Perryton on Saturday, according to a news release. Those interested can visit the transmitter site on Ochiltree County Road 3 from noon to 3 p.m. Staff from High Plains Public Radio will be there to give a tour and to answer questions. An informal social will be from 3-5:30 p.m. at the Museum of the Plains, 1200 N. Main St. in Perryton, with a live on-air dedication ceremony at 3:30 p.m. The Top O' Texas Public Radio Project received authorization from the Federal Communications Commission to build the 1,000-foot tower southwest of Perryton earlier this year. Thanks to the new transmitter, High Plains Public Radio, based in Garden City, Kan., now reaches people in Carson, Gray, Hansford, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Roberts and Ochiltree counties. [not to mention several OK counties!] To get to the transmitter site from Perryton, go south on Highway 70 to Farm-to-Market Road 281, make a right and go 13 miles west. Go south on County Road 3 for 1 miles. Park on the side of the county road and walk to the tower. The directions are the same from Pampa, except that visitors need to go north on Highway 70 and turn left on FM 281, which is still west. For more information, call High Plains Public Radio at (800) 678-7444. (Amarillo Globe-News via Artie Bigley, DXLD) WTFK?! 89.5 ** PAKISTAN. I have received a printed schedule from Pakistan today which indicates home services via Islamabad as follows: API-2: 5915 0045-0215. 9645 0600-1115 [includes English news at 0800-0803 and 1100-1104. I guess this is also what is heard on 21465 & 17835 also]. 6065 Balti News 1350-1400 & Sheena News 1420-1428. 5965 1615-1700 [Islamabad Programme (Aaina)]. API-4: 7105 Current Affairs 0200-0400 & 1300-1800 External Services continues to use high power API-6 on 21460 [0500- 0700] and 21465 [0800-1104]. (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Nov 5 via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PERU. Willkamayu: "río sagrado", nombre original del Río Urubamba o Vilcanota. Extraido de http://www.agnostica.com.ar/incasvoca.htm ===== (Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. Dear friend! Last weekend was great for DXing here on the Chilean Pacific coast: New */Radio San Isidro/*, Celendín, Department of Cajamarca, Peru. It replaced Radio Cosmos. 4627 kHz, 1.11.2002, 0100-0300 UT when signal off. Good signal SINPO 33343. Local music and constant station identification in Spanish. Best regards from (Carlos Maldonado, Página: http://www.maldonado.de.vu Santiago, CHILE via Mark Mohrmann, WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) {Later: ID is actually R. San Agustín} ** PERU. 5940.1 (Presumed). Radio Bethel: flirted with this twice today, but just couldn't catch an ID. During the 1000 hour with short Spanish Christian talk by man and a lot of easy music. Fair signal but channel is a mess at this time. 2358 a bit better with same kind of programming, caught a mention of Peru at 0013 but that was as close as I got. Faded a bit by 0033 but still there. Nov 7-8 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. RRI Bucharest in English at 2300: I just about heard them. To Europe, 7195 and 9570. To North America, 9510 and someplace on 11 MHz. Too much splash on all to hear clearly, Oct 31. Finally! Nov 1 clear enough to log RRI at 2300, English to WEu on 7195 fair here, and 9570 poor due to co-channel. To NAm 9510 quite good today; some 9505 or CCI 9510; and 11940, splash by 11945 makes it very poor; also low modulation. It`s mostly 9505 interference. Next English to NAm is at 0200. Audio too distorted to hear frequencies. One was middle of 9 MHz and other in 11 MHz area. I`ll have to keep listening. Reception has been dismal on a few I`ve been trying to double check: Romania, RFI, Ukraine (Bob Thomas, CT Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Romanian local radio station Radio Moldova from the city Iasi had returned to its former name Radio Iasi (phonetic: 'yash'). radio Iasi broadcasts now 0355-2000 on 1053 kHz. ID "Aici Radio Iasi, Romania". A relay of Radio Moldova 1st programme from the neighbour Republic of Moldova at 2100-2200 (Mo-Fr) is canceled. So, no more misunderstandings between the listeners with two Radio Moldova's. (Robertas Petraitis, Lithuania in an email (6/11-2002), Ydun`s MW News via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I hear VOR, 0200 English to NAm on 9765; and 7180 is good through 0400 (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 29/10, at about 0900, heard Radio Rossii on 5940 and 7320 kHz. It meant that SW transmitters in Magadan oblast are still active. Do they still have local broadcasts in SW, I wonder? At 0910 caught Blagoveshchensk on 6060 kHz, the very beginning of a local broadcast. Radio Rossii was heard at that time with a very strong signal on 6085 kHz. Where does it come from? (Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) HFCC B02 table suggests Krasnoyarsk: KRS 6085 50kW 350gr 2200-1800 RRS (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Signal via DXLD) This is Krasnoyarsk. 6085 kHz replaced its former 5290 kHz. In the morning local studio programs (Tsentr Rossii) are heard (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) It's sad to read that Krasnoyarsk has moved off 5290 - that was one of my winter frequencies to monitor. I could hear the station during the daytime, with no fade out, at times. There's one BIG station on 6085 here - but, if it really does go off then I can look forward to hearing Krasnoyarsk again! Maybe the Russians think 4 MHz is too low - the problem is that 6 MHz is very full. And BTW, 5290 is allocated on an experimental basis to amateurs in the UK. I haven`t noted any using it yet, but have heard them using other freqs in the 5400 range (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Nov 2 via DXLD) This morning I was finally able to confirm Magadan on 5940-7320-9530. Reception of these three has been poor here for some time, with no propagation along the northern path despite reasonably good signals from Yakutsk on 7200-7345. What I have been hearing later in the day in the noise on 5935 and 6150 is the University Network. When 6150 comes to life again in the afternoon it's from Singapore, which is quite strong when it reaches full propagation. So far it seems that there is no Yakutsk on 6150. Regards (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT KITTS & NEVIS. Hi, Glenn, As a follow-up to the ZIZ Radio, Saint Kitts, entry on this DXLD 2-168; ZIZ has a new website at: http://www.zizonline.com/ Nice site with streaming media and all... 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland Webmaster of 1000 Lakes DX Page http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/3232/dx.htm DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAO TOME. 4960 kHz. 2 Nov. VOA in English. 0350-0405. SIO=453. By the way, sometimes people at relay base forget to change this frequency to 4950 for evening broadcasts, so they continue on 4960, confusing the listeners (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal via DXLD) ** SPAIN. REE has only one English transmission to NAm, at 0000 on 6055. Others all in Spanish 0100-0600 (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. PICTURE BULLETIN OF TAJIK RADIO IN DARI 1400 GMT 6 NOV 02 1. 1400 gmt This is the capital of the Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe. Greetings. Tajikistan's Radio in Dari begins its first programme at 1830 Kabul time (1400-1500 gmt) everyday. It broadcasts on short-wave 7245 kHz, medium waves 262-462 meter equivalent to 1143- 648 kHz, on 41 meters bands. It lasts one hour. The programme is repeated at 0530-0630 (0100-0200 gmt) in the morning the next day. 2. 1402 gmt Details of the programmes: News, reportage, commentary and interview with an Afghan commander, Mohammad Daud, on the situation in Afghanistan. 3. 1403 gmt Tajikistan's domestic news. 4. 1409 gmt Foreign news: Iran, Russia and Israel. 5. 1412 gmt Tajik song. 6. 1416 gmt Report on the trip of Moldavian president to Tajikistan. 7. 1423 gmt Music 8. 1427 gmt Commentary on Tajikistan's Constitution Day. (Reception poor) 9. 1436 gmt Music (Reception poor) 10. 1440 gmt Interview with an Afghan commander in the northeast of the country, Mohammad Daud, regarding the security situation, the presence of the US forces and reconstruction in Afghanistan. (Reception partly poor, duration 10 minutes) 11. 1450 gmt Afghan and Tajik songs. 12. 1500 gmt End of bulletin. Source: Radio Tajikistan external service, Dushanbe, in Dari 1400 gmt 6 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Picture bulletin? Reads like a DX reception report to me. :-) Do they QSL? (gh, DXLD) ** TANZANIA. Radio Tanzania has reactivated the use of 7280 kHz. Unfortunately, transmissions on that frequency continue to be erratic, and it seems only to be scheduled for usage at approximately 0700-1300 GMT, restricting propagation to the region. The parallel 5050 kHz continues to be used at 0200-2100 GMT. Regards from Nairobi (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) ** TURKEY. V. of Turkey, *1730-1754* Nov 2. Spanish with news and talk, local music. Poor, mixing with RTTY station (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And conveniently after Jordan 1730*, q.v. ** TURKMENISTAN. Turkmen R., 4930, Nov 2 0103-0215+, tentative. Tune- in to choral anthem and into talk in language. Middle-East type vocal sand instrumentals. Weak but in the clear. Reduced carrier USB. Not listed in PWBR [``2003``?]. But is in the WRTH and TBL (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. Radio Uganda, whose 60-metre signals had long been regarded as "beacons" in Europe during the evening, has become unreliable on shortwave. In addition to frequent breakdowns, the transmitter for the Red Channel (4976 kHz in the early morning and evening, 7195 during the daytime) is regularly noted with lower power and poorer quality audio when compared to the Blue Channel transmitter on 5026/7110. (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) ** U K. BBC CUTS JOBS AND COSTS IN £200M SHORTFALL Ian Griffiths, Thursday November 7, 2002, The Guardian The BBC is being forced to cut costs and lay off staff because of a £200m budget shortfall. News and current affairs programmes are expected to bear the brunt of job losses, but the BBC's board of management has ordered a clampdown on costs across the corporation. Some departments have already been told to impose recruitment freezes. However, big-spending departments are also being forced to introduce job cuts. News and current affairs executives have been told that a recruitment drive planned for the World and 24 hour services must be reversed. Greg Dyke, the BBC's director general, believes that staffing levels are too high and must be reduced to a sustainable long term level. An email is already circulating among news staff calling for voluntary redundancies, the first time that such cuts have been sought for at least two years. One source claimed that even more radical action is being considered. Compulsory redundancies are not being ruled out. The shortfall in the news division is understood to be around £15m. One source said: "Basically, if we were to do everything that we want to do next year, we'd have to find an extra £15m." The source said there were three ways of meeting the shortfall: an increase in the budget from central funds, re dundancies, or a rethink of priorities. The projected shortfall comes on top of an existing overspend in the news budget from the past year, following events such as the September 11 attacks, the war on terrorism, and the Bali nightclub bombing. A BBC spokesman claimed that details of the budgeting problems were being twisted and that the cuts now being sought "were in no way radical". He said the focus was sim ply on efficiency gains, which would be ploughed back in to better programming, adding that the BBC was meeting the government's value-for-money demands. The £200m mismatch in the corporation's finances arises from an arcane BBC accounting privilege which allows it to borrow centrally against the BBC's assets. This cash has been used historically to smooth out budgetary peaks and troughs between one accounting period and the next. In the year ending March 31 2002 the BBC's income was £3.4bn but its costs ran to £3.5bn. Once other items such as tax and interest have been accounted for, the BBC had a deficit of £15.9m for the year. In 2001 that was a surplus of £75.5m. However, close examination has revealed a significant projected overspend over the next two years. Departmental heads have been told that in the current year, ending in March 2003, they will not be allowed to roll over any budget underspend. In the past, a department which has not spent its full budget in the financial year has been permitted to carry the excess forward. Because of spending patterns, millions of pounds can be at stake. BBC insiders are also suggesting that underspending departments will suffer a double penalty. Not only will they lose their budget carry forward, but their 2003-04 budget will be set using the actual spending in the current year as as a base. The BBC is in the second year of a seven-year budgetary plan. However, the analysis of programmes commissioned for years three and four has revealed that the corporation has overspent significantly. The corporation is under pressure to keep its financial house in order. Its objectives for the current year state that it must improve "efficiency in programme production whilst maintaining quality of output". Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA LAUNCHES RADIO CALL-IN TO AFRICA ON HEALTH Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2002 – The Voice of America's English to Africa Service today launched a new weekly call-in show on health issues. The 30-minute show, Housecall, builds on that service's distinguished efforts to promote better health conditions in Africa. Hosted by veteran VOA broadcaster Ashenafi Abedje, Housecall includes as its guests medical doctors and experts who answer listener questions about health issues. Today's discussion focused on the response of African countries to AIDS. "Many countries in Africa are facing increasing difficulties meeting the health needs of their populations, particularly as their resources are strained by the overwhelming impact of the AIDS pandemic," said VOA Director David Jackson, announcing the start of the new program. Broadcast every Tuesday at 1900 UT, Housecall also will be available on-demand at http://voanews.com/englishtoafrica VOA English to Africa broadcasts 30 hours of targeted programming a week to Anglophone Africa through shortwave, Internet, and a growing list of more than 40 affiliates. These include 24-hour FM stations in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (102.4 FM); Nairobi, Kenya (107.5 FM); Kigali, Rwanda (104.3 FM); and Freetown, Sierra Leone (102.4 FM). (VOA press release Nov 5 via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, re DXLD 2-173 USA [non] item of AFN Sicily on 10320. I think this frequency is used by Hawaii. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. RFA schedule in B-02, valid til March 30, 2003. RFA currently broadcasts from 1100-0700; there are no transmissions between 0700 and 1100. Daily programming includes Mandarin for 12 hours, Cantonese for two hours, Uighur for two hours, and Tibetan for eight hours. RFA uses IBB txs in HOL=Holzkirchen Germany, IRA=Iranawila Sri Lanka, SAI=Saipan & TIN=Tinian NoMariana Isls. And Merlin relays TWN=Taiwan and UAE=Al Dhabayya-UAE. Additional transmitter sites have been researched but deleted from this list upon request of RFA to suppress this info, to avoid pressure from China upon the host countries. Are we to assume that China has no way to find out this sensitive info except through DX publications? [gh] RFA B-02 updated schedule of November 6th. 0000-0100 LAO 11830I 13830 15545T 0030-0130 BURMESE 11535 11570 13710S 13815I 15155T 0100-0300 TIBETAN 7470 7560 9570H 11695UAE 15220T 17730 0100-0200 UIGHUR 7485 9365 9580UAE 9690UAE 15270T 17570T 0300-0600 MANDARIN 13625T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 21540T 0600-0700 MANDARIN 13625T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 0600-0700 TIBETAN 17515 17540 17720 21570T 21715UAE break 1100-1400 TIBETAN 7470 9365 11540 13625T 15435UAE 15185H-(from 1200) 1100-1200 LAO 9355S 9775T 15555I 15680 1230-1330 CAMBODIAN 11510 13725I 15395T 1300-1400 BURMESE 7550 9355 11795T 12105I 15250T 1400-1500 CANTONESE 9825S 11950T 15255T 1400-1500 VIETNAMESE 9365 9455S 9920Y 9930W 11535 11605N 11760T 13635P 13660I 15470T 21625I 1400-1500 KOREAN 5855 7475 12000T 13790T 1500-1600 TIBETAN 7470 7495 9920 15385UAE 1500-1600 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11945T 13625T 13670T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1600-1700 UIGHUR 7515 7530 9865UAE 11720T 13725I 1600-1700 MANDARIN 7540 9455S-(fr 1630) 9905P 11850T 11945T 13670T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1700-1800 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9905P 11850T 11945T 13695T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1800-1900 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 11745S 11790T 11945T 13695T 15510T 17615T 1900-2000 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 9875P 11745T 11790T 11945T 13625T 13695T 13745T 15510T 2000-2100 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 9875P 9885T 11900S 11950T 13625T 13745T 15510T 2100-2200 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9875P 9885T 11900S 11950T 13625T 13745T 15510T 2200-2300 CANTONESE 9570S 9845P 11740T 11785T 2200-2300 KOREAN 7460 9455T 11775S 11905T 2230-2330 CAMBODIAN 7185I 7530 9930P 15485T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11785T 11995S 13800T 15430T 15550T 2300-2359 TIBETAN 6010UAE 7415 7470 7550 9875H 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 7515 9490 9930P 11580 11605N 11670T 13720S 13865I RFA Vietnamese service increased by using additional transmitters in B-02: 1400-1500 from nine to twelve txs in \\ 2330-0029 from seven to eight txs in \\ (various sources, updated on November 6th, 2002, BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. From Morgan Freeman, WJIE Shortwave WJIE International Shortwave Radio Nov 7, 2002 Dear Broadcast Partner, My name is Morgan Freeman and I am one of the many smiling faces and glad hearts here at WJIE International Shortwave. Twenty years ago I was a young sailor in Beirut, Lebanon and I became a born again Christian. I was a radioman and immediately someone said sarcastically ``Now that you`re a Christian what are you going to do?`` As a headstrong young man I responded by saying ``I `m going to start radio stations for the Lord.`` Fifteen years ago I was sitting in church daydreaming when I leaned over to my wife and said ``Honey, you could put a radio station in a container and ship it any where in the world.`` The most awesome thing that I can imagine is that today we are actually doing just that! Today we are able to put a radio station in a shipping container and move it to some far off place like Liberia or Nigeria and have it broadcasting to the masses in a matter of weeks. Just imagine here in Louisville, Kentucky there are dozens of radio stations. In Abuja, Nigeria a city of 3 million there is only one government owned radio station. So on the whole radio dial there is only one station, the government owned station but soon there will be one more and that will be Christian radio! What makes this even more exciting is that one of these FM stations cost about as much as a new Buick and a shortwave station cost about as much as a new home. We right now are placing these radio stations around the world and beating back the wall of Islam with the Gospel of Christ Jesus and its all possible because of you. We partner with ministries like you and air your sermons and radio programs to the world for free and all we ask in return is that you remember us with your prayers and love offerings. You can read about our ministry at http://www.wjiesw.com You can contact me personally at 502-968-1220 ext 30 or by email at morgan@wjie.org . We are looking forward to partnering with you and broadcasting your program to the world (Morgan Freeman, WJIE International Shortwave mailing list Nov 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. WWRB spur, 5015, Nov 3 0255-0310+, weak spur of 5085 with English religious programming (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably mixing with 5050 which would also have to be on ** U S A. FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE FIREARMS ON KOERNKE'S PROPERTY By Amalie Nash, Staff Reporter, Ann Arbor News, 11-7-2 Federal agents seized radio transmission equipment and weapons off the Webster Township property of imprisoned militia leader Mark Koernke on Wednesday. Dexter-Pinckney Road, in front of Koernke's home, was blocked off for hours as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched the property, about a mile northwest of downtown Dexter. Koernke, 45, is serving a 3- to 7.5-year prison sentence for assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting police and fleeing from police in Washtenaw County in 2000. He is not eligible for release until March 2004, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. U.S. marshals went to Koernke's house on an order from the Federal Communications Commission to seize radio equipment, said Chief Deputy U.S. marshal Darrell Williams. The order charged illegal radio transmissions were broadcast from the home, Williams said. In the past, broadcasts on frequency 90.7 FM could be heard within a radius of 1-3.5 miles of the Koernke home, although no legal stations from Washtenaw County had rights to it, according to the FCC. Koernke had a large satellite dish in the rear of his property with 90.7 FM written across it. An official with the FCC in Washington refused comment Wednesday. Koernke used to broadcast a short-wave radio show where he called himself "Mark from Michigan," but officials didn't know if anything was being transmitted from the home with Koernke in prison. Williams said the equipment was seized "without a hitch." But marshals discovered firearms on the premises and contacted the ATF, said ATF Special Agent Vera Fedorak. The ATF got a search warrant, and several weapons and accompanying paperwork were taken by agents, Fedorak said. She said she did not know the number or type of weapons. Susan Derosia, who lives two doors down from the Koernkes, felt it was unnecessary for police to block the street the way they did. "What they found was nothing new," she said. "There's been guns there for years." She says one of Koernke's sons used to hang out at the Derosia's home - until he left some audio tapes there with anti-government, militia messages. Derosia says she handed the tapes over to the police and forbade him from coming over again. Fedorak said federal gun charges could be filed, but it's unclear who would be charged. As a convicted felon, Koernke is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms, but he has been incarcerated for 18 months. He was arrested March 7, 2000, following a lengthy car chase that began after police mistakenly thought he was involved in a bank robbery in Dexter. Staff reporters Liz Cobbs and Peri Stone-Palmquist contributed to this report. (Rense.com via John W. Smith, DXLD) FEDERAL AGENTS RAID MILITIA ACTIVIST'S PROPERTY From http://www.detnow.com/news/0211070701.html Reported by John Klekamp, Web Produced by Christiana Ciolac U.S. Marshals searched the property of Michigan Militia member Mark Koernke. Federal agents got more than they bargained for when they raided the home of local militia activist Mark Koernke. Mark Koernke has been in prison for more than two years. U.S. Marshals were out Wednesday at his Dexter property from reports from a pirate radio operation and when they were out there, they saw something and alerted the ATF. Deputies shut down Dexter-Pinkney Road as authorities searched the property of jailed militia member Mark Koernke. ATF agents said they found weapons, but they would not say how many. "So far we found a large number of guns and a large quantity of ammunition," said ATF Special Agent Gregory Holley. The federal search warrant was executed after U.S. Marshals had entered the home to confiscate a low powered transmitter used for a pirate radio station, 90.7FM. "The local deputies in this area said there isn't much range to it. You can hear it somewhere within the village area which is somewhere within maybe two mile or so, but it's very short," said Washtenaw County Sheriff Daniel Minzey said. All that can be heard on the frequency now is static. Deputies say Koernke the FM station is used to spread his message about the Michigan militia. Koernke is in state prison doing time for a high- speed chase back in March 2000. Authorities say they have had many encounters with Koernke in the past, even though he is behind bars, they are not done with him yet. "We don't want to say it is illegal or legal, but some of these weapons will be going to the lab for determination to see if they are in violation of the federal laws. At that time if it is so, we will file federal charges," said Special Agent Holley. Authorities say Koernke's wife and two sons live at the property in Dexter. It is not clear who owns the weapons or who was running the radio station (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Re DXLD Sept 17+: Brother Stair`s difficulties are well documented. I`ve always found these programs to be fascinating, but I am sickened by preachers to spend more time condemning others for trivial things. I`ve not heard Preacher Otwell yet, but I intend to give him a listen, s well as the woman who follows. I think Mr. Otwell, if the report is correct, should ask himself how many people he will be wining to Christ by going on about another program. Unless it`s all about money. Jimmy Swaggart learned the hard way about what happens when you get busy building empires and knocking down other ministries, that this stuff comes back to bite you. I wonder if Mr Otwell REALLY wants to be known only as that preacher who bashes the woman after him (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Oct DX Ontario Listening In via DXLD) ** U S A. WGGP-LP appears to be the first licensed LPFM station to activate in Florida. Lu Vencl e-mailed several photographs he made recently. The station is at 106.7 MHz and located at the First Baptist Church, Big Pine Key. Per Lu, "Coverage is not bad, about eight miles in the car each direction for a stereo signal." Per http://www.100000watts.com, WGGP-LP - 106.7 Format: - ID: Big Pine Key, FL - Facilities: 98' 100 watts L1 - seven mile radius coverage area - Transmitter: 24 40' 45" N 81 21' 55" W. Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html (Terry L. Krueger, FL, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re WSNR, DXLD 2-173: I wonder if the running of an orthodox Jewish-oriented radio program in prime time on "Sporting News Radio" (620 kHz, Newark-NYC) points to the end of this sports talk station in metro NY. They're up against the big chains Infinity-CBS (WFAN, 660) and Disney-ESPN (WEVD, 1050 - Disney purchased this from Forward.com after leasing it for a year. They seem to have kept the call letters. Eugene V. Debs and Abraham Cahan may well be rolling in their graves.) The previous station for Nachum Siegel, WNWS, 1430, Newark, doesn't have a good signal in much of the NYC area. I once tried to receive it in a nursing home just west of the 1964 World's Fair grounds, on a little Aiwa mini-boom-box with digital readout and had no luck. An overnight show of old oldies (1940's and before) is broadcast in parallel on co-owned WPAT (930 Paterson) There are large orthodox Jewish communities within 1-3 km of this nursing home so it isn't a good station for such a program. (Joel Rubin, Queens, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Friday, November 8, 2002 - KTNS-1060, Oakhurst, CA will conduct a DX test from 9:00pm-10:00pm PST (12:00 am-1:00 am EST). The test will consist of "Music of your life" and Morse code IDs. The test will be run at KTNS's full daytime power of 5000 watts and a non- directional antenna pattern will be used. Reception reports may be sent to: Mr. Larry W. Gamble Email: General Manager mtkaat@sierratel.com KTNS-AM 40356 Oak Park Way Oakhurst, CA 93644 (Arranged by Lynn Hollerman for the IRCA CPC.) (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. INDIAN TALKERS HONORED FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION HONORS WORLD WAR II COMANCHE CODE TALKERS Featured Guest: Charles Chibitty, Last Surviving Comanche Code Talker Washington, DC -- Today, the Comanche Code Talkers, members of a specialized communications unit of the U. S. 4th Signal Corps which served in World War II, were honored by the Federal Communications their meritorious service utilizing their ancestral Comanche language to create use an "unbreakable code" on the battlefields of the Europe. In a special program, held today in observance of National American Indian Heritage Month, Mr. Charles Chibitty of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a decorated veteran and the last surviving member of the Comanche Code talkers, was the FCC's guest of honor. The Comanche code enabled the United States Army to communicate effectively at all levels of command as it advanced in the Allied liberation of Europe in 1944 and 1945. As American troops fought their way across France, Luxembourg and even into Nazi Germany, the Code Talkers' efforts saved lives in battle and helped secure the freedom of the Allied countries and the rest of the world. Mr. Chibitty shared how he and 16 other young men, who had grown up together and were all members of the Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma, used the Comanche language and their Army-trained communications skills to create a military intelligence code that was never broken by the enemy. He shared anecdotes from their enlistment and training, when they created Comanche code words for "bomber" and "tank" — words that did not exist in the Comanche language. Mr. Chibitty also explained how he and his fellow Code Talkers their code in general combat missions. The FCC program highlighted the significant contributions to our nation's liberties not only of the Comanche Code Talkers, but also those of soldiers of other tribes, including Navajo, Choctaw and Sioux, who served in similar Code Talker units in World War II. American Indian Code Talkers and their languages proved precious to the United States war effort in an era well before modern code encryption techniques. FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell stated that, "Time and again the strength of our Nation is demonstrated when many diverse cultures come together as one. In addition, at important times in our history, a group has stepped forward to utilize their unique cultural background to make a special contribution to the well-being of our country, and this was particularly true in the case of the Comanche Code Talkers during World War II." Powell also stressed the significance of the FCC's recently launched Indian Telecommunications Initiatives, designed to increase access to telecommunications services in Indian Country. - FCC (via Bill Hale, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. 'Late Show' Tampa Bay -- This is to be aired in the Tampa Bay area as well, useless though it will be. (Terry Krueger) 'Late Show' coming to radio Starting next week, David Letterman fans won't have to rush to their televisions to hear the night's Top Ten list. Fifteen of Infinity Broadcasting's radio stations -- including Tampa's WYUU-FM 92.5 -- will simulcast Letterman's CBS Late Show each weeknight at 11:35 p.m., beginning Monday. Infinity, like CBS, is owned by Viacom. "We feel this is a great opportunity for David Letterman's millions of fans to listen to the show while they're driving in their cars or away from their homes," said John Sykes, chairman of Infinity Broadcasting. © St. Petersburg Times published November 6, 2002 (via Terry Krueger, FL, DXLD) ** U S A. LETTERMAN'S 'LATE SHOW' WILL BE ON RADIO, TOO November 4, 2002, By BILL CARTER One week from tonight, David Letterman's show is moving to radio. Not exclusively, of course. Mr. Letterman's hour-long "Late Show" will still run on CBS every weeknight. But if people happen to be in their cars, beginning at 11:35 p.m. in 15 of the country's biggest cites, they will be able to listen to Mr. Letterman reading his nightly Top 10 list, among other things. [0435 UT Tue-Sat in ET, CT zones, 0535 UT in MT zone if any, 0735 UT in PT zone. And I believe show is 62 minutes long! Not 60 -- gh] {actually, it is precisely 62:30 long -- go figure} In the latest example of a synergistic crossover of two units of the same company - in this case, the Infinity radio stations and the CBS television network of Viacom - Mr. Letterman's show will be simulcast in most of the nation's biggest cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In New York, Mr. Letterman's show will play on WNEW-FM. "Late Show" will become the second CBS broadcast to be simulcast on radio. For six years, a group of CBS stations has carried "60 Minutes" on radio on Sunday nights. The Letterman show will not be changed at all for radio - even skits that need to be seen to be truly enjoyed, like "Stupid Pet Tricks." Only the commercials will be different. The radio stations will substitute their own ads for those running on television. John Sykes, the chairman of Infinity Broadcasting, said he had been looking to enhance the programming for the Infinity station lineup when he came up with the idea one night in August. "I always watch Letterman," Mr. Sykes said. "This night I was in another room and Dave was interviewing Al Pacino. I was just listening, and I thought to myself that Dave would be great on radio." Both Leslie Moonves, the president of CBS Television, and Rob Burnett, the head of Mr. Letterman's production company, [WORLDWIDE PANTS] liked Mr. Sykes's suggestion, and agreed to a six-month trial run for the simulcast. Mr. Burnett ran the idea past Mr. Letterman, who approved with one condition. "He was adamant about one thing," Mr. Burnett said. "He insisted that they not change the show in any way, no editing, and they couldn't use it more than once." Nor did the Letterman show demand a fee for the simulcast. Instead, the Infinity stations that carry the show have agreed to expand greatly the total of promotional announcements about Mr. Letterman's show they will broadcast every day. Mr. Letterman has complained about the dearth of promotion his show gets elsewhere in the Viacom empire, and CBS promised earlier this year to fix that situation as part of its deal to keep him from moving to ABC. "We're in this for the promotion," said Mr. Burnett, who estimated the value of the promotion at several million dollars. Infinity owns 183 stations and reaches more than 70 million listeners, with most of its stations concentrated in the largest cities. In New York, for example, Infinity has six stations. Mr. Sykes said he offered the Letterman show to a wide range of Infinity stations. "Whoever signed up first got the show," he said. He added that he hoped to expand the locations beyond the first 15 cities if the experiment is a success. Mr. Sykes acknowledged that some of the content of Mr. Letterman's show might not transfer well to radio, like his regular segment "Stupid Pet Tricks," in which animals perform stunts. But he said, "for the most part his show consists of comedy, conversation and music, and all of that will work well on radio." Oddly, Mr. Burnett said he had actually heard Mr. Letterman's show on radio once himself. Driving through North Carolina on vacation eight years ago, he said, the signal from a television broadcast somehow got crossed with the radio station he was listening to. "It was strange, but I thought it worked really well on radio," Mr. Burnett said, because of Mr. Letterman's verbal dexterity. Mr. Letterman, he added, was unlikely to do anything differently because his show will now be simulcast, other than possibly mentioning it on the air occasionally. "We don't see a downside," Mr. Burnett said. "It's not like people are suddenly going to start running off to their garage so they can listen to the show on radio rather than watch it on television." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/04/business/media/04LETT.html?ex=1037616858&ei=1&en=58facafa49fb331a Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. How many of you have TV's that display XDS data? I've been looking around here and quite a few are using it in the Wash/Baltimore area. WMAR-2: shows program name WRC-4: shows program name WTTG-5: shows "Fox" and program name WUSA-9: shows "NET 1" and program name WBAL-11: shows program name WJZ-13: shows "NET 1" and program name WFDC-14: shows program name WDCA-20: shows "WDCA" and program name WMPT-22: shows "WMPB" (Maryland Public Broadcasting) WUTB-24: shows program name WETA-26: shows "WETA" WBFF-45: shows "Fox" and program name WBDC-50: shows "WBDC" and program name (or "WB" or "CVC") WNUV-54: shows "WNUV" and program name (or "WB" or "CVC") WMPB-67: shows "WMPB" Richmond has similar situation. Am waiting on a good enhancement to see if the Norfolk area stations use it much. Virginia PTV uses it on its network (WVPT-51 Staunton and all translators show "WVPT"). Maybe we can start a letter-writing campaign to get more stations to show their callsigns? Cheers, (Tim McVey, Nov 5, WTFDA via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. El 6 de noviembre se cumplen 80 años de la radiotelefonia en Uruguay, con la salida al aire de Radio Paradizábal. Esta fue la primera emisión comercial de radio. Una cronologia y algunas fotos se han puesto en el sitio del museo de la radio y las comunicaciones: http://angelfire.com/retro/cx8cc/cronol19201923.htm En la direccion http://cx8cc.cjb.net tambien se puede acceder a la pagina principal. Se incluye un enlace a los primeros "speakers" uruguayos, si buscan a la derecha de la pagina principal. (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Nov 5, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Tashkent noted here in Melbourne on new 5885, with Farsi 1830, Arabic 1900, as at Nov-7. This new channel may be a change from 5975, as inaudible there. Actually, not audible on any of the listed B-02 freqs 6025 7105 7285 or 9540 as all those channels occupied by other broadcasters! Good listening to Tashkent! (Bob Padula, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos Colegas diexistas, espero que todos se encuentren muy bien. La siguiente información se corrió ayer como polvora y hoy aparece reseñada en los diarios locales. Y aunque en la información no se habla de las antenas de las emisoras de radio, quiero decirles que las mismas pudieron haber sido afectadas, ya que la mayoría de las antenas de las emisoras FM que se oyen en Barcelona y Puerto La Cruz tienen sus antenas en el mismo cerro Vidoño donde se pensaba realizar este saboteo. Por cierto, desde mi QTH familiar puedo divisar a lo lejos el sitio donde se encuentran estas antenas, y de noche puedo ver las luces rojas de las mismas. Atte: José Elías Díaz Gómez PRESUNTAMENTE PRETENDÍAN DETONAR LAS ANTENAS DE LAS TELEVISORAS NACIONALES --- FRUSTRADO PLAN TERRORISTA Seis sujetos armados fueron detenidos cuando pretendían irrumpir en las sedes de las plantas transmisoras de canales de televisión ubicadas en el cerro Vidoño, supuestamente el atentado lo iban a ejecutar el pasado lunes. Dos hombres que al parecer transportaban los explosivos huyeron del lugar. Los fascinerosos se identificaron como miembros de la brigada vecinal de Montecristo --- Eucebelina Mejías IMPACTO PUERTO LACRUZ.- En horas de la madrugada de ayer, una comisión mixta integrada por funcionarios de Poli Anzoátegui y la Guardia Nacional retuvieron a seis hombres que supuestamente tenían como objetivo detonar las antenas repetidoras de las televisoras nacionales y las señales de CANTV, ubicadas en el cerro Vidoño de Puerto La Cruz. (via Diaz, Conexion Digital) ** VIETNAM/GERMANY [non]. The collision for decades remains unchanged: 1630-1700 UT VOV and DW both in Russian. 7145 1600-2000 to zones 27, 28 VNI 100 kW 320 degrees VTN VOV DW Russian 1600-1700 UT to CIS on 7145 WERTACHTAL: 7145 1500-2100 to zones 29, 30 WER 500 kW 60 degrees. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Oct 27, BC-DX Nov 6 via DXLD) ** YEMEN. Republic of Yemen R., 9779.63, Nov 2 1837-1900 English. Tune-in to US pop music, English news at 1841 followed by more pop music. English news at 1855. Closing announcements with ID at 1858. NA at 1859 and into Arabic at 1900. Strong but muddy audio making it difficult to understand much (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. At this instant, (0106 UT) I'm picking up a numbers station on 9925, in Spanish and a woman's voice. I've read about them but never heard one before. Just found your site recently, interesting and helpful! Thanks, (Leon Powell, Paris, Texas, UT Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, Croatia via Germany should be there on 9925 at that hour in English and/or Spanish. Any sign of them? (gh, DXLD) [Later:] Glenn, Continued until 0145, signed off with a two syllable word, my Spanish-English dictionary says 'final' in Spanish is 'por fin', could have been that. five digit sequences. It was a good signal, I gave it 33233, but I could never recognize any other signal on that frequency. I should have waited until the end before e-mailing you, it was kind of exciting, like eavesdropping on spies! (Leon, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ MOTOROLA DSP Motorola announced a new chip set which they advertise as obviating the need for digital transmission of radio programming. They have a web site with a comparison of standard analog radio compared to the same signal after processing by their new whiz bang DSP stuff. For my money they both sound like crap, just a little less hiss on the DSP processed signal. http://e-www.motorola.com/collateral/TSP2642_DIS.html (Joe Buch swprograms via DXLD) RA-BF1 The first "slow speed speaking" receiver "RA-BF1" will be on sale in December by Victor Company of Japan (JVC). It features; (1) Automatic "slow speed speaking" for aged people who like to listen more slowly. Using the intervals between each talk, the top part of the talks is prolonged automatically. The entire period is unchanged. Tones are automatically corrected to normal. (2) Audio compressing to make talks more clearly heard, called "hearing glasses". (3) Listening gain to 10 seconds before. The receiver covers AM /FM/Japanese VHF TV channels(1-12). The price will be about $300. The adoption of this technique to the SW rxs is expected to realize the automatic "Special English" maker for foreign listeners. The photograph of RA-BF1 is found on their web page in Japanese. http://www.jvc.co.jp/products/compo/RA-BF1.html (Takahito Akabayashi-JPN, BC-DX Nov 6 via DXLD) THE WONDER OF WOOLIES I thought that I should mention that Woolworths are selling a world band portable for only £6.99. It has 14 bands and three of those are VHF FM. One for band 2 and the other two utility. And of course very good medium wave. Of course there are more spurious signals on the short wave bands than on almost any other small portable. And it`s out of alignment as far as dial calibration is concerned. But this is only the case on the short wave bands and not any of the others. But most stations fall at least within their correctly marked bands even if some appear in all. The radio has no front selection on short wave. But this could be worked on very easily. But the main advantage is that it comes with three batteries in the pack already to go out of the box. It sounds very good and looks good as well, a pleasant silver finish. And there`s a world time scale on the back. At the price it`s a lot better than most simple AM, FM radios and has all the main short wave band represented plus two VHF utilities. I like my one and can take it anywhere (Steven Overall, Nov 7, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This is indeed interesting as I believe it was this group that had a news item about the USA issuing free SW radios to people in Cuba, in hope they listen to Radio Martí or other western broadcasters. I seem to remember that these radios were valued at 10$ each, which is not far off the £6.99 asked by Woolworths, meaning that the 'factory gate' price must be about £2.50. Compare this with the prices of DAB and you are almost into the realms of another kind of ``free radio`` :-) 73's (Andy Cadier, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES phil bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary October 14 2002 through November 4 2002 Tabulated from email status daily Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Etc. 10/14 181 18 2 minor minor 5 15 177 14 3 minor minor 6 16 183 10 4 no storms minor 10 17 179 11 3 no storms minor 7 18 173 12 2 no storms minor 6 19 180 12 3 no storms minor 5 20 180 10 3 minor minor 6 21 183 10 2 no storms minor 2 22 169 10 1 minor minor 6 23 164 11 2 no storms minor 6 24 160 34 6 moderate minor 9 25 173 36 2 moderate minor 8 26 158 25 4 minor minor 7 27 157 17 4 no storms minor 7 28 158 16 2 minor minor 7 29 162 14 3 minor minor 6 30 168 17 3 minor no storms 10 10/31 170 18 3 strong minor 4 11/ 1 162 7 2 no storms minor 5 2 165 22 3 minor minor 8 3 169 23 3 minor minor 7 11/ 4 177 18 3 no storms minor 7 ********************************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 06 November - 02 December 2002 Solar activity is expected be low to moderate. Region 177 and Region 180 have M-class potential early in the forecast period. Moderate activity is expected to continue with the return of Region 162 on 13 November. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 22-27 November due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels with isolated minor storm conditions are possible. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected early in the forecast period. Active to minor storm conditions are possible on 20-23 November and again on 29 November - 02 December due to two returning coronal holes. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Nov 05 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Nov 05 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Nov 06 175 12 3 2002 Nov 07 180 10 3 2002 Nov 08 185 10 3 2002 Nov 09 180 10 3 2002 Nov 10 180 12 3 2002 Nov 11 175 12 3 2002 Nov 12 175 10 3 2002 Nov 13 175 10 3 2002 Nov 14 170 10 3 2002 Nov 15 180 10 3 2002 Nov 16 180 8 3 2002 Nov 17 180 8 3 2002 Nov 18 170 8 3 2002 Nov 19 165 10 3 2002 Nov 20 165 20 4 2002 Nov 21 165 25 5 2002 Nov 22 160 20 4 2002 Nov 23 160 15 3 2002 Nov 24 160 15 3 2002 Nov 25 160 10 3 2002 Nov 26 165 12 3 2002 Nov 27 165 12 3 2002 Nov 28 165 12 3 2002 Nov 29 165 15 3 2002 Nov 30 170 20 4 2002 Dec 01 175 15 3 2002 Dec 02 175 15 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Nov 7 via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD)### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-173, November 5, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1154: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1154.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL: See TAIWAN ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHAN RADIO AND TV CHIEF CALLS FOR MORE INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT The head of Afghan radio and TV has appealed for more international aid to rebuild services. Speaking in Tokyo, where he is attending an international broadcasting conference, Mohammad Eshaq said broadcasts need to reach more people. He said both equipment and skilled personnel are needed. The following is an excerpt from a report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo: Tokyo, 5 November: An Afghan broadcaster appealed [on] Tuesday [5 November] for more assistance in rebuilding radio and television broadcasting in war-ravaged Afghanistan, saying it is crucial to boosting reconstruction efforts throughout the nation. "In all these efforts for peace, unity and nation-building, radio and television will play a very important role because most of our people cannot read and write," said Mohammad Eshaq, general director of the Radio-Television of Afghanistan (RTA). In remarks at a news conference at a Tokyo hotel the day before the start of the 39th General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Eshaq appealed for support for Afghanistan's broadcasting industry, especially radio. Given the lost and damaged radio and TV facilities and the loss of experienced manpower due to emigration and war, Eshaq said Afghanistan needs assistance in administration, as well as the technical and production areas. Eshaq, one of two RTA representatives to the assembly and related events, said that, although Afghan broadcasting has considerably improved, it is still hindered by poverty and lack of electricity in many towns and villages. "There is a big need" to reach not only the Afghan capital of Kabul but the entire country, he said. The reality, however, is that the five hours of TV broadcasting and 18 hours of radio broadcasting every day reach only 20 per cent of the 20 million population, he said. The Taleban regime banned television and music broadcast on radio in 1996. Television airing resumed in November last year, and RTA, one of the original ABU members that stopped attending assemblies in 1992, returned to the union in April this year. ABU Secretary-General David Astley echoed RTA's appeal, saying that rebuilding transmission infrastructure and modernizing equipment is a "major priority" and that RTA is still in dire need of aid despite help already received from several ABU member broadcasters, including Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK). In light of the threat of opposing factions to Afghanistan's peace and security, Astley said, "Radio and television can play an important role in disseminating information that can help resolve the differences between these factions. But RTA must be given the tools to facilitate this." In addition to lack of usable and modern media equipment, Eshaq said they are short of skilled media personnel. "We cannot expect a lot of appreciation" from the public, Eshaq said, given the poor technical qualities, but expressed hope that the return of skilled Afghans who left the country would herald a brighter future for broadcasting in Afghanistan. The three-day ABU assembly will gather representatives from various broadcasting organizations in countries and territories mainly in the Asia-Pacific region, where they will discuss a wide range of broadcasting issues, including Afghanistan... Source: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 1101 gmt 5 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) AFGHANS AT BROADCASTING CONFERENCE FOR FIRST TIME IN DECADE More than 400 delegates from broadcasting organizations in 39 countries will attend a three-day meeting starting Wednesday in Tokyo to discuss issues facing the broadcasting industry, including cooperation in the areas of news and technology. The General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union convenes every year in a member country, with Japan hosting the event for the first time in eight years. "Amid drastic changes in the global environment, the information and telecommunications industry is facing a turning point," said ABU President Katsuji Ebisawa at a news conference prior to the event. Delegates will have opportunities to fully discuss the role of broadcasting, he added. Representatives of Radio-Television of Afghanistan will return to the conference this year after an absence of 10 years. The Taliban regime restricted and banned broadcasting in Afghanistan. The assembly is scheduled to discuss how member organizations can assist the reconstruction of Afghanistan's TV infrastructure as a great deal of the country's broadcasting equipment was destroyed during the U.S.-led campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. As well as the discussions, the conference will include the presentation of awards for the year's best TV and radio programs and a concert. (The Japan Times: Nov. 6, 2002 (C) All rights reserved via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** ANGOLA. Radio Nacional de Angola escuchada el 03/11 a las 0435 UT en los 4950, en portugués. Un locutor presentaba canciones estilo "sukus" y las alternaba con comentarios. SINPO 2/2. La señal llegaba mejor porque Cima 100 no estaba en el aire en 4960 (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, en VENEZUELA, Adán González, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTIGUA & BARBUDA. We had this in DXLD 2-171, but not direct BBC APOLOGISES TO THE PM 11/02/2002 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Thursday apologised in Open Court to Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Lester Bird for a libel that was broadcast on the BBC`s Today Programme on Radio 4, BBC World Service and published on the BBC`s Americas site on the Internet on 5 and 6 July this year. According to a media release from the Antigua & Barbuda London High Commission, the apology was made in the High Court in London before Justice Gray. The BBC accepted that its reports were inaccurate. The reports had suggested that Prime Minister Bird had expropriated sums of money in excess of $200 million from Antigua & Barbuda`s health care fund, spending it on parties, presents, foreign trips and cosmetic surgery for friends and colleagues. But as was pointed out by counsel for Prime Minister Bird in his statement in court, As the BBC unreservedly accepts, the (Medical Benefits) Inquiry did not find that Mr. Bird has misappropriated any sums from his country`s health care system whether to spend on parties, presents or foreign trips for friends and colleagues or on anything else. Nor did the Commission of Inquiry make any finding that he was guilty of any such conduct. Indeed, no allegation to this or any similar effect was made in the course of that Inquiry`s investigations. In addition, the broadcast on the BBC`s Today Programme on Radio 4 suggested that Mr. Bird had been involved in gunrunning and drug trafficking. In its apology, the BBC unreservedly accepted that the Prime Minister was not guilty of any such conduct. It also withdrew its statement that he had been involved in gunrunning or drug trafficking. Stated counsel for the claimant, The BBC also withdraws its statement that Mr. Bird has been involved in gun-running or drug trafficking. Contrary to what was said on the Today programme, the British or American authorities have never accused him of being involved inn such activities. He continued, Not least of Mr. Bird`s concerns has been the poor image that these groundless allegations may have created of his country and the damage that may have been done to its increasingly popular and important tourist industry. In response, the BBC`s solicitor stated, On behalf of the BBC I confirm everything my Learned Friend Mr. Shields (PM Bird`s counsel) has said. The BBC regrets the broadcasts of which Mr. Bird complains and offers its apology to Mr. Bird. It sincerely hopes that through the making and reporting of this statement the record will have been set straight. The BBC has agreed to pay damages, believed to be £100,000, to the prime minister and to pay his legal costs. It also broadcast an apology on BBC Radio 4 at 7.00 am and on the BBC World Service at 12 noon and 1.00 pm GMT yesterday (Friday 1 November). Commenting on the BBC apology, Antigua & Barbuda`s High Commissioner to London, Sir Ronald Sanders said, Justice has been done. The BBC made a false allegation and has now apologized, recognising that it made a grave error. Further the payment of damages and legal costs to the Prime Minister is very appropriate given the magnitude of the slur on Mr. Bird. The High Commissioner added, The BBC has enhanced its reputation by the apology. While it caused great hurt to Prime Minister Bird by its false reports, it has shown that, as a serious broadcaster, it is willing to apologise when it has made a genuine mistake. This can only enhance its credibility with the global audience to which it directs its programmes. © Copyright [Antigua] Sun Printing & Publishing 2002 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15345.00, e v e n frequency. RAE Buenos Aires. Co- channel RTM Moroccan station left??? Clear channel. 1930 Italian. Previously had always suffered by a 400 Hertz heterodyne. At same time booming in BBC from ASC 15105 & 15400 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RAE, Buenos Aires, on 15344.9, Oct 15 at 2058, IS, IDs, time pips, multi-lingual IDs, into German; very good, SIO 444 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) On 15344.92, Sept 30 at 2200, IS, pips, then multi-lingual ID in Spanish, French, English, German, Italian, Arabic. Then programs in Spanish, Sio 444 (Alan Pennington, Berks., BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. 9960, Voice of Armenia, Yerevan, from 2014 UT November 2. In French; IS and anthem and into German at 2020; IS and anthem and into English at 2040. At the end of broadcast, a schedule as follows. English Service of Voice of Armenia 0810 to 0840 UTC on 4810 and 15270 kHz 2040 to 2100 UTC on 4810 and 11625 kHz Also a satellite transmission listed, I did not get the details. Curiously, 9960 kHz was unannounced, though generally this is the most reliable frequency from 2000 to 2100, with 20 minutes each of French, German, and English (Roger Chambers, NY, ODXA via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Radio Austria Internacional posee el siguiente esquema en español, vigente desde el 27/10/02 al 29/03/03: 2030-2100 5945, 6155 Europa y África 0030-0100 13730 América Latina 0130-0200 9870 América Latina QTH: Radio Austria Internacional, A-1040 Viena, Austria. E-mail: roi.hispano@o... [truncated] (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. AUTRICHE -- La station Radio Afrika Internationale a annoncé une modification prochaine dans sa grille de programmation. Il y aura notamment une séparation plus distincte entre les diverses langues. Actuellement, la programmation est un mélange de français, anglais, allemand, kirundi et autres langues africaines (Radio Afrika Internationale - 29 octobre 2002 -- les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** BELARUS`. On 3355.0, Minsk, utility station at 2153 Oct 8. ``Ape Man`` -- The Kinks, ID ``Belaruskoya Radio``, long 3-minute anthem to 2200. Best on USB or LSB, not AM; SIO 344 (Alan Pennington, Caversham, Berks., BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** BELARUS`. 3346, R Mayak in DSB 1811 Nov 5 with news read by woman and man, Poem by young boy on phone-ins. Signal S5 on LSB only. 34333 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BENIN. 7210.2, 0603 Oct 2, ORTB, Cotonou, local music, fade out after some minutes (Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo, Genova, Italy, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) 7210.26, R. Benin, Cotonou, 2130 Oct 1, African music, French announcements including ``Ici au Cotonou``, SIO 333 (Dave Kenny, Reading, UK, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) 7210.26, ORTB Benin, 2232 Oct 14, reggae tune, pop music, best in USB, French, SIO 242 (Alan Pennington, Caversham, England, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. José Luis García, from Radio Camargo, sent me this article about the 27th station anniversary. Greetings, Arnaldo Slaen 1975 - 2002 --- 27 años transmitiendo la Voz de los Cintis Radio Emisoras Camargo HISTORIA El 9 de Noviembre de 1975 a Hrs. 18:45, salía al éter la primera emisora cinteña que empezaba a emitir su señal en los 90 Mts. De Onda Corta y en los 3390 Kilociclos. Instalada a iniciativa privada. Radio Camargo empezaba a operar en la ciudad de Camargo Capital de la Provincia Nor Cinti del Departamento De Chuquisaca Bolivia. De La mano de Don PABLO GARCIA B. Mas Conocido Como Don Paulino Sale desde el Valle Cinteño para todo el mundo la primera señal de RADIO EMISORAS CAMARGO. Varios fueron los esfuerzos y pruebas previas que se realizaron antes de la primera emisión oficial de CP 175 RADIO CAMARGO. Bajo responsabilidad privada esta emisora se fue constituyendo en el orgullo de los cinteños por contar con una voz de alcance nacional e internacional. Ya una Vez puesta en marcha el plan contado con algunos elementos necesarios técnicos se iniciaron los tramites legales ante la Dirección General de Telecomunicaciones para conseguir la autorización legal Del funcionamiento de la radio . En la sede del gobierno (LA PAZ) durante el periodo del General Hugo Banzer Suárez(+) se concede la licencia de funcionamiento y utilización del especto electromagnético. La colaboración de destacadas personalidades políticas sociales y religiosas permitieron conseguir la resolución ministerial que autoriza la legalidad de Radio Camargo y que llegaba a ser conocida como ``La Voz Del Valle Cinteño`` Una Vez con emisores oficiales, fueron muchas las personas que llegaron hasta Radio Camargo para prestar su cooperación en el perfeccionamiento de la programación que empezaba a ganar popularidad en el ámbito nacional e internacional. Los reportes de sintonía atestiguaban la potencia de la Emisora. De 1978 a 1982 fueron los mejores años de radio cinteña. Porque después llegaría una cadencia muy grande en la estructura humana y técnica de la emisora. En 1985 RADIO EMISORAS CAMARGO se ve obligada a suspender sus emisiones debido a las siguientes causas: Imposibilidad de pagar la renovación de la licencia de funcionamiento. Falta de mantenimiento al equipo técnico a la carencia de recursos económicos. Los ingresos de Radio Camargo solo llegaban a cubrir el 50% de los gastos de operación y mantenimiento ninguna institución publica o privada quiere hacerse cargo de Radio Camargo. Durante 6 meses cesaron las transmisiones de Radio Camargo debido a los factores citados anteriormente. El 2 de mayo de 1986 nuevamente Radio Camargo sale al éter gracias a un convenio institucional con la parroquia de la ciudad, conseguido a orientación agrícola, planificación familiar vocacional y otros. A partir de lo acontecido hasta nuestros días, Radio Camargo se viene desenvolviendo enfrentando una serie de problemas de carácter técnico y económico, sin embargo el amor al terruño y el orgullo de ser Cinteño hace de Don Pablo García un Hombre luchador por dar a Cinti un Medio de Comunicación tan Importante como es Radio Camargo. Es importante destacar el apoyo y participación en la radio de personas que formaron parte en su momento de la emisora, personas que supieron ponerle el hombro a RADIO EMISORAS CAMARGO, tales como el Prof. Oscar Alvarado, Dn. Roberto Leyton, Dr. Jose Maria Rivera, Don Toto Tavera(+), Don Afonso Viaña, Oscar Poope, Daniel Saloma, German Avila, Judith y Lilian Arancibia, Julio Entranbasaguas, Edgar Davila, Jesús Nacho) García, Humberto Leyton, Héctor Godoy, Gonzalo Valdivieso, Carmen Rosa de Rivera , Mercedes Álvarez, Andrés Calderón y muchos otros amigos querendones de sus radio y de su tierra Camargo. CARACTERISTICAS Transmisor: Ghate de 1000 W. [Gates??] Frecuencia: 3390 Khz. Banda de 90 Metros Onda Corta. 100 Mhz. Frecuencia Modulada Distintivo: CP175 ``La Voz del Valle Cinteño`` Equipo de Apoyo: 2 Consolas de de Audio, 2 Tocadiscos, 5 Micrófonos, 2 Casseteras, Dos reporteras, un transmisor y radiorreceptores de largo alcance, 1 computadora. Infraestructura: Una Planta de Transmisión, 1 estudio de emisión, 1 estudio de grabación, 1 sala de prensa. Personal: 8 Personas: 1 Gerente, 1 Director, 2 reporteros – locutores, 1 Operador y 1 técnico. Emisión: Lunes a viernes 6:30 am a 19:00 (FM) 18:00 a 22:00 (AM) Sábados: 7:00 am a 18:00 (FM) Domingos: 9:00 am a 14:00 pm Financiamiento: Basado en la venta de los espacios radiales y l difusión de comunicados y avisos. Ademas de un porcentaje mínimo de difusión publicitaria. ACTUALIDAD Actualmente RADIO EMISORAS CAMARGO la Voz del valle cinteño Transmite en los 3390 Kz onda corta de 90 Mts. y en los 100 Mhz de Frecuencia Modulada Estéreo. Actualmente la dirección esta bajo cargo de Eduardo Ortega, Quien apoyado de un gran equipo de personas vienen trabajando en la emisora de una manera increíblemente desinteresada, ya que debido a la economía de la zona, no perciben un sueldo estable. ANIVERSARIO Este 9 de noviembre del 2002, Radio Camargo cumple 27 años de vida, frente a una realidad poco alentadora, puesto que cada vez la situación económica viene empeorando, dicho esto ya que en ocasiones no se llega ni siquiera a cubrir el costo de operación, pero gracias a ese amor, a esa pasión por la radio de Don Pablo, quien pese a haber sufrido un terrible accidente automovilístico en este año, sigue luchando y poniendo el hombro para hacer posible que Radio Camargo, siga transmitiendo y cumpliendo muchos años más. FELICIDADEDES RADIO CAMARGO WEB: http://www.radiocamargo.cjb.net (via José Luis García via Arnaldo Slaen via Gayle Van Horn, NC, DXLD) ** CANADA. Here is an advance PR piece I came across from the CBC regarding the soon-to-debut program "The Current". http://www3.cbc.ca/sections/newsitem_redux.asp?ID=2477 (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms Nov 4 via DXLD) I'm still not sure why they have taken this approach, since the format they had before seemed to work well! I assume that the RCI relay will join the new show in progress one half hour in? SF (Sandy Finlayson, ibid.) This what we're guessing; RCI has made no announcements regarding what they're going to do with that hour. The morning changes and others just put in place and to come are in response to a perception that CBC Radio One caters to a white over-50 crowd to the near exclusion of other age and ethnic demographics. Management says the new format will appeal to Canada as it is today, not what it was 30 years ago. Face it --- we're getting older and pretty soon no one will want us... unless we develop a great deal of flexibility in our tastes. :-) Anyone care to start an organization for "Boomer Power"??? (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) Starts Nov 18 (gh, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Ik heb een nieuwe file online geplaatst. http://dxing.hypermart.net/DXSounds/FGLPChurch.rm (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, Nov 1, BDXC via DXLD) ``Kak Tebya Lid`` presumably in Korean, and some talk in Korean. Nice to hear it so well (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 19520 HARMONIC. CRI, Beijing. EE service for the Pacific, 2 x 9760, weak at 1224, 2/11 (Craig Seager, Australia, Nov ADXN via DXLD) ** CHINA. Funny anecdote about `Ying Lian`, who seems to sign off everything from CRI (for the last 15 years I have been DXing anyway). I have read that this is the standard name used for all English correspondence. Certainly, I have never received any correspondence from any other `person`. Without knowing exactly which Chinese characters are being used, `Ying Lian` can be the words meaning `English practise` (Edwin Lowe, Revesby NSW, Nov ADXN via DXLD) ** C I S. FOREIGN RELAYS ON SW THROUGH FACILITIES IN THE CIS as of B- 02 October 27: http://www2.starcat.ne.jp/~ndxc/relay.htm includes lots of hotlinks to websites and audio; and check http://www2.starcat.ne.jp/~ndxc/ which also has lots of other useful info, some of it in English (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Mission statement of La Voz de tu Conciencia from their QSL certificate (also in Spanish): In such a violent country like Colombia there is also hope; there is a signal that focuses on bringing peace and a message of reconciliation to all Colombians and friends in all the world; this is the Short Wave radio station. The beginning of the 6060 khz was during the middle of the year 2002; now it is found on 6010 Khz. We have the firm conviction of breaking the established patterns and bringing a different message in the area of Short Wave with life-giving programs such as : the Truth about the Truth, Peaceforce, Order your House, and other programs made by a dedicated work group located in Bogotá and Puerto Lleras (via gh, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. I got this information from the Hirondelle Organisation from Switzerland. Seems the new transmitters have been taken in use this week. Hello, Radio Okapi is on SW since 5 days, 24h/day on 6,030, 9,550 and 11,690 MHz. Best regards, Dario Baroni (via Jarmo Patala, Finland, Oct 31, dxing.info via DXLD) I got this email from Georges Schleger schleger@un.org the head of technical service of Radio Okapi: ``Hello Jan, Thank you for your report. We are now on this frequencies: 6,030 - 9,550 - 11,690 MHz with 10 kW. Temporarily we have transmitted on 6,300 for a short period. Antenna is 3 el. beam pointed to 80 degres (east) from Kinshasa for 3 frequencies. It will be great if you can provide a report audio like this: 6h00 : QRM/QRN and S meter 52,54. or 59 ! 12h00 18h00 00h00 for three frequencies. I know your equipment. it's good, specially your beverage !!! I'm in charge for Radio Okapi technical project but not for the QSL card. About it, please contact Hirondelle Foundation. Sincerely yours/73's Georges/VE2EK Georges Schleger, Communications Officer, Head of Technical Services of Radio Okapi MONUC`` Do you perhaps know where to send a snailmail report to Hirdondelle foundation? Best regards (Jan Edh, Hudiksvall, Sweden (DX-ing in Fredriksfors) Nov 4, dxing.info via DXLD) I haven't seen any direct (Congo) address for Hirondelle, so maybe it's best to try their Swiss address as given at http://www.hirondelle.org Fondation Hirondelle 3, rue Traversiere CH 1018 - Lausanne Switzerland Good luck, 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) I received today a paper QSL and a leaflet from Switzerland just in five days for my e-mail reception, address as Jari gave. 73 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, Nov 4, dxing.info via DXLD) ** CUBA. Guy fired for playing rap critical of government: DESPIDEN A DIRECTOR DE PROGRAMA RADIAL QUE SACÓ AL AIRE MÚSICA CENSURADA NUEVA GERONA,1 de noviembre - (Carlos Serpa Maceira, UPECI / http://www.cubanet.org ) - La dirección de la emisora estatal cubana Radio Caribe, ubicada en el municipio Isla de la Juventud, en la provincia La Habana, despidió de su empleo al director del segmento musical ¡Qué Programa! porque sacó al aire música rap prohibida por el Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión, entidad estatal que controla todas las transmisiones. Carlos Ramón Casallanas Calafell, director de ``Qué Programa``, un segmento musical de gran audiencia en este municipio, especialmente entre los jóvenes, fue despedido por difundir en la sección Discotequeando la pieza de rap cubano titulada ``Respuesta a la tiza``, que contesta a otro rap llamado ``La Tiza``, en el cual se critican algunos de los problemas que afronta la sociedad cubana. ``La subdirección de programaciones de Radio Caribe me informó que dicho rap estaba prohibido por presentar problemas de `desviación ideológica`, pero no me mostraron el documento o la circular emitida por el Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisión (al respecto)``, declaró a la UPECI el señor Casallanas, a quien le informaron que esa pieza musical estaba censurada cuando le cerraron el contrato de trabajo. Residentes de Nueva Gerona coincidieron en que es una injusticia retirarle el contrato a Casallanas por difundir una pieza musical prohibida por el gobierno. Un movimiento de músicos populares dedicados al rap ha tomado fuerza principalmente en barriadas de la capital cubana, aunque también hay agrupaciones que radican en otras provincias y practican ese género. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba no permite al ciudadano cubano acceso privado a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente. 73`s (via Oscar, Miami, DXLD) ** CUBA. 19200 HARMONIC. R. Rebelde, Havana. Fair 1220 with ID, Spanish programming, 2 x 9600, also heard, 2/11 (Craig Seager, Australia, Nov ADXN via DXLD) ** DENMARK [non]. WORLD MUSIC RADIO PLANS TO RETURN IN 2003 According to the Web site of World Music Radio (WMR) http://www.wmr.dk the station "is planning to resume operation during 2003." WMR first went on the air on shortwave in 1967 from The Netherlands, and broadcast without a licence until August 1973. Later, Stichting World Music Radio was established as a legal Dutch foundation, and between 1976 and 1989 WMR purchased airtime on a number of European shortwave stations including Radio Andorra, Radio Milano International and Radio Dublin. WMR moved its headquarters to Denmark, and came back on the air between May 31st and August 24th 1997 from the Meyerton shortwave site in South Africa (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 4 Nov 2002 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB- Off Air? Hello Everyone, I have been following the news reports today and heard of the volcano activity in Quito and surrounding areas. At 0100 UT Tuesday, I checked 9745 and found the lack of HCJB along with 21455 (not sure if that's 24 hours). Hopefully, they will be back soon (Chris Campbell, Nov 4, swl via DXLD) Don't worry; while it's serious, HCJB is not down for the count at this moment. I am glad to report that 9745 was coming in loud and clear at 0148 UT. Whatever's happening, they're on the air at this writing, thank goodness. The HCJB website reports that the city has had a light coating of ash, there are health warnings due to the ash, and the airport has been closed indefinitely. There is a state of emergency in the affected zones. However, HCJB's Spanish staff has been on duty to keep the local populace informed, and staff members in general have been cleaning up ash, which luckily was light in Quito. I think the interruption you heard was due to power problems. The HCJB website mentions, "News director Ralph Kurtenbach added that engineers were forced to use the diesel generators in Pifo on Sunday when electricity coming from the power plant at Papallacta was interrupted. Later in the day power was restored, and engineers are working to determine what caused the problem with the Papallacta line." The full story is available at: http://www.hcjb.org/index.php?section=region&id=40 73, (Marie Lamb, NY, Nov 4, swl via DXLD) Surely God will spare HCJB. The portion about HCJB itself: (gh, DXLD) HCJB World Radio staff members are cleaning up after a thin film of ash covered the compound in Quito, says Station General Manager John Beck. Most of the workers at the radio station stayed home today as ash continues to fall across the city. ``Our Spanish news staff is doing its usual great job of keeping people informed,`` he said. Essential personnel are at work, and emergency plans to deal with the situation are in effect. While the ashfall in Quito was light, engineer Tim Zook measured three-eighths of an inch at HCJB World Radio`s international transmitter site east of the city in Pifo. The ash may have affected the site`s antennas, causing arcing on the arrays in use, he said. As the on-call engineer, Zook worked into the evening on Sunday. ``By reducing the power (to the arrays) we can have less of those trip- offs,`` he said. Missionaries are praying for wind to knock the heavy ash off the antennas before it causes damage. Additional eruptions today are expected to send further ashfalls across the area. News Director Ralph Kurtenbach added that engineers were forced to use the diesel generators in Pifo on Sunday when electricity coming from the power plant at Papallacta was interrupted. Later in the day the power was restored, and engineers are working to determine what caused the problem with the Papallacta line. When asked about the Pifo facility`s pure water supply, Zook said it is covered. But he expressed concern about the catch basin upstream that feeds not only the mission`s facilities, but also the town of Pifo. Source: (Reuters/AP/HCJB World Radio) (HCJB website above via DXLD) BTW, I saw something in Kirche u. Rundfunk pdf, which I could not get to copy, about HCJB setting up a second hydro station besides Papallacta. With them about to move to Santa Elena far away on the coast, one wonders why (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. 11720 disturbed Arabic, I guess Radio Cairo here. 0600-1400 ABS 250 kW two lobes at 106 and 286 degrees, ?two transmitters? (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Oct 27, BC-DX via DXLD) The distorted signal in Arabic on 11720 is Cairo - it's been there all summer. Audio is better on some days than others. I think this tx was formerly operating on 11980 in B-01 (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Oct 28 via DXLD) EGITO - Nunca o sinal da Rádio Cairo, em espanhol, esteve tão audível, na América do Sul, como nos últimos tempos. O motivo é a utilização de novas freqüências na faixa de 25 metros: 11790 e 11680 kHz. Na primeira freqüência, o sinal é bom no Sul do Brasil, conforme Paulo Jorge Ferreira, de Bagé (RS). Já a segunda freqüência chega bem em Rosário, Argentina, de acordo com Rubén Margenet (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Nov 3 via DXLD) 9475 kHz, Radio Cairo with an exceptionally strong CLEAR AND NOT MUFFLED signal at 0220 UT, November 3rd. (They must have run out of cotton). (Roger Chambers, NY, ODXA via DXLD) Sometimes happens ** EGYPT [and non]. Middle East: SEVERAL ARAB STATES REPORTEDLY AGREE NOT TO BROADCAST CONTROVERSIAL DRAMA SERIES Excerpt from report from Cairo: "Arab states reportedly retract plans to broadcast Egyptian series 'Horseman Without A Horse' owing to US pressure" by London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat web site on 3 November Well-informed Arab sources yesterday told Al-Sharq al-Awsat that a number of Arab countries have decided to respond to an official request the US State Department made last week not to broadcast the drama series "Horseman Without a Horse" on their government-owned television stations as was previously planned for next week with the start of the holy [fasting] month of Ramadan. The sources said these states have chosen not to broadcast the series after an Israeli-US media campaign against it out of a desire not create tensions in their ties with the US administration at present. They added that at least six Arab states (which they refused to identify) have decided not to go ahead with broadcasting the television series. The sources noted that these states have formally asked the US State Department not to announce their decision yet or disclose their identity so as not to offend the feelings of their local public and to avoid portraying the decision not to broadcast as a government response to US pressure in this regard. In addition to the public television stations in Egypt and Iraq, Al- Manar Television station, which is affiliated with Lebanon's Hezbollah, and Dream TV, a private Egyptian television channel owned by well-known Egyptian businessman Ahmad Bahjat, have announced their intention to broadcast "Horseman Without a Horse", which tells the epic of a popular Egyptian hero, Hafiz Najib. The drama series' writers, poet Muhammad Baghdadi and actor Muhammad Subhi, have based its scenario on a book that tells the truth of the protocols of the Elders of Zion, which show Jews ways to achieve media and economic domination of the world... A US diplomat in Cairo admitted the failure of the US embassy's efforts to talk to officials at the Egyptian Information and Foreign Ministries into intervening with the Egyptian television corporation and a privately-owned satellite station to prevent them from showing the series next week as is planned. The diplomat, who asked Al-Sharq al-Awsat not to name him, said that Washington hoped Egypt would respond to its request due to their excellent bilateral ties and in order to avoid any negative repercussions that may be caused by the decision to broadcast. He added that Egyptian officials dealt with him in what he described as a condescending manner with complete disregard to the efforts of the US State Department and the objections of the Israeli lobby in the United States. Egyptian Information Minister Safwat al-Sharif was the first Arab information minister to announce his rejection of the propaganda campaign Israeli and US circles are launching against the series. He affirmed that the series will be aired on Egyptian television on its set date. The Arab League yesterday joined the campaign to defend "Horseman Without a Horse" against US and Israeli intervention and attempts to extract a decision to prohibit broadcasting it. In the first Arab League official comment on developments regarding the series and the US State Department's request not to show it, Councillor Hisham Yusuf, official spokesman for the Arab League, said the decision on whether or not to broadcast the series belongs to the Arab states, who alone have the right and sovereignty to make the appropriate decision, adding that such a decision would be unrelated to a US or any other reason. In exclusive statements to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, the Arab League spokesman said: We are confident that Egyptian drama series cannot engage in issues of anti-Semitism or in attacks on Jews, especially since Arabs are Semites too. He considered the accusation of anti-Semitism as completely nonexistent for Arab peoples. He added that he does not think any television series that is broadcast would offend the Jewish faith in any manner. The Popular Egyptian Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian People issued a statement in Cairo expressing solidarity with actor Muhammad Subhi against the intense attack by Jewish and American organizations demanding that the series not be broadcast. The series is expected to attract large audiences when it is broadcast next week due to the intensive media campaign launched by Israel and its supporters in the Jewish lobby in Washington. This campaign is considered the most violent one ever launched by Israeli circles against a television production broadcast by Egyptian television since the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty was signed in 1969. Source: Al-Sharq al-Awsat web site, London, in Arabic 3 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** FRANCE. FRANÇA - Quem conseguiu o QSL da Rádio França Internacional faz tempo se contende com ele mesmo. É que a emissora não mais responde aos informes. Segundo os funcionários dos programas em português, os informes devem ser enviados diretamente para um tal de Departamento de Ondas Decamétricas. Leônidas dos Santos Nascimento, de São João Evangelista(MG), mandou cartas para lá, mas as recebeu de volta com a informação de que não existe o endereço indicado. Dá pra acreditar? (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Nov 3 via DXLD) ** GUADELOUPE. Bogdan referred to this a few days back - is anyone else noticing that Guadeloupe seems much easier to log this season? I'm hearing French with great regularity on 640, even with antennas that don't favor the Caribbean. Has there been any mention of a power increase? If you haven't heard Guadeloupe, and you don't have a local on 640, give a listen (Rick Kenneally, Wilton, CT, Nov 4, NRC-AM via DXLD) I've definitely noticed the consistently stronger signal from 640 R. Guadeloupe, and wondered if it was more than prevailing conditions. I know all RFO facilities were upgraded a few years ago, including a power increase to 20 kW for all AM outlets. I would guess that Guadeloupe is running with at least 50 kW these days. Then again, long term conditions may also play a role. I can remember when Cuba used to be dominant on a majority of frequencies below 1100 kHz, when 700 Jamaica was no big deal, and when Colombia on 650, 690, 700, 760, 770, and 1000 used to be more regular (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) I've certainly noticed this. I had them on my target list for several years, and checked 640 regularly when Caribbean signals were good... until this year, not a hint of them. Then, on April 19 of this year, they popped up with an excellent signal and were heard here for more than four hours. Since then I've heard them at least half a dozen times, sometimes dominating the frequency. WRTH lists them as running 40 kW. I wonder if their antenna is a DA... if so, maybe it went out of whack earlier this year. [Later:] Speak of the devil! They're blasting in here right now (2215 EST), completely dominating 640... FF talk and occasional music. I also noticed presumed Haiti with FF talk on 840 (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, Ont., ibid.) They must have rebuilt the station. I remember in PR both in the 70's and the 80's and early 90's, this station was a really hard catch, even on the SE coast. I always thought they had a really short tower with a bad ground. I sailed completely around the island once in '80, and never saw what seemed to be a large tower (David Gleason, Palm Springs CA, ibid.) Is the station 24/7 in French? I have heard Cuba on 640. This might be possible. Thanks. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Nothing but Cuba all night here in the West Florida Republic. Thanks for tips. One of these days...I've not heard Guadeloupe since I left PA, over 20 years ago (Gerry Bishop Mostlyniceville, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** HAITI. Dear Glenn: Mission Network News reported the following about a radio distribution plan. I hope this information is useful to you and the WOR listeners. (Haiti) -- "Voodoo is Haiti's only hope" as reported by the Associated Press that encapsulates much of the feeling there. At a time of deepening poverty and despair, many in Haiti see only one way out. Men For Missions' Wayne King is determined to fight the occult's influence with the Gospel. "It's been going on for 200 years and it has been renewed with fervor as the time has been approaching for re-dedication of that country. So, if we can saturate that country with the Gospel before the end of the year 2004, we can be a factor in reaching that country for Jesus Christ." King explains how. "We're doing that through solar-powered radios that are fix-tuned to Christian radio station 4VEH. So, our goal is to distribute a quarter of a million solar-powered radios to the people of a country that 70-percent are illiterate. So, if they are going to hear the Good News, it will have to be through the spoken word." (via Bruce Atchison, Alberta, Nov 5, DXLD) Another hope: rationalism, but who will tell them? (gh, DXLD) ** HAWAII. 690 KORL HI, Honolulu, received a beautiful full color framable certificate in 8 days for taped report. Around the border are a series of palm trees and the Radio Disney AM 690 logo in the middle. Really nice! Also enclosed AM 690 Radio Disney sticker. V/S: Mahlon Moore -PD. Address: 1833 Kalakaua Ave, 5th Fl, Honolulu HI 96815 (Pat Martin, OR, Nov ADXN via DXLD) ** INDIA. Observed since few days - and reported in Newsgroups also: 9950 kHz AIR Delhi 250 kW, produces four spurious signals on 9850 fair, - and strong on 9900, 10000, and 10050 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SPUR 10050 in parallel to 9950 AIR (2214) Max S3 while 9950 is with S9+20 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA/PAKISTAN. Un fenómeno interesante de propagación en la noche de viernes a sábado del 01/11 al 02/11, permitió que se escucharan las siguientes emisoras: AIR Ranchi en 4960, AIR Delhi en 4860, AIR Jaipur en 4910, AIR Shrinigar en 4950 y Kashimr Pakistán en 4790, además de otras dos no identificadas en 4840 y 5015. El fenómeno se mantuvo por más de media hora desde la 0100 UT. Las señales más fuertes (SINPO 4/4): 4910 y 4860 kHz (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, en VENEZUELA, Adán González, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. No signal of RRI Jakarta on any of these, 9525, 11785, 15125/15150 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) At English 2000 time? ** INTERNATIONAL. A new congressional bill to prevent Internet jamming --- the practice by some countries of restricting access to the Internet --- could run into technological and jurisdictional problems, industry specialists said. The Global Internet Freedom Act would lay out a "robust global Internet freedom policy" to counter Internet blocking by "repressive regimes," according to the text of the House bill, and establish an Office of Global Freedom within the International Broadcasting Bureau.... http://www.washtimes.com/world/20021104-35524738.htm [Moony] 73 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Today is Awal Ramadan, the beginning of the Muslim fasting month. From today until Idil Fitri on Dec 7, domestic radio stations in Muslim communities worldwide will extend their sign off times, and in certain cases also push forward their sign on times (if they are not already on 24/7 which many of them are!). This is a good time to look for otherwise rare stations in certain countries. 73s (Richard Lam, SINGAPORE, Nov 5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) You have perhaps noticed that we have belatedly started filing such multi-country items under INTERNATIONAL. No vacuum or waters involved. And I misspoke on WOR 1154 in mentioning the opening date for Ramadan (gh, DXLD) MUSLIMS PREPARE FOR HOLY MONTH OF RAMADAN, By Zamira Eshanova This week, Muslims around the world mark the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, the most significant Islamic holiday. Muslims believe that Ramadan -- the ninth month of the Islamic year, as determined by the lunar calendar -- represents the time when the Koran was sent down from heaven as "a guidance unto men, a declaration of direction, and a means of salvation." During this month, Muslims observe the fast of Ramadan and other Islamic traditions.... http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/11/05112002174804.asp (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** IRAN, Updated B-02 schedule for VOIROI/IRIB with corrections by editors: ALBANIAN 0630-0727 15235 17680 1830-1927 7165 9610 2030-2127 6100 9740 15084v ARABIC 0230-0627 9895 0330-1527 13770 0330-1627 15125 15545 1230-1627 13820 1530-1927 7285 1630-1927 3985 6025 6065 6200 1730-1927 9935 2030-2127 3985 6025 6065 6200 7295 9935 2130-2227 3985 6065 6200 7285 9935 11710 2230-0127 3985 6065 6200 7285 11710 0130-0327 6065 6200 7285 ARABIC* 0330-0427 7250 9505 1930-2027 3985 6025 6065 6200 7285 9935 ARABIC# 0330-0527 6145 7100 9535 ARMENIAN 0300-0327 7295 0930-0957 13740 15260 1630-1727 6185 7230 AZERI 0100-0327 6150 ||||| Nov.6-Dec.6 RAMADAN 0330-0527 11720 1430-1657 6220 BENGALI 0030-0127 5905 6005 6085 1430-1527 6090 9545 11850 15415 BOSNIAN 0530-0627 15084v 15235 17680 1730-1827 7295 11660 2130-2227 7235 9710 15084v CHINESE 1200-1257 9895 11670 13645 15150 2330-0027 7130 7325 9635 DARI 0300-0627 9885 0830-1157 11860 1200-1457 5965 ENGLISH 0030-0127 6135 9580 0130-0227 6135 9580 ||||| new transmission 1030-1127 15375 15385 15480 21470 21730 ||| retimed, ex 1100-1227 1530-1627 7195 9610 11835 1930-2027 6110 7320 11695 15140 2130-2227 9780 11740 GERMAN 0730-0827 15084v 21770 1730-1827 6110 9500 15084v FRENCH 0630-0727 17590 21645 21770 1830-1927 6180 9565 9755 15084v 2330-0027 6135 9740 HAUSA 0600-0657 17810 21810 1830-1927 7335 9775 HEBREW 0230-0257 6010 6135 ||||| retimed, ex 0300-0327 0700-0727 21745 ||||| new transmission 1900-1927 6140 7120 7315 HINDI 0230-0257 15165 17635 1500-1527 7195 11640 11840 13745 ITALIAN 0630-0727 15084v 17560 17605 1200-1257 15084 15275 1930-1957 7295 9615 JAPANESE 1300-1327 9510 9770 2100-2127 6125 7180 KAZAKH 0130-0227 9855 9880 1300-1357 11745 13755 15410 MALAY 1730-1827 9805 11875 ||||| new transmission 1230-1327 15200 15585 17560 PASHTO 0230-0327 6095 9525 9605 0730-0827 15440 1230-1327 9630 9790 11870 13720 1430-1527 7270 1630-1727 6005 6015 7195 PERSIAN 0830-1157 15084v ||||| irr 1630-1727 15084v 1930-2027 15084v 2230-2327 15084v ||||| irr RUSSIAN 0300-0327 702 6040 7135 0500-0557 12025 15530 21480 21610 ||| new transmission 1430-1627 1449 7165 7325 9575 9735 ||| retimed, ex 1400-1457 1700-1757 6035 7170 ||| retimed, ex 1530-1627 1800-1857 6035 7305 ||| retimed, ex 1730-1827 1930-2027 702 7100 7205 SPANISH 0030-0127 6015 9650 9570 0130-0227 6175 9650 9570 0230-0327 5960 0530-0627 15320 17590 2030-2127 7130 9750 SWAHILI 0330-0427 13640 15260 1130-1227 17630 21550 1730-1827 9595 11750 TAJIK 0000-0057 3945 ||||| Nov. 6-Dec. 6 RAMADAN 0100-0227 5950 1600-1727 5955 TURKISH 0200-0257 7145 ||||| Nov. 6-Dec. 6 RAMADAN 0430-0557 15260 15365 1600-1727 7125 9735 [see RUSSIA for 7125 clash] URDU 0130-0227 6010 6190 7210 1330-1457 11640 11950 13595 1530-1727 7270 UZBEK 0230-0257 5950 1500-1557 5955 * VOICE OF ISLAMIC PALESTINIAN REVOLUTION # VOICE OF ISLAMIC REVOLUTION OF IRAQ (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, via DXLD) ** IRAN. On the `bubble` jammer previously logged on 9530 --- there are three such jammer beacons, presumably Iranian, on 9530, 9745 and 11930 (sometimes on 15260 instead of 9745). These were first noted back in 1997 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. The station on 5290.4 is Voice of Mojahedin // 9260 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5290 was Krasnoyarsk; time? (gh, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. "The Voice of the Iraqi People" from Saudi Arabia heard again today around 2000 UT: best on 11710.04 kHz, in \\ thiny 9563, and poor 9570[ex 9568]. (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. IRRS featuring United Nations Radio news broadcast on 6280 from 2100 UT. SINPO 45343 (Silvain Domen, Belgium, 4 Nov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6280, IRRS 2049-2203 Nov 4, about one hour test on this new frequency in English and Italian with many IDs. Signal strong from S 7 to 9+20, with fading and with not a so good modulation. I sent them a report that they confirmed in 5 minutes. They say that they are going on air with 100 kw but the transmitter is not in Italy. Where? E-mail: reports@nexus.org Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire Milano, Italy, Cumbre DX via DXLD) IRRS are in effect challenging us to find out where they are transmitting from. There must be some DXers out there with beam antennas who could at least get an approximate direxional fix on the transmission. Three of them in different locations around Europe could triangulate this. There could be other clues by listening closely to the transmission. Why not? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I listened to IRRS testing with 100 kW unit (QTH unknown) on 6280 kHz in 4 Nov 2002 2100-2200. Receiver was Grundig Satellit 650 with a whip antenna in an apartment in the middle of town. Signal strength was fair, static local noise on the frequency was severe. Ironically, 75 meters band was very clean at the moment in my QTH. QRM was generously provided by a over the horizon radar (woodpecker) on 6298 kHz median frequency. In spite of all this, the signal was mostly readable, though during fade-outs it disappeared completely under the noise floor. SINPO 33243 Mr. Alfredo E. Cotroneo, CEO, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association, answered promptly to my email-report reports@nexus.org with an amused reply: "Thank You very much Jari. We'll try to do better in the future (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, dxing.info via DXLD) Heard here, too. My receiver gave the frequency as 6280.2 and the signal was good, S9 and over at times. No QRM at all noted here. The audio was not the best, a little distorted and "tight", but I guess that was the thing they tested. Sounded like AM to me, both sidebands and a carrier. Sign-off at 2204 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) 6280.25 IRRS relaying UN Radio. Start about 2057 Nov 4 with continuous ID reel with ID, address then `signing on`. Program till 2120 consisted of UN radio news then SRI Merry go Round [! --gh]. Signal about S5-7 with occasional QRM from a FSK source. 33333 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ITALY. Radio GAP: "I'm sorry to be unable, at the moment, to give you the answer [dates, times, fqys, stns--JB]. We'll know that after testing the equipment in Florence, next Nov 4th. Anyway, all useful informations for the Internet people are and will be available on our website." http://www.radiogap.net (Jerry Berg, DX-plorer via DXLD) Implying site of 6280 was a 100 kW in Firenze? Seems unlikely (gh, DXLD) SITE? Radio GAP with special programs in various languages for the European Social Forum in Florence (Italy) will be heard via IRRS- Shortwave on 6,280 kHz (100 kW to Europe) from 2100-2200 UT on Nov. 6, 7, 8 and 9. Reception reports directly to R. GAP at the address mentioned on the air or via reports@nexus.org This broadcast will be in parallel via our streaming audio service at http://mp3.nexus.org (Controneo IRRS Cumbre DX Nov 5 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. See AFGHANISTAN ** KOREA NORTH. Voice of Korea (North Korea) just announced in this afternoon's transmission that it will be changing its frequencies as of November 4th. Here's the new schedule as announced: To North-East Asia 0100 to 0200 UTC and 0300 to 0400 UTC on 7140, 9345, 6195 kHz To Europe 1300 to 1400, 1500 to 1600, 1900 to 2000, 2100 to 2200 UTC on 11335 and 7505 kHz To North America (reception was pretty bad at this point, so I'm going to have to double check this info) 1300 to 1400, 1500 to 1600 on ?11710? and ?9235? kHz (Ian Morrison, Primetime Shortwave via DXLD) They never announce the entire English schedule at one time, but split it up into two or three parts on as many transmissions (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. En mi último correo-e [DXLD 2-169] cometí un error con una de las frecuencias de Radio Pyongyang a partir del 4/11. La frecuencia correcta es 6520 y no 6250 kHz (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, en VENEZUELA, Adán González, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. On Nov. 2nd 2002 at 1710-1800 UT, VOA was heard on a new frequency of 1593 kHz in Pashto. I first supposed that this is the planned VOA Kabul outlet. But Arto Mujunen of IBB tells me that this broadcast is coming from Kuwait. They have activated the ex-Germany frequency from this site (Jari Korhonen, FIN-82500 Kitee, Nov 5, dxing.info via DXLD) This is the single 1593 listing at IBB Monitoring as of Nov 5; not Pashto but Farsi per them; neat trick, an azimuth of 999 degrees... 1593 1500 2030 VOA M1 FARS KWT C 999 The 1500s are getting pretty crowded in Kuwait... (gh, DXLD) 1566.0, *1600-2002* 28/10 KWT? Radio Mesopotamia (Twin Rivers Radio), ID "Idha'at Wadi al-Rafidayn", Arabic popular music, news, Arabic. Note: station didn't stop txs with a start of Radio Sawa [1548]. (Robert Petraitis, Lithuania, Ydun`s MW news via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. Glenn, 5470 Radio Veritas 2123-2137 11/03 English. Religious program promos with music. Canned ID "Radio Veritas, Your.. (inaudible)..station" also mention of Archdiocese, date and local time (9:30 PM). Program titled, "Time for Peace". Fluctuating signal strength, fair to poor. Thanx to tip via Jerry Berg (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH) You mean 11/4 - Monday? LIBERIA. 5469.96, R. Veritas, heard from 2210 Nov 2 with Afropop and hi-life style music, much talkover by man announcer, definite "R. Veritas, your . . ." at 2220. Building to around 2230, then leveled off. ID 2255, TC for 5 minutes to 11, seeming religious message (but very low audio), 2201 [sic, must mean 2301] closing announcement and off without NA. Music audio was better than voice, and signal was better in LSB than USB, though some ute QRM on the low side. Poor-fair signal overall (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer via DXLD) Not even a carrier here Nov 5 in the 2200-2300 period (gh, OK, DXLD) ** MEXICO. Is it true that the once mighty XERF is now only 15 kW? It is according to the list I found at http://www.sct.gob.mx/concesiones/comunicaciones/Infraestructura_Radio-22-03-02_AM.pdf (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O, Los Alamos, New Mexico (DM65uv) http://www.gentoo.net/mike Corazón DX via DXLD) The March 2001 edition of "Directorio de Medios Audio-Visuales, by Medios Publicitarios Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V., (Mexico's equivalent of Standard Rates and Data Service) shows XERF with 15,000 watts. Joe Gragg, at the WTFDA convention in Yukon, Oklahoma, told of his experiences as a consulting engineer for several Mexican stations and indicated since the government took over XERF, it hasn't spent the money necessary to maintain the previous power potential of its stations. XERF is no longer the money maker it used to be in the old "Border Baby" mail order days, when XEG-1050, XELO-800 (now XEROK), XERB-1090 Rosarita Beach, XEMO-860, XENT-1140 (Nuevo Laredo) [?? XEMR- 1140 Monterrey? --gh], and I'm probably forgetting one or two more, broadcast in English to entice gullible listeners into buying quack medicine, religious artifacts and other stuff via mail order. In my trip to the Rio Grande Valley late in October, the XERF signal was not strong. High on the dial, its groundwave would not compare, even at higher power, to stations in the 540-800 range, but the night signal has been nowhere near what it was in the '50s and '60s. Thanks, by the way, for the URL address, which gives a different format than I've previously had for the SCT material. A quick scan of the information shows that much of it remains out of date, unfortunately, in comparison to actual operations. Many Coahuila frequency changes that have been in operation for at least a year remain unreflected in the SCT list. XEPQ-730 is shown on 710; XEYJ-940 is shown on 950; etc. The list does show the XEITE call for Mexico City on 830 and has caught up with XEID's move to 990. Hopefully, somewhere there's a source that can be found to keep us more up-to-date on the many moves that are being made in Mexico (John Callarman, Krum, Texas, ibid.) Also XETX 540 is still shown as 1010... I take it from the URL that the list was published in March, 2002. (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O Los Alamos, New Mexico (DM65uv), ibid.) ** MONACO [non]. Hello Glenn, In dxld2172 there is a mention of the R. Monte Carlo LW/MW station at Roumoules in Provence, France, about 100 km west of Monaco. I have some recent photos of it on my site: http://www.qsl.net/oz3yi/Roumoules.html Unfortunately, it is in Danish only. There's also a map showing its exact location near the Sainte Croix (artificial) lake - look for R.M.C, south of Roumoules and north of Ste. Croix. More info about Radio Monte Carlo is at http://www.rmcstory.fr.fm/ - click on 'Antennes' to see photos from all of its sites. 73, (Erik Køie, København, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. Médi-1 seems to be commuting between 9575 and 9595. Today again on 9595. 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE [non}. 9935, IRIB Kamalabad, scheduled 1730-2130 UT. Seemingly another channel for Arab service, in \\ : ARABIC (VOICE OF ISLAMIC PALESTINIAN REVOLUTION) 1930-2027 3985 6025 6065 6200 11905[QRM UZB German], all these heard in \\ . [0330-0427 7250 9505 the morning service] (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Hola amigo, He visto el siguiente logging en tu log: 10354.3 R. Willkamayu que es muy interesante! Nunca antes he oido sobre esta emisora. Puedes contarme más sobre la emisora, para que publicar en el website dxing.info? (Mika Makelainen, via Spacemaster, Conexión Digital) Es una emisora peruana con programacion basada en música e información local e internacional.... El esquema clásico, muy temprano huaynos, noticiero matinal, música no folklórica, noticias, música folklórica, mensajes, etc. Lo mismo de las demás emisoras... || Dónde funciona, qué tipo de programación, identidad segura etc? Radio Willkamayu, Avenida Infancia 527, CUSCO; (84) 24-6391. ESPERO LOS DATOS SEAN UTILES... 73s (ALFREDO CAÑOTE, Perú to Mika, ibid.) Hola Alfredo, Gracias por la información! La emisora es muy interesante - espero que muchos DXistas en Europa van a tratar a captar esta emisora. Sabes hasta cuando ha transmitido en onda corta? Es verdaderamente una transmisión normal y legal - o solamente el 11. harmónico del transmisor de la frecuencia de 940? 73 (Mika to Alfredo, ibid.) Con respecto a esta radio... Me he comunicado a las 2230 UT con el Sr. Tello, gerente de la radio; me dijo que las transmisiones tienen una potencia de 20 w., Están en modo de prueba, asimismo me avisará cuando ya cuente con una dirección electronica. Le llegué a sugerir que saque una, ya que para muchos es muy práctico este medio y para el de mayor utilidad, así, indirectamente construye su área de cobertura. Ojo que ayer en el diálogo que tuve me indicó que la señal sale desde las 1000 UT. Y hoy la capté desde las 1020. Así que si puedes captarla en la noche, tienes una alternativa. Espero que todos ustedes lleguen a captarla. 73's (Alfredo Cañote, Perú, Nov 4-5, Conexión Digital via DXLD) RADIO WILLKAMAYU FROM PERU TESTING ON 10354 KHZ Peruvian station Radio Willkamayu from Cusco is testing on 10354.2v kHz. Transmitter power is only 20 watts, says station manager Julio C. Tello A. The station was first logged on shortwave by Alfredo Benjamin Cañote B. near Lima in Perú on October 30 and November 2 after 1100 UT, and later already after 1000. OBX7L, Radio Willkamayu also broadcasts on 940 kHz. Willkamayu is a Quechua name referring to a sacred river of the Incas, better known by its Spanish name Vilcanota- Urubamba. Radio Willkamayu programming consists of huaynos and other folk music as well as news and mensajes, announcements of the audience. The station is located in the old center of Cusco, in the same neighborhood as for example Radio La Hora. Radio Willkamayu can be reached by writing to Avenida Infancia 527, Wanchaq, Cusco, Peru, tel. +51-84-246391 (DXing.info, November 3, 2002, updated November 5 via DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. The station info in DXLD 2-164, very first item has a transposition in the callsign, which really belongs to 820 in Fort Worth: 550 WBAP Ponce, 24h... Should be WPAB (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. RRI, 9624.85, 0653 Oct 5, talk, ID, English, then multi- lingual announcements, sign-off at 0656; Tiganeshti transmitter off- channel, poor modulation (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) 9624.86, unID at 0505 Sept 28, Spanish, all Spanish and English rock and pop vocals, announcements in between, decent level, tho fady and rough modulation, ads at 0530, Fides [Bolivia] listed, but I`m not sure (Jerry Berg, MA, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) See DXLD 2-170 where Fides was definitely on 9624.75 and closing at 0257*; also 2-171. Would be quite a coincidence if both Fides and RRI were on the same off-frequency to almost two decimal places (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I get the impression that "something" has changed at Yakutsk on 7200. Unless there is a change in propagation characteristics from last B-01, I find the signal stronger and much more consistent around 0700. 7345 is very variable, but I cannot now hear it until Slovakia goes off c0827. Today - Nov.5th - I found empty carriers on 5940 7320 and 9530 around 0755. Propagation characteristics appeared to indicate these were from Magadan. If this station on 6150, could it be a re-activation of their fourth transmitter [I think last heard on 9600 around two years ago?] But Yakutsk 7200 was peaking to S7 to 9 same time and parallel 9720. There is now splash from D. Welle 7195 - why does that one need to move 5 kHz higher in winter as compared to summer? I cannot hear anything from Arkhangel`sk 6160 - only CKZN - and 6085 / 6030 are hopeless here at 0700 - I have been elsewhere around 0130!!! 73's (Noel Green, England, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6160 Arkhangel`sk has less modulation than ever. Now only a strong carrier with some pieces of scratchy programme in the background (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, there is a R Rossii on 6030.2 kHz. I will try to check the sign off time. The R Rossii I heard before the change to B-02 was on 6150.2; is that a coincidence? No R Rossii on 6150 audible here now. BTW, 585 kHz seems to be off. 7345 very weak. Strange to notice 5290 totally quiet. There is something on 5290.4 kHz, maybe one of the ME clandestines. [Later:] The 6030.2, R. Rossii signed off at 1605, so most probably Perm. The station on 5290.4 is Voice of Mojahedin // 9260 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5290 was Krasnoyarsk ** RUSSIA. VOR WS in Russian, updated to Nov. 1, which may or may not differ much from previous versions in full here: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/index.php?topic=rusdx (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA/IRAN. The most terrible collision observed at my location on 7125 kHz around 1600-1730 UT: Voice of Russia in German language from Yekaterin`burg, Russia, selected for this channel, but also IRIB Kamalabad, Iran super power signal co-channel on top [Turkish, see IRAN schedule above]. Underneath VOR should move from 7125 to 7320 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. With winter here again, Singapore`s domestic service in English shows up well here in the UK on 6150. Listen from sign-on 2300 (suffers co-channel QRM from China) and again up until sign-off at 1600 for best reception (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: In our new series "Nordic Lights" (which replaces "Nordic Report" now that our partner Radio Finland has closed its English service) is the co-op obsolete or more important in the age of the European Union? Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Sweden Today" presents a Nobel Prize special Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic" Cosi Fan Tutti at the Folkopera, Frederik Kempe, and Sahline This edition [of MesiaScan] is a bit abbreviated, as Radio Sweden is hosting the annual meeting of CIBAR, the Conference of International Broadcasters' Audience Research Services, this week. Hopefully we'll some a few interesting things to pass along next time. Have you checked out the new look on our website? http://RadioSweden.org (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Nov 5 via DXLD) ** SYRIA. 12085, (the real one, not the clandestine) is back after a few days absence with "more buzz, less talk". (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Syria seems to carry Hebrew 1600-1830 and Russian 1830-1900 on both 783 and 1125 kHz (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Hi, Glen[n]: Attached is latest CBS/RTI schedule. And I suggest CBS to compile one single file containing all services to download. See what they respond in English page. Thanks your compiling such a wonderful newsletter !! (Miller Liu, Taiwan, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CBS RADIO TAIBEI INTERNATIONAL -- latest schedule as follows: Updated : Oct 15, 2002 NOTICE ONE: CBS IS AUTHORIZED TO SHIFT FREQ WITHIN THE SAME METERBAND TO AVOID CHINA HEAVY JAMMING WITH CNR 1/2 PROGRAMS OR CHINESE TRADITIONAL MUSIC. IT APPLIES TO VARIETY, NEWS, MAINLAND NETWORKS. SEE ALT CH. NOTICE TWO: DUE TO NOT A ITU MEMBER, CBS BROADCASTING SEASONS WILL BE MORE THAN ONE MONTH LATER THAN ALL ITU MEMBER STATIONS. THIS DELAY CAN AVOID CO-CHANNEL OR ADJACENT CHANNEL JAMMING/INTERFERENCE. VARIETY NETWORK ONE (in CHINESE) 2200-0200, 0400-1700 (local Mo-Fr 0600-1000 stop tx [meaning silent period for maintenance, siesta?]) 603 0400-1600(0400-1000 Sa Su) C CHN C TWN 927 1000-1500 C CHN S TWN 1098 1300-1700 C CHN S TWN 6065 0800-1430(0800-0900 Sa Su) C&S CHN alt ch 6085 6140 6280 6150 2230-0000 C CHN 7415 0900-1700(0900-1000 Sa Su) N CHN alt ch 7425 11615 1100-1400 N CHN alt ch 11735 11645 0000-0200 0400-1400(0600-1000 Sa Su) C CHN alt ch 11625 11640 11855 1400-1700 N CHN alt ch 11640 11665 0900-1700(0900-1000 Sa Su) N CHN alt ch 15060 15130 11730 0400-0900(Sa Su) N CHN alt ch 11765 11970 11885 2230-0200 N CHN alt ch 11865 11970 11985 11985 0400-0600 N CHN alt ch 11970 15260 0400-0800(0600-0800 Sa Su) N CHN alt ch 15060 15130 15245 2230-0200 N CHN alt ch 15330 15345 15265 1500-1700 SEAs 15330 0400-0900(Sa Su) C CHN alt ch 15190 15430 0400-0600 C CHN alt ch 15190 Note: 927 kHz is for occasional baseball live broadcast from 0900Z to end. VARIETY NETWORK TWO: (repeat programs of VARIETY NETWORK ONE) 0200-0300 11875 PHL 0400-0600 11795 alt 11775 CHN 0900-1100 9280 CHN 1300-1500 7445 927 SEAs NEWS NETWORK (in CHINESE) 2200-1700 603 2200-0000 N&C CHN C TWN 747 2300-0000 1000-1200 CHN C TWN 1008 2200-0000 0400-0500 0700-1700 CHN C TWN 1422 2300-0500 0900-1500 S CHN S TWN 1521 1200-1700 N CHN S TWN 1557 0300-0800 C&N CHN 6150 2300-0000 C CHN 7105 0900-1700 C&N CHN alt ch 7310 7365 9610 1100-1200 AUS NZL 9685 0900-1400 C&N CHN alt ch 9630 9640 9650 9685 2230-0100 C CHN alt ch 9640 9650 9670 9680 0700-1700 C&S CHN alt ch 9700 9735 9635 2300-0000 SEAs 9735 0700-1200 S CHN alt ch 9680 9700 9795 1200-1700 S CHN alt ch 9680 9700 11635 2200-0000 SEAs 11885 2300-0000 N CHN alt ch 11865 11970 11985 11905 0100-0500 N CHN alt ch 11900 15290 0200-0500 SEAs alt ch 15105 15215 0300-0800 N CHN alt ch 15175 15235 15245 2300-0000 N CHN alt ch 15330 15345 15395 0900-1300 N CHN alt ch 15525 15645 5950# 2200-0000 ENAm 15440# 2200-0000 WNAm Note: # via WYFR Florida 1422kHz is for occasional baseball live broadcast from 0900Z to end. Mainland NETWORK ("Date with Taipei" features program) 0600-1000 11795 alt 11775 1400-1800 7395 6060 alt 7515 6145 2300-0300 9660 alt 9680 DIALECT NETWORK (in Amoy Hakka Cantonese Mongolian Tibetan) Amoy (mainly spoken in Taiwan, Fujian) 0000-0100a 15440 11875 WNAm SEAs [15440=WFYR -gh] 0100-0200b 11875 SEAs 0500-0600b 1008 1422 CHN 0600-0700a 15580 9680 1422 1008 S CHN TWN SEAs NAm [9680=WYFR] 0700-0900cd 1206 1422 TWN S CHN 0700-0800b 15580 SEAs 0800-0900a 11715 TWN PHL 0900-1000b 1206 CHN TWN 1000-1100a 1206 11605 15465 AS CHN 1300-1400b 11635 15465 SEAs 2100-2200b 5950 ENAm [WYFR] Hakka (mainly spoken in Taiwan E. Guangdong, S. Fujian) 0000-0100a 5950 ENAm [WYFR] 0300-0400b 15270 SEAs 0900-1000b 15465 SEAs 1000-1100b 6105 6145 CHN TWN 1100-1200a 11635 15465 SEAs 1300-1400b 1206 15175 SEAs CHN TWN 1400-1500a 11915 6145 6105 1206 SEAs CHN TWN 1700-1800a 11875 EAf SEAs Cantonese (spoken in Hong Kong, Guangdong) 0100-0200a 5950 15440 NAm [both WYFR ---gh] 7520 15290 Eu SEAs 0200-0300b 15610 SEAs 0300-0400a 11740 CAm SAm [WYFR] 0500-0600b 5950 9680 NAm [both WYFR] 15320 15580 SEAs 1000-1100a 11715 15270 11635 15525 SEAs AUS NZL 1100-1200b 15270 1206 SEAs CHN TWN 1200-1300a 11915 6145 6105 1206 SEAs CHN 1300-1400b 11915 6145 6105 SEAs CHN 4) Mongolian 1000-1100 11985 Mongolia Tibetan 1300-1400 9415 Tibet Nepal Note: a-PROGRAM A b-PROGRAM B INTERNATIONAL NETWORK: English 0200-0300a 11740 9680 5950 NAm CAm [both WYFR] 15320 SEAs b 15465 NEAs 0300-0400b 5950 9680 NAm [both WYFR] 11875 15320 SEAs 0700-0800a 5950 WNAm [WYFR] 1100-1200a 11985 N CHN b 7445 SEAs 1200-1300a 9610 7130 NEAs AUS NZL 1400-1500a 15265 SEAs 1600-1700a 11550 INDIA S CHN 1700-1800b 11550 INDIA S CHN 1800-1900b 3955 Eu [Skelton] 2200-2300a 15600 Eu [WYFR? Not audible 11/5] French 0700-0800 9355 EUR [WYFR] 1900-2000 3955 EUR [Skelton] 2000-2100 9955 9355 5950 EUR NAf NAm [9355, 5950 WYFR] 2200-2300 7315 WAf Spanish 0200-0300 15215 11825 WSAm [one or both WYFR?] 0400-0500 11740 CAm [WYFR] 0600-0700 5950 WNAm [WYFR] 2000-2100 11665 EUR 2100-2200 9955 EUR 2300-0000 11720 9690 ESAm [one or both WYFR?] Japanese 0100-0200a 15310 JPN 0800-0900b 11605 JPN 1100-1200a 7130 11605 JPN 1300-1400b 7130 11605 JPN German 0600-0700 9355 EUR 1800-1900 9955 EUR 1900-2000 6180 EUR 2100-2200 9355 EUR Russian 0900-1000 11985 E CIS 1300-1400 11745 W CIS 1700-1800 9955 W CIS 0400-0500 7355 E CIS Indonesian 0800-0900a 15580 INS 1000-1100a 11550 11520 INS 1100-1200b 11550 11520 INS 1200-1300b 927 7445 11635 SEAs 1400-1500a 11875 SEAs 1500-1600b 1422 S TWN 0400-0600ba 927 S TWN Korean 0300-0400 15465 Korea 1200-1300 9415 Korea 1400-1500 9415 Korea Thai 0600-0700a 15270 THA 1400-1500a 15465 11635 THA 1500-1600b 7445 927 747 THA 2200-2400a 927 7445 THA 2300-2400b 585 7445 THA Vietnamese 0900-1000 15270 VNM 1500-1600 11915 VNM 2200-2300 9635 VNM Burmese 1200-1300 15580 MMR 1500-1600 9465 MMR Arabic 1600-1700 11890 NAf ME 1800-1900 11890 NAf ME Chinese 0100-0200 17845 SAm 0400-0500 5950# 9680# 15320 15270 SEAs Am #WYFR 0900-1000 11715 11605 11635 11520 15525 SEAs AUS NZL 1200-1300 15465 15270 11605 SEAs NEAs 1900-2000 9955 15600 EUR RUS 2200-2300 3965@ WEu @Skelton Note: a-PROGRAM A b-PROGRAM B c-PROGRAM C d-PROGRAM D Stations relayed via CBS Taiwan: WYFR (Your Family Radio): B02 CHINESE 1200-1600 1900-0200 1557 1000-1300 1098 1200-1500 747 2100-0000 1102-1602 6300 9280 CANTONESE 0800-0900 1557 ENGLISH 0200-0300 (23567) 0900-1200 1600-1900 1557 0900-1200 1521 0100-0200 15060 1300-1500 11550 1500-1700 6280 Hindi 0000-0100 15060 1500-1600 11550 Russian 1500-1700 9955 AWR-KSDA: B02 Vietnamese 0100-0200 15445(Sat) 1400-1500 15550 R. AUSTRALIA: B02 INDONESIAN 0500-0530 11745 (?) 0800-0830 11550 (?) 0900-0930 11550 2130-2330 11550 VIETNAMESE 2330-0030 15110 WSHB-KHBI: B02 ENGLISH 1000-1100 11780 RADIO FREE ASIA A02 VIETNAMESE 1400-1500 9930 Clandestine station in Taiwan : VOICE OF CHINA: CHINESE 2230-2330 7270 0800-0900 11940 STAR STAR BROADCASTING STATION: 11430 Star Star Channel 1 15388 Star Star Channel 2 9725 Star Star Channel 3 8300 Star Star Channel 4 13750 Star Star Channel 5 (Miller Liu, Taiwan, Nov 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Glenn, Further to the comments in DXLD 2-172 about the merits of BBC World Service vs. BBC World television: I share the appreciation of the strengths of radio, but will happily watch BBC World ahead of some of its satellite television rivals. But since arriving in the US a couple of months ago, I have been surprised to discover just how awful the "BBC America" channel is. I specifically asked for it as part of my home cable TV package (admittedly without having ever watched it) on the basis that it would offer a selection of the BBC's better programming, including news and current affairs. That was a mistake. The obsession with lifestyle-cum-home renovation programs is something to behold. A four hour block of 'Changing Rooms' is beyond the pale surely. And while shows such as 'Keeping up appearances' and 'Absolutely Fabulous' have won deserved acclaim, back-to-back repeats of repeats is too much for even a diehard fan of the Beeb. The cable bringing in BBC America isn't a complete loss however, as I can listen to the BBC World Service in all its broadband glory and leave the television offering switched off in the corner. Cheers (Matt Francis, DC, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A EAST. QSL report: WWCR 5070 kHz, Tennessee - no rp - card showing globe and station ID - station schedule, card asking if I'm going to hell and showing a plane crashing into a mountain - nothing else. I had been expecting some weird stuff, given the program I reported had gone on about Karl Marx being a Jesuit, a bit much for a Catholic boy like me - almost a year to the day (I think maybe two days off) since I sent the report (David Stevens, Australia, Nov ADXN via DXLD) AND NOW THEY HAVE YOUR ADDRESS, DAVID!!!!!! -ADXN Ed The Aussies for some reason can`t get enough of America, so they have split us into two radio countries along the Mississippi, I think (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. It seemed like old times Sunday on the new VOA "Americana" lifestyle / culture magazine show, "Main Street". Kim will be doing a weekly segment on -- surprise! -- communications and broadcasting; he played a short recording of YLE Finland's last shortwave broadcast, highlighted the trends of European international broadcasters abandoning foreign languages, and commented on the fact that, had WOR 710 in NYC been broadcasting in IBOC digital mode the night the all- points bulletin went out regarding the DC-area snipers, the Kentucky trucker (Ron Lantz) might never had heard WLW in Cincinnati. Sunday's edition of Main Street can be consumed in streaming audio at http://www.voanews.com/mediastore/ms11-03.ram, or downloaded at http://www.voanews.com/mediastore/ms11-03.mp3 [Kim starts about 15 minutes into show --- gh] The main website for the program is http://www.voanews.com/MainStreet/index.cfm In a genre where we tend to discuss the shutdown of services more often than their startup, it is great to hear a knowledgeable broadcasting pundit return to the airwaves on a regular basis. Welcome back, Kim! (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Nov 3, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Ventana a Cuba was missing last Sunday night because the label on the tape was marked "Sunday" rather than "Monday," as in UTC Monday. The VOA Spanish evening transmission recently changed to 0100- 0200 UTC from 2300-2400 UTC, when UTC and Eastern-time days were the same. These things happen. There might be a make-good of the past weekend's program on Saturday night/UTC Sunday. 73 (Kim Elliott, VOA, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. New VOA MW frequency to Afghanistan, 1593: see KUWAIT ** U S A. Wanted to hear Ken Berryhill`s show on WRVU, scheduled Tue 1900-2000 UT, but Nov 5 no connexion, so I looked at their website and found this link: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/%7Ewillr/cb/sos/ Save Our Streams, and a long list of community/college stations opposing Sen. Helms` latest anti-democratic moves. The list on the right side is of stations which have quit streaming, but the list on the left may be those contemplating it. I must admit that few on either list are ones I regularly listen to, probably because most of them have freeform music formats, which don`t appeal to me. I want programs of substance on specific topics, or playing specific types of music, at predictable times (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BROADCAST MUSEUM AIRS PLAN TO MOVE November 5, 2002 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Chicago's world class shrine to broadcasting is on the move. After 10 years as a city tenant in the Chicago Cultural Center, the Museum of Broadcast Communications has announced plans to double in size and relocate to a new facility at 9 W. Kinzie in the spring of 2004. With financing from a $10 million capital campaign by the museum, the four-story parking garage at the southwest corner of Kinzie and State will be renovated and expanded to accommodate 30,000 square feet of space for exhibits, archives, programs and offices as well as indoor public parking. In making the announcement Monday, Bruce DuMont, president and founder of the museum, said the new River North location--adjacent to Marina City and the House of Blues Hotel--will be a boon to tourism. "The additional space will allow us to display many more items in our collection, increase our archive accessibility for the numerous school groups who visit and provide us the opportunity to house many more of the larger, more popular traveling exhibits that attract visitors not only from the Chicago metro area, but neighboring states as well," DuMont said. As one of only three such museums in the country, the institution celebrates the history of broadcasting in the United States, with special emphasis on Chicago's rich radio and television heritage. It's also home to the Radio Hall of Fame and to a treasure trove of more than 85,000 hours of historic radio and television tapes. The museum first opened in 1987 at River City in the South Loop. It moved to the city-owned Chicago Cultural Center at Washington and Michigan under a 10-year lease in 1992. An extension of the lease was negotiated earlier this year. 'LETTERMAN' SIMULCAST ON WCKG WCKG-FM (105.9) and 14 other Infinity Broadcasting radio stations nationwide will simulcast CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" at 10:35 p.m. Monday through Friday, starting next week. "We feel this is a great opportunity for David Letterman's millions of fans to listen to the show while they're driving in their cars or away from their homes," said John Sykes, chairman and chief executive of Infinity Broadcasting. "Plus, FM radio will be an amazing new platform to showcase the music of Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra." Infinity Broadcasting and CBS are units of Viacom Inc. A similar arrangement has been in place for six years with Sunday night simulcasts of CBS' "60 Minutes" on WBBM-AM (780) and other Infinity Broadcasting outlets. For WCKG, the Letterman move is likely to prompt a reassessment of the station's overall programming at night and a return to all-talk (except on weekends). Since Infinity Broadcasting pulled the plug on Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia last August, WCKG has been struggling to maintain the lead-in from Steve Dahl's afternoon show with various forms of active rock music. (Chicago Sun Times Nov 5 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. INFINITY STATIONS TRADE PROMO TIME FOR LETTERMAN SHOW As Viacom prepares to rollout a radio simulcast of the Late Show with David Letterman next Monday (11\11) on 15 of its radio stations (see Breaking News 11/01/02), the inner-workings of the deal are coming to light. Infinity Radio Chairman/CEO John Sykes said he came up with the idea one night this past August. "I always watch Letterman," Sykes told the New York Times. "This night I was in another room and Dave was interviewing Al Pacino. I was just listening, and I though to myself that Dave would be great on radio." After talking with CBS-TV President Leslie Moonves and Rob Burnett, the head of Letterman`s production company, a six-month trial was agreed upon. Letterman insisted on one thing --- that the show would not be changed in any way. "He insisted that they not change the show in any way, no editing, and they couldn`t use it more than once," Burnett told the Times. And, instead of charging stations to carry the show, Letterman`s company instead asked the stations to greatly increase the amount of promotional announcements they will air about the program. "We`re in it for the promotion," Burnett added. He estimates the value of the additional promotion at several million dollars. "We feel this is a great opportunity for David Letterman`s millions of fans to listen to the show while they`re driving in their cars or away from their homes," Sykes said in an official company statement. "Plus, FM radio will be an amazing new platform to showcase the music of Paul Shaffer and the CBS orchestra. We`re also very excited to be working with Leslie Moonves and CBS in bringing this great television talent to radio, where we`re confident he will attract a whole new fan base." (From FMQB Nov.5 http://www.fmqb.com/site/breakingnews_main.htm via Brock Whaley, Atlanta, DXLD) What a novel idea 'LETTERMAN' RADIO SIMULCAST WON'T BE AIRING LOCALLY Staff report November 05, 2002 Beginning Monday, "The Late Show With David Letterman" will be simulcast on the radio in 15 cities, but not in Indianapolis. Infinity Broadcasting, which announced plans to put the show on the radio, said it will be adding more stations. There are no Infinity stations here, however. Scott Blumenthal, general manager of WISH (Channel 8), which airs Letterman's show at 11:35 weeknights, said bringing Letterman's show to the radio has positive and negative aspects. "If people are going to listen to the radio instead of watch television, it sort of defeats the purpose," Blumenthal said. "But in terms of making him available to those people who might not be sitting in front of a television set, and helping to promote him and his sense of humor and the value of that show, then it's a good thing." (IndyStar via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. JEWISH RADIO PROGRAM CHANGE IN NYC Nachum Segal's evening radio program with Jewish programming in the NYC area has moved to a new radio station: WSNR - 620 AM The time is still 7-9 PM [EST] Mon-Thurs and a live webcast is still available at: http://www.nachumradio.com (Daniel Rosenzweig, NY, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Long article on past and present programming of Kansas radio stations, including public: On the radio, by Mike Dendurent, Wires Editor, Nov 3, 2002 As long as I can remember, I`ve been a big fan of radio. Like any kid, when I was growing up I had many TV shows that I loved. But my interest in television has waned, especially in recent years, even though the number of channels has grown and now there`s TV for almost any taste. I think that`s because I always seem to be working on some project or other at home, and TV requires too much down-time -- time spent just sitting in front of the set. One of the beauties of radio is that you can listen while doing other things -- driving, puttering around the house or yard, even reading. As a young boy in Wamego in the 1950s and early `60s, I was aware of AM radio stations KEWI in Topeka (``K-E-W-I four-teen-forty``) and ``W(pause)HB`` in Kansas City being played at restaurants or the city swimming pool, but less aware of the great rock'n'roll they carried... http://www.themercury.com/stories/article.7924.shtml (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Received the following from the WUN group. Sheldon Harvey -- - mwj116@psu.edu wrote: Subject: [WUN] EXPERIMENTAL AM STATION IN VIRGINIA, USA Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2002 19:02:34 -0500 Experimental AM station WS2XTR will be testing this week (11/4 through 11/8) during daylight hours on 1680 kHz from Evergreen Hills, VA to test a new low-profile antenna design. The station will be operating during daylight hours only, between approximately 8:30 AM and 5:15 PM EST, with 250 watts. The transmitted signal will be a sinusoidal tone with a periodic voice identification announcement. Reception reports are appreciated and can be sent to ws2xtr@star-h.com or to: WS2XTR Star-H Corporation, 119 S. Burrowes St, Suite 601 State College, PA 16801. Verified reception reports will be acknowledged with a QSL card. For more information, visit http://www.star-h.com and follow the link to Products...Low Profile MF Broadcast Antenna (Mike Jacobs, N3MJ, Antenna and RF Engineering Laboratory, Penn State University State College, PA, WUN mailing list WUN@mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/wun via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO INTRIGUE, by Don Schimmel Report #034 11/01/2002 Mount Weather, Virginia - This is one of many U.S. Government relocation sites constructed during the cold war period. Mt. Weather is situated in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains approximately 80 miles from Washington, DC and about 28 miles from Winchester, VA. It lies off of Route 601. Years ago it was considered secret but it became public knowledge when a TWA flight crashed in the nearby area. Now there is a sign on Route 50 indicating that Mt. Weather is located on Route 601 which now also bears the name, Mt. Weather Road. This particular site was originally intended for use by the President, Supreme Court justices, Cabinet secretaries, and other government officials. In the event of an attack against America, the above individuals are to go to their respective designated pick-up point in Washington, DC and would be taken by helicopter to the Mt. Weather relocation site. Over a period of several decades, Beacon identification publications mistakenly listed Beacon XPZ on 265 kHz as being located in Winchester, VA. In 1990, fellow SWLer and beacon aficionado, Perry F. Crabill, Jr., who lives in the Winchester area, did not believe that Winchester was the correct location for the beacon based on signal strength. Perry discovered that the coordinates given for the beacon turned out to be for the old Post Office building in downtown Winchester. There definitely was no beacon at that location. This result gave him a hunch and he went to Clarke County, VA and found the beacon to be on the Mt. Weather property. He determined the correct coordinates for beacon XPZ to be 39-02-46 N and 77-52-40 W. The chopper pad can be seen from Route 601 as well as the beacon antenna which is adjacent to the pad. This relocation site is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Facilities include computer centers, communications installations, medical clinic, cafeteria, sleeping quarters and a television studio for handling any necessary public announcements. Food and water are stored plus other supplies. FEMA callsigns are in the WGY(digits) series. There are two FEMA stations in Washington, DC those being the Communications Branch WGY911 and FEMA Headquarters WGY900. The Mt. Weather callsign is WGY912 and is listed merely as "FEMA Special Facility". FEMA is one of the members in the Shared Resources (SHARES) HF Radio Program. This was set up within the National Communications System and was designed to establish a National HF Radio Communications Network for communications during national emergencies. The network utilizes the combined HF radio assets of the Federal Government members and others on a shared basis. Control of the network is provided by the National Coordinating Center, callsign KGD34, which is located in Arlington, VA. For two views of the Mt. Weather site click here: http://www.dxing.com/images.mtwx.jpg For additional details regarding the SHARES program go to http://www.ncs.gov/n3/shares For background information on FEMA communications go to http://www.fema.gov (from http://www.dxing.com/intrigue.htm Nov 5 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 5 Nov 02, Dear Glenn: Last night (5 Nov UT) I heard AFN on 10320 kHz USB at 0200 from presumed Sicily with "Monday Night Football." Reception was good. // to 6458.5. Haven't heard this frequency in months. None of the other AFN frequencies were heard. Cheers, (Bill Wilkins, Springfield, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Updated B-02 schedule of AWR's "Wavescan" on Sundays: 0030-0100 6035 DHA to SAs 1600-1630 11560 SDA to SAs 6055 DHA to SAs 15495 SDA to SAs 0100-0130 9835 MOS to ME 17630 SDA to SAs 0400-0430 9650 MEY to EAf 1630-1700 9850 MOS to Eu 0430-0500 12080 MEY to EAf 9890 DHA to SAs 15160 DHA to CAs 11980 SDA to SAs 0500-0530 6015 MEY to EAf 1730-1800 9385 SDA to ME 0600-0630 15345 MEY to CAf 1800-1830 5960 MEY to CAf 0830-0900 9660 MOS to Eu 6095 MEY to EAf 17820 MOS to WAf 1830-1900 11985 MEY to EAf 1000-1030 11705 SDA to SEAs 2000-2030 7160 SDA to NWAs 1030-1100 11900 SDA to NEAs 11700 SDA to NWAs 1300-1330 17870 DHA to CAs 2030-2100 5955 RSO to Eu 1330-1400 11755 SDA to NEAs 15295 MEY to CAf 15385 DHA to SAs 2100-2130 9660 MOS to WAf 15660 SDA to SEAs 2130-2200 11960 SDA to NEAs 11980 SDA to NEAs 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6155, Banda Oriental, Sarandi del Yi, 0221+, November 3, Spanish transmission. Local folk music. Announcement by female with electronic mail ann.: "reitero nuestro correo electrónico: norasan@adinet.com.uy --- a vuelta de correo les enviaremos una atención (a gift) de Banda Oriental"; other ID as: "los invitamos a compartir nuestro encuentro con la música típica, a través de Banda Oriental", after, more music. 45444 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Fuera del aire desde hace más de una semana, YVTO 5000 kHz, Observatorio Naval Cajigal, la emisora horaria oficial de Venezuela. Bastante irregular desde hace tiempo (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, en VENEZUELA, Adán González, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 2915.96 at 2220 Oct 1, unID Arabic harmonic, Libya? Discussion/phone-in. Arabic song, then clock chimes at 2230, SIO 232 (Alan Pennington, Caversham, Berks., BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) 2 x 1458, I suppose (gh, DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TIP FOR RATIONAL LIVING -- Don`t Vote Republican (gh) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-172, November 4, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1154: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1154.html DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS update is now complete, tho some items need to be confirmed; reader input welcome: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. NORWAY 18940 Oct 25, 1445-1530 with non-stop orchestral music loop instead of the expected R Afghanistan relay, good (Vaclav Korinek, RSA...) On Nov 03 at *1330, the satellite relay from Kabul was working again when the programme in Pashto began. However, I noticed that Kvytsøy did broadcast an unidentified broadcast in Chinese 1320-1326*, followed by relay of R Norway in Norwegian *1327-1330* and then the programme of R Afghanistan. There was heard a second programme under the Pashto programme in an unidentified language (not Danish!) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. A new station, probably Armenia (Home Service) observed today, 3 NOV between 1750-2002 UTC close down on 4890 kHz USB. Partly distorted modulation, good signal level. After 1930 UTC mixing with Papua New Guinea which could be heard very well in LSB. National anthem at 2000 UTC (it was midnight in Armenia) and sign off... GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik the Czech Republic (Czechia), hard-core-dx via DXLD) Hi Karel. Same heard here, and seems to be Armenia. Actually, this station was also heard here on this frequency on 15 Oct from 1600 till sign-off 1800. 03 Nov the signal was strong also here. Best 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. The Melbourne Cup Australia will come to a stop at 3.10 pm Eastern Summer Time on Tuesday November 5, 2002, for the running of the world's most famous race, the Melbourne Cup. That's 0410 UTC. It's expected that some 150,000 spectators will watch the race from Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse - the day is a Public Holiday in Melbourne and nearer country districts. Run over 3200 metres (that's two miles in the old system), prize money will be A$3,675,000, distributed to the owners of the first four placegetters. Australians will also bet heavily on this race, wagering many millions of dollars on the outcome, either on-course, by telephone betting, or at hundreds of Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) shops or hotels across the nation. TAB outlets will open at 8am on the big day, and queues of hundreds of people will flood each agency throughout the hours eading up to the race. With a capacity field of 24 runners, the odds of picking the winner are 1 in 24! The race was first run in 1861. The race will be televised live over over Network 7, and will be carried globally via satellite. It will also be the feature event in the ABC's "National Grandstand" sporting service, broadcast over 774 ABC Melbourne (AM) and via all of the other State and Territory AM networks. Radio Australia will carry all of this in its English language service. The ABC domestic radio coverage starts at 10.00 am Eastern Summer Time (2300 UTC). Yes, indeed, us Australians like our horse-racing, and our gambling! No, my own horse is not running in the Cup, being stabled in New South Wales, under preparation for barrier trials later this month. Have fun, and don't forget to cheer! (Bob Padula, Melbourne, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. If it still needs to be confirmed: RVI via Tbilisskaya is indeed on 7465 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. 6035, Bhutan Broadcasting Service, Thimpu, Oct 30, *0100- 0125 (fade out) Morning service in Dzongkha heard quite clear when AWR Abu Dhabi signed off at 0100* after a programme in English. Talk and Buddhish monks singing, native music at 0120. This used to be audible in Europe during our winter. 24322 It is scheduled Mon-Fri only (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** BIAFRA [non]. 12125 Voice of Biafra International, Nov 02, 1915- 2000*, mostly English talk about Biafra and Nigeria, some music, also non-English segment for a few minutes at 1942. Ann as "coming to you from Washington, DC." Decent with Utility QRM on low side (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Monitoring R. Bulgaria to confirm new schedule for DX program Bulgaria Calling, heard instead apparently revived Letterbox, Sat 2240, Sun 0340. At other times, Bulgaria Calling started well before the :45 mark, or well after, longer than usual and shorter than usual (via Bill Brady, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Does anyone have new program schedule showing exactly when these two are supposed to be on? (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Radio Canada International: The North American component RCI schedule tends to follow the seasonal shifts in daylight / standard time; from a programming perspective, the weekday morning (1300-1600 UT) program has entirely new content since the domestic CBC morning schedule has been overhauled. 1300 UT weekdays: RCI listeners will be able to hear the final hour of the new program The Current, hosted by Anna Maria Tremonti, a CBC journalist who won awards for her coverage of the was in Bosnia. There isn`t much information on the CBC website regarding The Current, but an item in the Toronto Star newspaper calls The Current an ``on-the- news show``, whatever that means. 1400 UT weekdays: Sounds Like Canada has already debuted; the Star characterizes the program this way: ``Sounds Like Canada aims to address [the concern that CBC Radio One didn`t resonate with listeners outside of Metro Toronto] head-on: Rather than Toronto-based producers feeding material to a studio host, items will be fed from producers across the country, staff and freelance. [Program host Shelagh] Rogers will be criss-crossing the country, on location as much as in the studio. The idea is to capture that holy grail of diversity the CBC has always sought. `The hope is we get more color, flavor, texture, all those things,``` as quoted by Adrian Mills, the architect of the new CBC Radio One schedule that produces the programming relayed by RCI on shortwave weekday mornings. By the way, you won`t see either program listed in the new season`s RCI brochure now reaching your mailbox. RCI chose not to hold off on the new brochure until the new Radio One schedule kicked in; it would have made sense for them to at least footnote the 1300-1600 time block as ``subject to change``, since these CBC changes have been in the works for much of the year. It is possible that other RCI programming originating with the CBC Radio One domestic spoken-word network (e.g. Quirks and Quarks, The House, Vinyl Cafe) might also disappear from the RCI schedule as the Radio One overhaul continues. So far, the reviews I`ve seen for ``Sounds Like Canada`` are middling at best. Shelagh Rogers` talents appear to be squandered, based on the initial program editions. However, given Ms. Rogers` foreign correspondent experience, one hopes that the segments with Ms. Rogers in the field will be of greater interest and quality (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Nov NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. 6715U Full Gospel Las Palmas Church Heard with decent signal during church service at 2315, Nov 01, tho frequency noisier than in earlier months. Intermittent data bursts block frequency at times, incl. s/off this night, but frequency is usually clear. Went off around 2330. Friday only at this hour (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** CHINA. in the current issue of 'The Messenger' from China Radio a feature is 'A Brit's Eye View', the impressions of a ex London University student who joined the English Service of CRI and failed to find millions in the cities on bicycles with buttoned up collars waving little red books. It is now just a myth as are many other misconceptions which Westeners dearly hold. The writer concludes that he is just a little cog at CRI in China's drive to reclaim its place in the world. The stamp corner is devoted to a series of five views of Lighthouses, while surprisingly the Mail Bag is down to just five letters from the millions of listeners the station claims that tune their way - must be due to the high postage cost of snail mails these days (CHRISTOPHER J WILLIAMS, Nov World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** CHINA. Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi noted back on winter frequencies on 3-5 MHz, Oct 30, 0145-0200: 3950 // 5060 Chinese Sce, 4330 Kazakh Sce, 4500 Mongolian Sce and 4980 Uighur Sce. (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6010, La Voz de tu Conciencia, great looking oversized "Tarjeta QSL" with globe, frequency, photos, station description on front, good veri statement on back, tho space for name-date-time details not filled in, printed V/S Martin Stendal, Administrator. Very colorful, and entire card in both Spanish and English. Four months after CD report, though I have E-mailed other mini-reports since. Address on envelope: Colombia Para Cristo, Calle 44 No. 13-69 - Local: 1, Bogota, Colombia. Very nice (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** CONGO. 5985, R Congo verified with a two page handwritten letter in English from Roger Olingou in 782 days for a French report and US$1.00 return postage. My verie signer is a 35-year old English language broadcaster for R Congo who apologized for the reply taking so long, "I'm sorry it that it took too much time to reply to your letter. The letter was in the director's office and he gave it to me very late." He invites reports to be directed to him ("Keep writing to me directly so that I reply right away.") at the station (Radio Congo, B. P. 2241, Brazzaville, Congo) or his home address (B. P. 5754 Oueuzé, Brazzaville, Congo). Although my reception report was in French, he informs me that the Congo is a French speaking country. Since people don't understand English they apparently couldn't read my letter. However, he did close indicating he needs a mobile phone but would be willing to accept money to buy it himself (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) (A DX-er must have patience! DSWCI Ed) ** CONGO DR. 9550, 30.10 2000, Radio Okapi frequent announcements at the hour with a little jingle with "Okapi", repeated several times. The music sounded very Latin American. Also in parallel with 11690, but weaker. QSA 2. JE/RFK (Jan Edh/ Ronny Forslund, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9550, 2.11 1910, unID but certainly Radio Okapi! Typical African "high-life" music, at times heard quite well. When talk sometimes was heard it was so weak you hardly could hear the language. The frequency seems to be clean but heavy splash from nearby stations. S 2. BEFF (Bjorn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin...) 11690, 31.10 0530, Radio Okapi also in the morning. Heard better than previous evening. QSA 2 JE/RFK (Jan Edh/Ronny Forslund, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11690.0, R Okapi, Oct 27, 0540-0630, the usual fare of local pops and IDs in French, very weak signal and // to even weaker 9550 (Vashek Korinek, South Africa, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) 11690, R Okapi, Nov 3, 0025-0105, Afropop and Latin American songs with male announcer, a jingle ID now and then mentioning several times Okapi; no ID, time check or news on the hour (Harald Kuhl. Germany, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) Covered by R Havana Cuba here (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5054.61, Faro del Caribe, 0249 10/31. Reactivation? Not heard by me since last May 2002. M in SS followed by upbeat vocal music. Extremely weak levels (may be due to solar storm now on, or transmitter-antenna?) - difficult even with SE-3. Used to be one of the best CA stations regularly heard here). (Don Nelson, OR, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. Re Jeff White`s report on Chinese SW radios being given away by US Interests: Last year one of our members got his portable Sony confiscated in Havana Airport when he brought it for his holidays DX- ing on Cuba (Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** CUBA. Somewhat surprised and pleased to encounter Cuban sacred music on RHC, 9820, UT Mon Nov 4 from 0610 tune-in until 0625, presented by `Armando Guerra` -- I assume they all use pseudonyms -- including something about the Virgen del Cobre (Copper Virgin); after a few iterations of the IS, the staff announcer said goodnight, as if he were heading home after starting the last tape, and Guerra was back with a quite different musical show of the Cuban top ten. Some minutes before 0700 I roused enough to note that R. Reloj relay had begun, past 0700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. I succeeded to get this tentative B02 schedule out of the Egyptian Radio & TV Union Broadcast Engineering: 0030-0430 9900 Arabic Eastern North America 0045-0200 9475 Spanish North America 0045-0200 11680 Spanish Central America 0045-0200 11790 Spanish South America 0200-0330 9475 English North America 0200-2400 12050 Arabic General Program to North America and Europe 0300-0600 9855 Arabic Voice of the Arabs to North Africa, Southern Europe and Arab Gulf 0300-0030 15285 Arabic Voice of the Arabs to the Arab Gulf 0350-0700 9770 Arabic General Program to North Africa and Southern Europe 0350-0700 9620 Arabic General Program to North Africa and Southern Europe 0350-1200 9800 Arabic General Program to the Arab Gulf 0600-1400 11720 Arabic Voice of the Arabs to North Africa, Southern Europe and Arab Gulf 0700-1100 15115 Arabic General Program to West Africa 0700-1500 11785 Arabic General Program to North Africa and Southern Europe 1015-1215 17775 Arabic Foreign service to Middle East and Afghanistan 1100-2400 11540 Arabic General Program to North Africa, Southern Europe and Arab Gulf 1100-1130 17800 Arabic Foreign service to Central and South Africa 1115-1215 17665 Thai Southeast Asia 1215-1330 17775 English South Asia 1215-1315 17665 Malay Southeast Asia 1230-1330 15160 Farsi Tajikistan 1300-1800 17675 Arabic General Program to North Africa and Southern Europe 1320-1450 17665 Indonesian Southeast Asia 1330-1430 17775 Bengali South Asia 1330-1530 11560 Farsi Iran 1300-1600 15220 Arabic Foreign service to West Africa 1430-1530 9780 Azeri Azerbaijan 1500-1600 15170 Hindi South Asia 1500-1600 17710 Pashto Afghanistan 1500-1600 7315 Russian Western Russia 1530-1630 11635 Uzbek Uzbekistan 1530-1630 15155 Afar East & Central Africa 1530-1730 11975 Swahili Central & East Africa 1600-1800 15170 Urdu South Asia 1600-1645 15620 Zulu Central & Southern Africa 1600-1800 6230 Turkish Turkey 1600-1800 9950 Albanian Albania 1630-1730 15155 Somali East & Central Africa 1630-1830 15255 English Central & Southern Africa 1645-1730 15620 Shona Central & Southern Africa 1730-1815 15620 Ndebele Central & Southern Africa 1730-1900 15155 Amharic East & Central Africa 1800-0030 9700 Arabic Voice of the Arabs to North Africa and Southern Europe 1800-1900 9988 Italian Europe 1800-2100 9675 Hausa West Africa 1830-1915 15255 Lingala Central & Southern Africa 1830-1930 15375 Wolof West Africa 1900-2000 9990 German Europe 1900-0030 11665 Arabic Voice of the Arabs to Central & East Africa 1915-2030 15425 Fulani West Africa 1930-2030 15375 Bambara West Africa 2000-2200 11990 Arabic Australia 2000-2115 9990 French Europe 2030-2200 15375 English West Africa 2030-2230 15335 French West Africa 2100-2200 9675 Yoruba West Africa 2115-2245 9990 English Europe 2215-2330 11790 Portuguese South America 2300-0030 9900 English Eastern North America 2330-0045 15590 Arabic Foreign service to South America 2330-0045 11680 Arabic Foreign service to South America (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** FINLAND. 5990, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Villat, Nov 2, 0855, 1420-1430 and 1705-1726, Finnish and English speaking DJs with Finnish and British pop music. Best in the afternoon: 35333. Parallels on 25 m.b. were weaker: 11720 at 0855 and 1420, and 11690 at 0905. (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** GHANA. 3366, Ghana B.C., 2100 ID and News in EE. Good signal. Also heard its spurious 3285.65 and 3346.35 kHz, fair condx. Nov. 2 (Nobuo Takeno, Kawasaki, Japan, NRD-535D with 10m wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GREECE. Despite two reports that they would move Nov 3, VOG was still on 15725 at 1420, clashing with WRMI trying to broadcast a Wavescan from a few weeks ago. Maybe tomorrow? Nov 4 did not check until almost 1600, but no trace of Greece on either 15725 or 15650 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3291.3, Voice of Guyana with a live phone-in program with greetings to friends and relatives. Several "Welcome to the Voice of Guyana". Program in English. Good at 0320 Nov 4. 73's (Claes Olsson, Port Charlotte, FLORIDA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 5010U, HRMI, 1245 with weak signal and talk in Spanish. 1256 with canned ID in Spanish, then one in English announcing 3340 (never heard) and 5010 [Nov 2]. Also at 0258 but gone by 0307 check on Nov 3. Signal much weaker than other stations from the region and seems to be irregular (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HONG KONG. 3940 USB Hong Kong: Radio TV Hong Kong, Cape d'Aquilar. Hainan Yacht Race Special Weather Forecast Transmission. Opened with VOA News Flash at 2130, off at 2131, signature song "Blue Peter" at 2133 and then Weather Forecast, that was repeated several times until transmission was over 2144 UT (Jari Lehtinen, Finland, 20, 21 & 22 October 2002, hard-core-dx Nov 3 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SATELLITE RADIO: 100 CHANNELS BUT WHERE ARE THE SUBSCRIBERS http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/03/business/yourmoney/03RADI.html?pagewanted=all&position=top At 69 years old, the white-bearded man is a tad mature for satellite radio's target demographic group. Yet the remainder of his profile fits like a well-worn cowboy hat: he logs more miles on the nation's highways than most truck drivers do, and he spends much of his time there tuned to the radio. His musical tastes are all over the map — from Django Reinhart, the jazz guitarist, to Neil Young — and they aren't satisfied by the limited song menus on most commercial radio stations He is not the type to spend money frivolously, but he is happy to pay $10 a month for programming that is largely free of the commercials that now saturate the conventional AM and FM bands. "I think it's a bargain," said the traveler, who happens to be Willie Nelson, the singer. He bought an XM satellite radio system last fall for his tour bus, after hearing about the company's new 100-channel nationwide service. "It's got music you just can't hear on the commercial stations." Although listeners of some public radio stations can find diverse programming in a dozen or so genres, those who tune in to satellite radio can choose from as many as 60 musical categories, such as Mr. Nelson's favorites, Hank's Place and Frank's Place, which feature the music of Hank Williams and Frank Sinatra. XM's competitor, Sirius, even offers feeds from the BBC and C-Span, as well as National Public Radio programming. A rising chorus of naysayers has driven down the stock prices of the new medium's two pioneers, XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio, to all-time lows. But word-of-mouth accolades like Mr. Nelson's only reaffirm the belief of professional investors like Frank V. Jennings that satellite radio is the next big thing. An avid listener himself, Mr. Jennings, who manages the Oppenheimer Global Growth and Income fund, is betting that there are many others like him and Mr. Nelson. [...] (via Joel Rubin, swprograms via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Voice of Iranian Revolution operated by Komala, the Kurdish arm of the Communist Party of Iran (CPI), began the morning (local) transmissions in Kurdish *0325-0430* (except Fri) on 3880 and 4380 kHz. First time noted on Oct. 16th. Heard ID "Aira dangi shurashi Irana, dangi shurashi Irana e Kurdistana", but the station also is using the spoken ID "Dangi Radio Komalah". A website announced on the air: http://www.komalah.org Another Komala (independent organization) operates a station Voice of Komala which bcasts on 3930, 4610, 6810 (the last freq. inaudible) with the spoken ID "Radio dangi Komala". This radio station announced on air the two websites: http://www.radiokomala.org and http://www.komala.org also e-mail address komala_radio@hotmail.com and 3 frequencies. Both Komalas begin to broadcast at the same time- 0325 UT (R. Petraitis, Lithuania, Oct 22-25, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Radio Anternacional. Today I received my first "clandestine" QSL. Iran - Radio Anternacional, 9940 kHz. A n/d e-mail reply in 2 days from "azar majedi"; who was pleased I could hear them in the US thanking me for my report. The station name was spelled as Radio International (Anternacional). (S. R. Barbour Jr., NH, Oct 21, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. In a friendly personal letter from Oct 20, 2002, Sylvia Rapoport of Kol Israel English News wrote to me that 'not only does Kol Israel no longer have souvenirs such as pennants to send to its listeners, the engineers also no longer use listener reports thereby making it impossible to verify your report.' She returned my USD and enclosed a blank QSL from Kol Israel. My enclosed PPC was not returned. The answer came in 16 days for a report to Kol Israel, External Service, P. O. Box 1082, Jerusalem 91 010, Israel (M. Schoech, Germany, Oct 2002, Cumbre DX via DXLD) When going to the trouble to reply like this, why not just do the QSL anyway? Contrary to Bureaucratic Policy, that`s why! (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non?]. Just time to hear this: From rec.radio.shortwave "Hi There, IRRS-Shortwave will be running a test transmission on Monday, Nov. 4, 2002 between 2100-2200 UTC on 6,280 kHz. The broadcast will be beamed primarily to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. We will be testing audio processing equipment and CCM modulation with a new 100 kW transmitter. We welcome your reception reports via email to: reports@nexus.org (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ITALY? IRRS will be running a test today at 2100-2200 UTC on 6280 kHz with various material in Eng from IRRS (**NOT** R. GAP stuff), and depending on results IRRS and Radio Gap will agree on a schedule tomorrow (Alfredo, IRRS via Johnson Cumbre DX, Nov 4 via DXLD) Since IRRS have made clear it`s too expensive to broadcast from Italy, and have talked vaguely about using other sites, I think it unlikely this is their own transmitter in Milano. Would a few DXers please get a fix on this?? (gh, DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN. V. of Orthodoxy, Alma-Ata. 9355 kHz, QSL in 83 days, no IRC. Also, a letter from Andrey Kurovskoy. The report had been emailed to Paris irinavo@wanadooo.fr and sent by snail mail to Sankt Peterburg. The reply is from Paris. ( ***a new country to me). (Igor, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Zhurkin, Russia? ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 6600.0, clandestine, V. of the People, Good signal but jamming was interfered. Heard at 1230 with radio drama and male talk at 1245. Korean language. Nov 2, 2002 (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) Note proximity of this to MYANMAR below (gh) ** LAOS [non]. CLANDESTINE: 12070, Hmong Lao Radio, 0100-0122, Nov 1, Hmong, comments, mention several times Hmong, English lessons?? by female announcer, Musical program, 45444, (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. 5935, Laser 558 via Ulbroka, Oct 27, 1010-2005, Test with repeated four hour blocks in English with pop music and reading of reception reports from test in July e.g. from Harald Kuhl and Jürgen Blum. 55555 fading to 45544 at local noon. Strong QRM from 1900 from Voice of Russia in Arabic on 5935 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) Faded in here at 2020 and heard until close 2100* (Berg & D`Angelo, ibid.) ** MEXICO. E.post svar fra XERTA 4800 på f/u - v/s Veronica Coria Miranda. For adresse se http://www.misionradio.com (Tore B Vik, SW Bulletin Nov 3 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. So much for my presumed schedule of XERMX DX and mailbag shows, timeshifted from the April-October version still posted in pdf at http://www.imer.gob.mx/programacion/rmi.pdf following change to standard time. Sunday Nov 3 at 2325 both 9705v and 11770v were in English, not Spanish Radio Correo del Aire as expected. It was an interview about how Israeli culture is promoted in Mexico. Then around 2330 the program was identified as DX-perience, and kept talking about DRM, etc. Hard to follow, with weak signals, undermodulation, hets, jamming overflow, and soft-spoken announcer. Now, the old sked shows DXP Sundays at 2100-2130 UT = 1600-1630 CDT, so we expected it to have been at 2200 UT now (not checked), but instead it is two+ absolute hours later than before. I do know that Mexico City and XERMX are in fact on CST = UT -6 now, having heard a timecheek last night. Since the show runs past the half-hour mark, when XERMX normally goes to music, perhaps the entire schedule was just running a sesquihour late due to some previous outage today. DXP was still going and identified as such at 2348. Confirmation of all further airings will be required, especially lacking a current schedule from the station (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. Monte Carlo Radiodiffusion has been the official Radio broadcaster for the Principality of Monte Carlo since 1995 broadcasting to Europe, Russia, the Middle East and North Africa and to the Cote d'Azur on FM after taking over the operations of Radio Monte Carlo. It is owned by jointly by the Principality and Télédiffusion de France the major shareholder. The transmitter site at Roumoules located in the French Alps contains the original TWR megawatt MW transmitter, a facility which was installed in 1987. Today it broadcasts TWR programmes for four hours a day and those of Vatican Radio for two hours a day. There are also three longwave transmitters at Roumoules, two recently up-graded to 1.2 megawatts, which broadcast Radio Monte Carlo programmes for 19 hours a day, that's from 5 am till midnight. Five 105 meter masts provide beams in five directions form the medium wave aerial and there are four 300 meter masts for the longwave transmissions. Other transmissions including those on shortwave come from the Fontbonne/La Madone sites on Mont Angel, signals from which no doubt you all have heard either from the two 100 kW units or the main 500 kW facility. The antenna farm allows beams to be directed to the target areas mentioned at the beginning of this spotlight. There are two 600 kW medium transmitters which can be coupled, one at 300 kW and a 50 Kw unit which allow 24 hour broadcasting on three frequencies. Finally, 12 FM transmitters at various locations broadcast along the Côte d'Azur. Daytime the longwave facility is beamed to Southern France and Switzerland while medium waves reach most of Italy. At night the 1 megawatt transmitter and its five directional tower aerial reaches the whole of Europe from Spain to the Caspian and from North Africa to Greece. The future might see new medium and short wave units being purchased (via JACK FITZSIMONS, Nov World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 6596.998, 12.10 1510, Defense Broadcasting Station, prat, prat. Svag modulation. 3 Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) Country not specified, but I guess it`s Burma -- listed on 6570 (gh, DXLD) 6596.998, 12.10 1510 Myanmar, Defense Broadcasting Station, just talk, talk. Weak modulation. 3 SA (Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson) According to SA`s mail to me this is the mentioned frequency, so I think this must be the Myanmar station drifting (Thomas Nilsson, ed., SW Bulletin, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note proximity of this to KOREA SOUTH [non] above (gh) ** MYANMAR. 5986.83: R Myanmar, Yangoon. English News at 1450 UT, commentary at 1515. In between, 1980's disco music; the other day the music slot was filled with jazz arrangements of English folk tunes like "Greensleeves" (Jari Lehtinen, Finland, 20 & 21 October 2002, hard-core-dx Nov 3 via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. 3290.1, NBC, Windhoek, Oct 27, 0235-0245, English pops, very strong but badly undermodulated. No sign of 3270. 6060.0 NBC, Windhoek, Oct 25, 1500-1510, English news, ads, strong but badly undermodulated. 6175.0 NBC, Windhoek, Oct 25, 1510-1515, English with government propaganda on farmers' evictions, strong but also undermodulated (Vaclav Korinek, South Africa, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Radio Netherlands -- There are a few changes in Radio Netherlands` program schedule for the new season. First, Aural Tapestry goes on hiatus for the winter, as it did last year. It`s replaced in the schedule by Sound Fountain; it kicks off with a five-part series called ``A War of Words`` – information in times of conflict. Some of the world`s leading experts in the field of communications and peace studies give their views on propaganda, corporate media, war correspondents and negotiators. Part one, ``The Producers``, which aired the last Sunday in October as Journal was in production, the program investigated how governments are manipulating information under the guise of the ``war on terror.`` The general description of Sound Fountain: ``…a torrent of ideas from award winning documentary producers Michele Ernsting and Dheera Sujan. Interesting topics approached in an unusual way. Sound montage, esoteric conversations, inner musings and atmospheric music all add up to sound surprises…`` Second, Roughly Speaking has finished its run; through the end of the year you can hear Dutch Classics, in which Helene Michaud will be sifting through the Radio Netherlands archives of Dutch classical music. In the new year, The Amsterdam Forum will debut. This new program will be an extended interview with a leading Dutch figure. Third, Wide Angle will have its initial airing one day earlier -- on Saturdays -- apparently replacing the current feature entitled Best of Wide Angle (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Nov NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hi Glenn, Re Rich Cuff's comments in the NASWA Journal, quoted in DXLD 2-171: Unfortunately the new On Demand audio system is not yet ready for launch. We had hoped to launch it with the start of the winter schedule, but a number of delays occurred. It's hoped to start testing the new system in January. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Sahel, 2133 Nonstop Nice African music, 2150 News? by local language and 2200 Clear ID at 2200 as Radiodiffusion Télévision Niger, Good. Nov. 2 (Nobuo Takeno, Kawasaki, Japan, NRD-535D with 10m wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 3326, R. Nigeria Lagos, 2047 Music and talk in EE. 2100 ID as Radio Nigeria Lagos, but Non IS of Drums. Audible. Fair. Nov. 2 (Nobuo Takeno, Kawasaki, Japan, NRD-535D with 10m wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PALESTINE [non]. CLANDESTINES: 3985, Voice of Palestine, Voice of Palestinian Islamic Revolution, via VoIRI, Iran, Nov 2, *1930-1945, Arabic talks about Palestine and Arabic songs, 35444 // more disturbed 6025, 6065, 6200 and 11905 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. MOROBE'S RURAL PEOPLE TO GET MORE OF RADIO MOROBE From the Independent: Oct 31 2002 RURAL residents of the Morobe province may soon have access to the vital services of the National Broadcasting Corporation's (NBC's) Radio Morobe through the medium wave following a visit by three officials from the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) early this week. Provincial station manager, Kikalem Meruk, told The Independent that Radio Morobe was one of eight provincial stations owned by NBC that was to be visited by this JICA team. Mr Meruk said the purpose of the team's visit to the radio station was to see first hand the available facilities, the staff and the services that were being rendered to the people of Morobe. In addition to this, they were also to hold talks on possible assistance to the station to boost its services. Mr Meruk said discussions which were held with the officials included the possible installation of another transmitter for the local station to broadcast its Kundu service on the medium wave band. However, this would be subject to the team's findings, proposal and eventual approval by the Japanese government for funding assistance. The station manager explained that of the eight stations visited, the Japanese government would be assisting three to five of them. He said the talks with the team had proven quite positive and he was confident that Radio Morobe would receive this boost. He said the team also paid a courtesy visit to the provincial administration where they met with deputy governor, Gigo Zaliong and provincial advisor, Malalu Angu, who both briefed the JICA team of the funding assistance rendered by the provincial government to the radio station. During this occasion the Japanese officials were told of the vital role that the station was playing in getting vital information through to the people especially in the rural areas. He said the Japanese officials appeared quite impressed with the kind of support and commitment demonstrated by the provincial government and had indicated that they would be looking at assisting with another transmitter. Mr Meruk said Radio Morobe, which had fallen victims to vandals in the city, had been fortunate to have had the provincial government and AusAID come good with substantial funding to help get the station back on air. He said the station was broadcasting on short and medium wave bands, however the service was not all that effective. He said the installation of another transmitter would ensure a strong and clear reception for many more listeners throughout the province (via Don Nelson, DXLD) More MW = less SW? (gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. On Oct 24, Adan Mur sent me these data for the transmitters broadcasting 24 hours a day: 1480 MW (omnidirectional - 0,25 wavelength - 1 KW, from Ñemby). 2300 (omnidirectional - 0,625 wavelength - 60 watts, from Villeta). 7737 (directional – 60 and 240 degrees - 300 watts, from Villeta). 9983 (directional - 184 degrees - 300 watts, from Villeta). (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** PERU. Re DXLD 2-171, 10354.3 R. Willkamayu I found the following item in a list at: http://www.radiodifusion.com/archivo/Radios_del_Peru.pdf Radio Wallkamayu OBX-7L Wanchaq, Cusco 940 Khz 1KW Perhaps the 11th harmonic of a slightly off AM carrier? 10354/11 = 941.27 (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, Nov 4, http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3375, R. San Antonio celebrated its 9th anniversary in October according to e-mail from Hno Rolando of the Carpio Montalvo, Director of Radio San Antonio. Also, he notes that in September Radio San Antonio became a member of the network, Peruvian Satellite Quechua, which is an organization of eleven transmitters at the national level united to try to preserve the Peruvian culture Quechua. It combines its efforts together with other South American transmitters in Bolivia and Ecuador. Since Radio San Antonio is a cultural station without profit they do not have the resources to acquire a satellite receiver that is important to interchange information with the other transmitters of the Peruvian Satellite Quechua network (Rich D'Angelo, PA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Caro Glenn, Conforme o boletim de programação da RDP, que pode ser solicitado a Isabel Saraiva (isabelsaraiva@rdp.pt), a programação de sábado e domingo sofre alterações quando há transmissões esportivas. Portanto, só nos resta acompanhar "A Guitarra Portuguesa e o Fado", nos sábados, e "Cantando Espalharei", nos domingos, com uma tabela do campeonato português de futebol. Quando não tem futebol, vai ao ar as rubricas. Aliás, 'rubrica', no Brasil é usada no sentido de assinatura abreviada, de próprio punho. Já em Portugal, eles usam no sentido de título ou indicação geral de um assunto. Na verdade, os portugueses, na minha opinião, usam a palavra 'rubrica' onde os brasileiros usariam a palavra 'programa'. 73s! (Celio Romais, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QATAR. AL-JAZEERA TO TAKE ON CNN, BBC IN ENGLISH From http://www.hindustantimes.com Agence France-Presse, Doha, November 02 Al-Jazeera satellite television is planning to launch an English- language channel late next year to rival the leaders of world television news, managing director Mohammad Jasem Al Ali told AFP on Saturday. "The English channel will compete with the BBC and CNN and deal with news through a different eye to the Arabic channel," he said. "We expect to launch towards the end of 2003." Free-wheeling Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel in Arabic, based in the gas-rich Gulf state of Qatar, has become the dominant force in Arab television news on the back of worldwide scoops on Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden and, more recently, the Chechen hostage drama in Moscow. The director general said no budget had been decided for the new venture but it would not involve any partners. "I don't think it will be as expensive as JSC because there will be a lot of logistical synergies and collaboration to keep costs down." However, the new channel will have its own studios and buildings on the existing site in Doha and recruit its own new staff. "We will need first-class international television journalists with native or near native English," Al-Ali said, adding that he already received a lot of CVs. As part of the push into the English-language market, by January 2003 JSC viewers, estimated at some 45 million worldwide, will be able to select from a remote control a voice-over in English. "We are recruiting interpreters to provide a simultaneous translation from Arabic," the director general said. An English version is also shortly due to be added to the successful aljazeera.net Arabic language website. Turning what the director calls a small profit in the sixth year of operations, Al-Jazeera is still also negotiating over a project to start a business channel with US and other partners. The station that launched with an output of just six hours a day on November 1, 1996, today has a total staff of 500 producing non-stop news which has turned the staid Arab world upside down. It has also spawned imitators and Saudi Arabia's MBC, based in Dubai, is set to launch another rival news channel in the coming months (Nov 3 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re: ||| 6235 1800-2200 27,28 S.P 200 265 RUS RRS Quite misleading registration: RRS would be Radio Rossii but apparently this frequency carries Voice of Russia programming exclusively, right now after 1830 in accordance with the VoR schedule German or rather a Universelles Leben programme, so let's say it carries the output of the German service control room. What's the actual transmitter site? Right now the audio is in synch with 7300, pointing to Tbilisskaya. By the way, the 7300 transmitter suffers frequent trips, a problem which arises once in a time on this unit as I recall (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7300 is listed as Samara in B02, and the plot shows that the registered beam perfectly centers above Germany which is the primary target (4h German, 1h English). 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) || What speaks against St.Peterburg? Actually nothing, they could take the same satellite feed than Tbilisskaya. And right now 6235 is quite poor but 7300 still good, so it may indeed be Popovka... But I am quite sure that 7300 is indeed Tbilisskaya. This is some standard frequency, carrying the whole evening program of VoR German service, and it used to be in summer on 15540 and in autumn on 11980; years ago it was in summer on 11980 and in winter on 7360 instead. This transmitter is still quite distinctive although the horribly mistuned carrier frequency circuit (Trägerfrequenzleitung in German, I do not know the proper English term for such circuits) was replaced about two years ago by a much, much better satellite link. "Suspects" for Samara would be 7125, 7215 and 7380, but some of them may indeed originate from Yekaterin`burg instead. VoR German services used to post a list of transmitter sites at http://www.vor.ru/German/Liste/liste.html This list gives own VoR data but so far the page has not been updated yet. Otherwise the guesswork would be unnecessary since this information appears to be trustworthy. Bolshakovo shortwave: The site is still listed for VoR German 1000- 1100 on 12010, as always using two transmitter pairs on two different antennas. It could be interesting to monitor this frequency... (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What speaks against St. Peterburg? 6235 is primarily intended for the English program (1900-2200) and the coverage is "perfectly" centered at the UK; see the enclosed plot of the HFCC data. At least regarding Radio Rossii frequencies, some changed site are currently in operation. Mikhail Timofeyev announced in a Russian DX mailing list that the broadcasts to Southern Russia and Caucasus 0300- 0700 on 9450, 0730-1400 on 15355 & 1400-2100 on 5905 are now transmitted from St. Petersburg instead of "Kaliningrad resp. Moscow" (actually, all 3 are listed as Kaliningrad in the HFCC list). 7300 for German from ARM would not be wise to use, as it would give a much worse coverage, it would skip over half of Germany in the evening, as you can see in the enclosed plot (which is automatically generated from the HFCC data). You can compare this with the "perfect" coverage if Samara is used. 7300 is a standard frequency listed for Samara in winter seasons since many years (already in HFCC winter 1994/95). The 7360 you are referring to, is indeed supposed to be in use from ARM [``Armavir``] with the standard 290 beam according to HFCC, but for French, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian, which is the "right" target as it centers more in the west. KLG [Kaliningrad] 12020 at 1000-1100 if run according to the HFCC registration: the 245 beam has a first center above Eastern Germany, a second one above SW Germany, and a third one above France; the 205 beam has a center above SW Poland and the very SE of Germany, and another one above Italy (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. Clandestine, 7182.02, R Kavkaz (tentative), Nov 1, 1900-1915, when R Bangladesh 7185 was Off. News in Russian or a Russian dialect with four items from Moscow and one from New York. At 1911 a woman and a man talked with jingles in between. 24232. At *1912 R Bangladesh came back on the air on 7185 in Bengali with a noisy carrier QSA 4. When it signed off 1959* the Russian station had disappeared (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. SAUDI GROUP PLANS MEDIA CENTRES IN US, EUROPE "TO COUNTER ANTI-ARAB PUBLICITY" | Text of report in English by Saudi news agency SPA web site Manama, 3 November: Saudi Arabia's Dallah al-Barakah Group (DBG) is planning to launch a 100m-dollar media blitz in the United States and Europe to counter anti-Arab publicity in the West. "There is a project to establish (television) channels in English, and to set up a news agency," DBG Chairman Salih Kamal told reporters. "Now is the time to explain to them about Islam. We think we didn't do our duty to have a bridge with other states," he said on the sidelines of a banking conference in Bahrain. Kamal said DBG was in discussions with Arab businessmen to set up a company to run the channels and the agency in the next few months, with 100m dollars in capital. "The plan is still under study but the agency and the channel will be established in different European countries," he said. The member states of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreed last year to launch a media blitz to counter rising anti-Arab publicity following the 11 September incidents in the United States. The GCC states have proposed that three satellite television channels be set up. Source: SPA news agency web site, Riyadh, in English 0750 gmt 3 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES. B-02 FEBA SEY Broadcast Schedule [ENGLISH || at right] FEBA Radio - Mahe, Seychelles, Indian Ocean Broadcast Schedule B02, Winter 2002 27th October 2002 to 30th March 2003 Transmitter Site (SEY): 04 deg 36" S, 55 deg 28" E. B: Broad beam of 68deg at -6dB, CHR 2/2/0.8 N: Narrow beam of 35deg at -6db, CHR(S)4/2/0.8, slew +/-12 or 18deg NORTH INDIA, NEPAL, TIBET Frequency Azimuth Power Time UTC Days Languages kHz deg Kw ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0015-0030 smtw... MARATHI 7265 040 B 100 0015-0030 ....t.s PUNJABI India 7265 040 B 100 0015-0030 .....f. DZONKHA 7265 040 B 100 0030-0100 s..wtfs HINDI 7265 040 B 100 0045-0100 .mt.... HINDI 7265 040 B 100 0030-0045 smtw... BANGLA 9465 040 N 100 0045-0100 ....t.. BANGLA 9465 040 N 100 0045-0100 ......s ASSAMEESE 9465 040 N 100 0815-0900 ....t.. HINDI 15460 040 N 100 1200-1230 smtwtfs TIBETAN 15445 040 N 100 1230-1245 s...... BHILI 15445 040 N 100 1230-1245 .mt.... MUNDARI 15445 040 N 100 1230-1245 ...w... MARWARI 15445 040 N 100 1230-1245 .....fs BHOJPURI 15445 040 N 100 1245-1300 s...... MARATHI 15445 040 N 100 1245-1300 .mtwt.. PUNJABI India 15445 040 N 100 1300-1315 s...... KANGRI 15445 040 N 100 1300-1315 .m..t.. ORIYA 15445 040 N 100 1300-1330 ..t.... GUJARATI 15445 040 N 100 1315-1330 sm.wt.s GUJARATI 15445 040 N 100 1315-1345 .....f. GUJARATI 15445 040 N 100 1330-1345 sm..... NEPALI 15445 040 N 100 1330-1345 ..twt.. CHATTISGARHI 15445 040 N 100 1330-1345 ......s MAGHI 15445 040 N 100 1400-1415 smtwtfs URDU India 11600 040 B 100 1400-1415 .....fs HINDI 11600 040 B 100 1415-1430 smtwtfs HINDI 11600 040 B 100 1430-1445 smtwtf. HINDI 11600 040 B 100 1445-1500 sm..t.. HINDI 11600 040 B 100 1430-1500 ......s KUMAUNI 11600 040 B 100 1415-1430 smtwtf. BANGLA 15445 040 N 100 1430-1445 .....fs BANGLA 15445 040 N 100 SOUTH INDIA, MALDIVES, SRI LANKA Frequency Azimuth Power Time UTC Days Languages kHz deg Kw ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0100-0130 smtwtfs TAMIL 7265 040 B 100 0130-0145 st.tfs TAMIL 7265 040 B 100 0145-0200 s...t.. TAMIL 7265 040 B 100 0145-0200 .....fs BADAGA 7265 040 B 100 0130-0200 smtwtfs TELUGU 9465 052 N 100 0815-0830 ......s TELUGU 15460 052 N 100 1345-1400 s.twtfs SINHALA 9810 052 N 100 1345-1415 smt.tfs MALAYALAM 15445 052 N 100 1345-1400 ...w... MALAYALAM 15445 052 N 100 1445-1500 smtwtfs TELUGU 15445 052 N 100 1500-1515 ..t.... TELUGU 15445 052 N 100 1500-1515 s.....s MALAYALAM 15445 052 N 100 1500-1515 ...wtf. ENGLISH Slow 15445 052 N 100 || 1500-1515 sm.wtfs KANNADA 11600 040 B 100 1500-1515 ..t.... TULU 11600 040 B 100 1515-1530 s.....s KANNADA 11600 040 B 100 1515-1530 .mtwtf. ENGLISH 11600 040 B 100 || 1530-1545 smtwtfs ENGLISH 11600 040 B 100 || 1545-1600 smt.tfs ENGLISH 11600 040 B 100 || 1645-1700 ...w... DHIVEHI 11605 052 N 100 1630-1700 .....f. DHIVEHI 11605 052 N 100 PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN Frequency Azimuth Power Time UTC Days Languages kHz deg Kw ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0200-0215 s...tfs SIRAIKI 9465 028 N 100 0200-0215 .mt.... HINDKO 9465 028 N 100 0215-0230 smtwtfs SINDHI 9465 028 N 100 0230-0245 s....fs BALUCHI 9465 028 N 100 0230-0245 .mt.... BRAHUI 9465 028 N 100 0230-0245 ...wt.. BALUCHI S.Iran 9465 358 N 100 0200-0215 smt..fs URDU Pakistan 11640 028 N 100 0200-0230 ...wt.. URDU Pakistan 11640 028 N 100 0215-0230 smt..fs PUNJABI Pakistan 11640 028 N 100 0230-0245 smtwtfs PASHTO 11640 028 N 100 0230-0245 smtwtfs PASHTO 15555 028 N 100 0245-0300 .mtwt.. DARI 11640 028 N 100 0245-0315 s....fs DARI 11640 028 N 100 0245-0300 .mtwt.. DARI 15555 028 N 100 0245-0315 s....fs DARI 15555 028 N 100 0315-0345 s.....s HAZARAGI 15555 028 N 100 0430-0500 s...... FARSI 15535 352 N 100 1400-1440 smtwtfs URDU Pakistan 9485 040 B 100 1440-1455 ...wtfs HINDKO 9485 040 B 100 1440-1510 .m..... URDU Pakistan 9485 040 B 100 1440-1455 ..t.... PUNJABI Pakistan 9485 040 B 100 1455-1510 s...tfs BALTI 9485 040 B 100 1515-1530 sm..tfs TURKMEN 9485 358 N 100 1530-1545 smtwtfs UZBEK Southern 9485 358 N 100 1545-1600 smtwtfs HAZARAGI 9485 358 N 100 1600-1630 smtwtfs DARI 9485 028 N 100 1630-1645 smtwt.s PASHTO 9485 028 N 100 MIDDLE EAST Frequency Azimuth Power Time UTC Days Languages kHz deg Kw ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0345-0430 smtwtfs ARABIC 15535 340 B 100 0445-0515 .....f. SINHALA 15555 340 B 100 1100-1245 s.twtfs ARABIC 15535 340 B 100 1100-1300 .m..... ARABIC 15535 340 B 100 1245-1300 ....tfs ENGLISH Slow 15535 340 B 100 || 1800-1900 .....f. MALAYALAM 11600 340 B 100 EAST AFRICA, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN, INDIAN OCEAN Frequency Azimuth Power Time UTC Days Languages kHz deg Kw ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0315-0400 .m.w..s SWAHILI 11885 280 B 75 0315-0345 s.t.tf. SWAHILI 11885 280 B 75 0345-0400 s...tf. ENGLISH Slow 11885 280 B 75 || 0915-0930 smtwtfs FRENCH 15430 208 N 75 1100-1130 smtwtfs PORTUGUESE 15445 232 N 75 1515-1530 smtwtfs NUER 11885 280 B 75 1530-1545 smtwtfs DINKA 11885 280 B 75 1545-1615 ......s MAKONDE 11885 280 B 75 1600-1615 smtwtf. MAKONDE 11885 280 B 75 1600-1630 s...tfs AMHARIC 11640 322 N 100 1600-1630 .m..... GURAGENA 11640 322 N 100 1615-1630 ..tw... GURAGENA 11640 322 N 100 1615-1645 smtwtfs. SWAHILI 11885 280 B 75 1645-1700 sm.w.fs SWAHILI 11885 280 B 75 1630-1700 smtwtfs AMHARIC 11640 322 N 100 1700-1730 s....f. OROMO 11640 340 B 100 1730-1745 .mtwtfs TIGRINYA 11640 340 B 100 1730-1800 s...... TIGRINYA 11640 340 B 100 1700-1745 smtw.fs SOMALI 9485 340 B 100 1700-1800 ....t.. SOMALI 9485 340 B 100 1700-1730 smtwtfs SOMALI 11885 280 B 75 1830-1900 sm..tfs FRENCH 9485 280 B 75 1830-1845 ..tw... FRENCH 9485 280 B 75 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Schedule Engineer, FEBA Radio, Ivy Arch Road, WORTHING BN14 8BX, UK. WEBSITE: http://www.feba.org.uk/schedule B02bs01 dated 22.10.02 rww (via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. Hi Glenn, I found the SRI shortwave schedule in about 30 seconds :-) On the Home Page of http://www.swissinfo.org click on English On the English menu, click About Us The link to the shortwave and satellite frequencies is on the right hand side of the page. Unfortunately it's only available as a PDF file, but it is up to date :-) 73, (Andy Sennitt, Holland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re DXLD 2-171: Yes, Glenn, very difficult to find the SRI SW schedule on the swissinfo site. There is no direct link on the main swissinfo page; you have to go to the sitemap page (last item on the left text menu) and it is the very last item on that sitemap page, swissinfo/sri products. On this products page the shortwave and satellite frequencies pdf file is the third item on the right menu. The link for the SRI products page is http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=901 The link for the shortwave frequencies file is http://www.swissinfo.org/pdf/broadcast_schedule-eng.pdf Regards (Harry Brooks, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Try: http://www.swissinfo.org/pdf/broadcast_schedule-eng.pdf 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: English, B-02, complete; J = Jülich, Germany; S = Sottens, Switzerland; M = Montsinéry, French Guiana: NEAR EAST & AFRICA: 0730-0800 J 9885 160 J 13790 200 S 17665 165 0830-0900 S 21770 165 1730-1800 J 9755 115 J 13790 115 S 15555 140 1930-2030 S 9755 200 J 13660 165 J 15485 145 M 17660 115 SOUTH AMERICA: 2330-2400 S 9885 230 M 11660 175 (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. Arabic Radio observed 2 november, 1628 with ID on 12120. SINPO 45343 here in Belgium (Silvain Domen, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. Latest Sked: L'Europe de l'Ouest : . Sur 7.225 kHz, de 1700 à 2300 UT Sur 7.275 kHz, de 0400 à 0700 UT Sur 11.730 kHz, de 1400 à 1700 UT Le Moyent-Orient :. Sur 9.720 & 12.005 kHZ, de 0200 à 0500 UT Sur 15.450 & 17.735 kHz, de 1200 à 1700 UT Sur 9.720 & 12.005 kHZ, de 1700 à 2100 UT L'Ouest de l'Afrique du Nord : Sur 7.190 kHz, de 0400 à 0700 UT Sur 11.950 kHz, de 1400 à 1900 UT Sur 7.190 kHz, de 1900 à 2300 UT (via Patala, DXing.info via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TUNISIA. 7190, RTT. Full data email QSL letter from Abdessalem SLIM. Word attachment contained verification info and schedule. My report was addressed to Ont@ati.tn. Subject was "Correspondance pour M. Abdessalem Slim". Received 6 days after my French language report, 22 years after the first of 14 previously unsuccessful reports. I had tried almost everything over the years ... registered mail, tapes, cards ready-to-sign with SASEs, local postcards, mint stamps, IRCs, $, email. Country verified number 196 on the long, steep path to 200 (Evans, TN, November 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, R. Ukraine International, 0400 UT 6020 November 2, 2002 was poor for a few seconds until V. of Turkey came on 6020 making RUI useless. 73, (Kraig Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Oh, yes, I was going to point out this inevitable clash; and 6020 is supposedly the only RUI frequency at this hour during the `minimum` schedule period (gh, DXLD) ** U K. Subject : The World Service is my oyster DOMESTIC RADIO PALES INTO INSIGNIFICANCE COMPARED TO THE BBC'S FINEST EXPORT Sue Arnold, Sunday November 3, 2002, The Observer Apart from friends, family and the Times crossword, the only thing I really miss when I'm abroad is the radio. Some years ago, I bought a pocket-sized portable shortwave set from Dixons at Glasgow airport, along with a booklet explaining how I could tune into the World Service in 100 different countries. But it is very much hit and miss and, even when I hit, the reception is abysmal. What I need is a good old-fashioned shortwave wireless like the one John Osborne used to keep in his bathroom in Edenbridge. It could pick up anything, he once told me - sheep stations in New Zealand, space stations in Texas - but was vast and not exactly portable. If only, instead of all that shower gel and shoeshine stuff they leave in your bath room, hotels would automatically install a radio in every room, but I suppose they reckon a colour television offering local stations, CNN, Sky and BBC World will do. It most definitely will not. BBC World Service radio is infinitely better than its flashy, noisy fledgling, BBC World TV. I speak from experience, having just spent a few days in two vintage hotels - the Dzveli Metekhi in Tblisi and the Pera Palace in Istanbul, both stuffed to the gills with antique bric-a-brac - phonographs, wind-up telephones, free-standing marble-and-mahogany basins and, in the Pera Palace, a display case full of Kemal Atatürk's chamber pots - but sadly not a single wireless between them. To mark the thirtieth anniversary of Index on Censorship, the World Service's drama department is broadcasting a season of banned plays and I was looking forward to Workshop Negative, whose author, Cont Mhlanga, narrowly escaped having the fingers of his writing hand amputated after its first explosive performance in Zimbabwe. Then there's Westway, the World Service soap about everyday doctors in west London which packs more incident into one episode than Ambridge does in a year. On Wednesday, the Today programme had Robert Elms arguing the case against Alnwick, just voted the most desirable place to live in Britain. Rubbish, said Elms, picturesque villages are boring. He wants multiracial, multicultural excitement, not feudalism and sheep, which pretty much sums up the difference between Westway and The Archers. Westway has Albanian refugees, Nigerian students, Parsee managers, Indian chemists, dossers, drug addicts and, thank God, not a single organic carrot. Having failed to elicit either revolutionary drama or medicated soap from my Dixons portable, I switched on BBC World TV. Instead of the Russian hostages, I got a self-conscious, public-school prat called Orlando talking about the multimillion- pound sandwich empire he was hoping to build on his 700-year-old family name. Orlando is the youngest son of the Earl of Sandwich. It wasn't a news item, it was a dreary half-hour feature confirming what foreigners have always suspected about the English being wet, snobbish and commercially inept. What depressed me was less the negative PR than the decision to give 30 minutes' airtime to such fatuous rubbish while a global network of intelligent, well-informed, BBC correspondents with really interesting things to say kicks its heels. Radio news beats TV news every time, and before you trot out that old chestnut about a picture being worth a thousand words, let me tell you that BBC World bulletins are such a mishmash of flashing images, throbbing music, rolling Teletext and frenetic voiceovers that I'd settle for no pictures, 500 words and a chorus of 'Lily Bolero' any day. Television is glitzy, radio is intelligent. I'll take that further. Radio 4's news bulletins are better informed and written than anything on TV but they are acorns beside the majestic oaks of World Service news programmes such as The World Today, World Briefing and News Hour. Earlier this week, I switched from a Radio 4 news bulletin - Angus Deayton and John Leslie losing their jobs, Michael Portillo urging IDS to stick to his guns and Brits being allowed to bring more duty-free cigarettes home - to Alex Brodie presenting News Hour. It had items on the Tamil Tigers, the Labour Party in Israel, maize mazes, Russian legislation to lower the marriage age to 14, and why Alnwick has been voted Britain's top town. They didn't invite Robert Elms's comments because, in global terms, he isn't an A-list celebrity. One hundred and fifty million people listen to the World Service every week. I'm not surprised (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. BBC World Service --- The schedule changes are as I`d predicted, and are summarized in the following table. Summer Time Winter Program 0000 0100 Meridian / Popular Music 0100 0200 Science / technology / health 0200 0300 Sports / Business / Analysis / FOOC (Wednesdays) 0300 0400 Music / Religion 0400 0500 World Today 0900 1000 World Update 1200 1200 Newshour 1300 1300 Outlook, Off The Shelf 1400 1400 Meridian / Popular music 1500 1500 Science / technology / health (Sundays: FOOC, People and Politics) 1600 1700 Europe Today / business / sport 2200 2300 World Today 2300 0000 Outlook / Westway / various features BBC World Service Highlights The most interesting program on the November World Service schedule looks to be Young In China, a four-part documentary series beginning Friday, November 8th, 0230 UTC, repeated the following Monday, 1530. The series attempts to reveal the thoughts and aspirations of the first generation growing up under China`s one-child policy. A group of young people at home, at work, and out socializing are profiled over the course of the series. Tuesdays, beginning November 5th, 0430: A History of Political Thought is a new 12-part 15-minute weekly series exploring the issues of human governance – the individual versus the common good, and authoritarianism versus democracy. The series is hosted by Charles Haviland. Wednesdays, beginning November 6th, 0045, with a repeat Thursdays, 0430: Tell Me My Future is a new four-part fifteen minute series in which Martin Stott takes a real life ``guinea pig`` approach to astrology, fortune telling, palmistry, and aura readings to gauge different predictions, and learn how and why people seek to be given a glimpse into their future. Thursdays, beginning November 7th, 0230, repeated Fridays, 1530: Sports International runs a new four-part 30-minute series exploring the multi-billion dollar world of USA sports called US Sports Incorporated. The series looks at how the sports industry has grown and how USA sports have been exported elsewhere. The series tries to answer a question I`ve long pondered: Why are some sports entirely USA-based, USA-led, and USA-devised? Sunday, November 10th, 1030: Since shortwave listeners are often history buffs, it`s worth noting the annual Service of Rememberance from The Cenotaph in London. Each year in Britain, on the Sunday closest to Armistice Day (our Veterans` Day in the USA), those who have died in the two world wars and other recent conflicts are remembered. The Remembrance Ceremony will be broadcast live to all regions at this time. Fridays, beginning November 15th, 2330, repeated Sundays, 0430: Inventors Imperfect is a three-part series in the usual Global Business timeslot looking at how people of flawed genius have influenced our times. Ada Lovelace -- the daughter of Lord Byron -- worked with Charles Babbage whose Difference Engine is considered the first computer. George Boole -- remember Boolean Algebra? -- and Sir Joseph Banks, a botanist who sailed with Captain James Cook, are also profiled. Saturdays, beginning November 23rd, 0230, repeated Tuesdays, 1530: I Have a Right looks at how the rule of law in countries targeted by the USA and its allies has changed in the wake of last year`s terrorist attacks. This is a three part, 30-minute series. Saturdays, beginning November 23rd, 1330: The Caribbean Connection is a three-week documentary on the Caribbean roots of black culture in Britain, and how the music and experiences of the region have influenced the arts and music in Britain. Hip-hop saxophonists Soweto Kinch and singer Juliet Roberts are the artists profiled in the first installment. That`s all for November; see you in December! 73 DE (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Nov NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** U K. 2LO TRANSMITTER - GIFT TO NATION MARKS BBC'S 80TH ANNIVERSARY From tesug@cix.co.uk The BBC is celebrating its 80th anniversary by presenting its original transmitter to the Science Museum as a special gift to the nation. The handover takes place after a special concert on Thursday (November 7) featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. The BBC, in conjunction with Crown Castle International (who are now responsible for the BBC's terrestrial transmission systems), will hand over its first transmitter - the 2LO - to the Science Museum, so that it can be fully restored and in future, displayed for the benefit of the nation. The transmitter was made by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company in 1922. It takes its name from the number of the Post Office broadcasting licence issued to Marconi to operate an experimental radio station for London, and it was the first transmitter to be used by the BBC - then the British Broadcasting Company - when it was formed later the same year. The company grew quickly, and 2LO was overtaken by more powerful transmitters in 1925. It survives today thanks to the efforts of BBC engineers who found it in pieces in the basement of a transmitter station at Brookmans Park in the 1950s. It was last exhibited in 1992 - the BBC's 70th anniversary year - when it was part of 'The Greatest Show on Earth' display at Broadcasting House. It has been in the care of Crown Castle International since 1997, when the BBC's terrestrial transmitter network was sold off. BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies and Peter Abery, Chief Executive of Crown Castle, will jointly present 2LO to the Science Museum. It will be received by Lord Puttnam, a trustee of the Science Museum. BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies said: "Future generations should be able to share what is a fascinating piece of early 21st century technology. We also want them to understand its significance in the development of our broadcasting system, which is held up as a model for the world. So I can't think of a more appropriate home for 2LO." Dr John Griffiths, Senior Curator of Media Technologies at the Science Museum, said: "The 2LO radio transmitter was there at the birth of the BBC in 1922 - it is truly an icon of broadcasting history. Fortunately it has survived and the Science Museum is proud to acquire such an important piece of our nation's heritage for the national collections. It will be restored by Science Museum experts with a view to put it on display for future generations to marvel at." Also this from The British Vintage Wireless Society http://www.bvws.org.uk/index.htm The Science Museum in London is holding an event on 14 November 2002 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the BBC beginning transmission. On the evening of 14 November 1922 the fledgling BBC began transmitting; the call sign '2LO Calling' became a household word. The original transmitter, 2LO, has miraculously survived and on 7 November the BBC and Crown Castle will kindly donate it to the national collections, on the evening of the BBB's anniversary celebrations at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. 80 years on the Science Museum will celebrate this historic event on the evening of 14 November at its London storage facility, Blythe House. There will be two short talks on the significance of 2LO in radio and television history, a chance to see other significant items from the national collections and, of course, refreshments. The date is 14 November 2002 and the venue is Science Museum, Blythe House, near Olympia. The doors will be open from 6.15pm and the event will close at around 9.15pm. The evening is free, but spaces are very limited - tickets will be on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to reserve a place please contact Jane Davies at the Science Museum (Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD) or by email - j.davies@nmsi.ac.uk or telephone 0207 942 4201. A map and programme details will be sent out nearer the date. (via Mike Terry, UK, DXLD) ** U S A. After all the publicity this week about Ventana a Cuba, the new VOA service started last week [see DXLD 2-164, 2-168], VOA really had egg on its face Sunday night. I tuned in about 0103 UT Monday Nov 4 and found fill music instead on all five of the listed frequencies, 9480 9590 9885 11700 11990. Including EZL version of ``Goldfinger`` at 0116, sure to arouse the suspicions of Cubans. So the transmitter sites knew what was going on and had the proper frequencies running, but the feed got lost somewhere between Washington and Delano, Greenville --- if it went out at all. No break at 0130, more fill music, not Ritmo Beat. One can imagine the program presenters back in Washington thinking they are on the air, never bothering to tune in a shortwave radio for aircheck. More likely, it was pre-recorded anyway and the tape (or file?) could not be found by master control (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. From rec.radio.shortwave: ...I'm hearing WWRB, from Manchester, TN, on new frequency of 5050. All kinds of studio relay problems, just playing filler music, except for someone from studio explaining that they're trying to fix connections, so Bro. Dan can speak. Local quality, very strong (Michael Bryant, WA4009SWL, Louisville, KY, via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Just out of curiosity, has anyone received a QSL card/letter from WWFV Copperhill, TN? I have tried several times with no luck (Bob, New Mexico, USA, hard-core-dx via DXLD) I think, nobody has ever received one (even when they used their old call sign). They have promised special QSL's, awards, etc., but I have never seen a report confirming these promises were realized (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, ibid.) ** U S A. I found a list of Boston area Haitian stations (mostly X- band) at the Haitian-Americans United website. See: http://www.hauinc.org/Html/Community/Media/Radio/RadioStations.html have fun, (Paul McDonough, Medford, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. ILLINOIS MAN KILLED WHEN RADIO TOWER COLLAPSES (This type of accident seems to be happening more recently - Mike) From The Glasgow Daily Times (Glasgow in the USA that is). November 01, 2002 CENTRALIA, MO. (AP) - Federal officials were investigating the death of an Illinois man who was killed when a radio transmission tower collapsed. Sean Burroughs, 29, of West Frankfort, Ill., was killed Tuesday when the 400-foot KMFC-FM tower he was repairing outside Centralia twisted and fell. Burroughs was secured to the tower with a rope - about 120 feet in the air - when he fell. Burroughs, who was part of a four-man crew working for the Henderson, Ky.-based Nationwide Tower Company, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three co-workers at the site were uninjured. Jerry Clair, owner of the Centralia-based Christian-format radio station, had contracted with Nationwide Tower to do maintenance work on the tower, including replacing steel cables that support the tower. Manuel Olmedo, area director of federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration, said Wednesday that he had dispatched one OSHA official to the area. "We're looking to ascertain what the cause of the accident was and also if the employer was following safe practices," Olmedo said. Olmedo said the investigation would likely take about three months. Officials from Nationwide Tower declined to comment (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Not that it matters with a wire-service story, but which Glasgow? Hardly any town names are unique to only one state in the US. In this case, starting with Kentucky and Montana. We know it`s from a foreigner when the state is not mentioned, except in the case of obvious major cities. BTW, there is a bigger Centralia in Illinois, the state the victim was from, but the accident was in another Centralia, in the adjacent state of Missouri (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. TV TOWER TO BE BUILT AS A BACKUP IN TIMES SQ. By DAISY HERNÁNDEZ A top Manhattan real estate developer said yesterday that it would start constructing a new 358-foot tower atop one of its buildings in Times Square to serve as a backup for television stations that lost their main antennas in the Sept. 11 attacks. The Durst Organization said the planned tower, at the Condé Nast Building at 4 Times Square, would serve stations that have been using the antennas on the Empire State Building since the loss of the antennas at the World Trade Center. "This would be used to satisfy the immediate need," said Douglas Durst, co-president of the real estate firm. The Metropolitan Television Alliance, a coalition of broadcasting executives, has said that the Empire State Building is not tall enough, and its antennas not strong enough, for it to become a permanent site for them. The coalition has instead been looking to build a 2,000-foot tower in New Jersey to replace the one at the World Trade Center. The alliance originally hoped to build its 2,000-foot tower on Governors Island. But Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg rejected that idea this spring, saying he wanted the island to become an education center. Since then, television executives have been considering locations in Bayonne, N.J., and Jersey City. But talks with the two municipalities have yet to result in a deal, said Edward Grebow, president of the alliance. "Unfortunately, in our business, height matters," Mr. Grebow said. Four Times Square already has an antenna that serves eight FM radio stations. It was originally intended to serve up to four television stations, but no one had expected that it could compete with the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building, Mr. Durst said. The new tower would serve up to 18 television stations, he said. "We think that even if they are successful in creating a project they're probably many years off," Jody Durst, co-president of the Durst Organization, said of the plans for a 2,000-foot tower. The loss of the antennas at the World Trade Center left about a million viewers, mostly in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, with fewer television channels. More than 200,000 people signed up for cable; others purchased satellite dishes (NY Times Nov 1 via Jeff Kadet, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Fight over rights to broadcast stupid ballgame in Columbus OH: http://www.theotherpaper.com/substory2.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. B-02 Schedule: Adventist World Radio (correction) Corrected version of sked previously circulated (thanks to Mike Barraclough for noticing that previously I had mistakenly shown all Meyerton transmissions as coming from Agat, Guam) ========================== AWR - Adventist World Radio Sked effective 27 October - 30 March 2003 Afar 1700-1730 AF 15485ab Amharic 0300-0330 AF 11975ab 1700-1730 AF 15465ab Arabic 0400-0500 ME 9875mo 0500-0600 AF 11905mo 0600-0700 AF 9840ju 0600-0700 AF 11670mo 1700-1800 ME 15385mo 1800-1900 AF 11740mo 1900-2000 AF 11845ju 1900-2000 AF 15130mo Bangla 1300-1330 sAS 15385ab 1300-1330 sAS 15660ag Bulgarian 0500-0600 EU 9885ju 1800-1900 EU 12015ju Burmese 1400-1500 seAS 11940ag Chin 2300-2330 seAS 11850ag Dyula 0730-0800 AF 17820mo 2000-2030 AF 11935mo English 0030-0100 sAS 6055ab 6035ab 0100-0130 sAS 9835mo 0400-0430 AF 9650me 0430-0500 AF 12080me 0430-0500 cAS 15160ab 0500-0530 AF 6015me 0530-0630 AF 15345me 0830-0900 EU 9660mo 17820mo 0900-0930 AF 17670mo 1000-1030 seAS 11705ag 1000-1100 neAS 11900ag 1300-1330 cAS 17870ab 1330-1400 AS 11755ag 15660ag 1330-1400 sAS 15385ab 1600-1700 sAS 11560ag 15495ag 17630ag 1630-1700 EU 9850mo 1630-1700 sAS 11980ag 1630-1700 sAS 9890ab 1730-1800 ME 9385ag 1800-1830 AF 5960me 6095me 1800-1900 AF 11985me 2000-2100 AF 15295me 2000-2100 EU 5955ri 2000-2100 neAS 7160ag 11700ag 2100-2200 AF 9660mo 2130-2200 neAS 11960ag 11980ag Farsi 0230-0300 sAS 9695ab 0330-0400 ME 9740mo 1630-1700 ME 11905mo Filipino 1030-1100 seAS 11705ag 1700-1730 ME 9385ag French 0500-0530 AF 9875me 0700-0730 AF 9840ju sa-th 0800-0830 AF 17820mo 2000-2030 AF 11845ju 2000-2030 AF 12105me 17695me 2030-2100 AF 11935mo Fulfulde 1900-1930 AF 17695me German 0800-0830 EU 9660mo 1600-1630 EU 7235mo Hausa 0600-0630 AF 15225me 1930-2000 AF 15255me Hindi 0000-0030 sAS 6055ab 6035ab 1400-1430 sAS 17700ab 1530-1600 sAS 17640ag 1530-1600 sAS 15215ab 1700-1730 ME 11675ag Igbo 0530-0600 AF 15225me 1930-2000 AF 17695me Indonesian 1100-1130 seAS 15260ag 2200-2230 seAS 11850ag 15320ag Italian 0900-1000 EU 15195ju sa,su Japanese 1300-1330 neAS 11755ag 11980ag 2100-2130 neAS 11960ag 11980ag Javanese 1130-1200 seAS 15260ag 2230-2300 seAS 11850ag 15320ag Kannada 1430-1500 sAS 17775ab 1530-1600 sAS 17515ag Karen 1430-1500 seAS 15660ag 2330-0000 seAS 11850ag Khmer 1330-1400 seAS 11850ag Korean 1200-1300 neAS 9780ag 2000-2100 neAS 9385ag Malagasy 0230-0330 AF 3215ri 1530-1630 AF 3215ri Malayalam 1530-1600 sAS 11985ag 1530-1600 sAS 17590ab Mandarin 0000-0200 neAS 17635ag 17880ag 1000-1100 neAS 15260ag 15430ag 1100-1200 neAS 11900ag 1100-1300 cAS 17835ab 1100-1300 neAS 11660ag 1100-1500 neAS 15725ag 1200-1300 neAS 15225ag 1400-1500 neAS 11800ag 2100-2200 neAS 11720ag 11750ag 2200-0000 neAS 11655ag 17880ag Marathi 1530-1600 sAS 13790ag 1600-1630 sAS 9890ab Masaai 1730-1800 AF 12130me Nepali 1500-1530 sAS 13790ag 1500-1530 sAS 17590ab Oromo 0300-0330 AF 9650mo 1730-1800 AF 15485ab Punjabi 1500-1530 sAS 15215ab 1500-1530 sAS 17640ag Romanian 1730-1800 EU 5840ju Russian 0400-0430 cAS 15160ab 1330-1400 cAS 17870ab Sinhala 1400-1430 sAS 15660ag 1430-1500 sAS 17700ab Somali 0330-0400 AF 12015ab 1630-1700 AF 15465ab Swahili 0400-0430 AF 12080me 1700-1730 AF 12130me Tachelhit 0700-0730 AF 9840ju fr Tamil 1330-1400 sAS 15150ab 1500-1530 sAS 11985ag 1730-1800 ME 11675ag Telugu 1400-1430 sAS 17775ab 1500-1530 sAS 17515ag Tigrinya 0300-0330 AF 11945ab 1730-1800 AF 15465ab Urdu 0130-0200 sAS 9835mo 1400-1500 sAS 15385ab 1600-1630 sAS 11980ag Vietnamese 0100-0200 seAS 15445tw sa 1400-1500 seAS 15550tw 2300-0000 seAS 15320ag 2300-0000 seAS 15445tw Yoruba 0500-0530 AF 11970me 2030-2100 AF 12105me Transmitters: ab = Abu Dhabi, UAE ag = Agat, Guam ju = Juelich, Germany me = Meyerton, S.Africa mo = Moosbrun, Austria ri = Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia ta = Talata, Madagascar tw = Taiwan [Alan Roe/Michael Beesley/Sergey Kolesov] We intend to expunge the previous version from the archive html (gh) ** U S A [non]. Chuck Roswell, the TWR frequency manager is retiring on December 31st, so monitors reports have to be dumbed down so that office workers can understand them (David O. French, London`s East End, Nov World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** VANUATU. The South Pacific hunting season has begun at my QTH (one day earlier than in previous years): 7260, R. Vanuatu, 0656-0710 with southsea music, station announcement, yellow bird interval signal at 0700 followed by news in English read by male announcer, yellow bird IS again at 0710, signal faded out very quickly after that. Nothing heard on 4960 kHz Considerable QRM from V of Nigeria and SWF3 on adjacent channels. Reception was significantly better with NRD-535D than with IC-R75 (both connected to ALA-1530). 73, (Enzio Gehrig, Denia /Spain (38.50N-000.07E), Nov 4, NRD535D/IC-R8500/IC-R75/R5000 Dipole/ALA1530/RF Systems MTA hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 780 MW, R. Coro, Coro, Feb 3, 1940-2010, heard on Aruba with 5 IDs, sports report (Venezuela-Mexico), ads and Mariachi music. A reception report was sent on Feb 15 to Apartado 7421 in Coro. On Oct 29 I received the unopened letter back with a stamp from the Coro Instituto Postal dated August 29 saying that this Apartado was suspended. It had two other stamps dated March 6. Obviously nobody cared during these six months to forward it to the street address of this old station which no doubt is known by everyone in Coro (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 5035: VOV Xuan Mai. Hmong language service, ID at 2230 exactly according the WRTH Vietnamese ID transcription. Programme consisted of extremely ethnic folk singing with monotonous melodies that lasted for more than 15 minutes per song. Really exotic listening! (Jari Lehtinen, Finland, 23 October 2002. hard-core-dx Nov 3 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [and non]. Voice of Vietnam B02 Below is a tentative B02 schedule for Voice of Vietnam's external service, not all details yet completely monitored. Thanks to Olle Alm, Jerry Berg and Hans Johnson for their assistance. 1242 kHz is via Thoi Long, Can Tho Province, 2000 kW. Overseas relays: mos - Moosbrunn, Austria; sac - Sackville, Canada; skn - Skelton, UK Some transmissions are also carried on FM 101.5 MHz for the Hanoi area. Language Times Target area Frequencies (kHz) Cantonese 1300-1330 Indochina, THA 1242 1430-1500 Indochina, THA 7285 1530-1600 Asia 9840, 12020 2230-2300 Asia 9840, 12020 Chinese (Mandarin) 0830-0930 CHN 9840, 12020 1330-1400 Indochina, THA 1242 1500-1530 SE Asia 7285 2200-2300 CHN 9840, 12020 English 0100-0130 N America 6175sac 0230-0300 N America 6175sac 0330-0400 C America 6175sac 1000-1030 AUS, SE Asia 1242, 9840, 12020 1100-1130 SE Asia 7285 1230-1300 SE Asia 9840, 12020 1330-1400 Europe 7145, 9730 1400-1430 SE Asia 1242 1500-1530 SE Asia 1242 1600-1630 Europe 7145, 9730 1630-1700 Indochina, THA 1242 1800-1830 Europe 5955mos, 7145, 9730 1900-1930 Europe 7145, 9730 2030-2100 Europe 7145, 9730 2100-2130 Europe 7145, 9730 2330-2400 SE Asia 9840, 12020 French 1230-1300 Indochina, THA 1242 1300-1330 Europe 7145, 9730 1830-1900 Europe 7145, 9730 1930-2000 Europe 5955mos, 7145, 9730 Indonesian 0930-1000 INS, SE Asia 9840, 12020 1030-1100 INS, SE Asia 1242, 9840, 12020 1430-1500 INS, SE Asia 1242, 9840, 12020 Japanese 1200-1230 J 9840, 12020 1400-1430 J 9840, 12020 2130-2200 J 9840, 12020 Khmer 0000-0030 CBG 7285 1130-1200 CBG 1242 1200-1230 CBG 7285 1330-1400 CBG 7285 2230-2300 CBG 1242 Lao 0030-0100 LAO 7285 1230-1300 LAO 7285 1400-1430 LAO 7285 Russian 1130-1200 RUS 9840, 12020 1300-1330 SE As 7285 1630-1700 Europe, SE As 7145, 9730 2000-2030 Europe 5970skn Spanish 0300-0330 C Am, Car 6175sac 1100-1130 C Africa 7145, 9730 2000-2030 C Africa 7145, 9730 Thai 1130-1200 THA 7285 1200-1230 THA 1242 1500-1530 THA 9840, 12020 2300-2330 THA 9840, 12020 Vietnamese 0000-0100 C Am, Car 7145, 9730 0130-0230 N America (E) 6175sac 0400-0500 N America (W) 6175sac 0900-1000 AUS, SE As 1242 1530-1630 SE Asia 1242 1700-1800 Europe 7145, 9730 1830-1930 Europe 5955mos 2030-2130 Europe 5970skn 2300-2400 INS, THA 1242 (Alan Davies, Indonesia?, Cumbredx mailing list Nov 3 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [and non]. VOV Updated schedule Nov-4 This is the actual operational schedule for VOV, incorporating some minor programming sequencing revisions made since the new period commenced on Oct. 27. VOV Director advises that the continuing use of overseas relays is now subject to intensive and ongoing review: this has been reflected in the deletion of relays via Russia some months ago. Other frequency and programming changes may occur during the B-02 period. ----------------------------------------------------------- VOICE OF VIETNAM - B02 SCHEDULE - EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 4 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------- Updated to November 4, 2002 * Foreign Service (FS) * Services to Asian countries (VOV6) Data derived from information made available from the station, and via actual monitoring. [Number after kW is azimuth degrees] 0000-0030 Khmer 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 Cambodia VOV6 0000-0100 Vietnamese 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 290 Af FS 0030-0100 Lao 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 Laos VOV6 0100-0130 English 6175 Sackville 250 kW 212 ENAm FS 0130-0230 Vietnamese 6175 Sackville 250 kW 212 ENAm FS 0230-0300 English 6175 Sackville 250 kW 212 ENAm FS 0300-0330 Spanish 6175 Sackville 250 kW 212 ENAm FS 0330-0400 English 6175 Sackville 250 kW 212 ENAm FS 0400-0500 Vietnamese 6175 Sackville 250 kW 268 WNAm FS 0830-0930 Mandarin 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 57 China VOV6 0930-1000 Indonesian 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 SEA VOV6 1000-1030 English 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 SEA FS 1030-1100 Indonesian 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 SEA VOV6 1100-1130 English 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 SEA FS 1100-1130 Spanish 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 290 Af FS 1130-1200 Russian 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 290 Russia FS 1130-1200 Thai 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 Thailand VOV6 1200-1230 Japanese 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 57 Japan VOV6 1200-1230 Khmer 7285 Hanoi y 50 kW 216 Cambodia VOV6 1230-1300 English 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 SEA FS 1230-1300 Lao 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 Laos VOV6 1300-1330 French 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1300-1330 Russian 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 SEA FS 1330-1400 English 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 216 Eu FS 1330-1400 Khmer 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 Cambodia VOV6 1400-1430 Japanese 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 57 Japan VOV6 1400-1430 Lao 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 Cambodia VOV6 1430-1500 Indonesian 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 SEA VOV6 1430-1500 Cantonese 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 As VOV6 1500-1530 Mandarin 7285 Hanoi 50 kW 216 SEA VOV6 1500-1530 Thai 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 Thailand VOV6 1530-1600 Cantonese 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 As VOV6 1600-1630 English 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1630-1700 Russian 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1700-1800 Vietnamese 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1800-1830 English 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1800-1830 English 5955 Moosbrunn 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1830-1900 French 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1830-1930 Vietnamese 5955 Moosbrunn 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1900-1930 English 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1930-2000 French 5955 Moosbrunn 100 kW 320 Eu FS 1930-2000 French 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 2000-2030 Russian 5970 Skelton 250 kW 140 Eu FS 2000-2030 Spanish 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 290 Af FS 2030-2100 English 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 300 Eu FS 2030-2130 Vietnamese 5970 Skelton 250 kW 140 Eu FS 2100-2130 French 7145 9730 Son Tay 100 kW 320 Eu FS 2130-2200 Japanese 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 57 Japan VOV6 2200-2230 Mandarin 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 China VOV6 2230-2300 Cantonese 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 As VOV6 2300-2330 Thai 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 Thailand VOV6 2330-0000 English 12020 9840 Son Tay 100 kW 177 SEA FS Transmitter Sites: Hanoi 20N59 105E52 (Hanoi western suburb) Son Tay 21N12 105E22 (30 km NW of Hanoi city) Note: The Hmong Service is not included here, defined as a Domestic Service Compiled: (Bob Padula, November 4, 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anyone care to pick out any contradixions between the two versions? (gh, DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ 160 Meter/MF Propagation Indices I posted this earlier this morning on the 160 Topband Reflector, with a few typo's. I'm reposting it here now with corrections and some additional information specifically for the MF broadcast band. Also I will not be publishing #2002-31 of the KN4LF 7 Day Medium Frequency Radio Propagation Outlook until sometime on Monday. Due to the dismal Topband propagation conditions seen during the CQ WW contest last weekend, I've received numerous requests for and explanation of 160 meter propagation correlation with propagation indices. Unfortunately MF propagation is so complicated that the usual indices are not clear cut indicators of 160 meter propagation conditions, like with HF frequencies. However the following indices parameter levels will (((generally))) point to good 160 meter propagation conditions. 1.) Dropping indices numbers are better. 2.) Solar flux under 150, under 100 better, 70 is best for E layer multi hop. 3.) Solar flux of at least 100 for E valley-F layer ducting mechanism. 4.) Previous 24 hour Ap index under 10; under 7 for several days consecutively is best. 5.) Previous 3 hour Kp index under 3 for mid latitude paths, under 2 for high latitude paths; 0-1 for several days consecutively is best. 6.) Energetic protons no greater then 10 MeV (10+0) for 160/120 meters and no greater then (10-1) on MF broadcast band. 7.) Background x-ray flux levels less than C2 for several days consecutively for 160/120 meters and less then C1 for MF broadcast band. No current STRATWARM alert. IMF Bz with a negative sign, indicates a better chance of high latitude path auroral absorption/unpredictable refraction or scattering of MF RF signals, when the Kp is above 3. See my MF radio propagation theory notes for more information http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm 73, Thomas Giella, KN4LF/NNN0HUS, Plant City, FL, USA KN4LF 160 Meter Amateur Radio Resources And More: http://www.kn4lf.com KN4LF Daily Solar Space Weather Geomagnetic Data Plus MF Propagation Outlook: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm FL Meteorological & Climatic Institute: http://www.kn4lf.com/sub/fmci.htm FMCI 2002-2003 FL Daily Winter WX Discussion: http://www.kn4lf.com/sub/fmci17.htm (Nov 3 via hard-core-dx via DXLD) MEETINGS ++++++++ Calling All Shortwave Radio Listeners to attend the FINAL meeting for the year 2002! The American Shortwave Listeners Club-ASWLC final 2002 meeting will be held on December 7th at 12 noon at 16182 Ballad Lane in Huntington Beach, CA 92649. At our meetings we discuss all aspects of SWLing worldwide. Top subject at this time of the year is the B-02 Frequency schedules. You are invited to attend these monthly meetings as they are always open to the general public. On hand for all to enjoy will be the usual donuts and coffee plus colas. A printable map with directions is available at our web site. Contact person is Stewart MacKenzie, WDX6AA at 714-846-1685 or email: wdx6aa@earthlink.net. We hope to be seeing many of you attending the meeting and do not forget to Bring A Friend! (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA) "World Friendship Through Shortwave Radio where Culture and Language meet" http://communitylink.ocnow.com/groups/aswlc ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-171, November 2, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1154: WWCR: Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15039 WRN: Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wo1154.html DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS is being updated; so far we have Sat, Sun and Mon listings posted, with the rest of the week to be added shortly: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html WORLD OF RADIO ON RADIO STUDIO X, ITALY Dear Glenn, I'm writing to let you know that now 'WORLD OF RADIO' is also available in our site http://www.radiostudiox.it through a link to the streaming file available at the WORLD OF RADIO site. Getting to it is easy; you only have to click on the icon with the note placed in the bottom right hand corner of the site. Then click on the WOR link in the main frame. The service is available both in the Italian and English section. Best regards (Massimiliano Marchi RADIO STUDIO X, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. R. Tirana, English to N. America, at 0245 and 0430 on 6115, 7160 (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not sure if confirmed heard then, as I don`t recall their ever being as late as 0430; is that local time? (gh, DXLD) ** ANTIGUA & BARBUDA [non]. Bill Westenhaver spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited site and thought you should see it. ------- Note from Bill Westenhaver: I actually heard about this on the BBC WS newscast on CBC Overnight at 3:30 EST Friday. 73- Bill Westenhaver ------- BBC PAYS £50,000 LIBEL DAMAGES TO ANTIGUA PREMIER Kevin Maguire, Thursday October 31 2002, The Guardian The BBC yesterday agreed in the high court to pay £50,000 libel damages to a Commonwealth leader accused of misusing health funds and being involved in gun running and drug trafficking. Lester Bird, the prime minster of Antigua and Barbuda, accepted the settlement to halt legal action over allegations broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme and the World Service last July. The corporation, which agreed to cover his legal costs of £25,000, apologised and accepted that the assertions were unfounded. They included claims that he spent state health funds on lavish parties, holidays, and cosmetic surgery for friends. The apology was made after BBC executives rejected a proposal to reach a deal with Mr Bird that would have involved broadcasting a "positive" story on the Caribbean premier. The Bird family has dominated politics for years in a state that gained its independence in 1981 and has been involved in a number of scandals. His brother, Ivor, was convicted of cocaine smuggling seven years ago. The BBC suspected that a government appointed commission would find Mr Bird had misused £50m of health funds. Antigua's high commissioner to Britain, Sir Ronald Sanders, yesterday insisted that the BBC had enhanced its reputation in the Caribbean by admitting it had made a mistake. "Justice has been done. The BBC made a false allegation and has now apologised, recognising that it made a grave error," said Sir Ronald. "Further, the payment of damages is very appropriate given the magnitude of this slur." The BBC said: "The BBC sincerely regrets the broadcasts of which Mr Bird complains, and offers its sincere apology to [him]. It hopes that through the making and reporting of this statement the record will have been set straight." Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Westenhaver, DXLD) BBC SETTLES LIBEL CASE IN ANTIGUA. The Financial Times story does not mention it, but we DXLD readers know that BBCWS has a relay station in Antigua, thus perhaps increasing the BBC's incentive to resolve this matter. http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1035872916992 (Kim Elliott, DC, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: BBC TO PAY OVER ANTIGUA LIBEL By Nikki Tait Published: November 1 2002 The BBC agreed to pay "substantial" libel damages to Lester Bird, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, over radio news reports suggesting that he had expropriated large sums of money from his country's health-care funds. The High Court was told yesterday that the reports on Radio 4's Today programme and the BBC World Service in July had suggested that an inquiry into Antigua's heath-care funding had found that Mr Bird had taken more than $200m (£128m), spending it on parties, presents, foreign trips and cosmetic surgery for friends and colleagues. But yesterday the broadcaster said it regretted the broadcasts and unreservedly accepted that Mr Bird did not misappropriate any sums from his country's healthcare system, for any purpose. The BBC also withdrew additional suggestions in the Today programme that Mr Bird had been involved in gun-running or drug-trafficking (Nikki Tait, Financial Times via Elliott, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. I`m not hearing Habana`s 11705-USB. That`s good for RAE! One hour English at 0200 on 11710, tho poor to fair reception, it has a chance. I`ve heard it now for 3 weeks (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Weeknights only ** AUSTRALIA. The Australian Government is not endorsing DRM for frequencies below 2300 kHz. Australia is adopting the Eureka-147 system for DAB, and tests are happening now in Sydney in the "L" band, to assess consumer reaction. At this stage, there are no proposals to introduce DAB into Australian domestic radio on existing MF or VHF bands. It is vigorously endorsing migration to DRM for servics in the range 2300-26100 kHz. This would apply to all existing licencees, including Radio Australia, the ABC's Northern Territory HF service, Vision International, HCJB-Australia, and any other future licensees. The Government's position on DRM is clearly stated in its preparation for WRC-2003, which can be read in its entirity at the ACA Website, http://www.aca.gov.au ABC Domestic Radio has asked me to do any interview with them outlining where we are at with DRM globally - this may also be heard over RA. I have also written a professionally orientated overview about DRM for the next edition of Radio and Communications magazine. Regards BP (Bob Padula, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 9624.7, R. Fides 1152 Oct 24 43423 Spanish (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Space Master, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH Chaclacayo (27 km East Lima), PERU, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. nothing on 18900 or 19000 here so far. For the 1100-1500 period both frequencies are registered as Padarsko (Plovdiv) 500 kW / 306 degrees. Trouble is, likely they had to take 15700 off air in favour of 18900/19000 since Padarsko has only two 500 kW transmitters. The current Radio Bulgaria schedule shows exclusively 295 and 306 degrees as azimuths for 500 kW transmissions, leading me to the assumption that the only antennas capable for 500 kW are two pairs of curtains, one for the high and one for the low bands, each pair with one curtain for 295, the other one for 306 degrees. If memory serves right this equipment is in use for transmissions towards Central Europe only since a couple of years ago. Originally the 500 kW equipment was determined for North American services and in the old days in use not only by Radio Sofia but also (or probably even exclusively) by Radio Moscow. By the way, Ludo Maes meanwhile posted details about the transmitter models in use at the Bulgarian sites: Indeed exclusively Soviet designs. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. You would be surprised at all the Canadians that prefer US television. The most popular TV stations in Windsor, Ontario are Detroit TV stations. Canadians are the biggest customers for bootleg US DBS satellite services like DirecTV. In fact, they can be prosecuted if they are caught in possession of DirecTV equipment. There is a huge market for the subscription to these services using an address of someone they know in the US for the billing. Same thing in the Bahamas (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Nov 2, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida, http://www.amtower.com NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. The Can Con edicts are based on a (IMHO flawed) premise that if they mandate that Canadian artists be played regardless of any concerns for mass popularity or even quality of product that what they will get is exactly what they've got - a narrow format full of the same few Canadian artists who are popular with the masses. I'd have to believe that the majority of Canadian listeners are more interested in popular US artists than they are in unknown and/or marginal Canadian ones, particularly in the popular music formats (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, Nov 2, ibid.) ** CANADA. Art Vuolo, the very good radio columnist for the Oakland (Michigan) Times, mentions that a CKLW (800 kHz Windsor) reunion broadcast will be replayed this Sunday at 2-5 p.m. EST. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5912496&BRD=982&PAG=461&dept_id=467992&rfi=8 Alas, CKLW does not have an Internet audio stream, but audio of the reunion special is available from http://www.northeastairchecks.com/ (Kim Elliott, DC, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Glenn, Ricky a cru que cet article de cyberpresse.ca pourrait vous intéresser: Une coalition demande que le projet de Radio-Canada soit stoppé Une coalition de groupes oeuvrant pour le logement social demande à Radio-Canada de stopper le projet de construction d'appartements en copropriété sur une portion de son terrain de stationnement pour faire une place plus large à des habitations à prix modiques. http://www.cyberpresse.ca/reseau/actualites/0211/act_102110153205.html Message: The plot thickens... Groups want Rad-Can to build affordable housing instead of condominiums... Merci! (Ricky Leong, QC, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. From at least Tuesday Xinjiang PBS has been back on 60 and 75 meters mornings/evenings, adhering more or less to the same winter schedule that was introduced early this year. Uighur is on 4980, 3990; Chinese on 5060, 3950; Mongolian on 4500 and Kazakh on 4330. These frequencies are not mentioned in the just released HFCC for B02, while the frequencies used during the summer are correctly listed (Olle Alm, Sweden, 1 Nov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Some DXers have been wondering if the Chinese are using Continental transmitters to jam VOA transmissions. The answer seems to be yes. A couple of years ago a dozen new transmitters were put on the air for CNR-1. They are assumed to be the Continental 100 kW rigs listed by TDP for Beijing. These transmitters can be sorted out because they usually do not have the satellite delay of other sites with transmitters for CNR-1. Several of these transmitters are used for jamming during part of the day, notably during the period 0300- 0700, when at least 15550, 17550, 17565, 17605 are used to jam RFA Chinese and CBS-RTI Chinese. 17605 (normally strong here) can be traced to 17495. I have also traced a couple of cases where these transmitters have been jamming VOA Chinese. One case is 9545, used to 0200. At that time CNR-1 on 9645 is missing and a signal that is synchro with other CNR-1/Continental frequencies is heard in the noise on 9545. Immediately after 0200 9645 goes on (scheduled from 2300). (Olle Alm, Sweden, 1 Nov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. As usual, one of CRI`s few transmissions which makes timeshifts according to DST in the target zone is late in doing so, making us wonder why they bother? Sat Nov 2 at 1302 check, 7405 was still there with English to WNAm, more or less equal level to R. Martí and Beijing`s good friends in Cuba`s jamming. Later in the winter they get around to moving this to 1500, and keeping the other hour at 1400. Meanwhile the Cuban relay on 17720, weakly modulated as usual, was audible after 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB is running special 2 part shows on both DXPL and HRT. DXPL is a basic course on SWLing and HRT is a discussion of digital radio (Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Actually it`s the hoary old Rich McVicar DXPL for new SWLs, run countless times before – but not hoary and useful for the real newbies; confirmed at new time UT Sun 0000 Nov 3 on 9745; and HRT at 0100 was part 1 of 3 about digital radio, when 21455-USB, BTW, was readable. The HRT series, is however, recommended. This one had a lot of info about DRM including John Beck answering questions from the host Graham Bulmer, and an interview with a BBC engineer who has been to Ecuador for tests; recorded examples making us hope that Jim Cutler and hoary old jingles will not survive the digital transition. If you`ve missed it by now, see about ondemanding it from HCJB website (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 4781.3, R. ORIENTAL 0258 Oct 28, 34423 Spanish. RELAYING THE SPANISH SERVICE OF HCJB, AT 0300 SWITCH TO THE CHINESE SERVICE... (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Space Master, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH Chaclacayo (27 km East Lima), PERU, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Radio Cairo WEEKLY PROGRAMME SCHEDULE July - Dec 2001 [But they haven`t changed anything for years --- Erik Køie, Denmark] Radio Cairo, External Service, Europe Section, English Programme, P O Box 566, Cairo 11511, Egypt. Fax: (002)(02) 575 9553 Tel: (002)(02) 577 8945. Wavelength: 31mb (9990 kHz). Hours: 21:15-22:45 GMT FIXED ITEMS [daily] 21:17 Oriental Music 21:20 News Headlines 21:30 News 22:15 News in Brief 22:42 Oriental Music MONDAY 21:25 Islamic Features 21:40 Commentary 21:45 Arabic Song 21:50 Tourism in Brief 22:00 In the Mailbag 22:20 Egyptian Contemporary Figures 22:25 Top Hits TUESDAY 21:25 Around the World 21:40 Spotlight On The Middle East 21:50 Arabic Song 21:55 Sports Round-up 22:05 A Short Story 22:20 Tourism in Egypt 22:30 Music Box WEDNESDAY 21:25 Islamic Panorama 21:40 Commentary 21:45 Arabic Song 21:50 Europe in Arab Press 22:00 Egypt on the Internet 22:05 Proverbs & Tales in Ancient Egyptian Literature 22:20 Cairo Magazine THURSDAY 21:25 Galleries and Exhibitions 21:40 Commentary 21:45 Arabic Song 21:50 Egypt in the Eyes of a Visitor 22:00 Reception Reports 22:05 A Journey through Literary Heritage 22:20 Cultural Life 22:30 Down Memory Lane FRIDAY {update in DXLD 2-182} 21:25 Light Domestic News 21:40 Commentary 21:45 Arabic Song 21:50 You ask...We answer 21:55 Woman's Corner 22:10 Arabic Song 22:20 Scientific Life in Egypt 22:30 The Holy Koran and its Meaning SATURDAY 21:25 Economy in Focus 21:40 Press Review 21:50 Arabic Song 21:55 Stamp Collector's Club 22:05 The Environment 22:20 Islam In Intellectual Focus 22:30 Egyptology SUNDAY {update in DXLD 2-182} 21:25 Quiz Time (Part 1) 21:40 Commentary 21:45 Arabic Song 21:50 Quiz Time (Part 2) 21:55 Islamic Arts 22:05 Listeners' Mail 22:20 Sunday Show We wish you all enjoyable listening and look forward to receiving your letters, reception reports, comments and suggestions. Head of English Programme; Mrs. AMAL BADR Members of English Programme Staff: HEBA, NABIA, MOHAMED, AMANY, HEND, SHERINE (via Erik Køie, Denmark; retyped for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now can anyone supply the same for North American services? In the past, they were NOT identical, delayed repeats (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY EAST. After the recent discussion about 1323 some notes about Radio Moscow / Voice of Russia on this frequency may be of interest. Indeed these transmissions started already in 1964 or 1963 when a new 100 kW transmitter was installed at Wiederau near Leipzig. The new rig took over the Radio DDR transmissions on 575 (from 1978 on 531 instead), making the old Lorenz transmitter available for Radio Moscow relays on 1322. Of course it is well possible that during the years both transmitters were used alternately for each service. See this page: http://mitglied.lycos.de/JanBalzer/wiederau/mittel.htm From top to bottom 100 kW Lorenz transmitter installed in 1939 (theoretically still ready for operation), 100 kW Funkwerk Köpenick transmitter from 1963 (stand-by transmitter for 783; note the ordinary radio as modulation monitor), 5 kW Lorenz transmitter (ex 729 kHz, shut down in 1991 but at least two years ago still ready for operation), 100 kW Thomcast transmitter from 1998/1999 (current 783 kHz unit). In 1988/1989 a new facility at Wachenbrunn took over the transmissions on 1323. Perhaps WB can tell more about the switch-over, he noted a stronger signal and changed modulation characteristics, wrote to the unit of the GDR postal office responsible for transmitter operations and got a reply which revealed that the new 1323 site was not Nauen as the DX community believed until then because Nauen was registered in the Génève schedule but instead Wachenbrunn. At Wachenbrunn the transmitter building got an extension where a 1000 kW and a 150 kW transmitter of Kominterna Leningrad were installed; the transmitters are labelled as PDSW-1000 and DSW-150 (replace W by V if you want to go with the English transcription), but a while ago OA pointed out that this descriptors does not call certain models but means only that the transmitter meets the respective industrial standards of the USSR. Also a four tower antenna was constructed, placed in some distance from the old facilities, the feeder line even crosses a public road. Unfortunately the web offers not so much pictures of the Wachenbrunn site, I found only a single one: http://www.darc.de/x/33/galerie1/galerie1.htm Picture 6 there shows the control room. (Picture 5, with a nice PA stage tube on display, shows some room at the Suhl FM site.) You can see the console with metering for six transmitters, some switching (also for audio distribution) and a nice studio level meter. The board houses the controls for the antenna matrix switch. It should be noted that the new Soviet equipment was fully integrated into the station, so all transmitters could be connected to all antennas as long as they could ensure their power level. This condition left only the four tower system and a dummy load for the 1000 kW unit, but the DSW-150 could also use the 882 kHz mast pair and a trideco antenna, while the other way round all six transmitters could be connected to the four tower system. The other four transmitters were in detail a Funkwerk Köpenick 250 kW, a Lorenz 20 kW (moved from Erfurt to Wachenbrunn when the Erfurt site was closed), a Lorenz 5 kW and a 4 kW transmitter, constructed by the staff of the Wachenbrunn site by using two old jamming transmitters (I was told that a similar design existed at Berlin, too). The own construction was meant as a stand-by transmitter, necessary because from 1978 both Lorenz transmitters were in regular use. In other words, until 1990 not less than four frequencies were on air from Wachenbrunn. For many years 1323 was always transmit towards 220 degrees, but since some time during daytime a beam of 310 degrees is in use instead. Apparently this resulted in a noticeably stronger signal in the UK, leading to the misbelief that VoR would be new on 1323. In the past Radio Moscow programming was fed to Germany through cable circuits. When I visited the Wachenbrunn station in 1994 (unfortunately I had no camera with me) they had just replaced their cable links (special wires, in German called Kernvierer, within ordinary telephone cables) by new digital microwave links, but till Frankfurt/Oder the Radio Moscow signal was still fed through the old cables. When listening to the feed (directly, i.e. not the transmitter modulation) the high degree of non-linear distortion on this line was obvious. Already back then it was intended to replace the cable feed by a much better satellite feed, but it took years until this was finally carried out. Today VoR programming is fed to the German transmitters via Intelsat 705 (18 degrees West), either as an SCPC signal or as part of a DVB bouqet. VoR transmits two channels (stereo but meant as independent audio channels), one containing the feed for 1323, the other one for 603. These transmissions are listed at http://www.vor.ru/Satellite/Satellite.html but the schedule is apparently outdated. A kind of mystery are the Express transmissions listed on this site, too, the schedule does hardly fit to a use of these transmissions as feeds. Anyway there have to be further satellite transmissions, most likely SCPC signals on some Russian satellites. Nevertheless VoR (or the responsible organization in Russia) established the Intelsat link instead of simply delivering suitable receivers for the C-band SCPC signals to Deutsche Telekom. Probably this is more than you ever wanted to know about 1323... ----- The description of the experimental IBOC station WI2XAM http://rvcc2.raritanval.edu/ktek9053/wi2xam.mp3 as having "the characteristically poor analog AM audio quality" made me smile, because this is in fact the usual audio quality of German mediumwave stations; some guys use to mock about "Memamamio". If you are not familiar with it, here is a 116 KB file of Hessischer Rundfunk on 594, reproducing the original quality when ignoring the MPEG artifacts on the background noise: http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de/hr594.mp3 Would you like to listen to such a signal? By the way, just for today a visit of the transmitter site was scheduled, but it was announced so short in advance that it was not possible for me and a friend to participate. But perhaps Wolfgang was there...? Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Comment: 1964 or 1963 ??? Leipzig Wiederau consist TWO 100 kW Lorenz txs at the Nazi Germany era, one of 1935 on more or less fixed frequency, the other from 1939 with variable freq selection, in order to jam UK outlets and also to mislead the radio officers on the allied bomber fleets. Similar ones of the latter type, used on all main German Reichspost tx sites during the years of Allied bombing actions. A third tx of GDR Koepenick type was installed in 1963. But apart from the Radio GDR domestic service outlet 575 kHz, I guess to remember me, that the second Lorenz Leipzig tx was already in use on 1322 kHz for Soviet Army Radio station (R Moscow in Russian relay) and interspersed by Radio Moscow services in German language, at least from the year 1952. At this time from July 1st, 1952, Koenigswusterhausen have got the new GDR-made 100 kW transmitter, and freed the old 200 kW Deutschlandsender unit which used for R Moscow relays/Radio Wolga army service, previously on longwave 261 kHz. At same time, or later in 1955, enough main power was available at Leipzig Wiederau station to serve the second LORENZ unit of 1935/1939, and Wiederau 1322 kHz took over the R Moscow relay, 5-8 UT in the morning, 8-11 on Suns only, 11-12, and seven hours at night, 15-22 UT. || wrote to the unit of the GDR postal office responsible for transmitter operations and got a reply (...) || ... which was a surprise, not common on that west-east block "way of thinking mentality". || which revealed that the new 1323 site was not Nauen as the DX community believed until then because Nauen was registered in the Geneve schedule || [of 1975/1978] Usually I visited the Weimar and Leipzig area to meet my relatives there, on the way to visit the West Berlin Radio and TV Exhibition during late August (each in the odd years between 1969 til 1987). And in 1987 while on tour between the frontier control point near Kissingen Bavaria to Weimar-GDR I had a short stop. Near Themar town I could see the two elder [143 meters tall each] tall masts of Wachenbrunn [Deutschlandsender/Voice of GDR program on 692 kHz, screened towards Yugoslavia], and could see that four lower [125 meters tall] masts were just under construction then. But wasn't aware of the cause, to move R Moscow relay from Leipzig/Nauen to Wachenbrunn soon. Some other 125 and 49 meters tall masts could bee seen too. In distance of 3 kilometers I took a picture with my Voigtlaender 135mm telephoto set. Which was strongly forbitten at this time, and done totally mysterious. Wachenrunn took over RM relay service on 1323 kHz from Wiederau in late August 1989, and after some adjustments was on air regularly from Sept 26th, 1989. I heard the strong signals for the first time here in Stuttgart around Sept 1st that year. Later on I had also a very short stop near the Leipzig Wiederau site, but that parking place was highly dangerous for Western nationals to stop near such a communist propaganda installation. The latter [20 kW] antenna construct I have seen regularly between 1952 and 1957 at the old Erfurt site, on the main radial street towards straight North. From 1957 onwards I lived in Western Germany then, and in 1965 and 1967 I visited my relatives there and had a 'see again' impression. || perhaps Wolfgang was there...? || Unfortunately no. Sorry, It's a long way to Tipperary ... and about 500 kilometers all in all both ways. I was too tired to drive on the crowded Highway. 73 (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GDR 1956 Perhaps of interest might be the following official frequency list for GDR radio from 1956: Deutschlandsender 185 kHz 782 kHz 881 kHz 6115 kHz, 7150 kHz 92.5 MHz 94.6 MHz [sites not specified] Berliner Rundfunk Karl-Marx-Stadt 602 kHz Berlin 611 kHz Reichenbach 912 kHz Plauen 1079 kHz Bernburg 1196 kHz Leipzig 88.0 MHz Schwerin 89.2 MHz Dresden 89.8 MHz Inselsberg 94.0 MHz Berlin 98.2 MHz Radio DDR Cottbus 520 kHz Berlin 529 kHz Potsdam 557 kHz Leipzig 575 kHz Greifswald 656 kHz Suhl 688 kHz Schwerin 728 kHz Erfurt 854 kHz Dresden 1043 kHz Leipzig 9730 kHz Jessen 91.0 MHz Marlow 91.0 MHz Rheinsberg 95.2 MHz Burg 97.0 MHz Deutscher Fernsehfunk [reshuffeled into frequency order, video carriers mentioned here, audio always 6.5 MHz above video] Berlin-Grünau 41.75 MHz Berlin City I 59.25 MHz Leipzig 59.25 MHz Dresden 145.25 MHz Brocken 169.25 MHz Inselsberg 185.25 MHz Marlow 193.25 MHz Karl-Marx-Stadt 201.25 MHz Berlin City II 209.25 MHz Radio DDR: It needs to be researched when the Hoyerswerda transmitter (last frequency 999 kHz, shut down on January 2nd 1996) was put on air, because I have a suspicion that later listings of "Cottbus" on 728 kHz actually refers to Hoyerswerda; it is said that this site was also called "Schwarze Pumpe" for a short time. But there was also a low power transmitter at Cottbus itself, in the end on 1584, shut down in 1991. "Suhl" means Wachenbrunn, the 5 kW Lorenz transmitter which was put on air there as first one. It remains unclear what "Berlin" on 529 was; either the moved Berlin-Tegel transmitter at Königs Wusterhausen or the second Köpenick/Mahlsdorf transmitter. I would guess indeed Königs Wusterhausen on 529 kHz, Wachenbrunn with Deutschlandsender on 881, later moving to 692 and finally back to 882? The TV frequencies also deserves a closer look: Back then the East European system with audio 6.5 MHz above the video carrier was in use. A couple of years later (in 1959 if I remember correct) it was decided to change to the West European system with 5.5 MHz video/sound separation. All existing TV sets had to be modified -- and from now on they were able to receive stations from western Germany and West Berlin with soundtracks. The Berlin-Grünau transmitter used roughly the finally cancelled West European channel 1, Leipzig and one of the Berlin City transmitters used what is today the East European channel 2. Dresden was where later the 2 metres HAM band was established, all other transmitters operated somewhere in band III with an 8 MHz separation from each other according the East European standard. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have added the powers given in WRTH 1957. Many are obviously misleading. A few remarks also added. 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, ibid.) Deutschlandsender 185 kHz - 100 kW (Königswusterhausen in Arne Skoog's list) 782 kHz - 500 (Burg) 881 kHz - 20 (Königswusterhausen) 6115 kHz, 7150 kHz - 5 and 5 kW 92.5 MHz - no FM powers given by the WRTH 94.6 MHz [sites not specified] Berliner Rundfunk Karl-Marx-Stadt 602 kHz - 20 kW Berlin 611 kHz - 20 Reichenbach 912 kHz - 20 Plauen 1079 kHz - 20 Bernburg 1196 kHz - 20 Leipzig 88.0 MHz Schwerin 89.2 MHz Dresden 89.8 MHz Inselsberg 94.0 MHz Berlin 98.2 MHz Radio DDR Cottbus 520 kHz - 20 kW ("1958 wurde in Groß-Zeißig, Kreis Hoyerswerda, der 20-kW-Mittelwellensender 'Schwarze Pumpe' erbaut") (another list says Saarow/Beeskow 5 kW on 520) Berlin 529 kHz - 20 kW (Berlin-Köpenick, unknown power, according to another list) Potsdam 557 kHz - 20 Leipzig 575 kHz - 300 Greifswald 656 kHz - 5 Suhl 688 kHz - 20 Schwerin 728 kHz - 500 (Wöbbelin 250 kW from 13.10.1952, also 20 kW from 3.1960) Erfurt 854 kHz - 20 Dresden 1043 kHz - 220 (first test with 250 kW on 1.9.1953; 20 kW added from 29.9.1959) Leipzig 9730 kHz - 12 Jessen 91.0 MHz Marlow 91.0 MHz Rheinsberg 95.2 MHz Burg 97.0 MHz Sorbian listed for 912, Sun also 729. (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the new information! A GDR publication from the eighties described as reason for the quick establishment of FM broadcasting after 1945 the very unfavourable frequency allocations in the Kopenhagen schedule. The book states, there were coverage problems on mediumwave despite the forced construction of high power transmitters and the help of the Soviet Union who left an exclusive frequency to the GDR. Now it is quite clear that this "exclusive frequency" was in fact 1322! As well-known many former USSR frequencies are operated from other places than the officially registered ones: Bolshakovo instead of Kaunas on 1386, Grigoriopol` instead of Vinnytsa on 1548 etc., etc. Certainly we can put 1323 into this list as an especially remarkable case: Leipzig [now Wachenbrunn] instead of Uzhgorod. On this occasion: Recently I passed again Nauen. The antennas of the old broadcasting site (the so-called KWZ) are meanwhile gone. Once the large 4/6 curtains were a quite impressive sight for train passengers on the Berlin - Hamburg line, now I could only see one of the new ALLISS systems for a moment, far away inmidst the trees. When tuning into 9545 I got a quite strong signal but with a distinctive flutter, similar to the reception of a distant FM station in a vehicle. I noted this interesting effect already when passing the Biblis site by train. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Already in WRTH 1950/51 (edited Oct/Nov 1950) 227 m (1322 kHz) is listed for R Moscow German and English. A Swedish frequency list from 1951 (edited by Arne Skoog) mentions Leipzig II with MDR on 1322. In WRTH 1947 (the very first edition, edited Nov 1947), R Moscow German is listed on 1571 m LW. It seems that 1322 was introduced with the implementation of the Copenhagen plan in March 1950, although the site assigned by the plan was Uzhgorod, Ukrainian SSR. The second MW transmitter at Wiederau became operational already in April 1947 on 722 kHz. Obviously due to co-channel interference from Hilversum, it moved to 1465 according to Arne Skoog's frequency list from late 1948, so that is from where it arrived on 1322 in 1950. The third 100 kW MW transmitter, made by Funkwerk Köpenick, became operational on 19 Dec 1963 according to "100 Jahre Funktechnik in Deutschland". (Olle Alm, Sweden, 2 Nov) Indeed the situation in the GDR became troublesome from March 1950. The GDR authorities tried to keep to the plan during the first months of the Copenhagen plan, but very soon reopened a number of lower power transmitters. The exclusive frequency that was handed over by the Soviets was 782, not 1322, as 1322 obviously remained in the hands of the Soviets, although from a different site than the one assigned by the plan. The measures taken to restore broadcast coverage in the GDR also included the reopening of the 191 kHz LW transmitter, now on 185 kHz. The 191 frequency had been "confiscated" by the allied powers and was assigned to Motala (Sweden). As a result, there was a bad whistle on 191 all over the part of Sweden south of the primary coverage area of Motala. This also affected areas with no other useful signals from Swedish AM transmitters, including the place where I lived in 1951- 1961. The problem was relieved with the introduction of wired broadcasting in undercovered areas and finally was eliminated when the basic FM network was completed in the early '60s. 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. From The RSGB: DL8AAM reports that during the night of the 8th to 9th of November the German National Weather Service will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special cross-band amateur radio event. The weather service's long-wave station DDH47 will transmit on 147.3 kHz between 2230 UT on the 8th and 0530 on the 9th of November. Amateur stations are invited to call DL0SWA/DDH47 on 3565, 7025 or 14052 kHz (via Mike Terry, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Glenn -- Thanks to the assistance of HFCC Chairman and WRMI frequency consultant Oldrich Cip, the Voice of Greece has agreed to move from 15725 to 15650 kHz at 1300-1800 UT as of Nov. 3, 2002, to avoid the QRM problem you have noted. We greatly appreciate Greece's cooperation in this matter (Jeff White, WRMI, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Greece English Orientations programme now 0930-1000 on 9420 15630. English Inter Programme is heard 1930-2000 on 7475. Both are on medium wave and announced as being on shortwave for Europe and North America. Sunday It`s All Greek To Me heard 1900-2000 on 5865 9420 and Hellenes Around the World noted 1700-1800 Saturday on 9420 15630 (Mike Barraclough, England, World DX Club Contact, Nov via DXLD) [non]. Hellenes Around the World confirmed at shifted time, Nov 2, Sat only at 1700-1800 via Delano 17705; last part this week was an interview about some Greek-American women`s organisation, which also admits non-women and non-Greeks (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. SCHEDULE FOR AWR GUAM NEW TRANSMITTER KSDA3 The original Continental transmitter KSDA3 at the AWR facility on the island of Guam was recently removed and replaced by a transmitter from South Africa. The new unit, manufactured by ABB in Switzerland, was originally in place at Langefontein in South Africa as Transmitter No 2, though it was never placed into regular service. This replacement transmitter was placed into regular service on Guam as KSDA3 on September 26 at 1000 UT. The schedule for KSDA3, beginning last Sunday October 27 with the new transmission period is as follows:- 0000 - 0200 17635 Mandarin China 1000 - 1200 15260 Asian languages Asia 1200 - 1300 15225 Mandarin China 1300 - 1500 15660 Asian languages & English Southern Asia 1500 - 1600 17515 Asian languages Asia 1600 - 1700 17630 English Asia 1700 - 1800 11675 Indian languages India 2000 - 2100 11700 English Asia 2100 - 2200 11750 Mandarin China 2200 - 2400 15320 Asian languages Asia Listeners are invited to send reception reports and to ask for an endorsement on the QSL card for the new transmitter. Reports should be sent to:- Adventist World Radio, 39 Brendon St London W1H 5HD England (Adrian Peterson, AWR, IN, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See USA: WINB ** GUYANA. 3291.3 kHz, Voice of Guyana, 2240, Very good signal but het from 3290 with UN program discussing UNICEF and the origin of Hallowe`en. Also heard at same time next night with another UN broadcast. Both days went into program of Guyana news at 2245 (John Sgrulletta, Oct 31/Nov 1, Mahopac, NY, USA JRC NRD-515 using K9AY & A/D Sloper, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. 2 XI 2002: 10000 AIR 0302 32423 As, India, QRM WWV 11735 AIR 0310 32323 As // 9910 AIR 0313 44423 // 9845 AIR 0314 42323 // (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Space Master, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH Chaclacayo (27 km East Lima), PERU, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I guess the last three were parallel to each other, but not to 10000, where AIR should not have been (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN. I will be featured on VOIRI (Iran) on Nov. 3; they interviewed me Monday morning. Not sure what time, but the frequencies include 9610 and 11970 (0030-0127 UT). If you include your phone number with your reception report they sometimes like to call their listeners. 11970 I find is best for North America and probably Europe. I received a package of stuff from VOIRI a few weeks ago. 73s, (Sue Hickey, Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada, Nov 1, GRDXC via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. RTE Overseas schedule: 0130-0200 6155 Central America; 1000-1030 SEAsia/Australia 15280; 1800-1830 Middle East 9895; 1830-1900 13640 Central and Eastern America, 21630 Africa (Website via Mike Barraclough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. RAI website gives English schedule as 0055-0115 North America 9675 11800, 0445-0500 North Africa/Mediterranean 5965 6100 7235, 1935-1955 Europe 5970 9745, 2025-2045 North and East Africa 6010 9710 11880, 2205-2230 Japan 11895 (Mike Barraclough, Nov WDXC Contact via DXLD) Is this specified as B-02? (gh) ** ITALY. IRRS, 13840 is still registered in the HFCC schedules as Milan 10 kW; it has been thought IRRS is now using relays outside Italy. 13840 heard with very good signals November 2nd 1230 with identification, some Italian music and at 1240 The Pioneers programme from New Dimensions Radio (Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN Radio DAT now 1600-1700 on 9925 (Mike Barraclough, WDXC Contact, Nov via DXLD) So one hour later after DST somewhere (gh, DXLD) ** LIBYA. Received a QSL from Radio Tripoli (the Voice of Africa Great Socialist People Libyan Arab Jamahiria, to be formal), actually it was a letter thanking me for my reception report which I sent them in August. They also sent a form for reception reports and a card with pictures (paintings actually of Colonel Qaddafi - spelling? - on it. Anyone else get stuff from Libya recently? (Sue Hickey, Grand Falls- Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada, Nov 1, GRDXC via DXLD) ** MEXICO. On the assumption that XERMX has made the usual one-hour timeshift along with us for winter, even tho its March-October program grid is still posted, we expect its English and Spanish DX and mailbag programs to be as follows now on 9705, 11770, and have entered them in DX PROGRAMS and MONITORING REMINDERS: MAILBOX: Thu 0500, Sun 0400, Sun 1600, Tue 1600 DXPERIENCE: Thu 1600, Sun 0500, Sun 2200, Tue 2200 RADIO CORREO DEL AIRE: Wed 2000, Sat 0000, Sat 1300, Sun 2300 ESTACION DX: Fri 0200, Sat 2300, Sun 1300, Tue 2000 {NOT SO: new schedules in 2-177} We`re not at all sure which day of the week a new edition start airing; confirmation of any of this welcomed. Already in music at 0525 UT Sun Nov 3 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. THE CHURCH IS READY TO MOVE INTO RADIO AND TV by Eugenia Jiménez Cáliz, in the newspaper Diario Milenio, Tuesday, October 29, 2002. Thanks to Señor Rafael Rodríguez of Colombia, who sent me this article, originally sent to the readers of Conexión- Digital of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by Señor Hector García Bojorge in México. (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update, who translated??) Mexico City, Oct 29 (Diario Milenio) -- Father Diego Monroy, rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, announced that projects to operate television and radio stations have been completed. Religious leaders and faithful of the Catholic and evangelical Churches have begun meetings to weigh the reforms begun by the present government to revise the Law of Religious Associations and the Public Cult. These meetings are the first steps to take advantage of the proposals made by President Vicente Fox during his campaign. One of these, re-emphasized in recent days, was the possibility that the Church could operate mass media. Thus, while evangelicals have barely analyzed how to take advantage of these media and the manner of allocating resources, the Catholic Church has taken the lead in announcing that it has concluded programs to operate television channels and radio stations. One of the projects that has taken concrete shape this year is that of Television ad Gentes (Television to the People), a private company that belongs to a group of laymen and has set up its headquarters in Toluca. During the past April, representatives of this television channel lobbied during the assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Mexico (CEM in Spanish) with the bishops, to whom they offered an internal channel of communication. In the proposal that this enterprise presented before the CEM, they said that this would be a pay channel and that an antenna to capture the signal would be installed in each diocese. It was intended that the dioceses would produce the material for the programs, in addition to underwrite a part of it, but it became apparent to the bishops that the station would not have Catholic programming exclusively and that airtime would be sold. Some representatives of the Episcopate questioned this project because they got the perception that ``what was wanted was to utilize CEM as a platform`` on which to run a business. Consequently, the proposal was refused. Consequently, the reports that a contract would be signed between the Episcopate and Television ad Gentes and that CEM programs would begin to be broadcast on November 3rd were dismissed. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is preparing for the implementation of the reforms and the permission to operate electronic media, by proposals to obtain frequencies on radio and television. The first steps have been taken.— The rector of the Basilica of Guadalupe, Father Diego Monroy, announced that a group of laymen are concluding a multimedia project. The first steps he said, have been taken: each Sunday, Mass will be broadcast at 10 a.m. from the Basilica of Guadalupe by the Sky system and over XENK 620 AM Mexico City (50,000 watts day, 5,000 watts night). In addition, on XEQR Radiocentro 1030 AM Mexico City (50,000 watts day, 5,000 watts night) the Sunday Liturgy, over which Cardinal Norberto Rivera presides in the cathedral, will be broadcast at high noon. In the first instance, it was sought that laymen would operate the mass media. And in that they have the experience of Mariavisión (formerly Claravisión), directed by Emilio Burillo, and which has plans for expansion. At present, it is a cable television channel. In this atmosphere of opening the media to the Churches, they are interested in occupying television channels. In addition to the traditional feasts of the Catholic Church (as the feasts of December 12th and the activities of Holy Week), there has been added in recent days over XHTVM Channel 40 in Mexico City the program ``The Pulse of the Pope`` from Vatican City, which is supported by the Vatican Television Center (CTV) and TV Malta, whose order, traditionally, has managed electronic media. For the evangelicals, the proposal to open the media to the Churches ``did not take us by surprise,`` assured Presbyterian Pastor Abner López, but they cannot come up with the resources to operate them. He revealed that informal meetings have begun in order to form blocks of Evangelical Churches to acquire stations and operate them. The Reverend Adoniram Gaxiola pointed out that the evangelical Churches have a greater presence on the radio, and the opening to the electronic media only would highlight in principle their fragmentation. He acknowledged that to integrate an evangelical block to operate the media is an old proposal, which could become a reality if the Churches with similar doctrines and liturgies would unite, as could Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists. In face of the lack of economic ability on the part of evangelicals, it was announced that they are considering opening channels on cable television, Sky, or MVS. The Reverend Fernando Marcín, of the Church of the Covenant, stated that the evangelicals indeed are preparing for the opening up of the media and could receive help at the beginning from the Confederation of Iberoamercan Christian Communicators. Some evangelicals, he said, ``Would look to depend on our own mass media, because they [the existing media] boycott us at present.`` An example, he insisted, was the program ``Vida Nueva para El Mundo`` (New Life for the World), which is broadcast every Sunday at 10 a.m. over XHTV Channel 4 in Mexico City, and attempts to motivate moral values of people. In spite of having a good rating, the contract was [renewal] denied last April, ``and we are still asking ourselves why.`` On the radio, he pointed out, there is the greater openness, and he gave as example the Christian schedule broadcast over XEEST Radio 1440 AM Mexico City (25,000 watts day, 1,000 watts night) every Saturday and Sunday for the past two years. But Marcín Maestro declared, ``We don`t want them to give us time, and it is for this reason we are counting on having our own media.`` (via Nov 4 Catholic Radio Update, Nov 2 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. By the time you read this, there`s a decent chance that RN will have implemented its new audio-on-demand capability, with program editions available for download by selecting a program title, instead of the somewhat clumsy method of selecting a time slot, as has been the case. The window of availability will be longer than the current 24 hours currently provided (Richard D. Cuff, Allentown PA, Easy Listening, Nov NASWA Journal via DXLD) {NOT, till Jan: 2-172} ** NIGERIA [non]. Glenn, Tuned in this freq from your DXLD2170 report. Germany, 13855, Radio Salama, presumed, German Telekom Station, Juelich, 1955-2000 Noted a man in religious comments in English with an American accent during Period. No ID at sine off, just a hymn sung by a choir. Then off the air at 1958. Signal was fair (Bolland, Chuck November 01, 2002, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 750 metres of Heliflex aluminium cable has been installed in the Omani desert to link the three 250 kw transmitters with five curtain arrays and one rotator curtain antenna. The cable is 9 inches in diameter (Radio World via Jack Fitzsimmons Nov World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. The early morning domestic frequencies for R Pakistan are 5915 from 0045 and 7105 from 0200 (News and Current Affairs Channel). 7105 is actually closer to 7104. The Azad Kasmir R "buzz" transmitter closes at 0215 and reopens at 0230 on 5990.0 (ex 5985v) with presumed Radio Sada-e-Hurriyat-e-Kashmir (Voice of Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement). Another transmitter for AKR opens on 4790 at 0230. The signal last night from 0230 on 4790 was much better than what I noted last winter, so may be a different transmitter (Olle Alm, Sweden, 2 Nov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still no reply to my request concerning HS SW details from Islamabad - but thanks for these details - Olle. I can hear a heterodyne on 7105 at 1530, so I guess this is the same transmitter heard at 0200. So I ASSUME: Current Affairs is 0200-0400 & 1300-1800 on 7105 and: 0045- 0200 Haya Allal Falah and Urdu news 0200-0215 on 5915. It's impossible to check if the 1615-1700 Islamabad programme is still using 6105 - TOM from Jülich [alias Brother Stair] is in full voice on 6110 with at least 10 kHz of side-splash each side. 5915 has Slovakia in Russian at this time. According to schedule [A02] 4790 should close down at 0215 (it should have closed at 0115 when the country was on summer time) and the Rawalpindi 10 kW unit should open at 0230 on 4790 (0130 in summer). So exactly what Anker heard has yet to be determined. Best 73's (Noel Green, UK, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Loggings roundup, mostly without details, but his frequency measurements are of interest. The first batch, all Oct 20, in chronological order; S = Spanish: 20 X 2002: 3172.6 R. Municipal 0300 34423 S, Perú 4388.9 R. Imperio 0305 34423 S, Perú 4421.3 R. Bambamarca 0306 44423 S, Perú 4461.5 R. Nor Andina 0307 34423 S, Perú 4826.3 R. Sicuani 0308 34122 S, Perú 4879.0 R. Comas 0309 34323 S, Perú 4904.5 R. La Oroya 0310 44423 S, Perú 5940.4 R. Bethel 0404 33323 S, Perú 5996.7 R. Melodía 0405 24222 S, Perú 3325 R. Luz y Sonido 1101 34423 S, Perú 3329.5 R. Ondas del Huallaga 1101 34423 S, Perú 4388.9 R. Imperio 1103 34422 S, Perú 4421.3 R. Bambamarca 1103 44423 S, Perú 4461.5 R. Nor Andina 1104 34323 S, Perú 4746.8 R. Huanta 2000 1104 44423 S, Perú 4774.9 R. Tarma 1105 44433 S, Perú 4826.3 R. Sicuani 1107 33222 S, Perú 4914.4 R. Cora 1107 44423 S, Perú 4955.0 Radiodifusora Cultural Amauta 1109 44423 S, Perú 4975 R. Del Pacífico 1110 44423 S, Perú 4995.5 R. Andina 1111 33222 S, Perú 5009.5 R. Altura 1111 44423 S, Perú 5025 R. Quillabamba 1110 34423 S, Perú 5067.2 R. Ondas del Sur Oriente 1112 32222 S, Perú 5300 R. Superior 1112 44423 S, Perú 5384.3 R. Huarmaca 1113 44423 S, Perú 5460.3 Voz de Boívar 1114 44423 S, Perú 5470.8 R. San Nicolás Rodríguez 1114 34423 S, Perú 5678 R. Ilucán 1114 44433 S, Perú 6020 R. Victoria 1115 54423 S, Perú 6173.8 R. Tawantinsuyo 1115 34423 S, Perú 6188.0 R. Oriente 1116 44423 S, Perú 6479.5 R. Altura 1116 33323 S Huarmaca, Perú 6797.4 R. Ondas del rio Mayo 1117 44423 S, Perú More, from 21 X 2002: 4834.9 R. Marañón 1106 24222 S, Perú 4824.4 R. Sicuani 1110 22122 S, Perú 4856.2 R. La Hora 1111 34322 S, Perú 4886.6 Radio R.V.C. (Vírgen del Carmen) 1112 34222 S, Perú 5486.7 R. Reyna de la Selva 1124 34423 S, Perú Reyna in this case is the last Name of the Owner MR. Reyna. [and a play on words, for ``Queen of the Jungle`` --gh] And the rest have the dates inserted by gh: 5979.7 R. Chasqui 1140 Oct 22 32133 S, Perú QRM R. Martí (USA) 4790.0 R. Atlántida 0306 Oct 24 24422 S Low Modulation, Perú 4992.5 R. Ancash 0307 Oct 24 32122 S, Perú 4995.5 R. Andina 0308 Oct 24 32122 S, Perú 5009.5 R. Altura 0403 Oct 27 44433 S, Perú 10039.8 R. Horizonte 1244 Oct 27 22322 S, Perú (5020 x 2) 3234.8 R. Luz y Sonido Oct 28 0254 44423 S RELAYING Z-ROCK & POP (95.5 FM LIMA) 3172.6 R. MUNICIPAL 1110 34423 S LOW MOD; RELAYING RPP (LIMA 89.7 FM 730 MW) [and look at this one!]: 10354.3 R. Willkamayu 1125 Oct 30 22322 S, Perú, QRM Hams 10354.1 R. Willkamayu 1108 Nov 2, 33323 S, Perú (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Space Master, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna: Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH: Chaclacayo (27 km East Lima), PERU, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Attempting to confirm whether A Guitarra Portuguesa e o Fado still be at 1805-2000 Saturdays, as in A-season, Nov 2 at 1835 I found instead coverage of some stupid ballgame involving `goooaaaals` on 21655, 17745 with CCI—Libya? and best by far on 15540. Perhaps the Fado show has shifted an hour later, I hope. Then checking the undated but hopefully current http://www.rdp.pt/internacional/h/g_oc7sab.html I see that the Fado show is still shown Sat at 1805 and 1910 as a `rubrica`. What does that mean? My Portuguese dictionary is no help, but Spanish suggests `flourish` meaning perhaps less than a full program, but briefer feature. This is after all, within another program 1705-2000 called ``Cantando,...Espalharei``. Perhaps the game be a preëmption, anyway. Kept listening, and nothing resembling a fado around 1905 or 1910, by when they were back to play-by-play coverage (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. AN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE ON BROADCASTING IN MOSCOW by Lada Korotun An international exhibition of broadcasting equipment Tele-Radio Broadcast Expo 2002 is being held in Moscow. Each year an international conference of broadcasters takes place in the framework of the exhibition to discuss the latest achievements in broadcasting. In the last 6 years the Russian National Association of Broadcasters has held annual conferences. Representatives of the Voice of Russia have also attended such meetings. The section of broadcasting is led by the chairman of the Voice of Russia, Armen Oganesian. The conference reflects the latest achievements in broadcasting in Russia and in the world. Ways of modernizing television and radio broadcasting and the satellite network are considered in detail at the conference. This helps introduce digital broadcasting in Russia. Digital broadcasting has high reception quality, provides more information and interactive possibilities. It is very important for the Voice of Russia that digital broadcasting will expand the area of Russia's international broadcasting. The first deputy minister of press, broadcasting and mass media, Mikhail Seslavinsky, said: "As for international broadcasting, more and more people in various countries besides radio use the Internet. The site of the Voice of Russia is very popular. The company broadcasts programs in the Internet. With digital broadcasting listeners of the Voice of Russia besides high reception quality will get a new media environment where broadcasting in the Internet will be in a number of languages." The deputy chairman of the Voice of Russia, Rachel Staviskaya, says: "In the next two years the Voice of Russia will actively begin to introduce digital broadcasting. I hope that by the end of 2003 the company will begin digital broadcasting in European languages. Listeners will receive our programmes in CD and FM quality``. 11/01/2002 (VoR.ru via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. Discussion of MW relays: see GERMANY EAST ** SRI LANKA. TAMIL TIGER RADIO DISCOVERS ENGLISH People across northern Sri Lanka will soon be able to listen to their favourite but clandestine Tamil Tiger radio station in English too. With winds of peace now blowing over the conflict-ridden island nation, the Voice of Tigers (VOT) radio station, owned and operated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is also discovering that there is money to be made. Modelled on the lines of the well-known rebel Radio Venceremos in distant El Salvador, the VOT was born in 1990 with just one reporter and a weak antenna to rebut government propaganda against the Tamil guerrillas. Today, 12 eventful years later, VOT has grown into a full-fledged broadcasting machine that goes on the air on FM channel for about six hours every day in three sessions in Tamil and Sinhala. The number of reporters it now employs has ballooned to 100. And VOT has grand plans to expand, says T. Thavapalan, its 32-year-old news editor, who has been with the station since its birth and has contributed to its growth despite having no formal training in journalism. VOT is the mouthpiece of the LTTE, which is fighting for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka's north and east, and Thavapalan makes no bones about it. "VOT's policy is LTTE's policy," said the lanky journalist, speaking in this rebel-held town, about 300 km north of Colombo. He said the radio was hugely popular among the Tamils and claimed it enjoyed a listenership of one million. In some areas, radio programmes are relayed over loudspeakers erected on the streets to overcome problems arising from lack of electricity. "Soon we will start broadcasting in English also," he added. The radio starts its broadcast at 6.30 a.m. and transmits patriotic songs, news, battlefield reports and statements by LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. In the evenings, it airs short commercials that publicise local businesses for rates as low as Rs. 2,000 (about $20) for a whole month of half-minute spots, making it one of the cheaper stations. More and more customers are pouring in, Thavapalan said. The new clients are from the government-controlled Vavuniya district, south of Killinochchi. Overheads are kept to the minimum. VOT has no fixed office and its antenna tower, like its news editor, is constantly on the move. Its reporters, some of them LTTE guerrillas, file pulsating reports straight from the scene of action whenever the Tigers go on the offensive. It is heard all over northern Sri Lanka as well as Trincomalee in the country's east. Thavapalan said Sinhalese-speaking soldiers stationed in the region also listen to the radio broadcasts. "The radio was started because our leader realised that newspapers did not reach everyone and everyone cannot read. The radio was the most effective way to put across the LTTE's views," he said. "In our own way, we have contributed to the struggle." (--Indo-Asian News Service via D. Prabakaran, Mettupalayam, India via DXLD) WTFK? ** SRI LANKA [non]. IBC-TAMIL [ CLANDESTINE ] summer [sic] schdule-2002 B02 [with effect from oct-27th] 0000-0100 UT -- 7460 KHZ 1230-1330 UT -- 17530 KHZ (D. PRABAKARAN, India, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [non]. The Saturday 1900-2000 SLBC English broadcast on 6010 via UK transmitters continues in the winter schedules, noted here November 2nd (Mike Barraclough, WDXC Nov via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. SRI on Worldspace ... http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=1427005 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) BTW, I challenge anyone to find an SRI SW schedule --- what`s left of it --- on the swissinfo website. I finally gave up (gh, DXLD) ** SYRIA. 12085 not on the air today and may have been off for a few days already (Olle Alm, Sweden, 1 Nov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume you refer to Damascus, not the clandestine... (gh, DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. The Arabic Radio, Noted October 29th 1600-1630 on 12085 and 12115, the latter running 20 seconds behind (Mike Barraclough, England, Nov World DX Club Contact via DXLD) So one frequency is from a country making DST shift in early October, the other in late October (gh, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Can`t find RUI; probably budget woes keeping big transmitters off to us (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Exactly. I had great `reception` via 16.0 kbps webcast UT Sun 0130 tune-in to the end of the DX program talking about –what else? -- DRM, and then the mailbag show, at the end of which it was announced that as of Oct 27, `temporarily`, this would be the English schedule on SW: to Europe 2200 on 5905, 0400 on 6020, 1200 on 17760; to Asia at 0100 on 9610. That`s it! No mention of North America, and only one frequency at a time. See previous complete `minimum` and `maximum` schedules (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC PAYS £50,000 LIBEL DAMAGES TO ANTIGUA PREMIER see ANTIGUA & BARBUDA ** U K. 'THE STORY OF IRAQ' ON BBC Dubai |By A Staff Reporter | 02-11 Starting November 8, BBC World Service will broadcast a new two-part series presented by Fergus Nicoll, the BBC's former correspondent in Iraq, a press release, a copy of which was sent to Gulf News, said yesterday. The Story of Iraq explores the country's modern history and the path that has led it to the present crisis, the press release said. Modern Iraq, with its current borders, is only 80 years old. It was carved out of the collapsing Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War to be ruled under a British Mandate; it became independent in 1932 and a republic after the revolution of 1958. But since 1968 the country has been governed by the Ba'ath Party with Saddam Hussain in the driving seat. In 1980 Saddam launched a war against Iran that he thought he would win within months. It lasted eight years and brought Iraq to its knees. Throughout this war, he was supported by the West and the U.S. in particular, who saw Iran as a threat. Western powers did not complain when Saddam used chemical weapons against the Iranians and the Kurds in Iraq. It was only when he launched another war - against Kuwait - that he became the bitter enemy of the West that he is now (Gulf News via Kim Elliott, DC, DXLD) ** U K [non]. GLENN, With Reference to DXLD 29th October, with all due respect, I think 'DX Dave-Bristol' has got it wrong. As far as I am aware VOR (then Radio Moscow, probably the Radio Station Rodina part) started using a Transmitter around this frequency in 1945, for Russian Forces stationed in East Germany. Radio Moscow, saw a good opportunity to use it, in several languages, after Local Closedown at night. It latterly, when up-graded, had the dual use of relaying Russian Programmes to the Troops and providing a good steady night-time signal across Europe for more general listening. As the Station is no longer required for 'troops listening' it is now used mre extensively by VOR. Somerset Sound, came along much later, and its skywave has caused considerable annoyance over the years, to VOR Listeners. As I do not live in Somerset, I am glad they have now moved (Ken Fletcher, 1140 UTC 2nd November 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GERMANY ** U S A. KGD 34 SHARES NETWORK COORDINATION STATION Arlington, VA Confirmed report of Sept. 11, 2002 operation on the anniversary of the attacks on the USA. Received card for reception on 14396.5 KHz. Also received a map card with description of the program and a card for the September 11, 2001 operation listing all the stations that took part then. Received in just under two months for SASE. You can view the cards at http://www.qsl.net/ve9wgs/ Sorry, but there is not much else on the site yet (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, ADDX EE sked shows: 1000 2300 USA WINB Red Lion 13570 1000 1030 USA WINB Red Lion 11705/GUM 1630 1700 USA WINB Red Lion 11980/GUM 2000 2100 USA WINB Red Lion 7160/GUM 2300 0600 USA WINB Red Lion 12160 Do you know anything about KSDA relaying WINB? or just typos? HFCC shows the three labeled GUM as KSDA (Larry Russell, MI, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Seems like I heard of some such connexion (gh) ** U S A. VOA Africa train thing - I heard it years ago, and thought it was kooky-fun. I'm surprised you haven't run across it before (Larry Russell, MI, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hello from New Zealand. I have been listening to many Radio Sawa broadcasts, many at very good level on various frequencies. Their musical programmes are great to listen to. Now does anyone know the transmitter sites for these broadcasts? Would appreciate info re this. Regards from New Zealand, (Ian Cattermole, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Ian, anything about IBB scheduling is here, except R. Free Asia: http://sds.his.com:4000/fmds_w/schedules/cur_langsked.txt 73, Glenn Hauser; Viz.: ARAB VOA MRN1 0400 0600 JUL 02 11875 115 ARAB VOA MRN1 0400 0600 KAV 08 11865 172 ARAB VOA MRN1 0400 0600 KAV 03 11670 095 ARAB VOA MRN1 0400 0600 MOR 02 9665 084 ARAB VOA MRN1 0400 0600 KAV 09 5965 108 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 KAV 10 17855 095 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 KAV 03 15440 208 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 KAV 02 15235 112 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 KAV 05 15140 095 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 KAV 08 11805 240 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 KAV 06 9615 240 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 WOF 04 9565 180 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 WOF 02 7170 158 ARAB VOA MRN1 0730 0830 MOR 03 6045 075 ARAB VOA MRN1 1700 1800 MOR 02 11855 083 ARAB VOA MRN1 1700 1800 KAV 09 7105 108 ARAB VOA MRN1 1800 1900 KAV 07 11960 104 ARAB VOA MRN1 1800 1900 MOR 03 11905 091 ARAB VOA MRN1 1800 2100 IRA 02 11825 299 ARAB VOA MRN1 1800 1900 KAV 01 9770 100 ARAB VOA MRN1 1800 2100 WOF 01 9530 180 ARAB VOA MRN1 1800 2100 KAV 09 7280 108 ARAB VOA MRN1 1800 1900 WOF 02 7180 182 ARAB VOA MRN1 1900 2100 GA 07 17740 067 ARAB VOA MRN1 1900 2000 IRA 04 11905 302 ARAB VOA MRN1 1900 2000 KAV 05 9615 172 ARAB VOA MRN1 1900 2100 WOF 02 7195 182 ARAB VOA MRN1 1900 2100 KAV 06 6040 105 ARAB VOA MRN1 2000 2100 KAV 08 11905 095 ARAB VOA MRN1 2000 2100 KAV 05 9650 172 ARAB VOA MRN1 2000 2100 KAV 01 6150 240 ARAB VOA MRN1 2000 2100 KAV 07 6060 104 ARAB VOA MRN2 0000 2400 KWT A 1548 323 ARAB VOA MRN3 0000 0800 RHO A 1260 134 ARAB VOA MRN3 0000 2400 CYP A 981 140 ARAB VOA MRN3 1500 2400 RHO A 1260 134 (IBB Monitoring site via gh, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 981 kHz, 2102 UT, R SAWA via Cape Greco, CYPRUS in Arabic. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, RX: AOR 7030+, ANT: Wellbrook ALA 1530P-active loop, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Ever moving to 990? (gh) ** U S A. Caught Kim Elliott`s first appearance on VOA`s Main Street (via webcast) at 0248-0253 UT Sun Nov 3. In a conversation with program hosts, with a couple brief taped illustrations, he covered only two topics: the end of R. Finland`s English broadcasts, and WLW`s rôle in the sniper captures (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Radio Africa International [Methodist!] English is now 1700-1900 on 11735 and 13820 via Julich transmitters (Mike Barraclough, England, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi there, one surprise QSL arrived: 5085, Radio WWRB, Manchester, TN - nice card with all details in 48 days, from/via Grace In Action Ministries, P. O. Box 11569, Honolulu, Hawaii 96828, USA- my 35th USA QSL on SW, hi (Torre Ekblom, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Proxy, but one must take what one can get ** U S A. The nation's top communications regulator said Wednesday that he favors giving companies more flexibility to use the airwaves in providing telephone, Internet, television and other services. The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/4410943.htm (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) viz.: FCC HEAD URGES AIRWAVE CHANGES --- By Jennifer Files, Mercury News The nation's top communications regulator said Wednesday that he favors giving companies more flexibility to use the airwaves in providing telephone, Internet, television and other services. New rules for the management of spectrum would let broadcasters, wireless service providers and other companies react more quickly to consumer demand -- without necessarily getting permission from the Federal Communications Commission, Chairman Michael Powell said in a speech at the University of Colorado in Boulder. A Spectrum Policy Task Force that Powell created is expected to provide more specific recommendations to the FCC within weeks, and in December the agency will start a rule-making process seeking public comment on changes to spectrum management. Under current rules, the FCC has auctioned airwaves for pre-set uses, such as wireless phone calls, and companies can't use them for other purposes. ``Today's marketplace demands that we provide license holders with greater flexibility to respond to consumer wants, market realities and national needs without first having to ask for the FCC's permission,'' Powell said. Among other changes, Powell said he favored easing rules intended to prevent signal interference altogether, and instead supports new policies ensuring interference stays within acceptable levels. The president of the trade group representing mobile-phone companies praised Powell's efforts but said too much flexibility in how the airwaves are used could create problems. ``There is a legitimate role for government in preventing spectrum anarchy where the absence of rules increases interference and degrades the consumer experience,'' said Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (San José Mercury-News Oct 31 via Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. REPORT TO THE KUNM COMMUNITY by Richard S. Towne, KUNM General Manager Here is good news for technophiles, keen observers of the media and those interested in access to the media. What if KUNM had the ability to broadcast more than one program at a time? Looks like it might be possible soon. It's exciting for me to think about just how this might affect the splendid dynamics that surround our current programming. Dynamics like talk/music, local/national, mainstream/ independent, English/Spanish and all of the subtle shadings surrounding our service to you. I invite you to read on and ponder the possibilities. On October 10, 2002 the FCC approved in-band onchannel (IBOC) digital transmission for FM and AM radio stations. The FCC's First Report and Order endorses IBOC technology and authorizes broadcasters to begin digital broadcasting. The broadcast and electronics industries, along with the FCC, have been considering digital transmission standards for over six years (reference http://www.fcc.gov and search IBOC). An announcement to public radio stations nationwide from NPR`s Office of the General Counsel included the following summary: ``The IBOC technology developed by iBiquity Digital Corporation (now branded HD Radio or high definition or hi-def for consumers) permits ``hybrid`` operations, meaning the simultaneous transmission of analog and digital signals with a single AM or FM channel. According to the FCC press release, the National Radio Systems Committee tests on the IBOC system show that the technology offers better audio quality, more robust signals and the potential for new auxiliary services. In addition, hybrid IBOC operations will have a minimal impact on the present broadcast service. The FCC also announced procedures that will allow FM stations and AM stations (daytime only operations) to begin interim digital transmissions, on a voluntary basis, immediately. ``Nearly a year ago, NPR`s Digital Transition Advisory Committee (DTAC) strongly recommended that NPR take the lead in encouraging the development of multiple audio channels. Toward that end, NPR has met with makers of receivers, chips and transmitters to raise awareness of and interest in the potential market for multiple audio services. NPR recently met with FCC Commissioners and staff to urge the Commission to ensure that an IBOC standard affords FM broadcasters the opportunity to offer multiple audio programming channels. Several commissioners issued statements that support NPR's approach. ``In a Joint Statement, Commissioners Abernathy and Martin stated: ``[T]he iBiquity system gives broadcasters flexibility of providing auxiliary services. Thus, consumers will be able to receive a better quality audio signal now and may ultimately benefit from the development of innovative offerings, such as multiple audio streams and data and interactive services.`` In a Separate Statement, Commissioner Copps stated, `[IBOC] holds forth the promise of better quality sound --- CD quality for FM and FM quality for AM — which will enhance audio service generally and may well reanimate AM radio.` But that`s just for starters. Going beyond sound quality there will be multiple broadcaster opportunities in the provision of new auxiliary services, such as multiple audio programming channels, audio-on-demand services, and interactive features, too.`` The FCC deferred consideration of licensing and service rule changes for IBOC for a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, to be issued in the future. NPR has been in discussion with the FCC to gain permission for a ``Pilot Project for Multi-Channel Broadcasting.`` The October 10, 2002 memo from NPR reads as follows: ``As we have explained to FCC Commissioners and staff, multi-channel digital broadcasting could enable NPR member stations to provide distinct content on two or more channels within the hybrid IBOC-FM digital radio signal. To this end, NPR is working to establish a pilot project that would enable stations and manufacturers to observe and evaluate the potential for multi-channel digital broadcasting at local stations. ``This pilot project would place member stations of varying technical configurations on the air experimentally to test multi-channel functionality. The pilot stations would receive IBOC digital radio exciters capable of generating lower-grade voice channels as a second stream. NPR is in the process of contacting exciter manufacturers to seek the loan of equipment for this test. ``Pilot project stations would have the opportunity to experiment with content for multi-channel broadcasting. As an example, a public station could provide a digital simulcast of its main analog program channel (i.e. Jazz, Classical) and a second digital voice channel for full time news and information. NPR would work with the pilot station to provide the content for the second channel. ``Pilot project stations would receive prototype digital radio receivers to evaluate the functionality of the multichannel services. NPR anticipates that the test would be of short duration, in the range of 30 to 90 days, but the length of testing could be influenced by FCC decisions and by the willingness of exciter and receiver manufacturers to loan test equipment. ``NPR will work with all parties to establish evaluative criteria, both from a technical and a listener satisfaction standpoint. We anticipate the project would be tested through a combination of technical self-evaluation and subjective impressions from listeners via focus groups.`` (Zounds, KUNM Program magazine, Nov via DXLD) ** U S A. On the national front, we are working with NPR on several developments, the most promising in the area of national audience- building. WFIU and several other stations have encouraged NPR to provide promotional video spots for cable television to target new audiences. Most of these spots will air in our market beginning in January. On the technology front, the FCC has just approved in-band on-channel (IBOC) for FM and AM radio stations, paving the way for H(igh) D(efinition) radio. NPR is lobbying strongly for the development of multiple audio channels, which could ultimately allow a station to broadcast two program streams. These are encouraging early developments for public radio, and could eventually enhance listener service. This is not to say that we have not had setbacks. For example, shortfalls in our state budget diminished our state appropriation and threaten to do so in the next legislative session. This will impact public radio initiatives to build a strong statewide news service and warn us to move cautiously on this front. Our tower replacement, which had been scheduled for completion within a six to eight week period, resulted in service disruption far greater than expected (see tower insert). Thank you for your patience and for the many messages of encouragement you sent. Being prevented from delivering a reliable radio service to you was a bitter pill for WFIU staff to swallow. Looking ahead, we have much of which to be proud. It's heartening to see that more Americans are tuning to their local public radio stations than ever before, and WFIU is no exception. Arbitron audience data indicates that we reached an all-time high in listeners this past year. We hope that this increase will create a strong crop of new members committed to supporting public radio. Advances in broadcast technology enable us to produce better quality programs and streamline business practices. Our staff boasts some of the most seasoned professionals in the public radio system. Yet despite the good news, we still feel apprehensive. At the time of this writing, our nation stands precariously on the brink of confrontation, the economy is on a roller-coaster ride, and NPR has just posted a nearly 4 million dollar year-end deficit, stemming primarily from a 30 per-cent drop in national underwriting sales. Some would argue that these are just temporary fluctuations common to an overall healthy and expanding global economy. Nonetheless, we wonder. Will we be able to sustain our current level of broadcast quality in an economic downturn? We are fortunate to have IU's support. Few stations can claim a 40 per-cent support level from their licensee. Our local business support is also strong, and we are most fortunate in our partnership with you. You have always been there for us, even in years of economic and political difficulty. Please don't stop now! You and millions of other Americans depend on local public radio stations for news, information, and community service. For many, public radio fulfills the role of nurturer of the arts and keeper of our national cultural identity. A generous pledge of financial support will help WFIU fulfill its specific mission to serve you. May we count on you again this year? (Christina Kuzmych, WFIU Station Manager, Nov Directions in Sound) Tower Update: The WFIU/WTIU tower replacement is complete. The replacement was necessary to comply with an FCC mandate stipulating that all public television stations be able to transmit a digital signal by May of 2003. This deadline helped precipitate a national flurry of tower replacements and modifications that stretched the capacity of the relatively small number of tower construction companies. Since both WFIU and WTIU share the same tower, some off-air time and extensive lower power operation during construction affected WFIU's signal. The procedure itself took much longer than anticipated. The tower replacement was funded through an appropriation from the Indiana legislature to public television stations in Indiana. Though the replacement was mostly for the benefit of WTIU Television, WFIU received a new tower, transmission line, and antenna. The old antenna and transmission lines were 29 years old, and overdue for replacement. We also installed a separate low power antenna to serve as a back up (Nov WFIU Directions in Sound, Bloomington IN, via DXLD) ** U S A. NPR keeps re-shuffling, downsizing etc. their so-called "Cultural Programming" unit, presumably so they can funnel more money into the news/talk/information division. It's all about chasing after underwriting dollars. And a lot of musically-challenged local NPR station managers go right along with it because they feel classical music, jazz, and other traditional public-radio music formats "under- perform" at pledge drive time. At my station, while "Morning Edition", "All Things Considered," "Wha'ya Know" together raise more cash than the classical music, the latter runs them a pretty close second (it's about a 60%/40% split). Certainly did in our fund drive last week. But then, a 1-kHz tone and slow Morse IDs seemingly would've gotten pledges last week --- we went over $100,000 in a one-week drive for the first time ever --- and like I say, the music programming accounted for a good-sized chunk of it (Randy Stewart, KSMU, Springfield MO, Nov 2, NRC-AM via DXLD) I have heard several NPR stations say that they have had to drop some of the musical programs as the cost of buying them is getting too high. For example, "The Thistle and The Shamrock" runs about $5000 per year and was in danger of being dropped locally the last I heard. Is this what is behind the move to talk/news/info???? (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) Many of the stations which run heavy NPR programming in the Mid- Atlantic states are going more and more to talk, news and information, with perhaps a few syndicated music programs. There's a place for that, but I'm not sure that it's beneficial for most of the major public stations in a region to go that way - it's the old homogenous programming issue as applied to non-commercials (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) ** U S A. Re DXLD 2-170: Actually it`s WTIR. Winter Haven is more central than south... But I`d be surprised if there is anything else down there on 1680 (Glenn to Kraig Krist) What a minute...I just heard (0150 UT) a positive ID on 1680. Yes, once again, you are correct WTIR with "Travelers Information Radio". You are amazing...I don't know how you do it year after year! I've been reading your SWL/DX info since the early 1970's in "Popular Electronics" (I believe). Thanks. 73, (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, DX LISTENING DIGST) ** U S A. Subject: WTAN tower IF TOWER STAYS PUT, CITY WILL SUE WTAN-AM 1340's radio tower edges onto city property by 5 feet. The city wants it moved, saying it complicates construction on a new bridge. So far, the station won't budge. By JENNIFER FARRELL, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published November 1, 2002 CLEARWATER -- The battle over a wayward radio tower, built inadvertently on city property, appears headed to court. City officials said Thursday they will sue WTAN-AM 1340 unless the radio station moves the 183-foot steel tower it erected last year, straddling city land. One leg of the "Tan-Talk" tower encroaches 5 feet onto city property, a problem planning and engineering officials say complicates construction on the new Clearwater Memorial Causeway bridge. The city is waiting for an estimate from bridge contractors, but officials insist the tower stands in the way and will add to the project's $69- million cost. "The contractor can't work around it," said Paul Hull, assistant city attorney. "It's just come to the point where something has to be done." Radio station officials blame the city for the tower's location and do not want to move it. "They approved it where it is," said station owner Dave Wagenvoord. "We have a permit." City engineer Mike Quillen acknowledged the city issued a permit for the tower. The problem, he said, is that construction crews missed the mark. "They didn't build the tower where the permit lines showed it," he said. "They built in the wrong spot." Bob Diamond, who owns Quality Tower Erectors and Service, the Largo company that built the tower, said plans were approved by the city. "I laid the tower out, they approved it and we drilled the holes," he said. "When we staked the tower out, they said, "Okay.' " Diamond said the tower cost about $80,000 to build and would cost $65,000 to move. "You can't approve everything and okay it and sign it off and be done with it and come back and say, "Oh well, this is all wrong,' " Diamond said. But city officials dispute the Tan-Talk version. Gary Johnson, the city's public services director, said plans submitted to the city show the tower was supposed to be built about 5 feet farther west. "If he had put it where his plan showed it, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it," Johnson said. In 2000, the city spent more than a half-million dollars to buy a sliver of land from the station to make way for the new bridge. The price was twice an appraiser's estimate of the land's value, and it included a payment to help the station move to another downtown studio and build the new tower. The city deeded another sliver of land to the station. The new tower was planned for the land. Diamond said problems began when a 5-foot- wide storm drainage pipe was discovered underground before construction. The city did not tell the station about the drain, Diamond said. Wagenvoord said crews had to work around the pipe as they sank the tower's 20-foot-deep concrete foundations. "The tower man put the tower the only place it would work," he said. "It can't go back farther." Diamond suggested the city is overreacting. "What is the big deal?" he said. "If you moved that tower back 53 inches, it isn't going to make a difference either way." But Quillen said public safety is at stake. "Somebody could reach out with a fishing pole and hit the tower," he said, "which might be a problem." City commissioners are expected to discuss the matter during a 1 p.m. workshop Monday at City Hall (via Terry Krueger, FL, DXLD) Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html ** U S A. This didn`t take long: I sent y'all the story on Infiniy radio simulcasting Letterman. Below a letter written to allaccess Nov. 1 (Brock Whaley, Atlanta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) viz.: Yep, Infinity stations are simulcasting Letterman, another CHEAP way to program, and eliminate ANOTHER JOB. Rumour has it they are negotiating rights to "Animal Planet". CBS had better ratings with Capt. Kangaroo in the mornings. Maybe Bob Keeshan could come out of retirement and take over Summer Redstone's job, and Mel Karmanazan's. No doubt he could do a better job. (ray777, 11/01/2002 8:44:33 PM Message#99292 via Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Mr. Hauser: Computer hacker, Kevin Mitnick has a book out titled "The art of deception" not about his life as a hacker according to a book review in Oct. 3 Christian Science Monitor, pages 15-16 (bottom portion). Art Bell is retiring (again) Jan. 1, 2003, with Robert Noory to replace him, according to the Oct. 26 LA Times, page E2, under the title "Bell to end UFO tracking job." Thank you, your listener, (David Moore, Morro Bay, California, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Yes, there was an omission in the VOV Eng data I sent to you recently. English is indeed 0330-0400 6175 Sackville. A slip of the mouse! The version sent to WRTH is OK (Bob Padula, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re DXLD 2-169: The Moosbrun relay on 5955 has indeed time shifted an hour but I monitored it November 2nd and the order of languages has not changed: English is at 1800 as in the schedule in DXLD2-166, 1830- 1930 is Vietnamese and French is 1930-2000 (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Hi Glenn, Nice conditions to Vietnam this afternoon. Logged two new frequencies at least for me. The first on is Voice of Vietnam from Xuan Mai 13 UT in Vietnamese on 5925 kHz and H´Mong Service, Xuan Mai noted 13 UTC on 5035 kHz. 73`s and happy Hallowe`en! (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 9780v, Republic of Yemen R. 1803-1814, 1837-1901 10/29 Arabic/English. Alternating OM and YL at tune-in, mentions of Europa and Sana`a. Signal dropped off during MoR music at 1811, unusable at 1814 beginning of news in English. Recheck at 1837, much improved reception! News in English re Iraq and GW Bush; Palestine gov't and Russian hostage crisis. ID at 1841, "The end of the news from the Republic of Yemen Radio, Sana`a". More news and commentary, repeat of headlines. ID, NA at 1900; into Arabic. Fair-poor (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIEDS IDENTIFIED. 5054.3, 0420 Nov 1 13422 QRM -5 Khz WWRB (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Space Master, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH Chaclacayo (27 km East Lima), PERU, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably TIFC as in previous issue UNIDENTIFIED. 7820, 1054 Oct 30 44423 ASIATIC (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Space Master, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH Chaclacayo (27 km East Lima), PERU, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CRI in Russian, 1000-1200 and 1300-1400, 50 kW (SW Guide via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 17870, 1300 Oct 27 34423 LOOP ID // 15385 (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote Bueno, Space Master, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna Copper Wire 10 mts, QTH Chaclacayo (27 km East Lima), PERU, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The non-Afghanistan thing again—do you mean the loop was talk rather than music? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. I searched online-DXLD, and found our 18940 interval signal mystery. Then I hunted through new HFCC list. These match our dxpedition-crew logs in MARE tipsheet 273: 15385 1300-1500 shows AWR via UAE brokered by Merlin. 17835 1100-1300 shows AWR via UAE brokered by Merlin. 18940 1330-1630 shows pashtu/dari by unnamed broadcaster via Norway brokered by Merlin. [R. Afghanistan, Kabul] So Merlin is the common denominator here. (Larry Russell, MI, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -- The more stuff you have, the more broken-stuff you have. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NRC AM LOG 2002-2003 We received a review copy, and as usual are impressed by this monumental opus, a must reference for anyone DXing US and Canadian AM stations – and those in the broadcast industry could make good use of it too. The primary listing is in frequency order. Now`s the best time to order when it has just been published, with the winter DX season impending (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From http://www.nrcdxas.org/catalog/amlog : The AM Radio Log is an annual edition. It contains over 320 pages, in 8 1/2" x 11" size, 3-hole punched, U.S. loose leaf format. This publication fits nicely into a 1/2" three-ring binder. Nearly 1,500 updates since last year's log. This is the AM radio hobby's official radio station reference for U.S. and Canadian radio station. Each station listing consists of its location, frequency, call, format, network affiliation, station address, station slogan, day and night transmitter powers. There are cross references by city and by call letter in the back of the book. Radio station listings from the United States and Canada including up to the last minute information on the new stations in the Expanded band (1605-1705). If you are a subscriber to DX News or the DX Audio Service, and make the changes to your AM Radio Log as indicated in each issue's "AM Switch", your log is never over a month out of date. As it stands, the AM Radio Log is the most accurate, most informative logbook on AM radio stations. Why mess around with free internet services that have tons of errors, or expensive journals. Get the logbook that is up-to-date, and the best source for information.... because it's published by DXers! Pay by Credit Card on line using Pay-Pal..... US funds only::: US Member $19.95, US Non-Member $25.95, Canada Member $22.95, Canada non-member $27.95, Western Europe, Pacific Rim $27.95 Send all non-credit card orders to: National Radio Club Publications Center Box 164, Dept W Mannsville NY 13661-0164 USA NY residents add appropriate sales tax. Checks should be made payable to NATIONAL RADIO CLUB, INC. The National Radio Club is a non-profit radio club devoted to the medium wave DX hobby. We are not a business. Sorry, no COD or Net Account orders accepted. If you have questions, please call 315-387-3583 or Email the Publications Department: sales@nrcdxas.org (Allow 7 days for return of E-mail messages). When order is received, it will be shipped directly to you from the Publications Center in Mannsville NY. All orders are usually filled within 2 weeks, (most of the time less than four days) and sent my U.S.P.S.. If there is a delay, Ken Chatterton will contact you with the estimated shipping date. Should you require special overnight or 2nd day service, please contact Ken via telephone. Ken's phone number is 315-387-3583. Best time to call is between 10AM and 8PM Eastern Local Time. NO collect calls accepted (from above website) Also check out the publications at http://www.nrcdxas.org/catalog/books (NRC-AM list tag via DXLD) "CD - SW WITH A DIFFERENCE" Glenn, Doesn't anyone look at the EDXP Home Page? !!! There has been a review of this CD there for anyone to view or download for several months. It's at http://edxp.org Users of PCs with older CD drives will experience problems in loading the CD, however. A new edition of the CD is in preparation (Bob Padula, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-170, November 1, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1154: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 [Thu 2130 on 15825 was pre-empted for make-good of another program] RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630... 7445, 15039 WRN: rest of world Sat 0800, Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 7490... ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wo1154.html HFCC B-02 AVAILABLE Uwe Volk told me that the B-02 HFCC file is available now: Download: http://www.hfcc.org/data/b02/b02allx2.zip 73 de (Wolfgang df5sx Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Winter B-02 schedule of VOA/RFE Pashto and Dari: Pashto 0030-0130 VOA 801 12140 15690 17595 0230-0330 RFE 801 6010 9825 12140 15690 0630-0700 RFE 15690 17595 19010 21690 0700-0730 RFE 15690 17595 17710 19010 21690 0830-0930 RFE 15690 17595 17710 19010 21690 1030-1130 VOA 15690 17595 19010 1230-1330 RFE 801 1143 15525 15690 17630 19010 21690 1530-1630 VOA 801 11770 15690 19010 1630-1700 RFE 801 11770 12140 15120 15690 1700-1730 RFE 801 6170 11770 12140 15120 15690 1830-1930 VOA 801 2230-2330 RFE 5835 5910 7175 12140 Dari 0130-0230 VOA 801 12140 15690 17595 0330-0430 RFE 801 6010 9825 12140 15690 0730-0830 RFE 15690 17595 17710 19010 21690 0930-1030 RFE 15690 17595 17710 19010 21690 1130-1200 VOA 15690 17595 19010 1200-1230 VOA 1143 15690 17595 19010 1330-1400 RFE 801 15525 15690 17630 19010 21690 1400-1430 RFE 801 15690 17630 19010 21690 1530-1630 VOA 801 11770 15690 19010 1730-1800 RFE 801 6170 11770 12140 15120 15690 1800-1830 RFE 801 11770 12140 15120 15690 2330-0030 RFE 801 972 5835 5910 7175 12140 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 1, via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15475.5 Radio Nacional Arcángel; 2047-2104:30*?, 25- Oct; English rock and Spanish vocals, like show tunes; W in Spanish, "Radio Nacional..." and mention of Esperanza near end. SIO=1+52+ (Harold Frodge, MI...) 15475.4, 25 Oct, 2044 SINPO- 13322; woman talking in Spanish with mentions of Arcángel, man singing at 2059, woman with frequency announcements at 2101, Esperanza ID at 2104, off at 2106. (Karl Racenis, Manchester MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Re "Station X". The only licences actually issued to Mr Peter G. Tate, of Southport, Queensland, according to the official Radiocommunications' Licence Register of the ACA, as at Oct-31 2002, are: 1692 Nerang, Queensland, 400 Watts 1692 McLarenvale, South Australia, 400 Watts 1665 Regents Park, Queensland 400 Watts 1656 Altona, Victoria 400 Watts The 1656 service is currently non-operational; status of the other three are unknown. No HF registration currently exists. However, perhaps "being processed"? Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This station X Peter up on the Gold Coast, Coolangatta.....mentioned this to me some months ago...but I can't see this happening without some sponsorship dollars although would love to see this operate...any idea of When? Johno Wright, Australia, Oct 31, ARDXC via DXLD) My comment: Don't be surprised if you hear that Station X has implemented DRM on these frequencies in the fullness of time - say 2-3 years. This would give it an equivalent FM quality service with the reach of m.f./h.f. (Nigel Holmes, Radio Australia, ibid.) This is from Nigel Holmes, has Peter and station X.....maybe Peter has hit something here.... (Johno, ibid.) ** BELGIUM [and non]. Interesting - at 1900, VRT noted with all these relays on Oct-31, Dutch: 13650 Julich 13685 Skelton 15325 Al Dhabiyya 7465 St. Petersburg 13720 Madagascar Meyerton is listed 0600-0700 17730, 1200-1300 21630 Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [and non]. B-02 schedule for RVI in English: 0800-0825 5985 JUL 100 kW / 157 deg to WeEu + MW 1512 1130-1155 7390 P.K 250 kW / 144 deg to EaAs 1230-1255 1512 1830-1855 7465 ARM 100 kW / 284 deg to NoWeEu 13650 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to SoEaEu/ME 13685 SKN 250 kW / 180 deg to SoWeEu + MW 1512 2030-2055 7465 ARM 100 kW / 284 deg to NoWeEu + MW 1512 2230-2255 13700 BON 250 kW / 350 deg to NoAmEa 0400-0425 11985 BON 250 kW / 320 deg to NoAmWe B-02 schedule for RVI in French: 1800-1815 7465 ARM 100 kW / 284 deg to NoWeEu 13685 SKN 250 kW / 180 deg to SoWeEu + MW 1512 2015-2030 7465 ARM 100 kW / 284 deg to NoWeEu + MW 1512 B-02 schedule for RVI in German: 1815-1830 7465 ARM 100 kW / 284 deg to NoWeEu 13685 SKN 250 kW / 180 deg to SoWeEu + MW 1512 2000-2015 7465 ARM 100 kW / 284 deg to NoWeEu + MW 1512 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 1, via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 9624.75 khz Radio Fides, La Paz, 0230-0257*, Oct 31, escuchada transmitiendo el encuentro de fútbol entre Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata (Argentina) vs Bolívar (Bolivia) con motivo de la "Copa Sudamericana de Fútbol". A las 0250 final del encuentro en donde triunfó el equipo de Bolívar, e ID de "Radio Deportes....." como slogan, y jingle de Radio Fides a 0251. A 0253 ID "Grupo Radial Fides", etc. A las 0257* abrupto final de la transmisión. SINPO: 35343 // a 6155.03 khz SINPO: 43443. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digial via DXLD) Hace añares que no se reportaba esta emisora en 31 metros. Es una buena escucha (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) RADIO FIDES on 31 mb: 9624.75 khz Radio Fides, La Paz, 0230-0257*, Oct 31, heard in Spanish, with transmission of soccer match by the "Copa Sudamericana de Fútbol" between Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata (Argentina) vs Bolívar (Bolivia) (end 2x0). At 0250 end of the match and ID "Radio Deportes", then jingle of Radio Fides at 0251. At 0253 ID "Grupo Radial Fides", etc. At 0257* end of transmissions. SINPO: 35343 // to 6155.03 khz SINPO: 43443 (Barrera, dxing.info via DXLD) ** BRAZIL/UK: BBC WS SIGNS BRAZILIAN REBROADCASTING DEAL The BBC World Service Brazilian Section has signed an agreement with CBN, Brazil's main radio network, which will take BBC programmes in Portuguese to 22 cities around the country, including Brasilia, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The deal includes five illustrated news bulletins at peak times and a daily arts programme. With this deal the Brazilian section has virtually doubled the number of stations carrying the BBC in Brazil and considerably increased its reach in key market cities. Source: BBC World Service, London, in English 1 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Glenn, Re Bulgaria: as I had correctly advised some time ago, 18900 and 19000 are via Plovdiv: 18900 1100-1500 to CIRAF 27 and 28 500 kW 18900 1500-1600 to 27 250 kW 19000 1100-1500 to 27 and 28 500 kW 19000 1500-1600 to 28 250 kW Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I wonder why the Observers don`t include this in their RB sked? (gh) ** CANADA. --- WEEKEND HOT SHEET, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3, 2002 --- THE SUNDAY EDITION: This week on The Sunday Edition, Part Five of the special series Apocalypse When: the Coming War With Iraq. Michael talks with Phyliss Bennis, the author of "Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN." Also, producer Jean Dalrymple profiles Marian McPartland, the Grand Dame of piano jazz. And Guy Vanderhaeghe: in his is first novel since the acclaimed "Englishman's Boy," Vanderhaeghe returns again to the Canadian west for his latest, "The Last Crossing." That's The Sunday Edition, right after the 9 a.m. news (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC EXECUTIVES ADMIT OVERHAUL NECESSARY Sarah Schmidt, National Post, Thursday October 31, 2002 CBC executives yesterday conceded the public broadcaster is a static organization that needs to overhaul the way it delivers news to Canadians. Speaking at an unprecedented joint meeting of senior editorial staff in radio and television, executives emphasized inter- departmental convergence is necessary to survive in a crowded media market. "One of the assumptions is people are going to be receiving content in a whole bunch of different ways -- some of them we haven't even imagined yet -- and this organization has to be flexible enough in order to respond to those opportunities that are going to emerge," Alex Frame, the outgoing vice-president of English radio, said in an interview at the end of the conference, held in Toronto. The day-long meeting emphasized collaboration between the two distinct departments of radio and television. The goal is to improve the editorial product and allow the public broadcaster to manage its $1- billion budget more efficiently. Mr. Frame, sitting beside Robert Rabinovitch, president of CBC, and Harold Redekopp, executive vice-president, English television, at the introductory session yesterday morning, recognized the proposition of inter-departmental collaboration challenges longstanding practices at the public broadcaster. Mr. Frame joked in his introductory remarks that there had been too much "pissing in beers and spitting in shoes" among the staff of radio, television and new media. Some CBC employees said the consolidation proposal offered an excellent opportunity to enhance editorial content by working as a team, but others expressed grave concerns over the pitch. They include: requiring reporters who specialize in one medium to work in another; convincing reporters to share news tips with competitors in another medium; building trust across program, department and media lines; and ensuring journalism drives collaborative projects rather than business considerations. "What I heard was an expression of fear and discomfort. I think that was loud and clear," one delegate said of the many conversations in sessions throughout the day. Another, who works in radio, said many colleagues working in this medium are terrified television will use the opportunity as a "complete resource grab in the regions." There is also a concern that television reporters do not respect the work of their counterparts in radio, the delegate said. The reorganization of CBC's physical space is part of the consolidation plan. For example, a $60-million CBC Centre is being built in Ottawa's downtown to consolidate the broadcaster's operations in the capital. There is a similar initiative in Edmonton. "In the 1960s, radio and television had one structure," Mr. Frame said. "The organizational structure is organic. It moves to respond to particular needs and what's happening now is it's moving to respond to competitive factors that in fact demand that we see content in different ways." © Copyright 2002 National Post (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CHINA. FALUN GONG DISRUPTION OF TV SIGNALS REPORTED BY CHINESE OFFICIAL | Excerpt from Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Beijing, 30 October: At a routine news conference hosted by the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office today, press spokesman Li Weiyi commented on the "Falun Gong" cult using facilities located in Taiwan to attack the mother mainland's SinoSat again and cross-strait "direct three links" [postal, trade, transport]. Li Weiyi said: At a news briefing on 25 September, a Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman and the relevant experts exposed and condemned the "Falun Gong" cult for its criminal act of using transmission facilities located in Taiwan to illegally transmit television signals to attack the SinoSat and interrupt the normal transmission of the Central Television Station and the China education television channel. They pointed out that the Taiwan authorities undertake unshirkable responsibility for investigating and dealing with this incident, urged the Taiwan authorities to immediately take measures to investigate and deal with it, remove the illegal television signal sources, and stop any recurrence of similar incidents. However, at 36 seconds after 1000 [all times local] on 24 October, the SinoSat's transponder-2A began to detect illegal signal attacks. Until 1700 on 29 October, illegal signals kept alternately attacking the SinoSat's transponder-2A and transponder-3A, seriously affecting the normal reception. China's relevant department promptly conducted technical checks on the source of interruption and confirmed that the source was still in Taipei City, Taiwan Province. Li Weiyi strongly urged the Taiwan authorities to immediately check and track this illegal signal source and severely deal with it... Source: Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 0718 gmt 30 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) CHINA/TAIWAN: FALUN GONG STILL TRYING TO HACK INTO SATELLITE BROADCASTS | Excerpt from report in English by Taiwan News web site on 31 October A pirate broadcaster based in Taiwan tried to break into a Chinese satellite signal last week to show Falun Gong material, a [Chinese] government spokesman and a state television employee said yesterday. The [Chinese] government demanded that Taiwan track down the broadcaster and hand out "severe punishment." It was the second time in six weeks that Chinese authorities have claimed that Falun Gong protesters using Taiwan as a base have tried to break into signals on Sinosat. The satellite carries state-run China Central Television and other channels. The latest attempt began October 24 and continued intermittently until Tuesday [29 October], said Li Weiyi, a spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office. He said Chinese technicians had tracked the broadcast to Taipei, the Taiwanese capital. "We strongly demand the Taiwan administration immediately find the illegal signal source and give severe punishment," Li said at a news conference. Taiwanese officials did not immediately comment on Li's accusation. But in the earlier case, they promised to investigate, while expressing doubt that the signal could be tracked so precisely. They said it could have come from anywhere in a large area of the Pacific Ocean... Chinese claims that Taiwan is the base for the satellite attacks put Beijing in the awkward position of appealing for help from a government that it says is illegitimate. Li did not say who was accused of carrying out the latest attack. But a woman who answered the phone at the management office of the China Central Satellite Television Transmission Centre said it was Falun Gong material. The centre is run by CCTV. Source: Taiwan News web site, Taipei, in English 31 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. More Colombian guerrilla radio tidbits From the November 1 El Tiempo (Bogotá): Incautan equipos de emisoras que transmitían programación de las Farc en Caldas Las emisoras San José, 100.3 FM Estéreo, y Fantasía Tropical, 96.5 FM Estéreo, que transmitían desde el municipio de San José y el corregimiento de Arauca, en Palestina difundían mensaes de la guerrilla. A partir de las 6 p.m., estos medios comenzaban a difundir mensajes y música a favor de las Farc. Esta situación obligó a las autoridades a incautar los equipos de las radiodifusoras. Dos personas fueron capturadas. Las señales de las estaciones de radio, según el comandante de la Policía de Caldas, coronel Rodolfo Palomino López, se originaban desde viviendas ubicadas en el casco urbano de las poblaciones mencionadas y cubrían el occidente del departamento, el municipio de Chinchiná y algunas veredas de Manizales. "Desde estas emisoras se difundían mensajes en contra del Gobierno. Desde hace 15 días las ubicamos con la colaboración de la comunidad", dijo el coronel Palomino. En la sede de San José FM Estéreo fueron incautadas una consola mezcladora de tres canales y dos salidas, una antena con cable y 82 discos compactos piratas. En la otra emisora fueron incautados una consola mezcladora, también de tres canales y dos salidas; una grabadora (deck), tres micrófonos, un estabilizador y 112 discos compactos piratas. Luis Alberto Largo Holguín y Luis Antonio Valencia Velasco fueron capturados y se investiga si son guerrilleros u operarios, conocidos en el medio radial como controles. Manizales (via Rich Stoller, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5054.6, Faro del Caribe 0000 Nov 1, presumed this one reactivated, last reported in LA-DX in May. Still there at 0320 and again the next morning at 1010 (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB WORLD RADIO B02 BROADCAST SCHEDULE (27 October 2002 - 30 March 2003) UTC UTC Freq. TXPower Ant.Azi Target Days: Language Begin End (Khz.)(KW) (Degrees) Region SMTWTFS ----------------------------------------------------------------- ENGLISH 0000 0300 9745 100 351 N. Amer. (E) 1111111 0000 0600 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 0300 0600 9745 100 324 N Amer. (W) 1111111 0700 0900 5965 100 35 Europe 1111111 0700 1100 11755 100 228 S. Pacific 1111111 0700 1100 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 1100 1430 12005 75 43 Caribbean 1111111 1100 1430 15115 100 352/128 N/S America 1111111 1100 1430 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 2000 2200 11895 100 42 Europe 1111111 0200 0400 12040 100 42 India 1111111 GERMAN 0600 0630 9765 100 42 Europe 1111111 0600 0630 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 0630 0700 9765 100 42 Europe 1111111 0630 0700 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 0930 1000 6010 100 155 S. America 1111111 1000 1030 6010 100 155 S. America 1111111 2100 2130 11850 100 40 Europe 1111111 2100 2130 15550 100 41 Europe 1111111 2100 2130 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 2230 2300 11980 100 150/330 N/S America 1111111 2230 2300 15550 100 340 N. America 1111111 2300 2400 11980 100 131 S. America 1111111 HUARANI 1030 1100 6050 50 18/172 S. America 1111111 KIKONGO 0500 0515 12005 100 100 W. Africa 0111110 PORTUGUESE 0800 0930 9745 100 100 N. Brazil 1111111 1530 1800 15295 100 139 Brazil 1111111 2300 0230 11920 100 126 Brazil 1111111 QUICHUA 0830 1000 6125 100 155 S. America 1111111 0830 1030 690 50 000/180 Ecuador 1111111 0830 1400 6080 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 1111111 0830 1400 3220 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 1111111 2100 0300 6080 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 1111111 2100 0300 3220 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 1111111 2130 0000 9745 100 155 S. America 1111111 RUSSIAN 0330 0430 9775 100 34 W. Russia 1111111 SPANISH 0100 0500 9650 100 325 Mexico 1111111 0700 0730 9765 100 42 Europe 1111111 1030 0500 690 50 000/180 Ecuador 1111111 1100 0500 6050 50 18/172 S. America 1111111 1100 1300 11960 100 355 Cuba 1111111 1100 1500 15140 100 150 S. America 1111111 1300 1500 17690 100 341 Mexico 1111111 1430 1530 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 2100 2300 15140 100 150 S. America 1111111 2130 2230 9630 100 50 Europe 1111111 2130 2400 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1111111 2300 0100 15140 100 160/330 N/S America 1111111 Note: HCJB`s shortwave broadcast schedule also includes these programs transmitted from the United Kingdom. Russian & Central Asian Languages 1700 1800 11760 500 62 Central Asia 1111111 Arabic 2100 2230 12025 250 165 N. Africa 1111111 Mailing Address: HCJB World Radio Frequency Manager: Douglas Weber, [Box] 17-17-691, Quito, Ecuador E-Mail:dweber@hcjb.org.ec FAX: +593 2 267 263 Regds, Alokesh Gupta New Delhi, India (via BC-DX via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Te...te...te...te...testing! This is Scandinavian Weekend Radio! November 1st-2nd 2002 transmission: New wintertime and - frequency schedule will be taken in use. Check http://www.swradio.net Starting time 22 UT on Friday. North-America tests began. Our 25 mb 2-element beam is directed towards NA (325 degrees) from the beginning to 06 hours UTC. This test time will include special programmes of the serie History of Finnish Radio. Take part to our Mid-Winter Propagation Competition of Scandinavian Weekend Radio. Every correctly detailed reception report coming from our November and both December-transmissions are with in this Competition. Prizes will go to three (3) listeners sending the most distant reports as well some prizes thrown by Dame Fortune. More details will be added to our web pages: http://www.swradio.net With best regards, (DJ Madman, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I.e., North American test: 2200-2400 11720, 0000-0200 11690, 0200-0600 11720 (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Test transmissions for receiver adjustment purposes consisting of a continuous tape of a woman reading the days of the week and the months of the year in French were heard on 7000 kHz USB in late September. DF from a number of countries in Europe indicated that the transmitter was in France and the station identification "Test de Matis" indicated the source was possibly the Laboratoire MATIS in northeastern France. Complaints were lodged with their administrations by several national societies in Europe and the transmissions ceased early on 26 September. A successful action by monitoring systems in Region 1! (IARUMS newsletter Nov via Johnson Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. SCHEDULE OF GERMAN TELEKOM TRANSMITTING STATION JUELICH B02 period (27/10/2002 - 29/03/2003) B02web02.TXT Gesamtplan 27.10.02 frq start stop ciraf ant azi type day from to broad 6120 0000 0100 7,8,9 105 295 216 1234567 271002 300303 LRT 5975 0700 1500 28 406 60 106 1234567 271002 300303 DRM 15715 0900 1700 28,18 308 20 216 1234567 271002 300303 DRM 9435 2330 0030 49,41 208 80 218 1234567 271002 300303 DVB 6045 0958 1100 27,28 401 ND 926 1 271002 300303 EVR 6015 1830 1859 27,28 401 ND 926 4 271002 300303 EVR 15670 1700 1759 38,39,48 305 130 217 1346 271002 300303 SBO 5985 1000 1059 27,28 104 115 206 1 271002 300303 CHW 15275 1600 1629 48 305 145 217 47 271002 300303 TIS 13855 1830 2000 46,47 305 175 217 1234567 271002 300303 RSA 9710 0500 0530 38,39 105 115 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBR 9470 2000 2100 37,38 405 175 106 1234567 271002 300303 IBR 5840 1645 1715 39,40 111 75 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBR 13840 1900 1930 37,38,46 307 200 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBR 15120 1730 1745 47,48 106 130 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBR 11840 1830 1859 52,53 211 155 216 5 271002 300303 RRP 15275 1600 1629 37,38 406 175 217 1 271002 300303 UNL 9435 0100 0129 41 110 90 217 1 271002 300303 UNL 6015 1730 1759 27,28 401 ND 926 345 271002 300303 UNL 11840 1800 1829 46,47,48 211 155 216 1 271002 300303 UNL 9470 1900 1929 39,40 102 115 217 1 271002 300303 UNL 13810 1300 1400 38,39 103 115 217 1234567 271002 300303 TOM 5975 1200 1300 27 406 290 106 1234567 271002 300303 TOM 6110 1500 1654 27 406 290 106 7 271002 300303 TOM 6110 1654 1759 27 401 ND 926 7 271002 300303 TOM 9490 0357 0559 47,48,52,53 306 160 216 23456 271002 300303 RTB 9490 0527 0559 47,48,52,53 306 160 216 17 271002 300303 RTB 17580 0600 0812 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 23456 271002 300303 RTB 17580 0600 1059 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 7 271002 300303 RTB 17580 0600 0906 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 1 271002 300303 RTB 21565 1057 1306 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 23456 271002 300303 RTB 21565 1100 1217 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 7 271002 300303 RTB 21565 1157 1217 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 1 271002 300303 RTB 17570 1557 1816 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 123456 271002 300303 RTB 17570 1657 1816 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 7 271002 300303 RTB 15715 1330 1430 49,50 202 70 218 1234567 271002 300303 VOH 13810 1630 1659 47,48 106 130 217 1234567 271002 300303 BVB 15775 1330 1535 40,41 110 90 217 1234567 011102 300303 VOH 9860 1530 1729 38,39 105 115 216 1234567 011102 300303 VOH 13720 1700 1800 37,38 406 165 106 1234567 271002 300303 YFR 9595 2000 2100 39,40 105 115 216 1234567 271002 300303 YFR 9815 0400 0559 46,47,52,53 304 160 216 1234567 271002 300303 UMC 11690 0600 0800 37,46 305 190 217 1234567 271002 300303 UMC 13820 1700 1859 38,48,53 304 145 217 1234567 271002 300303 UMC 11735 1700 1859 46,47,52,53 306 160 216 1234567 271002 300303 UMC 9925 0000 0159 1116 202 230 218 1234567 271002 300303 HRT 9925 0200 0359 610 112 300 216 1234567 271002 300303 HRT 9925 0400 0559 210 119 325 216 1234567 271002 300303 HRT 9470 0600 0759 59,60 202 230 218 1234567 271002 300303 HRT 13820 0800 0959 55,58,59 208 270 218 1234567 271002 300303 HRT 15680 1430 1530 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 15425 1530 1630 40,41 90 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 11680 2330 0030 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 11680 0030 0130 40,41 90 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 9490 0030 0130 40,41 90 217 1234567 011202 300303 DTK 250kW 9765 2300 0030 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 011202 300303 DTK 250kW FMO 6140 0600 1900 27,28 405 175 141 1234567 271002 300303 DWL 6045 1127 1325 18S,27,28NW 401 ND 926 1234567 271002 300303 DWL(RNW2) 13685 0557 0756 27,28,3740 103 115 217 1234567 271002 300303 DWL(VRT2) 5985 0757 0826 27,28 406 265 106 1234567 271002 300303 VRT2 13650 1827 1956 27,28,3739 111 120 216 1234567 271002 300303 VRT2 5910 1857 2056 27,28 401 ND 926 7 271002 300303 VRT1 9885 0500 0600 28E 102 115S 217 1234567 271002 300303 AWR 9840 0600 0730 37,38W 308 200 216 1234567 271002 300303 AWR 15195 1000 1030 28W 106 145 216 17 271002 300303 AWR 5840 1730 1759 28E 104 115 206 123456 271002 300303 AWR 5840 1730 1759 28E 211 110 216 7 271002 300303 AWR 12015 1800 1900 28E 104 115 206 1234567 271002 300303 AWR 11845 1900 2030 37,38W 406 200 106 1234567 271002 300303 AWR 13790 0555 0800 37S,38W,46 307 200 216 1234567 271002 300303 SRI 9885 0555 0800 37S,38 302 160 216 1234567 271002 300303 SRI 9755 1625 1815 28,38E,39 102 115 217 1234567 271002 300303 SRI 13790 1625 1815 38,39 103 115 217 1234567 271002 300303 SRI 9755 1825 2130 37S,38W,46 308 200 216 1234567 271002 300303 SRI 15485 1825 2130 38,48,53W 106 145 217 1234567 271002 300303 SRI 13660 1825 2130 47,52,53,57 302 160 216 1234567 271002 300303 SRI SOT 17665 0555 0800 47,52,53,57 301 160 216 1234567 271002 300303 SRI SOT 21770 0825 1030 47,52,53,57 301 160 216 1234567 271002 300303 SRI SOT 15555 1625 1815 38,48,53W 106 145 217 1234567 271002 300303 SRI SOT 9885 2155 2400 1316 202 240 218 1234567 271002 300303 SRI SOT 7340 1127 1200 28 111 105 216 7 271002 300303 TWR 5945 1327 1345 28 104 130 206 1234567 271002 300303 TWR 5850 1657 1745 28 104 115 206 7 271002 300303 TWR 7180 1657 1745 28 101 125 11 7 271002 300303 TWR 11875 0400 0600 39,40 107 115 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 6180 1600 1659 39,40 205 70 211 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 6055 1500 1600 29,30 111 75 216 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 7105 1600 1659 29,30 204 70 212 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 17555 1230 1300 29,30 109 80 218 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 9785 1800 1900 39,40 110 100 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 12110 1600 2030 39,40 208 100 218 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 6110 0230 0430 40 108 90 216 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 500kW 21690 0630 1030 40 123 90 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 500kW 21690 1230 1430 40 123 90 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 500kW 12140 1630 1830 40 111 90 217 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 500kW 5910 2230 0030 40 222 90 216 1234567 271002 300303 IBB 500kW * changes + active on demand # momentary not active AWR Adventist World Radio BVB Bible Voice Broadcasting CHW Christliche Wissenschaft DTK Deutsche Telekom DVB Democratic Voice of Burma DWL Deutsche Welle DLF Deutschlandfunk DLR DeutschlandRadio EVR Evangeliums Radio Hamburg FEC Far East Broadcasting Company, Philippines GFA Gospel For Asia HRT Hvratska Radio Televizija HLR Hamburger Lokalradio IBB International Broadcast Bureau IBR IBRA Radio Sweden LRT Radio Vilnius Lithuania RNW Radio Netherlands World Service RRP Radio Reveil Paroles de Vie RSA Radio Salama RTB Radio Television Belge de la communauté Francaise SBO Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo SRI Swiss Radio International [SOT = standby substitute for Sottens] TIS Tigrean International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy TOM The Overcomer Broadcast TWR Trans World Radio UMC The United Methodist Church UNL Universelles Leben VOH High Adventure Ministries The Voice of Hope (ex HAM) VRT Vlaamse Radio en Televisie (ex RVI) YFR WYFR Family Radio (DTK T-Systems Juelich, transformed from .pdf to pure .txt format by/via Michael Bethge WWDXC, BC-DX Oct 31 via DXLD) ** GREECE. Subject: changes ERA 5. Dear Sir, We are going to proceed to the following changes, starting from 3/11/2002: 1300-1800 UT the frequency 15.725 MHz change to 15.650 MHz. Best regards (Babis Charalampopoulos, ERT via Michael Bethge, WWDXC via Wolfgang Büschel, Nov 1, DXLD) So that solves the WRMI clash ** HAWAII [non]. DISH NETWORK NAMED IN HAWAII SUIT An isle woman claims the network didn't disclose programs are aired on East Coast time By Lyn Danninger A former customer of satellite television provider Dish Network has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging fraud and misrepresentation, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and breach of contract. The suit alleges that Echostar Satellite Corp. and Echostar Communications Corp., which does business as Dish Network, failed to disclose that Hawaii programming follows Eastern Daylight Time and that it does not offer local Fox station KHON in its lineup. The company also failed to disclose all fees, the suit said. The suit, bought by Esmina Roberts, a former Dish Network customer, was filed in state Circuit Court by local attorney Robert Kawamura, who is seeking class action status. Roberts is seeking unspecified damages. Dish Network spokesman Marc Lumpkin would not disclose how many customers the company has signed up so far in Hawaii. But overall there are approximately 11,000 satellite television customers in Hawaii who subscribe to either Dish Network, DirecTV or the larger C- Band dish.Dish Network began offering Hawaii service several months ago. While local channels are provided on Hawaii time, Kawamura's suit alleges that much of the programming originating on the mainland is six hours ahead during the mainland's daylight savings time. Lumpkin said he could not comment on the lawsuit. "I can't confirm we've been served yet," he said. But Lumpkin acknowledged the company does not carry local Fox affiliate KHON because it has been unable to reach a re-transmission agreement with the station. Stephen Levins, executive director of the state's Office of Consumer Protection, said his department has not received any complaints about Dish Network (Star- Bulletin via Brock Whaley, Oct 30, DXLD) She`s upset?? What an advantage to get `prime-time` programming earlier in the afternoon, away from all the clutter, and leaving you free to go out in the evening! One reason I enjoy listening to BBC domestic radio here in the afternoon. I won`t sue them (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. Subject: AIR_B02 External Here is the latest sked of AIR. ALL INDIA RADIO EXTERNAL SERVICE B02 SCHEDULE ON SHORTWAVE TARGET SERVICE TIME-UTC FREQS NEWS AFGHANISTAN PUSHTO 0215-0300 9845 9910 11735 13620 0220 AFGHANISTAN DARI 0300-0345 9845 9910 11735 0305 AFGHANISTAN DARI 1315-1415 7255 9910 1316 AFGHANISTAN PUSHTO 1415-1530 7255 9910 1420 AUSTRALIA & NZ GOS-2 1000-1100 13710 15020 17510 17895 1000 AUSTRALIA & NZ GOS-5 2045-2230 9575 9910 11620 11715 2100 EAST AFRICA HINDI 0315-0415 15075 15185 17715 0320 EAST AFRICA GUJARATI 0415-0430 15075 15185 17715 0415 EAST AFRICA HINDI 0430-0530 15075 15185 17715 0435 EAST AFRICA GUJARATI 1515-1600 11620 15175 1530 EAST AFRICA SWAHILI 1515-1615 9950 13605 17670 1530 EAST AFRICA HINDI 1615-1730 9950 13605 15075 17670 1620 EAST AFRICA GOS-4 1745-1945 11925 15075 17670 1800 EAST EUROPE RUSSIAN 1615-1715 11620 15140 1630 MYANMAR BURMESE 0100-0130 9950 13630 11870 0101 MYANMAR BURMESE 1215-1315 11620 11710 15415 1216 N.E.ASIA GOS-2 1000-1100 13710 15020 15235 17800 1000 N.E.ASIA CHINESE 1145-1315 11840 15795 17705 1215 N.E.ASIA GOS-1 2245-0045 9950 11620 13605 2300 NEPAL NEPALI 0130-0230 3945 6045 7250 9810 11715 0218 NEPAL NEPALI 0700-0800 7250 9595 11850 0700 NEPAL NEPALI 1330-1430 3945 6045 7410 11775 1419 PAKISTAN URDU 0015-0100 6155 9595 0045 PAKISTAN SINDHI 0100-0200 5990 7125 9635 0150 PAKISTAN URDU 0100-0430 6155 9595 11620 0400 PAKISTAN URDU 0830-1130 7250 9595 11620 0832 PAKISTAN SINDHI 1230-1500 9620 11585 1440 PAKISTAN URDU 1430-1735 3945 4860 6045 1430, 1615, 1730 PAKISTAN BALUCHI 1500-1600 9620 11585 1501 PAKISTAN URDU 1735-1930 4860 6045 S.E.ASIA TAMIL 0000-0045 9910 11740 13795 0005 S.E.ASIA INDONESIA 0845-0945 15770 17510 0846 S.E.ASIA THAI 1115-1200 13645 15235 17740 1120 S.E.ASIA TAMIL 1115-1215 13710 15770 17810 S.E.ASIA TELEGU 1215-1245 13710 15770 17810 1240 S.E.ASIA GOS-3 1330-1500 9690 11620 13710 1330 S.E.ASIA GOS-1 2245-0045 9705 11620 13605 2300 S.E.ASIA HINDI 2300-2400 9910 11740 13795 2305 SRI LANKA TAMIL 0000-0045 4790 9835 11985 0005 SRI LANKA SINHALA 0045-0115 11985 SRI LANKA GOS-2 1000-1100 1053 15260 1000 SRI LANKA TAMIL 1115-1215 15050 17860 SRI LANKA SINHALA 1300-1500 9820 15050 1335 TIBET TIBETAN 0130-0200 9565 11900 13700 0145 TIBET TIBETAN 1215-1330 7410 9575 11775 1230 UK & W.EUROPE GOS-4 1745-1945 7410 9950 11620 1800 UK & W.EUROPE HINDI 1945-2045 7410 9950 11620 2000 UK & W.EUROPE GOS-5 2045-2230 7410 9445 9950 11620 2100 W & N-W AFRICA GOS-4 1745-1945 9445 13605 15155 1800 W & N-W AFRICA FRENCH 1945-2030 9910 13605 13620 1950 WEST ASIA KANNADA 0215-0300 11985 15075 0250 WEST ASIA HINDI 0315-0415 11835 13695 15075 0320 WEST ASIA PERSIAN 0400-0430 11730 13620 15770 17845 0405 WEST ASIA ARABIC 0430-0530 11730 13620 15770 17845 0440 WEST ASIA HINDI 1615-1730 7410 12025 13770 1620 WEST ASIA PERSIAN 1615-1730 7115 9910 1620 WEST ASIA MALAYALAM 1730-1830 7115 12025 1745 WEST ASIA ARABIC 1730-1945 9910 13620 1750 (via Alok Dasgupta, India, via BC-DX Oct 30 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. * THE MYSTERY OF IRISH RADIO HISTORY - BBC ERA As a security precaution during the era of the European Conflict, the BBC in London implemented a massive project for the diversification of its shortwave locations. Part of this planning was for the construction of shortwave stations in two or perhaps three countries overseas, as well as the installation of additional shortwave facilities at widely separated localities within the United Kingdom. With the co-operation of the two national governments, large shortwave stations were planned and constructed in Canada and Australia; at Sackville in New Brunswick and at Shepparton in Victoria. Similar plans were enacted for the island of Singapore and the electronic equipment was sent out by ship on two separate occasions, though on both occasions the consignment never reached its intended destination. The ships were sunk en route. In addition to the planned overseas locations, the BBC also diversified its shortwave locations within the United Kingdom with the installation of shortwave facilities in eight different locations, including one in Northern Ireland. In September 1939, the BBC owned only eight shortwave transmitters and these were all located at Daventry, though they were also using a couple of units in the communication station located at Rugby. However, four years later, the BBC was on the air from 43 different shortwave transmitters at the eight different locations. During this concentrated time period, five new transmitters were installed at Daventry and huge new transmitter bases were constructed at Rampisham, Skelton and Wooferton. In addition, two large mediumwave transmitters at Clevedon near Bristol and at Start Point were converted for daytime usage on shortwave, and an additional shortwave unit was installed at Start Point. Over in Northern Ireland, a 100 kW shortwave transmitter was co-sited with the 100 kW mediumwave unit at Lisnagarvey, (LIZ-na-GAR-vey) near Belfast. The mediumwave station at this location was quite new at the time. It was commissioned in 1937 as a replacement for the earlier small unit which had been on the air under the callsign 2BE. The BBC shortwave transmitter in Northern Ireland was a 100 kW unit, model number SWB18, manufactured by the Marconi Company in England. This transmitter was taken into regular service on November 20, 1941 and it was on the air with the BBC as Sender 51. During the first year, this unit carried a relay of the Forces Program on 6140 kHz, after which it carried the general Overseas and Foreign Service. This transmitter left the air on May 26, 1946, when it was officially ``mothballed``. We would presume that it was afterwards removed. Thus, the only regular shortwave station on the air in Northern Ireland was a 100 kW unit operated by the BBC for a period of five and a half years. If ever there were any QSLs issued by the BBC for this station, they would indeed be very rare (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 3 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. I just got back from the post office and QSLs continue to dribble in from my late September DXpedition. Today's mail brought me one of my all-time best, JOXS, Sapporo (Radio and) TV's 100 watt relay in the small town of Namuro, Hokkaido. 1062 is a Japanese graveyard frequency with only low power relays. My reception was quite poor, but I did catch several words in Japanese clearly and could tell when commercial strings were run. I sent them a lengthy explanatory letter and a CD. Got back a nice QSL card, a STV program schedule and a nice note. It's days like this that keep me stuffing things in envelopes and sending them out to radio stations. Here is what I reported in late September: 1062 JAPAN JOXS Namuro (tent.) SEP 22 1326 - Japanese commercial programming noted here on this graveyard commercial channel of low power relays. Most likely station, by far, geographically, is Sapporo TV's 100 watt relay in Namuro, JOXS. Going to send the station a recording (John Bryant, Orcas Island WA, NRC International DX Digest via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 3985, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, PDKI Canada Bureau, P.O. Box 29010, London, Ontario N6G 2V3, Canada. Electronic QSL letter in 72 days. V/S: Hazhir The electronic address is: pdkicanada@pdki.org Hazhir help me how get a receiver for listen the programmes from this station in Canada!!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 3985, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, PDKI Canada Bureau, P.O. Box 29010, London, Ontario N6G 2V3, Canada. Carta QSL electronica en 72 dias. V/S: Hazhir. La direccion electronica de la que provino la respuesta es: pdkicanada@p... [truncated, but not above]. Este QTH difiere del que aparece en la edición 2002 del PWBR. Hazhir me pide recomendaciones acerca de receptores para poder intentar la escucha de esta emisora desde Canadá!!! Escuché esta estación en ocasión de una Acampada DX realizada en Chascomus, Provincia de Buenos Aires, junto con Nicolás Eramo y su hijo y Enrique Wembagher (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. 12070, Hmong Lao Radio 0139 (Radio Hmong Hope), music, very good signal in Chile, South America 45444. R-5000 Dipolo "V" Time local: 22:39 22º C (Hugo López C. SWL - CE3 TIB ce3tib@qsl.net Cumbre DX via DXLD) I was also listening to 12070 by 0058 UT Nov 1; already a carrier on, but weak and very heavy flutter; could make nothing out of it and detect no increase in modulation at 0100 (gh, DXLD) Escuchada la nueva clandestina Hmong Lao Radio, emisora del Movimiento Laosiano Unido para la Democracia. (ID de acuerdo al CRW 118 Extra B) 12070, desde las 0051 con tonos de prueba, sin audio, señal de apertura de emisiones a las 0100 con música de flautas e ID por locutora en Hmong y luego a las 0101 por locutor y comentarios continuos en Hmong. SINPO: 45444. 0110 continúa hablando el mismo locutor. A las 0112 comienza la locutora a hablar frases en inglés en aparentes clases de inglés. A las 0115 sigue con frases en inglés y hmong. He escrito al e-mail indicado, y lamentablemente me vino retornado como no existente. Aquí una pagina del grupo, desde donde he sacado la información del e-mail. http://home.earthlink.net/~freelao/intro.htm Según CRW 188 Extra B, la organización de la emisora no entiende lo que son los "informes de recepción", -según Shoua Cha-, y además dicen que no tienen interés en los oyentes que no hablan Hmong, a fin de tenerlo presente cuando escriban a la emisora, según dice el comentario. ¿Será cosa de ponerse a estudiar Hmong? Pero, uno nunca sabe quiénes pueden responder o no; siempre el devenir nos tiene reservada alguna sorpresa. Ojalá tengas suerte, Arnaldo, yo de todas maneras igual le estaré enviando mi reporte. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) STATION CONFIRMED AS HMONG LAO RADIO By Nick Grace, CRW Washington [Oct 31] The United Lao Movement for Democracy program, CRW can now confirm, is called Hmong Lao Radio. First monitored in August 2002, information on the station has been scarce at best. Laotian sources contacted through the Internet quickly identified the language as Hmong, which CRW reported on October 18, and contact was made with the Minnesota-based ULMD. The representative, however, declined to provide information on the station. With the organization's silence and refusal among the Laotian sources to "get involved," the last resort was to turn to an online Hmong-English phonetic dictionary, which CRW used to translate an announced address and provide a tentative station ID for our readers. The ULMD, we can report, is now willing to go on the record. ULMD Chairman Shoua Cha told CRW by telephone earlier this week the station was launched in May 2002 and broadcasts "educational programs, entertainment, sports and world news to Hmong people who cannot read or write" around the world. The target audience is not primarily for listeners in Laos, he said, but also for Hmong speakers in Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Europe and North America. "It is a project... to educate and get our message out to the world." Few stations broadcast in the Hmong language, which according to Cha, who has testified before U.S. Congress, is regrettable. "We have urged the U.S. government to add Hmong to the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia." Although Hmong Lao Radio is an "educational (and) non-profit project," the program does feature political and pro-democratic commentary. "Yes," he said, "we have politicians on from time to time to promote freedom." "We would like to have feedback and (receive) suggestions from our listeners," he said. The address, correctly reported by CRW, is P.O. Box 2426, St. Paul, MN 55106, USA. It is likely that the organization will not understand "reception reports" and the interest of non-Hmong speaking listeners so radio listeners are advised to take care in writing to the station. The ULMD also plans to unveil a Web site soon where the station's audio will be posted. Hmong Lao Radio programs are recorded in Minnesota and broadcast via commercial transmitters in Uzbekistan between 0100 and 0200 GMT Fridays on 12070 kHz (Clandestine Radio Watch Extra Oct 31 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. RESULTS OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY FACT-FINDING TOUR [Follow-up to John Callarman`s Valley DX-pedition:] http://www.topica.com/lists/CorazonDX/read/message.html?mid=804711762&sort=d&start=1262 (Corazón DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RADIO NATIONAAL SUSPENDS USE OF 1296 KHZ FROM THE UK The recent fall of the Dutch government has already resulted in the first media casualty. Commercial broadcaster Radio Nationaal, which has been hiring airtime on a high power mediumwave transmitter at Orfordness in the UK for the past few months, has 'suspended' its use of 1296 kHz. The reason is a decision of the Lower House on Thursday that the present Cabinet, which is functioning as a caretaker administration until the general election on 22 January 2003, has no authority to proceed with the re-distribution of frequencies to commercial broadcasters. This will now have to be put on the back burner until the newly elected government is able to deal with it. Consequently, Radio Nationaal's owner, Ruud Hendriks, sees no advantage in continuing to pay the cost of hiring airtime for the next few months without any perceived advantage in terms of winning an FM licence. Hendriks says that Radio Nationaal has "exclusive rights" to broadcast on 1296 kHz, and can decide at any moment to switch the transmitter back on. It had been on the air between 0500 and 1900 UTC. But for now, it will concentrate on cable and Internet distribution. Radio Nationaal currently has access to 85% of Dutch households via cable. The station is unique in that 50% of the music played is in Dutch, and a further 25% is music in other languages produced in The Netherlands. (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 1 November 2002 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. INTERNET AUDIO. RNZI has greatly expanded its schedule of live audio streaming simulcasts. RNZI also offers listeners to opportunity to hear several of its programs on-demand via internet audio. Please refer to http://www.rnzi.com and click on "Audio Links", for further information. There is no Live Sports Coverage scheduled this week (John Filgliozzi, Oct 31, swprograms via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Re PNG shortwave quest... PORT MORESBY. (The National/Pacific Media Watch): Wantok Radio Light 93FM, the base station for Papua New Guinea's first Christian broadcasting network will stage a three-day "Covering the nation for Christ" campaign in a bid to raise K200,000 to start a short wave station in March next year, The National reports.... http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2002/10.29.2002/PacificIslands4.htm 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 9504v, Radio Tacna with a nice signal and IDs at 1035 Nov 1. Drifting transmitter so one has to listen in AM mode if listening for any length of time (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX Cumbre via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Here`s yet another version of the RRI schedule in case its format inconvenience you less (gh, DXLD) Winter B-02 schedule of Radio Romania International: ARABIC 0700-0756 15260 15270 15365 17775 17790 17815 1300-1356 11830 15250 15335 15380 17790 17805 AROMANIAN 1800-1826 756 11880 2030-2056 756 9590 BULGARIAN 0500-0526 756 7165 1630-1656 756 7135 CHINESE 0630-0656 17720 21480 1430-1456 9530 11910 ENGLISH 0200-0256 9550 11740 11830 11940 15270 15370 0400-0456 9550 11830 15335 17735 0600-0656 9530 11830 0637-0654 756 9510 9570 9625 11790 11940 0700-0756 17720 21480 1400-1456 15365 17790 1700-1756 7155 9625 9690 11940 2100-2156 5955 7105 7215 9690 2300-2356 7195 9510 9570 11940 FRENCH 0500-0556 6140 7295 9590 0603-0620 756 9510 9570 9625 11790 11940 1100-1156 15245 15380 17745 17790 1500-1556 11940 15245 15390 17805 2000-2056 7105 9510 9690 11740 GERMAN 0620-0637 756 9510 9570 9625 11790 11940 1200-1256 15245 17745 1600-1656 7195 9570 11940 1900-1956 5960 7130 GREEK 1330-1356 756 11765 1730-1756 756 9735 HUNGARIAN 0600-0626 5975 7225 2100-2126 630 6055 7285 ITALIAN 1100-1126 17795 1400-1426 756 17735 2000-2026 756 7245 PORTUGUESE 0100-0156 11875 15250 2200-2256 15365 17720 ROMANIAN 0000-0156 6040 7215 9510 11940 0200-0256 6040 7215 0300-0356 6040 7215 15370 17735 0400-0556 6040 7215 0700-0756 756 9570 11790 0800-1056 756 15105 17720 Sunday only 0800-0856 15335 15380 15390 17735 17745 17805 Sunday only 0900-0956 15380 15470 17735 17745 17790 21480 Sunday only 1000-1056 15245 15380 15390 17735 17745 17790 1100-1256 756 15105 15290 17720 17775 1300-1426 15105 17720 1430-1456 756 15105 17720 1500-1556 756 11790 11830 15105 1600-1626 756 11780 11790 11830 15105 15365 1630-1656 11780 11790 11830 15105 15365 1700-1756 9510 11780 11790 11830 15105 15365 1800-1856 7145 7195 9510 9570 11790 1900-1956 756 6040 7145 7195 9570 2000-2156 6040 7145 7195 9570 2200-2256 6040 7145 9690 11830 2300-2356 6040 7215 9690 11830 RUSSIAN 1200-1256 9570 15380 17735 1500-1556 9590 11735 1900-1956 6085 7155 SERBIAN 1300-1326 756 11765 1830-1856 756 5990 SPANISH 0000-0056 9665 11830 11875 15250 0300-0356 9530 9550 11830 11940 1800-1856 11725 15390 17735 21480 2200-2256 9665 11735 TURKISH 1130-1156 11795 1700-1726 756 9595 UKRAINIAN 0530-0556 7105 1600-1626 7125 73 from Ivo and Angel! (Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 29, via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Noted SLBC on 7115 kHz //11905 kHz in the evening. (Alok Dasgupta-IND, via BC-DX Oct 30 via DXLD) SLBC All Asia Service noted on new 7115 now replacing 7440 and earlier 7190. The sked is: 0020-0400, 0900-1530 Indian languages. Thanks to Alok Das Gupta for the tip. Now what will happen to 15745? 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, ATOJ, Hyderabad 500082, India, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Re USA: Bible Voice Broadcasting, based in the UK, is partnering High Adventure Gospel Communications (based in Canada). Sites for B-02 include: 7435 1700-2000 Armavir 7180 0030-0100 Al Dhabiyya 13810 1630-1700 Julich (actually registered for Voice of Hope) 12035 0030-0130 Al Dhabiyya 9610 0200-0230 Al Dhabiyya sites not yet confirmed for 5880 7380 Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM TO CUBA Washington, D.C., Oct. 31, 2002 – The Voice of America this week launched a new 30-minute Spanish language radio program, Ventana a Cuba ["Window on Cuba"] for VOA audiences in Cuba. The program features news, information, and interviews with Cubans inside and outside the country on a wide variety of issues, including labor policy, agriculture, human rights, freedom of the press, health, education, and international law. VOA took this step in response to appeals from Cuban listeners who enjoy VOA's Spanish-language programs directed to Latin America via shortwave and satellite. The Spanish Branch of the VOA Latin American Division currently broadcasts 12 ½ hours of weekly programming. Ventana a Cuba takes its place alongside the Spanish Branch's popular 60-minute weekly radio-TV simulcast Conversemos and the hour-long weekly call-in program Hablemos con Washington. VOA broadcaster Angelica Mora-Beals, who hosts the show, dedicates a segment of each program to respond to letters from the long- established VOA Listeners' Club. More than 60 percent of the mail received by VOA Spanish comes from Cuba. Ventana a Cuba is broadcast on Sunday evenings from 8:00-8:30 p.m. local time in Cuba via shortwave and is also transmitted on the VOASAT satellite system to more than one hundred affiliates throughout Latin America... (VOA Press release Oct 31 via DXLD) No mention of Martí ** U S A. WRMI / Greece clash on 15725 resolved: see GREECE ** U S A [non]. Since WJIE still talks of reactivating 13595, I checked to see if anyone else had moved in, Nov 1 at 1345 and indeed found something going past 1430, fluttery but certainly would be a problem for WJIE. New HFCC B-02 still shows WJCR! 24 hours, but also entry #5214: 13595 1330 1500 40E,41N AHW 250 84 1234567 271002 300303 D URDU IRN i.e. Ahwaz, IRIB, Iran, in Urdu but only during this sesquihour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Winter schedule of AWR's Wavescan on Sundays: 0030-0100 6035 DHA to SoAs 1600-1630 11560 SDA to SoAs 6055 DHA to SoAs 15495 SDA to SoAs 0100-0130 9835 MOS to ME 17630 SDA to SoAs 0400-0430 9650 MEY to EaAf 1630-1700 9850 MOS to Eu 0430-0500 12080 MEY to EaAf 9890 DHA to SoAs 15160 DHA to CeAs 11980 SDA to SoAs 0500-0530 6015 MEY to EaAf 1730-1800 9385 SDA to ME 0600-0630 15345 MEY to CeAf 1800-1830 5960 MEY to CeAf 0830-0900 9660 MOS to Eu 6095 MEY to EaAf 17820 MOS to WeAf 1830-1900 11985 MEY to EaAf 1000-1030 11705 SDA to SoEaAs 2030-2100 7160 SDA to NoWeAs 1030-1100 11900 SDA to NoEaAs 11700 SDA to NoWeAs 1300-1330 17870 DHA to CeAs 15295 MEY to CeAf 1330-1400 11755 SDA to NoEaAs 2100-2130 9660 MOS to WeAf 11980 SDA to NoEaAs 2130-2200 11960 SDA to NoEaAs 15385 DHA to SoAs 11980 SDA to NoEaAs 15660 SDA to SoEaAs [NOT INCLUDING WRMI...] {update: see 2-173} 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 1, via DXLD) ** U S A. CALL PUTS TRUCKER IN SPOTLIGHT Dale Huffman, COMMENTARY How could you not like this guy? It is early Friday morning, and Ron Lantz is hooked up for a satellite interview with Katie Couric on the Today show from the Channel 5 studios in Cincinnati when the last question from Katie is, "Where are you going from here?" With a knee-jerk honesty that seemed refreshing, if not a bit humorous, he told her, "I'm heading over to Channel 9." Later in the day, when asked about that, Lantz said, "I hope she didn't expect me to say I was going to Disneyland." Lantz, who is 62, a professional truck driver, and lives in Ludlow, Ky., just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, has proved to be folksy, homespun and candid during his frenzied 15 minutes of fame. A national spotlight engulfed Lantz after he helped alert police when he spotted the automobile in a rest stop near Frederick, Md., that held two suspects later arrested and held in connection with the sniper killings in the Washington, D.C., area. After he called 911, he and another trucker at the scene pulled their 18-wheelers onto the exit ramp blocking any exit for the suspects. "It was the right thing to do," he said. "I think any truck driver who happened on something like that would do the same thing." He had heard the description of the wanted automobile on the Truckin' Bozo radio show that originates on WLW radio out of Cincinnati, and so, feeling a loyalty to that station he called them first with his story. And during a busy day of talking — back-to-back — to network and cable television news and talk shows, and other media outlets, he took the time Friday afternoon to sit down for an hour with Bill Cunningham on WLW radio. Cunningham called him the "most famous trucker in the world" and Lantz admitted he was enjoying the attention. "But my wife, Ruth, has been sick, and all this stuff is beginning to get old," he said. "We are hoping it dies down and we can get on with life." He said he doubts it will happen soon. "At the grocery store today people stopped me and wanted to shake my hand and get my autograph," he said. "Shucks, I didn't know what to do but to be nice to them." Concerning speculation that he might be considered as one of the recipients of the $500,000 reward money, he said, "My wife and I talked it over and we feel we are OK. We have enough. But if they give us anything we'll donate at least half to the families of the victims of those shootings." Does he have a sense that he was a part of history? "Yes, I do," he said. "I knew this was important. When I watched as the cops kind of got on hands and knees and were sneaking in to surprise them. I knew this was history. I sure did." Like Couric, Cunningham wanted to know what is in store for Lantz and the answer this time didn't deal with his next media appearance. "Well, I am leaving Monday morning on a haul that will mark the beginning of the end of my career," he said. "I have five more trips to make in the next two weeks and then I'm outta here." Lantz, who uses the CB handle Sugar Shack, said he and his wife have purchased a home in Florida, not far from Daytona Beach, and he will be spending winters there and summers in Ludlow. "Who woulda thought that all this would happen just when I'm fixin' to retire." he said. "I just thank God that I was where I was and that I was able to help. Some of us truckers had stopped and prayed together for an end to the violence just a day or so before this happened. I now know that God answers prayers." (Dayton Daily News Oct 28 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. AROUND THE DIAL FROM A NEW CULVER CITY STUDIO, NPR IS BOOSTING ITS WEST COAST PRESENCE By Steve Carney, Special to The Times, November 1 2002 National Public Radio's Washington headquarters, though only a decade old, are already a seven-story maze of offices and studios, with narrow pathways blocked by stacks of books and files, reels of old programs and archaic tape-editing machines. So the new state-of-the- art West Coast production studios -- scheduled to open Saturday -- exemplify the network's desire to break free of its D.C. base and stretch out, both physically and philosophically. The new facility in Culver City, with its expansive ceilings, funky suede furniture, exposed ducts and honey-colored beams, looks every inch the cushy dot-com office it once was, and from there the network plans to explore stories and trends outside the Northeast corridor. "The purpose is to give us true national reach," Kevin Klose, NPR's president and chief executive, said while visiting the new offices. "What is happening in this state today is what will be happening in America tomorrow" -- particularly in areas such as health care, education, demographic changes and other social issues. In addition to expanding their news-gathering abilities, network executives want to tap into different cultural outlets than their usual Washington and New York sources, to hear youths, Latinos, Asians and others underrepresented on the network. "By having a much larger presence here, it means the content is going to be fresher. It gives us the ability to connect and present ideas to the nation" via NPR's 700 stations, Klose said. The West encompasses "very specific parts of America which we think are fascinating, which have storied pasts. If we can be more in contact with those, it will give us a diversity of voices that's only good for us." The network's eight-person Los Angeles bureau is moving from its office off Wilshire Boulevard to the new quarters, and expanding to 25 to 30 reporters, producers and other staff within a year, Klose said. The year-old "Tavis Smiley Show" will be produced from the new facility, NPR's largest outside Washington, and a midday arts and culture program is being planned. "L.A is probably the most diverse city on the planet," said Smiley, whose namesake interview and news program was the network's first to originate from Southern California. "Now, with NPR West, people are going to hear more of that Western essence on NPR. I'm really looking forward to hearing, 'from NPR in Los Angeles' on other shows." The network's upstart rival, Minnesota Public Radio, already has a Southland presence, devoted to "the production and broadcast of local, West Coast and Pacific Rim news and information programming." MPR's parent took over management of Pasadena City College's KPCC-FM (89.3) in 2000 and established the nonprofit distributor, Southern California Public Radio. Along with the deal came a new $3.5-million production facility in downtown L.A., home to KPCC's newsroom and the business newsmagazine "Marketplace." But in spite of reports to the contrary, NPR West isn't simply the latest troop advance in a turf war, according to Bill Davis, president of Southern California Public Radio. Instead, it will boost all of the area's public radio stations -- including his own KPCC, KCRW-FM (89.9), KKJZ-FM (88.1) and KUSC-FM (91.5) -- by increasing the number of programs originating from L.A. and creating a "critical mass" of public-radio reporters and producers here. "What this is going to do for NPR as a national journalistic entity is going to be significant. And it's going to make Los Angeles a much more significant public-radio town than it's been heretofore," he said. "If they [NPR] look at it as kind of a colony, they'll miss an opportunity. "I'm really happy that this is happening," he added, noting that KPCC airs more NPR programs than any other public station in the Southland. "Any kind of competition we might have is pretty small potatoes compared to the common interest we all have." The expansion was deemed so vital by NPR executives that they pushed ahead with it in spite of economic troubles that forced them to lay off dozens of workers over the past year, including the familiar voice of reporter Daniel Zwerdling. The move, however, upset some staffers, who have questioned management priorities. "In a down economy," Klose said, "you can't keep the staff as fully as you would before. It's very painful. I'm not minimizing it. The people who are engaged with content and substance at NPR, I think they're very excited we're going to make this move. This ultimately is going to strengthen NPR." At one time a woodworking factory, the outwardly modest, 25,100- square-foot building on Jefferson Boulevard belonged to the family of TV bandleader Lawrence Welk. The polka king used it to store sets and costumes. Most recently, an online video production company rented the space before going under. "The beauty of the facility was the infrastructure," with a setup that already included offices and studios left over from the previous tenants, said Bud Aiello, NPR's director of engineering technology. But the studios still needed millions' worth of computer and audio equipment, vibration dampers and extensive soundproofing. Charitable foundations and other donors contributed half the $13 million needed to buy and upgrade the property. The facility will be up and running for election night on Tuesday, with NPR hosts Neal Conan and Scott Simon there, accompanying colleagues in the network's Washington headquarters, reporting on races nationwide. Then the week of Nov. 11, Conan will broadcast his regular call-in program, "Talk of the Nation," from the Culver City studios. Airing weekdays on KPCC from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the show will examine why California issues get national traction, focus on the foundering Pacific Northwest economy and look at the proliferation of ethnic media. "It's an opportunity for us to educate ourselves, and hopefully our listeners, about important things going on not just in California, but in the Western time zone, if you will," Conan said. "It can't do anything but expose us to more influences and more kinds of people. You can only decide, in some respects, to put on what you're familiar with. You can get insular when you're in Washington." Conan also cited a reason that has persuaded millions before him to come to Southern California. "It's 40 degrees and raining here," he said from his office in Washington. "A couple weeks of 75 and sunny sound good." Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. From inside radio/m street http://www.mstreet.net/topheadline.asp?ID=51772&PT=Today%27s+Top+Stori es CBS-TV`s David Letterman show will be simulcast five nights a week on at least 15 Infinity stations, including WNEW, New York, KLSX, Los Angeles, WCKG, Chicago, KKWV, San Francisco, KYNG, Dallas, WYSP, Philly, WJFK-FM, Washington and WKRK, Detroit. And those are just the top-10 market clearances. Inside Radio also expects ``Late Show with David Letterman`` to clear on Infinity outlets like WZGC, Atlanta, KZON, Phoenix, KXOA, Sacramento, WFNZ, Charlotte (a sports station) and KAMX, Austin (a modern AC). (via Brock Whaley, Atlanta, Nov 1, DXLD) Times?? ** U S A. Interesting anti-IBOC website: http://www.DigitalDisaster.org (Brock Whaley, Atlanta, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Curious that the schedule in DXLD 2-169 omitted English at 0330-0400 via Canada 6175, I checked Nov 1, and it was still there (gh, DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US [and non]. Glenn, Around 02 UT on November 1, 2002 I stumbled upon a fantastic southern MW opening to my QTH in Annandale, VA. Hearing audio on 555 -- probably St. Kitts (I've not received them in many years). 1620 WDHP St. Croix US Virgin Islands. With Ads, C&W mx, EE ID and local language. Deep fades, but overall fair. 1680 Southern Florida TIS. Amazing as TIS is very low power. 73 (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If you mean WTIR Winter Garden, it`s the usual 1 kW at night, but could ``forget`` and run day power 10 kW; not a true TIS station but a regular broadcast licensee carrying tourist info (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. The premier mystery of the DXpedition: Unidentified rousing interval signal; held notes, trumpet blares & held notes, repeating every 23 sec. No announcement or sign-on ever heard. Some flutter suggests Asian source, but could be northern Europe. Same IS for all freqs/times listed. 18940, 1546-1627*, 26-Oct; 17835, 1214- 1300*, 27-Oct; 15385, 1305-1500*, 27-Oct (a composite log from the ever persistent DXpedition Crew, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) We already explained that 18940 is supposed to be Afghanistan via Norway; this gives the full time span logged on other frequencies not so accounted for (gh, DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ VIVA MIAMI REVIEWS NEW FREEPLAY WIND-UP RADIOS The latest edition of WRMI's "Viva Miami" program (Oct. 28) reviewed two new Freeplay wind-up radios and also included an interview with Rory Stear, founder and CEO of the Freeplay Energy Group in London. Here is the text of the review portion of the program, as presented by Jeff White: Today on Viva Miami we`re reviewing a couple of radios that should be of particular interest to shortwave listeners and people who spend a lot of time outdoors. You may have heard of the Freeplay Energy Group. This is the company that introduced wind-up shortwave, AM and FM radios several years ago now. They started building radios in South Africa, and later moved their production center to the Far East. The company, which was founded in 1994, is headquartered in London. The advantage of these wind-up radios, of course, is that you don`t need batteries nor AC power to operate them. That means they are excellent for outdoors-people -- sportsmen, boaters, campers, etc. But initially at least, the main target market for these radios was people in remote areas, especially in Africa and the rest of the Third World, where batteries are often hard to find or too expensive for many people, and where electrical power may often be lacking. OUTRIDER Freeplay has produced many different models of radios since it began, and now it has added a new feature -- solar power -- to some of its radios. We have been reviewing the Coleman Outrider AM/FM radio that uses Freeplay technology. It`s a small unit -- about 4 inches high, 8 inches long and two-and-a-half inches wide -- and weighs about 25 ounces. For those who use metric measures, that`s 100 millimeters high, 205 millimeters long, 60 millimeters wide, and a weight of 700 grams. The body of the radio is made of gray and black plastic and rubber, and it`s very solidly-built. The Outrider has only three controls to worry about -- an on/off- volume control knob, an AM/FM bandswitch, and a tuning knob. AM coverage is 500-1700 kilohertz, so it will pick up stations for a considerable distance below the official AM band in North America, and also stations in the new expanded AM band from 1600-1700 kilohertz. FM coverage is the North American standard 88-108 Megahertz. Both the front speaker and the headphone jack provide FM mono sound -- no stereo. But the neat thing about the Outrider is its power sources. There is a permanent built-in rechargeable battery pack that can be charged up four different ways. First, it comes with an AC adapter that you can plug into the wall. Or you can use the unique winder on the back of the radio. Just wind it up for about 30 seconds, and the radio will play for over a half-hour at a normal volume level. A third power source is a solar panel on the top of the radio. In direct sunlight, the battery pack will charge itself up and the radio will play non- stop, without even the need to wind it up. And the fourth method is to use an optional cigarette lighter adaptor in your car. So with this radio, you should never lack a power source. And when the battery pack is fully charged, it will run for about 25 hours. The Outrider was developed as a partnership between Freeplay Energy Group and the well-known Coleman company, which produces a variety of products for campers and outdoorsmen. The manufacturer`s suggested retail price for the Outrider is $49.99, and we noted that the reputable mail-order company Universal Radio, in its latest sales flyer, is selling the unit for $44.95. For more information, you can check out the Coleman web site, http://www.coleman.com or in North America you can call 1-800-835-3278. You can also look up Universal Radio`s web site at http://www.universal-radio.com SUMMIT Now for those who are interested in shortwave coverage, Freeplay has just introduced to the marketplace a very significant new radio. The Freeplay Summit is the first wind-up shortwave radio with digital readout. We`ve tested one, and we`re quite impressed. It`s just slightly larger than the Outrider -- 3-and-a-half by 7 by 3 inches, or 90 by 170 by 80 millimeters -- and weighs the same: 700 grams. The casing is silver plastic and black rubber, and it has a sleek sort-of futuristic tabletop design. The Summit has four bands -- AM, FM, longwave and shortwave. Of course the longwave band, from 144 to 281 kilohertz, is not much use for us here in North America, but it will be of interest to listeners in other parts of the world. The FM band goes from 87.5 to 108 Megahertz. The AM band goes from 520 to 1710 kilohertz, nicely covering the new expanded AM band. And it is switchable to a 9-kilohertz frequency separation, which is very important for those travelling to the Eastern Hemisphere. In fact, the Summit is a great radio for world travellers. Besides its portable size and weight, the radio comes with several accessories that travellers will appreciate. There`s a handy carrying pouch, an AC adapter that works in both 110 and 220-volt and both 50 and 60 hertz systems, three adapter plugs for use in most parts of the world, one of those handy reel-in type external shortwave antennas that`s 7 meters or 21 feet long, an instruction manual in seven languages and an insert with a sample listing of shortwave frequencies, although unfortunately only for the BBC for some reason. Anyway, the complete package has just about everything that the travelling shortwave listener needs. The major drawback to the Freeplay Summit is the coverage of the shortwave band. It goes from 5.95 to 15.60 Megahertz, which admittedly covers most of the shortwave range. But the lower end -- 5.95 Megahertz -- chops off part of what is effectively the 49-meter band and all of the 60, 90 and 120-meter tropical bands. And the upper limit -- 15.6 Megahertz -- cuts off a huge chunk of stations at the upper end of the 19-meter band (including WRMI on 15.725) and all of the 17, 21 and 25-Megahertz bands. But if you can live with these limitations, it`s not a bad radio. In fact, we were very pleasantly surprised with the technical quality of the shortwave reception. The selectivity was quite good -- for example, completely separating two strong stations on the adjacent frequencies of 15295 and 15305 kHz, with no interference from one to the other. In terms of sensitivity, it depends greatly on which antenna you use. The built-in telescopic antenna does fine for AM and FM reception, but it`s almost useless for shortwave. You have to use an external antenna. So I connected the wind-up antenna to the telescopic antenna and extended it almost all the way inside a room in my house, and I compared it side-by-side with a Grundig Satellite 500 shortwave receiver, using the same type of wind-up antenna. Overall, the results were quite favorable. I could generally get a slightly better signal out of the Grundig than I could from the Freeplay for most stations. But that`s really to be expected, as the Grundig is a real DXer`s radio which cost about $400 or $500 as I recall. The Freeplay Summit has a suggested retail price of just $100, which is very reasonable. But back to my testing. I then took the Summit into another room and connected a 75-foot outdoor copper wire antenna to the telescopic antenna. Then I was able to get even stronger signals out of the Summit, and the quality was generally just as good as what I got on a Realistic DX-394 receiver using the same longwire antenna. For example, I picked up Radio Australia at 0355 UT on 15515 kHz with an amazing SINPO rating of 55545. The Voice of Russia World Service was also coming in beautifully on 7180 kHz at 0430 UT. However, I soon noted a few problems. The 75-foot longwire antenna actually overloaded the receiver when it came to strong stations like the BBC on 5975 kHz. It splattered outward from about 5960 to 5995 kilohertz. The same thing happened with other strong stations like Radio Martí and the South American beam of WHRI. Radio Martí on 7365 kHz could be heard all the way up to 7405, interfering with the other stations that are really supposed to be on those frequencies, like WRMI on 7385 kHz. And the strangest thing was that I found several strong stations in the 31-meter band which were also audible exactly 900 kilohertz lower, which must have been some sort of spur or image. (I`m not an engineer, so I don`t know what the technical term is for that. [receive images displaced at twice the intermediate frequency]) But Radio Exterior de España, for example, was clearly audible on 8640 kHz, exactly 900 kilohertz below the real frequency of 9540, where it also came in strong and clear. In many of those cases of overloading, I found that I could reduce or eliminate the problem by disconnecting the outdoor longwire antenna and connecting the wind- up antenna that came with the radio. However, in other cases, I found that the wind-up antenna only gave me a fair or poor signal from stations like WJIE on 7490 and Radio Portugal on 9815 kHz, but if I switched to the outdoor longwire, I was able to get them with much better reception. In both of those cases, the stations were almost inaudible using just the built-in telescopic antenna. So what does all of this mean? Well, you definitely need to use at least the supplied wind-up external antenna for shortwave listening with the Freeplay Summit. So don`t forget to pack the antenna when you`re going on a trip. You may need an even better longwire antenna to get good reception from some stations, but it will cause the strong ones to overload. So what would really be nice if they come out with any new versions of the Summit might be some sort of RF gain control or antenna tuner on the radio. In most cases, though, you can get quite satisfactory reception with the wind-up antenna by adjusting its length and height, and placing it close to or even outside a window. And I might offer a few other observations. Number one, there is no tuning dial on the Summit, nor can you enter a station`s frequency directly. There are five station memory buttons for each band. You have to choose one of those memorized frequencies, and then use the scan-up or scan-down button to get where you want. That`s quite frustrating at times. Also, it`s great to have a digital readout, but the dark LCD digital display on the Summit is sometimes difficult to read unless you have a lot of light in the room and hold it at the proper angle. There is a button that turns a light on the display, but the light only stays on for a few seconds; you can`t make it stay on permanently. And the last digit in the digital display -- for example the ``5`` in 9.965 Megahertz -- is only half the size of the other digits, so it is even more difficult to see. And if you`re looking for a shortwave station on a split frequency, you`re out of luck, since the Summit only advances in 5-kilohertz increments. After the frequency readout has been on for several seconds without changing frequencies, the readout switches from the frequency to the time, which you may or may not like. Perhaps in future modifications to the Summit, they can provide buttons for direct frequency entry, the possibility of tuning in 1- kilohertz increments and an easier-to-read digital display. That display, by the way, also includes an alarm clock with sleep and snooze functions, and the clock can be set in either the 12-hour AM/PM mode or the 24-hour mode, which is nice for international use, or setting the clock to UT. The audio quality of the Summit was very good, although there are no bass and treble controls, which might be a nice addition. And of course the best feature of the Summit is the three-way power source. Like the Coleman Outrider, the Summit has a rechargeable -- and in this case replaceable -- battery pack which can be charged with the supplied AC adapter, the built-in winder on the back of the radio, or the solar panel on top of the radio. Again, this is really handy for people who are travelling, camping, boating, or live in remote places, or can`t find or afford batteries. I charged up the battery pack overnight, and it lasted a very long time while I was doing my testing. In summary, the Freeplay group is to be congratulated for coming out with the first digital wind-up solar-powered shortwave receiver. It`s a very good radio for just $100, and we can recommend it highly. It`s not quite up to the standards of a serious DXer`s radio yet, but it`s certainly very adequate for general shortwave listening. And with a few minor improvements, it could become a major competitor for many other shortwave receivers that cost far more. For more information on the Summit and other Freeplay products, see their website: http://www.freeplay.net. The Summit, incidentally, is being sold by mail order in North America by the C. Crane Co. http://www.ccrane.com (Jeff White, WRMI, Oct 28 via DXLD) Too many drawbacks and design failures, even for casual SWL, if you ask me, from what you have described. What we really need is a multi- source power supply SEPARATE from a radio, so we can plug a decent radio into it (gh, DXLD) REAL SOURCE CODE ++++++++++++++++ RealNetworks on October 29 released most of the secret blueprints, or "source code," to its software that allows computer users to play audio and video over the Internet. It also plans to release the source code for its server and encoding software in December. By sharing the code with thousands of developers, the company believes it can more quickly and effectively spread adoption of its software, tailored for scores of different computers, wireless phones and handheld devices. Still, the Seattle-based company is keeping other parts of its source code secret, including the blueprints for such features as burning compact discs. The release is part of RealNetworks' new "Helix" strategy, announced in July. The company is the latest convert to the open-source software movement of sharing software blueprints. The idea is that an assortment of programming talent will improve and build upon existing technology. That's starkly different from the strategy Microsoft follows. The Redmond-based software giant closely guards its source code and considers such open-source software as Linux operating systems and server programming as significant competitive threats. ("Wired News" and NPR) Does this mean we'll finally get a program to edit Real format files? Or a way to convert from Real to other formats (where we can edit)? Real's press release of October 29 reads: RealNetworks today announced that leading consumer electronic companies manufacturing everything from devices to chipsets have integrated portions of the Helix DNA Client into their products. For consumers, this means access to Internet media from their phones, digital video recorders, PDAs and more. The Helix DNA Client includes the source code from the core media engine for RealNetworks' latest media player, the award-winning RealOne Player. (see Helix Community release) By combining the Helix DNA Client with RealAudio and RealVideo, now available from RealNetworks under a simplified distribution license, consumer electronics companies have access to the most flexible solution for creating compelling audio and video software products that suit their unique requirements. With six leading chipset companies now supporting RealAudio and RealVideo in their chipsets, CE and mobile device companies can integrate the Helix DNA Client into virtually every type of consumer device (Real Networks via SCDX/MediaScan, with George Wood`s comments, Oct 30 via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ SHORTWAVE WITH A DIFFERENCE (CD-ROM) This past month I was thrilled to receive a cd-rom called Shortwave With a Difference, developed by John Batty and other folks in Australia. The CD-ROM is presented in website format and includes sounds clips from military communications, low band VHF signals, utility stations, spacecraft/satellite signals, and international shortwave broadcasters. Of course the most interesting files to me are the sound clips from pirate stations recorded by John & friends in the land down under. Searching around and discovering all the pages and files on this CD is a lot of fun. In the pirate radio section alone there are hours of audio clips. The audio quality on many of the clips is not the best but the number and diversity of selections more than compensate. Alfa Lima International, Radio Borderhunter and Radio Geronimo are three Europirate stations represented. There is a wealth of audio segments and a colorful QSL gallery from Alan Maxwell's intriguing station KIPM. Relative newcomers Voice a da Tiki, Mystery Science Radio and WAIR are also heard on the CD, courtesy of relays via KIPM. In the international broadcast section there are audio files of All India Radio, Radio Singapore International, Radio France International, and dozens of other stations. Also well worth perusing are the numerous articles on antenna design and free radio history and equipment reviews. This CD is a great toolbox for turning people on to the hobby of shortwave listening or for a few hours of exploration and enjoyment. For info on how to obtain this CD with a difference, please visit the website at http://www.shortwave-with-a-difference.com (Frederick Moe, NH, Random Transmissions, Nov The ACE via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-169, October 31, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1154: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 [Thu 2130 on 15825 was pre-empted for make-good of another program] RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630... 7445, 15039 WRN: rest of world Sat 0800, Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 7490... ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1154.html [by early UT Fri] ** ALASKA. I'm sorry to have not replied before the test. I was away from Nome from 10/23 until this morning and just read your message. We had only one even tentative reply so far. I hadn't expected much. The "competition" on 780 is severe and we have a very short folded unipole antenna. Realistically I though we might get a few replies from western Canada and perhaps some from over the pole. I think those turned out to forlorn hopes, as there was a big geomagnetic storm that night. We MAY do another test later in Winter but can't promise just yet. Thank you for working with us! (Les Brown, KNOM, via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. De zuidpool ontwaakt In oktober en november, wanneer Europa zich opmaakt voor de winter, komt Antarctica langzaam tot leven. Het zuidelijk halfrond heeft de zomer voor de boeg en op de wetenschappelijke zuidpool-bases draaien research programma's op volle toeren. Vliegtuigen die personeel en bevoorrading op Antarctica gaan afleveren, leggen verbindingen op de kortegolf. In totaal gaat het om zo'n 250 vluchten. Inclusief de terugreis zijn dat dus 500 vluchtbewegingen. De volgende kortegolf frequenties zijn daarbij in gebruik: 4123, 4718, 4770, 5726, 6835, 7995, 8867, 9032, 10639, 11256, 11553 en 13251 kHz. Meer informatie over het radioverkeer op deze kanalen, is te vinden in de gratis frequentielijst van Risto Hirvonen (Bron: Peter de Deugd / WUN, oktober 2002, kortefgolf.info Nieuws via WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. As at October 30 2002, the Australian Communications Authority has no record of any licence being issued for 2368.5 kHz. Very rigid guidelines are imposed for any Australian applicant wishing to operate in the HF bands, (2300-26100 KHz) to ensure compiance with recently enabled Federal legislation concerning content. The Department of Defence is authorised to operate on 2376.0 kHz, Australia-wide, Land Mobile, Ambulatory (Initial), callsign AXA210. Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Oct 30, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, I can confirm that Peter Tate, the founder of Station X, indeed has the licences registered with the ACA AND ABA. Interesting about the shortwave frequency; would be most useful on a clear night when free of lightening crashes, otherwise it could be a little noisy over some distance. The format of the station will most probably be 10 to 25, with a lot of younger pop sounds, but they also have played 80's and 90's in particular, around lunchtimes. I'll keep an ear out for this one and let you know if heard, 73 (Tim Gaynor, Oxenford, Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Paulo Roberto e Souza, que reside em Tefé (AM), traça o perfil de mais uma emissora de sua região: uma das mais antigas emissoras do Amazonas, a Rádio Baré, de Manaus(AM), que em passado recente integrou a Rede CBN, quando era a CBN Manaus, há 6 anos está alugada para a Igreja Pentecostal Deus é Amor. A programação é totalmente voltada para difundir a doutrina da Igreja. A estação de onda tropical, em 4895 kHz, fica no ar entre as 2000 e 1000. BRASIL - A partir de 1º de janeiro de 2003, as freqüências de 5955 e 9685 kHz, da Rádio Gazeta, de São Paulo (SP), passam a emitir nova programação. A emissora deixará definitivamente a programação religiosa da Igreja Pentecostal Deus é Amor e levará ao ar programas feitos por alunos da Faculdade de Jornalismo Cásper Líbero, de acordo com informações publicadas pela jornalista Magaly Prado e divulgadas por Cassiano Macedo. BRASIL - De 1º a 3 de novembro, a Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista (SP), realiza o "Acampamento de oração para jovens", naquela cidade. Participam do evento ouvintes da emissora de todo o Brasil. Aos sábados, a emissora responde aos informes de recepção que recebe de todo o mundo, às 2200, em 4825, 6105 e 9675 kHz. A emissora aceita informes gravados. Recentemente, Paul Ormandy, da Nova Zelândia, teve uma de suas gravações em CD apresentadas no programa (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 28 via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Radio Bulgaria has announced that they will be testing on two new frequencies sometime after the 27th, 18900 and 19000, at 1100- 1600Z and would like reception reports. I have tried from time to time and have not picked up anything on the frequencies (Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. REBEL FORCES TWO BLOCKS FROM PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE; SOME GUARDS ABANDON POSTS BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) _ Rebels backing the ousted army chief moved to within two blocks of the presidential residence Tuesday in the fifth day of fighting to oust President Ange-Felix Patasse. Some members of his presidential guard shed their uniforms and abandoned their posts as rebels supporting François Bozize fired mortars and rockets at two Libyan-piloted small Aeromacchi bombers that have been strafing their positions for several days. The rebels wore yellow and red headbands, apparently to distinguish themselves from loyalist forces. There has been no official comment on the whereabouts of Patasse and his family, but some of the guards said on condition of anonymity that he was no longer inside the residence near the center of the small capital city on the Oubangui River. Government-run Radio Centreafrique has carried only music since broadcasting a statement Sunday accusing neighboring Chad of backing the rebel operation. Chad has denied the charge. The only private radio station in the nation of 3.5 million has been off the air for days. In Tokyo, the Foreign Ministry denied a report that Patasse had sought refuge in the Japanese Embassy. Another report that he was at the residence of Catholic Archbishop Edouard Mathos could not immediately be confirmed. The 65-year-old president has held on to power for 10 years, surviving numerous rebellions and coup attempts over unpaid government salaries and other grievances. Since May 2001, he has been guarded by several hundred Libyan troops sent by Moammar Gadhafi. "We've had enough of him; let him just leave," one civilian, building contractor Tale Aziz, said of Patasse. It was not possible to obtain an accurate indication of casualties. Many people have fled their homes in the northern half of town, and basic foodstuffs like cassava were becoming scarce because farmers could not bring produce to market. The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that an unspecified number of people were crossing the river to Zongo in neighboring Congo to escape the fighting. The rebels' main objectives appeared to be to capture the president's residence, the airport and the government radio station. The insurgents maintained positions on the edge of the airport, which has been guarded by Libyan troops. There were reports that many of the Libyan fighters had moved to the Libyan Embassy. Several hundred members of a Congolese rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo are supporting the Libyans. Very few soldiers of CAR's 3,500-man, poorly equipped army were involved in the fighting. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has condemned the rebel attacks, as has France _ Central African Republic's former colonial power _ and the neighboring Republic of Congo. Chad issued a statement Tuesday expressing concern over the crisis but denouncing "false and tendentious accusations" of its involvement in the rebellion. Bozize, who sought refuge in Chad last November after an attempted coup and later moved to France at the insistence of regional leaders, returned to Paris on Tuesday after a weekend trip to the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, where he met with several lieutenants. Patasse has held power since 1993 after winning elections that ended a 12-year military regime. http://www.fox29.com/news/story.asp?subsection=world&content_id=1392980 (Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved via Artie Bigley, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) COUP ATTEMPT AFFECTS MEDIA IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Press reports from Bangui say that state-run Radio Centrafrique has been broadcasting only music since an attempted coup began on Sunday. Rebels supporting the sacked army chief General François Bozize are attempting to depose President Ange-Felix Patasse. On Sunday, in its last statement before switching over to music, Radio Centrafrique announced that neighbouring Chad was behind the coup attempt, something which Chad has vigorously denied. On Tuesday, rebels were reported to have moved to within two blocks of the presidential palace, and there were unconfirmed reports that the President had already fled (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 30 October 2002 via WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) Used to be on 5038v, but I think has been inactive for quite some time (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) ** CHINA. 7150, Voice of the Strait - PLA, Oct 30 1200-1400 and beyond. Noted various programs and features during period. Searched for parallel's and found 7280 and 11590 kHz. However, 7150 was slightly behind those two freqs suggesting a relay from possibly Xi`an or Urumqi which are listed to be using 7150 in the PWBR. Anyway, it was fun finding the parallels. Signal on 7150 remained poor during entire period (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Xingjiang reactivated its frequencies of 4500, 4980 and 5060 kHz. Heard on 29 Oct until sign off at 1800 UT (Karel Honzik the Czech Republic (Czechia), hard-core-dx via DXLD) Nice reception here in Curitiba, in the south of Brazil, using a home- brew T2FD and an Icom R75. I can listen to 4500 and get the carriers of 4980 and 5060, at 0200 UT (Rik van Riel, Oct 31, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. A big and very nice looking computer made "Tarjeta QSL card" from La Voz de su Conciencia, Colombia, appeared from the postal services today. All texts are in Spanish and English and v/s is Martin Stendal. They say that they are on 6010 kHz now and: "Desde Colombia para el Mundo" and also "Una Extensión de radio Alvcaraván 1530 AM". 73 from (Björn Fransson, the island of Gotland, Sweden, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. The following was heard on the R-390A and roof mounted Hustler 6BTV. Radio Nacional, Bogotá. 9635 kHz, SINPO 24232-34333, Rough copy, used modest "limiting". 0415: Male commentator. Not sure of subject. 0422: Music spot then female commentator with remarks by male. Blast that noise! 0430: Brief music spot and male gave station ID "Radio Nacional" and something else I didn't catch. 0433: Tuned out, enough noise. Worse than my beacons, at least CW punches through the noise! 73 de (Phil KO6BB Atchley, Merced CA, Oct 31, swl via DXLD) Haven`t seen this one reported in ages (gh, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. Last night I tuned on 9550 kHz after 1920 there was French speaking station playing pop music. No ID found (maybe on the MD) but I believe this is Radio Okapi, Kinshasa. Very weak signal thought 10 kilowatts should be in use. 73 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, Oct 30, dxing.info via WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. En 5055, con SINPO variable entre 3/3 y 4/4, con fuerte interferencia del canal 5050 [WWRB --- hmmm, what about poor Tanzania?? --- gh], fue captada Radio Faro del Caribe, a eso de las 0402 UT. Transmitía un programa religioso y se recibían llamadas telefónicas al aire. Saludos desde VENEZUELA. 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. U.S. GOVERNMENT DISTRIBUTING SHORTWAVE RADIOS IN CUBA by Jeff White As most shortwave listeners and broadcasters are aware, Cuba has one of the highest shortwave listenership rates in the Western Hemisphere. This is because the domestic Cuban media are all government-owned, and Cubans are seeking independent news and information from outside the island. In addition, religious/evangelical broadcasting is not permitted on domestic Cuban media, so Cubans often listen to foreign shortwave stations for religious programming. There have been many press reports in recent months about the efforts of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to distribute shortwave radios in Cuba free of charge. This has caused diplomatic flaps between the U.S. and Cuba because these radios can be used to hear the U.S. Government's Radio Martí broadcasts. There was even some speculation that these radios might be fix-tuned to Radio Martí frequencies. But none of the dozens of press reports has given much technical information about the receivers, so we decided to find out for ourselves. A source at the U.S. Interests Section, which operates out of the Embassy of Switzerland in Havana, has confirmed to WRMI that the radios being distributed are Chinese-made Tecsun brand, model R9701, which come with "external antenna, earpiece, batteries and battery charger." Some investigation on the Internet reveals that Tecsun has a marketing office in Hong Kong. The manufacturing plant is somewhere in China, and it also makes certain models of shortwave radios for the well-known German company Grundig. As with most Chinese-manufactured shortwave receivers, there have apparently been some quality control issues with certain Tecsun products, but it is likely that Grundig is fairly demanding in that respect. The model R9701 has AM, FM and seven shortwave bands. A photo on the company's website http://www.tecsun.com.cn/english/swdual.htm shows the radio, but it is not clear enough to distinguish the exact coverage of the seven shortwave bands. It is clear, though, that the radio covers most of the major shortwave bands. The R9701 has analog readout, is dual conversion and measures 115 x 75 x 29 millimeters. It uses two AA batteries and has an earphone jack. The website does not mention a price, but an Oct. 23 article in USA Today indicates that the radios cost $10 each, and that the U.S. Interests Section has distributed more than 1000 of them so far. The U.S. Interests Section told WRMI that "we are not locked in on this model and may be receiving others in the future," which seems to indicate that they intend to continue giving away radios on the island. While the Cuban government has criticized the U.S. for distributing the radios (and in fact has threatened unspecified consequences if the U.S. does not quit distributing them), the U.S. Interests Section points out that these radios are not fix-tuned to Radio Martí frequencies; they can be used to hear shortwave stations from all over the world, including Castro's own Radio Havana Cuba. And they have AM and FM bands to pick up all of the local Cuban government-owned stations. The Tecsun R9701 is obviously a simple, cheap shortwave receiver, but for listeners in Cuba who are struggling to get information from abroad, something is better than nothing at all. These radios will literally bring the world to Cuban listeners, and while the main objective of the U.S. Interests Section may be to get people to listen to Radio Martí or the Voice of America, clearly all shortwave broadcasters who target Cuba will benefit from the distribution of these radios (Jeff White, WRMI, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. COVERT COMMS By Tom Sevart, Frontenac, KS A year ago I first wrote about Ana Belen Montes, the Defense Intelligence Agency analyst who had been charged with spying for Cuba. A few months back I mentioned that she had pleaded guilty to espionage. The latest word in this drama is that Montes was sentenced to 25 years in prison. On October 16th, Montes appeared in U.S. District Court and accepted the sentence as part of a plea agreement on one charge of conspiracy to commit espionage. The charge could be a capital offense, but prosecutors agreed to the plea agreement in March when Montes agreed to tell investigators everything about her spying activities. She spent six months telling everything she knew. U.S. Attorney Rosco C. Howard Jr. stated that Montes had cooperated fully with federal investigators from several different agencies, but no details of what she had revealed were released. Montes was moved not by greed, as in the Aldrich Ames case, but was motivated by political feelings. She never received any payment except for expenses. Montes was sympathetic to Cuba and opposed the U.S. government's policy toward it. She told U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina that she obeyed her conscience rather than the law, and that she believes the U.S.'s policy toward Cuba is cruel and unfair. She also stated that she felt morally obligated to help Cuba defend itself from the U.S.'s policies. However, Urbina, who is of Puerto Rican heritage as is Montes, stated that "if you can't love your country, you should at least do it no harm." He appeared to be unimpressed by Montes' motivation. U.S. attorney Ronald L. Walutes Jr. was also less than impressed. He filed papers to the court which stated that Montes is "the ultimate hypocrite" who "consciously and deliberately chose to join forces with those who would compromise the national security of this country. She secretly and without remorse systematically compromised classified information relating to the national defense of the entire country. She comes before this court and makes no apology for her deceit and betrayal." Montes worked for the DIA since 1985 and became the head of the agency's Cuba section in 1992. It's unknown exactly how long she had been spying for Cuba, but the FBI's investigation may have gone back to 1997. Montes was arrested a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Montes listened to the "Atencion" V2 station to receive her instructions. She entered the 5F groups into a laptop computer that had the decoding program installed to give her plaintext messages. The messages were recovered from her hard drive. Montes replied to her handlers by calling pager numbers from pay phones and punching in coded messages using the touch tone keys. Information passed to Cuban intelligence included the names of at least four U.S. covert officers inside Cuba, classified photos and documents, and the fact that the U.S. was monitoring several Cuban military installations. At least Montes may go to prison with a somewhat clean conscience, knowing that nobody perished due to her spying. Luckily, she did not cause the deaths of the four intelligence agents she named, unlike Aldrich Ames. The numerous agents Ames turned over either were killed or disappeared without a trace. And also unlike Ames, Montes didn't do it for greed but for personal political motivation. But whether or not it was worth it is something only Ana Belen Montes can answer for herself. At least she's got the next 25 years to consider it. (Nov The ACE via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17833, R. Imperial: Fax received from Moisés B. Cruz G., Ingeniero, saying he received my correspondence and saying he was happy to know the station`s signal was being received from so far away. Unfortunately that was the closest in the fax to a confirmation. He went on to give greetings from Sonsonate, the town, and from the workers at the station, and talk about the AM station being in existence for 36 years and the SW facility being up about a year after some recent economic problems in El Salvador. The frequency is listed as 17835, although heard at a somewhat lower frequency. He attributes the success of the SW station to the General Manager (unnamed in the fax). Fax was not on letterhead but plain, and was signed on the bottom by Moises and also by Carolina de Cruz, and the titles under the signatures were "Ingeniero y esposa," so it's a family thing. I sent them a registered letter on Oct 2 and included my business card, since it says "engineer" on it. I thought this may help to get my letters to the engineering dept. My fax number is on the card, so they obviously received my postal mail. This is my first reply via fax (John Sgrulletta, NY, DXplorer via DXLD) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. Effective Oct-27, Radio UNMEE (UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia) is on this new schedule: Tuesdays 0430-0530 15235; Fridays 1900-2000 13670 Both via Al Dhabbiya, UAE. Langs: Tuesdays: Eritrean Tigrinya, Arabic, Tigre, English Fridays: Amharic, Afan Oromo,Tigrinya, Ethiopian Tigrinya, English Regards! (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Oct 30, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. I want to correct one mention in the bulletin of Oct 22nd. The broadcaster interviewed was not Donald Fields, but David Mawby. Donald Fields was the first on air person when YLE resumed its English service in 1967. He was a freelancer and worked also for the BBC and British newspapers. He died in the mid 80s. The "listener who became broadcaster" was David Mawby. There have been interesting recollections of YLE English in the bulletin. Such as the fact that for some years in the late 80s there used to be four runs of the North American morning, between 12 and 15 GMT. Finnish speaking listeners kept on complaining against the extensive airtime given to English - but their views were not taken into account very much. Later, priorities changed and it was realized a well-run service in Finnish/Swedish was something of an asset for the corporation and part of the domestic competitive edge against commercial stations. Whatever your dial is on in Finland, abroad you have YLE. The number of English half hours shrank soon to one, at 8:30 am Eastern (Juhani Niinistö, YLE, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Glenn, Yesterday, 10/28, I received a very nice letter from a Mr. Pierre Urcun, R & D Engineer at TDF CCETT, regarding the "mystery" station heard in early September on 25775. Mr. Urcun stated that the station I heard on 25775 kHz, Wednesday 25 September, was an experimental DRM broadcast. He also stated that the transmission mode is a digital "CODFM" modulation which is compatible with an AM demodulation. (Simulcast DRM/AM mode). Mr. Urcun also gave station details including transmitter power of 400 watts from and antenna 110m above ground at Latitude 48 6' 49" N, longitude 1 41' 11" W. (Which would be in France). This was for 1 IRC in 17 days from the Cesson- Sevigne, France address. Due to the volume of discussion regarding this broadcast I thought you, and others, would be interested in this. PS: thanks to whom ever posted the CCETT address! Also sorry for not e-mailing a copy of the letter; I have no scanner capability at this time (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, Oct 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 25775 TDF- CCETT Test Broadcast via Rennes, Brittany, France: 2 full data PPC's signed and stamped, plus no data/ information letter with details about these broadcasts. The V/s indicated that these broadcasts where an experimental DRM broadcast, plus transmission mode in a digital "CODFM" modulation that is compatible with AM demodulation (simulcast DRM/AM Mode). Explanation of why I heard this broadcast. Power as 400 watts (on 25775) and 30 watts DRM (25765) into a 110m antenna above ground with a vertical mounting at the top. He also gives the Latitude and Longitude location (in Rennes). Reply in 16 days. v/s Mr. Pierre Urcun pierre.urcun@tdf.fr Reports sent to TDF CCETT, 4 Rue de Clos Courtel, B.P. 31826, 35518 Cesson-Sevigne, France (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GREECE. I spent a long weekend (25-28 Oct) at a DX Camp in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, in Javorovec (pron. Yavorovets) near Uherske Hradiste, 300 km easterly from my home, 5 km from the LW transmitter site Topolna 270 kHz. Let me share with you some of my observations in the MW band... Plenty of Greek pirates in the 1600-1800 kHz band, they also penetrate into the MW band. The strongest one was heard on 1566.5 - 1568.3 kHz from Friday to Monday in the afternoon, in the evening and in the morning too. The station seemed to be from Thessaloniki. Another one I heard on 1382.5 kHz... GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Oct 30, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** GREECE [non]. At the 1900 start of ``It`s All Greek to Me`` program in English, the announcer was slightly pissed when he apologized: ``I lost some of your E-mails due to technical problems in my God damn computer!`` [Sundays only via Delano 17705] (John (Yanni) Babbis, MD, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII [non]. My vote for best new station of 2002. . . . I know its only November but already media hacks -- I mean critics -- are drying the ink on their "best of" lists for the year. Well, I thought that since the ACE crew is kind enough to loan me some column space, I'll practice the concept of free speech here from time to time. Hey, you're entitled to my opinion! So here's my Roger Ebert impression: I only heard a handful of new stations this year so far, and without hesitation my vote for all around excellence goes to Voice a da Tiki. Mudda Maxwell created an incredible half hour program that transports listeners to a pristine Hawaiian beach where sun (or moon) worshipers wear little but a smile. The sound of surf and wind washes into ethereal and soulful music by IZ (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole), the Big Man himself, from his CD Facing Future. Then Hapa perform the most intense and moving version of Pride (In the Name of Love) that I have ever heard. Then it's back to more music by IZ including the energetic anthem Maui Hawaiian Sup'pa Man and another stunning version of Hawaii 78. Oh yeah bro! By the end of the show I'm one blissful pirate listener. I hope we'll hear more of Voice a da Tiki in 2003. The Voice a da Tiki QSL that I received for my reception report is a gorgeous work of art. Thank you for the island tunes, Mudda Maxwell! Until next month Happy Thanksgiving & 73's! (Frederick Moe, Random Transmissions, Nov The ACE via DXLD) ** INDONESIA/U S A. U.S. TRIES TO SWAY MUSLIM OPINION MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press Writer JAKARTA, Indonesia - An American media campaign launched in Indonesia on Wednesday sends a clear message: Muslims in the United States could not be happier. The advertising blitz portrays the lives of five American Muslims and aims to counter the impression that the United States is intolerant and anti-Islamic, a U.S. official said. "We hope that by highlighting the positive, common values shared by Muslims and non-Muslims - such as faith, family, community, education, charity, and tolerance - that we can tear down prejudices and build mutual understanding," Ambassador Ralph Boyce said in a statement. The television, radio and print ads, to be shown here and in other Islamic countries, are the latest effort by the United States to sway Muslim opinion and provide support to moderate Islamic leaders in countries where radical, anti-American forces are gaining strength. It remains to be seen what impact the spots will have on public opinion in Indonesia. Some who saw the ads Wednesday were skeptical. "I don't think this kind of propaganda will significantly change the image that some Indonesians have of America," said Din Syamsuddin, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, a religious authority. "What needs to happen is a significant change in U.S. policy toward Muslim governments," he said. "The U.S. war on terrorism is one example where Muslims are being blamed for much of the violence." Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands, is considered a moderate Islamic country. But since the 1998 fall of former dictator Suharto, a collection of radical Muslim groups - some with al-Qaida links - have led anti-American demonstrations, rallied in support of Islamic law and been implicated in the killing of thousands of Christians. The United States has attempted to counter anti-American sentiment here by sponsoring trips for Indonesian journalists to report on Islam in America. Trips have also been sponsored for about 25 religious boarding school leaders to meet with American Muslim leaders. It also has sponsored positive programs on the United States through Voice of America radio affiliates, among other projects. Boyce said that promoting better understanding between the two countries was one of his goals when he arrived as ambassador in 2001. "This is part of a long-term effort in Indonesia ... to break down misconceptions in both our media and ongoing personal dialogues between Americans and Indonesians," he said. The advertisements are snapshots of five American Muslims, offering an upbeat assessment of life in the United States. The people profiled include a graduate student from Indonesia, the Algerian director of the National Institute of Health, a Libyan baker, a Lebanese teacher and a Muslim paramedic from New York whose parents emigrated from India. "The American students I met have respected my beliefs," Devianti Faridz, the Indonesian graduate student, says in her spot. "It's nice to know that people are willing to open up their hearts and understand what they do not know." Farooq Muhammad, the New York paramedic, tells viewers that he works in harmony with Christian, Jewish and Hindu emergency workers. "We work together without any problems," Muhammad said. "They are very supportive of me and I'm very grateful. I have never been treated disrespectfully as a Muslim." (via kansas.com via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. The program and frequency schedule of broadcasts through TDP for the new B02 Winter period is now available at http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html (TDP Mailing List, Belgium, October 31, 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TDP --- `Transmitter Documentation Project` --- refuses to disclose transmitter sites ** IRAN. I`ve found VOIRI English at 0030 on 6135, 9580; looking for third frequency. Repeat at 0130 best on 6135 (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ/USA. BABIL NEWSPAPER PROBES MOTIVES BEHIND CNN EXPULSION ORDER | Text of report by Iraqi newspaper Babil web site on 27 October The Information Ministry said Thursday [24 October] that it is expelling CNN's Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf along with a group of foreign journalists and that it is tightening entry visa restrictions for foreign correspondents in the future. Arraf and five other non-Iraqi CNN correspondents, including Nic Robertson and Rym Brahimi, have been told that they must leave Iraq by Monday [28 October]. Officials in charge of the press office at the Ministry of Information in Baghdad, in response to a question from AFP, affirmed that the visas issued for CNN journalists had expired and, therefore, they had to leave the country. CNN, however, has confirmed that its Baghdad bureau meets all the legal conditions for operating. The same source [as published] added that Baghdad has decided to limit to 10 days the duration of the visa issued to foreign journalists because the press centre can only handle a limited number of journalists at one time. The CNN web site has reported that Jane Arraf, a Canadian national, two other correspondents, Nic Robertson and Rym Brahimi; and two other non-Iraqi CNN staff members currently present in Baghdad have received orders to leave Iraq by Monday at the latest. The CNN Baghdad bureau chief is the only Western correspondent working in Baghdad, where CNN has maintained a bureau for 12 years. On Saturday [26 October] the Iraqi Information Ministry denied news reports talking about the expulsion of foreign journalists from Iraq and dismissed these reports are baseless. In view of the discrepancy and conflict between the Information Ministry's official instructions and what CNN claims; in line with our constant quest to ascertain the truth of the matter in an accurate way; and out of our belief that it is the central directive of President leader Saddam Husayn, may God preserve him, to give foreign journalists hosted by Iraq and their camera crews the freedom to cover the ceremonies related to the major pledge of allegiance [referendum on President Saddam Husayn's new term in office] and to report whatever they want to report since we have nothing to hide, we would like to publish the following comment made by the CNN Baghdad bureau. The bureau chief noted that they operate in Baghdad within the margin of freedom of movement granted to the local, Arab and foreign press and made available by the central directives. The chief added that their news reports do not in any way conflict with the ministry's instructions. Jane Arraf told the Babil correspondent that she does not know the real reason behind the decision, which has been conveyed to them verbally. She believes that the most likely reason is the report that she prepared and that CNN broadcast on Tuesday. The report pertains to a peaceful demonstration staged by relatives of prisoners who were supposed to be released on 22 October, based on the Iraqi president's decision to grant full and comprehensive amnesty to all prisoners, detainees and deserters from military service. She explained that she had emphasized in her report that the purpose of the demonstration that took place in front of the Iraqi Information Ministry building was to inquire about the whereabouts of their relatives and that it was not an act of rioting against the regime. Rym Brahimi, who is a member of the CNN team in Baghdad and the daughter of UN Assistant Secretary-General Lakhdar Brahimi, who has visited Baghdad repeatedly, believes that the report broadcast by a CNN correspondent in Beirut on the conditions in northern Iraq is behind this decision. However, she explained that this correspondent is not part of the team assigned to work in Iraq and that he had reached northern Iraq directly, adding that the CNN Baghdad bureau had nothing to do with this report. Brahimi pointed out that the CNN bureau requested in March but never received permission to prepare news reports on northern Iraq. This is despite the fact that correspondents for other television stations represented in Baghdad broadcast reports from northern Iraq without their offices encountering any retaliatory measures. The remaining members of the CNN team told a Babil correspondent that they wish to stay in Iraq as long as possible to convey a good and positive picture about the course of events to the Western audience in general and the Americans in particular. The Information Ministry asked CNN Bureau Chief Jane Arraf to leave Iraq the day after tomorrow, Monday. The remaining members of the CNN team, four journalists and two cameramen, are required to leave between 12-24 October. Perhaps it is appropriate here to mention that the media of the 70s of the last century are not the same as the media of the 21st century. What used to be permitted by some people, which the Iraqi media personnel continue to joke about until today, such as the remark about the birds that fly over the radio and television building [as published], is now outdated. The time now is for the serious media, which seek the truth and serve the principles. Since none of the foreign networks are good, the rule is that those in between that are closer to being bad than good must leave. As for those in between that are closer to being good than bad, there is no harm in dealing with them. Source: Babil web site, Baghdad, in Arabic 27 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) We still see some CNN correspondent in Baghdad, I think it`s Rym Brahimi, who says it helps to have an Algerian passport (gh, DXLD) ** IRAQ. COALITION FORCES DROP LEAFLETS ON IRAQI CITIES October 28, 2002 MACDILL AFB, FL -- In response to recent Iraqi violations of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH aircraft dropped leaflets on two Iraqi towns on 27 October at approximately 3:45 am EST. Leaflets were dropped over As Samawah and Al Basrah in Southern Iraq to enhance force protection of Coalition aircrews. The leaflets are used to discourage the Iraqi military from engaging Coalition aircraft while also communicating the consequences of Iraqi military actions directly with the local civilian populace. Between the two locations, Coalition aircraft dropped more than 150,000 leaflets. The leaflets can be viewed at http://www.centcom.mil/News/press%20releases/leaflets/20021007.htm (Centcom website via Johnson, Cumbre DX Oct 30 via DXLD) We reported a few weeks ago that US military was planning to start leaflet drops and broadcasts. The drops have started, what about the broadcasts? Nothing seen on the 193rd's website or the Harrisburg newspaper (Hans Johnson, TX, Oct 30, Cumbre DX, via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. CLANDESTINE: 15675, Dengue Mesopotamya, 0500-0541, Oct 28, IS with long time of silence, also in the frequency signal in CW, at 0534 Music at 0536 March and ID "...Dengue Mesopotamya... Democratic... Dengue Mesopotamya.." by man and female announcer, 24442 (Nicolás Eramo, Villa Lynch, Bs. As., Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. Mezopotamian Radio & Television, broadcasting since September 2002 is changing its frequency from 12115 to 7560 kHz as of Tuesday, November 5, 2002. Mezopotamian Radio & Television broadcasts every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 1700-1800 UT (TDP Mailing List, Belgium, October 31, 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TDP refuses to disclose transmitter sites ** JAPAN. CIA WARNS OF NET TERROR THREAT By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 29, 2002, 2:15 PM PT It's not just Al-Qaida that American businesses and government agencies may have to worry about. The CIA warns that other terrorist groups could launch a "cyberattack." ..."Aleph, formerly known as Aum Shinrikyo, is the terrorist group that places the highest level of importance on developing cyberskills," said the CIA report prepared by Stanley Moskowitz, the agency's director of congressional affairs. "These could be applied to cyberattacks against the U.S. This group identifies itself as a cybercult and derives millions of dollars a year from computer retailing." The Aum Shinrikyo religious group carried out the deadly nerve gas attack in a Tokyo subway in 1995, which killed 12 people and sent more than 5,000 to hospitals. The group is a doomsday cult that believes the end of the world is near. The CIA report, along with two others from the State Department and the Defense Intelligence Agency, were prepared in March and April but were not made public by the Senate until this month.... http://news.com.com/2100-1023-963771.html (via Fred Waterer, Oct 29, DXLD) ** JORDAN. R. Jordan, English, I heard at 1200 but with co-channel RTTY, on 11690 (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. Hola Glenn... Saludos desde Catia La Mar. - Contrariamente a lo que había pensado, Radio Pyongyang sí va a cambiar ciertas frecuencias de su servicio en español, a partir del 4/11. Ayer pude oír la advertencia durante la programación de dicha estación. Las horas siguen iguales: 17-18 UT 11735, 9975; 00-01, 02-03 7580, 11735, {6520} (Adán González, Venezuela, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. As of this coming Sunday, November 3, 2002, Voice of Komala will start broadcasting every Sunday at 1700-1800 UT on 7560 kHz. Broadcasts will be in Kurdish and Farsi and are directed towards the Middle East (TDP Mailing List, Belgium, October 31, 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TDP refuses to disclose transmitter sites ** KYRGYZSTAN. Re Nashe Radio on 89.0 MHz in Bishkek: you can be sure that there is no connection with our UNID on 4050 kHz. The station on 89.0 is relaying Nashe Radio from Moscow by satellite (Nashe Radio is one of the largest Russian commercial networks), some local programming is planned. Before, this frequency 89.0 MHz relayed another private Russian network, Radio Maximum. Nashe Radio Bishkek is aimed at ethnic Russians and plays only Russian pop music. There is however, a large variety of activities in the private broadcasting sector in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek alone has more than 15 local, private radio stations on FM with various formats (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. VOM FREQUENCY TABLE 27 October 2002 - 30 March 2003 Monday to Saturday 0630-0700 6110 Arabic 1700-1730 9850 Italian 1730-1800 9850 English 2000-2100 7440 English* 2100-2200 7440 Arabic * Except on Friday Friday 2000-2200 7440 Arabic Sunday 0500-0600 15560 Japanese 0800-0900 9630 Italian 0900-1000 9630 English 1000-1100 9630 Maltese 1100-1200 9630 French 1200-1300 9630 German 2000-2100 7440 English 2100-2130 7440 French 2130-2200 7440 German Transmitting Site: Rome Transmission Power: 100 KW Frequency: 6110 kHz, 9850 kHz, 9630 kHz Transmitting Site: Moscow Transmission Power: 250 KW Frequency: 7440 kHz Transmitting Site: Komsomolski Transmission Power: 250 KW Frequency: 15560 kHz Roberto Scaglione - Italy http://www.bclnews.it (via ODXA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Just got back early this afternoon from a whirlwind trip to the Rio Grande Valley. Due to schedule problems, Steven Wiseblood and I had only about five hours worth of DX together from his Boca Chica site, and there were some new stations for Steve and a beautiful tape on 1620 when the 32-inch ferrite loop knocked College Station down long enough to get a complete ID on the Virgin Islands station, using the 525. We worked on several regional frequencies, the most interesting of which was 560. There, we were able to Identify "La Zeta" in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, but could not identify who was playing disco and romántica. Some mention of Jalisco was heard, but Fresnillo and the Jalisco station are on the same direct path from Boca Chica, and almost exactly opposition from the Beaumont station. Fortunately, the southern signals were stronger. Most of the time, though, was spent in the car, taping locals speaker to mike as I drove down to Brownsville Friday. Friday night and during the day Saturday, I taped locals, mostly Reynosa and Matamoros, off the DX-398. Then on Sunday, I drove up the Valley from Brownsville as far as Del Rio, taping cross-the-border programming as I went. A lot of interesting stations on Sunday that I haven't been able to hear from here, with some "local talent" that might not make it to any of the Formula nets. On the Ciudad Camargo station on 1350, for example, there was a little girl announcer who sounded like she may have been 12 at the oldest. I noted a few slogan changes and got one question, regarding the dial in Ciudad Allende, Coahuila, about 90-percent answered. XEVD, which reportedly had moved earlier this year to 1050, then was later heard back on 1380, was taped on 1380. But there is a Ciudad Allende station, announcing diez mil watts, on 1050. It's top-of-the-hour ID had a lot of production noises and the call letters were slurred, but I may be able to make them out when I go over the tapes. They sounded like XEDUC or XEBUC. I'm 90-percent certain of the "UC." It was surprising how close to Monterrey, on the U.S. side of the Rio Bravo, that they begin QRM'ing XEG during the day. Tape of XEVD indicated their slogan is "La V-D," with no "La Vida" heard. Imagine a U.S. station calling itself "The VD!" Driving toward Del Rio, I found good signals from XEKD-1010, that made me think it was stronger than the listed 500 watts. It's TOH ID said mil watts. The Sunday afternoon DJ on XEKD was a gabby young man and the Sunday afternoon DJ on the 1340 Ciudad Acuña station was a gabby young lady. I wanted to check conflicting information on Acuña stations on 650 and 1600, but found 1600 completely silent and on 650, there was only an open carrier. XEZR-800, Zaragoza, was also missing on Sunday. Briefly, in what should have been its coverage area, I did hear a highly-distorted strong signal during one tune-across, but mostly it was the far west fringes of the signal from XEDD, Montemorelos, "La Doble-D." It had not moved back to 850 ... there was nothing there, either. This morning, driving home between Junction and Brady, Texas, there were three stations Spanish-speakers on 800, two of them broadcasting different news block programs and the third there faintly, off and on, with music. One of the news block stations, which did a lot of conversation between the anchor and the correspondent, a fashion in Mexico, had several mentions of Zaragoza ... but that's a common surname, too, and I can't be sure if XEZR was back on or what by the 0800 CST top-of-the-hour, it was a weak-signal jumble. On 650, there was some weak Spanish, but I was far enough away from Ciudad Acuña it would have been about what I'd expect from 500 watts. Nothing usable on 1600. I will try to process tapes and transcribe announcements so there might be some useful clues to identifying some of these stations should they pop up on our home receivers. For next trip, I need to experiment with attaching tape cable to speaker terminals, if I can get to them in the Alero, to eliminate road noise from the tapes. (John Callarman, Krum TX 76249-5503, KA9SPA, Oct 28, Corazón DX via DXLD) {link in DXLD 2-170 to full report} ** MEXICO. OUT ON THE PORCH Take one play based on the book, "Border Radio," mix it with one stage mural from the oldest dance hall in Texas. Out On the Porch, Jim Swift shows how that's the recipe for one entertaining exhibit at the Texas History Museum. (The following is a transcript of Out On the Porch.) Announcer says: "Direct from Ed McLemore Sportatorium at the corner of Katys and Industrial Boulevards in downtown big friendly Dallas, the "Bid D Jamboree" edition of Saturday night country style." Music. In the beginning, there was radio: domestic radio stations to be sure, but maybe more to the point, a series of extremely powerful stations just across the border in Mexico. Actor Bill Crawford says: "Why these stations were so powerful, folks could hear 'em on barb wire fences, on their mattress springs, even on their dental work!" Cast and audience members sing, "We got the Crazy Water boogie; Crazy Water boogie; ah, the Crazy Water boogie." And so the Texas History Museum's exhibit features prominently the role of border radio in the development of country music. Actor Rick Perkins says: "You could make one appearance on one station down on the border and you're nationwide. You're into Canada and in some instances, it's documented it would bounce off the stratosphere and you'd be in Asia, off one appearance. It's the Internet, if you think about it, fifty, eighty years ago." Gary P. Nunn sings: "I want to go home with the Armadillo." But if it was radio and later, television, that opened the door to country music in Texas, it was the rural stores, honky tonks and dance halls that said, "come on in." Perkins says: "That's a tradition carried on. They might hear the music on the radio and go, 'Oh, I want to go see those.' But they can go to Gruene Hall and places like that all over the state; we're lucky enough to have it so close by. And that's true Texas history alive and well right there." Singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave sings: "If you got to know what's pulling me through, I have only one angel, girl, my one angel is you." Gruene Hall, the oldest still operating dance hall in Texas, is just down the road near New Braunfels. Austin singer-songwriter Jimmy Lafave performed there Friday night in front of a fading backdrop so old that it has to be protected now with a digital photograph overlay. Museum spokesperson Heather Brand says: "And then right behind us, we have Gruene Hall represented. Not only did we replicate the mural behind Gruene Hall, but we have some original benches from the hall, itself, here for people to sit on. And they can watch 'Border Radio' while they're sitting on a real Gruene Hall bench." Cast and audience members sing: "You're still in beautiful Texas, the most beautiful state that we know." The country music exhibit runs through the first of the year at the Texas History Museum. Performances of "Border Radio" are planned for November 2, December 7 and January 4. (KXAN-TV News, Austin, Oct 29, via Artie Bigley, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) 3+ minute video report: http://207.207.6.50/rmfiles/porch_texasradio.ram {soon gone, or renamed?} ** NETHERLANDS [non]. The severe storm that swept through The Netherlands on Sunday caused some damage to several antennas at our Flevo transmitter site. Transmissions are being maintained using reserve antennas. However, the damage has to be repaired, and this will happen on Thursday 31 October. Between 0700 and 1600 UTC on 31 October, a number of Flevo transmissions will come from German sites instead. Details at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/schedule.html (Media Network via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS/VATICAN. I passed Joe Hanlon's report to Ehard Goddijn of our Programme Distribution Department. Ehard informs me that according to the B02 HFCC schedule, Vatican Radio is scheduled to use 13765 kHz up to 1830 UTC and again from 1930 UTC. The frequency is supposed to be clear for Radio Netherlands at 1830-1925. It looks as if Vatican Radio was still on its summer schedule! We will of course monitor the situation closely. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. 5770, R. Miskut nothing heard in spite of several checks at 1200. Off the air or schedule change? (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Oct 24-31, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. I think Dr. Scott must hold the worldwide all-time record for time spent in front of the camera on live tv. "Supposedly" Hugh Downs holds this record but I seriously doubt it (Jeff Kadet, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LOCAL TV STATION IN FLUX By: Robert Barron, Staff Writer, October 29, 2002 Enid's TV 32 is in transition now, but general manager Rex Faulkner optimistically expects the station to be back next year after new equipment is installed and new programming begun. Currently, the station is broadcasting Stanford professor Gene Scott virtually full time. Faulkner said the reason for that broadcast is because a network feed to the station is experiencing technical problems with its satellite. "We have some new equipment coming in, new insertion equipment and some new programming," he said. Among the new programming, he said, are shows such as "We, the Jury," a court-type program; "Chevy Sportsman," an animal rescue show; and "State Police," a real-crime program. The new programming will begin within the next 30 to 45 days, he said. TV 32 has been on the air about eight years, and Faulkner has been involved since November 2001. "We need local programming, things you can't get on Oklahoma City channels, to set us apart," he said. Faulkner suggested broadcasting local sports, showcasing area ball games and allowing various businesses a different alternative to promoting their businesses. The station has scaled back to four employees, and Faulkner said the station is ready to "turn the corner profitwise." "We're surviving," he said. New digital equipment is being checked out, which would provide better quality, larger reception area, better pictures and stereo, Faulkner said. "We're not doing local news broadcasts now, but after the first of the year we hope to start again," he said. With the installation of new automated equipment, the station will be able to run more efficiently and with fewer employees, he said. TV 32 formerly broadcast from an old retail store on west Garriott before moving to Oakwood Mall (Enid News & Eagle via DXLD) DGS is not a `Stanford University Professor` -- he merely got his Ph.D. from there years ago, or so he says (gh, DXLD) ** PALESTINE [non]. PALESTINA, 9505 kHz, La Voz de Palestina, La Voz de la Revolución Islámica en Palestina (via VoIRI-Iran), *0330-0348+, 30 Octubre, programa en árabe. Apertura de emisiones con ID "Saut Filastín, Saut-i Saurati al Islamia fi Falestinia" por locutor, y luego música patriótica. Luego comentarios sobre "Jihad" "Al-Aqsa" "Falistin" "Yasser Arafat", etc. Nuevamente idem ID a 0338, marcha y comentarios. SINPO: 45444!!, en // a 7250 (25332). Cabe señalar que la emisora es anti ANP / Arafat. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digitalvia DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 9983, Radio América, Villeta, 0220-0235, 30 de octubre, reportada con una larga charla religiosa leída por OM quien hablaba sobre la vida del Apostol Pablo. Nunca antes pude captarla en esta frecuencia y me sorprendió especialmente la calidad de recepción de la escucha. 44443. Inaudible a esa misma hora en 2300 y 7737 kHz. En la mañana local del 30 de octubre la busqué en todas sus frecuencias, siendo imposible la captación en las mismas (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 9983, Radio América, Villeta, 0220-0235, October 30, Spanish transmission. Long religious talk by male in Spanish. 44443. First occasion I heard this station on this frequency. I can`t hear Radio América on 2300 and 7737 and I can`t hear the station now, at 0845 UT, in all frecuencies too (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, hard-core-dx, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) Arnaldo: Hoy UT 31 de octubre escuché a WYFR Family Radio en 9985 cuando intentaba imitar tu exitosa escucha 2 kHz más abajo, a la misma hora. Obviamente el programa de la estación de USA -como todos saben- refiere a mensajes religiosos. No es una duda sino una pregunta ¿Emitía WYFR en tan cercana frecuencia cuando escuchaste R. América en 9983? (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Hola a todos! Quiero compartir por estos medios con los colegas diexistas la interesante información que me aporta Adán Mur de Radio América en Paraguay. Agradezco su difusión. Saludos! Rubén Guillermo Margenet Estimado Rubén: Muchas gracias por su mensaje y por sus observaciones excelentes. ZP20 Radio América transmite con una potencia de 1 KW, desde Ñemby, alimentando a una torre de 0,25 longitudes de onda. La zona normal de cobertura se extiende hacía los 50 KM, con un salto hacía el Chaco, hasta los 800 KM, apróximadamente. Hasta el momento, hemos recibido muchos reportes de sintonía para la frecuencia de los 7737 KHZ y otras de la banda de 41 metros, desde Alemania/Argentina/Australia/Bolívia/Brasil/Canadá/ Estados Unidos/Italia/Noruega/Paraguay/Senegal/Suecia/Uruguay. Para los 9983 KHZ, dos, desde la Argentina y desde Australia. Para los 15185 KHZ, tres, desde Alemania. La calidad de sintonía varía: desde Europa y Africa, la mayoría de los reportes nos dan buenas notas, en cuanto a la inteligibilidad, pero con una señal débil. Desde el Cono Sur, la sintonía no es tan confiable. Desde América del Norte, es difícil captarnos. Desde Australia, las señales entran, fácilmente, y, a veces, con buena inteligibilidad. Tristemente, nuestro enlace, entre los estudios y la planta transmisora se dañó, en una tempestad. Por este motivo, la calidad del audio no ha estado muy bien. Recién, pudimos efectuar otros arreglos, de calidad superior. Queremos aumentar la potencia de transmisión, en todas las frecuencias. Sabemos que es necesario. Todas las pruebas de la onda corta se han realizadas con baja potencia. Por ejemplo, se utilizó 5 Vátios en los 15185 KHZ, logrando buenos resultados, desde Alemania. En las frecuencias de los 7737 y 9983, utilizamos una potencia de 300 Vátios. En las otras de 41 metros (7300/7373/7385), hemos utilizado más baja potencia: 25 a 100 Vátios. En esta primera etapa, estamos experimentando, confirmando las posibilidades teóricas. Sus reportes y consejos siempre son bienvenidos. Seguimos probando, las 24 horas del día, en los 1480, 2300, 7737 y 9983 KHZ. Sobre todo, queremos determinar si estas frecuencias ofrecieren posibilidades verdaderas. O, si existieren frecuencias más factibles. Yo sé que, de noche, habrá conflicto con NRK - Sveio, Kvitsoy, en los 9985 KHZ. Muy agradecido a Usted, y con un gran abrazo (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay, Oct 28 via Margenet, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5019.92, R. Horizonte (presumed), 2349-0022* 29-30 Oct., Up- tempo OA music, ad/promo block at 2352 with promo mentioning "onda corta, AM y FM ?? la señal...", and another mentioning "...en Chachapoyas, informa...", back to music. Another ad/promo block 2358- 0002 with one mentioning Lima often. Several songs then Man announcer host but it was impossible to copy because the mic audio was a little muffled. After an anouncement by the live M host, a canned announcement started and the signal immediately left the air in mid- sentence. Just a little too weak and too much QSB and local buzzing QRM. Some Crystal 5009 slop QRM too. At times, it would peak with a readable signal for about 10 seconds (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. ROMÊNIA - 3 de novembro é o tradicional Dia do Ouvinte da Rádio Romênia. Para esta edição, a emissora convida seus ouvintes a escreverem sobre o clima e as condições de vida no planeta. Como serão as relações das pessoas e dos países, levando-se em conta a degradação do meio ambiente? Os textos devem ser enviados para: port@r... [truncated] (Celio, @tividade DX Oct 28 via WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) ** RUSSIA/TAJIKISTAN. Confusion about VoR MW frequencies: The first B02 schedules for the Voice of Russia have appeared on the station's website and in DX publications. Like in previous seasons, the MW frequencies have to be read with care. Several frequencies like 1143 and 1251 kHz are used by VoR from several locations in and outside RUS (the sites themselves are not indicated by VoR), and also this season several transmissions seems to have been placed under additional, wrong target areas. For example, VoR in Russian at 1300-1400 is listed to be aired on 1143 to Europe (indicating Bolshakovo-RUS) and also to Central Asia (indicating Dushanbe, Taijikistan). However, Dushanbe 1143 kHz carries VOA in Uzbek during this time and cannot be used by VoR for transmissions to Central Asia. A similar situation at 1400-1500: VoR in Russian is listed to be on 1251 both to Central Asia (indicating Dushanbe-TJK) and Asia & Far East (indicating Ussuriysk, Russia). Dushanbe 1251 kHz however is carrying BBC in Farsi at 1415-1515 and cannot be used by VoR at this time to Central Asia (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX yahoogroup Oct 29 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA: GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS, PRESSURE DURING HOSTAGE CRISIS | Text of press release by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on 28 October New York, 25 October: The hostage standoff in central Moscow has highlighted growing restrictions on the Russian media, including this week's passage of legislation banning "propaganda of terrorism" in mass media. Although the legislation has not become law, the government is already using it to censor coverage of the hostage crisis. A large group of heavily armed Chechen rebels seized some 700 people in a Moscow theatre on 23 October, demanding that Russian troops pull out of the war-torn region of Chechnya in southern Russia. The Qatar-based satellite television channel Al-Jazeera broadcast statements from the gunmen after a videocassette was dropped off at its Moscow bureau. Meanwhile, Russian media have been interviewing hostages, and even the captors, by cellular phone, over the last two days. When the Moscow- based Ekho Moskvy radio station broadcast a brief interview on 24 October with one of the gunmen in the theatre, Media Ministry spokesman Yuri Akinshin warned media outlets not to air statements from the hostage-takers. "If this is repeated," said Akinshin, "we reserve the right to take all proper measures, up to the termination of the activity of those media," the Moscow-based Interfax news agency reported. Ekho Moskvy editor-in-chief Aleksei Venediktov confirmed that the station had received a warning from the Media Ministry but pointed out that "in the view of our lawyers, we have not violated a single provision of Russian law". Today, the Media Ministry submitted a request to the Communications Ministry to shut down Ekho Moskvy's Internet site, but withdrew the request after the station removed the text of the interview from the web, Russian news reports said. At the same time, the Media Ministry closed down Moskoviya, a Moscow television station, for allegedly promoting terrorism. However, after meeting with the director-general of the station, the ministry announced late today that Moskoviya would be back on air tomorrow, according to Russian news sources. Another Russian media outlet, the Moscow daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta, received a warning from the Media Ministry for publishing a photograph of the body of the young woman who was killed by the armed captors on 23 October, as she tried to enter the theatre where the hostages are being held. Early this morning, two journalists with the national television network NTV entered the theatre to interview several of the armed Chechen rebels. NTV broadcast footage from inside the theatre. However, while NTV showed the images of the hostages and their captors, it did not broadcast their voices. Later one of the hostages, Anna Andrianova, criticized NTV for not airing the audio. "We would like for our requests and demands to the leadership [of the country] to be conveyed. And we want to be heard," said Andrianova in a telephone interview with Ekho Moskvy. "Unfortunately, NTV only showed the picture," she added. New legal restrictions on press coverage of terrorism NTV appeared to be acting in response to a series of government actions this week. On 23 October, just hours before the hostage crisis began, the State Duma voted overwhelmingly - 259 to 34 with two abstentions - to broaden legal restrictions on news coverage of statements issued by terrorists and about anti-terrorist operations, widely referred to as the "Law on Battling Propaganda of Terrorism in Mass Media". The bill, which was under consideration months before the hostage crisis began, bans the media from printing or broadcasting an array of vaguely defined topics, including information that justifies extremist activities, justifies resistance to counter-terrorist operations, hinders counter-terrorist operations and reveals anti-terrorist tactics. Although the media bill has yet to be approved by the upper house of parliament and signed by President Vladimir Putin before it officially becomes law, the Media Ministry's actions this week against Ekho Moskvy, Moskoviya and Rossiyskaya Gazeta were all based on the pending legislation. Journalists are among the hostages and those seeking to end the standoff. A journalist for the Moscow-based Interfax news agency, an editorial assistant for Agence France-Press, and a typist from Ekho Moskvy radio station were all reported to be among the hundreds of hostages. Meanwhile, according to Russian press reports, the hostage-takers specifically requested that a prominent journalist who has covered human rights violations in Chechnya be among a team of negotiators. Anna Politkovskaya, a war correspondent for the Moscow newspaper Novaya Gazeta, along with doctors and Red Cross officials, entered the theatre several times to deliver emergency supplies and attempt to negotiate the release of the hostages, Interfax reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists is a New York-based, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the defence of press freedom worldwide. For more information about press conditions in Russia, please visit our web site at http://www.cpj.org For further information, contact Alex Lupis at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, USA, Tel: +1 212 465 1004 (x 101), Fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: europe@cpj.org, alupis@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/ Source: Committee to Protect Journalists press release, New York, in English 28 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ANALYSIS: RUSSIAN MEDIA REFLECT ON COVERAGE OF HOSTAGE CRISIS Although some Russian media outlets broke the law in their live coverage of the recent hostage crisis at a Moscow theatre, there should be no rush to make the media scapegoats for what happened, said one of President Putin's aides. Presidential aide Sergey Yastrzhembskiy, speaking in a discussion programme on NTV Mir on 29 October, said: "We have to calmly analyse the work done by the media during this crisis. There are examples of brilliant professional work, and there are examples when laws were broken, the state federal laws, for example the law on the fight against terrorism, when live broadcasts were made of operations by special forces. This is directly prohibited by law. There were also examples of outstanding conduct by certain journalists who helped the operational staff establish contact with the terrorists." Summing up the discussion on media coverage of the hostage-taking and the subsequent rescue operation, the presenter of the NTV Mir discussion programme concluded: "At the moment in Russia everything is decided for the media by the authorities, who, it would seem, are not against journalists adopting new forms of self-regulation." Running news The main Russian TV channels went into running news sequences on the night of 23-24 October in response to the seizure by 30 Chechen rebels of some 800 hostages at a theatre in Moscow. Russian Public TV (ORT), state-owned Russia TV, commercial NTV and TVS, Centre TV and Ren TV stayed on the air in Moscow all night. Normally, the channels close down around 2200-2300 gmt and reopen at 0200 gmt or 0300 gmt. Frequent news updates were broadcast all night on NTV, TVS and Centre TV; Russia TV and ORT had extra bulletins in the late hours of 23 October and carried frequent updates after 0000 gmt 24 October. NTV dropped its lucrative Champions League soccer coverage late on 23 October on Russian terrestrial frequencies in response to the crisis. Kultura TV, M1 TV, and STS followed their normal entertainment schedules, and closed down and reopened according to their normal schedules. Ekho Moskvy, Mayak and Radio Russia carried news as usual overnight. Sanctions against radio station, TV channel The Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey on 29 October said practically all of Russia's news media had "received with understanding in these recent days the warning that all incautious words could play into the hands of the terrorists and voluntarily agreed to `measure out' information". However, there had been "problems," the paper added, recalling that sanctions had been applied by the Ministry of Press and Information against Ekho Moskvy radio for "giving a Chechen terrorist almost half an hour to voice his demands on the air". The ministry also censured the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper for a breach of ethics in publishing on its front page a photograph of the dead body of a female hostage. "But the Ministry of Press and Information's most decisive step at the time of the tragedy was the suspension of the broadcasting of Channel 3, better known as the Moskoviya channel," Vremya Novostey said. The reasons for this including the channel broadcasting a recording from Al-Jazeera Television containing an appeal by the hostage-takers, discussion about possible exit routes and "backup airfields" the terrorists might use, and airing of remarks by the channel's reporters and talk show participants who said: "For Muscovites all people from the Caucasus look alike." According to Vremya Novostey, those who took part in the counterterrorist operation were said to be "incensed" at the behaviour of NTV television, which they accused of "virtually aiding and abetting" the terrorists by, for instance, showing the movements of special units around the theatre. Need for a media code The performance of the Russian media in covering the hostage drama raised the question of "the need to create a code of rules to regulate the behaviour of journalists in crises," the president of the National Association of Russia TV and Radio Broadcasters, Eduard Sagalayev, told ITAR-TASS on 28 October. "It is not a question of censorship or restrictions, but of the media being guided by the principle to do no harm... Journalists need to remember that the media is a tool that can be used by terrorists in achieving their ends," Sagalayev said. The president of the Academy of Russian Television, Vladimir Pozner, noted that "the attempts by some TV channels to pad out their coverage with commentaries by dubious experts hampered the special services in the efforts to free the hostages". In an interview with Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, Pozner said that "bringing unqualified people into the studio to make completely irresponsible remarks was a great mistake on the part of some TV and radio stations". He also called on journalists not to forget that "the Russian media do not have the moral or legal right to act as a mouthpiece for the bandits". As for the Western media, it had shown double standards in its handling of the hostage crisis, according to presidential aide Sergey Yastrzhembskiy. The Western press had called the bandits "dissidents and rebels", but Americans would have been indignant if the Russian press had referred to the people who had targeted planes at the World Trade Centre in New York as "dissidents". It was incorrect to apply the term "rebels" to events in Russia and the term "terrorists" to events in the West, Yastrzhembskiy said, in remarks reported by ITAR- TASS. Source: BBC Monitoring research 30 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** SENEGAL. RADIO GIVES POWER TO THE PEOPLE From BBC News Wednesday, 30 October, 2002, 10:03 GMT New technologies enable all kinds of social change, but old technologies do too. Usually it is not the technology that is important, but what people do with it that makes the difference. A perfect example of this is Radio Oxyjeune, that broadcasts to a poor suburb of Senegal's capital Dakar. The community radio station has been active for a few years, but is not content to simply pump out music and chat to its audience. Instead, it wants to take a much more active role in the lives of its listeners. It broadcasts programmes in both the national and local languages to reach as many people as possible. A staff of 50 people work at the station, only 20 of which have full-time jobs. The name of the station tries to capture some of its mission as it is a conjunction of the French words for "oxygen" and "youth". It also has phone-in shows that regularly tackle subjects many consider taboo, such as HIV/Aids and women's rights. "We have to make secret recordings of people with HIV," says Oumar Seck Ndiaye, Director of Radio Oxyjeune. "We wanted to shock people and needed their testimony to make it come alive," he says, "but it would have been dangerous for them if they'd been identified." The efforts to educate do not stop with phone-ins on the radio. The station has also started up many community groups that talk to people about HIV/Aids. During holidays, these groups train people to go out to beaches, football stadia, nightclubs and other places people gather to spread the word about safe sex. In many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa it is still hard to talk openly about Aids and ways to stop people avoiding HIV. And it is not just over health matters that Radio Oxyjeune is being attacked. During recent elections, the station set held meetings to help locals put questions to the politicians standing for office. Not all of the candidates were happy to be confronted this way, says Mr Ndiaye. It received threats and some politicians tried to intimidate it and stifle its voice. But Radio Oxyjeune is going from strength to strength, partly thanks to a large anonymous donation, and is about to open up sister stations around the country (via Mike Terry, DXLD) WTFK???? FM, I suppose. Clever play on words, the station name, impossible in English (gh, DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.95, noted at 1009 this night Oct 30 with discussion in English of financial problems, back to usual good signal (David Norrie, AOR7030, Auckland NZ, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yep, SIBC back on 5020 after a few days absence. Strong here 1130 in English on 29/10. (Craig Seager, Australia, Oct 29, ARDXC via WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DXLD) Craig, Yes - I heard it last night but it was pretty poor - around 0930. I sent them an email yesterday morning saying I presumed that I could hear them on about 5000 and that they were under WWVH. Maybe they weren't aware of it. I wonder if someone took the kids in for a visit and they twiddled a knob or two! (Wayne, ibid.) ** SRI LANKA. B02 sked vacates WEWN from 15745, leaving SLBC All Asia Service in the clear from 0030 UT s/on. Good signal last night past 0200 UT. Maybe WEWN can be persuaded to pick a different freq if they plan to resume here at this hour, come A03 (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) B-02 schedule on website shows WEWN still on 15745 at 1000-1700, 1800-2200, the former still blocking SL in our mornings (gh, DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: Feature on Gotland's Lummelunda caves Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" Sunday: "In Touch with Stockholm" (SCDX/MediaScan Oct 30 via DXLD) ** U K. BBCWS is still getting its streams mixed up! Instead of Charlie Gillett a.k.a. World of Music, UT Wed Oct 30 at 0406-0430, as scheduled on both the American and European streams, we heard The World Today, via the BBC Radio 4 feed, which is supposed to take the combined Am/Eu stream overnight. TWT during this hour is supposed to be only on the Af/ME/EAs streams. However, sometime before 0500, it was back to Off the Shelf, as scheduled on the Am/Eu stream – and SAs stream. I didn`t check SW 6135 before 0430, but it was \\ Off the Shelf later, except for its considerable lead over the webcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checking during the 0400-0500 UT hour on 30 October I noted I had no less then 3 separate BBC WS streams available to me. On 648 kHz and the BBC Radio Wales overnight relay they had Charlie Gillett followed by Write On and Off the Shelf as expected. However, the overnight relay of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Ulster had Outlook at 04:05, and although it was followed by Off the Shelf at 04:45, it was obviously a different copy since it was all of 6 seconds ahead of 648/Radio Wales, which would have involved 18 satellite hops. Anyway it was preceded and followed by different continuity links. Meanwhile on 6195 and 9410 kHz there was new programming (probably The World Today). Just before 0500 I checked with the BBC Asian Network, which was also carrying the Radio 4/Radio Ulster programming, so that might suggest this was one of the Asian streams. After 0500 the BBC Asian Networked pulled away for their own programmes, and the other aforementioned streams came together for The World Today (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. I hate to disagree with a fellow Brit, but I have to remind DX Dave that Voice of Russia (Radio Moscow) was on the 1323 kHz frequency many years *before* BBC Somerset Sound was even thought of. I first heard Radio Moscow on that channel (actually 1322 kHz at the time) in December 1964, but I think Somerset Sound took up residence there only in 1988. There is still at least one other UK transmitter on 1323 kHz that I know of, namely the Southern Sound transmitter carrying Capital Gold to the Brighton area (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glen[n], I noticed the report relating to BBC Somerset Sound vacating 1323 kHz in favour of The Voice of Russia suggesting that the BBC were there first. The frequency has been used by what was East Germany for years and carried communist propaganda broadcasts during the cold war. During 1967 the UK government introduced legislation (Marine Offences Act) to prevent this frequency being used for pirate radio broadcasts by the American backed 50 Kw pop station Swinging Radio England. The new law made all offshore broadcasting to Britain illegal with sanctions against advertisers and personnel as these unlicensed stations were causing interference to the legal users of the frequencies. On the 5th August the offshore pirate ceased transmissions on 1323 (1322 in those days) and the East German station once again had a clear channel. However to replace the offshore pirate stations the BBC started several new services which included many small local radio stations on medium wave, several of which were granted use of the frequencies formerly used by the pirates. BBC Radio Somerset was one of these. The difficulties seem to have arisen when the East German station increased its output power from just 100 kW during the 1960's to the 1000 kW now shown in current edition of the World Radio Handbook. The BBC local station in Somerset used just 630 watts on 1322 kHz but strangely enough the BBC World Service do use 100 kW on this frequency but not from the UK but at a relay station on the East Mediterranean island of Cyprus. I suspect the BBC moved their local station without much of a fuss as their right to be there was perhaps a little tenuous anyway. The BBC are in a unique position as they are a self-regulating government body (Andy Cadier, UK, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BIBLE VOICE BROADCASTING WINTER SCHEDULE mail@biblevoice.org http://www.biblevoice.org (mid Nov.) Middle East 7435 1700-1815 UT Monday - Friday 7435 1700-1900 UT Saturday 7435 1700-2000 UT Sunday India 12035 0030-0130 UT Sat/Sunday 9610 0200-0230 UT M-S 7180 0030-0100 UT M-S EE [Eastern Europe?] 5880 1800-1900 UT Sat/Sunday WE [Western Europe?] 7380* 2000-2115 UT Sat/Sunday *to be changed Dec. 7th E Africa 13810 1630-1700 UT M-Sunday (via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Beginning this Sunday, on VOA's "Main Street," I will be doing a brief (4-5 minute) segment about developments in broadcasting and media. This will be every UT Sunday on "Main Street." Times are 0233, 0433, 0633, 1033 UT. Best bets for North American listening: 0433 to Africa on 4960 6080 7290 7415 9575 9775 0633 to Africa on 6035 6080 6105 7295 11835 11995 13710 1033 to the Caribbean on 5745 7370 9590 and to East Asia via Delano on 5985 (Kim Elliott, VOA, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Welcome back!!! (gh) ** U S A. TEXAS RADIO HALL OF FAME SIGNS ON Inaugural group of inductees announced 10/30/2002 From Staff Reports Legends of Texas radio now have a hall of fame to call their own. The first 49 members were inducted Saturday in ceremonies at a Fort Worth restaurant. Area personalities in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame include the late Gordon McLendon, who helped create the Top-40 format and founded Dallas' KLIF-AM (570), and Bill Mack, the legendary "Midnight Cowboy," who left WBAP-AM (820) in 2001 after 32 years and now holds forth on XM Satellite Radio. WBAP is represented by current Saturday auto-show co-host Kevin McCarthy (formerly of KLIF) and weatherman Troy Dungan, also a longtime forecaster for WFAA-TV (Channel 8). The roster also includes Ron Chapman of KLUV-FM (98.7), Ken "Hubcap" Carter of KAAM-AM (770) and talker Charley Jones of KRLD-AM (1080), as well as several news and entertainment veterans and off-mike radio heavyweights. On the Web For audio clips of Saturday's ceremonies and biographies of those honored, go to http://www.texasradiohalloffame.com The Hall of Fame grew out of a 2001 reunion of local radio personalities, said co-founder Larry Shannon, the former Fort Worth disc jockey who now operates the Web site RadioDailyNews .com. Hall-of-famers were selected by a vote of dues-paying members, who include employees of radio stations and related industries. New members will be added annually. The inductees... http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/overnight/stories/103002dnovefame.2c33d.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, if one of your readers should happen to know anything about the station call letters WZT from Fort Des Moines, Iowa during or prior to 1924, I'd like to correspond with them. Thank you and 73. (Bill Smith, W5USM@aol.com) ** U S A. KTRB GRANTED MOVE BY FCC KTRB Modesto CA has been granted a construction permit to move the station from Modesto to San Francisco, CA. The new facilities, to remain on 860 kHz, will be 50 kW day and 40 kW (directional) nights. According to the FCC application, two sites are given: one is near Antioch CA near the Delta, the other is in the hills just west of Gilroy (one is in error as the coordinates are identical except for one digit). The station management is considering a new format for the station once the move is complete by next Fall; additionally, a new station will be constructed in Modesto to operate on 840 kHz from the existing facilities, with a power of 5,000 watts. The station's ownership, having pursued the move since 1986, indicates that the San Francisco area is well suited for a successful AM station because of the surrounding terrain. Presently the station relays KMPH 107.5 Fresno CA with a news and talk format, the local studio having been closed. - from various sources (IRCA Soft DX Monitor Nov 2 via DXLD) ** U S A. U.S. RADIO HOST REVISITS "WAR OF THE WORLDS" Tue Oct 29, 1:31 PM ET By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sixty-four years after Orson Welles spooked the nation with faux news bulletins of a Martian invasion, syndicated talk radio host Glenn Beck will take to the airwaves Wednesday with a live recreation of the famed "War of the Worlds" broadcast. The ambitious undertaking, complete with live sound effect artists, is unlikely to stir the panic of Welles' original radio drama, but Beck says the parallels between Halloween Eve 1938 and 2002 are striking. Back then, Americans caught in the grip of the Great Depression watched with growing apprehension as Adolf Hitler and his storm troopers menaced Europe across the Atlantic. More than six decades later, the nation is again struggling through tough economic times amid paranoia about the potential for attacks by al Qaeda and mounting concerns over a possible war against Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein. "The Martians are al Qaeda," Beck said in a recent telephone interview with Reuters, taking a break from preparations for his broadcast, adding: "It is absolutely a parable of what we're living through today." He referred to Welles' original "War of the Worlds" introduction, describing how "intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic regarded this Earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely drew their plans against us." Beck's commercial-free, hourlong recreation of Welles' Mercury Theatre production will air live at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on the 100 stations nationwide that carry his weekday talk show and on satellite radio from the XM Satellite Radio Studios in Washington, D.C. WIDESPREAD HYSTERIA Many listeners in 1938 missed the opening minutes of the original program, adapted from a story by British science-fiction writer H.G. Wells, and tuned in just as orchestra music was interrupted by authentic-sounding news bulletins of Martian spaceships landing in Grover's Mill, New Jersey, and blasting Earthlings with deadly heat rays. The show, carried by the Columbia Broadcasting System, the forerunner to CBS, triggered widespread hysteria before it became apparent to listeners midway through the program that it was merely a radio play. Scholars have said public jitters over the threat of war at the time played into the panic, but Beck said he doubts 21st century listeners would ever react the same way. "I don't want it to scare anyone," he said. "In fact, I got a stern talking-to from my family, and my father, and he said, 'Don't you scare America right now.' And I said, 'Dad, no one's going to believe there are Martians."' Still, Beck said he finds the story especially relevant in the light of current events, much more so than it would have been during the boom times of the 1990s and before the events of Sept. 11, 2001. "The story itself, with the Martians, doesn't work anymore, but the underlying message of being watched, being scrutinized, being destroyed and realizing what truly is important, your families and your communities, that message still holds," he said. Beck, whose regular show originates from Philadelphia, will join the cast of about a dozen actors, performing Welles' dual roles of the story's narrator and Professor Pierson. Beck's plans to use a live orchestra proved too complicated, so he decided to go with music recorded from Welles' original broadcast, according to a spokeswoman for Premiere Radio Networks, which is producing the show (Reuters/Variety via yahoonews via Artie Bigley, Mike Cooper, Fred Waterer, DXLD) We previewed this ahead of time at MONITORING REMINDERS. Heavily promoted at http://www.glennbeck.com We heard it on KFAB-1110 at 0506 UT. Well-done, except the pace was far too fast, and too scripted- sounding, even with the LOS every so often. BTW, to hear Beck online you have to pay to subscribe as an `Insider` -- unless you can find an affiliate that streams, and there are a lot of major AM stations. It did have one `station-break` in the middle, and a lengthy commercial for khaki pants at the end (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. From: http://www.kolr10.com/Global/story.asp?S=991769&nav=0RXJC58L Oct. 29 A man working on a radio tower near Centralia, Missouri is dead after the tower collapsed this afternoon. The Boone County Sheriff's department says the victim is 29-year-old Illinois man was about 100 feet up the 400-foot tower when it collapsed about Tuesday afternoon. The tower is owned by a Christian-format station in Centralia. The station's program director says the station is off the air until it can find a new antenna (via Brock Whaley, Atlanta, DXLD) God`s will? (Whaley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK? I looked, and that`s the entire story – no identification of the station, let alone its frequency. Nor the name of the victim. Back to journalism 101 (gh, DXLD) MAN KILLED IN BOONE COUNTY TOWER COLLAPSE --- Centralia, 10/30/2002 Federal investigators are on their way to Boone County to look into the collapse of a radio station tower that killed a man working on it. It happened just before 2 pm yesterday. The Christian format radio station KMFC in Centralia owned the tower. Authorities say the tower worker was 29-year-old Sean Burroughs of West Frankfurt, Illinois. Burroughs was about 100 feet up the 400-foot tower when it fell. The program director says the tower was 16 years old. The station will be off the air until the owners build a new tower (KRCG-TV Jefferson City via Mike Cooper, DXLD) KMFC TOWER COLLAPSE, [by] Daniel Grazier It will likely be several months before we know what caused a deadly radio tower collapse in Centralia. The accident killed 29-year-old Sean Burroughs of West Frankfort, Illinois and knocked Christian radio station KMFC off the air. Burroughs was part of a maintenance crew replacing the tower's support wires and was 120 feet up the tower when it fell. Investigators from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration were on the scene Wednesday. The OSHA office in Kansas City said the investigation will likely take at least three months. (KMIZ-TV news via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Last Friday around 3 pm [CDT], a small plane hit the tower of Ramar's recently-constructed KLZK (97.3) [Lubbock, TX] and knocked it off the air (From Inside Radio, Wednesday, October 30, 2002 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. NEW IBOC TEST STATION, 1700 WI2XAM FCC-licensed "Experimental" station WI2XAM on 1700 kHz is now operational, with 50 watts daytime and nighttime transmitting from the Lucent offices in Warren, New Jersey. I caught them on the air today (Tuesday October 29th), playing about an hour-long loop of music excepts (never a full song), ranging all the way from Classical to Country, Rock, and Pop. There were no IDs or announcements except for legal IDs of "WI2XAM, Warren, New Jersey" or "This is WI2XAM, Warren" at seemingly random times, in addition to the top of the hour. The purpose of this station is to test the new IBOC digital AM system, also known by the marketing name "HD Radio". And indeed WI2XAM was using IBOC, with the digital sidebands splattering all the way from 1685 to 1715 kHz, enough to cause a constant background hiss in the audio of nearby WTTM 1680 AM Stereo from Princeton, NJ. WI2XAM was also stepping all over a very nearby 10-watt TIS weather info station, WPSH468 in Manville, NJ, also licensed to 1700 kHz. On my car radio driving in the area between these two stations, 1700 kHz was pretty much a 50/50 mix between the two. Also while driving, I caught WI2XAM on the air until at least 45 minutes after local sunset, with the digital sidebands totally murdering normally good skywave reception of WPTX 1690 AM Stereo from Maryland. I came back to the radio at around 8:45 PM and WI2XAM was finally off the air for the evening. Here is an MP3 sample of how WI2XAM sounded this afternoon at my home roughly 5 miles away from the transmitter, with the characteristically poor analog AM audio quality of a "hybrid" IBOC signal (limited to less than 5 kHz frequency response), and also WPSH468 faintly audible in the background: http://rvcc2.raritanval.edu/ktek9053/wi2xam.mp3 Meanwhile, here is a pictorial representation of the two low-power 1700 kHz stations overlayed on the coverage of 1680 WTTM, showing the overlap amongst all three: http://rvcc2.raritanval.edu/ktek9053/wi2xam.gif 1700 WI2XAM isn't Warren, NJ's only AM radio station; here is a recording of Warren's own Part 15 station "KJFE" on 1500 kHz in full C-Quam AM Stereo: ftp://209.193.86.116/North-America/USA/NewJersey/1500kjfe.mp3 Now, which one sounds better to you -- and not just because of the wider variety of music and the fab liners? (WBRW, rec.radio.broadcasting Oct 30 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. A través de Cumbre DX pude confirmar que la radio captada en 6950, en Upper Side Band, es KIPM y no YIAM, como creía haber oído. La dirección postal para obtener QSL's es: PO BOX 69, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022, USA (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. USA: Re the AWR sked I forwarded which was included in DXLD 2-167 - thanks to Mike Barraclough for pointing out that I have mistakenly shown all the Meyerton transmissions to Africa as coming from Agat, Guam. Apologies - entirely my fault, must have happened whilst doing a global "find and replace" operation. I'll correct the sked in a day or so, and let you have the corrected version (Alan Roe, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Glenn, The actual operational confirmed schedule for Voice of Vietnam, Oct-27, shows English: 2330-0000 12020 9840 Son Tay As 0100-0130 6175 Sackville ENAm 0230-0300 6175 Sackville ENAm 1000-1030 12020 9840 Son Tay As 1100-1130 7285 Hanoi As 1230-1300 12020 9840 Son Tay As 1330-1400 Son Tay 7145 9730 As 1600-1630 Son Tay 7145 9730 Eu 1800-1830 Son Tay 7145 9730 Eu 1900-1930 Son Tay 7145 9730 Eu 1900-1930 Moosbrunn 5955 Eu 2030-2100 Son Tay 7145 9730 Eu The full, operational, actual schedule will appear in the WRTH 2003. The English schedule shown in a recent DXLD is incorrect. 13740 and 11630 were replaced on Oct-27 by 7145 and 9730. The European relays were time shifted one hour later: 5955 Moosbrunn 1800-2000, Skelton 5970 2000-2130. 9840 and 12020 are used 0830-1600, 2130-0000 7145 and 9730 are used 1600-2130 and 0000-0100 7285 is used 0000-0100 and 1100-1530 (same transmitter as used for domestic service relay 9875 0200-1000) Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Oct 30, WORLD OF RADIO 1154, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {for two exhaustive full schedules see DXLD 2-172} UNIDENTIFIED. Intruder! Tuning around 1415 Oct 30, found a relatively strong carrier on 6109, more so than what broadcasters were left before fading out. Occasional tones or data bursts, then a brief switch to SSB (phone quality), with someone in English saying thanks for helping out and see you next week. I expect this is US military, MARS or something which operates with impunity inside SWBC bands (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ INTERNATIONAL LISTENING GUIDE ILG seems to be inaccurate a lot. Many of the entries are partly or completely wrong. Of course, it's a big job so I won't complain too much. But they could at least correct themselves when being provided with up-to-date information. I sent them a few (verifiable) hints about AIR stations a couple of times. About both transmission-times and languages and also frequency changes. Not ever a single reply and of course no changes in the list. They tend to repeat the same wrong info over and over again - much like the WRTH, fellas (Thomas Roth, Nepal, Oct 31, swl via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 30 October - 25 November 2002 Solar activity is expected be low to moderate. Region 162 is expected to produce occasional M-class flares until it rotates beyond the western limb on 31 October. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 30 October, on 05-06 November, and again on 22-25 November due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels. Active to minor storm conditions are possible on 03-04 November and again on 20-23 November due to coronal hole effects. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Oct 29 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Oct 29 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Oct 30 155 12 3 2002 Oct 31 160 12 3 2002 Nov 01 160 12 3 2002 Nov 02 165 12 3 2002 Nov 03 165 15 3 2002 Nov 04 170 15 3 2002 Nov 05 170 15 3 2002 Nov 06 170 15 3 2002 Nov 07 175 10 3 2002 Nov 08 180 10 3 2002 Nov 09 180 8 3 2002 Nov 10 180 10 3 2002 Nov 11 180 10 3 2002 Nov 12 180 10 3 2002 Nov 13 180 10 3 2002 Nov 14 175 10 3 2002 Nov 15 175 10 3 2002 Nov 16 175 8 3 2002 Nov 17 175 8 3 2002 Nov 18 170 8 3 2002 Nov 19 165 10 3 2002 Nov 20 165 20 4 2002 Nov 21 165 25 5 2002 Nov 22 160 20 4 2002 Nov 23 160 15 3 2002 Nov 24 160 12 3 2002 Nov 25 160 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Oct 29 via WORLD OF RADIO 1154) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-168, October 29, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1154, First airings: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415, 17495 Thu 2130 on WWCR 15825 Sat 0130 on RFPI 7445, 15039 ONDEMAND by early UT Thursday: (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1154.ram WORLD OF RADIO 1153: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15038 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1153.html WORLD OF RADIO ON WJIE 7490: Schedule just posted Oct 29 shows: Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 and 0700 [probably not, but that`s the way the grid looks], M-F 1300, Daily 0400 NO SPAM REALLY FROM GH Judging from some bounces I`m getting, spammers are now forging one of my accounts as the `sender` -- Ghauser @ hotmail.com with a capital G. Nothing I can do about it, besides report it to abuse@hotmail.com but I urge people to beware (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. I've noted that you've always listed the Afghan on 8700U as [non] or [non?]. All I know is what I heard, but all the info I could gather about this broadcaster has it located in Afghanistan since at least early April, probably earlier. Where it might have been before that time I don't know (Gerry Bishop, {USAF}, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {at Bagram per later reports} ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. 18940: unID interval signal on 26 Oct from 153 [sic] until 1627. No program, no ID, zilch. Some flutter suggests Asian QTH. Who is this??? Also heard 27 Oct on 17835 at 1224. Gone by 1303. Suddenly on 15385 at 1305. Sounds like a military tune. Liz, 18940 is Norway, which is supposed to be relaying R. Afghanistan back to that country, but apparently loses the feed more than has it. There are a number of reports about this under AFGHANISTAN [non] in recent DXLDs, reachable via http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html So it was the identical music you heard on the other frequencies? Those do not correlate with the Afghan service, so the music could be originating from Merlin headquarters in London, which also handles many other relays. Not surprised about all the flutter with recent auroral conditions. Finland e.g. here has been quite fluttery in mornings on 15400 (now kaput). 73, (Glenn to Liz) Absolutely. I thought it was Afghanistan but I don't know about the other frequencies, either (Liz Cameron, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Unidentified on 15820-LSB, Oct 28 0840-0930+ in Spanish, R. Continental, many mentions of Buenos Aires, Argentina, but also of Venezuela. Where is this? (Ron Trotto, Wagner IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Continental, 15820-LSB, 0100-0140+ Oct 20. Tune-in to Spanish talk by man. Brief music breaks. IDs. Into soccer game with the usual exaggerated screaming g-o-a-l. Good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Australia to have another shortwave broadcaster? Queensland-based Station X http://www.stationx.com.au says it has been allocated a shortwave frequency by the Australian Communications Authority. The allocation is for 2368.5 kHz with a power of 1 kW. According to the station's Web site, 95% of shortwave radios can receive this frequency. Station X also has plans to open a number of transmitters in the extended mediumwave band: Gold Coast North 1692 kHz, Gold Coast South 1665 kHz, Adelaide 1692 kHz and Melbourne 1656 kHz. Station X originally operated on FM as an "aspirant community broadcaster", but closed down in November 2001 after failing to gain a permanent community broadcasting licence. The station re-opened as a commercial Webcaster in June 2002, and says it will begin broadcasting over the air as soon as possible. Negotiations are under way with Gold Coast City Council for permission to build 40 metre high transmission towers (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 28 October 2002 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Escuchada ayer por la frecuencia de 7185 en idioma inglés Radio Bangladesh; la hora de comienzo de esta emisora es a las 1745 UT y comienza y se identifica hasta las 1915 UT como VOICE OF ISLAM; después se pasa a la programación de RADIO BANGLADESH Y SE IDENTIFICA COMO RADIO BANGLADESH. El SINPO fue de 43333. Esta emisora transmite una música del país que es muy bonita (JOSE HERNANDEZ MADRID, CARTAGENA-ESPAÑA, Oct 29, Conexión Digital via DXLD) I wonder whatever became of the name change to Bangladesh Betar? (gh) ** BRAZIL. RÁDIO GAZETA, SÃO PAULO: Magaly Prado informa em sua coluna que a Rádio Gazeta de SP, a partir do dia 01 de janeiro de 2003, deixa definitivamente a programação evangélica e voltará ao seu projeto em transormá-la em uma emissora universitária. Os alunos de seus vários cursos terão espaço na emissora e há um interesse em colocar no ar programas elaborados por universitários dos cursos de jornalismo. Estivemos no Fórum comemorativo aos 80 anos da emissora em setembro passado, e o professor Pedro Vaz informou que a faculdade Cásper Líbero estará no próximo ano lançando um vídeo sobre os 80 anos do rádio no Brasil (Cassiano A. Macedo, Radioescutas 27/10/2002 via @tividade DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Right now (Oct 29, 0220 UT) I am hearing the second harmonic of Radio Mundial on 6650 kHz. It also seems like the ground frequency of 3325 kHz has much more power than it used to... (Rik van Riel, Curitiba PR, harmonics yahoogroups via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Olá Pessoal, Aqui Segue O Texto Do NOTAM Z0167/02: Horário De Verão Em Vigor Nos Seguintes Estados: Rio Grande Do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso Do Sul, Tocantins, Bahia E Distrito Federal, Ficando Assim Os Novos Horários: 12:00 Horas [UT-2] Rio Grande Do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Tocantins, Bahia, Distrito Federal, Fernando De Noronha, Ilha Da Trindade E Martin Vaz. 11:00 Horas [UT-3] Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande Do Norte, Ceará, Piauí, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso Do Sul, Amapá, Leste Do Pará. 10:00 Horas [UT-4] Rondônia, Roraima, Leste Do Amazonas E Oeste Do Pará. 09:00 Horas [UT-5] Acre E Oeste Do Amazonas. (Via Marcelo F. Rosa, Oct 27, radioescutas via DXLD) I didn`t realise this causes Brasil to have four timezones! We usually concern ourselves only with the time in the southern coastal states. Starts Nov 3: (gh, DXLD) Salve, dexistas! O horário de verão brasileiro começa no próximo sábado, à meia-noite de Brasília (0300 UTC de domingo). Os relógios, como se sabe, serão adiantados em uma hora. Abraços, (Valter Aguiar, radioescutas via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. CAMBODIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WANTS ANSWERS OVER VOA/RFA BAN Cambodian Information Minister Lu Laysreng has been summoned to appear before the National Assembly to explain a threat to shut down a local radio station for airing reports from Voice of America(VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). The Information Ministry recently rejected applications from VOA and RFA to operate their own transmitters in the country, and since late September the programming of the two stations has been relayed by Beehive Radio. The Ministry has ordered Beehive Radio to stop the relays on the grounds that they would ""cause anarchy in news broadcasting." It's believed that the US State Department has put pressure on the National Assembly to intervene. Lu Laysreng says that Beehive Radio has "no licence" to relay RFA and RFA, and is prepared to face the National Assembly. "I will meet them and answer all of their questions," he said (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 28 October 2002 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Oh well, I have a new printed RCI schedule, they seem to be ignoring it, broadcasting still on last year`s schedule of programs but on the new frequenciess. Go figure (--Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. From La Presse, Oct 26, a big story says Radio-Canada sells its land to finance its programming; and from an internal memo issued Oct 25. CBC is going to sell part of the land adjacent to the Maison de Radio-Canada for a condo development project. This is NW of the MRC at the corner of Wolfe and René Lévesque in Montréal. About 200 parking lot spaces and some lawn will become six 3-storey buildings with 140 condo units; conditional on pre-sales for the condos, over a 60-day period starting Oct 28. Receipts generated by this sale to be directly injected into CBC/Radio Canada`s primary mandate, programming. Not specific about whether for radio or TV; and to contribute to revitalizing the housing market in the area, which had a lot of housing knocked out to make space for Radio-Canada (via Ricky Leong, and Bill Westenhaver, QC, CKUT International Radio Report Oct 27, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Heard a pirate in Richmond Hill ON, just north of Toronto, running the Oz FM rock-format network from Newfoundland. In very weak as I was driving home from Burnt River. I had had a tip last week to this, so I knew it wasn't e-skip. This one seems to operate Sunday afternoons. I believe it does stereo though my logging here was too weak. I was too tired to start direction-finding the thing. I checked the one person I know in the area who might run a pirate but it's not that individual. I was at Davis Drive and 404, and I believe the pirate is southwest of there (Saul Chernos, Ont., amfmtvdx via DXLD) Did you intentionally omit the frequency? (gh, ibid.) I don't know if Saul intentionally omitted the frequency, but I had them on 106.7 the previous week (Niel Wolfish, Toronto, ibid.) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Las Palmas. Hi, tho very inactive at the moment, I send out this feeler: Going to Gran Canary on Sat Nov 2, just for a week. Hotel and which playa only known upon arrival, but surely there'll be some time over for DX-contacts. Anybody who knows about local DX-ers or perhaps even clubs on this island? I cannot promise anything, but I will try to investigate the whereabouts of the transmitter of 6715U. I have heard it too. The program source was revealed I see. Now I am scraping up the leads I have seen in HCDX and other sources. (Believe it or not, but I remember well a Korean connection of my own from that island. I was guiding a busload of Swedish tourists up in the mountains in 1973, I think, among the passengers were half a dozen really Nordic blond and tall girls. At a stop at one of the calderas we found another tourist bus parked there. It was stranded and the driver was sweating to do some repairs. His passengers were standing about, obviously already tired of the views and waiting to get on. They were all Korean sailors, and now they really got something interesting to look at. I asked Pusan? and they all smiled and nodded. My group had their view of the volcano and we left, but first I had to throw out a couple of Korean guys who had followed the girls onboard our bus. We waved them goodbye. That's the closest to ethnic cleansing I have come - and that cruel expression became known only many years later) 73 (Johan Berglund, Trollhättan, Sweden (Sony ICF-SW7600G while on vacation), hard-core-dx Oct 29 via DXLD) his impressions: DXLD 2-182 ** CHINA. Dear Listeners, The English Service of China Radio International is inviting applications for monitors. Currently we need monitors from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Monitors' tasks include sending us frequent reception reports on the various frequencies we use in particular regions, writing feedback on our programs, and making suggestions to improve the qualities of CRI's reception and programs. Any of our listeners living in the above-mentioned regions interested in this job are welcome to apply by e-mail. Please include your name, sex, age, occupation, physical address and any other supplementary information. If you are recruited, we will send you a monitoring card. All recruited monitors will receive special presents from us at the end of each year, as a token of our appreciation for their work. Our e-mail address is: crieng@cri.com.cn The English Service, China Radio International (via Konstantin Gusev, Moscow, Russian via Sergei Sosedkin, Oct 29, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Received a QSL card (non data) along a piece of paper saying they don't have "pegatinas" right now but they are thinking in having some in the future. I sent one IRC that came back to me glued on the envelope next to my name. Replied in 77 days for a reception report in Spanish. Heard the station on 6060 kHz (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, NY (USA), Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. La Voz de tu Conciencia, now on 6011v ** COSTA RICA. While the high-speed internet streaming direct from RFPI is not available, mp3 streaming of a SW pickup in eastern USA has been revived at http://www.boinklabs.com/cgi-bin/ifpi However, 7445 or 15039 has to be on the air, which was not the case when we checked at 0033 UT October 29, just noise and thundercrashes, but no doubt all set to pick up and relay. Confirmed working a few hours later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. FRECUENCIA DE RADIO MARTI PERIODO OCTUBRE 27/2002 HASTA MARZO 29/2003 ============================================================= HORAS UTC FRECUENCIAS ============================================================= 0000 0300 13820 0000 0400 11775 7365 6030 0300 0400 7405 0400 0700 11775 9805 0400 0900 6030 0400 1000 7405 0700 1000 7365 5980 0900 1000 6030 1000 1500 9565 1000 1300 6060 5980 1000 1200 6030 1200 1400 7405 1300 1930 13820 1300 2400 11930 1400 1700 11815 1500 2200 21675 1700 2200 9565 1930 2400 13820 2200 2400 15330 6030 73's (via Oscar, Miami, Oct 28, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. News from WRMI October 28, 2002 WRMI ADDS RADIO PRAGUE RELAY IN CZECH In addition to its daily relays of Radio Prague's English and Spanish programs, WRMI has begun relaying the Czech-language program of Radio Prague as well, as of today (UT Oct. 28). The schedule for the relays is now: 0300-0330 UT Spanish, 0330-0400 Czech and 0400-0430 English - - all on 7385 kHz. The Czech relay is aimed at Czech speakers in North America, and it will continue at least through the end of the B02 broadcast season (Jeff White, WRMI, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA [non]. And finally, not a peep from the alleged AFN Diego Garcia outlet, dating from 22 Sep 01 through the present, whether I was standing at the Indian Ocean's shores, sitting on an old Soviet Airbase, or flying anywhere in the area they could have best served. Odd, that. Biggest military operation of the last ten years, and AFN doesn't even keep the closest station on for it. We had to rely on Guam and Hawaii for AFN radio, and rely on them, we didn't. BBC World Service and VOA. AFN still doesn't get it. 73s (Gerry Bishop, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Radio Cairo ha puesto en el aire dos frecuencias más a partir del 27/10. Estas son: 11790 y 11680 (ADÀN GONZÀLEZ, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Glenn, I can't believe Finland has stopped all English broadcasts. Your report in DXLD helped to jog some memories for me. Yes, I remember back in the early 80's when Finland had several broadcasts in English each day beamed to N. America. Not to mention the fond childhood memories I have of Radio Finland in my youth (1969). I recall looking for the 2330 to 0000 GMT daily English broadcast beamed to NAm on 15,185. The Radio Finland QSL was also a prized possession back them. So, is this a permanent move by Radio Finland?? 73s, (Artie Bigley, OH, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`m afraid so. Now that you mention it, I remember the old 2330 transmission on 15185 (gh, DXLD) Dear Glenn: Yes, I caught the last English broadcast of Radio Finland last Saturday at 0645 UT on 21670 kHz, SIO 555 at Quezon City, Philippines, with excerpts from programs of Christmases and New Years past. This broadcast also ended abruptly - right in the middle of their national anthem to boot. Too bad - now the only time people will hear anything of Finland is when Nokia is in the news (Paul Angelo Santos, Philippines, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. I was in Cologne last September and paid a visit to Deutsche Welle's offices and studios. It was only my second time to visit the facilities of any shortwave broadcaster (the first being VOA in Washington DC) and I was given a comprehensive tour by Andrea Schulz and Waldemar Kramer of DW. The studios and engineering facilities are located in the tall building along Raderberggurtel (for a first-time visitor to Cologne this address is best reached by taxi) while the administrative offices are in a low office complex just behind this structure. Yes, I was told that DW will be moving to Bonn in 2003; if memory serves me right, DW even printed this news in one of their program guides. My gracious hosts, however, could not tell me exactly when this will take place and from their expressions, it appears to me that they will be staying in Cologne for a little while longer. To Herr Kramer and Frau Schulz, many many thanks for the hospitality (Paul Angelo Santos, Quezon City, Philippines, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. Again this season, some strange entries in the printout of DW frequencies for CIRAF zones 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9, Alaska/Canada. In English, includes Kigali 17800 at 0900-0945; 15275 and 17560 at 1900- 1945. The 0900 also on 9510 Antigua. More conventionally: 0100-0145 6040-Sackville, 6145-Germany, 9640-Sines, 9700-Antigua, 9765-Sackville 0300-0345 6020 Sackville, 6045-Germany, 9640-Sines, 9700-Antigua, 11985-Bonaire 0500-0545 5960-Germany, 6120-Sines, 9670-Antigua, 11795-Bonaire (via Richard Lemke, Alberta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [non]. Waiting inside a doctor`s office, surrounded by lots of QRN sources and shielding, the ONLY SW signal I could hear on my Grundig 100 PE, around 1630 UT Oct 29, was 17705, V. of Greece, further attesting to the incredible field strength this Delano unit pounds in here (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4698, Radio Amistad untraced here. Larry Baysinger reports that while they are on, their signal isn't being heard much further than their local valley. He suspects an antenna or transmission line problem (Hans Johnson, Oct 29, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Previously reported also to have been daytime only, which would certainly inhibit DX (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. RADIO LITORAL noted on 4832 kHz moved from 4830 kHz, good signal at 0055-0100 of 28 October, no traces on 4830 kHz of Táchira still off the air. Religious program, ID in Spanish mentioning Radio Litoral, asking listeners for letters and economic support (Dario Monferini, Italy, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR B-2002 changes. Friends, Here are the latest monitored B 2002 changes of AIR External Services: 6045 (new) 0130-0230 Nepali (Nepal) 9445 (ex 7150) 2045-2230 English 9575 Panaji (new) 2045-2230 English 9635 (ex 11790) 0100-0200 Sindhi (Pakistan) 11730 (new) 0400-0430 Persian, 0430-0530 Arabic (Middle East) 11870 (new) 0100-0130 Burmese (Myanmar) 13605 Bangalore (ex 13750) 1515-1615 Swahili, 1615-1730 Hindi (East Africa) 13710 Bangalore (ex 13685) 1000-1100 English (Australasia) 15235 (ex 15410) 1000-1100 English ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 13620 Bangalore dropped for 0215-0300 Pushtu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AIR Home Service 10330 Vividh Bharati Service (via 4 transmitters) now sign off at 1740 (ex 1730), after news in Hindi. Note: 1115-1215 UT slot to be monitored (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad, India, Oct 27, dx_india via DXLD) Here are some more changes of AIR External Service monitored in B-02: English 1745-1945 Add 9445 French 1945-2030 Add 13620 Nepali 1330-1430 Add 4860 Persian 0400-0430 Add 11730 Tamil 1115-1215 13710 replaces 13695 Thai 1115-1200 15235 replaces 15410 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India, Oct 29, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. All India Radio coming in with a good signal in English on 13710 kHz at 1330 to 1500 UT. Also parallel on 11620 kHz but with a fair signal and QRM. 10/28/02 (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, swl via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 15125.1, RRI Jakarta, Cimanggis, 2355-2135 Oct 27, Fair signal with English pops, canned ID at 2358 as "Dari Jakarta. Radio Republik Indonesia ... akan sampaikan siaran berita.", SCI, and followed to "Dinamika Indonesia" at 0000. 0028 advertisement and ID of Pro3, then local pops and telephone conversations (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. [Cumbre DX] TDP latest schedule [in time order, mostly; sure a lot of ``temporary breaks`` -- gh] Radio Ezra (temporary break) 0500-0530 17735 ......s English Jakada Radio International (temporary break) 0600-0630 15695 mtwtf.. Hausa Radio Free Vietnam 1230-1300 9930 mtwtf.. Vietnamese Que Huong Radio 1300-1400 9930 mtwtfs. Vietnamese Voice of Khmer Kampuchea-Krom 1400-1500 11560 .t..... Khmer Sagalee Oromiyaa 1730-1800 12115 m..t... Oromo Mezopotamian Radio & Television 1700-1800 12115 .tw.f.. Kurdish Dejen Radio 1700-1800 12115 .....s. Tigrigna Voice of Komala 1700-1800 12115 ......s Farsi Jakada Radio International (temporary break) 1900-1930 12125 mtwtf.. Hausa Voice of Biafra International 1900-2000 12125 .....s. Igbo Tomorrow's News Today (temporary break) 2000-2030 7590 mtwtf.. English Eurosonor Radio (temporary break) 2000-2100 7590 .....s. German Fang Guang Ming Radio 2100-2200 6035 mtwtfss Chinese 2100-2200 9945 mtwtfss Chinese Denge Mezopotamya 0500-1300 15675 mtwtfss Kurdish 1300-1700 11530 mtwtfss Kurdish (via Hans Johnson, Oct 28, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. UNSOUND AMBITIONS By CHRISTOPHER BYRON October 28, 2002 – WOULD you pay $12.95 per month for the functional equivalent of having Muzak pumped into your car every time you back out of the driveway and flip on the radio? Though the answer seems obvious, some presumably smart fellows on Wall Street have already invested - and lost - more than $4 billion to find out for themselves, the hard way, that consumers are rarely so foolish as investors wish them to be at the peaks of runaway bull markets. This week we take a look at some particularly compelling evidence of same, as one of the two leading rivals for dominance in the doubtful business known as satellite subscription radio goes through what amounts to a crypto-bankruptcy proceeding. The company in question is Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. of New York, and it perfectly embodies both the hope and the delusion of the Digital Age, with its dogmatic belief that technology itself can define human need. "Build it," we were told, "and they will come." But no one did. And in the case of Sirius - and its only rival, XM Satellite Radio Inc. of Washington, D.C. - it's not hard to see why. CONVENTIONAL radio programming uses analog wave technology, but satellite radio is based on digital technology. And though the sound quality of digital radio is undeniably better, listeners need special "digital radios" to receive and decode the signals. Those radios add roughly $300 to the price of any new car that comes equipped with them, and they're equally expensive to install as an after-market item. What's more, the output quality is only as good as the amplifiers and speaker systems that reproduce the sounds. So with even medium-good systems now selling for $1,000 and up, the ticket of admission to the digital listening experience is really much higher than the subscription charges of $9.99 per month (for XM) and $12.95 for Sirius suggest. What do you get for the money, besides the elimination of static and fading reception? Not a lot that people may really want. Both Sirius and XM are offering 100 channels of programming - about half original programming developed by the companies, and half programming already being aired by existing stations. One big plus, or so it is hoped: Being able to listen to your favorite radio station not just around town, but nationwide. Yet how many people drive from New York to Los Angeles or Miami, anyway - and how many would want to have a service like Sirius or XM at the ready for those rare moments when one takes such a trip? Not only is most driving done within 10 miles of one's own front door, but numerous studies show that listeners derive the most pleasure from hearing songs with which they are already familiar, which is why CD players on radios all come with "replay" buttons - something a third- party programming service cannot offer. IN spite of such obstacles, Sirius itself has already spent more than $1.5 billion in direct capital investment on constructing an elaborate digital programming infrastructure that stretches coast to coast and 25,000 miles into outer space. Unfortunately, a task that began in the boom days of Wall Street's bull market has finally reached fruition in the darkening economic climate of 2002, generating revenues to date of barely $75,000. The company insists that its audience numbers are set to ramp up sharply in the coming year, as its two main automaker partners - Daimler/Chrysler and Ford - begin equipping their new models with Sirius-ready radios. But in a tight-money climate, it's easy to imagine many cost-conscious shoppers eliminating the radios as a way to cut the sticker price on the showroom floor. Sirius says it expects to have 400,000 subscribers by the end of next year (up from fewer than 40,000 now), and to reach a cash-flow break- even point with two million subscribers by the first quarter of 2005. But skeptical investors aren't buying it, and they've sent the company's stock price careening from a high of $63 two years ago to a current price of 75 cents. That in turn makes it make-or-break time for the company's new president and CEO, Joseph P. Clayton, 52, who took over as head of Sirius a year ago with much tub-thumping enthusiasm about the future of the industry. If things don't go right for him - and at the moment the odds clearly seem stacked against success - Clayton will earn for himself the awkward distinction of presiding over two ultra-extravagant high-tech failures in a row. What's more, both will have flopped for exactly the same reason: No market demand for the product. Prior to taking over at Sirius, Clayton held the job of vice chairman and president of North American operations at scandal-drenched Global Crossing Ltd., escaping last November as the company was hurtling toward bankruptcy. Sirius itself began life at the start of the 1990s as CD Radio, Inc., the brainchild of a Canadian college dropout named David Margolese, who is said to have been stunned when he figured out how much money could be made if even 1 percent of America's radio audience could somehow be persuaded to pay for the privilege of listening to the radio. Exactly why anyone would be willing to do so when radio was already free seems to have been something that never got critically examined. Instead, entrepreneurs simply piled into the game, reassuring each other that if consumers would "pay" for free broadcast TV (and what else was cable television?), then why should "subscription radio" be any different? BY mid-decade, Margolese's company had gone public, raising about $7 million through the U.S. arm of a Canadian stock-and-warrants outfit named First Marathon Securities, and CD Radio - soon to be renamed Sirius Satellite Radio - was ready to roll. Since then, the company has devoted itself nonstop to the task of raising money and spending it, to create what amounts almost to a private enterprise version of the Space Program. Three Sirius-owned satellites now orbit 25,000 miles above the earth, beaming back the digital signals of radio programming across the whole of the North American continent. Back on earth, some 92 so-called "repeater" towers have been constructed around the country as well. Their purpose: to fill in dead zones that the satellite signals for one reason or another can't reach. A fleet of trucks has been assembled to patrol the nation's highways to monitor the signals 24/7. AND that's not the half of it. By spring 1998, Wall Street was stampeding, and with Sirius's share price having soared from $4 to nearly $40, the company signed a $4.5 million-a-year, 15-year lease on two entire floors of high-rise office space overlooking midtown Manhattan. Next, the company poured more than $46 million in capital improvements into the premises, constructing everything from a visually stunning satellite control room to actual concert studios, a digital music library, and who knows what else. And all this was done before a single customer had been signed up. In the spring of 2000, as Wall Street's swooning enthusiasm over this long-shot business was peaking, the company carried a market value of nearly $2.5 billion. Today the whole shebang is priced at less than $58 million. To buy itself some desperately needed time, the company last week announced a recapitalization plan through which holders of $1.2 billion worth of its junk bonds and preferred stock agreed to swap the paper for $40 million worth of new common stock, making the company 92 percent owned by a group of institutions led by the Oppenheimer Funds, the Blackstone Group, and Apollo Management. The deal gets rid of $110 million in interest charges, and gives the company the cash to hang on until the second quarter of 2004, by which time it is hoped that a market for subscription radio will have finally begun to emerge. My own guess, however, is that it won't, and that the first broadcaster who turns up bearing anything more liquid than a bag of Malawian kwachas can walk off with this company for $150 million before lunch. Enough said (New York Post Oct 28 via Don Thornton, DXLD) ** IRAQ. IRAQ/USA: MINISTRY DENIES REPORTS ON EXPULSION OF CNN STAFF - PAPER | Text of report by Iraqi newspaper Babil web site on 27 October Baghdad: The Iraqi Information Ministry on Saturday [26 October] denied press reports on the expulsion of foreign reporters from Baghdad and described these reports as baseless. CNN's Internet site reported that Jane Arraf, a Canadian national, Nick Robertson, Rim Ibrahimi and two non-Iraqi employees, who are part of the CNN team in Baghdad, were instructed to leave Iraq by Monday. [On 26 October the Babil web site carried the following report: "Al- Bawabah: The Iraqi Information Ministry said on Thursday [24 October] that it has expelled Jane Arraf, the CNN bureau chief in Baghdad, and a group of other foreign journalists. The ministry added that it will tighten procedures for granting entry visas to foreign correspondents in the future. The ministry informed Arraf and five non-Iraqi journalists including Nick Robertson and Rim Ibrahimi who are part of the CNN team that they have to leave Iraq by Monday. "This development took place after the ministry complained about the behaviour of several foreign correspondents working in Iraq. CNN reports that Information Ministry officials have voiced dismay at some of CNN's reports, particularly the reports on the demonstration that took place in front of the Information Ministry in Baghdad last week. Ministry officials said that they strongly object to CNN's presence in the Kurdish-controlled area in northern Kurdistan and to the reports CNN transmits from that area. "The Information Ministry and at the direct instructions of Information Minister Muhammad Sa'id al-Sahhaf had closed the Al- Jazeera bureau in Baghdad last month. Al-Jazeera gives special importance to coverage of the developments in and on Iraq. Iraqi President Saddam Husayn had met Al-Jazeera's director and one of its most famous presenters Faysal al-Qasim last week."] Source: Babil web site, Baghdad, in Arabic 26 and 27 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Dear DXers, I listened today 28/10/2002 to The voice of Iraqi Republic/Voice of Iraqi People: Date: 28/10/2002 Time: 0010 UT Freq: 9570 & 9580 KHz SINPO: 43433 & 54544. I hope identifying the Transmitter Site and more information about this station. Thanks. 73's from Tunisia (Achraf Chaabane, Sfax, Tunisia, Oct 28, hard-core-dx via DXLD) SA`UDI ARABIA (gh) ** ITALY. Dear Glenn, This information is just sent to you. Radio Europe will do special programs in connection with the Japan Short Wave Club DX-camp commemorating 50 years of activity of the DX-club. The programs will be on 7306 USB kHz. This the complete schedule : Friday 01 November 2000-2400 utc Saturday 02 November 0000-0900 utc Saturday 02 November 2000-2400 utc Sunday 03 November 0000-0900 utc Sunday 03 November 2000-2400 utc Monday 04 Movember 0000-0500 utc (need to say at 2200 Vatican Radio start its service, unfortunately) Radio Europe will issue special QSL card and also JSWC will do and it will be issued for correct reception reports sent to: Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC), 50th Anniversary Committee, P. O. Box 138, Yokohama Port, 231-8691 Japan. Please enclose 1 IRC or U.S. 1 dollar bill. Reports sent to Radio Europe, P. O. BOX 12, IT-20090 LIMITO (MI) ITALY, will be forwarded to JSWC after the verification, only if additional IRC or $ will be enclosed with the report. Good listening to all the participants (Dario Monferini, Milano, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. R. Jordan, 11690, Oct 26 1440-1510+. Tunein to English top- 40 pop music countdown program. News at 1500, TC, IDs. Surprisingly good signal and in the clear when using ECSS-LSB. Very pooir signal when using ECSS-USB with RTTY signal on high side. But no RTTY on low side (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW, Joe Buch confirms he meant to report this also as 11690, not 11970 (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. La Voz de Corea, captada en 13760, el 19/10, a las 0040 UT, con el programa "La Hora de los oyentes", con lectura de cartas, informes de recepción y respuestas a las preguntas de los escuchas. Pyongyang no tiene variaciones durante el nuevo horario de octubre. El esquema en español es el siguiente: 17-18 UT 9975 y 11735 kHz; 00-01 UT y 02-03 UT 11735, 13760 y 15180 kHz. Saludos, (ADÀN GONZÀLEZ, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. Radio Pinoy, 17885 in Tagalog. Music, messages. Birthday wishes 27 Oct at 1146, often read as "Happy happy birthday". YL/OM announcers. Two clear IDs at 1152. PWBR says this is from Kuwait but there was enough flutter to suggest an Asian QTH. MUF very high this morning (Liz Cameron, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17885, 24/10 1017, R. Pinoy, Via R. Kuwait, Kabd, em tagalog, programa "Radioke", com ouvintes femininas cantando músicas românticas ocidentais, 45444 SCM (Samuel Cássio Martins, Brasil, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. NEW RADIO LAUNCHED IN KYRGYZ CAPITAL The following is an excerpt from an article by Sveta Lokteva entitled: "Tune your ears to Nashe Radio" by Kyrgyz newspaper Vecherniy Bishkek on 23 October Those who are fond of clever and worthy music have begun to live better and even more joyfully since yesterday. Nashe Radio [Our Radio] started broadcasting on [Kyrgyz capital] Bishkek radio waves. Real and qualitative rock started playing on 89 FM, which belongs to the KOORT [Kyrgyz Public Educational Radio and TV] closed-type joint stock company, from early yesterday morning. The organizers of this radio station came up with a unique credo: "Stop living with hope for the best. Hope is nothing, while professionalism is everything" without belittling the significance of other radio formats. Real professionals have come to run this radio. To be precise, they have not come but arrived from Moscow and [the former Kazakh capital] Almaty. Having solid experience as promoters, they were right to stake on the Nashe Radio loss-free format, for which ideal music was selected that at one time had a real influence on those who are now 30-40 years old and are just starting to catch up with the new generation. Aleksey Veselov, director of Nashe Radio, said that initially broadcasting would be based on a Russian radio version. However, political news, a morning entertainment programme and various game shows, including those organized jointly with Vecherniy Bishkek, will soon be broadcast. [Passage to end omitted: a survey shows that people in Bishkek have long been looking forward to such a station] Source: Vecherniy Bishkek, Bishkek, in Russian 23 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Altho there is no matching of names, we wonder if this have any connexion with the music station reported on 4050 (gh, DXLD) Hi Glenn, I came across a link to http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/10/28/build/world/w-kandahar.inc which talks about how life is getting better for US troops in Kandahar. One sentence grabbed my attention: "Five barbers on contract from Kyrgyzstan trim, shave and style the troops' hair in the air conditioned chill. In one corner, a radio blasts out rock songs." Could this be the station reported on 4050 kHz? 73, (Andy Sennitt, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. Radio Vilnius B02 schedule: To NAm (310 degrees) on 9875 at 2300-2330 Lithuanian, 2330-2400 English; on 7325 at 0000-0030 Lithuanian, 0030-0100 English. To Eu (259 degrees) on 9710 at 0900-0930 Lithuanian, 0930-1000 English. All transmission from Sitkunai, Lithuania with 100 kW (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 28; English also via Richard Lemke, Alberta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. Onde Radio, the weekly DX program in Italian, has issued a schedule of topics for all upcoming Nov and Dec shows (gh) La Newsletter è reperibile all`indirizzo web seguente http://www.arpnet.it/air [beware: flash intro includes MIDI, despite what audio you may be listening to already] Tutte le domeniche - Ore 08.00 UTC su 9.630 kHz Onde Radio on line http://www.vomradio.com Reception Report : Voce del Mediterraneo, P. O. Box 143 Valletta, (Malta) Reception Report -via Internet- : http://www.vomradio.com Il programma ``Onde Radio`` si ascolta anche in Internet al seguente indirizzo web http://www.vomradio.com Visitando il nuovo portale della VOM, è possibile inviare rapporti di ascolto in tempo reale via internet. Al programma ``Onde Radio`` possono partecipare appassionati del radioascolto, esperti scientifici di mediaeducation, emittenti radiofoniche, tecnici, organizzatori di Mostre e Fiere radiantistiche. Gli interessati saranno graditi ospiti della nostra trasmissione. Basta inviare una semplice segnalazione all`indirizzo: VoM - Redazione italiana ``Onde Radio`` - P. O. Box 21 – 70051 Barletta (Bari), Italia (Alfredo Gallerati, IK7JGI - A.I.R. Associazione Italiana Radioascolto, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. jueves 24 de octubre, 07:30 PM LA TELEVISION DIGITAL TARDARA UNOS SEIS AÑOS EN LLEGAR A MEXICO * Las inversiones son muy altas y la publicidad no ha crecido lo sufiente por este medio: Televisa México, 24 Oct (Notimex).- El vicepresidente de grupo Telesistema de Televisa, Félix Araujo, dijo que podría tardar entre cinco y seis años para que en México se cuente con señales de televisión digital, ya que ello depende de la situación económica y comercial de las empresas. Durante la realización del seminario sobre televisión digital organizado por Televisa, el directivo comentó que la llegada de la televisión digital a México depende más de una decisión económica, que de una política o tecnológica. "La decisión de qué formato se usará en el país depende directamente de la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, aunque es la parte económica la que decidirá para cuándo puedan ofrecerse estos servicios". Manifestó que el cambio debe iniciar por transmitirse las señales y no por vender los equipos, pero la inversión es muy fuerte, y los anunciantes no van a pagar más por transmitir una señal digital. "Ahora se tiene que invertir en equipos de producción, cámaras, switches de producción, consolas de audio, equipos de postproducción, equipos digitales, y a su vez también comprar transmisores para echar al aire la producción que se haga", explicó. Expuso que si todo Grupo Televisa, en su división de televisión, se cambiara a digital, tanto la producción como la transmisión se podría hablar de una inversión aproximada de mil 200 millones de dólares. "Esto es mucho dinero, y se le une que la inversión publicitaria en televisión no ha crecido en los últimos tres años, ni crecerá el próximo año, entonces ha habido un estancamiento muy importante", lamentó Araujo. Comentó también que ésto es un fenómeno generalizado en el país, además se habla de que en Estados Unidos se va a presentar otra vez la recesión y ésto le afectaría a México, ya que es su principal socio comercial. "Entonces invertir ahora para no recibir un peso de utilidad pues es una decisión muy difícil, sin embargo, se sabe que la televisión es un interés social y un interés público, y es nuestro interés poder ofrecer muy próximamente las bondades de esta nueva televisión", puntualizó. Las inversiones a realizar tendrían que ser graduales y podrían tardar unos cinco o seis años, ya que el funcionamiento del equipo es diferente para la producción y para la transmisión. "Los transmisores son importantes, porque finalmente se tiene que hacer una transmisión simultánea durante por lo menos 15 años, para que el público que aun no cuente con equipos apropiados no se quede sin señal", mencionó Araujo. Además, se requieren también torres nuevas, pues a las que se tienen ya no se les puede agregar más peso, porque correrían el riesgo de caerse y éstas tienen un costo aproximado de un millón de dólares. En conjunto, la Cámara de la Industria de la Radio y la Televisión y la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes crearon un Comité de Tecnologías Digitales para hablar sobre el tema. En tres años se han realizado pruebas en los tres formatos que existen para manejar la señal digital en el mundo, que son el Norteamericano, el Europeo y el Japonés, y los tres funcionan bien para recibir la señal de televisión, por lo que en ese término sólo falta la decisión del gobierno. Según Luis Fernándo Borjón, director de Televisión, de la dirección general de Sistemas de Radio y Televisión de la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, la dependencia no puede exigirle a las televisoras proporcionar este servicio. "No se les puede exigir o marcar el momento en el que deben iniciar este tipo de transmisiones, porque podría llevar a la quiebra a las empresas televisoras, y no se trata de hacer eso", dijo Borjón. Expuso que además se deben ver las ventajas económicas que este tipo de tecnología tendría, "porque si no la pueden pagar las empresas y no la puede pagar la gente, pues es algo que no llegará rápido". Según Araugo, además de las mejoras en la imagen y el sonido, con este sistema se podrían ofrecer servicios adicionales, como poder mandar y tener datos, voz, Internet, entre otros, los cuales darían un valor agregado a la televisión. "Una vez que se pueda ofrecer el servicio, la lógica sería iniciar transmisiones en las principales ciudades, pero ahora la pregunta es si los televidentes podrán adquirir los aparatos", preguntó Araujo Ramírez. Por este motivo, agregó, las televisoras tendrán que ver la posibilidad de llegar a un acuerdo con los fabricantes para hacer más accesible el precio de esos aparatos (via Héctor García Bojorge, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. The new frequency 9595 hasn`t lasted long - Medi #1 is noted back on 9575 today - October 29th (Noel R. Green [Blackpool-NW England], Cumbre DX via DXLD) {later: kept switching back and forth, denying it} ** NEPAL. Hi all, took me a while but I finally got myself set up again here in Kathmandu. Am presently listening to one of the two 15 minute English broadcasts by Radio Nepal on 5005 kHz. They are aired at 0215-0230 and 1415-1430 UT. Supposedly also on 3230 and 7165 but monitoring these frequencies over the last two weeks hasn't been successful. Even though these two frequencies keep appearing in just about every publication, they really seem to be inactive. Not too sure about 7165 though. Could just be heavily QRMed by both RTM Sarawak with BBC/English on 7160 and Xizang BS with Mandarin from Lhasa/Tibet (which is just a couple of miles up the hills, so to speak) on 7170 kHz. 3230 is definitely dead as a dodo. [later:] ...almost forgot to mention: R. Nepal is now also QRV on 6100 kHz. Don't know for how long this has been the case. Hope some of you manage to catch them sometime. Good hunting!!! P.S. As to the ominous absence of transmissions on 3230 - well, either they dropped that frequency or they're working on their antennas. I recently drove by the Khumaltar TX site and saw some work going on there. While Radio Nepal just praised the latest successes of the security forces in their fight against the Maoist rebels we got here, there was a big bang with windows shaking and all, just 15 minutes ago. Sounds like they set off another bomb somewhere in town. Yesterday we had four bombs go off within an hour! Oh well... For those interested, check http://www.nepalnews.com 73 de (Thomas, DL1CQ, Roth, Oct 28, FISTS #6402 presently in Kathmandu/Nepal, 9N Sony ICF2001D/2010, Sangean ATS-909, swl via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. R. Miskut, 5770, 2340-2400* Oct 19. Yes, still broadcasting in USB plus carrier. Irregular. Continuous Spanish talk by man and woman. Brief music breaks. Sign-off with national anthem. Fading in and out. Sometimes fading completely out for a minute but then fading in to a weak but fairly audible level at times. But overall a poor signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. While I'm inclined to think that all but the fact that Scott's programming has replaced whatever preceded him on KXOK-32 is off topic, I'll join the forum pollution briefly and state that while my personal belief is that Scott is a crackpot of the first magnitude, I also respect him for being honest. Years ago, when he was carried locally in Nashville, someone called to ask him what he did with all the money he got. His response was something to the effect that it was none of their damned biz WHAT he did with the money. Once they sent it, he could use it as he saw fit. He added that he might buy a new TV transmitter someplace, or he might use it for a Caribbean vacation, or maybe buy a new car or race horse. Hey...he was honest! That's more than I can say for most TV (so-called) evangelists. Oh...and in case you were wondering...the answer is NO. I didn't send him any money. BTW...I always thought his in-depth stuff about pyramids was pretty wild! LOL! (Tom Bryant / Nashville, TN, WTFDA via DXLD) Dr. Scott has had bouts of heart disease and cancer over the past few years. The good Doctor's age is creeping up on him. Those are age spots you see on his face. Much as the good Doctor is not so "on-the- square" when it comes to his finances, I actually like him. I would never donate to his ministry, but he is quite the entertainer...bar none. I used to have the biggest kick out of his twenty-four hour beg- a-thons called "The Festival of Faith" and the "Voice Of Faith". They were played one after another on WHCT/18 in Hartford in the late 1970's. We used to have major "conventions" in the college dorm while we enjoyed the "local vegetation" (he, he, he......) and watching his shows on Friday nights. This guy was a hoot, especially when we were "#&*@$&*&#". Of course now, 20+ years later, we don't do that anymore! 73! (Peter Q. George, ibid.) ** PERU. R. Ondas del Pacífico: Realmente es algo particular lo que sucede con esta emisora; acá han sido pocas las veces que la he escuchado al mismo tiempo 6782.6 en // 13565.2; la mayoría en 6782.6 sólo me llega la portadora sin audio, mientras en 13465.2 entra como un cañón. Esta mañana la escuché hacia las 1100, siendo la primera vez que los escucho en la mañana, ya que siempre me llega luego de las 2100 (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Oct 28, Conexión Digital via DXLD) [It comes in a lot stronger on the harmonic than fundamental] ** PERU. R. Melodía, 5996.71, 0850-0915+ Oct 26, continuous Spanish talk, IDs, promos, ads, poor with hets (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Como parte del dominio, los brujos, hechíceros y demás manipulan al resto de la manera más facil...de víctima...ya que de inmediato aparece la lástima nublando todo tipo de razón... Acá en Peru el fenómeno corresponde a una gran crisis economica... recesion... y como consecuencia... desaliento general... Bases "perfectas" para que se desarrollen estos "brujos" y "hechíceros"... Cabe destacar que Huancabamba es la ciudad más famosa en el Perú por sus brujos y su laguna que "quita toda clase de maleficios" No es de extrañar que la mayoria de la publicidad de las radios huancabambinas o de Huarmaca (ciudad cercana a Huancabamba) correspondan a estos "señores". Todos los espacios "vacíos" o de medianoche a la mañana han sido "tomadas" por sectas que abarcan desde brujos hasta "ufologos"... Incluso las 2 cadenas de TV más grandes (América y Panamerciana) en la madrugada emiten (interrumpiendo algún film) un infomercial de 5 minutos aproximadamente... EMISORAS EN ONDA MEDIA LIMEÑA CON ESPACIOS CONTRATADOS POR SECTAS 540 Inca 560 R. Oriente 600 Cora 620 Ovación 700 R700 780 R. Victoria 880 R. Unión 990 R. Latina 1030 R. Éxito 1110 R. Sonora 1200 R. Cadena 1250 R. Miraflores 1300 R. Comas 1340 R. La Luz 1400 R. San Isidro 1440 R. Imperial 2 la mayoría de las emisoras en onda corta peruana tienen espacios contratados por sectas... Finalmente hay que añadir lo siguiente: estos personajes pagan al contado y por adelantado el alquiler del espacio en la radio o TV. 73s (Alfredo `Spacemaster` Cañote, Lima, Oct 29, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Re gh`s unID in English on 17790 at 1400: this is it: WESTERN EUROPE 1400-1500 15365; 17790 RADIO ROMANIA INTERNATIONAL WINTERSCHEDULE 2002 - 2003 ROMANIA IN DIRECT ROMANA e -mail : ro@rri.ro UTC FRECVENTE {KHz} ZONE 23 00 - 06 00 6 040 7 215 06 00 - 07 00 9 510 9 570 9 625 11 790 11 940 07 00 - 08 00 9 570 11 790 08 00 - 11 00 15 105 17 720 11 00 - 13 00 15 105 15 290 17 720 17 775 EUROPA CENTRALA 13 00 - 15 00 15 105 17 720 15 00 - 17 00 11 790 15 105 SI DE VEST 17 00 - 18 00 9 510 11 790 18 00 - 19 00 7 145 7 195 9 510 9 570 11 790 19 00 - 22 00 6 040 7 145 7 195 9 570 22 00 - 23 00 6 040 7 145 03 00 - 04 00 15 370 17 735 AUSTRALIA 16 00 - 18 00 11 780 15 365 ISRAEL 22 00 - 24 00 9 690 11 830 AMERICA DE NORD 00 00 - 02 00 9 510 11 940 OPEN RADIO ENGLISH e-mail : engl@rri.ro 02 00 - 03 00 9 550 11 830 NORTH AMERICA 02 00 - 03 00 11 740 15 270 JAPAN O2 00 - 03 00 11 940 15 370 NEW ZEALAND 04 00 - 05 00 9 550 11 830 NORTH AMERICA 04 00 - 05 00 15 335 17 735 INDIA 06 00 - 07 00 9 530 11 830 N W AMERICA 06 36 - 06 56 9 510 9 570 9 625 11 790 11 940 WESTERN EUROPE 07 00 - 08 00 17 720 21 480 N-E AFRICA 14 00 - 15 00 15 365 17 790 WESTERN EUROPE 17 00 - 18 00 9 690 11 940 WESTERN EUROPE 17 00 - 18 00 7 155 9 625 NORTHERN EUROPE 21 00 - 22 00 7 105 9 690 WESTERN EUROPE 21 00 - 22 00 5 955 7 215 NORTHERN EUROPE 23 00 - 24 00 7 195 9 570 WESTERN EUROPE 23 00 - 24 00 9 510 11 940 NORTH AMERICA FRANCAIS e-mail: fran@rri.ro 05 00 - 06 00 6 140 7 295 9 590 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 06.00 - 06.19 9 510 9 570 9 625 11 790 11 940 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 11 00 - 12 00 15 245 17 745 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 11 00 - 12 00 15 380 17 790 MAGHREB 15 00 - 16 00 15 245 17 805 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 15 00 - 16 00 11 940 15 390 MAGHREB 20 00 - 21 00 7 105 9 690 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 20 00 - 21 00 9 510 11 740 CANADA DEUTSCH e-mail germ@rri.ro 06.19 - 06.36 9 510 9 570 9 625 11 790 11 940 West - u Mitteleuropa 12 00 - 13 00 15 245 17 745 West - u Mitteleuropa 16 00 - 17 00 7 195 9 570 11 940 West - u Mitteleuropa 19 00 - 20 00 5 960 7 130 West - u Mitteleuropa PORTUGUES e-mail: port@rri.ro 22 00 - 23 00 15 365 17 720 PORTUGAL 01 00 - 02 00 11 875 15 250 BRASIL ESPANOL e-mail : span@rri.ro 00 00 - 01 00 11 875 15 250 ARGENTINA 00 00 - 01 00 9 665 11 830 EL CARIBE 03 00 - 04 00 9 550 11 830 MEXICO 03 00 - 04 00 9 530 11 940 ARGENTINA 18 00 - 19 00 11 725 15 390 ESPANA 18 00 - 19 00 17 735 21 480 ARGENTINA 22 00 - 23 00 9 665 11 735 ESPANA ITALIANO e-mail: ital@rri.ro 11 00 - 11 30 17 795 ITALIA 14 00 - 14 30 17 735 756 ITALIA 20 00- 20 30 7 245 756 ITALIA ARABIC e-mail: arab@rri.ro 07 00 - 08 00 15 260 17 815 EGYPT 07 00 - 08 00 15 365 17 790 MAGHREB 07 00 - 08 00 15 270 17 775 MASHREQ 13 00 - 14 00 15 380 17 790 MAGHREB 13 00 - 14 00 15 250 17 805 EGYPT 13 00 - 14 00 11 830 15 335 MASHREQ CHINESE e-mail: chin@rri.ro 06 30 - 07 00 17 720 21 480 14 30 - 15 00 9 530 11 910 WIRELESS BRIDGES AROMANIAN arom@rri.ro 18 00 - 18 30 11 880 756 EUROPA CHENTRALA 20 30 - 21 00 9 590 756 EUROPA CHENTRALA RUSSIAN e-mail: rusa@rri.ro 12 00 - 13 00 9 570 15 380 17 735 15 00 - 16 00 9 590 11 735 19 00 - 20 00 6 085 7 155 UKRAINIAN e mail ucra@rri.ro 05 30 - 06 00 7 105 16 00 - 16 30 7 125 756 BULGARIAN e-mail bulg@rri.ro 05 00 - 05 30 7 165 16 30 - 17 00 7 135 756 NA SRPSKOM e-mail: sarb@rri.ro 13 00 - 13.30 11 765 756 ZA EX-YUGOSLAVIJU 18 30 - 19 00 5 990 756 ZA EX-YUGOSLAVIJU MAGYAR NYELVEN e-mail: magh@rri.ro 06 00 - 06 30 5 975 7 225 MAGYARORSZAG 21 00 - 21 30 6 055 7 285 630 MAGYARORSZAG GREEK e-mail : grec@rri.ro 13 30 - 14 00 11 765 756 17 30 - 18 00 9 735 756 TURKISH e-mail: turc@rri.ro 11 30 - 12 00 11 795 17 00 - 17 30 9 595 756 Radio Romania International Programmes Winter 2002/2003 MONDAY Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) - Pro Memoria (The Romanians' history) - Political Flash (politics and politicians under scrutiny) - Business Update (the latest from the financial market, Stock Exchange trading and investment) - Pulse of Transition (where do we stand after 13 post-communist years?) - Romanian Hits (light, but not facile music) - Sports Round Up (how did our athletes fare?) TUESDAY RADIO NEWSREEL (NEWS + COMMENTARY + MEDIA HEADLINES / A second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) - Business Club (business opportunities; economics easy to understand by everybody) - European Horizons (destination: the European Union) - Tourist News - Performing Arts (the arts in the spotlight) - The Skylark (folk songs and performers) WEDNESDAY Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) Society Today (The Romanians' mentalities, expectations, behaviour patterns, problems and difficulties) - Business Update (the latest from the financial market, Stock Exchange trading and investments) - Visit Romania! (come over and see for yourself!) - Romanian Musicians (famous musicians and their music) - RRI Sports Club (moments from the history of sports) THURSDAY Radio Newsreel (News + Commentary + Media Headlines / a second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) Cards on the Table (a talk on matters of concern to all of us, without taboos and preconceived ideas) - IT News ( everything about computers, the Internet and the latest in information technology) - Guests at the Microphone - A Review of the Main Cultural Magazines - Romanian Musicians FRIDAY RADIO NEWSREEL (NEWS + COMMENTARY + MEDIA HEADLINES /A second commentary) (news, current affairs and much more in only 13 minutes) Challenge for the Future (three weeks per month) (the future starts right now!) Terra 21 (once a month) - Business Update (the latest from the financial market, Stock Exchange trading and investment) - Practical Guide (all sorts of tips for people travelling to Romania) - Off-Bucharest (civic and local initiatives, business, culture) - What's On ? ( a cultural agenda of Bucharest and other cities of Romania) - The Folk Music Box SATURDAY Radio Newsreel - News - The Week (in only 6 minutes) World of Culture (cultural personalities, ideas, trends, events) - RRI Encyclopaedia - Roots (traditions and customs) - Olympic Profile - Calendar SUNDAY Radio Newsreel - News - Focus (let's look at the present together!) - Radio Tour (don't miss a trip to Romania!) (via Andreas Volk-D, ADDX, Oct 15 via Wolfgang Buexchel, and Mike Barraclough, DXLD) Here`s a version reworked into time order from the same source: Radio Romania International B-02 time order UTC kHz ZONE 0000-0100 Spanish 11875, 15250 ARGENTINA 0000-0100 Spanish 9665, 11830 EL CARIBE 0000-0200 Romanian 9510, 11940 2000-2030 Italian 7245, 756 ITALIA 0100-0200 Portuguese 11875, 15250 BRASIL 0200-0300 English 9550, 11830 NORTH AMERICA 0200-0300 English 11740, 15270 JAPAN 0200-0300 English 11940, 15370 NEW ZEALAND 0300-0400 Romanian 15370, 17735 AUSTRALIA 0300-0400 Spanish 9530, 11940 ARGENTINA 0300-0400 Spanish 9550, 11830 MEXICO 0400-0500 English 9550, 11830 NORTH AMERICA 0400-0500 English 15335, 17735 INDIA 0500-0530 Bulgarian 7165 Bulgaria 0500-0600 French 6140, 7295, 9590 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 0530-0600 Ukrainian 7105 Ukraine 0600-0619 French 9510, 9570, 9625, 11790, 11940 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 0619-0636 German 9510, 9570, 9625, 11790, 11940 West- u Mitteleuropa 0636-0656 English 9510, 9570, 9625, 11790, 11940 WESTERN EUROPE 0600-0630 Hungarian 5975, 7225 MAGYARORSZAG 0600-0700 English 9530, 11830 N W AMERICA 0600-0700 Romanian 9510, 9570, 9625, 11790, 11940 0630-0700 Chinese 17720, 21480 China 0700-0800 Arabic 15260, 17815 EGYPT 0700-0800 Arabic 15270, 17775 MASHREQ 0700-0800 Arabic 15365, 17790 MAGHREB 0700-0800 English 17720, 21 480 N-E AFRICA 0700-0800 Romanian 9570, 11790 0800-1100 Romanian 15105, 17720 1100-1130 Italian 17795 ITALIA 1100-1200 French 15245, 17745 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 1100-1200 French 15380, 17790 MAGHREB 1100-1300 Romanian 15105, 15290, 17720, 17775 EUROPA CENTRALA 1130-1200 Turkish 11795 Türkiye 1200-1300 German 15245, 17745 West- u Mitteleuropa 1200-1300 Russian 9570, 15380, 17735 Far East 1300-1330 Serbian 11765, 756 ZA EX-YUGOSLAVIJU 1300-1400 Arabic 11830, 15335 MASHREQ 1300-1400 Arabic 15380, 17790 MAGHREB 1300-1400 Arabic 15250, 17805 EGYPT 1300-1500 Romanian 15105, 17720 1330-1400 Greek 11765, 756 Greece 1400-1430 Italian 17735, 756 ITALIA 1400-1500 English 15365, 17790 WESTERN EUROPE 1430-1500 Chinese 9530, 11910 China 1500-1600 French 11940, 15390 MAGHREB 1500-1600 French 15245, 17805 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 1500-1600 Russian 9590, 11735 Europe 1500-1700 Romanian 11790, 15105 SI DE VEST 1600-1630 Ukrainian 7125, 756 Ukraine 1600-1700 German 7195, 9570, 11940 West-u Mitteleuropa 1600-1800 Romanian 11780, 15365 ISRAEL 1630-1700 Bulgarian 7135, 756 Bulgaria 1700-1730 Turkish 9595, 756 Türkiye 1700-1800 English 9690, 11940 WESTERN EUROPE 1700-1800 English 7155, 9625 NORTHERN EUROPE 1700-1800 Romanian 9510, 11790 1730-1800 Greek 9735, 756 Greece 1800-1830 Aromanian 11880, 756 EUROPA CHENTRALA 1800-1900 Romanian 7145, 7195, 9510, 9570, 11790 1800-1900 Spanish 17735, 21 480 ARGENTINA 1800-1900 Spanish 11725, 15390 ESPANA 1830-1900 Serbian 5990, 756 ZA EX-YUGOSLAVIJU 1900-2000 German 5960, 7130 West- u Mitteleuropa 1900-2000 Russian 6085, 7155 Europe 1900-2200 Romanian 6040, 7145, 7195, 9570 2000-2100 French 7105, 9690 EUROPE OCCIDENTALE 2000-2100 French 9510, 11740 CANADA 2030-2100 Aromanian 9590, 756 EUROPA CHENTRALA 2100-2130 Hungarian 6055, 7285, 630 MAGYARORSZAG 2100-2200 English 5955, 7215 NORTHERN EUROPE 2100-2200 English 7105, 9690 WESTERN EUROPE 2200-2300 Portuguese 15365, 17720 PORTUGAL 2200-2300 Romanian 6040, 7145 2200-2300 Spanish 9665, 11735 ESPANA 2200-2400 Romanian 9690, 11830 AMERICA DE NORD 2300-0600 Romanian 6040, 7215 2300-2400 English 9510, 11940 NORTH AMERICA 2300-2400 English 7195, 9570 WESTERN EUROPE (Andreas Volk, Germany, ADDX via Wolfgang Bueschel via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. VOICE OF RUSSIA B02 ENGLISH SCHEDULE English to Africa 1800-1900 11510 9830 7335 1900-2000 11510 9875 7440 7335 English to Asia 08.00-10.00 1251 15.00-16.00 11500, 9920, 9875, 7350, 7315*, 6205, 972 16.00-17.00 7305, 4975, 4965, 4940, 972 17.00-18.00 1269, 648 18.00-19.00 1251 * - from 27.10.02 till 01.03.03 English to Australia, New Zealand 06.00-08.00 21790, 17665, 17655, 15275 08.00-09.00 17665, 17655, 17525, 17495, 15275 09.00-10.00 17665, 17525, 17495, 15275 English to Europe 04.00-06.00 1548, 603 06.00-10.00 1323, 603 15.00-16.00 1386, 1323, 1215 16.00-18.00 1494 18.00-19.00 7340, 7290, 6175***, 5950***, 1494*** 19.00-20.00 7360, 7340, 7290, 6235, 6175, 5950 20.00-21.00 7390, 7340, 7290, 6235, 6175, 5950, 1548, 1386 21.00-22.00 7390, 7340, 7290, 6235, 6175, 5950, 1494, 1386 ***- Sat, Sun English to Latin America 20.00-22.00 15735 English to Middle East 16.00-17.00 9830, 6005, 4975, 4965, 4940, 972 17.00-18.00 9830, 9470, 648 18.00-19.00 9830, 1251 English to North America 02.00-03.00 17660**, 15445, 13665*, 12020, 9765, 7180, 6155 03.00-04.00 17660**, 15445, 13665*, 12020, 7180, 6155 04.00-05.00 17660**, 17595, 15595, 15445, 13665*, 12020, 12010***, 7180, 7125 05.00-06.00 17660**, 15595, 15445, 13665*, 12020, 12010***, 7180, 7125 *- from 27.10.02. till 01.03.03 ** - from 02.03.03 till 29.03.03 *** - Mon - Sat (Website via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Estimados amigos: Les comunicamos que desde el 27 de octubre, hasta el 29 de marzo de 2003, "La Voz de Rusia" tiene el siguiente esquema para sus emisiones en español: Hacia España: 2130-2200 UTC ... 7360 y 6145 Hacia Centroamérica: 0100-0200 UTC ... 7180, 7125 y 5945 0200-0300 UTC ... 5945 Hacia Sudamérica: 0100-0200 UTC ... 9965, 7570, 7440, 7410, 7390, 7350, 6195, 6185, 5945 0200-0300 UTC ... 9965, 9945, 7570, 7410, 7390, 7350, 6195, 6185, 5945 Agradeciendo su atención, les saluda muy cordialmente, (Francisco Rodríguez "Frecuencia RM" LA VOZ DE RUSIA via Patricio Cortés, Rusia, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ST. KITTS. 555, Radio ZIZ Basseterre v/l in 30d after f/up. v/s: Mr. Winston McMahon, GM, ZBC (mentioned to direct inquiries for further assistance to attn of TREVOR LIBURD, CE) Address: P. O. Box 331, Springfield, Basseterre, St. Kitts, W.I. Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio, AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS? Heard a station on approx. 5000 at 1030 on 28/10 with the news in pidgin followed by a program talking about health in PNG. WWVH makes it hard to hear and it was fading in and out. The news was talking about Fiji and something coming to the Solomon Is. It was best on 5004 on the edge of WWVH's signal but is gone just past 5005 (Wayne, Australia, Oct 28, ARDXC via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND. Thank you for the on-line editions of DXLD. I've lurked forever, just trying to keep current on the news, mostly, as having time to DX was not a common thing. My two OEF deployments did offer some DX opportunity, but little in the way of getting any news out timely. The prize was a logging, and subsequent QSL from Radio Hargeisa, via the German address. They were definitely *1500- in April and May (Gerry Bishop, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Weekly Sephardic show from REE to NAm, UT Tue 0415-0445 is back on 9690 as confirmed Oct 29, whilst HCJB in Spanish has appeared on its former frequency 9650 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. I received today a full data QSL card from Holy Tibet (9490 kHz, English program) along a letter from Tsering Deky, post card and schedule of times and frequencies. I sent a CD with 25 minutes of program recorded and a post card of New York. The reply arrived in only 25 days. Follows the schedule of China Tibet People's Broadcast Company, Xizang. 0650 - 1535 5240, 4905, 4920, 6110, 6130, 6200 0650 - 1000 7125, 7385 1000 - 1535 9490, 9580 1750 - 0100 4905, 6130, 6200, 7385, 9490 1750 - 0135 6110 (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, NY (USA), Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. La Voz de Turquía ha cambiado su habitual frecuencia de 15150 kHz, por la de 11690, a partir del 27/10, para la emisión en español a las 1730 UT. El detalle: en esa frecuencia hay una señal fuerte y constante de RTTY. ¿Podrá escucharse Turquía? (ADÀN GONZÀLEZ, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Además en 11690 hay Jordania si no a esa hora, poco antes, como recién informado acá, ambas sufriendo de RTTY (gh, CEDX) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, Quickly checking the Radio Ukraine Internatonal new times/frequencies. 0100 UT 9610 Not heard October 27 and October 28. Severe QRM from Vatican R. on 9605. 0400 UT 6020 Sorry, will check this weekend. 1200 UT 17760 Not heard October 27. Moderate QRM from Deutsche Welle on 17765. 2200 UT 5905 October 27 Fair reception with no QRM. 73, (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. I'm so glad we in the Americas have our own BBCWS stream so our program schedule won't be affected by the return to Standard Time. But wait, the feature block that ran in the 10am Eastern Time hour now runs at 9am. So, I guess the other feature blocks will also shift. Er, no, the features running at 3pm and 8pm EDT are now running at 3pm and 8pm EST. So, rather than shifting the whole schedule an hour or leaving the entire schedule in the same place, U.S. local time, we get a jumbled mix of the two (Mike Cooper, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s right. I`m making sure all the listings in UT for BBCWS are updated day by day in MONITORING REMINDERS, both to Am and to Eu (gh, DXLD) ** U K. Hi, Glenn. Interested to note that BBC's Somerset Sound regional station have in effect surrendered their MW 1323 frequency to VOR (Voice Of Russia) by changing the Somerset frequency to MW 1566, effective 22nd October 2002. Some people out there may remember the not inevitable annoyance that listeners to BBC Somerset Sound expressed last year when the VOR started coming in over the BBC's broadcasting! The fact that BBC Somerset Sound have given up 1323 khz is somewhat ironic really considering that I think BBC Somerset got hold of MW 1323 before VOR did. Oh well.... Best wishes and 73, (DXDave, Bristol UK, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED KINGDOM [non]. Bible Voice Broadcasting Network's new frequencies: 7435 1700-1815 Mon-Sun, 7435 1800-2000 Sat-Sun, 5880 1800-1900 Sat-Sun (Sergey Kolesov, Ukraine, World DX Club via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** U S A. Caught part of a new edition of WJIE Update, as it is now called, at 1330 UT Oct 28 on 7490: Doc Burkhart was saying that the `DX Jamboree` would now take place in November. Not clear exactly what it means, but probably a campaign for reception reports. High Adventure programming now amounts to 12 hours per day and most of the WJIE time is now sponsored. Delays in reactivating 13595 are caused not only by expense, but in needing to have parts made for the old VOA-Bethany unit. I tuned in just a bit too late to confirm whether WOR is now running weekdays at 1300 as expected. WOR was not on UT Tue 0100+ as it might have been as previously 0000 some weekdays; nor was it on at 0400 UT Tue as anticipated. Oct 29 I did confirm WOR at 1300, and listened to the entire Update at 1330, which was dated Oct 23. Said next edition would have another name. Doc Burkhart said he plans to go back to Liberia in 3-4 weeks to put the SW station on the air; the transmitter and antenna are (still!) on the way. I`ve never heard him give the name or frequency of the FM station so hope he`s a bit more specific about the SW. (However, the High Adventure site shows it on 102.1.) Thinking about putting a second transmitter at KVOH in California. Two 100 kW SW transmitters have been donated (couldn`t catch where), but have to be picked up. Always on the lookout for SW facilities abroad which are for sale or lease. Then I rechecked the website http://www.wjiesw.com/schedule.htm and found they have finally posted a program schedule grid `updated October 29`, including: VOICE OF JERUSALEM, MIDDLE EAST: Daily 0430-0600, 0800-1000, 1600-2100 VOICE OF JERUSALEM, EASTERN EUROPE: Daily 1100-1200 VOICE OF JERUSALEM, WESTERN EUROPE: Daily 2100-2200 VOICE OF JERUSALEM, EAST AFRICA, ETHIOPIA: Daily 2200-2300 [these would be the High Adventure programs in a variety of unspecified languages, formerly on DTK] WORLD OF RADIO: Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 and 0700 [probably not, but that`s the way the grid looks], M-F 1300, Daily 0400 WJIE THIS WEEK [sic]: Tue 0600, M-F 1330 Some of the print is almost too fine to read, and it won`t re-size. (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The V. of Greece co-channel QRM to WRMI 15725 continues; around 1500 UT Oct 28, I was reminded, that like yesterday, there is a fast subaudible heterodyne between them, maybe 20 Hz or so. Those who measure frequencies to two or three decimal places should pin down these two and discover which be further off 15725.000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRMI SCHEDULE/HORARIO EFFECTIVE OCTOBER/OCTUBRE 28, 2002 [gh excerpted non-religious and non-far-right programming only] Days are local days in the Americas; times are UTC. Días son días locales en las Américas; horas son UTC. MONDAY-FRIDAY/LUNES-VIERNES To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 1100-1130 La Voz de la Junta Patriotica Cubana (español) 1130-1230 Entre Cubanos (español) 1230-1300 Viva Miami (English/español) Note: This transmission from 1000-1300 UTC is temporarily not aired on Tuesday and Thursday. To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 1400-1600 Music To North America on 7385 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 7385 kHz: Note: The following are Tuesday-Saturday UTC. Los siguientes son martes-sábado UTC. 0300-0330 Radio Praga (español) 0330-0400 Radio Praha (Czech) 0400-0430 Radio Prague (English) SATURDAY/SABADO To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: 1000-1030 Viva Miami (English) 1130-1200 Wavescan (English) 1200-1230 Viva Miami (English/español) To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 2330-0000 Wavescan (English) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: The following are Sunday UTC. Los siguientes son domingo UTC. 0000-0100 Foro Militar Cubano (español) 0100-0130 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) 0130-0145 La Hora de Chibás (español) [new; may be religious] 0200-0300 Radio Revista Lux (español) To North America on 7385 kHz/Para Norteamérica en 7385 kHz: 0300-0330 Radio Praga (español) 0330-0400 Radio Praha (Czech) 0400-0430 Radio Prague (English) 0430-0500 Viva Miami (English/español) SUNDAY/DOMINGO To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamerérica en 9955 kHz: 1000-1100 Foro Militar Cubano (español) 1100-1130 Wavescan (English) To North America on 15725 kHz/Hacia Norteamérica en 15725 kHz: 1300-1400 Viva Miami (English) 1400-1430 Wavescan (English) 2200-2230 Wavescan (English) 2230-0000 Viva Miami (English) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz/Hacia el Caribe y Latinoamérica en 9955 kHz: The following are UTC Monday. Los siguientes son UTC lunes. 0000-0100 Radio Revista Lux (español) 0100-0115 Radio Vaticano (español) 0130-0230 Radio Oriente Libre (español) 0230-0300 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) To North America on 7385 kHz/Para Norteamérica en 7385 kHz: 0300-0330 Radio Praga (español) 0400-0430 Radio Prague (English) (from http://wrmi.net Oct 28 via DXLD) ** U S A. VENTANA A CUBA: VOA'S NEW CUBA PROGRAM TO DEBUT TODAY Radio Martí Observer Sunday, 27 October 2002 RMO 20021027 (RMO) - The Voice of America (VOA) will begin broadcasting Ventana a Cuba (Window to Cuba), its new program hosted by the respected journalist Angelica Mora-Beals (who is well beloved in Cuba), every Sunday at 0100-0130 UT (8:00 PM - 8:30 PM EST) via the following frequencies: 9480, 9590, 9885, 11700 and 11990. The U.S. Interests Section in Havana recently began to promote the program. Ventana a Cuba -- based on VOA's Cita Con Cuba (1962-1974) program – will address numerous important issues facing Cuba today e.g., the sugar industry crisis. VOA sources claim that the program is not meant to "antagonize" Radio Martí but rather to "complement" current programming towards Cuba. What precipitated VOA to create such a program is two-fold: first, there has been a voluminous amount of letters from Cuba sent to VOA's Club de Oyentes (Listeners' Club) voicing a strong desire by the youth segment -- "who do not belong to any dissident or political movement" -- of Cuban society to hear an alternative means of credible news, information, and entertainment and secondly, "low-key" officials of the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs have initiated, promoted and supported the creation of such a broadcasting program. OCB Director Salvador Lew did not voice any opposition when this initiative was in the planning stage according to IBB sources. Depending on the success of this new initiative and the continuous decline of Radio Martí's audience, as its mission has changed to the advancement of personal agendas and infighting instituted under the legacy of Clinton appointee Herminio San Román and Bush II appointee Salvador Lew, Congress may reconsider the viability of spending millions of dollars on Radio Martí when it can cost-effectively fund VOA's new program that may just have an even greater impact in Cuba. Moreover, is the creation of Ventana a Cuba a signal from the Bush Administration indicating a total loss of confidence in Radio Martí's management and ability to carryout its mission to the Cuban people? And will the White House demonstrate "strong leadership" and "direction" by future appointments of competent administrators who could put an end to such a culture of corruption and rein in the "rogue" (IBB officials' description) operation? (Radio Martí Observer : http://www.cubapolidata.com/rmo/ : rmo@cubapolidata.com Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Estimado amigo Célio: Le informo que la Voz de América tiene un nuevo programa, de 30 minutos, los domingos en la noche (0100-0200 UT) llamado "Ventana a Cuba", conducido por la periodista Angelica Mora. El mismo incluye entrevistas e información relacionadas con la isla. La segunda media hora incluimos 30 minutos con lo mejor de Ritmo Beat, conducido por éste servidor de usted. Un abrazo. Muito obrigado (Leonardo Bonett, Voice of America, Top Ten USA, Ritmo Beat, Oct 29 via Célio Romais, Brasil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So they must be talking about UT Monday for both (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 4278.5, AFRTS, 1123 clear for once on Oct 26. 1030 on Oct 29 and better than I usually heard them in Florida. Remember that the direct address for writing this one is: NCTS-Jacksonville-Detachment Key West, Building A1004, Naval Air Station Boca Chica, Key West, FL 33040 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [non] see DIEGO GARCIA ** U S A. USA RADIO THE DAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN IN 1938 From newsday.com (an extract) Compiled by Stephen Williams, October 27, 2002 If you think David Letterman manipulates an audience, consider what Orson Welles did on the day before Halloween in 1938: Only terrified about 2 million people, that's all. Among his prodigious talents, Welles was a master at directing and often starring in radio plays for his Mercury Theater of the Air. On the evening of Oct. 30, 1938, Welles had chosen to perform the ultra- scary "War of the Worlds." But instead of playing it straight, Welles and his company performed the fiction - about an invasion force from Mars landing on a New Jersey farm - as if it were a news broadcast. Using sound effects, shouts and vocal terror, Welles petrified his listeners - especially those who'd missed the explainer at the start of the program. He had created virtual reality. "Good heavens, something's wriggling out of the shadow like a gray snake," one of the actors says, shakily, describing the form emerging from the "spacecraft." "Now it's another one, and another. They look like tentacles to me. There, I can see the thing's body. It's large as a bear and it glistens like wet leather. But that face. It . . . it's indescribable." Even the imaginative Welles wasn't prepared for the reaction. Nearly 2 million listeners were convinced the end was near. Some packed their goods and drove off. Some hid in cellars, others loaded their guns. Some wrapped their heads in wet towels as protection from Martian poison gas. Only when the news of the reaction made the real news broadcasts - and the hoax was explained - did the panic recede... (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Are you ready? Anyone keeping count? Art Bell announced just after 1 am 10/24 that on 12/31 he will retire. The back problem. He may face surgery in distant future and he`s not keen on it. From now till 12/31, he`ll do his show Wed, Thu and Fri [local or UT?]. When he retires the show will be hosted by George. However, Bell will fill in when George needs a break or a major event is cause for Bell to appear. The back injury, says Bell, is due to a fall from a telephone pole some years ago while he was working on an amplifier. Over the last few years it`s caught up with him as he`s aged (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CALL TO POLICE ABOUT SUSPECTS THRUSTS TRUCKER INTO SPOTLIGHT Kentucky man says he spotted pair at rest stop http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/news/daily/1025trucker.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) WLW Truckin` Bozo angle ** U S A. Hi, the local newspaper editor said the following letter will be published, as long as I could keep the word count below 300. My Microsoft Word counter gave it almost exactly 300 after severe editing. He also wanted controversy in the letter; saying a previous attempt was too bland or too informative. Bruce Elving/FM Atlas STENCH OF BACK-ROOM POLITICS MARS NEW RADIO DEVELOPMENTS, INCLUDING A SYSTEM THAT DELIVERS THE "NEWS TRIBUNE" TO BLIND CITIZENS The interests who teamed with former [MN] Sen. Rod Grams and almost killed low power radio are at it again. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission authorized digital audio broadcasting. DAB is supposed to give FM radio CD-like quality, but it's a sell-out to the rich! Stations will spread out onto their neighboring channels, making out- of-town reception difficult. It might spell the death of small community and religious stations. And the audio quality won't be that much better. I was in Winnipeg riding a specially equipped van with digital radio. The new system did, however, reduce interference caused by signals bouncing off tall buildings. With digital, your car radio's scanning will stop on the buzz-saw noise before a station is heard. Then you'll have to hit the scan button again to hear the music. Ah, what price progress! Another way your choices are reduced involves a technology called "FM subcarriers." In the Duluth area, Radio Talking Book for the Blind operates from the Lighthouse (including readings from the News Tribune), and heard on a sideband of WSCD *92.9/Minnesota Public Radio. This technology is also embraced by Christian KDNW *97.3, with "His Kids Radio." To hear either program a special radio is necessary- -a radio you can't buy in stores. But unlike FM/SCS, DAB programming will be the same as what you already receive. DAB is a spectrum hog, bestowing limited audio benefits to the detriment of people's ability to hear more programs and more stations. Be alert to any new interference you perceive as stations embrace technologies like digital audio broadcasting. And be ready to let the politicians know when you don't like what's coming out of your loudspeakers! (Bruce F. Elving, Ph.D., MN, Oct. 21, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Has anyone heard the IBOC test station in Warren NJ on 1700 yet? iBiquity told me it would operate intermittently with 50 watts into a 35 foot antenna wth 4 ground radials. From what I gathered it appeared that some of the transmissions from this facility were to experiment with the IBOC signal on AM at night. The FCC shows the call sign as WI2XAM and facility ID 136854 (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, Oct 28, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. IBOC/IBAC FRIEND OR FOE (Part 1) By: Frederick R. Vobbe (following Musings to the Members) In the past month it seems like several major issues have come to the forefront of radio listeners. My phone rings about one to three times a week with a DX Audio Service member calling to voice concerns about radio. The top issue has long been the consolidation of radio. An issue which has just caught on fire most recently has been IBOC or "In Band On Channel" digital transmissions in the AM band.... [audio, including clips/examples of IBAC not yet available, but should eventually be at:] http://www.nrcdxas.org/ra/dxa1102a.ram and\or http://www.nrcdxas.org/ra/dxa1102b.ram (November Whazzup, NRC DX Audio Service via DXLD) ** U S A. WHY LISTEN TO PUBLIC RADIO? THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION By Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, Ombudsman, National Public Radio, Oct 28 http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/index.html (via Larry Nebron, CA, DXLD) ** U S A [non?]. El 26/10 a las 0710 UT, fue captada en 6950 kHz, en Upper Side Band, una estación identificada como YIAM (si mal no escuché), con un SINPO de 3/3. La emisión era una versión actualizada del Big Bad Wolf de la película American Graffiti y presentaba temas de rock n`roll de los 50 y 60. Muy entretenido. Ofrecen una QSL con informe correcto a la dirección: P O BOX 69, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022, USA (ADÀN GONZÀLEZ, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KIPM? ** U S A [and non]. With F2 skip back again, I've compiled a listing of VHF-Lo Pagers, etc., which can be used as propagation beacons/targets. I haven't heard any South American pagers this cycle so I can't confirm that they're on - thus I've left them off the list for now. I will update the page occasionally when time warrants. http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/dx/ps-lo.htm (William Hepburn, Ont., Oct 22, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Frequently Asked Frequencies, mostly VHF/UHF: http://www.strongsignals.net/access/content/faf.html (via Russ Edmunds, WTFDA via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Voice of Vietnam confirmed in English 1600-1630 on 7145 9730 October 28th but Russian 1630-1700 on both frequencies not another English broadcast as per the schedule in DXLD 2-166 (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO PHILATELY ON THE NET ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bonjour, Je tiens à vous informer qu'une liste d'informations philatéliques à thème radio (radioamateur, radiodiffusion, télécommunications...) sur Internet existe. Pour s'abonner : philaradio@ref-union.org Hello, I hold to inform you that a list of philatelic information to radio operator topic (radio ham, broadcasting, telecommunications...) on Internet exists. To subscribe: philaradio@ref-union.org Buenos días, deseo informarles de que una lista de información filatélica a tema de radio (radioaficionado, radiodifusión, telecomunicaciones...) en Internet existe. Para suscribirse: philaradio@ref-union.org 73 (amistades) / 73 (friendships) of:/ 73 (amitiés) de : Radio SWL F-15873, Raymond AUPETIT, 133 Les Huppes, Rue de Gergovie, 16000 ANGOULEME, France Radio Philatélie sur le net aussi: http://www.u-e-f.net/philaradio/ http://perso.club-internet.fr/f6fna/Doc17.html http://pierrot-fr.net/timbres01.php3 http://members.tripod.com/~hanigro/radiofil/rarmenia.html Ham Stamp Group :DL4UE Manfredbussemer@web.de Mailing List PHILARADIO : philaradio@ref-union.org (Raymond Aupetit, France, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PASSPORT TO WORLDBAND RADIO `2003` Hi Glen[n], Got the new Passport to World Band Radio Friday. Already I have run across a number of errors; Wrong or missing frequencies etcetera. One is a classic. At a particular hour, for a particular broadcaster, it says "one hour later in winter". The entry one hour later, for the same station, says: "one hour later in winter". I guess I'll have to wait for summer to see which is correct. Already I have found more errors than all of the last year`s edition. }:o{ (--Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD 38 51'30"N 76 41'00"W - Its in the darkest hour that the most stars come out, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-167, October 27, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1153: WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15038 WBCQ: Mon 0515 after time change, 7415 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1153.html All versions of our schedules have now been updated for the standard time + B-02 season, including: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html http://www.worldofradio.com/wormast.html http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/ MONITORING REMNDERS --- Confused about what programming is on when? Our online calendar is being updated for the standard-time season: http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non?]. On 24 Oct around 1410 when checking 8700U I heard there a rather strong USB station with English pop music. I guess "rap" describes this music style well. Between the songs I heard the usual, weak signal of (tentative) Information Radio, Bagram with Afghan music. Once I heard telephone tones and female voice saying "incoming call" twice, but this I believe was a sound effect of one rap song. For a while there was some radiotelephone traffic in Central Asian language on 8700L. The rap music continued past 1430 and when rechecking at 1451 the frequency was totally empty. I believe someone was having fun with his radiotelephone, but decided to report this, just in case something really interesting pops up on this or nearby frequency (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. TAJIKISTAN. Radio Free Afghanistan, the joint service of RFE/RL & VOA (in Dari/Pashto to AFG), is relayed in the B02 season via the following MW transmitters: Orzu 801 (1000 kW, 230 deg) at 1230-1930 & 2330-0430, Orzu 972 (500 kW, 230 deg) at 2330-0130 and Yangiyul 1143 (Dushanbe, 150 kW ND) at 1200-1300. The 801 transmitter is now used exclusively for this service (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 27, MW-DX via DXLD) ** ALASKA. Bad timing for the KNOM DX test, wasn't it? There wasn't any chance at all of hearing them in the lower 48, so I cancelled a DXpedition to Grayland WA. Any chance of a re-sched? I bet the KNOM people saw the aurora and knew it was going to kill chances in the USA. Chuck Hutton, WA, Oct 26, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** BELARUS`. 4982 (DSB, no carrier), Mayak, 0515-0532 27 Oct, Long slow nonstop ballads, 0529 IS once and ID by M, and into presumed nx. Fairly good and clear (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA. Amigos, recebido hoje: 10000, BPM (estação de sinal horário), Lintong, China. 142 dias. Recebido: Cartão QSL. V/S: Don Zhong. QTH: National Time Service Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NTSC), P. O. Box 18, Lintong, Shaanxi, China. 73s, (Rudolf W. Grimm, São Bernardo, SP - B, http://www.radioways.cjb.net Oct 25, radioescutas via DXLD) ** DENMARK [non]/NORWAY: See IRAN [non] ** ECUADOR. Re DXLD 2-166: HCJB WORLD RADIO B01 BROADCAST SCHEDULE (28 October 2001 - 30 March 2002; Revised 27 September 2001) Surprised to see B01 sked in B02 season? Funny!!!!!!!!! Should be more careful during editing (Swopan Chakroborty, India, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, it is a year-old schedule, I now recognize, so disregard and deleted! Apologies. When Daniel Sampson sent it to me as if new, I accepted it unquestioningly... We both should have caught it. I suspect HCJB be ultimately to blame for keeping a year-old schedule in its website. Checking Oct 27, you do find current info under English, but the latest international schedule is http://www.hcjb.org/radio/schedA02.php now only one season behind, and nothing yet at http://www.hcjb.org/radio/schedB02.php ENGLISH SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES EFFECTIVE 27 OCTOBER 2002, SCHEDULE B02 AMERICAS: 0100-0300 UTC on 9745 and 21455 kHz eastern North America 0300-0600 UTC on 9745 and 21455 kHz western North America 1100-1430 UTC on 15115, 12005 and 21455 kHz to North and South America EUROPE: 0700-0900 UTC on 5965 kHz 2000-2200 UTC on 11895 kHz SOUTH PACIFIC: 0700-1100 UTC on 11755 kHz and on 21455 kHz USB worldwide INDIA: 0200-0400 UTC on 12040 kHz (via Glenn Hauser, also via Daniel Sampson, DXLD) Hi Glenn: The HCJB sked in DXLD 2-166 is over a year old (dated 2001). I tuned into HCJB last night at 0400 and missed a few seconds of the opening of the broadcast which was airing Ham Radio Today for the full 1/2 hour. They mentioned this schedule without frequencies for HRT. No mention of what happen to or where DXPL was going. HRT will now air as follows: Sat 0800 to Europe (presume on 5965) Sat 2100 to Europe (presume on 11895) Sat 0830 to S. Pac Sat 0300 to India (presume 12040) Sun 0100 to ENA 9745 Sun 0400 to WNA 9745 These presumed frequencies are the one announced a week or two ago on DXPL for the changes to the fall schedule. No mention of the S Pacific frequencies (changing or not). A usual, nothing on the website. Of course I might have missed something about their programming changes in past issues of DXLD which I will now check. [Later:] I found the new DXPL sked on their website. They have not updated the portion on the DXPL page though. They also have it listed as Saturdays at 0000 and 0300 UTC to NA, but I know they really mean Sunday UTC. Here is it. Sat 0200 to India 12040 Sat 0700 to Europe on 5965 Sat 0700 to S. Pac on 11755 and 21455ssb Sat 0900 to S. Pac on 11755 and 21455ssb Sat 2000 to Europe on 17660 Sun 0000 to ECNA on 9745 and 21455ssb [ex-0100? But, but, B-02 sked above shows *0100, not *0000. We checked at 0030 UT Mon and it was already on with gospel rock in English. Evidently, HRT has moved into the former DXPL slots to NAm, and DXPL moves an hour earlier - gh] Sun 0300 to WCNA on 9745 and 21455ssb [ex-0400] 73 (Mick Delmage, Alberta, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Hi Glenn, There was some free/independent/pirate activity in Europe this morning. Free Radio Service Holland on 7480 from 8.00utc with their 22nd anniversary program, including FRSH Goes DX pirate-info. Laser Radio on 5935 from 9.00utc via Latvia-Ulbroka with popmusic and piratechat. Radio Waves Int. on 11400 with French and English program. Very strong and stabile signal here All the best (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. I enjoyed your account of YLE's last broadcast in English. I had to work yesterday so I missed it. The supermarket[NON] has shut its doors for the last time. 73, (Ivan Grishin, Ont., Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [non]. It`s All Greek To Me, music presented in English confirmed retimed to 1900 UT Sundays, on 17705 via Delano, Oct 27 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. Narrator: NEW AWR TRANSMITTER ON THE AIR At the end of our program last week, we invited you to tune in again this week, for the full story of the new AWR transmitter that is now on the air. Here are the details:- It was back in the month of March in the year 1987 that the first transmitter at the new AWR shortwave station on the island of Guam was commissioned. Later in the same year, the second transmitter was installed and placed into regular service. Seven years later again, transmitter number 3 was installed, and the fourth in the following year, 1995. The two original transmitters, KSDA1 & KSDA2, are now sixteen years old and the second pair of transmitters, KSDA3 & KSDA4, are now seven years old. All four transmitters are rated at 100 kW; the first pair was constructed by Thomson CSF in France and the second pair by Continental in the United States. Last year, AWR embarked on a modernisation program at our flagship station KSDA on the island of Guam. This project includes the replacement of all four transmitters, the installation of a matrix switching system so that any transmitter can be connected to any antenna, and the re-siting of the diesel generator system. The two Continentals have been sold, and one has already been removed from the site. The sale of the two original Thomson transmitters at station KSDA is pending. During all of these radio events on Guam, there was another shortwave station under construction in South Africa. This station was located at Langefontein (LUNG-a-FON-TAIN) on the west coast of South Africa, one hour from Cape Town. This transmitter base was planned for a full capacity of nine shortwave transmitters at 100 kW, though only eight were installed. At the same time, another shortwave station was also planned for installation elsewhere in South Africa with a full complement of four transmitters at 100 kW. The transmitters were purchased but the project was never implemented. This large shortwave station at Langefontein was set up by the military in the previous era of government to cover South Africa, and when South Africa became a democracy in 1994, the Defense Force no longer had need for this site and it was moth-balled. Construction of the Langefontein station began in 1989, and the project was completed in 1992. All of the eight transmitters were installed at Langefontein and they were tested into a dummy load. These transmitters were commissioned and they were run periodically into this dummy load, though they were never put on air through the regular antenna system. Consequently, the filament hours on all of these transmitters was very low. Recently, the government of South Africa contracted with Sentech (Pty) Ltd to dismantle the shortwave station at Langefontein. Sentech is the common carrier for broadcasting in South Africa and cares for all transmission facilities and the delivery of programming to each transmitter site. Arrangements were made for AWR to procure four of the installed transmitters from Langefontein. AWR also purchased one of the yet unused transmitters which was intended for installation at Sentech`s shortwave station at Meyerton near Johannesburg. It was still contained in its original crates. All five of these transmitters are ABB-Thomcast units from Switzerland and each is rated at 100 kW. The first of these new transmitters from Sentech in South Africa is now on the air at Adventist World Radio on Guam. Originally this unit was designated as Langefontein No 2 and it is now on the air as KSDA3. It was placed into regular service at 1000 UTC on September 26. The next ABB transmitter from Langefontein to be placed into service at AWR Guam has already been installed and it will replace transmitter KSDA4. It is currently being tested and commissioned, and the changeover date is expected to be around mid-December. The entire modernization project is expected to be completed later next year. Four new transmitters will be on the air in regular service and the fifth will be a hot-standby replacement for use through the antenna switching matrix if a problem occurs in any of the other units. Reception reports on the new KSDA3 are welcome and you can ask for a special endorsement on your QSL card confirming the usage of this new transmitter (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Oct 27 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. UK offshore radio - Film about to be made by IAC FILM London Glenn, I have just received this from Bob Preedy (author of the recent book about Radio 270) about this interesting new venture: "Makin Waves" is the film based around Paul Burnett's script about life on Radio 270. This is a £5 million movie financed mostly from Belgium. It starts shooting in Scarborough during November and continues in Belgium in January. It should be in cinemas in late spring. A similar boat has been purchased from Grimsby and should soon be seen moored off the East Coast. The production crew ordered copies of the book RADIO 270 -Life on the Ocean Waves to check some facts. Sounds great fun - Bob Preedy". According to another source the cast are to include Richard E. Grant - Michael Gambon - Johnny Vegas - Angus Deayton. "Set in the swinging Britain of 1967, it's a comedy about a pirate radio station transmitting from a ship three miles out to sea..." PS Bob's book is a good read. Its forward reads: "The Incredible Story of Yorkshire's Own Offshore Radio Station, On- Air 1966 to 1967. Although only broadcasting for 15 months in the mid- 60s, Radio 270 certainly left a lasting mark on Scarborough and the East Coast. Its colourful story contains fierce boardroom battles, appalling technical disasters and high-profile DJ mutinies. Some people were at first reluctant to talk about their involvement and for Radio 270 Chairman, Leonard Dale, it was a period of his business life he said he wished to forget, "Although it did one useful thing. It gave me a very good understanding of the cesspool operations of the entertainment world." This then is the short-lived but highly-charged story of Radio 270 - truly a turbulent life on the Ocean waves." Any questions about the book please email Bob: Rad270uk@yahoo.co.uk (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. R International now via Kvitsoy --- Dear friends, Norkring has pushed R Norway and R Denmark away from 7490 on its winterschedule, because this frequency should be used for a Merlin broadcast towards Iran from the Kvitsoy transmitter. I monitored 7490 tonight on Oct 27 on the first day of the B02 schedule: Sveio was used for the ordinary broadcast of R Norway at 1700-1730*. Nothing was heard the minutes thereafter, while R Denmark was heard as scheduled on 9980 and 13800. Upon retune at 1803 the clandestine "Radio International" towards Iran was heard in Farsi with SINPO 45444. After interviews, there were no less than four ID's at 1813 before close down 1815* The Kvitsoy carrier signed off at 1816* and the Sveio carrier came back on at *1827 with relay of the last minutes of the program from R Norway. At 1830-1855* Sveio did broadcast the program from R Denmark as scheduled // 13800 and 15705. R International was broadcast via Grigoriopol`, Moldova at *1730-1815* on 7520 during B01 period and on 9940 during A02, but obviously has been moved to Kvitsoy by Merlin. The loss of this rather low frequency of 7490 may reduce the possibilities for thousands of Norwegians and Danes living abroad throughout Europe to listen to our Home Service as higher frequencies fade out (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND. THE MYSTERY OF IRISH RADIO HISTORY - EARLY SHORTWAVE ERA Yes, it is true; there was indeed a shortwave service on the air in Ireland in pre-war days. It was just a small unit and it was on the air spasmodically for a period of around three years. This is the story:- In last week`s program, we mentioned the fact that a high powered mediumwave station was erected in 1932 near Athlone in the centre of the Emerald Isle. This station was on the air without callsign and it identified as ``Radio Eireann``. In June 1938, the American radio magazine, ``Radio News`` announced that a 2 kW station was under construction near Moydrum in Ireland. In March of the following year, the same magazine announced that the station was now on the air and testing on five different channels with a power output ranging from 2 - 5 kW. The transmitter was constructed and installed by the Marconi Company of England and it was co-sited with the larger mediumwave unit at Moydrum, a small village near Athlone. Programming was generally a parallel relay with the mediumwave unit. ``Radio Eireann`` on shortwave was heard in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, as well as throughout the British Isles and in continental Europe. Several QSLs, probably in the form of a typed letter, were received in the United States and Australia. In mid 1939, the scheduling from ``Radio Eireann`` was described as irregular, and apparently the station went silent just before the beginning of the 1939 emergency in continental Europe. However, a year later, the same shortwave transmitter was noted on the air again with the same style of programming in English as noted previously. At this stage, it was announced that the programming was directed towards the United States, though it was heard just as well in the South Pacific. The final monitoring report of ``Radio Eireann`` with 2 kW on shortwave appeared in the Australian magazine ``Radio & Hobbies`` in December 1941. That then was the end of the first era of shortwave broadcasting in Ireland, an era that lasted a little under three years (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Oct 27 via DXLD) WTFK? In the appendix, these are mentioned in 1939-1940y: 6190 9595 11740 15120 17840 (gh, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 12115, Voice of Mesopotamia, *1650-1735 Oct 23, Russian test tones until instrumental music opening and a woman with ID and sign on announcements in Kurdish. Program of regional vocals with brief announcements including another ID at 1716. Fair reception (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** LIBYA [and non?] FRANCE/LIBYA. 15660 and 17880, Libyan BC Service, 1706-1757* Oct. 27. Noted with a musical program, followed with a feature called 'Winds of Destiny', into Azan (Call Prayer) at 1731 after a short pause. Noted to 1757 when both frequencies went off the air during the Kor`an Recitation Prayer (Edward Kusalik, Coaldale, Alberta, CANADA, Oct 27, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA [and non]. JEMBATAN DX NO. 139 October 27, 2002 edited by Juichi Yamada *: Sign on or sign off. +: Fade in or fade out. All times in UTC. This edition is the special report of DX pedition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I stayed at the hotel located in China Town near Pasar Seni railway station where situated next station to Kuala Lumpur Sentral railway station. I visited there from 18 to 20, October and I enjoyed DXing and visited some radio stations! --------- MONITORING REPORT --------- The list below is monitored on October 18 to 20 at Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Monitoring time is 1200-1600 except time mentioned on the list. AM MONITORING 540 RRI Bandung, Indonesia, Fair to poor. 549 V. of Vietnam, 2nd program, My Van District, Hung Yen Province, Vietnam //783kHz. 558 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 558 V. of Vietnam, 2nd program, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Fair to poor. 576 R. Myanmar, //5987kHz Fair. 585 RRI Surabaya, Indonesia, Poor. 610 V. of Vietnam (Voice of the People of Ho Chi Minh City), Ho Chi Minh City, Fair. 621 Unidentified (Sor. Wor. Sor., Khon Kaen?), Thailand, Fair to poor. 630 RRI Makassar, Indonesia, //4753 kHz -1600*, Fair. 639 Unidentified, Thailand, Fair. 675 Unidentified (Sor.Thor.Ror.2, Bangkok?), Thailand, Poor. 684 Unidentified, Vietnam, Fair. 690 V. of Vietnam, 1st program, Vietnam, //711 kHz. Poor. 711 V. of Vietnam, 1st program, Can Tho, Vietnam, //690 kHz. Fair. 738 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 747 RRI Bengkulu, Indonesia, *2200- Best signal of all Indonesians in this location. Fair. 783 V. of Vietnam, 2nd program, Vietnam //549 kHz. Fair. 810 Unidentified (Sor.Wor.Thor?), Thailand, Fair. 855 RRI Medan, Indonesia, *2200- Fair. 864 Unidentified (Sor.Wor.Thor?), Thailand, Good. 873 V. of Vietnam (presumed), Vietnam, Fair. 891 Unidentified (Sor.Wor.Thor, Bangkok?), Thailand, Poor. 918 National Cambodia R., Domestic program. Poor. 927 RRI Pekanbaru, Indonesia, Fair. 927 Unidentified (Sor. Wor. Sor., Chanthaburi?), Thailand, Poor. 945 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 963 Unidentified, Thailand, Fair. 981 Unidentified, Thailand, Good. 1017 Unidentified (Thor.Or.05, Prachuap Khiri Khan?), Thailand, Poor. 1080 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 1107 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 1125 Unidentified, (Sor. Wor. Thor, Chanthaburi?), Thailand, Poor. 1179 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 1179 RRI Padang, Indonesia, *2155- Fair to poor. 1206 Unidentified, (Sor. Wor. Thor, Satun?), Thailand, Fair. 1233 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 1242 V. of Vietnam, External Service, Fair. 1269 Unidentified, Thailand, Good. 1287 RRI Palembang, Indonesia, *2200, Fair. 1296 Unidentified (Sor. Wor. Thor, Pattani?), Thailand, Poor. 1323 Unidentified, Thailand, Poor. 1341 Unidentified (Sor. Wor. Thor?), Thailand, Poor. 1341 RRI Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia, *2155- Poor. 1350 Unidentified, Thailand, Fair. 1503 Unidentified (Jor. Sor., Surat Thani), Thailand, Poor. 1512 RRI Bukittinggi, Indonesia, Poor. 1566 AIR, Nagpur, India, Poor. 1575 Unidentified (R. Saranrom, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya?), Thailand, Fair. SW MONITORING 3390 AIR, Gangtok, India, Poor. 3935 R.TV Malaysia, Kajang, Tamil program. Spurius signal. //4845 kHz. 3945 AIR, Gorakhpur, India, Poor. 3940 R.TV Hong Kong, *2133-2143* Opening music, clear ID, weather report by male. Poor. 3960 RRI Palu, Indonesia, Poor. 3976 RRI Pontianak, Indonesia, Fair. 4760 AIR, Port Bulair, India, Good. 4925 RRI Jambi, Indonesia, Good. 6000 R. Singapore, In Chinese, Excellent. 6150 News R. 938 via R. Singapore, At 0130 newscast and mention of breath cancer. Excellent. FM MONITORING 87.7 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 1, Malaysia 88.5 R.TV Malaysia, Radio Muzik, Malaysia 89.3 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 5, Malaysia 90.3 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 4, Malaysia 90.7 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 6, Malaysia 91.1 R.TV Malaysia, Suara Islam, Malaysia 91.5 Ikim FM, Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia, Malaysia 92.3 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 6, Malaysia 92.9 Hitz FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 93.6 UFM, R.Malaysia Selangor Siaran UiTM, Malaysia 93.6 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 4, Malaysia 94.5 Mix FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 95.0 Hitz FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 95.3 R.TV Malaysia, R. Muzik, Malaysia 96.3 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 6, Malaysia 97.2 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 3, Malaysia 97.6 Wow FM, Synchrosound Studios, Malaysia 98.3 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 1, Malaysia 98.8 Redi FM, R. Rediffusion, Malaysia 99.3 THR FM, R. Lebuhraya, Malaysia 100.1 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 4, Malaysia 100.6 MY FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 100.9 R.TV Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia 101.5 THR FM, R. Lebuhraya, Malaysia 101.8 MY FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 102.5 R.TV Malaysia, Suara Islam, Malaysia 102.7 Unidentified, Malaysia 103.3 ERA FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 103.6 ERA FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 104.1 Best 104 FM, Suara Johor, Malaysia 104.6 Light & Easy FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 104.9 Red FM, R. Rediffusion, Malaysia 105.7 Light & Easy FM, AMP R. Networks, Malaysia 106.0 Red FM, R. Rediffusion, Malaysia 106.7 R.TV Malaysia, Radio 6, Malaysia 107.5 RM Pahang (presumed), Malaysia THE END OF JEMBATAN DX. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. (Juichi Yamada, Jembatan DX, Oct 27 via DXLD) ** MALTA [non]. Hello dear Glenn, thank you for informations through the HCDX List and the web-site www.worldofradio.com/dxld2166.txt I wish inform you that the VOM - Voice of The Mediterranean changed the frequencies from today 27th October 2002. The daily programmes of VOM are on 9805 kHz; Sundays programmes of VOM are on 9630 kHz. So our DX Programme is on air, at 0800 UT on 9630. Thank you for your attention! Best regards from Italy ...................................................................... Alfredo Gallerati - IK7JGI - A.I.R. Associazione Italiana Radioascolto Redazione "Onde Radio" Voce del Mediterraneo -Malta - alfredogallerati@virgilio.it "Onde Radio" on line: http://www.vomradio.com AIR web: http://www.arpnet.it/air/onderadio.htm P.O.Box 21 -70051 Barletta (Bari) -Italia- .................................................. (Gallerati, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Hello Everyone, Attached is the International Services frequency schedule for Radio Pakistan B-02. I do not yet have any details of their domestic services on SW - Mauno, I have asked for details twice concerning Rawalpindi and the rest of the domestic services, and again when writing to the Controller a few days ago, but still nothing. I'll send the information if/when I get it. (Noel Green, England, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PAKISTAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION HF BROADCAST SCHEDULE B02 Effective From 27 Oct, 2002 to 30 March, 2002. Service Frequency UT Target Area South & South E. Asia (Urdu) 15485, 17895 0045-0215 41,44,45,49,50,51,54,55,59 Assami 11655, 15455 0045-0115 41 [has been partially in English] Bangla-1 11655, 15455 0045-0115 41 Bangla-2 15625, 17680 1200-1245 41 Nepali 15625, 17680 1245-1315 41 Hindi-1 11655, 15455 0215-0300 41 Hindi-2 11555, 15625 1100-1145 41 Tamil-1 15455, 17540 0315-0345 41 Tamil-2 15625, 17680 0945-1015 41 Sinhali 15625, 17680 1015-1045 41 Turkey, Gulf, Middle East and North West Africa Turkish 9385, 11655 1630-1700 38,39 Irani 7555, 9385 1715-1800 40 Arabic 9385, 11565 1815-1900 37-39 Urdu 15100, 17835, 21460 0500-0700 37-39 Urdu 11570, 15105 1330-1530 37-39 English 11570, 1505 1600-1615 37-39 [1505 should be 15105?] Urdu 7555 1800-1900 40 Chinese 11570 1200-1230 42-45 Chinese 15105 1200-1230 42-45 South & South E. Asia (Urdu) 15485 17895 0045-0215 41,44,45,49,50,51,54,55,59 East and South East Africa English 15530, 17725 1600-1615 48s,52,53,57 Gujrati 15485, 17825 0400-0430 48s,52,53,57 Europe Urdu/English 17835, 21465 0800-1104 17,18SE,27-29 Urdu/English 9290, 11895 1700-1900 17,18SE,27-29 Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics & Russia Turki 5860, 7375 1330-1400 39NE,40 Dari 5860, 7375, 1260 1515-1545 39NE,40 Russian 7375, 9385 1415-1500 29,30E (via Noel Green, DXLD) In our continuing campaign against clutter, at great loss of time, we eliminated irrelevant meter bands and Pakistan times for each of these; the schedule was also in somewhat jumbled order, and we hope we have it back together correctly. Note interesting new frequency 9290 for 1700-1900 to Europe, allegedly including English, also something new (gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Dear Mr Glenn Hauser: Greetings from Paraguay! To advise that we continue testing, 24 hours per day, on the following frequencies: 1480, 2300, 7737 and 9983 KHZ. To date, we have received reports from several countries: Argentina/Australia/Bolivia/Brasil/Canada/Germany/Italy/Norway/ Paraguay/Senegal/Sweden/Uruguay/U.S.A. Our best overall results have been in the 41 metre band. We have also received distant reports from tests in 31 and in 19 metres. Your reception reports will be most welcome! With best regards. (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay ramerica@rieder.net.py Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. B-02 Schedule: Poland - R. Polonia R. Polonia BROADCASTING SCHEDULE EXTERNAL SERVICE FROM OCTOBER 27 TO DECEMBER 31 2002 /ALL TIMES IN UTC/ POLISH 03.05-03.55 225 06.00-06.59 SAT 08.00-08.59 SAT 11.30-11.59 7285 5965 SAT 16.30-17.29 6020 SAT 22.00-22.59 7265 6050 SAT 23.00-23.59 SAT e-mail: polonia@radio.com.pl LITHUANIAN 14.00-14.25 6095 tuesday, thursday, saturday only 16.00-16.30 SAT 21.30-21.59 SAT e-mail: litewska@radio.com.pl RUSSIAN 12.00-12.29 9540 6095 SAT 14.00-14.29 9540 SAT 15.30-15.55 7180 19.00-19.29 6035 SAT 20.00-20.25 6095 7180 00.00-00.59 SAT e-mail: redakcja.rosyjska@radio.com.pl UKRAINIAN 04.00-04.29 SAT 09.00-09.29 SAT 15.30-15.59 6000 SAT 19.30-19.59 7180 6035 SAT e-mail: ukraina@radio.com.pl CZECH 07.30-07.59 SAT - except Monday 11.00-11.29 SAT - except Monday 16.00-16.25 5965 - monday, wednesday, friday only e-mail: czsk@radio.com.pl SLOVAK 07.30-07.59 SAT - Monday only 11.00-11.29 SAT - Monday only 16.00-16.25 5965 - Sunday only e-mail: czsk@radio.com.pl BELARUSSIAN 05.30-05.59 SAT 14.30-15.29 7180 5995 SAT 17.30-17.59 5995 SAT e-mail: bielarusk@radio.com.pl ESPERANTO 09.30-09.59 SAT 16.00-16.25 7270 19.00-19.25 7285 20.00-20.29 SAT e-mail: esperanto.redakcio@radio.com.pl ENGLISH 04.30-05.29 SAT 10.00-10.59 SAT 13.00-13.59 9525 6095 SAT 18.00-18.59 7285 5995 SAT 20.30-21.29 SAT E-mail adress; english.section@radio.com.pl GERMAN 07.00-07.29 SAT 12.30-12.59 9525 6095 SAT 16.00-16.55 7265 20.30-20.55 7145 6035 e-mail: deutsche.redaktion@radio.com.pl SAT = satellite (Website via Alan Roe, DXLD) Note the early expiration date, Dec 31; perhaps then they will start some external relays? Frequencies and times for English on SW have been reduced (gh, DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. SOLOMON ISLANDS BROADCASTING STAYS ON AIR THROUGH COUPS, UNREST – Michael Field, 11:12AM Tue Sept 24th, 2002 AUCKLAND - When a Solomon Islands cabinet minister disappeared last month it was local radio, not the authorities, who found out what happened. That was because the man who executed him, warlord Harold Keke, called up state-owned Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) to announce it. Marking its 50th anniversary this week, SIBC is a survivor in a nation falling apart through civil war and bankruptcy. For general manager and veteran Pacific journalist Johnson Honimae, saving "Radio Hapi Isles" has become a dangerous business with violence and threats against himself and his staff. He believes passionately in the service, the only media available to the around 446,000 people of the troubled nation. SIBC is also in the midst of its biggest ever story -- a three-year civil war sparked in part by Keke, a former policeman. The rest of this article is only available to subscribers... (Malaysia Kini, via Jilly Dybka, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 26 via DXLD) This of course predates recent reports of SIBC missing from 5020v (gh) ** SOUTH AFRICA [non]. See GUAM ** SPAIN. Radio Exterior de España was heard tonight for their American broadcasts [in English] at 0000-0100 still using the summer frequency of 15385 with not a very strong signal. They only mentioned this broadcast with the closing announcements saying 15385 so it's unknown if any schedule changes have been made for the B-02 schedule season. (Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, http://www.triwest.net/~dsampson/shortwave/ Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I just caught part of the R. Exterior de España schedule on the 2200 UT broadcast to Africa on 9595 kHz. I sounds like that Bob Thomas is correct with the Africa/Europe b/c being at 2100 on weekends and 2200 on weekends on 9680 to Europe and 9595 to Africa. Will have to see if they are still using 15385 at 0000 UT to North America like last night and if they make a switch to 6055, the traditional winter frequency. [Later:] R. Exterior de España was on 6055 kHz at 0000-0100 UT. A day late but they made the change (Daniel Sampson, Arcadia, WI, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. As scheduled RUI is right now (prior to 1300) on 17760 with English. No sign of them on 11825, so evidently the "minimal schedule" is in effect with only one Taranivka transmitter operational at all. Technical-wise certainly all three units at Taranivka are in use (apparent sharings are #1 5905 and 6020, #2 9610, #3 7240 and 17760) but one after another, not in //. And what about this: ``From Oct 23 the Ukrainian Home radio channel #1 (UR-1) is relayed in Internet Real Audio via site of NRCU http://www.nrcu.gov.ua instead of frequent off the air of transmitter on 207 kHz (Brovary site near Kyiv).`` Really "instead", i.e. 207 now officially terminated? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. 11695, Gospel for Asia/ Athmee Yathra He via Al Dhabayya *1600-1630* Oct. 26. Noted with sign-on with flute I.S. into Hindi, followed with religious text, interspersed with musical breaks. At 1627 gave program information (address/web site) but no station information. Closing comments by female speaker and off with flute I.S. (Edward Kusalik, Coaldale, Alberta, CANADA, Oct 27, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. As I had anticipated from the V. of Greece schedule recently published here, their new 15725 for foreign language service 1300-1800 heavily interferes with WRMI, which previously had this frequency clear, as noted Sunday October 27 before 1400 with Viva Miami – interviewing someone from Freeplay, and after 1400 with AWR Wavescan. Wonder what Jeff will do about this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn -- Thanks for your concern about 15725. This didn't show up on HFCC collision lists because the target for Greece is apparently Western Europe. I will look into this to see if anything can be done. (Jeff White, WRMI, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jeff, Well, the collision list is badly in need of modifying, since W Europe and N America are in about the same direction from Greece! Does this go by target zones only and ignore what lies directly beyond? I`m also wondering when you will post a new program schedule. I`ll bet something changed in the last 2.3 months besides today`s timeshift... 73, (Glenn to Jeff, via DXLD) ** U S A. WHAT GOES ON AT THE HFCC Tom Lucey---FCC, Jeff White---Radio Miami International Before the time of the HFCC meeting, a deadline is set for organizations to file their proposed requirements. The HFCC compiles these requirements into one big list. It also runs interference studies to generate 55 dbu and 65 dbu collision lists for each organization. This information is made available on the HFCC website. The FCC staff collects the information from the website and goes over these collision lists, reviews the history of use, and gets inputs from Frequency Managers George Jacobs and Stanley Leinwoll. The first day of the HFCC meeting, revised requirements lists and re- compiled collision lists are distributed, which includes filings made after the deadline. One of the first tasks is to look at the revised collision lists to see what new entries are there. Where collisions are identified which need resolution, contact is made with the appropriate organization to attempt to work it out. At the end of every day, the requirements list is edited to show the changes that have been determined necessary. Each organization then submits its revised requirements list to the HFCC. The HFCC runs collision studies on these new lists, and distributes revised information each morning. The process repeats each day until the end of the week. At the conference end, the last changes are submitted, reflecting the results of the conference. The HFCC then posts to their website the final requirements lists and the final collision lists. The conference lasts five days. Around 150 delegates attend, meeting in February and August. Personal contacts made at these meetings enhance the collision resolution process, especially in regard to the collisions which must be resolved after the conference has taken place (Oct NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. The NASB commented on behalf of NASB members on the recent FCC NPRM that has some points affecting shortwave broadcasters (changing frequency tolerance to + or –10 Hz, reducing the highest audio modulating frequency to 4.5 kHz, elimination of the 26 MHz broadcasting band, and formal adoption of a two-season approach). [Update on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: In the 2002 NASB Annual Meeting, we discussed that the changes proposed in the NPRM were basically to put the FCC's Rules and Regulations in line with current ITU rules and policies on HF broadcasting. And we discussed that by changing to two seasons, this should, according to Tom Polzin at the FCC, effectively cut our Frequency Coordination Fees by 50 %. Reducing or eliminating these fees was a project we had considered taking on with the FCC last year, but got sidelined by our incorporation and legal hurdles. NASB President Ed Evans has talked with Tom Mooring at the FCC Office of Engineering Technology in the past two weeks, and Mr. Mooring informed Ed that the NPRM was proceeding and that the NASB comments were the only ones received by the FCC on this NPRM. Mr. Mooring further stated that the one issue in the NPRM that the NASB had requested (grand-fathering for older transmitters with lower frequency tolerances) would probably be handled by individual waivers for those stations needing them. Otherwise, the NPRM would proceed as it was written. Mr. Mooring expected it to be acted on by the FCC Commissioners in the first quarter of 2003. So we now have an FCC rulemaking that will accomplish our fee reduction for us, without the hassle and legal expenses we thought we were facing. And the other rules changes are not affecting the way we currently operate, so this NPRM will be a good change for us. The fee reduction, in particular, will come as a relief to a lot of our members.] (C. Ed Evans, WSHB, National Association of SW Broadcasters Oct Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. B-02 Schedule: USA - WWCR Transmitter #1 - 100 KW - 46 Degrees FREQ TIME (CST) TIME (UTC) DATES 9.475 4:00AM-5:00AM 1000-1100 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 15.825 5:00AM-4:00PM 1100-2200 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 9.475 4:00PM-6:00PM 2200-0000 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 3.210 6:00PM-4:00AM 0000-1000 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 9.475 4:00AM-5:00AM 1000-1100 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 15.825 6:00AM-3:00PM 1100-2100 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 9.475 3:00PM-5:00PM 2100-2300 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 3.210 5:00PM-4:00AM 2300-1000 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 9.475 4:00AM-5:00AM 1000-1100 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 15.825 5:00AM-4:00PM 1100-2200 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 9.475 4:00PM-6:00PM 2200-0000 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 3.210 6:00PM-4:00AM 0000-1000 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 Transmitter #2 - 100 KW - 85 Degrees FREQ TIME (CST) TIME (UTC) DATES 13.845 7:00AM-7:00PM 1300-0100 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 5.935 7:00PM-7:00AM 0100-1300 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 13.845 8:00AM-6:00PM 1400-0000 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 5.935 6:00PM-8:00AM 0000-1400 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 13.845 7:00AM-7:00PM 1300-0100 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 5.935 7:00PM-7:00AM 0100-1300 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 Transmitter #3 - 100 KW - 40 Degrees FREQ TIME (CST) TIME (UTC) DATES 12.160 7:00AM-5:00PM 1300-2300 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 5.070 5:00PM-7:00AM 2300-1300 27 Oct 02-30 Nov 02 12.160 7:00AM-4:00PM 1300-2200 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 5.070 4:00PM-7:00AM 2200-1300 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 12.160 7:00AM-5:00PM 1300-2300 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 5.070 5:00PM-7:00AM 2300-1300 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 Transmitter #4 - 100 KW - 90 Degrees FREQ TIME (CST) TIME (UTC) DATES 9.475 8:00AM- 4:00PM 1400-2200 28 Oct 01-30 Nov 01 7.465 4:00PM-11:00PM 2200-0500 28 Oct 01-30 Nov 01 7.560 11:00PM- 8:00AM 0500-1400 28 Oct 01-30 Nov 01 9.475 8:00AM- 3:00PM 1400-2100 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 7.465 3:00PM-11:00PM 2100-0500 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 7.560 11:00PM- 8:00AM 0500-1400 01 Dec 02-28 Feb 03 9.475 8:00AM- 4:00PM 1400-2200 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 7.465 4:00PM-11:00PM 2200-0500 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 7.560 11:00PM- 8:00AM 0500-1400 01 Mar 03-30 Mar 03 (website via Alan Roe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The first column of times erroneously labeled CDT, so beware; we have fixed (gh, DXLD) WWCR SPECIALTY PROGRAMS has not been updated, but the overall program schedule has, just in time, from which we extract: THE OLD RECORD SHOP: Mon 1030 9475, Sun 1430 15825 KEN`S COUNTRY CLASSICS: Sat 1730 12160 ROCK THE UNIVERSE: Sat 0905-1000 3210, Sat 1205-1300 5070, Sun 1305- 1400 12160 WORLDWIDE COUNTRY RADIO: M-F 1400-1500 15825, Sat 2000-2100 12160, Sun 0900-1000 5070, Sun 1000-1100 9475 ASK WWCR: Wed 1815 15825 (weeks 1, 4, 5), Fri 1045 9475, Fri 2130 15825, Sat 0945 5070, Sun 0045 3210, Sun 1115 15825, Sun 1830 12160 TECHNOLOGY HOUR: Sat 0300-0400 3210, Sun 0600-0700 5070 GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO: Sat 0405-0500 3210 A VIEW FROM EUROPE: Sat 1210-1215 15825, Sun 1110-1115 5070, Sun 1810- 1815 12160 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE: Sat 2130-2145 15825 WORLD OF RADIO remains at the same times (shifted) and frequencies (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The National Geographic`s cable channel did a really good segment on KTNN in their "National Geographic This Week" program last week. I guess I caught the last showing as it hasn't repeated. Might want to keep a lookout for it (Bill Frahm - Boise, Oct 26, amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** U S A. WCLV A SUCCESS DESPITE SETBACKS -- 10/27/02 The radio world has not been kind to classical music in recent years. Stations that programmed Beethoven, Stravinsky and friends have been sold, reformatted, closed, you name it. And some stations that continue to air the classics do so in fast-food fashion: a quick slice of this, a morsel of that. It's enough to make classical mavens grind their teeth. Among the happy exceptions to these matters is WCLV, Cleveland's fine- arts station, which marks its 40th anniversary Friday. The FM side of WCLV still programs complete classical works, even long ones live from the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday afternoons. It is one of the few stations left in the country that airs concerts by the big local symphonic ensemble, in this case the august Cleveland Orchestra. At the same time, once-faithful WCLV listeners in Akron, Kent and areas east and west of the city are fuming that they haven't been able to pick up the station since it changed frequencies last year, after ownership of the FM station was transferred to a nonprofit foundation. The move on the FM dial from 95.5 to 104.9 reduced power from 31,000 watts to 6,000, making the station impossible to hear in some regions and unreliable where hills, dales and certain buildings stand in the way of the signal, which now emanates from the West Side. Disenfranchised listeners have a point: Something they loved and relied upon for daily classical sustenance was suddenly taken away, ostensibly for greedy corporate purposes, they believe. But the reality isn't so simple. WCLV, a privately owned commercial station, eventually would have had to be sold to new owners, who might have changed the format, removing classical music - or, at least, uncut classical works - from most of Cleveland's airwaves. (By contrast, WKSU, the public-radio station in Kent that broadcasts classical music and news programs, presents "modular programming": short pieces and excerpts from classical scores.) Despite the understandable betrayal that thousands of area classical- music listeners have felt since WCLV last year divided itself into FM/104.9 (classical) and AM/1420 (popular classics), the fact that so many major-market classical radio stations have disappeared in recent years makes WCLV a stunning story of survival and success. Gargantuan offers A decade ago, for example, the United States had 46 full-time commercial classical radio stations; today, there are 25, one of which is WCLV. Another 475 noncommercial stations air classical music all or part of the day. Those 500 stations make up 3.6 percent of the 14,000 FM and AM stations on the air today throughout the United States. To save WCLV from extinction, founder and president Robert Conrad and executive vice president Richard Marschner sold the 95.5 frequency to Salem Communications in return for its AM/1420 license and Clear Channel Communications' FM/104.9 signal. The sale price was estimated at $40 million. Conrad and Marschner also ensured WCLV's long-term survival by bringing together five local cultural organizations to form the WCLV Foundation and take control of the station's FM side. Those organizations - the Cleveland Orchestra (Musical Arts Association), the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Cleveland Play House and the Cleveland Foundations - are sharing profits from the station, potentially up to $100,000 each per year. Neither Conrad, who will retire next year as president but continue to work for WCLV, nor partner-successor Marschner sold the station for purely altruistic purposes. They have benefited handsomely from the transaction, though not as extravagantly as they might have. After the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed, allowing owners to buy as many stations as they wished, WCLV was deluged with gargantuan offers. But Conrad and Marschner knew that selling the station to just anyone with big bucks might have meant selling classical music down the river. So they waited until they came up with solutions beneficial both to themselves and to the community (or, some would say, part of the community): the change of frequencies and the new foundation. Not insignificantly, the reduction in wattage generated a 20 percent drop in WCLV's classical audience. "It was a very definite compromise," says Conrad, the voice of the Cleveland Orchestra's broadcasts for 37 years. "We knew we were going to lose listeners. But we felt for the greater good that this was an acceptable compromise." Curiously, WCLV has lost little advertising revenue as a result of the frequency changes. Marschner says the biggest financial challenges happened after last year's Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But "people continue to be very happy that they're getting good value for their advertising money," he says. Staying the course Listeners still with access to WCLV can partake of programming that hasn't changed markedly over the years. The Met remains a staple on Saturday afternoons from December through April - for the moment, anyway. (Chevron recently took over sponsorship from Texaco, so the future isn't clear). WCLV added a caller-requested Monday Music Marathon to its schedule last year, and the station's Saturday-night contemporary-music show, "Not the Dead White Male Composers Hour," is in its fourth season, even though Conrad hates new music (which also means a lot of 20th- century music). Otherwise, it's business as usual on the FM side of things. Conrad expects the station's sound, if not its geographical reach, to improve greatly once digital audio broadcasting becomes available nationwide next year. When it does, WCLV will continue to transmit its analog signal even as it adds digital technology that will minimize adjacent channel interference - WKKY FM/104.7 in Geneva currently butts sonic heads with WCLV's 104.9 signal on the East Side - and make its AM/1420 signal as clear as its FM signal. There is one caveat to the new technology: To receive the station in digital sound, listeners will have to buy digital radio sets, just as television viewers had to move from black-and-white to color sets starting in the mid-1950s. On the eve of its 40th anniversary, WCLV has lost some old friends while basically holding its own in a rampantly competitive radio industry. But unlike too many classical-radio entities that have left the scene, Cleveland's fine-arts station will be singing a Sondheim tune for years to come: "I'm Still Here." Rosenberg is classical music critic of The Plain Dealer. © 2002 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE ASSASSINATED BY COVERT US TERROR GROUP LINKED TO BUSH: http://www.voxnyc.com (via newsforce, DXLD) And a number of other articles disrespectful to our acting president (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. B-02 SCHEDULE: ZZZ - ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO AWR - Adventist World Radio Sked effective 27 October - 30 March 2003 {removed due to errors; see DXLD 2-172 for corrected version} ** UZBEKISTAN. R. Tashkent, 5025: Surprised to run across this one at 2145 Oct 19, C. Asian female vocalizing, then English talk about diplomatic relations, brief closing announcement at 2157 ending with ". . . goodbye everyone from R. Tashkent." Carrier stayed on until 2159. Not a bad signal (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 26 via DXLD) ** VATICAN/NETHERLANDS. Listeners in certain parts of Africa be warned: Vatican Radio has used 13765 to Africa for many years now; at 1830-1900 (per the WRTH SW Guide) they broadcast in Latin on this 22mb channel. Now Radio Netherlands has landed on 13765 for B02, in Dutch to North and West Africa from Flevo at 1830-1925. At my QTH RNW is the stronger of the two stations (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, USA, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. RADIO LIBERTAD --- Los discursos de quienes han tomado el micrófono en la tarima de la plaza Francia de Altamira en Caracas se escucha por el día. 93.5 FM reproduce en tiempo real el sonido que se escucha en el "territorio liberado" de Caracas. Sin locutores ni estrevistas particulares, esta radio improvisada sólo transmite las palabras pronunciadas por los militares, dirigentes políticos, representantes de la sociedad civil y ciudadanos comunes que toman la palabra en la concentración de altamira. Con un perímetro medio de alcance (aproximadamente de 1 kilometro), permite a las unidades móviles sintonizar la modulación, captar el sonido y transmitirlo en los alrededores de la zona. En vista de su ilegalidad, los reponsables mantienen hermetismo acerca de la manera como operan y sus responsables. Tomado del nacional.com Cordiales saludos (Luis Paz Nelo via José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Re: 1800-1828 Eu 5955, 7145, 9730 -- 5955 would be Moosbrunn (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Something in English, with somewhat muffled modulation, on 17790 Oct 27 after 1400; could only catch a few words, and program at 1430 was apparently called Letterbox. Now, 17790 is in the new BBCWS schedule as Oman to South Asia, but this was not \\ all other WS frequencies with Talking Point as scheduled. I recall Romania has used this frequency before, and does have an English hour at this time, but as usual, its new B-02 schedule is slow to emerge (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO DISNEY, OLD AM QSL, and OLD RADIO POSTCARDS Hi folks. I've made numerous changes, additions, and updates to my RADIO DISNEY, OLD AM QSL, and OLD RADIO POSTCARD web sites. They exist for your pleasure. Please take a look and enjoy. http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/RADIODISNEY http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/OLDAMQSLs http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/OLDRADIOPOSTCARDS (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-166, October 26, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1153: WWCR: Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sun 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15038 WBCQ: Mon 0515 after time change, 7415 WRN: Sat 0800 rest of world; Sun 0530 Europe; Sun 1500 North America ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1153.html ** ALASKA. KNOM-780 DX Test: Nary a peep here through 4:40 am EDT - just KKOH and an occasional burst of WBBM (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, Oct 26, IRCA via DXLD) Managed to rouse long enough around 0830 UT to confirm WBBM dominating the channel as usual. Not really any chance here, except for a beverage set up especially for the occasion, and far more favorable propagation conditions. But appreciate KNOM trying. Hoping it made it at least to Australia, where the test was publicized, or New Zealand. I wonder how often (ever?) it is heard DU (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not sure if I may have heard KNOM test or not, there was a station coming in in KKOH's null, was very weak, but heard some music intertwined, no tones or anything from 1:10 AM tune-in until 1:50 AM, but at 1:55 AM, PDT, heard what I **thought** were 2 sets of code IDs, but again too weak to make out, may have just been splash from KABC- 790. **May** have also heard tone about 1:58 AM, PDT, but again, signal very, very weak. Station could have been KAZM Sedona, AZ. which I occasionally get at night. Kevin: is KAZM 24 hr NSP? Pat Martin reports conditions were very auroral (I noticed same, KUET- 710 AZ. Was coming in fairly well here)... Don't know... Heard KNOM back in 80's on RS here anyway, verified at that time so not needed (Robert Wien [somewhere in CA?], Oct 26, IRCA via DXLD) I have heard KAZM after midnight before. No KNOM noted here but I did not sit on 780 all the time as KNOM was logged and QSL'd in the 80s and I hear it every once in a great while. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, Oct 26, ibid.) Test not heard here. Just growling static and a trace of KAZM underneath the endless parade of BLITHERING IDIOTS on that moronic "Coast to Coast" show on KKOH... 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, ibid.) ** ALBANIA. L'information parue dans le Radiopanorama du Club Amitié Radio et concernant la fermeture de Radio Tirana semble erronée. La station a été entendue récemment dans son émission en langue française. Néanmoins, les transmissions sont très irrégulières, probablement à cause du manque d'électricité dans le pays (Informations de Jean-Michel Aubier Oct 26 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society Commemorating Pacific Cable --- The Society will be managing the amateur radio activities at Southport - the club callsign is VK4WIG. Best mode of contact is IRLP node 640. Club Nets are 3605 kHz LSB Wednesdays 0930 UT and 14200 kHz USB Wednesdays 1000. We have organised a special event callsign VI4CC to be in use from the 21st to 31st of October 2002. (from http://www.qsl.net/vk4wig/ ) The site says the actual celebrations get under way at 10am AEST Thursday (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. Now the cat is out of the bag: Intermedia will continue with Vera Bock, already responsible for the French-language Flash des Ondes. Producer Marianne Veith will stay with the programme, together they will now do their best. You might have a look at http://roi.orf.at/intermedia/im_aktuell.html --- 33 years ago Wolf Harranth said, he will stop in tails and with top-hat, and that's the result (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There`s a link ondemand to the current show, and I just listened to it. Best of luck to Wolf, who sounded a bit broken up (gh, DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 22, also copied RVI`s announced new English schedule and also got 7645 at 1830 and 2030, tho the printed sked shows 7465, which seems more likely, so we must assume RVI has actually been announcing the wrong frequency (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Those looking for Burma on 5985v now are in for a rude surprise (gh, DXLD) 5985 registered B-02 RCI Chinese: 1430-1459 KIM 9810 250 290; YAM 9560 300 270; YAM [Japan] 5985 100 290 (BC-DX Oct 26 via DXLD) ** CANADA. From RCI`s new B-02 printed schedule, to Americas; all following a newscast, source CBC or RCI not specified: 0200-0259 6040 9755 11725 UT Wed-Sun CANADA TODAY plus: Wed MEDIA ZONE Thu THE MAILBAG Fri SPOTLIGHT Sat BUSINESS SENSE Sun CANADA IN THE WORLD UT Mon BUSINESS SENSE, CANADA IN THE WORLD [repeats] Tue THE MAILBAG, SPOTLIGHT [repeats] [NOTE: we suspect the above are actually one UT day earlier, as on the European service below, the span is M-F, and one would expect the features to be on the next UT day, not the day after the next UT day! The programs at 2100 and 0200 are RCI produxions; the rest from CBC] 1300-1559:30 9515 13655 17710 [evidently printed before CBC finalised new programming, still showing THIS MORNING M-F and other features] 1400-1659:30 9515 13655 17710 Sat THE HOUSE, VINYL CAFE, QUIRKS & QUARKS Sun THE SUNDAY EDITION 2300-2329:30 5960 9590 11865 M-F THE WORLD AT SIX S,S THE WORLD THIS WEEKEND 2330-2459:30 5960 9590 M-F AS IT HAPPENS Wed DISPATCHES [actually UT Thu 0030, with AIH one hour] Sat MADLY OFF IN ALL DIREXIONS, QUIRKS & QUARKS [UT Sun the latter] Sun THE INSIDE TRACK, GLOBAL VILLAGE [UT Mon the latter] All the above would be via Sackville, tho sites not specified. Following to Europe, Africa, Middle-East includes one or two Sackville frequencies amongst the others, a defacto North American service: 2100-2159 5850 5995 7245 7425 9770 9805 13650 M-F CANADA TODAY, plus: Mon MEDIA ZONE Tue THE MAILBAG Wed SPOTLIGHT Thu BUSINESS SENSE Fri CANADA IN THE WORLD Sat BUSINESS SENSE, CANADA IN THE WORLD [repeats] Sun THE MAILBAG, SPOTLIGHT [repeats] 2200-2229:30 5850 6045 9770 9805 M-F WORLD AT SIX Sat MEDIA ZONE Sun CANADA IN THE WORLD There are four other English hours, to SE Asia, China, India, all via relays and not well heard, or heard at all, in North America (Glenn Hauser, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re Toronto Star article on Sounds Like Canada: My reaction: What's the plan? Apparently, there is none except to shake things up and, for the most part, just hope for the best. There's nothing wrong with the service seeking to become more inclusive; but, quite frankly, this could have been done within the prevailing format. It was certainly flexible enough to accommodate a widening or shift in focus. The quote in the article that most resonated with me was this: "...you can't do everything with every single program. You need to have a show about something in particular; otherwise, it becomes a bit of a mess." That's what "Sounds Like Canada" sounds like to me at this point...a bit of a mess. There is no flow to the program whatsoever. On the contrary, it seems to be a series of disjointed parts. If this is intentional, it's a very bad idea. If it's not intentional, then there's some fixing that needs to be done. As far as Ms. Rogers is concerned, she is being woefully underused and misused in this "format", if indeed there is one discernible in there. One cannot imagine Peter Gzowski as the host of "Sounds Like Canada" as it appears to be currently formulated and Ms. Rogers is arguably the network's equivalent of Gzowski today. Taking her personality out of the morning program renders it a bland, almost rudderless enterprise. I guess we can always hope that the program will find its feet as time goes on. If it does, I bet that, in the end, it sounds very much like the program it just replaced (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) No matter what they (CBC admin) change, plan or no plan, they are still left with three problems: the nature of public broadcasting, engineering challenges and marketing. Radio One is an intense service compared with commercial radio. It requires your full attention for it to work properly. Given that most of us (age 18-54, let's say) are working or studying during the day, they can't expect us to devote our full attention to This Morning or Sounds Like Canada or whatever they will be airing. If you're in class, you better not have your radio on or you're flunking right out of school; if you're at work, you better be on the ball with your job or you'll be fired. That cuts out a lot of potential listeners. But even if we were all available to listen, many people (around here, anyway) are hard pressed to know where CBC Radio One is (and many people are still convinced it's on the AM band, which it isn't). And while their "new" FM frequency is great for the built-up areas downtown, it is reported to have horrible reception in the NDG neighbourhood of Montreal (lots of English-speakers there, but they are in a shadowy patch when it comes to FM reception), and on the western tip of the island and off the island toward the west. These three regions did not benefit at all from a power boost/pattern change last year. And on top of that, CBC Radio almost only advertises in national daily newspapers, both of which do pityfully in this market. They also do cross-promotion on CBC Television -- which itself draws fewer viewers that CBC Radio One does listeners. That, briefly (!), is a summary of what I think are the challenges CBC faces, no matter what they may be experimenting with (Ricky Leong, QC, ibid.) ** CANADA. CANADA POST TO RECOGNIZE FATHERS OF THE WIRELESS AGE OTTAWA, Oct. 21 /CNW/ - Two significant events in the history of communications technology will be honoured this month with new stamps. On October 31, 1902, the Pacific Cable was opened and just six weeks later, on December 15, Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio message across the Atlantic Ocean. The Honourable André Ouellet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Post, announces that Canada Post will issue two 48 cents stamps honouring these important events in Canadian history on October 31st. A total of five million stamps will be available for sale in post offices across the country. The stamps were designed by Susan Warr of Halifax, who has previously worked on the Cabot (1997) and L'Anse aux Meadows (1999) stamps for Canada Post. The predominant images on the stamps are portraits of the two inventors: Fleming on the left (or Pacific-side) stamp and Marconi on the right (Atlantic side). Between the two men is a stylized map of Canada, created by designer Bonnie Ross. Ms. Ross previously designed the Tall Ships stamps in 2000 and co-designed Cabot stamp in 1997. Also featured on the stamp is the Cable Ship Iris. Cable ships like the Iris were used during the Pacific Cable project to lay, repair and maintain cables on the ocean floor during and after the completion of the line. Stamps and Official First Day covers will be available at participating post offices, or by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre. From Canada and the USA call toll-free: 1-800-565- 4362 and from other countries call: (902) 863-6550. Stamp information may also be found in the Newsroom section of Canada Post's Web site. Follow the links off the homepage at: http://www.canadapost.ca (From Canada Newswire) Picture of the stamps http://www.canadapost.ca/business/corporate/about/newsroom/pr/bin/images/marconi.jpg If someone wants to order by phone these are the product numbers/prices. 403518101 $0.96 for the pair of stamps 403518107 $7.68 full pane of stamps (8 pairs) 403518126 $1.96 first day cover 341594 $2.00 Marconi Commemorative Envelope showing his station with stamp postmarked Glace Bay. Issue date Dec 15. The VC2C callsign in this weekend`s CQWW Contest commemorates the Pacific Cable anniversary http://www.qsl.net/teamzone2/ Pacific Submarine Cable site (including some radio links) http://www.pacific-cable.org/ A number of events taking place throughout the Pacific this Thursday October 31. Possibly other amateur radio special event stations also. See AUSTRALIA (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. With President Jiang visiting the United States, Radio Free Asia is engaging in an op-ed campaign against Chinese jamming and website blocking. This Washington Post op-ed by RFA president Richard Richter comes a day after one by RFA VP Dan Southerland in the Christian Science Monitor (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14316-2002Oct24.html CHINA WALLS OUT THE NEWS By Richard Richter, Friday, October 25, 2002; Page A29 The media are full of news these days about China embracing reform and emerging as a world player. But don't think for an instant that Beijing has stopped practicing what Thomas Jefferson called "tyranny over the minds of men." To the contrary, Chinese authorities are tightening control over the news and information available to the 1.2 billion people they govern. They're working harder to block the Internet and to jam incoming broadcasts by Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Voice of America (VOA). Chinese citizens now enjoy more freedom to make money, but they still risk detention for voicing dissent -- or seeking information that doesn't toe the official line. It's an antiquated policy that harms China, damages its relations with the United States and undermines our fight against terrorism. Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who meets today in Texas with President Bush, should let ideas flow freely and halt China's jamming of U.S. international broadcasts. Moreover, American broadcasters should be allowed to cover China just as their Chinese counterparts cover the United States. Here are the facts: Chinese authorities are not only blocking Internet search engines and Web sites that might turn up information critical of the government. They're also redoubling efforts to jam international radio, a powerful medium in countries such as China, where only about 4 percent of the people have Internet access. Engineers who monitor these transmissions say Chinese jamming has grown more sophisticated and more frequent. The International Broadcasting Bureau spends millions of dollars annually to transmit RFA and VOA programming to China. Several simultaneous transmissions on different frequencies are required for each program to overcome jamming. Throughout China, listeners have to work hard to hear RFA and VOA signals, and sometimes they can't hear us at all. Fortunately, there are ways around jamming, and in China -- as in Eastern Europe during the Cold War -- determined listeners often find them. In another maneuver aimed at thwarting free news dissemination, China has also barred RFA from stationing reporters on its territory and rebuffed the VOA's bid to increase the size of its tiny China-based staff. In contrast, China's state-run media are permitted to broadcast freely in the United States, with at least 40 journalists employed by the Chinese government working here. Recent research also documents the Chinese government's growing influence over Chinese-language media in this country. It's a fundamentally lopsided arrangement that denies the Chinese people access to news and views from the outside world -- which they want and which Americans need them to hear. We can't allow the world's most populous nation to be kept in the dark about who we are, what we stand for, and why they should be on our side in the fight against terror. It matters what 1.2 billion people think. Chinese listeners tell us every day that they know that their own media are withholding news and that U.S. international broadcasting fills a major part of that void. When a U.S. reconnaissance plane and a Chinese jet fighter collided off China's coast last year, RFA was flooded with phone calls from China asking for details and thanking us for presenting both sides of the story. Some callers, it's true, criticized the United States, and we let them speak. But most knew that they weren't getting the whole story from their domestic media -- and that they were entitled to more. And they were impressed that congressionally funded RFA would broadcast criticism of the U.S. government. In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, RFA reporters interviewed scores of Asian nationals whose lives were touched by the terror attacks. From Brooklyn to Beijing, Tokyo to Tashkent, bereaved families mourned irreparable losses. Our reporters told their stories -- showing China, and the world, that those diabolical attacks took aim not just at the United States but at all humanity. "The whole world should condemn the attacks, not just NATO members," said one RFA listener from northern China. "The whole world should pitch in and try to apprehend the culprits. Unless we unite on this, any country might someday face the same fate." The Chinese people are entitled to more news, more information and a more open view of the world than their own media allow them. President Jiang should make sure they get it. The writer is president of Radio Free Asia. © 2002 The Washington Post Company (via Kim Elliott, and Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINA SHOULD LOWER THE BROADCAST SCREEN, by Edward Kaufman China entered the World Trade Organization earlier this year amid much fanfare that the move signaled a new era of openness and free exchange in the world's most populous nation. Yet while pursuing more interaction in the global marketplace, the Chinese government is trying harder than ever to isolate its people, cut off the free flow of information, and deny them access to accurate, reliable and credible news. It's a losing strategy that hurts the Chinese people, hurts China and hurts the United States. Media freedom, including jamming, should be on Chinese President Jiang Zemin's agenda following his just-concluded visit to the United States. As a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees all U.S. international broadcasting, I've seen first-hand what China does to prevent its citizens from hearing the top-notch services of the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia Virtually all VOA and RFA shortwave radio transmissions directed at China are jammed in some fashion. To overcome jamming - and ensure the Chinese can hear balanced news and programming - the VOA and RFA broadcast on simultaneous frequencies. The total cost of transmission in Cantonese, Mandarin, Tibetan and Uighur: $9.5 million. Engineers estimate they could save U.S. taxpayers half that amount if the Chinese let our broadcasts air without interference. Ironically, jamming appears to have increased in recent years, particularly in places like Tibet. And while China jams VOA and RFA, the United States allows China's government television, CCTV, on many cable systems across the country. And China Radio International, China's government radio, broadcasts unjammed on shortwave and on a number of affiliated AM and FM radio stations in the United States. What's fair about that? As has been widely reported, the Chinese government is determined to censor the fast-growing Internet by blocking a number of sites, including those of VOA and RFA. The popular search engine, Google, was blocked for a time earlier this month because it didn't weed out "subversive material." E-mails are also blocked. Moreover, the United States should demand reciprocity on numbers of journalists. VOA has two full-time journalists based in China, but it's been unable to secure visas for two more. RFA has no fulltime, China-based staff members. On the other hand, China has at least 40 government-employed journalists in the United States. At the very least, we should not issue any more visas or renewals until numbers are equal or both sides are satisfied with the numbers. Does it matter to the United States if China restricts the information its citizens receive? Emphatically, yes. First, it's a matter of human rights. Every person deserves the right to obtain accurate news. Second, the Chinese people know woefully little about the United States. Surveys show a disturbing 68 percent of urban dwellers in China consider the United States their country's No. 1 enemy. Many Chinese believe that they understand the United States quite well from syndicated American sitcoms, movies and music videos. This often-distorted picture of life in the United States presents a major problem for the development of a healthy, long-term U.S.-Chinese relationship. Controls on outside media have allowed the Chinese government to manipulate the news and to block the United States from telling its side of the story, sometimes with adverse results. In April 2001, Chinese domestic media presented a one-sided version of what happened to the U.S. "spy plane" that was captured. Finding anyone in China who had heard the U.S. version was difficult. The bottom line: The United States, now engaged in a global war on terrorism, cannot afford to have 1.2 billion people, about 18 percent of the world's population, so ill-informed about our people, our culture, our democracy, our freedoms and our government policies. The Bush administration has put public diplomacy - winning hearts and minds - on the front burner. If we're to win those hearts and minds, we must tell our story accurately and fairly through U.S. international broadcasting. Media is a big part of the problem - in China and elsewhere around the world - and the U.S. government should have a strong media solution. --- Edward Kaufman is a senior lecturing fellow at Duke University's schools of law and business. (Washington Times [Moony] Oct 26 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. China 11100 kHz, continuous Chinese music. An old ham radio friend, Ralf Kloth DL4TA, I know him since 1973 !, asked me about the 11100 kHz frequency today. He heard the CHN T1 station today in the afternoon/night time span, for about 8 hours, and now at 1830 UT I checked the frequency too, is still on air, playing Chinese guitar music of the Jamming kind, or TEST new TX/antenna installations type, continuously over and over again. Checked it against the other RFA frequencies containing jamming music, but the 11100 music was totally different. I guess the Chinese test new transmitters again? 11100 T1 B1l 50 162 4/3 44SE 0100-0630 ||| 11000 T2 B1n 50 170 4/2 44SE 0000-0100 0400-1300. B Beijing (3 sites). (wb, Oct 21) 11100 is quite fair here near Toronto at 2030Z right now. As you note it is not \\ to the 15515 "Mandarin Jammer" which has been joined recently by 11785 in \\ from *1900- . This latter channel totally trashes a much weaker Voice of Indonesia that seems parked afternoons here most days on its usual frequency of about 11784.86 to Europe - 2100*. VOI seems to have vacated 15150v for the season, but I have not heard it on the Europe-reported 9525 yet. 11785 and 15515 have a much stronger drum component than 11100 during the little time I have listened to it. As a jammer, I must confess, I find it almost as effective as the Diesel engines the Russians used to use. (G) Now if they would only play the beautiful music of the Banda Sea region for us (Tony VE3NO, BC-DX Oct 21) 11100 ist eindeutig ein Sender aus China. Diese Art Musik setzt man a) fuer Jammingzwecke gegen VoA, RFA, BBC, R Japan, religioese Sender in Chinesisch, usw. ein, meist drei Sender auf einer Frequenz auf einmal, wobei meist zwei Sender Musik dieser Art bringen, ein dritter aber ganz andere Musikstuecke, das ergibt dann einen schoenen Musikbrei. Frueher wurde auch mit 'weissem Rauschen' gejammt, gibt es aber heute nicht mehr. b) fuer Testzwecke sehr oft in den letzten 24 Monaten beobachtet, um neue Sender/Antenneninstallationen zu testen. Letzteres trifft hier bestimmt zu. 11100 ist eine uebliche China Frequenz in Richtung Taiwan, Progr T1, um 0055-0615 UT im Einsatz. China hat in den letzten vier Jahren in F (Thomcast) und USA (Continental/Harris) diverse MW und KW Sender in Groessenordnung 100, 400, 600, und 800 kW gekauft. D.h. ohne Embargo liefern die Amis ihre eigenen 'Stoer'sender nach China, um dann im Gegenzug gejammt zu werden (wb df5sx Oct 21; all: BC-DX Oct 26 via DXLD) ** CHINA. The annual Beijing International Festival is currently under way, bringing together world-class musicians from home and abroad and offering a musical extravaganza for audiences in our nation's capital. The festival will be the focus of the October 27 [UTC] "In the Spotlight". (—Jim CRI Shortwave Oct 26, swprograms via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. [North]. Gestern habe ich die Frequenz 6150 kHz beobachtet, dort wurde neulich in Finnland eine UNID Station gehoert, die vermutlich R Bayrak war. Die Frequenz war bis 2128 und ab 2130 UT von China/Issoudun-F relay belegt, in den 2 Minuten Pause war englische Popmusik zu hoeren, das Signal etwas uebermoduliert: So wie man es von R Bayrak kennt. Von 2159 bis 2215 UT war die Frequenz wieder frei (naja "frei" ist ein Euphemismus, aber es liess sich was hoeren). Non-stop US-Pops, einmal eine kurze englische Ansage. Durch die verschrappelte Modulation nicht wirklich verstaendlich. Die Webseite von R Bayrak listet 6150 kHz als "inactive", aber das muss ja nicht der aktuelle Status sein. (Martin Elbe-D, A-DX Oct 23, via BC-DX via DXLD) Auch Singapur wie zu 1500? Möglich propagazionweise (gh, DXLD) Received the new Passport on Thursday and while trying to hear Radio Bayrak on 6150 today I opened the book to find that Passport has them listed on 6160. A mistake? (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB WORLD RADIO B01 BROADCAST SCHEDULE (28 October 2001 - 30 March 2002; Revised 27 September 2001) {outdated schedule by mistake, removed; new schedule in DXLD 2-170} ** EGYPT. Estimado Glen[n] Hauser, paso a detallar algunas escuchas que he logrado aquí en Montevideo: Radio El Cairo en español cambia sus viejas frecuencias en español (11715, 9740 y 9475 khz), a las 0.45 UTC pasan a los 11680 khz, actualmente utilizada por Radio Exterior de España, y 11790 khz, con fuerte interfernecia de Radio Guaiba de Porto Alegre en 11785 Khz. Supuestamente estos cambios de frecuencias eran por las fuertes interferencias, malas noticias creo que los cambios fueron para peor. Si es posible busco información sobre algún correo electrónico donde pueda contactar a Radio El Cairo. Atte. (Manrique Beceiro, Uruguay, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Managed to monitor the final English broadcast from YLE R. Finland, Oct 26 at 1230 on 15400. At first it was barely propagating, but fortunately built up fairly rapidly, altho always with a very heavy flutter, and 17670 never made it. This one featured Sibelius` Andante Festivo, which they said was recorded in 1939. Despite its shortwavity, the quality was so good that I had a hard time believing the recording was that old. Most of the rest was about Christmas and New Year`s as celebrated in Finland, and the close association between church (Lutheran) and state. Just as Elizabeth Boulton had introduced the Finnish National Anthem to top it all off, the transmitter cut off, as it always does, whether programming is finished or not, promptly at 1258 so we never heard the anthem. At least we shall no longer be faced by such frustration as Finland sinks back into anonymity as far as the English speaking world is concerned (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Today Radio Finland's last English program had some excerpts of past holiday programs, one narrated by Eddy Hawkins about Christmas Eve happenings in Finland, another with New Year's Eve at a local church, probably from the early 80's. Opened with a recording of the first English program from 1939. The finale was the Finnish national anthem but of course that was cut off at 1258. 17670 was good here, not so for 15400 which was poor for the 1230 final release. It's a pity this final program could not be heard on the Internet. My listening to YLE goes back to the days of "Northern Report" and the "Air Mail" listener-response program in the early 80's, when North Americans used to have as many as four opportunities to hear Finland in the morning hours. Now, YLE no longer feels a need to reach us anymore, as finances and priority to reaching expatriates abroad have led to the end of an era for English speaking listeners, along with broadcasts in German and French (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, Oct 26, swprograms via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Hi Glenn, I just heard DW on a strange frequency 6225 kHz with very powerful strength S9 +20 dB. Programming was in Arabic with language lessons in German. Positive ID and news in Arabic 21 UT. No co-channel or adjacent QRM. Who knows more about this?! Not to used to be hear stations like DW on these frequencies outside of proper SW bands. BTW, what is is the 49 meter band nowadays?! 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The answer: ARABIC 2000 2130 6225 KRASNODAR 500 188 ME (DW A-02 schedule via DXA via DXLD) Have they not been there all season? (gh) Hi Glenn, Really, this was the first time ever I heard this DW relay from Krasnodar. This doesn`t mean they have not been there. As I earlier told you, I`m a very casual DX-er. Not surfing on SW every day. Happy week-end and 73! (Jouko, Turku, FINLAND, ibid.) ** GERMANY. A digital sounding noise was noted on 1485 kHz yesterday evening from tune-in around 1900 UT from an easterly direction (thanks to Chris McWhinnie for the tip). It would appear to be from SWF in Germany. I found this recent report in BC-DX, translated from the original German with the help of Google: DRM - Kaiserslautern, which was in former times important for the Sudwestfunk, will become important [again] for the SWR when it starts digital medium wave transmissions. SWR has a transmission licence for digital test broadcasts on 1485 kHz. The125 m high latice transmission mast near the A6 motorway is expected to be installed in 4 weeks... Dependent on the results of measurements (spectrum, etc.) a transmitter power output from 300 to 400 W is planned. It is not yet known what programme will be radiated. For those who understand German, this is the original report in full: DRM - Kaiserslautern, das frueher fuer den SWF von Bedeutung war, wird fuer den SWR beim Start zu digitalen Mittelwellensendungen von Bedeutung werden.Der SWR ist im Besitz einer Sendelizenz fuer digitale Testsendungen auf 1485 kHz. Die Sendeantenne am 125 m hohen Gittermast unweit der Autobahn A 6 soll voraussichtlich in 4 Wochen montiert werden. Derzeit ist man damit beschaeftigt, einen Halbleiter-Sender umzuruesten und digital-tauglich zu machen. Abhaengig von den zu erzielenden Messergebnissen (Spektrum, etc.) ist mit einer mittleren Sender-Ausgangsleistung von 300 bis 400 W zu rechnen. Welches Programm abgestrahlt werden soll, steht momentan noch nicht fest; moeglicherweise sind es auch Aufzeichnungen. Der SWR wird den Start der Versuchssendungen entsprechend bekanntgeben (Guenter Haug, SWR, 2.10.2002 via Bernhard Weiskopf-D, ntt via Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK Oct 25 via Noel Green, DXLD) Once again: Irregular DRM tests on 1485 currently takes place at Berlin through a single frequency network of three transmitters (Frohnau, Schäferberg, Rüdersdorf). The signal is not audible here via groundwave (Berlin is 120 km away). Right now at 1915 a skywave signal could be there, but it could also be local noise what I hear, hard to tell. By the way, the mentioned mast near Kaiserslautern already exists. This is an old mediumwave site, once with 1.5 kW on 827 (the original item does not state that this low power station was important). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. A recent item (which actually must be labelled "all sic") stated that Deutsche Welle would move to a building at Bonn which once housed the federal government. That's not really true; the old Bundeskanzleramt is still an external office location of the new headquarters at Berlin. The so-called Schürmannbau (called after the architects) was once meant to become an office building for the members of the federal parliament. In 1993 the shell was severely damaged by a flood of the Rhine river, and the disaster continued after this expensive accident; the completion of the building was planned for late 1999, now 2002 is almost over and Deutsche Welle still broadcasts from the asbestos-contaminated old building at Cologne (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. See CHINA ** JORDAN. [Note: I think he means to say 11690 as in his Subject:] Radio Jordan is back on 11970 at 1700-1730 with a program called Jordan Weekly heard today. This is probably a Saturday only show. The signal was big and the audio was very good and one of the two RTTY stations that normally cover this frequency was not there today. I configured my radio (R-388) for LSB, ECSS reception and then used the crystal filter to notch out the RTTY signal on the high side of 11970. I got into the program at the end so I missed what they might be saying about Israel/Palestine situation but I will make a point to listen again next Saturday if possible. The new Passport has dropped this station from the blue pages on this transmission but there is a mention of the transmission in the 17:00 listings in the time sorted narrative on page 256 (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. The Medi-1 website has this information: http://www.medi1.com/medi1/diffusion.php (this link has the below information and a variety of pictures, that show in a pop-up window if you click the thumbnails) Les émetteurs Ondes Longues et Ondes Courtes sont installés à 18 kilometres de Nador au Maroc, sur un terrain de 250 ha. L'émetteur Ondes Longues a une puissance de 2000 kW et une portée de 3000 kms. L'émetteur Ondes Courtes, dirige vers l'Afrique de l'Ouest a une puissance de 250 kW. MEDI 1 a sa propre montée numérique en direction du satellite Eutelsat 10 degr Est. It says that the SW transmitter is beamed to West Africa. This probably means southern Morocco and Algeria, Mauritania and similar Arabic speaking areas that are out of reach for LW 171 kHz. I also have older web information that says southwest Africa (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Oct 24 via DXLD) I thought, Medi # 1 would change to 9595 kHz permanently from Sunday in B-02 season, but couldn't find any entry in the 'RTM MRC' schedule. Only the RTM Rabat entry for 15340/15345 kHz via Nador site noted as usual. kW deg ant 5980 0000-0500 28S,38,39 TAN 250 83 227 MRC 5980 2200-2400 27,28 TAN 250 10 227 MRC 7135 2200-2400 27,28 TAN 250 27 227 MRC 7185 0000-0500 28S,38,39 TAN 250 67 227 MRC 15280 1100-1500 27SE,28N,28SW TAN 250 10 227 MRC 15335 1100-1500 27SE,28N,28SW TAN 250 27 227 MRC 15340 0900-1500 28S,37E,38 NAD 250 110 151 MRC 15345 1500-2200 38,39,47,48 NAD 250 110 151 MRC 17595 1400-1700 27,28 TAN 250 10 902 MRC 17815 1700-1900 27,28 TAN 250 10 902 MRC Last two days was out (Karl Leite-Brazil, Cumbre Oct 24, via BC-DX...) Medi #1. I cannot recollect ever having seen a registration for Medi #1 anywhere - I seem to remember that the first we knew about it being from Nador was when someone put a schedule on the Internet a couple of years or so ago. There had been some question about where 9575 was coming from after the Tangiers station went off air. Then it was found that Nador was the site of 2 x 250 kW transmitters - the other being used by RTM (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 24 via DXLD) Yes, totally correct. Such a frequency move of Medi #1 has never happened before. And - I guess - there is a strange coincidence with the A-02 / B-02 change date coming Sunday !?? 9575 kHz, always the azimuth of 110 degrees towards C&S Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Sudan. Same azimuth mentioned for the RTM Nador outlet of 15340/15345 kHz, 28S, 37E, 38, 39, 47, 48. 27 UK, France, Benelux 28 Central & Eastern EUR, not Baltics 37 Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia 38 Libya, Egypt 39 Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula. 47 Central Africa 48 East Africa (Wolfgang Bueschel, Oct 24, BC-DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. B02 Schedule: R. Netherlands Sked effective 27 October 2002 - 30 March 2003 Language UTC Target kHz Site Dutch 0130-0225 N Am e/C Am 6020 Sackville 0130-0225 S America s 15315 Bonaire 0330-0425 East Africa 9860 Madagascar 0330-0425 ME/NE Africa 15560 Madagascar 0330-0425 N America c 6165 Bonaire 0330-0425 N America w 9590 Bonaire 0600-0657 C & S Europe 7125 Flevo 0600-0657 C & W Europe 1512 Wolvertem 0600-0657 S Europe 6015 Flevo 0600-0900 SE Europe 9895 Flevo 0600-1800 W Europe 5955 Flevo 0659-0900 S Europe 11935 Flevo 0659-1800 SW Europe 9895 Flevo 0700-0800 NZ/Australia 9625 Bonaire 0700-0800 NZ/Australia 11655 Bonaire 0930-1015 (Mon-Sat) Surinam 6020 Bonaire 1030-1125 East Asia 13820 Khabarovsk 1030-1125 NZ/Australia 9885 Bonaire 1030-1125 SE Asia 21480 Madagascar 1030-1125 W Australia 17580 Madagascar 1100-1300 S Europe 13700 Flevo 1330-1425 E & SE Asia 9885 Khabarovsk 1330-1425 FE/E & SE Asia 7375 Petro. Kamchatski 1330-1425 S Asia/W Aus/ME 13700 Flevo 1330-1425 SE Asia/W Australia 12070 Tashkent 1330-1425 South Asia 17580 Madagascar 1330-1425 South Asia 21480 Madagascar 1600-1800 S Europe / 13700 Flevo 1600-1800 SE Europe/ME 9895 Flevo 1630-1725 East Africa 11655 Madagascar 1630-1725 South Africa 6020 Madagascar 1830-1925 ME / E Africa 11695 Flevo 1830-1925 N & W Africa 13765 Flevo 1830-1925 West Africa 21590 Bonaire 2030-2125 C & W Africa 21590 Bonaire 2030-2125 C & W Africa 11655 Madagascar 2030-2125 C + W Europe 5835 Moscow 2030-2125 NW Africa 9895 Flevo 2030-2125 SE Europe 9895 Flevo 2030-2125 South Africa 6020 Madagascar 2030-2125 Spain/Portugal 6015 Flevo 2030-2125 West Africa 15315 Bonaire 2030-2125 West Africa 17605 Bonaire 2130-2225 N America e 13700 Bonaire 2130-2225 N America e 9895 Flevo 2130-2225 S America n / Caribbean 11730 Flevo 2130-2225 S America w 15315 Bonaire 2130-2225 Surinam 6020 Bonaire 2130-2230 W Eu DRM Test 11750 Bonaire 2330-0025 E Asia 9590 Madagascar 2330-0025 FE/E Asia 17570 Khabarovsk 2330-0025 SE Asia 7280 Singapore 2330-0025 SE Asia 15565 Madagascar English 0430-0530 N America w 6165 Bonaire 0430-0530 N America w 9590 Bonaire 0930-1125 Far East + E Asia + Aust 12065 Irkutsk 0930-1125 FE & E Asia 7260 Petro.Kamchatski 0930-1125 NZ/Australia 9790 Bonaire 1130-1325 C & W Europe 6045 Juelich 1130-1325 N America e 5965 Sackville 1130-1325 W Europe 9860 Juelich 1430-1625 N America w 15220 Sackville 1430-1625 South Asia 12080 Madagascar 1430-1625 South Asia 15595 Madagascar 1430-1625 South Asia 12070 Tashkent 1730-2025 East Africa 11655 Madagascar 1730-2025 South Africa 6020 Madagascar 1830-2025 West Africa 13700 Flevo 1830-2025 West Africa 9895 Flevo 1830-2025 West Africa 17605 Bonaire 2130-2330 C + W Europe 1512 Wolvertem 2330-0125 N America c 6165 Bonaire 2330-0125 N America e 9845 Bonaire Indonesian 1130-1325 Indonesia 17580 Madagascar 1130-1325 Indonesia 21480 Madagascar 1130-1325 Indonesia 11690 Singapore 2130-2325 Indonesia 7285 Madagascar 2130-2325 Indonesia 9590 Madagascar 2130-2325 Indonesia 6120 Singapore Spanish 0130-0325 C America 6165 Bonaire 0130-0325 Mex/Caribbean 9845 Bonaire 1100-1125 S America 15450 Bonaire 1130-1157 S America nw 6165 Bonaire 1130-1157 S America nw 9715 Bonaire 1200-1225 C America 9715 Bonaire 1200-1225 C America/Caribbean 6165 Bonaire 2230-0125 S America n/ Caribbean 9895 Flevo 2230-0125 S America s 15315 Bonaire 2230-2325 S America n 11730 Bonaire AWR 0230-0330 Madagascar 3215 Madagascar 1530-1628 East Africa 3215 Madagascar Dem. V. of Burma 1429-1526 SE Asia 17495 Madagascar 2330-0030 SE Asia 11715 Madagascar DRM Test 0900-1000 W Europe 11660 Bonaire DW English 0300-0345 N America w 11985 Bonaire 0500-0545 N America w 11795 Bonaire 0857-0945 South Africa 17860 Madagascar IBC Tamil 1228-1325 South Asia 17525 Madagascar RCI 2000-2059 NW & W Africa 11725 Flevo 2200-2259 NW & W Africa 9805 Flevo RVI 0400-0456 N America w 11985 Bonaire 1857-2000 S Africa 13720 Madagascar 2227-2326 N America e 13700 Bonaire V of Hope 0430-0500 (Sat-Tues) East Africa 12060 Madagascar 0430-0500 (Sat-Tues) East Africa 15320 Madagascar V of the People 0330-0430 SE Africa (Zimbabwe) 7120 Madagascar 1630-1755 SE Africa (Zimbabwe) 7120 Madagascar (F.Pl. start tba) (Sked from RN website, converted to text format by Alan Roe, DXLD; English portion also via Bob Thomas, CT) ** NICARAGUA. TURMOIL IN MANAGUA: STATE AGAINST CHURCH, AND A CHURCH-OWNED STATION IN THE MIDDLE OF IT Managua, Nicaragua, is a wonderful spot; There`s coffee and bananas and the temperature`s hot.`` --1947 hit, ``Managua Nicaragua,`` by Kay Kyser and His College of Music Knowledge. Managua, Oct 26 (CRU) -- The battle has been pitched and still continues, but so far, it looks like the State has won in a battle of a reform administration against the Archdiocese of Managua and the former president of the republic, Señor Arnoldo Alemán. At the center of the storm is the revocation of the license of radio station YN-- Radio La Poderosa 560 AM. The station belongs to the Archdiocese of Managua, in particular to COPROSA, a charitable suborganization in the Archdiocese. But the Church has not been operating the station; instead, for reasons not determinable by CRU, the Archdiocese had turned the station over to Señor Alemán, against whom serious accusations of big-time corruption have been made. Ex-president Alemán has used the Radio La Poderosa, still owned by the Archdiocese, to wage a relentless war against his critics and the president administration of Señor Enrique Bolaños. Señor Alemán, who is president of the legislature, the National Assembly, enjoys immunity because of his office, but the Bolaños administration has asked the Assembly to lift that immunity so that it can juridically process charges of wholesale corruption again Señor Alemán. According to internationally respected and award-winning reporter Andrés Oppenheimer of the Miami El Nuevo Herald, Señor Alemán has raided the national treasury for $124 million. By Latin American standards, where administrations have seen the national treasuries as part of their personal bank accounts, $124 million is not much, Mr. Oppenheimer reports. But Nicaragua is one of the most desperately poor countries of Latin America, in fact the third most poor, after Haiti and Honduras. ``According to justice department investigators, Alemán used state funds to live as a pasha during his government from 1997 to 2002. The procurator general, Francisco Fiallos and his assistants, have told me in telephone interviews from Managua that they have uncovered up to $124 million in illegal transactions, which they suspect wound up in the bank accounts or businesses of ex-president Alemán, his relatives and collaborators.`` On his part, ex-president Alemán has been using the church-owned Radio La Poderosa 560 AM (the station is new; it does not appear on the international AM frequency lists at the FCC website) to answer his critics and countercharge them. It is said that the national media have taken up the cause of the Bolaños administration in going after Alemán and his administration, said to be the most corrupt in Nicaraguan history. Exactly why Cardinal Archbishop of Managua, Miguel Obando [y] Bravo, and the Nicaraguan Church would side with Señor Alemán is not known up here. A reliable source in Central America says that the new administration is pronouncedly anticlerical, and the national media, as elsewhere in the world, has enjoyed making the Church a target day after day. In any event, the Nicaraguan government`s telecommunications agency, La Dirección de Telecomunicaciones, closed down Radio La Poderosa the week before last, citing two reasons: first, the station is licensed to COPROSA, which is not a legally erected organization and thus is not a legal person and has no legal standing, and is consequently unable to hold a broadcasting license. Second, the station`s tower was built in an area where it should not have been because of nearby residences. The station is said to have the best national coverage of any station and is apparently powerful. It should be noted, too, that the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua has long operated YNRC Radio Católica 720 AM, but that station is not in contest. An angry Cardinal Bravo has suspended the usual press conferences held after Sunday High Masses in the Cathedral, but his spokesman, Monseñor Eddy Montenegro Avendaño, vicar of communications of the archdiocese, did answer some reporters` questions at a recent conference, and Catholic Radio Update has the text of those responses from a source that wishes to remain anonymous. Attesting to the climate of fear that now pervades Nicaragua, Monseñor Montenegro said, ``The Church from time immemorial has send letters requesting help from people, laymen, State and private institutions for the diverse work that the Church does. But now it seems a sin when the Church asks for this type of help.`` He continued in answer to a second question: ``Many times we cannot be on the same wavelength of thought, each one has his own ideologies, ways of seeing things. It is difficult for you to get everyone to share an opinion, whether positive, negative, or general. I say that at times there occurs in some mass media words that injure the human rights of the other person, but you have to have respect for your adversary, and many times these mass media do not contribute to the unity that ought to exist among Nicaraguans. When all is said an done, we live in the same country. God has given us this same heaven and earth, and we have to try to find a point of equilibrium, I do not know how, but we have to look for it in order that we can have create jobs and we can impact those places where there is a lot of misery.`` The closing of Radio La Poderosa triggered large demonstrations and protest marches in Managua. In addition to Alemán supporters, a large group of mothers wearing mourning clothes marched through the streets in a mock funeral expression, saying that the closing of Radio La Poderosa was a blow to free speech and democracy. Even the Sandinistas, longtime foes of the Church and who gave YNRC Radio Católica endless hassles during their administration, protested the closing. The newsmen and station personnel, too, held a public demonstration, claiming that they were the hapless victims of the situation. La Señora Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, former publisher of Nicaragua`s internationally respected daily, La Prensa, and herself a former president and widely esteemed around the world, also deplored the situation as an attack on liberty of expression and voices of dissent. The Archdiocese agreed. ``The sad thing in these cases is that people, your colleagues, are left without work,`` Monseñor Montenegro told journalists. ``In every case, these things can be resolved politically many times; so much has been shown in the history of Nicaragua. Things in this country are resolved often at the level of political directors who are on the frontier of politics. The journalists here are paying for `the broken dishes`; in the history of Nicaragua, we have seen that when the mass media have been closed those who are left unprotected are journalists. The human aspect is difficult in this matter. It is to be lamented that some journalists remain without sustenance, and although the mass media may have their own line on all this, we are talking about men and women who have kids.`` ``COPROSA is a part of the pastoral work of the Church, just like the family apostolate, just like the apostolates to prisoners and the sick, and the proof is that there is Caritas of Nicaragua, which is the very same social work of the Church, not with the requisites that an ONG [nongovernmental, nonprofit organization] has, but that it is part of the Archdiocesan Church.`` Nicaragua`s history has been tortured. A Spanish province, it declared independence and joined Mexico briefly, then joined the United Provinces of Central America before becoming independent in 1836. The United States Marines occupied the country several times in its history, including as late as the 1930`s. General Anastasio Somoza was elected president in 1967, but became dictator, and civil war led by Marxist Sandinistas, arising from the utter poverty of the Indians and mestizos, broke out in the 1970`s and spread their influence and membership, and ultimately violence, to every sector of Nicaraguan society. Somoza fled in 1979, leaving the country to the Sandinistas who began to impose Marxism on Nicaragua, and severe repression of the Church began, even though not a few Catholic intellectuals --- lay, priests, religious, and bishops --- and particularly the liberation theology crowd, thought Sandinista Daniel Ortega and his administration to be the ultimate in social justice and the values of the Gospel. (Such an attitude is still widespread among a certain element in the American and Latin American Churches, particularly the aging baby-boomer clergy and religious.) In the 1990 elections, la Señora Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, whose husband was killed by a car bomb because of the implacable hostility of his La Prensa towards the Sandinistas, made a stunning upset over the Sandinistas and was elected president. The political polls had shown Señor Ortega and his Sandinistas as the overwhelming voters` choices, and they had the glowing endorsement of a not a few American and international Catholic and secular intellectuals and media types. What had happened was that the Nicaraguan people had tired of the Sandinistas, who brought murder and violence of their own species, and had decided secretly that they had had enough. On top of that, the people had deliberately misled the poll takers. American Catholic left-wingers were silenced, as were their Latin American and European counterparts. The mass media could not very well attack Señora Chamorro, for her own husband had died in the cause of freedom of the press. In the 1996 elections, the mayor of Managua, Señor Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo, center of this current storm, was elected. In this year`s elections, despite Señor Ortega`s protestations that he had seen the light and had become a follower of Christ, the voters refused him the office of president a third time, and elected Señor Enrique Bolaños as president. He replaced an administration widely reported as utterly corrupt. Exactly how the Church became involved in such mire, and why it would turn over one of its radio stations to so controversial a politician has not been explained, or if it has, I have not seen it. The Church, meanwhile, is expressing itself as champion of freedom of speech and democratic values. As Monseñor Montenegro said, ``Freedom of expression is very fragile in a country where democracy is in diapers. I think that the political administrators, because all this logically has a political tint to it --- in Nicaragua almost everything does --- will look for some way to solve the problem`` So far, that has not happened (Mike Dorner, Oct 28 Catholic Radio Update, Oct 26 via DXLD) ** OMAN. Glenn, re your comment: "We already had a report that Mashirah closed Oct. 7; didn`t you see it? ..." Perhaps that report of 7 October only referred to the HF senders closing on that date? 73s (Dave Kenny, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Evidently ** POLONIA. I checked the Radio Polonia website for B02 schedules. At least the one for German is already available, it shows no obvious shortwave cuts: 1230-1255 on 6095 and 9525, 1630-1655 on single 7265, 2030-2055 on 6035 and 7145 (satellite-only transmissions omitted here). However, it is another issue how much of these frequencies will deliver usable reception; only the 1230 transmission is a safe case (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. I haven`t downloaded the new Polonia frequency schedule, but this station is not very pleasant to listen to. The background rumbling noise is very bad and I find myself listening to that rather than the programme! I wonder how well their German service will be heard on 7265 - don't they know what else is on there? Best 73's (Noel Green, England, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Today at 1130 (will be 1230 from tomorrow) I gave Radio Polonia another try. Surprise, surprise, both 6095 and 9525 had only traces of the infamous growl, so it was indeed possible to listen to the program. Did the gentleman at the Leszczynka station finally bother about the problem they denied so far? Concerning 7265: Well, until today they used 6030 instead... Anyway during winter the Leszczynka signals skip over eastern Germany once it get dark. There was already a discussion why they do not use 75 metres; one guy claimed that Radio Polonia did so in the past so they must have 4 MHz antennas, but so far I have not seen a past schedule with 75 metres outlets which would confirm this. 1503 is really missed here! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. MEDIA MINISTRY ANNULS REQUEST TO CLOSE ECHO OF MOSCOW WEB SITE Friday, Oct. 25, 2002, 10:56 PM Moscow Time The Media Ministry of Russia has withdrawn its request to the Communication Ministry of Russia to close access to the web site of the Echo of Moscow radio station due to changes in its content, Deputy Media Minister Mikhail Seslavinsky declared. He pointed out that interviews with terrorists who took hostages in Moscow had been deleted from the site. At the same time Seslavinsky underlined that publication of such materials was unacceptable, because it seriously violated the current legislation from http://www.moscowtimes.ru Sat Oct 26 2002 via Fred Waterer, DXLD) First impressions of crisis coverage: http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2002/10/26/007.html MOSKOVIA CLOSED OVER CRISIS COVERAGE The Press Ministry ordered the second-tier Moskovia television station off the air Friday for its coverage of the hostage crisis and issued warnings to a number of other media outlets http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2002/10/26/012.html (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) All the above before the siege on the theatre. It has been pointed out that Maryanne Kehoe was on one of her frequent visits to Moscow when this happened; we imagine she will have stories to tell, tho the chances are slim she was one of the three Americans in the theatre, all of whom reportedly survived (gh, DXLD) {Later: no, one guy from Oklahoma was killed -- by the gas} ** RUSSIA. Once Voice of Russia director Armen Oganesyan said "we changed our view on the world much more than the world changed their view on us". Some recent comments on serious weaknesses of VoR confirm this statement. I am not familiar with the English service, so I have not really an idea who is actually on duty at VoR when the transmissions to North America go out (mind you, that's at dead of night in Moscow), but it is well possible that there are only the sound engineers who play the tapes, and of course they were unable to do anything until some editorial staff appeared at 7 PM or so. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Alexey Osipov, Russia, was informed by R Studio (a.k.a. R Gardarika) that the station is no longer available on SW. The rent of the 200 kW transmitter (lately on 7420 kHz) appeared to be too expensive. R Studio has a network of FM stations in the St. Petersburg region (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX Oct 25 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. I don't know why, but assumed Yakutsk 7200 is audible now more or less every day c0645 at fair strength - increasing after 0700 - and then fading out. 7345 was much better today after CZE went off 0657+, but I still can't trace 7140. Magadan 7320 has gone down, and the two \\ 5940 and 9530 are difficult too. What I think is Pyongyang has appeared on 9650 in Japanese same time - I cannot trace 7580 though. And 9325 is again audible from 0700 in Ru, but not so strong as 15245. It seems all change again with conditions today - Magadan 7320 was a fluttery signal at S7 around 0640 - I could also hear 5940, but weaker, and 9530 under what I think is a Seoul relay. Yakutsk also up to 7+ with flutter, but 7345 only showing traces after CZE went off (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 23/24 via DXLD) ** ST. KITTS & NEVIS. ZIZ, 555 kHz, is typically the best of the remaining Caribbean splits here. ZIZ is usually heard with local news/talk, soca music, and BBC news. Listen to ZIZ on the Internet at http://www.zizonline.com (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, Oct 26, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SHUNS GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF STATE BROADCASTER CAPE TOWN, Oct 23 (Reuters) - South Africa's parliament rejected government control of the national broadcaster on Wednesday, adopting a law confirming the independence of the television and radio stations that once underpinned apartheid. Legislators voted overwhelmingly for a watered down Broadcasting Amendment Bill that will bolster the public service arm of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and enhance the status of minority languages. Critics said original proposals would have removed editorial independence and made the SABC a mouthpiece of the ruling party, repeating the propaganda of the apartheid era, when hardline President P.W. Botha had a hotline to SABC newsrooms and used it to order changes or cuts in bulletins. Initial draft legislation had given Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri the final say on editorial policy. She told legislators on Wednesday the measure had been intended only to stimulate debate. Opposition Democratic Alliance communications spokeswoman Dene Smuts said the government had sought to manage the media in the face of popular criticism. She said the ruling party had backed down in the face of overwhelming opposition to its plans. Announcing her small party's continued opposition to the bill, she said: "I don't see why we should be so thrilled when we manage to defeat overtly unconstitutional measures like ministerial control of SABC policies." The new law will separate the commercial and public service arms of the SABC and clears the way for a fourth, state-funded SABC television channel specifically for the less known of South Africa's 11 official languages. After protests from civil rights groups, the SABC itself and the ruling party's labour party ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, a communications committee reinstated a key clause saying "(the SABC) enjoys freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence." 10/23/02 16:08 ET Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** SPAIN. REE, Madrid, winter English, times assumed as not given: one hour at 2100 to Eu 9680, Af 9595; weekends one hour later at 2200; NAm on 6055 at 0000 (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 7245, R Tajikistan, surprised to find this one coming through nightly of late. So-so Oct 21, better Oct 22, poor Oct 23 & 24. On Oct 22 programming started at 0100 with tuning melody on marimba- or xylophone-type instrument for about 30 seconds, then nice ID as "Inja Dushanbe . . ," mention of "kiloHertz" noted, and into news program by M&W with occasional music bridges; heard a brief English recording of Kofi Annan during the news, and announcers mentioned him many times. Signal strength fairly decent Oct 22, but reception depends a lot on ARO level. First time I have heard this, and thanks to Vlad Titarev and Anatoly Klepov for having confirmed that it is still there at this time (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Oct 25 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. BBCWS On Air for Nov encloses a new frequencychart; for [non-North] Central America, Caribbean we notice the US relays go back to their winter pattern, 0100-0400 9525, 0400-0600 6135. Sites not given, but presumably WYFR and Delano respectively, usually providing the best evening signals available. Via Antigua: 1000-1400 6195, 1100-1700 15190, 2100-0500 5975. Also: 12095 2100-2400 Ascension, 0000-0300 UK direct. Strangely enough the 0000-0300 on 12095 for South America is shown as Ascension. Listen for an echo, unless this be a mistake (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. AS BBC FLOURISHES, U.K. IS SHAKING UP REST OF DIAL CHARLES GOLDSMITH, The Wall Street Journal Friday, October 25, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press (10-25) 06:32 PDT (AP) -- LONDON -- "Fimbles," the latest children's program from the British Broadcasting Corp., urges tots to "get that Fimbling Feeling" -- fingers twinkling and noses twitching in anticipation of a new discovery. The program, featuring colorfully striped characters like Fimbo and Baby Pom, is being heavily promoted on BBC channels in Britain and has already has been sold to broadcasters in Australia, South Africa and Canada. Now the noses of BBC executives are twitching in anticipation of another world-wide merchandising bonanza on the scale of their smash hit "Teletubbies," which has racked up retail sales of nearly $1.9 billion. It's the kind of marketing steamroller that no other broadcaster in Britain can match, sparking complaints that it's unfair to have to compete with a taxpayer-funded entity acting like a global media titan. That's one reason why America's media giants have received an odd invitation, one which would be unthinkable in most nations, where strict barriers to foreign investment in TV are the norm... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/10/25/financial0932EDT0034.DTL&type=printable (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. VOICE OF AMERICA ENGLISH OCT. 27, 2002-MAR. 29, 2003 English to Europe, Middle East, and North Africa 0400-0500 7170 15205 0500-0530 792 7170 9700 11825 15205 0530-0600 7170 9700 11825 15205 0600-0630 792 1197 5995 7170 11825 11930 15205 0630-0700 792 5995 7170 11825 11930 15205 0700-1400 1197 1400-1500 1197 15205 1500-1600 1197 9575 15205 1600-1630 9575 15205 1630-1700 1197 9575 15205 1700-1800 6040 9760 15205 1800-1830 6040 9760 9885 1830-1900 1197 6040 9760 9885 1900-1930 1197 9690 9760 1900-2000* 5965 15205 1930-2000 9690 9760 2000-2030 1197 6095 9690 9760 2030-2100 6095 9690 9760 2100-2200 1197 6040 6095 9595 9760 English to Africa 0300-0330 909 1530 4960 6035 6080 7265 7290 7340 7415 9575 9885 0330-0400 909 1530 4960 6035 6080 7265 7290 7415 9575 9885 0400-0430 909 1530 4960 6080 7290 7415 9575 9775 9885 0430-0500 909 4960 6080 7290 7415 9575 9775 0500-0600 909 6035 6080 6105 7295 11835 13710 0600-0630 909 1530 6035 6080 6105 7295 11835 11995 13710 0630-0700$ 909 1530 6035 6080 6105 7295 11835 11995 13710 1600-1700 909 1530 6035 13710 15240 15485 17715 17895 1700-1730 909 13710 15240 15445 17895 1730-1800 13710 15240 15445 17895 1730-1800* 909 1800-1900 909 6035 11975 13710 15240 15580 17895 1900-2000 909 4950 6035 7415 11975 13710 15240 15580 17895 1900-2000* 13725 2000-2030 909 1530 4950 6035 7415 11855 11975 13710 15240 15580 17885 17895 2030-2100 909 1530 6035 7415 11975 13710 15240 15580 17885 17895 2030-2100$ 4950 2100-2200 909 1530 6035 7415 11975 13710 15240 15580 17895 2200-2230* 909 1530 6035 7415 11655 11975 13710 English to Caribbean and Latin America 0000-0100# 5995 6130 7405 9455 9775 11695 13790 0100-0130# 5995 6130 7405 9455 9775 13790 0130-0200# 5995 6130 9455 1000-1100 5745 7370 9590 English to Far East Asia, South Asia, and Oceania 0000-0030 1575 7215 9890 11760 15185 15290 17740 17820 0100-0300 7200 7255 9850 11705 11820 15250 15300 17740 17820 0800-1000 11995 13605 15150 1000-1100 5985 11720 15250 15455 1100-1130$ 1575 1100-1200 5985 6110 9645 9760 11705 11720 15250 15455 1200-1230 1143 6110 9645 9760 11705 11715 15250 15455 1230-1300 6110 9645 9760 11705 11715 15250 15455 1300-1400 6110 9645 9760 11705 15480 1400-1500 1143 6110 7125 9645 9760 11705 15395 15480 1500-1600 7125 9645 15395 1600-1700 1143 6110 7125 9645 9760 15395 1700-1800 6110 7125 9645 15395 1700-1800* 1143 1575 5990 6045 9525 9795 11955 12005 15255 1900-2000 9525 11870 15180 1900-2000* 9840 11720 11970 15410 2100-2200 9670 11870 15185 17735 17820 2200-2400 7215 9770 9890 11760 15185 15290 15305 17735 17820 2230-2400> 1575 English-Special 0030-0100 1575 7215 9890 11760 15185 15290 17740 17820 0130-0200# 7405 9775 13740 1500-1530 6110 9760 9795 11995 15460 1500-1530$ 1575 1530-1600 1575 6110 9760 9795 11995 15460 1600-1700 13600 15445 17640 1900-2000 9785 12015 13640 2300-2330 6180 7205 9780 11735 15135 2330-2400 6180 7130 7205 9620 9780 11735 11805 13640 15135 15205 Abbreviations: All programs/frequencies are on daily unless noted otherwise. [not all of which may apply to the English portion] & - Monday only * - Monday through Friday = - Monday through Saturday < - Tuesday through Friday / - Tuesday and Friday only # - Tuesday through Saturday % - Tuesday through Sunday ~ - Thursday only >- Friday and Saturday @ - Saturday only $ - Saturday and Sunday " - Sunday only + - Sunday and Monday ^ - Sunday through Thursday ! - Sunday through Friday (VOA website via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DXLD) ** U S A. Washington Post favorable review of a concert at the VOA auditorium, and lamenting that the concert series will end. The concert series was started by previous VOA director and music critic Robert Reilly. BRAZILIAN BACH, AND A LOST VOICE -- Friday, October 25, 2002; Page C03 It's hard to imagine J.S. Bach played with more seductive beauty than in the Brazilian Guitar Quartet's performance of selected movements from his Orchestral Suite No. 3 at the Voice of America on Wednesday. Playing directly over the sound holes of their instruments to produce the plummiest tone possible, the guitarists allowed Bach's contrapuntal writing to emerge with buoyancy and clear, structural logic, while bathing this rigorous German score in the warmest Brazilian sunshine. All of the quartet members possess formidable technique, but only Edelton Gloeden and Tadeu do Amaral play standard, six-string instruments. Everton Gloeden and Paul Galbraith use Galbraith- designed, vertically held, eight-string guitars. (Galbraith's own guitar is supported, cello-like, on a metal end pin, which rests on a wooden resonance box.) Those larger guitars, with their heartier sound and extended range, tended to dominate balances throughout -- especially when played with such virtuosic gusto -- while the six- strings handled the subtler inner voices. In a program that also featured transcriptions of music by Albéniz, Villa-Lobos and lesser-known Brazilian composers, the quartet's rhythmic verve and finely calibrated ensemble work paid repeated dividends. Ronaldo Miranda's "Variações Sérias" proved a warmly lyrical exercise in nostalgia, Francisco Mignone's "Lundu" an ear- teasing, infectious miniature. But there's a bittersweet note in all this: In another cultural blow to the District, VOA has decided to shut down this artistically distinguished lunchtime recital series as of December. -- Joe Banno © 2002 The Washington Post Company (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. AIR FORCE ONE EQUIPMENT LACKING ON SEPT. 11, 2001 NEW YORK (Reuters) - While President Bush was on board Air Force One the day of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he was unable to hold video conferences, monitor news coverage properly or receive key data from people on the ground, Business Week reported in its latest edition. The magazine said that as a result of communications inadequacies on the presidential plane, Bush ordered the equipment on the fleet of four presidential planes to be upgraded. "The president was not happy," Adm. James Ellis Jr., commander of the U.S. military's Strategic Command, was quoted as saying in the Nov. 4 issue. "He couldn't even watch CNN," Ellis added of the day Bush flew around the country for his safety after the attacks in New York and Washington. It was only when Bush landed at Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska that he was able to use Strat-Com's sophisticated equipment to assess the situation and give orders, the magazine said. Air Force Col. Robert Hudson was quoted as saying less than $50 million was made available after Sept. 11, 2001, to upgrade the presidential planes and two of them have already been completed. 10/25/02 12:50 ET (AOL Canada via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** U S A. FEES FORCING COLLEGE RADIO STATIONS TO SCALE BACK WEBCASTS October 20, 2002 By JENNIFER MEDINA Playing alternative rock and urban folk music, the student-run radio station at the University of Wisconsin was broadcasting to fans from the far corners of the campus to the far corners of the earth. Although the station, WSUM, did not have a radio signal that went much beyond Madison, Wis., Internet broadcasting made it possible for the station to have listeners in the South Pacific. But that is over now. WSUM is one of about 70 college radio stations to pull the plug on Internet broadcasting in the last several months because of new copyright fees and reporting regulations required by the Library of Congress. "It just wasn't worth it," said Dave Black, WSUM's general manager and adviser. "Where are we supposed to get this money from?" Among the other places where stations have shut down or scaled back their Internet broadcasts are the University of California at Los Angeles, New York University, Houston Community College, Brandeis University and Oregon State. Colleges are now required to pay 2 cents for every 100 Internet listeners they have per song, with a minimum fee of $500 annually. (The station's Web sites can record data on the number of listeners.) This year, stations are also expected to pay fees retroactive to 1998, when the law was first approved. That means many schools will be expected to pay $2,500 to the copyright office tomorrow, when the payment is due. "For a lot of these stations, it could be devastating," said Will Robedee, vice president of Collegiate Broadcasters Inc. "There are constantly calls from stations deciding whether or not to continue their Webcast." The fees are part of an agreement between the copyright office and the Recording Industry Association of America, which says that the fees are needed to compensate musicians for their work. By contrast, radio stations that use the airwaves must pay a flat fee of about $600 a year to organizations that represent songwriters. "Webcasters have built businesses on the backs of performers and record companies," said Amanda Collins, a spokeswoman for the recording industry. "They're paying for everything else except for the key element - the music." Music industry officials tried to strike a last-minute deal to create flat fees for college stations, but the legislation stalled in the Senate. About 500 college radio stations broadcast programs over the Internet, usually in addition to their regular broadcasts, but many have moved to use the Internet exclusively as it has grown more difficult to get space on the airwaves. New regulations also require stations to keep detailed records of playlists and to submit records electronically. For stations that specialize in obscure or decades-old music, the system seems daunting. Most student disc jockeys choose songs on a whim, jotting down the information as they go along. The fees combined with the equipment needed to meet new reporting requirements could amount to one-quarter of a station's annual budget, radio station managers said. Stations that sell advertising would be required to pay even higher fees. The new requirements were announced in June, but many stations did not know about them until recent weeks. Some, such as California State University at Long Beach, are still unsure about the requirements and how they will affect their budget. "This is keeping us kind of meek and quiet," said John Trapper, the manager of the California State station, which has about 50 listeners at a time on the Internet. "We don't want to get too many listeners or we won't be able to afford to keep them." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/20/education/20RADI.html?ex=1036150543&ei=1&en=5d03000dde665941 Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company (via DXLD) ** U S A. In many ways Art Bell is the spiritual godchild of Long John Nebel who had things like UFO's, and the occult and other oddball items mostly on WOR in the '50's and '60's and then on WNBC and later WMCA into the late '70's. One-time cover girl Candy Jones, Nebel's wife, who continued the show after Nebel's death, was allegedly the victim of a CIA mind control experiment. http://www.talkers.com/greatest/ http://www.talkers.com/greatest/17rNebel.htm No list of talk radio`s 25 greatest would be complete without the name Long John Nebel appearing on it. Younger broadcasters and fans of talk radio might think Art Bell was the first to explore UFOs and the like on late night talk radio. But - Orson Welles` radio play aside - it was Long John Nebel who delved into the possibility that we are being visited by aliens during many of his nightly broadcasts in New York (and up and down the East Coast) on WOR in the late 1950s and 1960s. Nebel wasn`t a believer or even open to the possibility of aliens. He was a self-proclaimed huckster through and through. He was a pitchman in his mid-forties when a WOR executive noticed him and thought his style would work well on the radio. It did. On his late night show Nebel would talk to people claiming to be from other planets, he would host roundtables featuring New Yorkers from all walks of life talking about everyday topics, he created characters he played himself, and he produced elaborate on-air put-ons. While Nebel pioneered these talk radio techniques, he knew exactly what he was. His authorized biography by Don Bain is titled, ``Radio Talk King, Master Salesman, Magnificent Charlatan`` (Joel Rubin, NY, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Joel: Living close enough to hear the NYC stations all my life, I remember Nebel well. It was a fun show to listen to. The difference between him and today's generation of radio hucksters (especially Limbaugh) is that he never took himself seriously. As you point out, he always knew who he was. An early interview with Limbaugh betrayed this same attitude, but it went off the rails somewhere when he began to believe his own b.s. (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW TALK-RADIO STATION FOLDS AFTER THREE DAYS By Robert Philpot, Star-Telegram Staff Writer Posted on Fri, Oct. 25, 2002 In what may be the quickest shutdown ever of a format on Fort Worth- Dallas radio, female-oriented talk station KCAF/990 "Cafe 990" closed its doors Wednesday, two days after its Monday launch. Station executives cited financial difficulties. "I was instructed to hand out payroll checks on Monday," said Scott Savage, who was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Renaissance Radio, the station's parent company. "I was told the funding would be there. And then I was told that funding would not be there." Savage says Dave Schum, president of Renaissance Radio, had run into financial difficulties and asked Savage to find a buyer for the station. Savage pulled together a group on short notice, but Schum turned down the offer. "Our interim financing fell through about three weeks ago," Schum said. "We just never should have launched the station." Schum said he had to decline the group's "ridiculously low" offer. The station went on the air Monday with much fanfare, including about 60 billboards placed throughout Fort Worth-Dallas. It had an impressive talent lineup, including former KHKS/106.1 FM "KISS-FM" morning personality Gail Lightfoot, who has worked for several Fort Worth-Dallas stations; Lynne Haze, a former DJ for R&B station KRNB/105.7 FM; and Katie Pruett, who worked with Savage when he managed KYNG /105.3 FM "Young Country" and doubled as KCAF's program director. The low-power station, which has returned to airing the syndicated "Talk America" format, is barely audible in much of Tarrant County. But Pruett had told the Star-Telegram before its launch that the station planned a power increase to give it wider reach. Savage said he was devastated by the shutdown. He said he had brought in 25 to 30 employees from around the country to help launch the station. He had returned to the market from San Diego; Pruett had returned from Louisville, Ky. When asked whether he had any legal recourse, Savage said his main priority, instead, is helping the Cafe staff find jobs. "They are very talented people," he said. "They will all land on their feet. My goal is to make that happen as soon as possible." (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) 990 is one of the frequencies hijacked into The Metroplex a few years ago from Wichita Falls (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WLW's studio-to-transmitter link is being heard here in Radway, Alberta on 26450 kHz in narrow FM almost daily. I'm glad my Kenwood TS440S has that mode. Many scanners now go down to 25 MHz so that's nice too. The lower limit used to be 30 MHz. Yours, (Bruce Atchison, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Doubt it`s an STL ** U S A. As far as finding out info on high school sports teams, I found a great website that fills the need for searching high school teams, http://www.ihigh.com You can search by state then by school. This helps only if you have an idea what state the game being held in and if you can catch a school name (Bob Carter, Operations/Engineering WGAI, NC, NRC-AM via DXLD) For the uninitiated, far too many local AM radio stations, even daytimers, illegally keep on the air with day facilities, mainly on Friday nights for such stupid ballgames (gh, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [and non]. Ian Morrison sent me this Voice of Vietnam schedule. VOICE OF VIETNAM ENGLISH PROGRAM FROM OCT. 27, 2002 TO MAR. 30, 2003 0100-0128 NA 6175 Sackville 0230-0258 NA 6175 Sackville 0330-0358 NA 6175 Sackville 1000-1028 As 9840, 12020 1100-1128 As 5955, 7145, 9730 1230-1258 As 9840, 12020 1330-1358 Eu 7145, 9730 1600-1628 Eu, As 7145, 9730 1630-1658 As 7145, 9730 1800-1828 Eu 5955, 7145, 9730 1900-1928 Eu 7145, 9730 2030-2058 Eu 7145, 9730 2330-2358 Eu 9840, 12020 (Ian Morrison via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, http://www.triwest.net/~dsampson/shortwave/ via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So the Sackville relays continue after all (gh, DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA [non]. R. Yugoslavia B-02 0000 - 0030 SPANISH 1 S.AMERICA/w 9680 0030 - 0100 SERBIAN 1 (Except Sunday) N.AMERICA/ce EUROPE/w 7115 0100 - 0130 ENGLISH 1 (Except Sunday) N.AMERICA/ce EUROPE/w 7115 0030 - 0130 SERBIAN (spec.) (Sunday only) N.AMERICA/ce EUROPE/w 7115 0130 - 0200 SERBIAN (RTS) N.AMERICA/ce EUROPE/w 7115 0200 - 0230 ENGLISH 2 N.AMERICA/w EUROPE/w 7130 1330 - 1400 ENGLISH 3 (Except Saturday, Sunday) AUSTRALIA 11835 1400 - 1430 SERBIAN (RTS) AUSTRALIA 11835 1500 - 1530 SERBIAN 2 (Except Saturday, Sunday) AUSTRALIA 11835 1530 - 1600 ARABIC 1 ARABIA 11800 1600 - 1630 RUSSIAN 1 RUSSIA/Mos. 6100 1630 - 1645 HUNGARIAN 1 HUNGARY 6100 1645 - 1700 GREEK 1 GREES 6100 1700 - 1730 FRENCH 1 EUROPE/w 6100 1730 - 1800 GERMAN 1 EUROPE/w 6100 1800 - 1815 ALBANIAN 1 ALBANIA 6100 1815 - 1830 BULGARIAN 1 BULGARIA 6100 1830 - 1900 ITALIAN 1 EUROPE/w 6100 1900 - 1930 RUSSIAN 2 RUSSIA/Mos. 6100 1930 - 2000 ENGLISH 4 EUROPE/w 6100 2000 - 2030 SPANISH 2 SPAIN 7220 2030 - 2100 SERBIAN 3 (Except Saturday) EUROPE 6100 2100 - 2130 GERMAN 2 (Except Saturday) EUROPE/w 6100 2030 - 2130 SERBIAN (spec.) (Saturday only) EUROPE 6100 2130 - 2200 FRENCH 2 EUROPE 6100 2200 - 2230 ENGLISH 5 EUROPE 6100 2330 - 2400 CHINESE 1 CHINA 9580 (Radio Yugoslavia website via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DXLD) In our continuing campaign against clutter, metric equivalents removed +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PRIME TIME SHORTWAVE ++++++++++++++++++++ The first edition of the B-02 English shortwave schedules have been posted to the Prime Time Shortwave website, http://www.triwest.net/~dsampson/shortwave/ I have shortwave schedules sorted by time and by country. I also have list of English broadcasts sorted by frequency. Good listening, (Dan Sampson, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ RADIO + LIGHT & SCIENCE, No. 13R New 96-page catalog of C. Crane Company has just been published, including an updated frequency list by gh on page 36. Not only SW radios, but accessories and related equipment, books. Cover price for catalog is $1.00. More info from 1-800-522-TUNE or fax 707-725-9060, or 1001 Main St, Fortuna CA 95540-2008 or http://www.ccrane.com or ccraneco@aol.com (Glenn Hauser, OK, Oct 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Some minor M class flares early in the week and the solar wind speed was elevated due to probably coronal hole activity since Oct 24. This caused some elevation of the geomagnetic field and high latitude paths were somewhat degraded. Poor conditions may also be experienced Oct 29-30 and Nov 3-6 though no major flaring is forecast. Coronal hole activity remains a possibility however. Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, Oct 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) SOLAR LEVELS REPORT 021026 at 0900 UTC SOLAR FLUX LEVELS 174 was 160 :-) SUN SPOT AVERAGE 129:55 :-) A INDEX = 36 was 34 :-( INDEX = 5 was 3 :-(( GMF :- Active to Minor Storm Global HF Propagation Conditions Low Latitude: Normal, Mid Latitude: Fair, Hi Latitude: Fair-Poor Solar wind gusts have triggered auroras off and on since Oct. 23rd. There could be even more geomagnetic activity this weekend if a coronal mass ejection (CME) sweeps past our planet as expected. The CME billowed away from the Sun on Oct. 25th not long after a spectacular prominence erupted -- the movie on http://spaceweather.com is a must-see. Sky watchers should be alert for Northern Lights after nightfall on Saturday and Sunday (Many years on the SW bands From SE England, Karl Kruger 73's :-{) GRDXC Oct 26 via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-165, October 25, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1153: WWCR: Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: [may be delayed] Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15038 WBCQ: Mon 0515 after time change, 7415 WRN: Sat 0800 rest of world; Sun 0530 Europe; Sun 1500 North America ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1153.html WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 27, 2002 It always pays to check all RFPI frequencies beyond their scheduled hours. Schedule shown is nominal, but it is not unusual for one transmitter to be down, and for programming to run up to an hour late. Due to a temporary internet outage, the latest show may not be available. WJIE schedule is flexible; WOR may also appear during the 0100, and 1700 UT hours, and may not be the latest show. Plans to add 13595 soon. For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html Days and times here are strictly UT Wed 2300 WOR WBCQ 7415 17495 [first airing of each edition] Thu 0400 WOR WJIE 7490 Thu 1300 WOR WJIE 7490 Thu 2130 WOR WWCR 15825 [9475 in Dec, Jan, Feb] Fri 0400 WOR WJIE 7490 Fri 1300 WOR WJIE 7490 Fri 2215 MR WWCR 9475 [or as early as 2210] Fri 2330 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 1566 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sat 0100 COM RFPI 15039 7445 Sat 0130 WOR RFPI 15039 7445 Sat 0400 WOR WJIE 7490 Sat 0700 WOR WWCR 5070 Sat 0700 COM RFPI 7445 Sat 0730 WOR RFPI 7445 Sat 0900 WOR WRN1 to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar, Telstar 12 SAm Sat 0955 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1928 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 [week delay] Sat 2330 COM RFPI 15039 Sun 0000 WOR RFPI 15039 7445 Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0515 WOR WJIE 7490 Sun 0530 WOR WRN to Europe only Sun 0530 COM RFPI 7445 Sun 0600 WOR RFPI 7445 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 1500 WOR WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 2030 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 1566 87.35 96.55 105.55 Mon 0030 WOR RFPI 15039 7445 Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [week delay] Mon 0515 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0630 WOR RFPI 7445 Mon 1300 WOR WJIE 7490 Tue 0400 WOR WJIE 7490 Tue 1300 WOR WJIE 7490 Wed 0100 WOR RFPI 15039 7445 Wed 0200 COM RFPI 15039 7445 Wed 0400 WOR WJIE 7490 Wed 0700 WOR RFPI 7445 Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9475 Wed 1300 WOR WJIE 7490 Wed 2200 MR WWCR 9475 Latest edition of this schedule version is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html An expanded schedule also showing local times: http://www.worldofradio.com/wormast.html Internet on demand: see Our Current Audio page for availability: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html Webcasts at times shown are available from all stations except WWCR, WNQM, WJIE, Studio X. WRN: http://www.wrn.org/live.html RFPI via SW feed: http://www.boinklabs.com/ifpi.html RFPI direct webcast: http://195.210.0.134:8004/listen.pls WPKN: http://www.wpkn.org WSUI: http://wsui.uiowa.edu UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL see IRELAND ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Re Music on 19 meters: A frequência exata desta transmissão é 15485 kHz. A música continua lá todos os dias até às 0330 UTC. Alguém identifica??? Grato (Claudir Ghiggi, Nova Prata, RS, Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) Já: DXLD 2-164 Grato, Glenn, A frequência de 15485 confere, sim! Vou fazer o teste nas outras frequências amanhã. Muito interesante. 73 (Claudir Ghiggi, ibid.) ** ANTARCTICA. 'Fram' Farrington (Filed: 19/10/2002) 'Fram' Farrington, who has died aged 94, was the senior radio operator with the 14-man secret wartime Operation Tabarin in the Antarctic... http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/19/db1901.xml A rather obscure but not uninteresting obituary. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA/UK. BBC WS SPANISH SERVICE EXPANDS PRESENCE IN BUENOS AIRES | Text of press release by BBC World Service on 25 October BBC Spanish Service has entered into a landmark contract with Radio Universidad de Belgrano, one of Buenos Aires' newest radio stations, to rebroadcast BBC radio programmes in Spanish as from Thursday 31 October. Following a signing ceremony at the University of Belgrano by Dr Avelino Porto and BBC Spanish Service's Business Development Manager, Carlos Villalobos, Radio Universidad de Belgrano will air 12 hours a day of BBC Spanish Service's programming, on 90.9 FM in Buenos Aires. Commenting on BBC's expansion in Argentina, James Painter, Head of BBC Spanish Service, said that the BBC World Service values its relationship with Radio Universidad de Belgrano: "With this new deal, we will be able to deliver to the audience in Buenos Aires our news and current affairs as well as music, science and sports programmes, including BBC Internacional, Enfoque, BBC Ciencia, Clases de Ingles, Via Libre, Onda Londres, Nuevas Grabaciones, Musica Sin Fronteras and many others. We look at this agreement as a long-term relationship." Dr Avelino J. Porto, President of the University of Belgrano, added: "We are delighted and honoured to launch our radio operations in Buenos Aires with the BBC World Service. We hope that this venture will expand into other academic areas." The BBC's presence in Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires is to be extended via a further satellite rebroadcasting deal with Radio de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires 92.7 FM and 1110 AM. The agreement will be signed on 30 October in a ceremony presided by Dr Anibal Ibarra, the Governor of City of Buenos Aires. Source: BBC World Service press release, London, in English 25 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. B-02 schedule for Voice International via Darwin 250 kW: Chinese 2200-0100 15165 / 340 deg 0900-1400 17635 / 340 deg 1400-1700 15150 / 340 deg English 0900-1300 13685 / 340 deg 1300-1630 13690 / 303 deg 1630-1900 11685 / 303 deg Indonesian 0600-0900 17820 / 290 deg 0900-1300 15365 / 290 deg 1300-1800 13660 / 317 deg Hindi 1100-1400 13635 / 303 deg 1400-1700 11750 / 303 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 25 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Wolf Harranth, editor of some hobby programs on ORF Vienna like Intermedia and DX-Telegramm, and ham radio operator OE1WHC, will retire from ORF/ROI main duties on Oct 27. But he will still continue the popular, monthly Computer Magazine "Hotline" on ROI in German language. (Bueschel). The DSWCI hereby sends our sincere greetings to Wolf thanking him for his dedicated work for the hobby of DX-ing through a generation including the thousands of excellent, weekly DX- programmes on ORF in German and English, and for creating the tremendous, public International Foundation QSL COLLECTION having more than three million QSL-cards at the Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communications and Electronic Media in Vienna. More details on http://www.qsl.at (Ed Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Frans Vossen recovering After the serious accident in Tallinn, Frans Vossen is now recovering from the Brussels operation in his knee. Risto Vähäkainu wrote me on Oct 09: "Frans is getting better all the time and can now walk with one crutch and short distances even without. He still has six weeks to stay home and that is boring him a bit." We wish Frans continued improvements and look forward to have him back in full action at RVI. (Ed Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. CHANGEMENTS OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE IN BELGIUM Dear Glenn, The National Belgium French service RTBF on MW and FM from january 2003 is going to change very much, Radio Capital and Radio Lene and Fréquence Wallonie are going to be absorbed by Radio 21. The following WEB in FRENCH only (sorry) is very useful to follow the situation. http://www.operation21.be.tf/ This information thanks my good friend Philippe Bury living in Belgium (Dario Monferini, Italyl, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. It was mentioned in recent German broadcasts of Radio Bulgaria that the management intends to turn the station's format to CNN-like "world news". The editorial staff already expressed on air that they are all but not happy about both this decision of the decision-makers (har-har) as well as the airtime reduction. Regarding the even channels: Certainly these nice-looking figures are basically for marketing. Back in the mid-nineties Radio Bulgaria used frequencies like 6035, 6085, 7335, 9850, 11720 etc., so the transmitters are no doubt fully frequency-agile. It appears to be an educated guess that most if not all transmitters were obtained from the USSR. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Re indigenous languages on Democratic Voice of Burma: These languages are given 15 minute slots in each transmission. (Gilbert via EDXP), i.e. 0015-0030 and 1515-1530 (Ed Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. The Cambodian government has ordered a local station to stop broadcasting programs from VOA and Radio Free Asia. Deputy Information Minister Khieu Kanarith told Beehive FM 105 that it was breaching broadcasting rules and must stop leasing its airwaves to relay VOA and RFA programs or have its license revoked. Kanarith was quoted by AFP as saying that Beehive's relay of VOA and RFA programs "cause anarchy in news broadcasting." Cambodian laws require a government permit for radio stations to carry VOA and RFA programs. Beehive Radio manager Mam Sonando said his station has done nothing wrong and that he will respond to the government order when he received the notification in writing (AP, AFP via DXLD) CAMBODIAN LOCAL RADIO ORDERED TO STOP VOA REBROADCASTS - CHINESE REPORT | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Phnom Penh, 24 October: Cambodian Information Ministry has ordered a local radio station to stop broadcasting the programmes of the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), the Rasmei Kampuchea Daily reported Thursday [24 October]. Khieu Kanharith, spokesman for the Information Ministry, said that Beehive (Sambok Kmonm in Khmer) FM 105 has not got the ministry's permission to broadcast news reports from VOA and RFA, so it must cease the broadcast immediately, or it will face enforcement action by the government. Kanharith noted that the radio's programmes threatened to "cause anarchy in media fields, and it also breached broadcasting rules". It was said that the two radios had applied for operation licences but were rejected by the Information Ministry. Beehive started to relay the Cambodian-language services of the two US-based radio news programmes in late September. Some senior officials were quoted by the newspaper as saying that the US programmes were often biased in favour of the opposition parties. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1121 gmt 24 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CANADA. Radio Canada International is conducting DRM test transmissions from Sackville at 1500-1900 UTC Mon-Fri on 9590 kHz. The transmissions are beamed 277 degrees towards RCI's headquarters in Montreal, and continue through 15 Nov 2002. These are mainly intended as "in house" demonstrations to familiarise non-technical staff at RCI with the benefits of the DRM system (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Oct 25 via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. 'CANADA!' SALUTES THE CBC AT 50 By Jim Holt, Special to The Times, October 21 2002 While "blame Canada" remains the rant of many film workers opposed to production going north, the Museum of Television & Radio is choosing instead to salute Canada for a half century of production... http://www.calendarlive.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=cl%2Det%2Dholt21oct21 (Los Angeles Times via Mike Cooper, DXLD) See also USA [and non] ** CHINA. The CNR services to Taiwan, CNR-5 and CNR-6, have been operating irregularly at least on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday the operating hours of most transmitters were much reduced and on Friday at least 11000, 11100 and 15880 did not go on the air at all. Maybe these transmitters are now in turn for modernization. They are part of the major domestic (including Taiwan) service site near Bejing with 16 x 50 kW. These transmitters are used for CNR-2, CNR-5, CNR-6 and CNR- 8. (Olle Alm, Sweden, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. CHINESE NOT AS CLUELESS AS THEIR GOVERNMENT WISHES Byline: Dan Southerland Date: 10/24/2002 (WASHINGTON) In mid-September, a 31-year-old man in a township near China's eastern city of Nanjing killed dozens of people and sickened hundreds more by adding rat poison to food sold at a rival's snack shop. The numbers of those affected are only estimates; no one is ever likely to know the full scope of this crime because the Chinese government imposed a news blackout. "The media are being coerced into giving the same official story," said a Chinese journalist who tried to cover the story. Said another, "We couldn't file the food poisoning story from our reporters, and we're not allowed to give it to foreign media. If we do, we take a risk." Why the chokehold? Numerous interviews by a Mandarin-speaking investigative reporter at Radio Free Asia (RFA) point to the strong possibility that officials were trying to conceal negligence by the local government. If authorities had alerted the public more quickly once the first poisoning was discovered, many victims might have been spared. Such incidents are more common in China than many people realize, but you'd never know it from the Chinese media. A long list of taboo topics includes China's widespread worker and farmer protests, discrimination against minorities, coercive family planning, jailing and torture of dissidents and Falun Gong members, the government's failure to curb a burgeoning AIDS crisis, Taiwanese attitudes toward the mainland, and criticism of government leaders. International broadcasters such as RFA, Voice of America (VOA), and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) partially fill the void, picking up stories where Chinese media leave off, interviewing a variety of sources, and transmitting news through shortwave radio and over the Internet. Covering the news in China is challenging, but getting it out can be even more so. For all the hoopla over China's rebirth as a forward- looking, market-oriented behemoth in the post-cold-war world, it still practices what Thomas Jefferson once called "tyranny over the minds of men." Engineers who monitor shortwave transmissions say Chinese authorities have substantially increased jamming of RFA, VOA, and BBC programming - sometimes using European- and US-made equipment - since Congress voted to accord China permanent normal trade status in 2000. In Lhasa, Tibet, it is almost impossible to receive a good signal for VOA or RFA's Tibetan-language transmissions, even though the broadcasts are on several frequencies. Ironically, jamming became even more severe after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001 and committed itself to a more transparent economy under the rule of law. The US complained that the jamming violates international radio agreements. China claims it does not willfully cause interference. The Federal Communications Commission calls Chinese responses "duplicitous at best." Chinese sources say the stepped-up jamming follows directives from Chinese leaders, including President Jiang Zemin. In the end, top- level pressure from the US may be the only way to halt it. When people don't have access to news and views from the outside world, with honest debate and freedom to draw their own conclusions, misunderstandings arise. Neither the US nor China can afford to leave 1.3 billion people in the dark about what's going on in the world or their own backyards. A version of a banned, unpublished story about the September poisonings from a Chinese newspaper, Southern Weekend, leaked to overseas websites. Website managers in China deleted it from domestic sites and removed accounts posted by witnesses who said that the official death toll of 38 was too low. Southern Weekend had concluded that at least 60 died and 800 were poisoned. The chance of misunderstanding grows larger when it comes to international events. When a Chinese fighter jet collided with a US reconnaissance plane last year off China's coast, RFA was flooded with calls from Chinese listeners asking for details and offering thanks for the full story. Chinese listeners tell RFA every day that they know their own media withhold news and that international broadcasting gives them a more complete picture. Many knew they weren't getting the whole story about the collision. And they were impressed that congressionally funded RFA would broadcast their criticisms of the US. International broadcasters offer breadth and balance that many Chinese know they're missing in their own media - and to which their own Constitution entitles them. Mr. Jiang has clearly favored his predecessors' strict control over the information flow. China's new generation of leaders, set to take center stage in coming months, should move quickly to reverse that policy and help transform China into a truly great power of the 21st century. * Dan Southerland, a former Monitor and Washington Post correspondent in Asia, is vice president of programming and executive editor at Radio Free Asia in Washington, D.C. Click here to email this story to a friend: http://www.csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/send-story?2002/1024/p09s02-coop.txt Click here to read this story online: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1024/p09s02-coop.html (c) Copyright 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved (via Jim Moats, Artie Bigley, DXLD) see also CAMBODIA Glenn: Radio Free Asia vice president Dan Southerland comments about information and media in China in a Christian Science Monitor op-ed. He writes that Chinese jamming efforts are "sometimes using European- and US-made equipment." His sources are no doubt better than mine, but I would have thought China would be using its new Continental transmitters for actual broadcasting, thus freeing up its older transmitters for the less audio- and frequency-sensitive task of jamming. http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1024/p09s02-coop.html (Kim Elliott, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** COLOMBIA. Religious station La Voz de Tu Conciencia is on 6011 kHz. Power reported earlier as 5 kW. Quite good signal this morning (24 Oct), except 0400-0445 UTC (BBC QRM from 6110 kHz). Free channel later on until 0800 fade out... Surprisingly good reception here in the middle of Europe! Or was the good reception from southwest caused by geomagnetic storm which was in progress since early morning? (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia) AOR AR-7030 30 m Long Wire, hard- core-dx via DXLD) yes ** COSTA RICA. 5953, Radio Casino remains off the air; it has been off several months now. Had been *1030v (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo, Texas, Oct, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA [and non]. REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS IS PUBLISHING THE FIRST WORLDWIDE PRESS FREEDOM INDEX The first worldwide index of press freedom has some surprises for Western democracies. The United States ranks below Costa Rica and Italy scores lower than Benin. The five countries with least press freedom are North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan... http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=4116 (via DXLD) ** CUBA. Radio Havana, Cuba, the organising committee of the 16th world congress on sexology, the Gran Caribe Hotel Chain and the Taca group invite you to participate in a contest on the occasion of the 16th world congress on sexology, scheduled for Havana in March 2003. Please answer the following question: What are three sexual rights that should be respected by a society? A trip to Cuba for one week along with the participation in the congress will be offered as a first prize. Besides there will be 10 consolation prizes consisting of souvenirs provided by the sponsors. The deadline for contest entries is February 28th, 2003. Send your answers to: Radio Havana Cuba, P. O. Box - 6240, Havana, CUBA Email: radiohc@enet.cu Fax: (53-7) 870-5810 Good luck (via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Oct 25, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. WILL 'FIDEL' FILM COME TO MIAMI? Is Miami ready for a documentary about Fidel Castro that presents the Cuban leader as ''a socialist survivor in a capitalist world''? As ''a symbol of resistance and social justice?'' As a selfless champion of his people, noble humanitarian and all-around good guy?... http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/columnists/rene_rodriguez/4352478.htm http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/columnists/rene_rodriguez/4350686.htm (René Rodríguez, Miami Herald Oct 24 via David Crawford, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. INSIDE RADIO MARTÍ: see USA ** CYPRUS TURKISH [non]. Hola, estimados colegas de la lista, el viernes pasado dia 18, puse en esta lista una nota errónea sobre BAYRAK RADIO en los 6150 khz. Yo he estado toda la semana intentando identificar con seguridad si en los 6150 khz a las 1500 UT la emisora que se escuchaba a malas penas era BAYRAK RADIO, pero el QRM, la baja modulación de la emisora y la mala propagación me lo impedía. Pero el martes le mande un E-mail personal al colega Dario Monferini y me abrió un poco el camino; el colega Dario me dijo que BAYRAK RADIO probablemente no emitía en inglés y que el formato FM no lo utilizaba en sus emisiones y que el sabia casi seguro que no era BAYRAK RADIO. Desde aquí le doy las gracias a Dario, por indicarme más o menos el camino adecuado; Dario me dijo que posiblemente fuese RADIO SINGAPORE, yo me puse tras la pista afine los oídos y gracias a doña propa ayer sonó la flauta como decimos por aquí por mi tierra y ¿qué es lo que escuché? Pues fue nada menos que por fin la identificación de esta emisora que me lleva ya una semana de cabeza. Esta emisora se identifica cómo MEDIACORP RADIO Y TAMBIEN COMO PERFECT 10, EN EL 98.7 FM, Y DA UN PO BOX EN SINGAPUR. Es decir Dario me abrió la puerta correcta ya que esta emisora es de Singapur y emite por los 6150 khz y empieza a escucharse en el Sudeste de España a partir de las 1500 horas UT finalizando su emisión a las 1600 UT. Esta emisora finaliza identificándose como anteriormente dije y habla que esté en el 98.7 de la FM; también esta emisora se entremezcla de 1556 horas UT a 1600 h UT con RADIO COREA en Español, que por cierto RADIO COREA tiene un SINPO en España de 12222; es decir tienes que afinar mucho el oído para escuchar su programación vespertina en España. Bueno, estimados colegas después de todo este rollo creo que ya tenemos identificada esa frecuencia y corrijo desde aquí lo que dije y lo que dije fue que esta emisora era probable que fuese BAYRAK RADIO. La identificación de esta emisora me llevó un poco de cabeza esta semana y el fin de semana pasado. ¡Resuelto el misterio!. Bueno, ahí va una pregunta a ver si alguien me la puede contestar, ¿esta emisión es una emisión de RADIO SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL o es una emisora que utiliza los transmisores de RADIO SINGAPORE INTERNACIONAL y la misma frecuencia que la emisora internacional de Singapur?. Ahí queda eso. Ya sin nada mas se despide de vosotros vuestro colega que habita en la Mediterránea y tres veces milenaria ciudad de Cartagena (EN TIEMPOS DE LOS ROMANOS CARTHAGO NOVA) en el Sudeste de España, UN SALUDO DE VUESTRO COLEGA, (JOSE HERNANDEZ MADRID, 73´s y Buenos DX´S y Buen fin de semana, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Hi Glen[n], HCJB during tonight's HAM RADIO TODAY program announced that they are expanding to 1/2 hour but are moving from Wednesday to Saturday (some UT Sunday). The problem is that the times given coincide with DX PARTYLINE. There was no mention of what will happen to PARTYLINE. I suppose they will be combining??? (Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD 38 51'30"N 76 41'00"W - Its in the darkest hour that the most stars come out, Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. The last German programme from YLE was nothing particular: Some news items and an interview with a representative of the foreign ministry which was already broadcast on the two hour call-in show. Stefan Tschirpke said good-bye to all listeners, the music bed was faded out and I waited for the final carrier cut, not aware of the French program which was to follow on 15530, too. So I turned the radio off and left for lunch. I regret that I did not bother to take the old Sangean with recorder (ATS 818 if I remember correctly; here in Germany these sets were sold under Siemens brand as "RK 670" then) into the office; the Pori powerhouse penetrated our building better than I expected. So the show is over, and I cannot do without asking: Who will be the next? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reception has been below par the last few days for English to North America at 1230 on 15400, 17670. By Fri Oct 25, 15400 was making it thru but with very heavy flutter. The penultimate English was on the theme of summer, songs about it, and how Finns look forward to and enjoy it. Once again, chopped off at 1258 sharp before the program was over. Apparently not available ondemand online either from YLE or WRN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 3300, Radio Cultural: this channel has been off for a number of days; 5955 still seems to be on the air, though, at least in the evening. It wasn't on at 1000 Oct 24, but they do forget about it sometimes according to the station (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo, Texas, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HONG KONG. 3940 kHz (USB) R. TV Hong Kong. Oct. 17 at 2133-0944. SINPO 34333. Started with music, then ID in English was heard as "This is Radio Television Hong Kong with the special weather forecast for the Hong Kong to Hainan Yacht Race 2002". Weather forecast followed. Weather forecast in local evening was also heard on 3940 kHz at 0933 on Oct. 18, but the signal was weak (NAGATANI Iwao, Kobe, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) 3940U, R. TV Hong Kong Oct 19 *2133-2143* 33443 English, 2133 with music. ID. Weather report by man. ID as "This is Radio Television Hong Kong. Special weather forecast for the Hong Kong Hainan Yacht race 2002". (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) According to http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/chinacoastraceweek.htm 32 boats from Hong Kong took part in the Hainan Yacht Race Oct 16-19 (DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Dear friends, October 23, 2002 During the past two weeks radio and TV broadcasts have been filled with reports from new disgusting terror acts at various places in the world. Particularly the barbarous wholesale murder on Bali intended to frighten non- Muslims away from Indonesia. We know from the former Taleban regime that fundamentalist Islamists do not have discothèques - women are not supposed to be heard or seen in public, and music is forbidden. Therefore that popular discothèque for western tourists on Bali became an obvious target. For many reasons, DX-ers find broadcasting from Indonesia interesting and these days Indonesia is particularly in focus. Therefore we present here the current status on both the External Service from the Voice of Indonesia, and an extract from the updated DBS-4 on those domestic stations which have been reported active during the first ten months of 2002. The following Indonesian domestic SW stations have been reported to the Domestic Broadcasting Survey as active in 2002. Codes: A = Regular, B = Sporadic, C = Likely inactive. LOG = Latest month logged by a DX-er. Code kHz kW Station Schedule (UTC), remarks Log A 2899 0,5 RPDT2 Ngada, Bajawa, LE 0900-1400 (n 2904), relays RRI Jakarta nx 1200 Bahasa Indonesia, ex 2889.1. Off Aug - Dec 2001. S/off varies 1250* - 1405* AUG02 A 2960 0,3 RPDT2 Manggarai, Ruteng, 2145-2300 0900-1345v Bahasa Indonesia. Nx relay: RRI Kupang Flores, LE 1100, RRI Jakarta 1200 AUG02 B 3117,3 0,5 RSPDT2 Halmaherah Tengah, 2300-0300 0830-1300v, Bahasa Indonesia, Nx relay: RRI Ternate Soasio, MM 1200, RRI Jakarta 1300; ex 3100v. Bad modulation JUL02 C 3214,8 10 RRI Manado, CN 2130(Ramadan 1800)-0200 & 0800-1300v Bahasa Indonesia, 1200 1400 local nx. Modulation problems. Off since Mar 2002 MAR02 B 3231,9 10 RRI Bukittinggi, SW Px. Dua: 2100-0300, 1200-1705 Bahasa Indonesia. Reactivated Jun02 AUG02 A 3266,4 10 RRI Gorontalo, CN 2100(Ramadan 1830)-0015, 0800-1300v Bahasa Indonesia; ex 3264,7 SEP02 A 3325 10 RRI Palangkaraya, KC 2200(Ramadan 1855)-0100, 1100v-1400v Bahasa Indonesia OCT02 A 3344,8 10 RRI Ternate, MM 2000v(Ramadan 1800)-0100(Su 2330), 0800-1400 Bahasa Indonesia JUL02 B 3355,4 0,3 RRI Jambi, SJ 0100-0900 1100-2200 Bahasa Indonesia // 4925 JAN02 B 3905 10 RRI Merauke, IJ 0700-1400v, 2000-2200 Bahasa Indonesia. Ramadan extended schedule. Transmitter problems. SEP02 A 3960,2 10 RRI Palu, CC 2030(Ramadan 1900)-2400, 0900-1600v Bahasa Indonesia, (=7234), d – 3960,8 JUL02 B 3976,1 10 RRI Pontianak, KW 2200-0100, 1100v-1600v Bahasa Indonesia. Regional nx 1400. Ramadan and Wayang Kulit extended schedule. Sometimes transmitter problems. OCT02 B 3987,1 1 RRI Manokwari, IJ 2000-2400, 0225-0625, 1000v-1530 Bahasa Indonesia. Off Dec 1999-Aug 2000. Since then off most days. Poor modulation FEB02 B 4000,1 5 RRI Kendari, CE 2100-0015 0750-1530v Bahasa Indonesia JUL02 B 4003,2 10 RRI Padang, SW 2200-0300, 0900-1230v Bahasa Indonesia, E nx 1430-1445. Ramadan: All night. Alt. fq 4000 APR02 B 4606,4 0,5 RRI Serui, IJ 1958-2315, 0845-1330v Bahasa Indonesia. RRI Jakarta nx 1200. Ramadan extended schedule, (= 7171). Off Sep 2001-June 2002 OCT02 B 4753,4 20 RRI Makassar (ex Ujung Pandang), HS 1: 2100v-2400, 0815- 1600 Bahasa Indonesia // 9552,3. Ramadan CS extended schedule. Sometimes off. OCT02 B 4789,1 1 RRI Fak-Fak, IJ 2000-0100 0930-1400v Bahasa Indonesia. Ramadan extended schedule. Transmitter problems. Ck 7231. Off since 07 May MAY02 B 4874,6 10 RRI Sorong, IJ Programa Satu: 2130v-2300 1030-1200v (Fr/Sa -1100) Bahasa Indonesia, E Su 1130-1200. During Ramadan 1100- 1400 only. Often off the air. (= 9741,8) JUN02 B 4925 10 RRI Jambi, SJ 2200(Ramadan 1900)-0200 (Su -0700), 0800-1600v Bahasa Indonesia APR02 A 6071,2 20 RRI Jayapura, IJ 2000-0100 0700-1100 (Fr 1145) Bahasa Indonesia exc. Su 2115-2130 E, n 6070. All night programme during Ramadan. Transmitter problems MAY02 B 6153,7 0,75 RRI Biak, IJ 2000-0030 0730-1500 Bahasa Indonesia. Ramadan extended schedule MAR02 B 7171,3 0,5 RRI Serui 2315-0845v Bahasa Indonesia, (=4606) MAR02 A 9552,3 7,5 RRI Makassar, CS 2300v-0815v Bahasa Indonesia // 4753,4. Poor modulation MAR02 C 9680 250 RRI Jakarta, Cimanggis Programa Lima (= 5):2200-0200 0900-1300 Bahasa Indonesia, Px "Kang Guru Radio English Show": Su 1100 JAN02 B 9741,8 10 RRI Sorong, IJ 0200-0800 Bahasa Indonesia, (= 4874,6) AUG02 A 15125 250 RRI Jakarta, Cimanggis Programa Nasional Tiga (= 3): 24h Bahasa Indonesia, r –1300* JUL02 The complete, updated Domestic Broadcasting Survey is still available from the DSWCI (Cf. http://www.dswci.org ) (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. ENFORCEMENT: INDONESIA PIRATE UPDATE An update now to our recent story on the problems being caused by pirate stations in Indonesia. Not only are they making life difficult for hams around the world. The pirates are also playing havoc with domestic Indonesian ham radio communications as well. With more, heres Q-News Graham Kemp, VK4BB: -- Many reports covering Indonesian non amateurs using our frequencies in the 40, 20 and 10 metre bands are making their way to the IARUMS. There seems absolutely no control over their working and existence by the local Government. It is very difficult for licensed Indonesian amateurs to find a clear frequency in the lower edges of 40mb for their authorised communications. Generally the licensed Indonesians are around 7050,7055 and 7060 kHz for their traffic. 7050 kHz frequency, carries CW lessons for the intending future amateurs. Otherwise, the licensed ones, operate in their own nets and you can clearly identify their call signs in between, as per standard practice, though the entire conversations are in Indonesian. Another frequency regularly used by a SE Asian group for two-way non amateur communications is 14044 J3Eu mode around 0100 UTC every day. IARUMS need the services of those knowing SE Asian languages to identify them, they may be from XV, 3W or XU area. – If you are a resident of South-East Asia and heating this newscast, you are requested to watch 14.044 MHz and help identify the unlicensed users. Please send that information to your nations Intruder Watch Coordinator as fast as you can (Q-News via Amateur Radio Newsline Oct 25 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. CHINA PLANNING ANTI-JAMMING TV SATELLITE TO THWART FALUN GONG From ABC News Thursday, October 24, 2002. Posted: 21:33:43 (AEDT) China is to launch a powerful anti-jamming television satellite to prevent a repetition of hijackings of the nation's airwaves by the banned Falun Gong spiritual group. The French made APSTAR VI satellite, to be launched at the end of 2004, will be fitted with special technology to prevent "malicious interruptions" to broadcasts. The "technical reinforcement" was decided on after Falun Gong followers, based in Taiwan, hijacked a series of mainland television broadcasts, instead beaming propaganda by the group into people's homes. China complained angrily last month that its SINOSAT system had been regularly cut into over previous weeks by television signals coming from Taiwan. The island's Government swiftly pledged to crack down on the interruptions. China outlawed Falun Gong as an "evil cult" in 1999 and followers of the group have subsequently faced often brutal repression, with an unknown number dying in custody. After initially staging highly public protests against the ban, the group has recently tried to get its message across directly to people in China via a technically sophisticated propaganda blitz. Followers have cut into cable television networks as well as satellite broadcasts, while also sending streams of voice messages and faxes to individual homes and businesses around the country. © 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (via Mike Terry, DXLD) CHINA TO SEND ANTI-JAMMING SATELLITE (Chinese press version) Xinhuanet 2002-10-24 09:37:10 BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- China will launch a communications satellite capable of preventing malicious interruptions to radio and TV signals, China Daily reported Thursday. The anti-jamming satellite, made by French-based Alcatel Space for APT Satellite Co Ltd in Hong Kong, is scheduled to be launched at the end of 2004, according to an agreement between the providerand the launcher, the China Great Wall Industry Corp. Liu Zhixiong, vice-president of the Chinese corporation, said the satellite will be reinforced by the state-of-the-art technology to make acts of sabotage technically impossible. The satellite, named APSTAR VI, can carry signals to the whole of China, some Pacific regions and parts of the United States, thepaper said. The satellite, with 38 C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders, will have an expected mission life of 13 years. Sources said the Sino Satellite Communications Corp. (SINOSAT) has also considered applying high-technology to a new, domestically made satellite to prevent airwave hi-jackings. The transmissions of a satellite of SINOSAT was illegally interrupted by Falun Gong cult followers in Taiwan last month. Enditem (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Ox gored; how, exactly does it do this? ** IRAN [non]. DENMARK/NORWAY/CLANDESTINE. Re: Merlin now has rented 1730-1815 in B-02 for a transmission to Iran on 7490 ... Identity of the new service Iran to be determined! (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Usually Radio Sedoye Payem e Doost in Persian (Bahaii sect) Bayem-e Doost, Radio Iran Tomorrow is scheduled via Grigoriopol`-Maiac- Moldova. 1800-1830 Wed, Fri to Mon 7480 MDA 7480 1800-1830 to zones 38-41 KCH 500 kW 115 degrees MDA MNO. Radio Barabari, Persian via Sitkunai, Lithuania in similar time span: 1645-1730 Persian 7480 SIT Radio Barabari Radio Equality, active since May 4, 2001 E-mail: info@barabari.org website: http://www.barabari.org monitored *1700-1730* on 7480 kHz (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {No, it turned out to be R. Anternational/International: 2-167} ** IRAQ. IRAQ ASKS CNN CORRESPONDENTS TO LEAVE | Text of report in English by Egyptian news agency MENA Baghdad, 25 October: Iraq on Friday [25 October] said it has asked Jane Arraf, head of the US cable news network's office here and five of her non-Iraqi co-workers to leave the country. It said that in the future the government would take stricter measures on granting entry visas to foreign correspondents. Arraf is the only foreign correspondent who has been permanently living in Baghdad. The CNN office in Baghdad has been operating for 12 years now. Iraqi officials have also rejected the presence of a CNN team in the northern Iraqi Kurdish region, over which Baghdad has no control. Source: MENA news agency, Cairo, in English 1557 gmt 25 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) {more, including denial: DXLD 2-169} ** IRAQ [non]. Re 711, V. of Rebellious Iraq: only the frequency is new but I haven't seen it logged for a few years anywhere. I don't know if they are active on SW at all. They are mentioned on http://www.clandestineradio.com among Iraq stations. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The history shows this station has changed frequency many times, so it is not so surprising to hear it now 711 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, RealDX Oct 22 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. to Glen[n] Hauser, Greatly enjoy your programs - always packed with useful information. Three years ago the Republic of Ireland authorities started jamming the whole Shortwave spectrum here. Many areas of Ireland are now affected, and the jamming system is being extended to cover the whole of Southern Ireland. The telephone wires are being used to radiate the harmful interference. The jamming is typically around S-9 to 10db over S-9, blocking all but the strongest signals. All attempts to raise the matter with the authorities have been stone-walled. The jamming is also sure to propagate and affect listeners in other countries. Even the Soviet Union never jammed the Amateur bands (name withheld by request, Ireland, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? anything to this? Comments on the record from anyone? (gh, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. ISRAELI CABLE COMPANIES TO CONTINUE CNN BROADCASTS | Text of report in English by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post web site on 24 October The Council for Cable and Satellite TV and CNN reached an agreement Wednesday [23 October] which will allow CNN to continue to broadcast here. According to local reports, CNN agreed to lower the fee it charges cable companies but in a press release the parties said: "There is no factual basis to the various figures quoted recently in the media in connection with the agreement. The details of the agreement are a commercial matter which the parties do not intend to reveal to the public." "I am glad that the parties were able to settle their differences and enable the continued broadcasting of the channel to cable subscribers," Ram Balinkov, the CEO-designate of the merged cable company, said. The cable and satellite companies have said that CNN's anti-Israeli news coverage warranted it being blacked out locally and replaced by Fox News, which is perceived as providing more even-handed coverage. Eason Jordan, CNN's chief news executive and news gathering president, visited Israel in an attempt to prevent the blackout. Source: The Jerusalem Post web site, in English 24 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. MAKING WAVES, By Anat Balint Army Radio executives have launched a campaign to improve the image of the military radio station, or Galei Zahal in Hebrew, as it is reflected in the national-religious press. Head of Army Radio's news department, Zvika Goldberg, says he is "tired of how the right-wing press regularly bad-mouths Army Radio, and we have decided not to keep silent any longer." ... http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=222515 (Ha`aretz Oct 23 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. 9775 R DAT: Postal report to their supposed parent organization, Société Pour la Democracie en Asie, Rue Jourdan 95, Brussels 1060, Belgium (cf. DX-Window no. 203), returned marked "Moved." (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) TAJIKISTAN. The Europe-based oppositional Kazakh station DAT-Radio is now apparently relayed via the 100 kW ND transmitter in Dushanbe on 1251 kHz (for listeners in KAZ) Mon-Fri at 2330-0015 and 1315-1330 UTC. The programmes might be one hour later from 27 October when Kazakhstan moves back to winter time. Quote from http://www.datradio.com: "Starting from October 21st for 5 days a week, from Monday to Friday, DAT Radio will start programs on AM 1251 (middle waves) at 06:30 - 07:15 and 20:15 - 20:30 Almaty local time. We are covering the whole area of Kazakhstan. " (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Following item already appeared in DXLD 2-158, but in Spanish: 12115, Voice of Mesopotamia, Oct 08 & 09 (Tue and Wed), *1700-1800*, new test on a new frequency at a new time. 1700-1705 Test announcements with IDs above a singing woman with beat music in the following five languages: 1700 Two Kurdish dialects (Kurmanji, Zazaki and Sorani scheduled in the 1200-1600 broadcast on 11530), 1701 English : ``Dear listeners! You are listening to the test broadcast of the Voice of Mesopotamia and the Mesopotamian Television in (incomprehensible, two syllable word). You can be with us on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and on Fridays between 8 and 9 a.m. (sic! 8-9 a.m. corresponds to Alaska time, whereas 8-9 p.m. corresponds to Iraqi time!) in 12.115 MHz on this shortwave frequency.``, 1702 Arabic and 1703 Farsi. In the Farsi announcement was mentioned Iran and Dushanbe, but it probably refers to time zones rather than a transmitter site or studio. At 1706-1756 non-stop Kurdish folkmusic except for ID in English at 1730 and Arabic 1742. At 1757 Closing announcement and ID in Sorani Kurdish with the singing woman in the background. SINPO 44444. There were test tones from the transmitter from *1652, so it might well be Samara in Russia which was heard Tue Oct 08 at *1600- 1630* on 12115 with the Voice of the Homeland broadcast towards Syria (44444). This transmitter is occupied 1730-1800 on Mon & Thu with Voice of Oromiyaa in Oromo, and at 1700-1800 on Sat with Dejen R in Tigrinya, and on Sun with Netsanet Le-Ethiopia in Amharic, all towards Ethiopia (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. IRAQ: "MESOPOTAMIA RADIO" HEARD BROADCASTING FROM ARBIL A radio station identifying itself as "Mesopotamia Radio and Television from Arbil" was monitored signing on at 1700 gmt on 23 October on 12115 kHz. The radio carried identification announcements in Kurdish, Persian, English and Arabic. The Arabic announcement stated: "Dear listeners, you are listening to the experimental transmission of Mesopotamia Radio and Television in Arbil. We broadcast on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 2000 to 2100 [1700-1800 gmt]. Our programmes come to you on 12115 kHz." The radio broadcast mostly Kurdish songs and music. No other announcements or talks in any language were heard. From 1600-1630 gmt daily on the same frequency of 12115 kHz, a clandestine station calling itself the "Arab Radio" which broadcasts programming critical of the current regime in Syria has been heard broadcasting since September 2002. [q.v.] Other radio stations in Arbil Several Kurdish radio stations have their main studios in Arbil. They include Ashti Radio, affiliated to the Kurdistan People's Democratic Movement; Assyrian Radio, affiliated to the Assyrian Democratic Movement; Bayt Nahrayn Radio, affiliated to the Bayt Nahrayn Democratic Party; Gulan Radio and KDP Branch Two Radio, both affiliated to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP); Nishtiman Radio, affiliated to the Kurdistan Independent Action Party; Peshkawtin Radio, affiliated to the Kurdistan Democratic Youth Union; Turkoman Brotherhood Radio, affiliated to the Turkoman Brotherhood Party; Turkomaneli Radio, affiliated to the Turkomaneli Party; and Yekgirtu Radio, affiliated to the Kurdistan Islamic Union. Source: BBC Monitoring research 23 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Ayer escuché por primera vez la radio de la United Lao Movement for Democracy (ULMD) via Merlin, por los 17540 khz, entre las 0100-0116, que irradia sus programas en laosiano sólo los viernes UT. Llegaba con señal aceptable, pero la misma se iba perdiendo con el correr de los minutos. Recomiendo su escucha ya que también pasa muy linda música laosiana. Más detalles de la escucha en la sección de Clandestinas y Abordaje del Dial preparada por Gabriel Iván Barrera en el próximo Conexión Digital 182. ¿Alguien tiene el QTH adonde se le puede escribir? Desde ya gracias (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Oct 25, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Supposed to be on 12070 from next week, UT Friday 0100- (gh, DXLD ** LATVIA. According to my temporary e-mail QSL after their first test in July, they considered to continue tests from Ulbroka (Cf. DX-Window no. 200). Obviously they have decided to do so, and your reception reports will be appreciated at http://www.laserradio.net (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 2390, Radio Huayacocotla heard at *1300 Oct 22-23. 6010, Radio Mil, 0932 Oct 24, just fair and only in LSB. Colombian on 6011 is much stronger. Hung in there throughout the day and was much easier to listen once the Colombian faded out. Fair signal but still quite a bit of QRN on the band (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo, Texas, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Medi #1 heard back on air with a very strong signal at tune in 0700 with International news in Arabic on new 9595. This was followed by the usual mix of Arabic and French announcements and music (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Cumbre via DXLD) Medi 1 was recently missed on 9575. Now they were reported to move to 9595 for the B02 season. I just checked, and yes, they are already on 9595, // RealAudio stream (I could also have used a satellite dish to verify the identity if only I could operate one), actually in the clear but disturbed by splash from apparently overmodulated Urumqi on 9585 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Afternoon listeners in CNAm to RN are again faced with a seasonal anomaly, as RN deletes 21590 from its English schedule for the B-season from Oct 27. During the A-season it had been 1830-2025 with 250 kW, 90 degrees from Bonaire to west and central Africa, but putting a very good signal in here. Now in the winter, only the parallel frequency 17605 remains on this transmission, beamed 80 degrees, and not as reliable. 21590 is still on the air from Bonaire, but in Dutch and for one hour only at 1830-1925. No other Bonaire usage than 17605 is shown at 1930, and we wonder why Dutch is required during the winter only, and even so, why not maintain English at least during the second hour on 21590. The full RN B-02 schedule, including relays of other stations is here: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/scheduleb02.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. AUTHORITIES CLOSE RADIO STATION IN MANAGUA | Text of report by El Salvador-based organization Periodistas Frente a la Corrupcion (PFC - Journalists Against Corruption) dated 23 October La Poderosa radio station, which broadcasts from Managua on the 560 AM dial, was shut down on 11 October 2002 by authorities from the Nicaraguan Telecommunications Institute (Instituto Nicaragüense de Telecomunicaciones, Telcor) and the Customs Office (Dirección General de Aduanas), with the national police's assistance. Telcor stated that the Archdiocese Social Work Commission (Comisión de Promoción Social Arquidiocesana, Coprosa), which operates the frequency, lacked proper legal recognition. Moreover, the radio station's operating firm, Comunicaciones Independientes SA (Coinsa), had not paid import taxes on broadcast equipment. In a letter to Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos, PFC said: "If legal obligations have not been complied with, we believe that the correct response must be to launch an administrative or judicial procedure against those responsible, rather than against the entire media outlet. La Poderosa's closure has affected the freedom of information and opinion of Nicaraguans who listen to or express themselves on the station." La Poderosa was very critical of the government and there are reports that, on numerous occasions, its programmes did not meet professional journalistic standards in terms of impartiality, equanimity and reliability of information. In addition, some announcers who worked for La Poderosa showed allegiance to former president and current MP Arnoldo Alemán, who is being tried on corruption charges. Nevertheless, PFC warned that it would be very serious "if the decision to shut down La Poderosa was politically motivated and in some way endeavoured to silence the radio station's criticism... [ellipsis as published] It would be unacceptable that, in the name of the fight against corruption, dissenting voices of government plans are silenced. The move to shut down radio stations or other media outlets discredits the legitimate aim of seeking to punish those who have acquired public funds illegally." PFC joined others such as former president Violeta Chamorro, the Human Rights ombudsman and local media in condemning La Poderosa's closure. PFC called on President Bolanos to reopen La Poderosa as soon as possible. The organization asked that his civil servants respect the media and freedom of _expression and avoid abuses, particularly in the regulation of radio frequencies and the granting of state advertising. If La Poderosa has failed to comply with proper legal procedures, regarding the ownership of La Poderosa's frequency or the importing of broadcasting equipment, PFC asked that legal action be taken against those individuals responsible, in accordance with Nicaraguan law and international conventions on human rights and freedom of _expression. For further information, contact Linda Hemby, Journalists Against Corruption, e-mail: contacto@portal-pfc.org Internet: http://www.portal-pfc.org or Jaime Lopez, Probidad, e-mail: contacto@probidad.org Internet: http://www.probidad.org Col. Antiguo Cuscatlan, Res. Quetzalcoatl 1-B, Depto. La Libertad, El Salvador, Tel/fax: +503 243 1951. Source: PFC press release, San Salvador, in English 22 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** OMAN. Looks like the BBC has moved over completely to the new site at A'Seela. According to the B02 full use is being made of this facility and nothing is coming from the old Masirah Island site. Evidently the new site is using 800 kW on MW and 250 kW on SW. Coordinates for the new station are 59E27 and 21N57. A'Seela is located near the town of Ashkirah in the South East of Oman. The statement I made was based on looking at the info supplied by the BBC so could well be open to discussion :). It's about time this relay was opened, it's been in the pipeline for long enough! This is the current state of BBC operations in Oman: The Masirah Island site has stopped all HF feeds and are now being dealt by the Oman Relay. Masirah Island are still transmitting MF feeds; however that is due to cease by the end of the year, and Oman will then transmit those as well. 73 (Sean G4UCJ, Oct 25, hard-core-dx via DXLD) We already had a report that Mashirah closed Oct. 7; didn`t you see it? Mashirah is part of Oman, so it is not correct to make a distinxion between it and Oman (gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. I have a typo error in the log of Radiodifusión América, the correct log is as follows: 7737.2, Radiodifusión América, Villeta, 0458-0503, Oct 23, Spanish, Music and religious program, bad modulation (better in USB), 14331 (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {The error must have been: 7737 instead of 7737.2} ** PERU. 6193.48, R. Cusco, 0938-09 [sic] 23 Oct, LA Pop music with woman vocalist at tunein, 0941 M with timecheck, ID, and short talk, then OA campo music at very weak level. 0945 M announcer again with mention of "radio", then what sounded like deadair at 0946. M returned at 0949 with mention of Cusco, and Perú. Deadair again at 0951, but the M returned once again at 0953. I'm wondering if the deadair is due to a faulty cart machine. The signal was't very strong. Also has QRM slopover from Educación 6185. Another station on 6195 that signs on around 0955 wipes them out completely. Been following this for a couple weeks but haven't been able to ID until today (Dave Valko, PA, Oct 24, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. 13565.43, Ondas del Pacífico, Ayabaca, 0118-0133, October 25, Spanish transmission. I head a music program with Andean music, tropical Andean music, Christian Andean music, etc. A female conducted the program. Announcement: "seguimos con saludos musicales para... un programa similar se irradiará mañana a las 7 de la noche..."- Greetings. 44333 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 2nd harmonic ** RUSSIA. WINTER B-02 SCHEDULE FOR VOICE OF RUSSIA WORLD SERVICE IN RUSSIAN: 0200-0300 17595 17565 15595 12010 7440 7260 7240 7125 1215 648 0300-0400 17595 17565 15595 12010 7440 7350 7260 7240 7125 1215 1300-1400 17570** 15460* 15510 9490 9450 7365 7315** 7105* 6185 6145 1386 1323 1215 1143 1170 999 603 1400-1500 17570** 15460* 15510 9920** 9875** 9490 9450 7315* 7155 6205 5930 1386 1323 1251 1215 603 1600-1700 12055 9875** 7315* 1314 1170# 612# 1800-1900 7360 6145 2000-2100 7445 7360 7310 7170 6190 6145 6045* 5895** 1215 1143 1089 936 612 603 2100-2200 9480 7445 1089 * till March 1, 2003; ** from March 2, 2003; # Mon, Tue, Thu, Sun (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 25 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Trying to hear some news on the Moscow theater hostage situation, I was surprised that the Voice Of Russia didn't mention it at all in their 0200 newscast, heard here on 17595 KHz. Just their normal newscast of non-news items ("Vladimir Putin addresses Russian parliament on European integration") followed by Moscow Mailbag. Shades of the old Radio Moscow. One doesn't expect VOR to be CNN when it comes to breaking news, but this isn't exactly a breaking story any more- it's about eight hours old. (According to CNN, the gunmen stormed the theater at about 1700 UTC.) Of course, some sw stations are covering it. I've heard stories on BBC, R. Netherlands, Deutche Welle and R. Australia this evening. I'm sure VOA and CBC/RCI are covering it too. But so much for the "hear live news events as they happen around the world" (to quote the box my radio came in) angle from VOR. One wonders if "relevancy" is in the vocabulary of the folks at VOR. Or half the stations we hear on shortwave (Jim Tedford, Bothell, Washington, Oct 23, swprograms via DXLD) Listening to the news on VoR at 0400 and, again, no mention of the hostage situation. This either means what you think it means, James... or it could mean that the news is taped far in advance. I think it's more likely they've chosen not to report it until it's over because it's viewed officially as a security matter. Shades of Radio Moscow, indeed. PS: I don't know which is preferable...our media's penchant for wall to wall coverage when it is clearly unwarranted and unhelpful or the VoR's approach (John Figliozzi, Oct 23, swprograms via DXLD) I heard an update inserted into their regular programming at 0345. They are reporting it, just not within the news, which appears to be prerecorded (Ralph Brandi, NJ, ibid.) Yes. Just heard it reported briefly at 0430.... (John Figliozzi, ibid.) I expect it is seen as a "security matter" and as such we'll get a sanitized, approved version in a few days on VOR. It won't be reported as such domestically in Russia, at least not everywhere. Though it hasn't been easy, Russia is developing a real journalistic tradition. Which hasn't made it to the VOR. Why? National leadership not wanting to air dirty laundry overseas? Too late, thanks to global TV and the internet (Jim Tedford, Bothell, Washington, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. RUSSIAN MEDIA INSTRUCTED NOT TO QUOTE HOSTAGE-TAKERS IN MOSCOW SIEGE | Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 25 October: The Russian press ministry issued a recommendation to the mass media on Friday [25 October] to refrain from reporting statements by the Chechen terrorists who have been holding 700 or so hostages in a Moscow theatre since Wednesday. The ministry warned the media that it was inadmissible to spread information that might justify terrorism or extremism. It also issued a reminder that reports fanning national or religious strife or disclosing the tactics of a possible antiterrorist operation ran counter to Russian laws. The mass media is accountable to law-enforcement agencies and to society, the ministry said, indicating that it had the power to revoke licences for printed and electronic media in case of gross violations of the law. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1111 gmt 25 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. See CYPRUS TURKISH [non] ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Hey Glen[n], no Solomon's on 5020 for a week (Johno Wright, Australia, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Meaning it has not been on, or disagreeing with previous report that it was off? (gh, DXLD) Hi, all, for the past week on 5020 nothing....no SIBS... Glen....nil nought.....not even a carrier.... Regards (johno wright, ARDXC via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 7460, The Voice of Tigers, Sri Lanka has not used shortwave for a while, but is on FM 98 MHz only! (Goonetilleke, Oct 22, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) See also UKRAINE ** SYRIA [non]. Listen to 'Hob al-Watan' in WEDNESDAY file from http://www.arabicsyradio.org/ and you can read what you are listening to here : http://www.shrc.org/arabic/communications/news/2002/news08142002.htm http://www.shrc.org/arabic/communications/news/2002/news06082002.htm http://www.shrc.org/arabic/communications/news/2002/news04222002.htm http://www.shrc.org/arabic/communications/press/2002/press07312002.htm amazing (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, via Hans Johnson, Cumbredx mailing list Oct 23 via DXLD) No, I can`t --- it`s in Arabic (gh, DXLD) MORE DETAILS OF CLANDESTINE "ARAB RADIO" OPPOSED TO SYRIAN REGIME The clandestine radio calling itself the "Arab Radio" (Arabic: al- idha'ah al-arabiyah) which broadcasts programming critical of the current regime in Syria was heard again on 23 and 24 October on 12115 kHz at 1600-1630 gmt. The station has a web site, http://www.arabicsyradio.org where it identifies itself in English as "The Arabic Radio". On 24 October the opening announcement said: "The Arab Radio comes to you in all the beautiful regions of the greater Arab homeland. On the proud Syrian Arab territory, we shout with pride: Syria is free and Arab. Syria is not sectarian, Ba'thist or subservient. "Syria is free and Arab and will surely return to its original position and to its free patriotic leaders. This will take place soon, God willing. The sun of freedom will rise above the horizon of Syria, free and Arab Syria." The announcement was followed by the station's signature tune, which is taken from an Egyptian pan-Arab nationalist song of the 1960s. This was followed by a 16-minute programme described as "weekly" and entitled "People's Talk". The talk on 24 October featured an article by Dr Abd al-Razzaq Id, "a Syrian writer from Aleppo," criticizing the Syrian regime for sentencing opposition figure Arif Dalilah to 10 years in jail, "which means a death sentence because Dalilah is over 60 years old". The article compared the Syrian regime with the rule of the French and the Ottoman Empire in Syria. It criticized the Syrian regime's "hypocritical" treatment of intellectuals. The article said that the people were optimistic when President Bashar al-Asad received Dalilah in his office but the "clique" did not like this and arranged for the prison sentence. The station then carried a seven-minute programme entitled "Between You and Me With Love". This featured a talk on Syria's agricultural wealth, its progress in all fields and the democracy that prevailed before the arrival of the "tyrant, fascist clique of the Ba'th Party". At the conclusion of its programmes, the radio repeated its opening announcement and signed off with the signature tune taken from the pan-Arab nationalist song. As well as the daily broadcast on 12115 kHz from 1600-1630 gmt, the station also broadcasts daily from 0430 to 0500 gmt on 9950 kHz and from 1500 to 1530 gmt on 12085 kHz. On 23 October, also on the frequency of 12115 kHz, an Iraqi opposition station called Mesopotamia Radio was monitored. The station said it was broadcasting from Arbil in northern Iraq. Radio Mesopotamia said it was carrying its "experimental transmission" at 1700-1800 gmt on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays [see KURDISTAN]. Source: BBC Monitoring research 23-24 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 7129.91, CBS Radio Taibei, 1100-1300 Oct 25. From 1100 to 1200 broadcast in Japanese, and from 1100 to 1200 broadcast in English. Signal improved after 1200 from a poor to a fair. Noted the signal was off frequency slightly (Chuck Bolland, http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/ Clewiston Florida, LongWire, Monster Dipole, Datong Active Antennas (2), RF Dxone NRD545, NRD535, NRD525, and various gadgets from MFJ (I like to be in control), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. See CHINA ** U A E. 11695, Gospel for Asia Oct 17 *1600-1610 35333, 1600 s/on with opening music. Opening announce. Talk. 15590, Gospel for Asia Oct 18 *1230-1240 33333, 1230 s/on with opening music. Opening announce. Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, The following items are from Alexander Yegorov of RUI. from October 23 the Ukrainian Home radio channel #1 (UR-1) is relayed in Internet Real Audio via site of NRCU http://www.nrcu.gov.ua instead of frequent off the air of transmitter on 207 kHz (Brovary site near Kyiv). Language of the all transmissions is Ukrainian [also sent upcoming and future SW schedules as already published] (Kraig Krist, VA, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE [and non]. A couple of weeks back I was around the Krasne site outside Lviv with Walter Salmaniw. What I think now - I'd wish you were there with us. Quite impressive - mist in twilight (we got to the place right before sunset on rainy day), practically no wires visible just towers like monsteurs. It was psychological feeling too. (I knew that Krasne was not even on schedule in A02 with its two 1000 kW transmitters, except 936 kHz for Voice of Russia). So it was like touring through cemetery (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) Hi Walter, Thanks for the great report and I am sure you enjoyed the visit to Vlad Titarev. Indeed a great guy and a fine friend who I had the opportunity to meet three times. I won't forget the time two of us, after a few beers lost our way in Vienna. I told Vlad, it`s this way, around midnight and after 45 minutes realized I was wrong and we traced back and took the other way!! For me those are the great moments of DXing, meeting Vlad, Jens Frost, Andy Sennitt, Anker Petersen, Larry Magne, George Jacobs, Dan Ferguson, George Maroti & John Sgrulletta in Kulpsville, Bill Whitacre, Jonathan Marks, Kim Elliott and many more. Starting from my first foreign visitor here in Sri Lanka the late Alan Roth many many years ago, and so many other fine people that a Third World DXer like me, tucked away in an obscure little island like Sri Lanka would only dream of, yet all made possible through DXing. I will remember these fine moments to the end... over events like logging, QSLing the FBIS, Fiji, 100 watt Latins and many clandestines and such achievements that any DXer can be proud of. After all people we cherish and keep in your heart. QSLs, awards and such you file away in albums!! The value of one's life is the relationships that one has enjoyed. Hope one day I could meet more such people and you guys (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, DSWCI DX Window Oct 23 via DXLD) ** U K. Hi Glenn, for those interested here the WEB picturing the move of the studios of Somerset Sound : http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/radiobristol/content/somsmove.shtml regards (Dario Monferini, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC Somerset Sound moved to 1566 kHz today (22 October 2002) vacating their long time channel of 1323 kHz. Power 630 Watts (same as previously) (Mark Hattam, MWDX yahoogroup via DXLD) ** U K. NEW PERMITS FOR THE UK 5 MHZ EXPERIMENT GOING ON HOLD What happens when a propagation experiment gets a bit to popular? If you are a telecommunications regulator in the United Kingdom you might be inclined to temporarily suspended issuing further permits for hams to take part. And that's what's about to happen in regard to the United Kingdom's 5 Megs experiment. From Nottingham England, here's Jeramy Boot, G4NJH: -- The Radiocommunications Agency says that applications for 5-MHz band experimental Notices of Variation or NoV's have far exceeded their expectations. The R.A. now considers that the risk of congestion on the five spot frequencies allocated may be detrimental to the overall success of the experiment. Accordingly, the RA has decided not to issue any further NoV's for applications received after the 31st of October. The position will be kept under review and occupancy monitoring of the frequencies will be carried out. It is hoped that following this exercise - more NoV's could be issued, or a numerical limit to the number of NoVs can be set based on usage and congestion. It is likely that an announcement can be made later this year for action early in the new year. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH (Amateur Radio Newsline Oct 25 via DXLD) The United Kingdom 5 MHz experimental band was made available to that nations individual Full Class A hams by means of a Notice of Variation issued last July. The five 3kHz-wide frequency allocations are permitted for the purposes of antenna and propagation experiments. The Radio Society of Great Britain is in charge of the overall management of the project (RSGB via Amateur Radio Newsline Oct 25 via DXLD) ** U S A. This is a shocking, sad, (and long) story: INSIDE RADIO MARTÍ, By Pedro L. González* and María R. Morales Radio Martí Observer, La Nueva Cuba Octubre 18, 2002 The Cuban government has been able to set up an intelligence operation inside Radio Martí, the official radio station of the United States of America, that broadcasts 24 hours a day to the Caribbean Island with a yearly budget of 25 million dollars, according to well informed sources that did not want to be identified. The operation is being carried out by sympathizers of the Havana government who operate within the Cuban-American community in Miami, using a group of employees from the American radio station who in the last few months have made public their unhappiness with the Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, (OCB), the exiled 74 year-old Cuban lawyer and radio commentator, Salvador Lew.... http://www.lanuevacuba.com/nuevacuba/notic-02-10-1811.htm [Spanish version:] http://www.lanuevacuba.com/nuevacuba/notic-02-10-1811esp.htm (via Oscar, DXLD) ** U S A. Here are some more items about Stephen Schwartz. The first is an interview he did on (Pat Robertson's) CBN. It begins with a brief discussion of his dismissal from VOA. Schwartz went to the Office of Policy before leaving IBB/VOA. 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://cbn.org/CBNNews/News/020819d.asp http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=1610 http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=3408 http://www.naqshbandi.org/events/articles/conversion_schwartz.htm ** U S A [and non]. Michael Moore has a lot to say about current events, from sniping to war with Iraq, and his new film Bowling with Columbine. Check out http://www.michaelmoore.com (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. From globeandmail.com, Thursday, October 24, 2002 DON'T TUNE OUT DIVERSITY We stand to lose much if public-service broadcasters fade to black, says VisionTV president BILL ROBERTS It wasn't a news story that garnered much attention here in Canada. But perhaps it ought to have. Last month, The New York Times reported that right-wing evangelical Christian broadcasters are attempting to shove National Public Radio (NPR) stations off the dial in many U.S. markets. They have already succeeded in parts of Louisiana, Indiana and Oregon. There is nothing illegal about it. These partisan religious stations are simply exploiting existing provisions in federal law to silence NPR, which they deem to be unacceptably liberal and secular in its outlook. The result? A broadcast service that stands for pluralism, tolerance and the free-ranging exploration of ideas is giving way to others that promote a socially reactive agenda. This may seem a matter of negligible interest to Canadians. But such a development is troubling, for a couple of reasons. First of all, it facilitates the encroachment of extremist religious views on the mainstream media. The dangers inherent in this should be obvious: Just witness the violent outrage that flared recently, after the conservative preacher Rev. Jerry Falwell told 60 Minutes that the Prophet Mohammed "was a terrorist." Second, the end run on NPR attests to the vulnerability of public and public-service broadcasters throughout North America. Let me hasten to add that I do not foresee a replay of the NPR situation in Canada. Evangelicals in this country harbour no similar aspiration to seize public broadcast turf. But there are other challenges confronting TV and radio broadcasters dedicated to promoting pluralism in the public interest. The members of this threatened category are a diverse bunch. On the television side, they include the CBC and the provincial educational networks, as well as specialty channels with a "public-service" mandate, such as VisionTV and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). But all have one thing in common: a deepening anxiety about their prospects for survival. In recent months, private broadcasters and their supporters on the newspaper op-ed pages have renewed the crusade against the CBC, arguing that the network is unwatched, irrelevant and undeserving of taxpayer support. At the same time, the growing concentration of ownership in the broadcast industry has tilted the competitive balance against the independent (and often not-for-profit) players that populate the public-service category. Technological change spells added uncertainty. The advent of the digital era will bring changes in the way TV channels are distributed -- and this bodes ill for public-service networks, most of which lack the clout to negotiate favourable terms of carriage with cable and satellite companies. (Even in the current system, these broadcasters are disadvantaged. VisionTV was unceremoniously bumped from channel 24 to 60 in the Toronto market several years ago. And APTN has been seeking without success to escape its perch on the upper reaches of the zapper.) Some would argue that public-service broadcasters cannot insulate themselves from the realities of the marketplace. Survival of the biggest and strongest is, after all, the law of the communications jungle. Still, I wonder: Do Canadians truly appreciate what they stand to lose if these channels should fade to black? Private broadcasters are good at many things; the facilitation of meaningful public debate is not foremost among them. The much- publicized new political "reality" show The American Candidate -- in which the viewers of Rupert Murdoch's cable channel FX will choose a contender for the U.S. presidency -- is sadly typical of the contribution most commercial networks make to our civic life. In the place of television that speaks to us as citizens, we get politics as prime-time entertainment. Viewers who crave something more substantial generally tune in to public-service channels. Because they do not concern themselves with serving a corporate agenda, these networks are able to devote airtime to content that profit-driven broadcasters deem to be "uncommercial." They investigate complex moral, ethical, political and spiritual questions, entertain alternative views on issues such as Sept. 11 and the war on terrorism, and give voice to marginalized communities, including aboriginal Canadians. Broadcasters such as CBC, TVOntario, VisionTV and APTN make a small but invaluable contribution to fostering tolerance. By their very nature, they work to open minds and tear down the walls of misunderstanding. And this is why it troubles me to see a counterpart in the United States under attack. My quarrel is not with Christian broadcasters -- and especially not with our Canadian friends, who practise what they preach with regard to dialogue and justice (indeed, my own network, VisionTV, provides a welcoming platform to some evangelical groups, though always within a broader, multifaith context). Rather, my concern is that the multiplicity of voices and ideas represented by NPR is being supplanted in areas of the United States by a single (and often intolerant) point of view -- and, worse still, that policymakers seem to have no problem with this. Anyone here in Canada who cares about the state of our own broadcasting system should be alarmed by this precedent. The genius of Western democracies has been to find unity in diversity. We have built societies in which people of different faiths and cultures manage to live together -- not perfectly, by any means, but without the violent upheavals still common in many parts of the world. And public-service broadcasters play their modest part in maintaining this delicate social balance. It wouldn't take much effort to safeguard these channels. Establishing a special "foundation tier" for them within the broadcast system ought to solve the problem, at negligible cost to viewers. It seems little enough to ask. At a time like this, dare we risk sacrificing voices of openness, understanding and tolerance? Bill Roberts is president and CEO of VisionTV (via G. Pollard, DXLD) ** U S A. HIGH COURT LETS RULING ON GRID RADIO STAND by: Anthony Glassman, Gay People's Chronicle Washington, D.C.-The United States Supreme Court on October 7 refused to hear the appeals of Grid owner Jerry Szoka in the closure of his low-power radio station by the Federal Communications Commission, and of a Kansas transsexual whose stepson was granted sole inheritance of his father's $2.5 million estate. The two denials came at the beginning of the Supreme Court's new term. "I'm totally disappointed with the court," Szoka said. "They don't realize what they have in front of them, or maybe they do and they're afraid because it would have major repercussions." Szoka started Grid Radio in 1995, broadcasting on a vacant frequency at 96.9 FM. The station, audible in Cleveland and its inner suburbs, played music from the Grid nightclub's dance floor as well as entertainment and news programs. It filled a niche that the club owner said was not being served by commercial radio. The FCC ordered Szoka to cease broadcasting, but he fought the order. In early 2000, U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley issued a court order for him to shut down the station, a few months after the FCC released new guidelines for licensing similar low-powered stations. The new regulations, however, banned the granting of licenses to stations that had broadcast illegally after being ordered to stop by the FCC. Szoka's appeal of the FCC regulations contended that the ban on low- power stations originally in place was in violation of First Amendment guarantees of free speech, leaving the mass media's access to the American public in the hands of a few large corporations. "The media's controlled by so few corporations now that it's easy for them to squash a story that would make waves," he noted. "Strike it up to another one of our rights being taken away." Szoka also pointed to the large number of low-power applications being accepted from religious broadcasters as a reason for concern, "which is what we didn't want to happen," he said. "So I guess it's back to the back of the bus for me," he concluded. "By the time America wakes up, it will be too late." [10/14/02] (via Out in Akron via Artie Bigley, DXLD) I heard the birth of this station when I was in Cleveland, Ohio... I called George Zeller and he told me it was a wireless mike (Artie Bigley, OH, Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BYU-I STUDENTS CREATE RADIO STATION by Emily Toy Scroll Staff http://www.byui.edu/scroll/101502/news6.html A new radio station, 95.5 KFLO, was created Oct. 8 when five BYU-Idaho students started broadcasting out of a Rexburg apartment. ``It only took about three minutes to get on the air once we got all the equipment, but it took about a month to get everything together,`` Jeremy Garmon, a junior from Cedartown, Ga., and part-owner of the operation, said. ``We broadcast most of the day and night and play every type of music,`` Garmon said. ``We are just trying to get some cool music on the air that people can listen to as they are driving around town,`` he said. ``We aren't trying to make a stand, and we don't make any money.`` The problem lies in the fact that 95.5 KFLO is unlicensed. ``Unlicensed operation is prohibited,`` a spokesman from the Federal Communications Commission said. ``Be aware that unlicensed operation of radio broadcast stations is prohibited, even as low powers such one watt or less.`` KFLO is a low-power station that covers an approximate six mile radius; the students are checking to be sure everything is in line with FCC regulations and getting an LPFM liscense, Garmon said. ``Presently the maximum penalty for operating an unlicensed or `pirate` broadcast station is set at $10,000 for a single day of operation, up to a total maximum amount of $75,000,`` the FCC spokesman said. ``Equipment may also be confiscated and there are also criminal penalties.`` The spokesman said the FCC received approximately 30,000 inquiries from persons seeking to start radio stations last year. Because of the high demand for frequencies, there is no guarantee applicants will receive permits (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Story on LPFM in Pennsylvania and vicinity: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1282&dept_id=182115&newsid=5820295&PAG=461&rfi=9 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Heard my mystery 96.5 station in my driveway in South York again Tuesday afternoon about 5 pm -- same time as last Wednesday. Was off when I checked later around 10 pm. Again, soft piano covers of pop oldies with occasional pop or country hits thrown in. Sounds like bad Muzak -- but I can't figure out what it could be besides a pirate. Will have to get busy DFing this one if it continues. 73 and good DX, (Bruce WB3HVV, York, PA, Oct 23, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Finally, my 96.5 pirate in York, PA gave an ID at 5:30 pm (EDT) yesterday --- "This is Lily of the Valley, and you're listening to a low powered FM station --- this is 96.5 WJFN broadcasting from the Codorus Valley." Sounded like a very cheap (cassette recorder-type) microphone. Based on listening while driving yesterday and the ID, I'm guessing that it's near Glen Rock, PA, a small town south of York. I'm also guessing it's over 100 milliwatts and not a licensed low power FM. Coverage is too good for 100 milliwatts unless they have an 8-bay antenna about 300 feet up! Does anyone know of a web listing of all the LPFM allocations to date? (Bruce Collier, PA, Oct 24, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Bruce, Yes it is in stereo --- no processing though --- levels are not consistent. Sounds like a CD changer sitting there shuffling with an occasional ID thrown in maybe every 1/2 hour. Although where you would find music that bad on CD I'm not sure.....;^) (Bruce WB3HVV Collier, Oct 25, amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** U S A. Regarding Joe Fela's comments regarding the digital 650 AM in Frederick --- that's a darn good question --- how did 630 WMAL's lawyers allow that to happen? With 4,000 watts only 40 miles from DC, it's gotta be a factor! There is no &^%$# way you'd ever get a commercial allocation for even 250 watts squeezed in there! Wasn't aware of this one, I'll check it out today and report back. 73 and good DX, (Bruce, WB3HVV, Collier, York, PA, Oct 24, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Regarding the digital 650 AN in Frederick -- I heard it yesterday in Baltimore, so about 40 miles away. It sounded fine, and I didn't notice any hash on the sides on 640 or 660. WFAN in New York and the NJ Disney station on 640 were both audible. To add insult to injury, not only is it 2nd adjacent to DC's 630 WMAL, but they were rebroadcasting WTOP, WMAL's arch news rival, right in the middle of the sniper arrest story! They went off about noon, came back on w/tones in the afternoon. From York, heard them running about an 8 kHz tone, and didn't notice any trash off to the sides---thought for sure there would be with that high frequency tone. Maybe they've cleaned this one up for display near the nation's capital? Let's hope for our hobby's sake this is how it will be..... Not time for much but car DX the last couple weeks--been painting the new house --- but soon, there's 300 feet of yard just begging for longwires, EWE's, and rotatable loops! 73 and good DX, (Bruce WB3HVV Collier, Oct 25, amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** U S A. The truck driver who spotted the license plate of the sniper's car last night told Fox News that he was listening to WLW, 700 kHz, the Truckin Bozo show, when they passed the license information. Good thing WOR had their IBOC digital stream off the air or the splatter might have prevented the driver from hearing the announcement and the sniper would still be running amok. WLW has a long history of radio firsts. Long live clear channels (Joe Buch, DE, Oct 24, swprograms via DXLD) This would be outrageously good press for the idea behind clear- channel broadcasting and we anti-iBoc protaganists! I can see a talented journalist twisting this story in all sorts of interesting ways! ;-) bw (Bill Whitacre, DC, ibid.) RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO HELPS NAB THE DC SNIPER SUSPECTS A ham radio operator may have played a role in the apprehension of two men wanted in connection with the sniper shootings in the Washington DC area. ABC News interviewed the trucker who called the police to report he had spotted the two suspects. When asked how he heard about the description of the vehicle, his response was that he heard it while listening to Bozo on WLW radio Now, Chip Margelli, K7JA tell amateur Radio Newsline that Bozo in real life is Dale Sommers; callsign WB6OM. Sommers hosts a very popular late night trucker's show on the 700 Kilohertz clear channel station. His show is mainly music and information of interest to long-haul truck drivers. The description of the wanted men was just that. As a result the pair are in custody thanks to a trucker who was paying attention to what WB6OM had to say as "Truckin Bozo" over WLW in Cincinnati (K7JA, Amateur Radio Newsline Oct 25 via DXLD) ** U S A. 26450/FM, KGMH-TV [sic] Denver CO (presumed); 2005-2050+, 21-Oct; ABC program promos. One Life to Live soap. 2026-30 Colorado PSAs/political ads; ad/Mark Steiner atty. With 303 area phone #. Fair with lotsa crackle and occasional data bursts till 2043 when covered by sudden rise in noise (QRM?). Still there but never made it back up (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE via DXLD) It`s KMGH-TV, as in McGraw-Hill (gh) ** U S A. Harold Frodge sends this information about US 3-Letter Call Stations Still Operating KHz, Call, Location, Day/Night Power KW. 550 WGR Buffalo NY 5/5 (Easy but always mixing w/WKRC) 560 KLZ Denver CO 5/5 560 KPQ Wenatchee WA 5/5 570 KVI Seattle WA 5/5 580 KMJ Fresno CA 5/5 (has applied for 50/50) 580 WHP Harrisburg PA 5/5 (Hrd in MI) 590 KID Idaho Falls ID 5/1 600 WMT Cedar Rapids IA 5/5 (Hrd in MI) 610 WIP Philadelphia PA 5/5 (Hrd in MI) 640 KFI Los Angeles CA 50/50 (Hrd in MI) 640 WOI Ames IA 5/1 (Hrd in MI) 700 WLW Cincinnati OH 50/50 (Very easy) 710 WOR New York NY 50/50 (Easy) 720 WGN Chicago IL 50/50 (Very easy) 750 WSB Atlanta GA 50/50 (Very easy) 750 KXL Portland OR 50/20 760 KGU Honolulu HI 10/10 (In your dreams) 760 WJR Detroit MI 50/50 (I think you can hear them) 770 WEW St. Louis MO 1 790 WMC Memphis TN 5/5 810 WGY Schenectady NY 50/50 (Very easy) 850 KOA Denver CO 50/50 (Hrd in MI) 870 WWL New Orleans LA 50/50 (Very easy) 890 WLS Chicago IL 50/50 (Very easy) 930 KHJ Los Angeles CA 5/5 930 WKY Oklahoma City OK 5/5 (Hrd in MI) 950 WWJ Detroit MI 50/50 (I think you can get them too) 950 KJR Seattle WA 50/50 960 KMA Shenandoah IA 5/5 (Hrd in MI) 1030 WBZ Boston MA 50/50 (Very easy) 1040 WHO Des Moines IA 50/50 (Very easy) 1050 WDZ Decatur IL 1 1060 KYW Philadelphia PA 50/50 (Very easy) 1070 KNX Los Angeles CA 50/50 1110 WBT Charlotte NC 50/50 (Very easy) 1160 KSL Salt Lake City UT 50/50 (Hrd in MI) 1190 KEX Portland OR 50/50 1220 WHK Cleveland OH 50/50 (Very easy) 1230 KOY Phoenix AZ 1/1 1230 KXO El Centro CA 1/1 1230 KWG Stockton CA 1/1 1240 KGY Olympia WA 1/1 1250 WGL Fort Wayne IN 2.3/1.5 (Hrd often) 1280 KIT Yakima WA 5/1 1330 KFH Wichita KS 5/5 (Hrd in MI) 1410 KQV Pittsburgh PA 5/5 1420 KUJ Walla Walla WA 5/5 1430 KLO Ogden UT 10/5 1450 WOL Washington DC 1/1 1510 KGA Spokane WA 50/50 (MARE Tipsheet Oct 24 via DXLD) ** U S A. While trying to pull an ID on that second Spanish station under KFI, I just heard Art Bell announce that he is retiring after December 31 of this year because of health problems (Harry Helms, AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15, Oct 24, NRC-AM via DXLD) Yep... wonder how long he'll be "retired" this time? Coast to Coast AM will be in safe hands after Art Bell "retires", Coast to Coast AM`s regular fill-in host George Noory will be his successor. However Art Bell will be serving as an occasional fill-in host for George in the future. Read all about it at http://coasttocoastam.com (Bob Carter, ibid.) GEORGE NOORY TO REPLACE ART BELL KTRS 9PM-12M host George Noory to replace Art Bell on Coast To Coast begining in 2003. Art Bell announced his retirement October 23, and named George Noory his replacement. George will continue his program on KTRS until the end of the year. George Noory began his broadcasting career in Detroit, in 1969. Since then, he's worked as a radio and TV News Director and was responsible for the production of the highest-rated television newscast in the United States! With all his wit, wisdom, warmth and wonderful weirdness George holds forth for you on The Big 550 KTRS! From The St Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday, December 17, 2000 THE NIGHTHAWK WANTS TO RULE THE AIR, By Jeff Daniel George Noory, the host of KTRS' overnight show, hopes his mixture of serious discussion, humor and eccentricity will enlarge his local audience and take him nationwide... http://www.ktrs.com/pages/noorypage.htm (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. NEW RADIO STATION TARGETS FEMALES 10/21/2002 By TOM MAURSTAD / The Dallas Morning News When talk turns to talk radio, two words are used again and again - "crowded" and "competitive." There are also two words that are almost never used - "women listeners." A new radio station debuting Monday in Dallas is trying to attract the latter two to counteract the former. KCAF-AM (990) "The Cafe" is talk radio with a twist - it is targeting women. It's an approach that turns talk-radio tradition on its head. "Everybody told me that there were no holes in the Dallas market," says Scott Savage, CEO of Renaissance Radio, the company behind the KCAF concept. "But when I plotted all the AM talk stations on an audience graph, every station was on the male side. The female side was completely blank." The plan is for the Cafe 990 to be to radio what networks such as Lifetime, Oxygen and A&E are to cable television - a source of female-friendly programming. As Mr. Savage lists the topics the new station covers - relationships, family, shopping, food, health - the Cafe 990 sounds as if it could be summed up as the "Anything but Sports and Politics" station. "That's pretty much right since ... our target listener is a 39-year- old woman - she's married, she has kids, she has a job. She's got a lot of demands on her time, and we are going to be there to provide her with hip, informative programming that relates to her life." Bringing a new radio format into the market and making it work is something Mr. Savage knows about. He was the program director overseeing the introduction of the highly successful young country format at KYNG-FM from the station's debut in 1992 until 1996, when he moved to Los Angeles to work on ABC's development of Radio Disney and the premiere of the Fox Sports Radio Network. But can the Cafe 990 attract women to talk radio, especially on the AM side of the dial, where sports, politics and the men who yammer about them reign supreme? "It's tough to research something that doesn't exist or predict the outcome of something that hasn't happened," says Tom Taylor, radio analyst and editor of the Inside Radio newsletter. "Content drives success in radio, so this approach could end up bringing in a lot of new listeners to talk radio. Then again, radio is like a shopping mall ... if nobody ever comes down to your end of the mall, your store won't make it." To get women to come down to the Cafe's location on the AM end of the radio mall, 60 billboards are going up around the area with women-targeting tag lines such as "The seat is always down" and "Broad topics." It is the first stage in what Mr. Savage promises will be a multimedia campaign. ©2002 Belo Interactive (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Dallas Radio Station Silent. The new 990 AM which went on the air Monday --- all women's programming --- went silent Thursday when financing deal feel through. No apparent plans to try again. 73 (Bill Smith, W5USM, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Subject: Cafe 990 Off-The-Air From Today's "Radio & Records" NEW DALLAS TALKER HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW That's basically the story of the just launched KCAF/Farmersville, TX (Dallas) which signed on just this past Monday morning with a new female targeted Talk format. Seems that station owner and local Dallas businessman Dave Schum ran into financial difficulties and asked Executive VP/COO, Scott Savage to "find a buyer" just as the station launched on 10/21. Savage tells R&R he managed to actually find a buyer but that offer was turned down by Schum last night (Weds 10/23). "The funding I was told was there is apparently not there," said Savage. "So all agreements with me and the staff have effectively been breached. I am packing up my office and I don't expect anyone to be returning to the station." Adding that his only real concern was to try to help all those impacted to find another job Savage continued, "I'm really not sure what the future of this station will be right now. It has been a devastating experience." (via Wally Wawro, WFAA-TV Dallas, TX NRC-AM via DXLD) They are not "Off the Air". Heard Ollie North on the way home from work today (10/24), so maybe they just ditched the intended Women's Talk format (Bill Hale in Fort Worth, Oct 24, ibid.) BQ Radio America Network programming is being aired today, but so far an ID has escaped me....dead air where an ID would logically go (Bill Smith, TX, W5USM, Oct 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. B-02 schedule for World Harvest Radio: WHRI Angel # 1 0000-1000 7315 1000-1300 9495 1300-1800 15105 1800-2400 9495 WHRI Angel # 2 1000-1600 9840 ||||| ex 6040 for B-01 1600-2000 13760 2000-1000 5745 KWHR Angel # 3 2200-0400 17510 0400-1000 17780 1000-1630 9930 KWHR Angel # 4 0700-1045 11565 Mon-Fri 0700-1400 11565 Sat/Sun WHRA Angel # 5 2300-1000 7580 1300-1600 17560 ||||| additional transmission 1600-2300 17650 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 25 via DXLD) Note two new frequencies, unusual for WHR (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Hi Glenn - I have followed the discussion regarding AFRTS, and during a websearch last month, I found the following link to be very useful. It contains both the frequencies for AFRTS and its programming schedule. After monitoring it for about a month, the programming guide is dead on! http://www.npr.org/worldwide/shortwave.html (Fred Newlin, NY, Oct 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. UNKNOWNIGUAY: 6165, 2244-2300+, 22-Oct; Wide variety of vocal & instrumental Spanish music; camp'o, baladas, Pérez Prado, Nat King Cole in Spanish. No announcer. Tones at 2300; either went off or dropped way down -- I think they were still there mixing with Chinese. SIO=333-/best in USB (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ From Universal Radio's catalog page, an announcement of a new radio from Grundig to be available in January. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0550.html (John Figliozzi, Oct 24, swprograms via DXLD) DRM +++ ITU RECOMMENDS DRM FOR ALL 3 BROADCASTING BANDS BELOW 30 MHZ -- SHORT- WAVE, MEDIUM-WAVE/AM AND LONG-WAVE The on-air system Digital Radio Mondiale ((DRM() has received endorsement by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for all three broadcasting bands below 30 MHz -- short-wave, medium- wave/AM and long-wave. In October, administrations of the ITU`s member countries approved a revised version of Recommendation BS1514, now called Recommendation BS1514-1 (Digital Sound Broadcasting Below 30 MHz). It states that DRM is an ITU-R Recommendation for all the broadcasting bands spanning 150 kHz to 30 MHz. No other digital system has received such broad recommendation (including short-wave, as well as medium-wave/AM and long-wave) by the ITU. The ITU, which has 190 member countries, had approved its original recommendation of the DRM system within BS 1514 in April 2001. DRM is the world`s only non-proprietary, digital AM system for short- wave, medium-wave and long-wave with the ability to use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. With near-FM quality sound that offers a dramatic improvement over analogue AM, DRM will revitalize the AM broadcasting bands below 30 MHz in markets worldwide. This development marks another milestone in DRM's progress toward universal standardization. DRM has been endorsed by the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), which published its DRM Publicly Available Specification (PAS 62272-1) earlier this year. Additionally, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) published a Technical Specification of the DRM system in September 2001. The document is called ETSI TS 101 980 V1.1.1 (2001-09), Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); System Specification. Free downloadable copies are available at the ETSI Web site at http://www.etsi.org (Oct DRM newsletter via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-164, October 23, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1153: WWCR: Thu 2030 15825, Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210 RFPI: [may be delayed] Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15038 WBCQ: Mon 0515 after time change, 7415 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1153.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1153.html [from Thu] ** ALASKA. NEW RADIO STATION BRINGS MORE JAZZ, BLUES TO TOWN By CHRISTINE SCHMID, THE JUNEAU EMPIRE © 2002 A labor of love will bring more exposure to jazz and blues for some Juneau residents when KBJZ-FM, 94.1 goes on the air tonight... http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/100302/loc_radio.shtml (Juneau Empire via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. The X-Band Argentianian Apocalipsis II has website at: http://apocalipsis2.freeyellow.com/ 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland, Oct 22, dxing.info via DXLD) This web-site has been in use since January 2002. The station was heard in Lemmenjoki in January by Pertti Äyräs and myself on AM 1700 and replyed both our reception reports with a verifying e-mail. V/s was Enrique Fraquelli, Director de programación. Best regards (Jan- Erik Österholm (JEÖ), Porvoo, Finland, ibid.) ** ARGENTINA. Nueva frecuencia para AM Restauración, emisora no oficial, que opera ahora por los 1630 KHz ex 1650, programación religiosa, anuncia transmisión las 24 horas y aparentemente responde al Ministerio Piedras Vivas, posible ubicación Bella Vista en el Gran Buenos Aires; se identifica como AM Restauración, una Radio con mucha fe; anuncio de un teléfono no copiado como 4662-xxxx y una dirección de Iglesia de Beruti 2948, sin mencionar localidad (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Oct 20, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15820-LSB, military relay station, Oct 19 0315-0330+, heard past several weeks on this frequency. Spanish talk by man and woman, brief music breaks; fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Please note: Our domain name has changed to VOICE.com.au That means the second part of our email addresses have also changed from @vil.com.au to @VOICE.com.au We have also changed street address from 2 Avian St. The new address is: VOICE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, Killick St, Kunda Park, QLD 4556. PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS BOOK (via Harjot Singh Brar, Oct 23, GRDXC via DXLD) ** CANADA. An article from www.globeandmail.com, Monday, October 21 CANADIAN TEENS SHUN THE AIRWAVES By DARREN YOURK, Globe and Mail Update Radio listenership by Canadian teens has continued its 15-year decline, a new report says, a trend perhaps best explained by a market dominated by adult contemporary music. Teens spend about half as much time as adults listening to the radio, the Statistics Canada survey says. "The difference was most notable during weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an average listening time of only 4.7 hours (per week) for teens compared with 16.1 hours for adults," Statistics Canada said Monday as it released a survey done in the fall of 2001. "On weekends and evenings, levels of listening were similar for teens and adults." The adult-contemporary format, despite a slight decrease, was the first choice Canadian among listeners, accounting for 23.1 per cent of total listening hours. The golden oldies/rock format ranked second, accounting for 18.2 per cent of listening hours, compared with 14.0 per cent in the fall of 2000, narrowing the gap that separates it from adult contemporary. It was followed by talk radio, which accounted for 13.3 per cent of listening hours, compared with 10.3 per cent in fall of 2000. Stations offering a music format rather than talk captured the largest share of total listening in the fall of 2001, at 68 per cent. Overall, Canadians listened to the radio an average of 20.1 hours per week in the fall of 2001, approximately the same as in the three years since 1998 when four consecutive years of decline came to an end. The exception was Prince Edward Island, where the average listening time was 23.5 hours per week, up nearly four hours from 2000, putting it in first place. Quebec anglophones ranked second after a number of years at the top of the list. They listened to an average of 21.1 hours per week in 2001, down from 22.4 hours in 2000, a second consecutive drop. The lowest number of listening hours was recorded in British Columbia (19 a week), closely followed by New Brunswick. Preferences for particular radio shows varied with education. "The higher the level of education, the higher the proportion of radio listening time that was devoted to the CBC. In the fall of 2001, Canadians with a grade-school education or less spent 4 per cent of their radio listening time tuned to the CBC; those with a university degree spent 18 per cent of their listening time on this format." The results in the study are based on a survey of almost 85,000 Canadians aged 12 and older. The data on radio listening cover seven specific days and were collected using a log-type questionnaire over an eight-week period from Sept. 3 to Oct. 28, 2001 (via Ricky Leong, QC, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. [HCDX] FULL GOSPEL LAS PALMAS 6715 QSL Full Gospel Las Palmas Church confirmed my report of last Sunday evening on 6715 khz USB in Korean with e-mail in 3 days. They gave some info about their broadcast. The report was sent to pulse@l21.net address. I attached also an audio clip. Here are the info: The output power: 100 watts Location : Full Gospel Las Palmas Church (Plaza de Agustín Castillo 3 [Altavista], Las Palmas de GC Spain) Email of the pastor: fglc@jet.es (pulse@l21.net is my mail, who is the son of the pastor :)] The timetable: Sunday, 1100-1230, and 1900-2030; Wednesday, 2030-2200; Friday: 2200-2400 (Las Palmas Time) [soon to be GMT from Oct 27, UT +1 until then --- gh] Brief information: Usually, there are some religious songs sung just before the service, then there are some prays and another songs, then speech from the pastor, then some songs and some prays... etc. The broadcast is for the fishermen who work in the ocean to hear the live service. Ciao (via Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, Oct 22, Rx: AOR AR7030, TenTec RX320, Icom PCR1000 with DSP & TalkPCR software, Lowe HF150, Kenwood R5000, Grundig Satellit 700 with 3x80 khz filters, Sony SW100; Antennas In Tuscany: Long wires 100 meters with magnetic balun by A. Capra; 30 meters with magnetic balun by RF Systems; Fracarro 5 elements for FM In Milan: T2FD 15 meters folded dipole by RF Systems; MW loop modified by A. Capra. Others: Active RF systems DX one pro & DX 10; long wire 12 & 20 meters with magnetic balun by RF Systems, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINESE COURT UPHOLDS SENTENCE IN FALUN GONG TV SABOTAGE CASE | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Changchun, 22 Octobere: Jilin Supreme People's Court in northeast China, in its final judgment on Tuesday [22 October], upheld the sentence made by the Jilin Intermediary People's Court in the case of cable TV network sabotage by a group of 15 Falungong followers. On 20 September, at Jilin Intermediary People's Court, these saboteurs, including Zhou Runjun, Lei Ming, Zhao Jian and Li Xiaojie, were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of four to 20 years for hijacking cable television transmissions and for broadcasting a propaganda programme on behalf of the cult. Following the first trial, 13 of the defendants appealed the sentence, claiming that their actions could not be defined as a crime. Li Xiaojie also appealed, arguing that his sentence was too severe. After further investigation, Jilin Supreme People's Court confirmed that the actions of the 15 Falungong followers constituted a crime. Beginning at 18:00 on 5 March of this year, the group interrupted the cable TV network broadcast in progress in Changchun and Songyuan cities of the province, leaving approximately 16,000 viewers affected by the video and audio propaganda of the Falun Gong cult transmitted by the group's broadcasting equipment. It was also confirmed that Lei Ming colluded with others in printing over 200,000 leaflets and producing more than 2,000 compact discs propagating the insidious cult. In view of the above considerations, the supreme court dismissed her appeal and upheld the original sentence. According to the supreme court, these saboteurs conspired to commit a crime. They violated clause one of Article 124 and clause one of Article 300 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China by undermining the enforcement of the state's laws by sabotaging broadcast and television facilities through the organization and use of a cult. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1327 gmt 22 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. La Voz de tu Conciencia, 6010.93, Oct 13 0610-0625*, LA music, Spanish talk, ID; abrupt sign-off. Also heard earlier around 0100 on 6010.989. Strong, but slightly unstable carrier. Also on 6010.97, Oct 19 at 0815 tune-in to Spanish talk, IDs at 0825, strong and stable to 0845 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) La Voz de tu Conciencia with nice signal this morning 23 October in Milano on 6011 kHz from 0505 till 0718 UT when disappeared under the sun high in the sky. Religious program in Spanish and LA music. Many IDs. No signals from Mexico. Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CUBA. While casually tuning the 19m band, I stopped on 15120 and heard a familiar voice, speaking Spanish, rather than English. It was, of course, Arnie Coro, giving a propagation report. This was at 2210. Then they went into a youth oriented program, so I do not know if Arnie's report was part of a DX program, but I shall try to remember to listen next Sunday (Tim Hendel, AL, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK [non]. - As Merlin now has rented 1730-1815 in B02 for a transmission to Iran on 7490 (!) kHz, our sched. has been slightly changed. It is found attached. Radio Denmark has issued a new QSL card on Oct. 21. 73, (Erik Koie DR Radio Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1153) Identity of the new service Iran to be determined! So that portion of Denmark [non] sked now reads: (gh, ibid.) 1730-1755 Russia 9980 K 95 Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) 13800 K 145 North America (east), Carribean 18950 S 280 (via Køie, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. These schedule changes for HCJB's English transmissions will go into effect on Sunday, October 27th at 0700 UT. Europe 0700-0900 5965 Europe 2000-2200 11895 India 0200-0400 12040 EN Am 0000-0400? 9745 Please note that no closing time was given on the air for the transmission for Eastern North America, which is why there is a question mark after 0400. As of Sunday, October 27th, there will no longer be a secondary English frequency for Eastern and Western North America (HCJB DX Partyline Oct 19, notes by Marie Lamb for DXLD) IMPORTANT NOTICE We are very sorry that we now are financially unable to send QSL's, etc. unless the request for such also includes sufficient postage stamps or money to cover the cost. In order to grant your request for a QSL and/or other material, please send one of the following: one International Reply Coupon (IRC), or one USA dollar, or one Euro, or 3 unused USA postage stamps (37 cents). (Correspondence Department, English Language Service - HCJB World Radio via Harjot Singh Brar, Oct 23, GRDXC via DXLD) ** FINLAND. You probably are aware of this, i.e. the date of the last YLE English shortwave broadcast, but in case not: I spoke to Juhani Niinistö on Monday. He told me the last Radio Finland English shortwave broadcast will be this Saturday. The program will have some historical material. Some English will continue on the domestic FM. From their website is this schedule: 0630-0658 Mon - Sat 15135 kHz/19m Europe, Asia, Australia 21670 kHz/13m Asia, Australia 1230-1259 Mon - Sat 15400 khHz/19m North America 17670 kHz/16m North America 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tried to tune in to their Sunday 0000 broadcast but found it had already been dropped. Perhaps that's where someone got the impression that English had been dropped already. It's too bad. These folks did a nice job for a long time. They deserved better. But, then again, we can also say that about a lot of employees these days who don't work in international broadcasting (John Figliozzi, NY, Oct 22, swprograms via DXLD) ** FRANCE: REPORT ON RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE PERFORMANCE IN 2001 | Text of press release in French from Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (Higher Broadcasting Council) web site on 9 October; subheadings as published The Higher Broadcasting Council [CSA] on Thursday 3 October 2002 held a session with Messrs Jean-Paul Cluzel, chairman and managing director of RFI [Radio France Internationale], Gilles Schneider, managing director in charge of stations and news, Donald Jenkins, secretary general to the chairman's office, Daniel Nobi, director in charge of research and listener relations and Mrs Jeannette Magadoux, who is in charge of international affairs, in order to assess RFI's performance in 2001. Financial situation and structures RFI's turnover in 2001 was 121.7 m euros. It was made up mainly of public funds amounting to 118m euros (licence fee, 48.9m euros and subsidies from ministries, 68.9m euros), which fell by 1 per cent compared to 2000, income from advertising (2.1 m euros) and from the sale of products and services (1.8m euros). The gross operating profit is positive (4.1m euros). The result for the year is minus 1.5m euros. The chairman of RFI reminded the members of the council about the particular conditions in which the implementation of the 35-hour week had been financed since 2000, which could, in 2003, lead to a real fall in funds available despite an increase in funding in the budget. For its 24 hour-a-day broadcasting of French-language programmes, RFI had 89 FM/mediumwave relay stations around the world in 2001 (up from 76 in the year 2000) and the shared use of 186 (162 in the year 2000). In 2001 the company had 47 24-hour-a-day FM/mediumwave relay stations and the shared use of 162 others for the broadcasting of its foreign- language programmes. The number of direct-broadcast satellites used for the broadcasting area covered was 32 in 2001, up from 28 in 2000. In 2001, the company featured on 45 cable networks, up from 34 the previous year. Coverage by the African network and the Europe network was increased, as for the Middle East and Latin America, where cooperation agreements were concluded. In 2001 the company increased the number of sites where it is present in the African countries, with the installation of additional relay stations broadcasting 24 hours per day on FM in capital cities and in the second and third largest towns of countries already served. In Europe, the year was marked mainly by the increased presence of RFI in the Balkans. In 2001 RFI opened two new relay stations in Germany, in Leipzig and in Chemnitz, after securing a frequency shared with the BBC in Leipzig in the year 2000. Programming results With its three distinct entities (RFI 1 in French, RFI 2 for the broadcasting of foreign languages and RFI 3, devoted to music and cooperation), Radio France Internationale offers a schedule incorporating 36 different programmes. The ongoing modernization of the means of production and broadcasting, which began in 1997, continues to allow the RFI group (made up of the parent company and five subsidiaries: RFI Deutschland Gmbh, the Monegasque radio broadcasting and research company, Somera Radio Monte Carlo-Middle East (RMC-MO), the French-Portuguese communications company, Radio-Paris Lisbon (RPL), RFI Bulgaria and Radio-Delta-RFI-FM in Romania) to expand the digital element of its programmes. This digitalization is facilitating the regionalization of programmes, beginning in 2003, and their improved adaptation to the audience targeted. RFI's Internet provision at http://www.rfi.fr was considerably expanded during 2001, notably in so far as the news is concerned. The http://www.rfimusique.com site put on line on the occasion of Midem 98 [international music fair held in Cannes in 1998] is run by RFI as a fully-fledged medium today and is generally viewed as one of the reference sites for French music and "world music". The company is still taking part in negotiations with the suppliers of DAB services, direct-reception satellite signals and digital shortwave, preparing for the new broadcasting standards such Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM). In 2001, various surveys were conducted in Africa, Europe and the Middle East for RMC-MO, which revealed a significant increase in RFI's audience, mainly in Africa and the Middle East. The council acknowledged RFI's general compliance with the obligations of its mission statement and its remit. It expressed concern over the risk of a drop in public funding. During the session [between the Higher Broadcasting Council and the RFI executives], questions concerning the harmonization of finances and balancing of the company's budget, the settling of a new agreement setting out RFI's aims and resources and the forms of cooperation which need to be developed with all of the French broadcasting companies were discussed. Source: Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel web site, Paris, in French 9 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. R. K`ekchí, 4845, Oct 19 0250-0303* Religious programming with talk in local language; sign-off announcements in Spanish at 0258 with call letters. R. K`ekchí ID and mention of frequency; sign-off with NA; fair (Brian Alesander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONG KONG. RTV Hong Kong still on the air [3940], received here on 21st October at 2133-2143. Some utility interference and quite noisy signal, still readable. 73 (Jarmo Patala, Hyvinkaa - Finland, Sony ICF7600GR + Wellbrook ALA1530, dxing.info via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. The Voice of Indonesia heard in English at 2000-2100 on 11785 kHz, with a heavy frequency-modulated jamming of Chinese broadcast of Radio Free Asia in the background. In some days, Voice of Indonesia chooses alternative frequencies 9525 or 15150 kHz for this Europe-oriented transmission. For instance, on 19 Oct the same broadcast came on 9525 kHz. SINPO 54554, with slight splashes from Radio Liberty in Russian on 9520. Well, now we only have to guess when VOI changes frequency next time and which its new frequency will be (Igor Ashikhmin, Primorskiy Kray, Russia, Signal Oct 22 via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) ** IRAN. I heard something interesting from Tehran, on 15,084. I found a program in "Yugo-Speak." Of course, I made up that word, but I am sure you know what I mean. It sounded like some form of South Slavic, Call it Serbian, Croatian, or Bosnian, as you choose, it is basically the same thing. Found it Sunday about 2145. Forgot to look to see if it is on every day. Obviously directed to the Muslims in Bosnia. First time I became aware of Tehran in that language (Tim Hendel, AL, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. IRAN EXPANDS HEBREW RADIO BROADCAST TO REACH JEWS GLOBALLY By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oct. 22, 2002 TEHRAN, Iran --- Iran will expand its Hebrew-language radio program seeking not only to reach listeners in Israel but Jews around the globe, an official at the station said Tuesday. Amir Beheshti said the daily half-hour program "Voice of David" would be expanded to reach listeners in the United States, eastern Europe and Russia starting next week. "We have already taken all necessary technical measures to expand our program after numerous calls from Jews throughout the world expressing interest to listen to our radio," Beheshti told The Associated Press. The radio program began airing in June through the hard-line controlled Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, with officials saying they wanted to counter a "one-sided news monopoly." It initially could only reach listeners inside Israel. The daily shortwave program demonstrated a new approach in Iran's outlook to reach out to ordinary Israelis while remaining the most rigid foe to their government. Shouts of "Death to Israel and America" are a fixture at almost all rallies in Iran. In 2000, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described Israel as a "cancerous tumor" that must be removed. "Our radio has sought to elaborate on the wide difference between Judaism and Zionism, offer the views of people who explain how the behavior of the leaders of the occupying regime (Israeli government) contradicts the principles of Judaism and promote peaceful coexistence between people of different denominations including Jews and Muslims as it is the case in Iran," Beheshti said. Beheshti also denied Israeli newspaper reports that it sought to interview the Israeli president. "We talk to normal Israeli citizens and even party leaders, but no government official since Iran doesn't recognize Israel. Tens of Israeli citizens have called us to condemn the oppressive policies of (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon," he said. Iran radio broadcasts in about 30 languages. Iranian Jews are allowed to freely practice their religion and have their own lawmaker in the 290-seat parliament. But, like all Iranians, they are forbidden any contact with Israel (via Jerusalem Post, 17 Cheshvan 5763, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002 via Artie Bigley; Mick Knapton, Sheffield, England, DXLD) How, SW? Satellite? Same story, I think: Iran's Hebrew-language Voice of David goes global.... http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1035283221734 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Voice of Mojahed from Iraq to Iran. All frequencies vary. Also on local FM and MW 1035 kHz: 1st program in Persian: *0225-0628*, *1420-1828* on 5350 5650 6750 6990 7020 8250 8350 8600 8850 8950 9350 10250 10450, and 13450 kHz (centric freqs given). 2nd program in Persian & Arabic: *1655-1950* (approx) on 7072. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Oct 16, BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. V. of Rebellious Iraq, 711 kHz: This station heard on 18th October at 2200 with good signal. ID as: "Sawt al-Iraq at- Tha'ar". (Mauno Ritola, Kiihtelysvaara, Finland, dxing.info via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. Re Iraq-US War Monitoring: How about utility stations? Of course, I'm talking about the GHFS (Global HF System) here, the main HF network of the US armed forces. While the GHFS doesn't have any super-secret stuff (only in code) it does let us listen in on some of the action. Nobody puts a "secret" classification on a bomber pilot asking the air base to order him a pizza for when he lands, or a "passenger" plane calling ahead to warn about some of their passengers and requesting customs forms ... but it does show an interesting side of the story. regards, (Rik van Riel, PR, hard-core- dx via DXLD) ** IRELAND. IRELAND MAY ALLOW NEW RADIO STATIONS From : The Irish Independent, By Thomas Molloy Dublin, Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland may issue more licenses to boost the number of radio stations in Dublin, the Irish Independent said, citing unidentified people within the broadcasting industry. The commission may give licenses to broadcasters specializing in jazz and soul music as well as so-called indie music, which is released on independent music labels, the paper said. The greater Dublin area, home to about 1 million people, already has 25 commercial stations, 13 community stations and three specialist stations, the newspaper said. Jazz FM Plc, the first radio station dedicated to jazz in the neighboring U.K. was acquired by London-based Guardian Media Group Plc for 44.5 million pounds ($65 million) in cash in June. (Irish Independent 23 October via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. ANALYSIS: COTE D'IVOIRE REBELS NOW ON TV AND THE WEB | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 22 October On 21 October rebels in Côte d'Ivoire began broadcasting their own television programmes from their central stronghold of Bouake, the country's second largest city, the French news agency AFP reported. The programmes were broadcast on a regional channel of the national network, RTI (Ivorian Radio and Television), which has hardly interrupted its transmissions since the uprising began on 19 September, AFP noted. Earlier in October the rebels' political wing, the recently-proclaimed Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI), launched its own web site. The site - http://www.supportmpci.org - contains MPCI communiqués, reprints of press items devoted to Ivorian political issues and photographs of a demonstration outside the UN in New York against Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo. The site is registered to an organization called MIDIC at the following address: PO Box 912, San Francisco 94101, USA. It gives a contact telephone number in San Francisco. Meanwhile, international media freedom watchdogs have expressed concern about the rising level of violence directed against the independent media in Côte d'Ivoire, particularly the opposition media. About 20 armed men in combat uniforms ransacked the offices of the private station Radio Nostalgie in Abidjan on 17 October, causing damage estimated at 300,000 US dollars. The station had not broadcast news reports since the start of the unrest, and was transmitting a music programme at the time of the attack. Radio Nostalgie director Hamed Bakayoko is also one of the principal shareholders of the Mayama Press Group. The offices of three of the group's newspapers - Le Patriote, Tassouman and Abidjan Magazine - were ransacked on 16 October. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Paris- based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) both condemned the attacks. In a letter to Ivorian Communications Minister Sery Bailly, RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard called on the authorities "to do everything possible to ensure that such incidents do not reoccur and that all of the country's journalists can exercise their profession in a safe environment". According to RSF, threats have been directed against foreign correspondents, including those of the BBC, Radio France Internationale (RFI), France's TV5 and Gabon-based Africa No 1 radio. On 22 September, the local relays on FM of the BBC World Service, RFI and Africa No 1 went off the air in Côte d'Ivoire's commercial capital, Abidjan, and have remained unheard since then. According to the Ivorian media freedom watchdog OLPED, the relay installations were attacked by "unknown people". All three stations can still be heard in Côte d'Ivoire on shortwave. The local transmitter of French TV5 and Canal+ Horizon was also attacked in early October, making the channels unavailable locally for nine days. Côte d'Ivoire's communications council boss has accused foreign media of bias in their reporting of the uprising. Diegoy Bailly, chairman of the National Audiovisual Communications Council (CNCA), accused the BBC of, among other things, "granting more airtime to rebels". As for RFI, he described its coverage of the crisis as "partial and biased". The CNCA also admonished local media "not to worsen the situation by broadcasting statements likely to exacerbate the crisis". The local media, it said, should "inform the people with serenity," but not try to play the role of politicians, diplomats or the Ivorian armed forces. Source: BBC Monitoring research 23 Oct 02 (via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) ** IVORY COAST [and non]. IVORY COAST'S WARRIORS TAKE WAR TO WEB Africa's rebel groups use the Net to spread message - October 16, 2002 ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- First their AK-47s, then their satellite phones and now a Web site. Ivory Coast's rebels have come of age. http://www.supportmpci.org/ Putting propaganda on the Internet is par for the course for rebel groups in Africa, where access to technology -- though limited -- is making it easier for those who want to start civil wars. Their uprising is only four weeks old and the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast's Web site is even newer. "We should have a phone number by the end of the week," the site's manager said in response to an e- mailed request for information Wednesday. "Who we are" A picture of scattered bodies presumed to be victims of security forces, a call to march against President Laurent Gbagbo in Paris Sunday and links to foreign media can already be found on the site. But Ivory Coast's rebels are using tools long employed by groups elsewhere on the continent. "We want people to see who we are, our history, events," said Samson Kwaje of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which has been fighting for 19 years. "It has made a difference because sometimes people have asked for documents or information and now we just refer them to the Web site," he said. Rebels keep up with technology The rapid advance of communications technology has made it easier for rebel groups to coordinate movements on the ground, but even more importantly to spread propaganda at home and abroad. Rebel leader Charles Taylor announced his war to Liberians by calling foreign radio stations from his satellite phone in 1989. Angola's Jonas Savimbi was another master of sat-phone propaganda -- though he is now dead, while Taylor is president. Ivory Coast's phone network was good enough for the rebels to use their mobiles to call the media after they first attacked on September 19. When those lines were cut, they had the latest hand-held satellite phones. "First you need the satellite phone, second you need to make sure journalists from outside can have access to rebel areas to get the personal touch, then, if you can publicize it widely, the Web site will come in," said Herman Hanekom of Pretoria's Africa Institute. "It is still another implement and once it is known, then many students will regularly visit it and you are capturing the mindset of the youth." Web has limits The problem in Africa is that Internet access is so limited. A recent study suggested that only one in 250 Africans outside South Africa and northern Africa use the Internet -- compared to about one in two in Europe or North America. Not all guerrillas seem to be finding it is worth the trouble to keep their sites updated. Those of some factions in the Democratic Republic of Congo's war appear little changed over the past few weeks -- like that of Sudan's SPLM. Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), fighting to overthrow Taylor, recently pulled the plug. "The thing is we are a poor group, we're not involved in mining or logging, we don't have the money," said spokesman William Hanson by phone. "We found it useful but at the same time we need to cut down on expenses." The group still gets in touch with the media through its free e-mail address, though. And LURD's sympathizers are determined users of other Liberian Web sites and chatrooms. When it is all over, death on the Web comes swiftly. Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front waged more than a decade of brutal war, which ended earlier this year. It used to have its own site with a reposing lion as its symbol and a mix of sometimes eccentric commentary and news. Now, the link takes browsers to a directory offering more mundane things, like diet advice, insurance and online casinos. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/10/16/ivorycoast.war.reut/index.html (via N. Grace, USA for CRW via DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Hola Glenn, Acá te envío unos items... -El pasado domingo 20 de octubre, a las 0500 UTC, el repetidor de la NHK en Gabón tenía dificultades técnicas. La frecuencia de 11915 kHz sólo emitía música y un mensaje en japonés e inglés sobre los problemas de transmisión. El servicio en español para Europa no salió al aire a las 0500 UT y hasta las 0545 UT, tampoco había rastros del servicio en italiano. Por el contrario, en Guyana Francesa, el transmisor entró en funcionamiento a las 0508 UT y sí se pudo escuchar el servicio en español para América Central (Adán González, Venezuela, Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. Re David Crystal`s item, not on LW 207: David, the JRTV web page mentions 693 and 1035 kHz. Do you hear it on those fq's? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It will be a while before David sees this if at all via an upcoming CIDX Messenger (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Part way down, mentions of propaganda broadcasts JAPAN REPORTEDLY ASKS FOR PARDON c The Associated Press TOKYO (AP) - Japan has suggested Washington grant a special pardon to a former U.S. soldier believed to have defected to North Korea in the 1960s so that he can accompany his Japanese wife on future visits here, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Charles Robert Jenkins, of Rich Square, N.C., is one of four Americans who allegedly deserted their army posts in South Korea in the 1960s. The Pentagon first confirmed that the four were alive and living in North Korea in 1996. He is married to Hitomi Sogi, who was kidnapped and taken to the North in 1978. She is visiting Japan for the first time since her abduction, and officials are negotiating with the North for her and four other abduction survivors to be allowed to return permanently. The Mainichi, a major daily, said Deputy Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe suggested to Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly earlier this week that Washington pardon Jenkins. Kelly said he would consider the matter, the report said. According to the Mainichi, Tokyo is concerned that Jenkins' status, and the possibility of his arrest were he to leave the North, could make it impossible for Soga to return. Officials in Tokyo refused to comment on the report, which cited anonymous government sources. The U.S. Army has sought Jenkins after determining that he participated in North Korean propaganda broadcasts in the 1960s in which he said he enjoyed life in the North and urged U.S. soldiers in South Korea to desert. Jenkins, now 62, told a Japanese Foreign Ministry official in Pyongyang earlier this month that, ``given his situation,'' it wouldn't be easy for him to visit Japan with his wife. Soga and Jenkins, who married in the North in 1980, have two daughters in Pyongyang, aged 19 and 17. 10/23/02 00:58 EDT (AOL Canada news via Fred Waterer, DXLD) Re U.S. defector to and broadcaster from North Korea... [same story] http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/10/22/international0054EDT0403.DTL (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [and non]. IRAQ/IRAN/KURDISTAN Starting Sept 21 some radio stations in the Middle East switched back to standard time (B- 02) or one hour later, plus other changes in the schedules. 3880 4380 Kurdish *1555-1657*, *0325-0427* V of Iranian Revolution {c} 3880 4380 Persian *1725-1832*, *0455-0557* Voice of the Communist Party of Iran {c} 3903 Kurdish *1558-1702* Radio Freedom {c} 3903 5897 Arabic *1725-1855*, *0355-0525* Voice of the People in Iraq {c} (same call, but a different one from Voice of the Iraqi People from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 9563, 9570, and v11710) 3930 4610 Persian & Kurdish *1655-1825*, *0325-0425* V of Komala & R Liberty {c} [3rd channel of 6820 kHz not heard at present] 3985 Persian & Kurdish *1527-1731*, *0327-0531* V of Iranian Kurdistan. (reactivated since Oct 1) 4025 Arabic & Kurdish *0325-0600 ... 1520-2122* Voice of the People of Kurdistan (not active on 6995 at present) 4085 Arabic & Kurdish *0340-0600 ... 1520-2105* Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan (not active on 5850 and 7090 kHz at present) 4130 Arabic & Kurdish *0340-0555*, *1450-1700*, *1950-2108* Radio Kurdistan 4167 Arabic & Kurdish *1600-1655*, *0300-0355* V of Conservative Party of Kurdistan 4245 Arabic & Kurdish 1525-1700*, *0300-0600* Voice of the Toilers in Kurdistan 4277 Kurdish & Persian *1700-1800*, *0300-0400* V of Mojahedin in Iranian Kurdistan Presumed locations: 3880, 4380, 3930, 4610 from ex-USSR; 3903, 5897 from China; 3985, 4277 from Iraq; 4025, 4085, 4130, 4167, and 4245 from Northern territories of Iraq. {c} pro-Communist station (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Oct 16, BC-DX via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. It seems that some words of clarification are needed in order to prevent a misunderstanding about the UNID station on 4050 kHz. It is a widespread belief in the DX-scene that SW broadcasters own the transmitters they are using. As many of you know, this is often not the case, and this also concerns Kyrgyzstan. All transmitters in the country (FM/MW/SW) are owned by a branch of the Ministry of Telecommunications. Kyrgyz State Radio and private broadcasters are only renting them. So, if the technical chief of Kyrgyz State Radio (KTR) is stating that his station is not using 4050 kHz, it only means that KTR stopped renting this transmitters. It can be used now by any other broadcaster (which it apparently is). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. United Lao Movement for Democracy bc's are in Hmong In a recent correspondence Len Walker from the UK informed CRW he has been told that the language of the ULMD broadcasts is Hmong - the language of a hill tribe in that region. Unfortunately there is no Hmong language capability in order to translate the content of the broadcasts. This raises two points to him : 1) Who originally identified this station, and how did they confirm it - as it announces in Hmong, which is unintelligible to most people? 2) The transmissions are almost certainly paid for by the American movement of the same name - however why are they broadcasting in Hmong and not Lao, so what is the message in the broadcasts? Len says, the broadcast appears to be daily (this was questionable since very few logs of this program appeared in the DX press in early October), but he has no firm end times confirmed, but would expect a 60 minute duration. He also adds: "The Hmong live in the region - the US used them as mercenaries to kill N Vietnamese, and they have since been repressed by the Vietnamese communist government - so maybe it's aimed at Vietnam not Laos or maybe pan-regional?" And CRW`s own Nick Grace adds: "On Dave Kernick's Web site he has a recording of the station, in which an address is announced. It is an address in St. Paul, Minnesota." Dave`s web site about Interval signals (one of the partners of ClandestineRadio.com) is at http://www.intervalsignals.net/ then click on the left on Laos... or use this direct link http://www.intervalsignals.net/sounds/lao-ulmd_111002.ra. The audio file was taped on Oct 11, [where ?] and has very good audio, but I understand nothing .. (M. Schöch, Germany Oct 18, 2002 for CRW via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) ** LATVIA, ** LITHUANIA. See U K [non] ** MOROCCO [non]. Another tip from Ray Merrall - UK is that Medi #1 9575 has not been heard for at least two days. At tune in Oct. 23 at 1605 Radio Budapest was heard in Ukrainian over another station, which turned out to be AIR Delhi domestic service - presumed Hindi - and clear channel when HNG went off 1615, until returning 1700-1730 in Russian. AIR was heard with clear "Akashvani - - -" ID's and at 1730 with English then Hindi news until close down 1740. Also audible in // on 7140, but listed 6085 & 9835 were both blocked (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) {Later: Morocco back and forth, 9575 and 9595} ** NIGERIA. tangled web --- THE NIGERIAN NIGHTMARE Who's sending you all those scam e-mails? By Brendan I. Koerner Posted Tuesday, October 22, 2002, at 7:13 AM PT Perhaps you heard from Daniel A. Oluwa over the past few days. He's a member of Nigeria's Federal Audit Committee. He dropped you an e-mail, labeled "Strictly Confidential," stating that he's discovered a frozen account containing $42.5 million. Mr. Oluwa wants to snag the loot, but, for unfathomable reasons, he needs a foreign-based partner to act as an intermediary. Interested? Merely send along your "bank name, address, account number, swift code, ABA number (if any), beneficiary of account, telephone and fax numbers of bank." Thirty percent of the booty shall eventually be yours. If you didn't receive Oluwa's electronic plea, maybe you were instead pitched by Dr. Chukwubu Eze, who's looking for a partner to help him spirit away $33.62 million in illicit oil money. Or Steve Okon, the purported son of a murdered Zimbabwean diplomat. He's got the skinny on about $10 million stashed away in an Amsterdam vault. Or any number of women named Mariam who claim to be the widows of either the late Nigerian strongman Sani Abacha or the deceased Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. They need help tapping into some Swiss bank accounts. As you no doubt guessed, none of these supplicants were on the up-and- up. But you might be surprised to learn that they are, in fact, Nigerian. Odds are they're all Lagos-based con artists looking for American dupes greedy enough and dumb enough to spend thousands in pursuit of nonexistent fortunes. They aim to lure you to Nigeria or to a nearby nation where you'll be cajoled into ponying up endless fees to secure the "riches" --- $30,000 for a "chemical solvent" to disguise the money or $50,000 for "customs duties." When you eventually wise up, faux police barge into your hotel and demand massive bribes in exchange for your freedom. Tapped out? Expect to be held for ransom or murdered. This swindle is commonly known as "419 fraud," after the section of the Nigerian penal code covering cons. According to the anti-spam software vendor Brightmail, 419 come-ons are the Web's second-most common form of junk mail, ranking behind only those incessant "herbal Viagra" ads. Though most people merely laugh at the pleas' awful grammar and all-caps style ("I WILL LIKE YOU CONTACT MY LAWYER ..."), about 1 percent of recipients actually respond. Of that number, enough people fork over enough cash to sustain an industry that ranks in Nigeria's top five, right up there with palm oil and tin. The U.S. Secret Service has estimated --- conservatively, by its own admission --- that the scammers net $100 million per year. The scam is experiencing a digitally aided heyday, but 419's roots stretch back to the Jazz Age. It's an Africanized version of "The Spanish Prisoner," a classic 1920s scheme in which suckers were convinced that a wealthy scion was rotting in a Barcelona jail. Front some cash to win his freedom, and you'd be amply rewarded for your troubles. Or not. Nigerian updates on the Spanish Prisoner first appeared in the late 1970s, when photocopied pleas began arriving in American mailboxes. Organized gangs located potential victims by combing through the White Pages, and they paid for the postage with bogus stamps. The volume of letters picked up in the mid-1980s, when Nigeria's oil industry tanked. The widespread adoption of the fax machine gave the hucksters an additional means of contacting their prey, and corporate faxes churned out plenty of junk letters beginning, "PLEASE EXCUSE MY INTRUSION INTO YOU BUSINESS LIFE." The scam's transition to e-mail began around 1996. At first, because of Nigeria's lackluster telecommunications infrastructure --- household phones are a rarity, to say nothing of dial-up Internet access --- only the old organized gangs could afford to participate. But in the past two to three years, cybercafés have sprung up all over Lagos and other major Nigerian cities. Information technology has lowered the barriers to entry for Nigerians hoping for a share of the 419 haul, just as it's helped countless Americans indulge their fantasies of becoming self-taught electronic musicians, video auteurs, or MP3 swappers. Brains, not money, is the scam's only prerequisite now, thanks to the Internet's inherently democratic nature. Unfortunately for the gullible of the world, Lagos teems with bright, underemployed youths who grasp that concept. No longer the sole domain of professional criminals, 419 has become a cozy family business, Nigeria's version of the Greek diner or Irish pub. For $1 per hour, a lone 419er can use a cybercafé terminal to send out duplicitous spam, eliminating the need for sizeable startup capital (even fake postage stamps cost something). Spam "bots," or automated programs, comb the Internet in search of e-mail addresses, replacing the need to spend hours upon hours thumbing through American or European phone books. E-mail accounts can be obtained for free via services like Hotmail or Yahoo!, and they're untraceable when registered with false information and used from a public terminal. Some 419ers with rudimentary HTML skills have even begun to set up fake Web pages to bolster their scams. A site for the fictitious "Dominion of Melchizedek" recently bilked thousands of Filipinos in a bogus-passport con. Not surprisingly, the number of 419 letters received by Americans has soared. The Secret Service reported a 900 percent increase in the volume of Nigerian scam spam between 2000 and 2001. The U.S. government is so rankled by 419 spam that it's given the Nigerian government an ultimatum: Do something about the problem by November or face economic sanctions. Although last year only 16 Americans claimed financial losses, totaling $345,000, that's probably a fraction of the full amount. Most victims are too embarrassed by their own stupidity to ever come forward. Heartless as it may sound, there's a silver lining to the digitization of 419. The proliferation of cybercafes in Nigeria can be linked directly to the demand supplied by 419ers, who form the establishments' core clientele. Walk into an Internet cafe in Lagos, and chances are that a good percentage of the terminals are occupied by men masquerading as Laurent Kabila's long-lost son or as a rogue official at the Central Bank of Nigeria. The wiring of Nigeria is being propelled by 419, much as America's appetite for porn helped shepherd the commercial Internet through its infancy. AOL made it through its lean, early years only because of adult chat rooms and spicy picture downloads (which kept the meter running during the era of per-hour access fees). Someday 419 will abate, when young, educated Nigerians have better economic prospects and foreign Internet users get it through their thick skulls that, no, you're not going to rake in millions by flying to Nigeria and fronting some stranger your life savings. And when that day comes, there will be a thriving Internet culture for Nigerians to use for more legitimate purposes. If the Daniel A. Oluwas of the world have the technical chops to work a 419 scam, they can surely get an e- commerce site going. Brendan I. Koerner is a fellow at the New America Foundation (Slate via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Interesting piece --- especially the bit about the US government threatening economic sanctions against Nigeria over the spam. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE [non]. ISRAEL. Voice of Al Aqsa Intifada, 15545 kHz. Detailed card from IRIB German Service verified as Arabic Programme of IRIB in 97 days (P. Robich, Austria, Oct 2002 for QIP) A picture of that [first] QSL for that station can be seen in the CRW Clandestine Radio QSL gallery at http://www.schoechi.de/pic-cla.html (new url). (M. Schöch, CRW via DXLD) ** PANAMA. [stn means info came direct from the station] 840 HOL80 R Nacional de Panamá, address: Ministerio de la Presidencia, Radio Nacional, Ap. 11592, Panamá 6. Tel +507 269 6594, fax +507 269 5910. E-mail: radional@sinfo.net Nicolás Eramo 1050 HO.. Caribe Stereo 95.5, Colón (rel of FM 95.5). Address: 5 Av. Amador Cuerrero. Tel +507 441 4050, fax +507 441 4052. DG: Doctor Jorge Diaz C. Slogan: "Caribe Stereo 95.5, la estación del sol". E- mail: caribestereo@hotmail.com stn 1070 HO.. R Estéreo Mi Favorita, address: Av. Juan Demostenes Arosema, Penonomé. Tel +507 887 7167, fax +507 997 1386. DG: Lic. Darío Fernández Jaén. Schedule: 1030-0300. Slogan: "Radio Estéreo Mi Favorita, ganando territoria". E-mail: darfer@cwpanama.net stn 1120 HOM21 R Sonora, Panamá. DG: Lic. Humberto González V. Tel/fax +507 236 3065. Slogan: "La más tipica". stn 1250 HOLY R Hogar, address: La Esperanza, Penonomé. DG: Fernándo Guardia Jaén. Tel +507 997 8929, fax +507 997 7340. stn 1370 HOB64 R Sitrachilco, address: Principal, Barida Santa Fé, Panamá. DG: José Morris Quintero. Tel +507 770 7441, fax +507 770 7217. Slogan: "Radio Sitrachilco, la emisora del poder obrero". Schedule: 1000-0100. Stn (Tore Larsson, ARC's Central- and South American News Desks for October via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 1383, ZP8, R Concepción ex 1380 heard September 27th. RPF in DXCB (RPF = Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes, PR) (via Tore Larsson, ARC Central- and South American News Desks, October via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 7737.22 kHz, Radio América, 0900-0929+ programa en español apenas audible, digamos más bien, incomprensible. A las 0951 ya no se escuchaba nada, aunque sí la portadora (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Buenos Aires, Oct 23, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Hoy a la mañana escuché a Radio America por los 7737 kHz. La recepción era en modo USB (seguramente transmiten en AM) pero la señal baja y casi incomprensible. Inaudible en las otras frecuencias de transmisión. 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, Oct 22, ibid.) Time? 7737, Radiodifusión América, Villeta, 0458-0503, Oct 23, Spanish, Music and religious program, bad modulation (better in USB), 14331 (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {7737.2 he meant} ** PHILIPPINES. Effective from 27th October 2002 R Veritas Asia (Bengali) will change its frequency to 15215 kHz (ex 11995 kHz), 0030- 0055 (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Em anexo, segue a grelha da RDPi, na qual inseri algumas alterações e dados, como habitualmente. ___________________________________________________________________ Herewith, please find the R. Portugal schedule where I once again inserted some extra data, mainly for the E speakers, even though programmes are entirely in Portuguese. 73, Carlos Gonçalves. RDP Internacional - Rádio Portugal Efectivo a partir de 27 de Outubro de 2002 Emissões em Português de Segunda-feira a Sexta-feira: Mons-Fris. ZONA DE RECEPÇÃO HORA UTC FREQUÊNCIA kHz POTÊNCIA kW AZIMUTE EUROPA 0600–0850 9 755 300 45º 0600–1300 9 815 100 52º 0745–0900 11 660 250 Sines 55º 0900–1300 11 875 300 45º 1700–2000 11 800 100 52º 2000–2400 11 860 300 45º 1700–2000 13 585 300 45º MÉDIO ORIENTE / ÍNDIA 1400–1600 21 810 100 81,5º ÁFRICA: São Tomé e Príncipe, 1100–1300 21 830 100 142º Angola e Moçambique 1700–2000 17 680 300 144º EUA / CANADÁ 0600–0800 11 675 100 310º 1300–2400 15 540 100 294º VENEZUELA 1800–1955 17 745 100 261º 2000–2400 13 770 100 261º 1100–1300 21 655 100 215º 21 725 100 215º BRASIL / CABO VERDE / GUINÉ 1700–2000 21 655 100 215º 21 800 100 215º 2000–2400 21 800 100 215º Emissões em Português de Terça-feira a Sábado: Tues-Sat EUA / CANADÁ 0000–0300 9 715 100 294º 11 655 100 310º VENEZUELA 0000–0300 13 700 100 261º BRASIL 0000–0300 11 980 100 215º 13 770 300 226º Emissões em Português aos Sábados e Domingos: Sats & Suns 0800–1455 11 875 300 45º 15 575 100 30º 0930–1100 11 995 250 Sines 55º EUROPA 1500–2100 13 660 300 45º 1500–2100 13 790 100 30º 2000–2400 11 800 100 52º ÁFRICA: São Tomé e Príncipe, Angola e Moçambique 0800–1755 21 830 100 142º 1800–2100 17 680 300 144º EUA / CANADÁ 1300–2100 15 540 100 294º VENEZUELA 1300–2100 17 745 100 261º 2000–2400 13 770 100 261º BRASIL / CABO VERDE / GUINÉ 0800–2100 21 655 100 215º 1300-2100 21 800 100 215º (Possibilidade de prolongamento até às 24.00 h = may extend till midnight (HORA UTC = HORA LISBOA) [most of those shown to 2100] (Período reservado a transmissões extraordinárias = special broadcasts) CEOC, São Gabriel: 100/300 kW; Pro-Funk, Sines: 250 kW INTERNET Na página da RDP, cujo endereço é o seguinte: http://www.rdp.pt podem ser escutados, - em Windows Media Player, os programas ANTENA 1, ANTENA 2, ANTENA 3, RDP Internacional, RDP África, RDP Madeira, RDP Açores, RDP Centro, RDP Norte e RDP Sul. - em real audio, o programa ANTENA 1 e RDP Internacional. NB: O horário em OC na página 1 foi, como habitualmente, dotado de dados não incluídos no original. The HF schedule on page 1 brings the usual data which the original RDP document does not contain, viz. exact station ID on top, days of the week in English, power/transmitter site, exact target areas for the "Africa" beam & the explanation of symbol keys. Also, the column headings were slightly modified (issued Oct 18, via Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Oct 22, DXLD) Above was originally a spreadsheet? Hope I got everything back in the proper order (gh, DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. 550 WBAP Ponce, 24h. DG: Alfonso Giménez Lucchetti. Tel 787 840 5550, fax 787 840 7077. E-mail: pab@coqui.net stn [WPAB! WBAP is 820 Fort Worth} 580 WKAQ San Juan, 24h. DG: Huberto E. Biaggi. Tel 787 758 5800, fax 787 756 5220. http://www.wkaqradio.com Slogan: "Somos Noticia" stn 680 WAPA Arecibo, synchro for WAPA, San Juan 0.4 kW D1 granted NRC 740 WIAC Ponce, synchro for WIAC, San Juan 0.5/0.1 kW U1 granted NRC 940 WIPR San Juan, 24h. Address: Box 190909, Hato Rey 00918-0909. DG: Yolanda Zabala. Tel 787 766 0505, fax 787 250 7694 stn 1020 WOQI Adjuntas. DG: Alfonso Giménez Lucchetti. Tel/fax 787 829 1453. Schedule: 0900-0200. Slogan: "Aqui Radio Coquí, la señal de la montaña". E-mail: coki@coqui.net stn 1130 WOIZ Guayanilla, 0900-0200. Tel 787 835 1130, fax 787 835 3130. DG: Luís Adán Rodríguez. E-mail: radioantillas@yahoo.com stn 1160 WBQN Manatí. Address: Box 1625 (or: Calle 16 H-6, Urbanización Flamboyán), Manatí 00674. Tel 787 854 2450, fax 787 854 3738. Schedule: 1000-0100. Slogan: "Super Borinquen, la oficial" stn 1190 WBMJ San Juan. DG: Sra Janet Luttrell. Tel 787 724 1190, fax 787 722 5395. Slogans: "The Rock Radio Network", "La Roca" stn 1210 WHOY Salinas. DG: Martin Colón Jr. Tel 787 824 3420, fax 787 824 8054. Schedule: 0800-0200. Web: http://www.whoyam.coqui.net Slogan: "Radio Hoy, La señal activa de Puerto Rico" stn 1260 WISO Aguadilla, synchro for WISO, Ponce, 0.25/0.85 kW U1 NRC 1370 WIVV Vieques Island, 5/2.5 kW, see 1190 kHz stn 1430 WNEL Caguas. DG: Luis de León. Tel 787 744 3131, fax 787 743 0252. E-mail: buzoncadena@hotmail.com Slogan: "La Emisora del Recuerdo, La Cadena del Recuerdo" stn 1450 WCPR Coamo, Address: Box 1863, Coamo 00769-1863. Tel 787 825 7061, fax 787 825 1905. DG: José D Soler stn 1500 WMNT Manatí, DG: Freddy Ribas. E-mail: radio@atenas.com Slogan "La emisora que te escucha" stn 1570 WPPC Ponce, 1/0.25 kW. Sch: 1000-2300. Tel/fax 787 840 7105. E- mail: radiofelicidad@yahoo.com Slogan: "La Emisora de Dios" DG: Rev. Carlos Morales. stn 1600 WLUZ Bayamón, 1000-0400. Tel 787 729 1600, fax 787 723 8685. DG: Tony Trelles. Slogans: "La Nueva Radio Luz", "Romántica 1600", "La Frecuencia del Amor" stn (Tore Larsson, ARC's Central- and South American News Desks for October via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC Honiara seems to have been off the air for several days. I noticed it was missing last Thursday (Oct 17) and it was still missing last night (Sunday, Oct 20). I don't know if it was actually on between Thursday and Sunday. I presume SIBC's absence is due to a technical problem, but given the tribal turmoil there, other scenarios are possible. SIBC normally puts in a very good signal here during darkness and has carried BBC World Service overnight until signing on with local programming at 1859 (Downunder source via Bueschel, DX Window via Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Oct 23, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: With Halloween on the way, the "S-Files" takes up witches in Sweden Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: Meet the first Afro-Swedish MP's in "Studio 49" Sunday: Another chance to hear "Sono" featuring an artist from Australia who hopes she can find her dream record deal here, as well as Paola and the band Poets ** TAIWAN. Effective 27 Oct 2002, Radio Taipei International cancels its morning broadcasting in Russian on 7355 kHz. Instead, morning Russian transmission will go out at 0400-0500 on 17760 kHz, via WYFR as before. All other Russian broadcasts will continue without any change of schedule. (MIDXB No. 289 - Arkady Smirnov, Petrozavodsk, Russia, via Signal Oct 22 via DXLD) Are you sure that is via WYFR? If so, rather bold of them to use such a high frequency in middle of the night (gh, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Hello, at last, we have our tentative schedule! UKRAINE Radio Ukraine International B02 tentative schedule (part 1 - minimum) (27 October - tentatively 31 December 2002). Frequency; Time UTC; Tx Site; Azimuth; Target Area [NOTE: North America not mentioned! Try for Europe] 5905 2200-0100 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 6020 0400-0800 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 7240 1800-2200 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 9610 0100-0400 Kharkiv 055 Russia (Tyumen) 9610 1400-1800 Kharkiv 055 Russia (Tyumen) 17760 0800-1400 Kharkiv 277 W. Europe The output of all SW txs is 100 kW. Transmission schedules in various languages are as follows: GERMAN (one hour long): at 1800 & 2100 on 7240 kHz; at 0000 on 5905 kHz. ENGLISH (one hour long): at 2200 on 5905 kHz; at 0100 on 9610 kHz; at 0400 on 6020 kHz; at 1200 on 17760 kHz. UKRAINIAN programmes are transmitted on all freqs and at all times except for the time reserved for German and English programmes, as shown above. ROMANIAN (half an hour long): at 1800, 2030, 2200 on 657 kHz MW Chernivtsi, 25 kW. UKRAINE Radio Ukraine International B02 tentative schedule (part 2 - maximum, if finance will be enough) [1000 kW to NAm is back?] (tentatively 1 January - 30 March 2003). Frequency; Time UTC; Tx Site; Azimuth; Target Area 5905 1700-0200 Kyiv 254 S.-W. Europe 6020 0400-1700 Kyiv ND C. Europe 6020 1900-2300 Kyiv ND C. Europe 7240 1400-1800 Kyiv 074 Russia, Kazakhstan 7240 1800-2400 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 7285 0300-0700 Mykolaiv 004 N.-E. Europe 7285 1700-2200 Mykolaiv 004 N.-E. Europe 7420 0100-0500 Kyiv 074 Russia, Kazakhstan 9560 2100-0100 Kyiv 307 N.-W. Europe 9600 0500-1000 Kyiv 254 S.-W. Europe 9610 0000-0400 Kharkiv 055 Russia (Tyumen) 9610 1400-1800 Kharkiv 055 Russia (Tyumen) 9810 0000-0500 Mykolaiv 314 N. America 11825 0500-1400 Kyiv 093 Russia, C. Asia 11840 0800-1300 Kyiv 264 W. Europe 13590 0700-1700 Kharkiv 290 W. Europe 17760 0700-1300 Kharkiv 277 W. Europe The output of all SW txs is 100 kW, except on 9810 kHz where the power is 1000 kW. Transmission schedules in various languages are as follows: GERMAN (one hour long): at 1800 on 5905, 7240 kHz; at 2100 on 5905, 6020, 7240, 9560 kHz; at 0000 on 5905, 9560 kHz. ENGLISH (one hour long): at 2200 on 5905, 6020, 7240, 9560 kHz; at 0100 on 5905, 9610, 9810 kHz; at 0400 on 6020, 7285, 9810 kHz; 1200 on 11825, 11840, 13590, 17760 kHz. UKRAINIAN programmes are transmitted on all freqs and at all times except for the time reserved for German and English programmes, as shown above. ROMANIAN (half an hour long): at 1800, 2030, 2200 on 657 kHz MW Chernivtsi, 25 kW. The schedules are subject to changes. (Alexander Yegorov - UKR, Oct 23, Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** U K. Looking at the BBC's on-line future schedules for the Americas and other streams reveals some things we need to be aware of. The early airing of WRITE ON at 0845 UT Saturday is gone, sadly. I've been setting an alarm to awaken at that hour to tape it off the local FM relay so I'd always have a clear copy and hear it ASAP. A strange thing is that some streams, but not all, seem to indicate that DISCOVERY, always before a 25-minute programme, is slotted into a 50 (!) minute timeframs. That can't be right, can it? Is this just sloppiness on the part of the online data-entry people or does it actually change with the new season? Does anyone else notice any other changes we should know about? And a question: Is there ANY city to choose to display the weekly schedule grid that will display ALL the Americas-stream SW frequencies? I've been using "Mexico City" as my choice for displaying & printing out these weekly grids, which shows most of the frequencies and also is the same time zone as St. Louis, MO, where I am. But that ignores 12095 kHz and some of the 5975 kHz hours. Suggestions welcome! 73, (Will Martin (MO), Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. From Tuesday, Somerset Sound is broadcasting on 1566 AM to block out the Russian interference. Voice of Russia transmits from Germany on the same frequency as Somerset Sound - 1323 AM.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/england/2349767.stm (via John Cobb and Mike Terry, WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) A rather poorly-written story; propagation not fully understood; and for starters, moving 243 kHz away hardly ``blocks out`` the Russian interference, but totally avoids it, and AAMOF, no doubt makes the Russian easier to hear (gh, DXLD) BBC Somerset Sound closed their present mediumwave frequency (1323 kHz) at 12 noon today and will return on new frequency 1566 kHz around 5 - 6 pm this evening (local time). The move is to improve reception in parts of their coverage area which suffers interference from the V of Russia (via Wachenbrunn, Germany) on the same frequency. The station carried a spoof Russian accented "Radio Moscow" promo about interference to features on the Ukrainian grain harvest and Moscow Mailbag from Somerset Sound on 1323! The station recently moved to new studios at: BBC Somerset Sound, Bedes House, Broadcasting House, Park St, Taunton TA1 4DA. Somerset Sound will also be featured on local BBC TV news "Points West" at 6.30 pm this evening according to on air announcement (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, Oct 22-23, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Another pest station besides County Sound Radio is now occupying 1566 kHz. I'm not yet 100% sure but I think it is BBC R Bristol (wider area programme for the West, Southwest and the Channel Islands at the moment). Both stations are quite strong here and are competing with each other, but in fact there is no real loser. The losers are the non-Europeans we love to hear here. Can you imagine that this was once a free channel giving free way to AIR and HLAZ. 73, (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, hard-core-dx via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) Hi Glen[n], It looks as if BBC Somerset Sound have taken their own solution to the until recently ongoing sound war between themselves and the Voice Of Russia in Moscow. For those who don't remember, BBC Somerset Sound (regional station) and Voice Of Russia (VOR) were both trying to use MW 1323 kHz at the same time and this was resulting in even those who live in the locality of BBC Somerset picking up VOR in English. I checked 1323 at 0800 UT on 22nd October and could not find BBC Somerset - only VOR. However, an announcement came up after the local TV news at 1800 UT here last night confirming that BBC Somerset Sound have switched from 1323 to MW 1566 kHz. Therefore it looks as if VOR have emerged the victors here by keeping 1323 and forcing BBC Somerset to switch. I checked 1566 at 2230 UT on 22nd October and the programming there (albeit faint) matched that on 1548 which is a parallel of BBC Radio Bristol which was airing the same program. In order to avoid any confusion out there on the final sentence of the last paragraph, it is worth pointing out here that the BBC Local Radio in Southwest England all air the same programming across Gloucestershire, Bristol, Somerset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Channel Islands during evening hours. Cornwall, Bristol and Devon produce a bulk of that evening output. Best 73s, (DXDave [Harries], Bristol, England, Oct 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just to clarify, Guido was correct in thinking that he heard programming of Radio Bristol on 1566 kHz. Somerset Sound is an opt-out service from BBC Radio Bristol, so both ID's will probably be heard. I agree with GH that the BBC's online story is badly written (Andy Sennitt, Oct 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. The BBC plans to create a single integrated news and information division starting in December. This will bring together the BBC World Service and BBC World, following approval by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for the incorporation of BBC World, Ltd. as a separate company. This was announced on October 14th. The idea behind this move is to create "a clearer, coordinated presence" in the international media marketplace, improving the impact of BBC services and journalism with global audiences. The new division will be formally established on December 1st. It will be led by Mark Byford, who will be director of World Service and Global News. It will include BBC World Service Radio, BBC World Television, and the BBC's international on-line news services. The new division will work in partnership with BBC News, which will continue to provide core newsgathering, English-language news, and current affairs programming (HCJB DX Partyline Oct 19, notes by Marie Lamb for DXLD) ** U K [non]. I just received an e-mail from Andrew Yeates, Laser Radio regarding verifications of the transmissions via Ulbroka, Latvia: "All reception reports were shipped to Latvia for processing sometime ago. Due to our receiving more reports than anticipated we did run out of our printed QSL stock. Everyone who sent a report will receive their QSL card however as we are a small station we only have one person processing reports and they only do the work on a part-time voluntary basis. We expect to mail out all remaining acknowledgements early in the New Year." I also got information from Ronny Forslund that due to travelling abroad and lots of work, the QSLs for the Radio Nord Special broadcast via Sitkunai, Lithuania have not yet been sent out, but they will hopefully be mailed in the near future (Lennart Weirell, Västerås, Sweden, hard-core-dx Oct 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. The Justices also: --Declined to decide whether the government violated the free speech rights of an electrician who started a radio station for homosexual listeners without getting a license. Jerry Szoka had been fined $11,000 and ordered to shut down the station he operated in a nightclub in Cleveland, Ohio. He challenged the one-time ban on small FM stations like his. Over the years, people like Szoka, unhappy with channel selections, have started their own unlicensed stations on empty frequencies. The Federal Communications Commission spent years trying to shut some of them. The FCC rewrote the rules in 2000 to allow some low power stations. The case is Grid Radio v. Federal Communications Commission, 01-1662 (from High Court Declines Business Cases By GINA HOLLAND Associated Press Writer via Austin American-Statesman Oct 22 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. 50 WATTS OF FREEDOM, by Chris Womack, Sept. 27, 2002 http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-09-27/pols_feature5.html (LPFM story in Austin Chronicle, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. New Radio Station On The Dial [KDRP-LP Dripping Springs TX] http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?s=958247 (KXAN-TV news via Artie Bigley, DXLD) RADIO STATIONS: LOW IN POWER, HIGH IN DEMAND About 100 groups in Oregon apply to have local, FM broadcasts. The Associated Press October 21, 2002 The story can be found at http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=50274 Copyright 2002 Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon. (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) See also ALASKA ** U S A. Hi Glenn, I have not actually heard WMLK since they have installed their 250 kW transmitter at Bethel, Pa. USA. They are reported to be testing it at times per reports in DXLD 2-156. This is my first logging in several years. WMLK, 9465. 10/23//02; SINPO 34333; 1641-1742 GMT. Elder Jacob Meyer with various messages and IDs (1647, 1731). Signal deteriorated to 34232 after 1720 GMT. Their transmitter must be on the air with (at least) tests. While this transmission is not aimed this direction, the signal is significantly better than the old 50 kw. unit (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWRB on new 5050, Oct 19 0150-0200+. English religious programming. ID at 0200 and mentioned 5050 being new frequency which should be on the air fulltime on Nov. 1. \\ 5085, 6890, all strong (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, Re- WOR 1152, I have pretty good reception of AFRTS on 12689.5 every day, so it is definitely active (Tim Hendel, AL, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) American Forces Network, desde California [sitio: PUERTO RICO], fue captada a las 2357 UT, el 22/10, en la frecuencia de 6458.5 kHz, en modalidad de Upper Side Band, con el himno nacional de Estados Unidos y la retransmisión del juego de la Serie Mundial. Usaban como señal matriz la radio ESPN Radio 4. SINPO 2/2, variable a 3/3 (Adán González, Venezuela, Oct 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So the National Sequence can be heard on SW; maybe also in Spanish via R. Martí, tho I haven`t cheeked (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA TO COMMENCE BROADCASTING TO CUBA Wednesday, 23 October 2002 NEW YORK (RMO) - Several months ago the Observer learned of plans by the Voice of America (VOA) to resurrect Cita con Cuba, a VOA program with news, commentaries and Cuban music that began broadcasting to Cuba in 1962 and ended in 1974 because of budget cuts. However, according to sources within the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), those plans are now coming to fruition but the new half-hour program will have a different title and a distinct format. Radio Martí Observer will soon publish more information about VOA's new programming initiative to Cuba. :. (Radio Martí Observer, :. http://www.cubapolidata.com/rmo/ Oct 23, and via Mike Terry, WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) Turf battle! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO AMERICA'S BLANQUITA CULLUM NOMINATED BY PRESIDENT BUSH TO THE BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/prime/1022-147.html Contact: Rhyan Jones of Radio America, 202-408-0944 ext. 211 WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Radio America is pleased to announce that Blanquita "BQ" Cullum, host of Radio America's mid-day program, The BQ View, has been nominated by President George W. Bush to be a Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) for a term expiring August 13, 2005. The BBG is the group that oversees all U.S. government and government-sponsored international broadcasting services, including Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RadioTV Martí, and WorldNet Television. Hispanic, a working mother, a businesswoman and a conservative, Blanquita Cullum is unique in talk radio. The BQ View is a lively mix of politics, pop culture, personality and -- most important -- conversation with callers that has made the show a hit from coast to coast. The BQ View originates from the studios of Radio America in Washington, D.C. just five blocks from the White House, and features a "Who's Who" of famous personalities from the US Congress, top figures in journalism and the entertainment world. Her cutting-edge show breaks the news other shows cover weeks later. With her diverse background, BQ brings an informed, unique perspective to talk radio. In 2001 she traveled to Israel to gain first-hand insight into that region's continuing turmoil, and in 2002 BQ lead a broadcast delegation to Saudi Arabia. BQ is one of only two civilian appointees assigned to the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance, a panel created to coordinate observances honoring the fallen men and women of our nation's military. BQ also served in the administration of George H. W. Bush as a White House liaison, and was a member of The Virginia Commission for the Arts under the appointment of then-Governor (now US Senator) George Allen. She is a frequent political commentator, panelist, and guest on programs such as Fox News Live, CNN's Talk Back Live, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, and ABC's Good Morning America, and has appeared on MSNBC, and C-SPAN. BQ also currently serves as the president of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts, and is the president and founder of the Young American Broadcasters Program. Previously, she worked for the America's Voice television network. BQ, a twenty-four year veteran of radio and television, began her national syndication of The BQ View in April 1994. She was named by Talkers Magazine as one of the Top 100 Broadcasters of 2002 and by USA Today as one of the 25 most influential talk show hosts in the nation. http://usnewswire.com -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 10/22 18:20 Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire (via Kim Elliott, WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) See also http://www.radioamerica.org Looks like Radioamerica has a far-right lineup, no surprise (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 'STOCK TALK LIVE' VIA SHORTWAVE? Glenn: The fifth paragraph mentions a shortwave possibility for this program. The news releases at http://www.IBCradio.com and http://www.OTCBBNN.com do not mention shortwave, only the news release via PRNewswire. 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---- INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION LAUNCHES 'STOCK TALK LIVE,' THE FIRST LIVE RADIO SHOW WITH CONTINUOUS COVERAGE OF MICRO-CAP STOCKS THROUGHOUT THE MARKET DAY Story Filed: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 9:03 AM EST SANTA MARIA, Calif., Oct 22, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- International Broadcasting Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: IBCS) announced today that it has launched what it believes to be the world's very first LIVE (continuous coverage from market open to close) radio talk show focused exclusively on micro-cap stocks, also known as penny stocks. "Stock Talk LIVE: All Micro-Cap Stocks, All the Time" (during market hours), is produced by the news staff of OTCBB News Network and distributed over IBC Radio, an Internet-based radio station. OTCBB News Network http://www.OTCBBNN.com and IBC Radio http://www.IBCradio.com are both divisions of International Broadcasting Corporation, a publicly traded company based in Santa Maria, California. Daryn P. Fleming, President of IBCS says, "This venture is a milestone not only for International Broadcasting Corporation but for the financial media industry and consumers as a whole. There are other weekly and even daily short-length radio shows about tiny OTC companies and stocks, but to the best of our knowledge no one has ever done LIVE continuous coverage of micro cap stocks each and every trading day from opening bell to the close and beyond. 'Stock Talk LIVE' is 'on the air' for roughly 7 hours each trading day, free for the general public. The show focuses on tiny stocks that are typically not covered by such major prestigious media as CNBC and Bloomberg. Because we are a publicly traded company, listeners can also become investors (OTC Bulletin Board: IBCS). We are extremely excited about this project." "Stock Talk LIVE" features exciting "play by play" coverage of micro- cap stocks each and every trading day. Charts and NASDAQ Level 2 are also discussed LIVE on the air for stocks being featured. Exciting and informative LIVE interviews with market makers, brokers, traders and other industry players are also featured on the show. Listeners can also interact via email and telephone calls, submitting questions, stock tips and other comments to the show. OTCBB News Network, an unbiased and independent news service, provides the news content for the show. This exciting, interactive radio show may be the most exciting concept since the creation of LIVE, real time stock quotes and message boards. The show makes IBCS not only a broadcasting pioneer but also a facilitator in the quest of regulators to make the micro cap stock market more transparent. "Stock Talk LIVE" is currently aired on IBC Radio, an Internet radio station owned and operated by IBCS. The radio service is free and open to the general public. A tiny radio unit is installed instantly on the subscriber's computer. When the stock market closes, IBC Radio airs additional content. IBC Radio is on the air 24-hours a day, even after the market closes. As the service expands, micro-cap stock content will be aired around the clock on a delayed basis for those who are unable to listen during the day. To listen to the show direct your browser to http://www.IBCradio.com IBCS will attempt to expand "Stock Talk LIVE" in the near future, exploring other distribution options like shortwave radio broadcasting. The show will also attempt to acquire "Stock Talk LIVE" affiliates by offering links which will open up the radio device on any other website. This will provide free content to financial websites. Websites can become a Stock Talk LIVE affiliate by contacting Office@IBCradio.com For more information about IBCS visit our website at http://www.IBCmedia.com [standard disclaimer] CONTACT: Daryn P. Fleming of International Broadcasting Corporation, +1-805-938-5573, invest@ibcmedia.com URL: http://www.IBCradio.com http://www.OTCBBNN.com (via Kim Elliott, Oct 23, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn - this article from the Modesto Bee: http://www.modbee.com/local/story/4882072p-5894242c.html VALLEY RADIO FIXTURE KTRB TO MOVE TO SAN FRANCISCO October 21, 2002 Posted: 05:30:13 AM PDT By TIM MORAN, BEE STAFF WRITER KTRB, a fixture in Modesto for nearly 70 years and the radio station that helped launch the careers of country music legends Rose Maddox and Chester Smith, is leaving town. The Pappas family, which has owned the station since the early 1970s, plans to move the offices and transmitter to San Francisco. The family will develop a lower-power AM radio station for the Modesto market, Harry Pappas said. Construction of the new KTRB transmitter and other facilities is expected to start in the spring, with completion in fall 2003, Pappas said. The move of KTRB to San Francisco, recently authorized by federal regulators, will fulfill a longtime dream, Pappas said. His late brothers, Pete and Mike Pappas, "always believed the station could one day cover all of Northern California," Harry Pappas said. A part of that dream was realized in 1986 when the station, then owned by Pete Pappas, bumped its daytime power to 50,000 watts. The federal licensing process that will allow the station to move to San Francisco was started then, Harry Pappas said. The San Francisco market is a lucrative one and ideal for AM stations, Pappas said. The hills of the Bay Area make FM station broadcasts difficult, he said, because FM relies on line-of-sight contact between the transmitter and the receiver. Of the top five stations in San Francisco, four are AM. The top station in the market last year, KGO, had $48 million in revenue, according to Broadcast Investment Analysts, a company that collects radio market data. Pappas said he bought KTRB from his brother Pete's widow, Bessie Grillos, a few years ago for $8 million to $9 million. The move to San Francisco will cost $4 million to $5 million to build the transmitter and lease offices, he said. The format for the station once it starts broadcasting in San Francisco is "a trade secret," Pappas said, as is the format planned for the new Modesto station. KTRB currently is operated as a satellite of one of the Pappas family's Fresno stations, which has a talk-news format. The new Modesto station will broadcast at 5,000 watts, which is enough power to cover Stanislaus County, Pappas said. The new station will be owned by Grillos, doing business as The Pete Pappas Co. No call letters have been chosen. It will be at 840 on the AM dial and use the old KTRB transmitter on Claribel Road east of Modesto. The new Modesto station will use the existing KTRB offices at 1192 Norwegian Ave., the home of KTRB since 1941. Bill Bates launched KTRB in 1933. The station, with its local news and programming, became the dominant radio voice of the Northern San Joaquín Valley over the next three decades. The Maddox Brothers and Rose band made their debut on KTRB in 1937, when country music legend Rose Maddox was 11 years old. Chester Smith launched his career on KTRB and had a program on the station for 16 years, from 1947 to 1963. "It was a giant in the area," said Smith, who is now a television and radio entrepreneur in his own right. "Everybody listened to KTRB. All the dairymen in every single dairy barn, almost without exception, had KTRB tuned in. "It was a wonderful radio station. All the other radio stations were network affiliates, and it was an independent. It was a literal newspaper of the air. People loved KTRB, it was unique." A young Haggard tuned in In a recent interview, country music star Merle Haggard recalled spending summers in the Modesto area picking fruitand listening to Smith on KTRB. The station provided the inspiration for the Pappas brothers to get into broadcasting, Harry Pappas said. Pappas recalled growing up on a farm on Crows Landing Road and listening to talent shows on the station with their Greek immigrant mother. His brothers, Pete and Mike, visited KTRB on a field trip in the fifth grade, Pappas said, and were spellbound by the image of men in white shirts and ties, paid to talk into microphones. The brothers were turned down for a show they pitched to KTRB as teen- agers, but were able to convince another station to air Pete and Mike's "Dance Time." They went on to build a television and radio group, now based in Visalia. Pete and Mike Pappas, with several other Modesto investors, bought KTRB from Bates' estate in 1973, four years after his death. Pete Pappas bought out the other partners in 1980. 73s (via Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, Oct 22, DXLD) WTFK?? The original KTRB is on 860, presumably the frequency it will keep in San Francisco. New NRC AM Log says its mailing address is in Fresno, not Modesto, 50000/10000 U4, stereo, `The Valley`s News Radio`; application for 50000/50000 and during critical hours 36000 U9. Definitions: CH: from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. U4 = fulltime, different pattern day and night. U9 = unlimited time operation, directional days and nights (same pattern), non-directional CH. That`s certainly unusual: a rimshotter retaining loyalty to its original market to the extent of setting up another station to replace it! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Watch for Ibiquity's WD2XXM on 650 kHz transmitting from Frederick, MD area. Station is licensed at 4,000 watts, daytime only. FCC file number is BPEX-20020507AAY. They were heard on 10/22/02 rebroadcasting WTOP and with digital hash interference on 640 and 660. Good luck and please report on here if and when heard (Larry Vogt, N4VA Springfield, VA, Oct 23 amfmtvdx via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) They're only screwing up _one_ channel either side of 650? I could hear WLW's digital hash from 680 to 720, and I'm 700 miles from Cincinnati. (Todd, K0KAN, Topeka, KS, ibid.) I thought the testing was completed before the Commission voted, is this just a "dog and pony show" for group owners? Fidel only wishes his jammers were this good! Seriously, is there a sunset date set for analog AM emissions? (Charles W Wehking, ibid.) Testing was done before the vote, not that any result would have changed the outcome. But it wasn't by any means completed. Not yet, and probably not for some years (Russ Edmunds Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Wanna bet? Put the $$$ in the right places and I'll bet you it's a done deal in 6 months. And one other thought --- if there were still the old ownership limits in effect, which I believe were 7 AM and 7 FM stations, would IBOC even be considered??? Remember the "good old days" when stations really protected their coverage areas? If one station thought another might take away even a small part of their coverage, there was war. I remember some AM stations in the 60s who were very sensitive to the slightest skywave interference from another station and constantly wrote letters to stations they felt were causing interference and to the FCC. I seem to recall the NYCs on 1330 and 1600 were forever complaining about their Boston counterparts. And now, with IBOC, large areas of coverage will be lost - on FM as well as AM - with the spillover onto the adjacents. Question: is WD2XXM causing the 630 in Washington any problems? Like can you hear the digital buzz in the 630's audio particularly as you get near WD2XXM? If there is no buzz in the 630's audio from WD2XXM, then I would question if the same specs are being used as is currently being used on WOR or was used on WLW. This may be a test to "prove" that IBOC doesn't cause interference. However, I feel there have been irregularities in the testing from day one. As I wrote in my letter to the FCC when they were soliciting comments, I felt the testing was inadequate. In particular, as it applies to FM, I felt IBOC should have been tested using two relatively close by adjacent channel stations, such as New York on 102.7 and Philly on 102.9. What happens as you approach the midway point between the two? And in this case that isn't an unpopulated territory...there's a million or two people in that area. Better yet, put IBOC on both WCBS-101.1 and WBEB-101.1 (NYC and Philly --- short spaced). I'm 20 miles from WCBS and get a lot of WBEB interference --- on normal days --- on the car radio. Can't see IBOC functioning under those conditions. I have wondered if some of these tests were rigged or only the good points published. I really wonder about this one (Joe Fela, NJ, Oct 23, AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. NEW WEB SITE LAUNCHED IN UZBEKISTAN - OPPOSITION WEB | Text of report by banned Uzbek opposition Birlik web site on 21 October Reports received from the Union of Independent Journalists of Uzbekistan say that a new web site which will report events inside and about Uzbekistan has been opened. Its address is - http://www.veritas.org.ru The head of the project, Dmitriy Korotkov, says that the web site has four sections - news about Uzbekistan; freedom of speech in Uzbekistan; various opinions; political life. Source: Birlik web site in Uzbek 21 Oct 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. VICE-PRESIDENT CONDEMNS ATTACK AGAINST UNION RADIO | Text of report by Venezuelan Union Radio web site text on 20 November Jose Vicente Rangel, vice-president of Venezuela, has called Union Radio to express "as a friend, a citizen and a journalist" his rejection of the bomb attack suffered by our radio station in the early hours of 19 October. He said that the government has ordered "an in-depth and absolutely impartial and objective investigation". In a friendly tone, Rangel said that he is still "a member of the Union Radio family; all of you are friends of mine". He added that "the government has a deep respect for Union Radio. I particularly have deep respect and affection for Union Radio as an institution, and for all the people who work there." The vice-president added that "I am absolutely against any act of violence, regardless of the source - whether from the government or from the opposition - and in any form, much more so when it is directed at a media organization." He characterized Union Radio as "an institution at the service of the people and society. Its news coverage is objective and open to all opinions; and as such, it is a highly respected station in every respect." Rangel said that it would not be advisable for him to speculate about the incident. He added that "any a priori statements assigning blame for this type of event would be reckless. The last one who wants to see acts of this nature is the government." He added that "it is also legitimate to think that there are people in the opposition" who are seeking to create a climate of anxiety in the country. Rangel exhorted all Venezuelans "to behave in a serene and responsible manner". Regarding the obligation of government agencies to investigate in order to determine what had happened at our radio station, Rangel said that "we ordered, as soon as we learned about the incident at Union Radio, an in-depth investigation, an absolutely impartial and objective investigation. The DIM [Military Intelligence Directorate], DISIP [Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services], and the PTJ [Judicial Technical Police] are currently investigating. The people responsible for this attack will be found. Source: Union Radio web site text, Caracas, in Spanish 20 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. (ed: TL) [stn means info received direct from station] 630 YVKA R Nacional de Venezuela, address: Final Calle Las Marías, El Pedegral de Chapellin, Caracas 1050. "Canal Informativo", 50/25 kW, 24h. E-mail: rnv2000@hotmail.com stn 990 YVRT R Tropical, Ap 3674, Caracas 1010-A. E-mail: radiotropical@cantv.net stn 1050 YVKZ R Nacional de Venezuela, address, see 630 kHz. "Canal Musical". 25 kW. Sch: 1000-0400. DG: Helena Salcedo. Slogan: "Más que una Señal" stn 1370 YVJI R Cumbre, address: Av. Andrés Bello, Centro Comercial Lastapias, 3er Nivel, Mérida 5101. DG: César Sosa Martos. 10 kW 1000- 0400. E-mail: radiocumbrecrc@hotmail.com stn (Tore Larsson, ARC's Central- and South American News Desks for October via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Colegas, Nestes ultimos dias tenho observado uma coisa curiosa na faixa dos 19 metros: Trata-se de uma música ao estilo de "Vangelis", típica de início de noticiário (ou plantão de notícias) que toca ininterruptamente, sem qualquer identificação (pelo menos não ouvi identificação alguma). Tenho ouvido a partir das 0215 UT até as 0330 UTC, quando encerra definitivamente, com o sinal melhorando gradativamente com o passar do tempo. Não sei a frequencia, pois ouvi num receptor analógico, mas está situada logo abaixo da Radio Kuwait (que opera neste horário em 15505 ou 15495 não estou bem certo). Portanto creio que, com pouca margem de erro, a frequencia esteja entre 15450 e 15500 kHz. Alguém ouve também ou sabe do que se trata? Grato (Claudir Ghiggi, Nova Prata - RS, Oct 21, radioescutas via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) Sounds like the same loop we have been hearing in the 1430-1630 UT period from Afghanistan via Norway on 18940; also losing feed for their morning broadcast via Abu Dhabi on 15485? Checking UT Oct 24 at 0248, weak and *very* heavy flutter on 15485 -- yes, recognisable, that`s it! Do they *ever* have any programming? (gh, DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 23 October - 18 November 2002 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate. Moderate levels are possible early in the forecast period and again late in the period due to Region 162. Low levels are expected during the middle of the forecast period. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 23-24 October due to persistent high-speed stream effects. Flux levels may reach event threshold on 29-30 October and again on November 05-06 due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels. Active to minor storm conditions are possible on 27-28 October and 03-04 November due to coronal hole effects. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Oct 22 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Oct 22 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Oct 23 175 20 4 2002 Oct 24 175 15 3 2002 Oct 25 170 10 3 2002 Oct 26 160 12 3 2002 Oct 27 160 15 3 2002 Oct 28 170 12 3 2002 Oct 29 170 10 3 2002 Oct 30 160 10 3 2002 Oct 31 155 8 3 2002 Nov 01 155 8 3 2002 Nov 02 155 8 3 2002 Nov 03 150 10 3 2002 Nov 04 155 12 3 2002 Nov 05 155 12 3 2002 Nov 06 160 10 3 2002 Nov 07 160 10 3 2002 Nov 08 160 10 3 2002 Nov 09 165 8 3 2002 Nov 10 170 10 3 2002 Nov 11 170 10 3 2002 Nov 12 170 10 3 2002 Nov 13 180 10 3 2002 Nov 14 180 10 3 2002 Nov 15 180 10 3 2002 Nov 16 180 8 3 2002 Nov 17 180 8 3 2002 Nov 18 180 8 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Oct 22 via WORLD OF RADIO 1153, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-163, October 22, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1152: NEXT AIRING ON WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 NEXT AIRIMG ON RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15038 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1152.html WORLD OF RADIO 1153: FIRST AIRING ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 on 7415, 17495 ** ABKHAZIA. 9489.74, 0305-, Abkhaz Radio, Sep 27. Very difficult catch at this time due to cochannel on 9490. Russian news then ads at 0306:40 (these are typical CIS format with the word 'Reklyama' which means advertisement, and into numerous ads. Weather at 0308 (for Russia) and Radio Rossii ID at 0309:15. Good morning in Russian at 0310, so possibly local programming at this time, but too hard to hear. Monitored again later at 0730 with much better reception and no cochannel. Local language. Abkhazia mentioned at 0737. 0800 local Russian news. ID at 0804:45. Signed off at 0815 (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. Re: darkness east of Nome: You're welcome to let Les know - he's at rfn@nook.net, or you can visit the KNOM website at http://www.knom.org - but if the DX test is at high power for any length of time, I think that's fine! Now if I could just get WBBM and/or KKOH to reply to my request to power down, even for a little while during the test! (Lynn Hollerman, LA, IRCA via DXLD) I did just that, and got these replies: (gh) Thank you for the information! The decision to drop back to 14 kW was made by management in consideration of a number of factors. I don't think it's a hard-and-fast one, so will bring your message to the GM when he returns next week and perhaps something can be arranged. Part of the problem is that I have to be away from Nome for several days with the test period right in the middle. If I were here myself, not having to deal with staffing to make sure the changes are done, it would be much easier. Still, there are good possibilities in this. Thanks again, (Les Brown, KNOM, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good news! I took your message to management and they agreed to allow the test period not only to run until 6, but for the entirety of the International Experimental Period...from midnight to local sunrise! The 12-midnight (12:01 am Saturday, 10/26) to 1 am programming will be as outlined, AP News on the hour/local weather (extensive, I warn you) with Polish Polkas and lots of voice and Morse ID's. At 1 am, normal AP network news, weather, etc. then our local programming which will include Casey Kasem's Top 40 but with lots of extra ID's, both voice and Morse. I haven't heard back from any of those who had asked other 780 stations to allow us one clear hour, so must presume they won't be cooperating. This likely will severely limit reception possibilities. Still, best of luck! If you haven't already, please see our website at http://www.knom.org Lots of pictures and some recently added audio, though not streaming. Please let me know what you think of it (Les Brown, KNOM Engineering, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very good. Appreciate your efforts to accomplish this. Could you tell me when local sunrise is at the moment, in case I can`t get it calculated accurately. Yes, I already had a look at your website, including the photo of yourself. Very good; I wish more stations went into such detail about their history and facilities. Would be nice to be able to hear you streaming in future, once the DX test and QSLing is completed... Any plans to do so? (Glenn Hauser to Les Brown, DXLD) I don't have a table of exact sunrise times but rather work from the FCC determined "legal sunrise" from our AM license. For the month of October it's 9:45 am Alaska Daylight Time. That's 8:45 Alaska Standard Time but Saturday will still be Daylight Time, the change happening Sunday morning. I don't deal in UT normally, so won't attempt to translate it. Just in case it helps, though, here's a breakdown that probably is insultingly simplistic....but the best I can do! 9:45 AM ADT = 10:45 AM Pacific DT = 11:45 AM Mountain DT = 12:45 PM Central DT = 1:45 PM Eastern DT. [1745 UT] Our start-time for the test, therefore, is: 12:01 AM (Saturday, 10/26) =1:01 AM PDT = 2:01 AM MDT = 3:01 AM CDT = 4:01 AM EDT. [0801 UT] KNOM is supported by over 10,000 donors nationwide, many of them contributing only a few dollars a month, but enough to keep us in operation. Lots of them are along in years but very much Internet literate. Our website is so extensive because of their interests. Though KNOM is owned by The Catholic Church, it's not a traditional religious station. We try to make life just a little better for the people of 200+ remote villages through encouraging good physical and mental health. Our main "battles", if you will, are against alcoholism (not social drinking) which is rampant in bush Alaska and against spousal/child abuse which also is nearly universal. The copyright courts have made streaming prohibitive. We have no commercial income; only donations, so can't afford the outrageous fees to music licensing organizations for streaming. To spend any of our limited income on streaming would take away from our ability to serve our primary audience! Until/unless there is some change in music licensing, we just can't do it. Gotta run now; leaving town in about 22 hours, so will be off e-mail for a week or more. Thanks for your interest, hope you hear us! (Les Brown, KNOM, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Previously: Also, I e-mailed Les Brown of KNOM about their upcoming DX test - here's his reply: "Yes, the actual test hour is already "recorded". We use a Prophet Systems NexGen automation system and I voice-track my 9pm-6am thing two weeks ahead. Lots of polkas, about 2.5 minutes each, with ID in between each pair, voice, Morse, or both. All regular PSA's (we're non-commercial) have been pulled and replaced with station promos which are sort of ID's in themselves. I've had a couple of messages asking that we try to extend from the 1 am cutoff toward the original 6 am proposal. I'll talk to management today and see if they'll let me keep the power up. IF we do that, I'll load in extra ID opportunities but won't be able to run polkas the whole time. We have a very vocal audience for Casey Kasem's Top 40 that normally runs 12-4 Saturday mornings. Lately we've been cutting it to three hours, eliminating the music with the filthy lyrics, the drug culture messages, and (most important) the many popular pieces that are denigrating to and encouraging of violence against women. We have a terrible spousal and child abuse problem in Western Alaska (mostly alcohol related) and don't want to encourage it. If we do come up with an extension I'll let you know immediately by e-mail. Thanks, Les" (via Lynn Hollerman, IRCA Oct 21, via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Think of HCJB and you may also think of bananas, as a large proportion of New Zealand`s imports of the fruit come from Ecuador. Well, here`s another HCJB-banana story. SW readers will know that HCJB is building a new transmitter complex at Kununurra, Western Australia. It`s due to begin on December 22, 2002 with an Asian Service, South Pacific Service and an Ethiopian Service. The site is near the Ord River and is located on a farm. The farm is planted in crops of sugar, bananas, mangoes, and pawpaw and income from the sale of these crops helps the HCJB project (Ralph Sutton, Wellington kindly sent Many Hands the HCJB New Zealand publication which includes this news.) (David Ricquish, NZ, Nov NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN? 9154.95, 1708-, Ashura Radio, Sep 26. Presumed logging with a strong S9 + 20 signal with EZL middle eastern type music, with minimal QRM (unlike in North America, where I only can hear the QRM). Continued past 18:00, and signed off at 1859 with either an anthem or patriotic song (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHAMAS. Sometimes, this hobby needs much patience. Some 32 years ago, I used to hear ZNS Bahamas 1540 regularly, but could never QSL them. In 1989, whilst on vacation on Harbor Island, I logged the 3 AM and 1 FM ZNS outlets and have been trying for some 13 years to secure a QSL. I recently found an email address for the GM of ZNS which sounded more promising than others. Imagine my surprise to get an almost immediate reply, and now I have four Bahamas QSLs, a new country verified and some more enthusiasm for sending reports. Those follow ups can sometimes score a bullseye, so dig out the old reports and get them away again. And, never give up on a station (David Ricquish, NZ, Oct NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** BELARUS`. 4982, 1431-, Mayak Relay, Sep 26. Good reception of this Belarussian relay of the Russian Mayak program. Also heard following morning at 0432 (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS. 6080, 1423-, Belarus Home Service, Sep 26. Home service programming in Belarussian at 1423 with very good reception. Monitored again at 0313 27/09 with only fair reception with transmitter hum and adjacent splatter. Parallel at this time included 11960 fair with cochannel and 279 LW excellent (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [and non]. RVI, B02 schedule read Oct 13-14 on Brussels 1043 program [with targets, azimuths, sites added by gh from printed schedule received Oct 21] 1830 7465 284 Eu Krasanodar [Rich copied both times as 7645] 13685 180 SWEu Skelton 13650 115 SEEu/ME Skelton 1512 ND Eu Wolvertem 2030 7465 284 Eu Krasnodar 1512 ND Eu Wolvertem 2230 13700 250 Am Bonaire [N, C, SAm, tho aimed at ENAm] 0400 11985 320 Am Bonaire [N, C, Sam, tho aimed at WNAm] 0800 5985 ND Eu Jülich 1512 ND Eu Wolvertem 1130 7390 244 EAs Petropavlovsk [Rich says also on 1512 MW] 1230 1512 ND Eu Wolvertem (via Richard Lemke, AB, and gh, DXLD) The reason for giving the sked in this order, tho Rich`s started with the 1130, and the printed sked with 0400, is that on weekdays, the first broadcast of each program day cycle is at 1830; except Sat & Sun when the first broadcast is at 0800 and the last UT Sun & Mon 0400, with the Friday features held over until the Mon 0800, 1130 and 1230 repeats. BTW, Network Europe, the multi-station collaboration has a special airtime, Sat 0830 -- on the same frequencies as 0800?? Each weekday broadcast begins with NEWS, ends with SOUNDBOX, i.e. music fill. In between: Mon-Tue FOCUS ON EUROPE, SPORTS Tue-Wed GREEN SOCIETY Wed-Thu THE ARTS, AROUND TOWN Thu-Fri ECONOMICS, INTERNATIONAL REPORT Fri-Mon THE ARTS, TOURISM Sat MUSIC FROM FLANDERS Sun RADIO WORLD, TOURISM, BRUSSELS 1043, SOUNDBOX It`s been some two months since Frans Vossen broke his foot at EDXC, but Radio World still has not resumed; we hope he is almost recovered! Website http://rvi.be/uk/hoeontvang/realaudio/index.htm says ``Unfortunately we are unable to bring you any new editions of Radio World at the moment. A recent edition of Radio World will remain online for the time being.`` (Glenn Hauser, Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOUGAINVILLE. PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3850, R. Independent Mekamui (tentative), 1139 20 Oct, Carrier strength improving and bits of music coming through, but just too weak and too much Ham QRM. Will take an excellent opening and clear frequency to ID this (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 3850 1018 10 Sept, PNG (Bougainville) R Independente Meka Mui fair/good in Tok Pisin with music (David Norrie, Auckland, NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4875, Radio Roraima, Av. Cap. Ene Garcez 888, São Francisco, Boa Vista, Roraima. QSL letter full data in 33 days. V/S: Galvão Soares, General Manager. The web page is: http://www.radiororaima.com.br and they tell me about the Roraima web page in http://www.bvroraima.com The station is administrated by the Roraima government from 01/04/57. The station received reception reports and letters from Canada, USA, Italy, Sweden, New Zaeland and Argentine. Sent me a small book about the station too (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Winter B-02 schedule of RADIO BULGARIA from October 27 to March 30: ADDR: 4, Dragan Tsankov Blvd., 1040 Sofia and P. O. Box 900, 1000 Sofia. Tel.:+359 2 9336 733; fax.:+359 2 650 560 Website: http://www.nationalradio.bg Programme Director: Angel Nedyalkov e-mail: nedyalkov@nationalradio.bg Frequency Manager: Ivo Ivanov e-mail: rbul1@nationalradio.bg MW: Petrich (G.C: 23.18E/41.42N): 747 kHz 500 kW/non-dir Vidin (G.C: 22.40E/43.49N): 1224 kHz 500 kW/205 deg SW: P=Plovdiv/Padarsko (G.C: 24.42E/42.10N): 2 x 500 kW, 3 x 250 kW S=Sofia/Kostinbrod (G.C: 23.13E/42.49N): 2 x 100 kW, 2 x 050 kW ====================================================================== ALBANIAN / e-mail:albanian@nationalradio.bg 0630-0700 Mon-Fri Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 0700-0800 Sat/Sun Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 1200-1230 -daily- Balkans 9500 P250/248 1700-1730 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 2000-2100 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224, 747 ====================================================================== BULGARIAN / e-mail:bulgarian@nationalradio.bg 0100-0200 -daily- North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0100-0200 -daily- South America 5900 P250/258, 11600 P250/245 0530-0600 Mon-Fri West Europe 5800 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0530-0600 Mon-Fri Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 0530-0600 Mon-Fri East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9500 S100/030 0500-0600 Sat/Sun West Europe 5800 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0500-0600 Sat/Sun Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 0500-0600 Sat/Sun East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9500 S100/030 1100-1130 -daily- Balkans 9500 P250/248 1100-1130 -daily- East Europe 11700 S100/030, 15200 S100/030 1100-1130 -daily- West Europe 12000 P500/295, 15700 P500/306 1300-1500 -daily- Balkans 1224 1300-1500 -daily- West Europe 12000 P500/295, 15700 P500/306 1600-1700 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 1600-1700 -daily- East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9900 S100/030 1600-1700 -daily- Middle East 9400 P500/126 1600-1700 -daily- South Africa 17500 P500/185 1900-2000 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224, 747 1900-2100 -daily- West Europe 6000 P250/306 1900-2100 -daily- Middle East 7400 P250/140 ====================================================================== ENGLISH / e-mail:english@nationalradio.bg [see note below] 0000-0000 -daily- North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0300-0400 -daily- North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0730-0800 -daily- West Europe 12000 P500/295, 13600 P500/306 1230-1300 -daily- West Europe 12000 P500/295, 15700 P500/306 1830-1900 -daily- West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 2200-2300 -daily- West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 ====================================================================== FRENCH / e-mail:french@nationalradio.bg 0200-0300 -daily- North America 7400 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0700-0730 -daily- West Europe 12000 P500/295, 13600 P500/306 1200-1230 -daily- West Europe 12000 P500/295, 15700 P500/306 1800-1830 -daily- West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 2100-2200 -daily- West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 ====================================================================== GERMAN / e-mail:german@nationalradio.bg 0600-0630 -daily- West Europe 5800 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 1130-1200 -daily- West Europe 12000 P500/295, 15700 P500/306 1730-1800 -daily- West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 2000-2100 -daily- West Europe 5800 P500/295, 7500 P500/306 ====================================================================== GREEK / e-mail:greek@nationalradio.bg 0600-0630 Mon-Fri Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 0600-0700 Sat/Sin Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 1130-1200 -daily- Balkans 9500 P250/248 1730-1800 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224, 747 2100-2200 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224, 747 ====================================================================== RUSSIAN / e-mail:russian@nationalradio.bg 0000-0100 -daily- Central Asia 7500 P250/045 0400-0500 -daily- East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9500 S100/030 1224 0600-0630 -daily- East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9500 S100/030 1130-1200 -daily- East Europe 11700 S100/030, 15200 S100/030 1500-1600 -daily- East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9900 S100/030 1224 1500-1600 -daily- Central Asia 9400 P250/045 1700-1730 -daily- East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9900 S100/030 1900-2000 -daily- East Europe 7500 S100/030, 9900 S100/030 ====================================================================== SERBIAN / e-mail:serbian@nationalradio.bg 0700-0730 Mon-Fri Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 0800-0900 Sat/Sun Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224 1230-1300 -daily- Balkans 9500 P250/248 1800-1830 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224, 747 2200-2300 -daily- Balkans 5900 P250/248, 1224, 747 ====================================================================== SPANISH / e-mail:spanish@nationalradio.bg 0000-0100 -daily- South America 5900 P250/258, 11600 P250/245 0200-0300 -daily- South America 5900 P250/258, 11600 P250/245 0200-0300 -daily- Central America 7500 P250/295 0700-0730 -daily- South Europe 15700 P250/260, 17500 P250/292 1200-1230 -daily- South Europe 15600 P250/260, 17500 P250/292 1730-1800 -daily- South Europe 9700 P250/260, 11700 P250/270 2200-2300 -daily- South Europe 6000 P250/258, 7300 P250/245 ====================================================================== TURKISH / e-mail:turkish@nationalradio.bg 0600-0630 -daily- Middle East 6000 P250/115, 7400 P250/140 1100-1130 -daily- Middle East 7400 P250/140, 9400 P250/115 1830-1900 -daily- Middle East 7400 P250/140, 1224, 747 ====================================================================== DX-MIX program in Bulgarian will be on air: 1445-1500 Sunday on 15700, 12000, 1224 2045-2100 Sunday on 7400, 6000 DX-MIX program in Russian will be on air: 1545-1600 Saturday on 9900, 9400, 7500, 1224 1945-2000 Saturday on 9900, 7500 0045-0100 Sunday on 7500 0445-0500 Sunday on 9500, 7500, 1224 Radio Varna with programm "Hello Sea"/"Zdravei more" in Bulgarian will be on air 2200-2400 Sun and 0000-0400 Mon on 9800 Varna 100 kW / non- dir 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 22 via DXLD) So much for the earlier item from EDXP that the 15m band would be used, 18900 and 19000 --- no doubt a tentative/contingency registration for possible later use. We continue bemused by this station`s exclusive use of `even` frequencies all ending in 00. Is this just to be different/distinctive? Inability of transmitters to tune in smaller steps? To save time in announcements? It would seem to be a great limit on flexibility if interference is to be avoided – no shifting 5 or 10 kHz here; it`s got to be at least 100 kHz or a multiple of that. Note first English broadcast at 0000 must have a typo, ending at 0100 instead of 0000? But can`t be sure since most of the Eu broadcasts have been collapsed to 30 minutes (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. RCI Sackville is testing DRM at 1500-1900 UT (after DST, 1600-2000), since before Oct 18, thru Nov 15, on 9590. I had a chance to listen to this on a digital receiver at RCI Montréal (Bill Westenhaver, QC, CKUT International Radio Report Oct 20 via gh, DXLD) Checking Oct 21, there it came a couple minutes before 1500; not particularly strong here, and fortunately no problem for R. Australia analog on 9580; it did spread almost to 9600 on the other side. Wonder what antenna this be on? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hopefully, Sounds Like Canada just hasn't found its footing yet because IMHO so far it's nothing special --- certainly not worth all the hype raised about it by CBC six months ago. The only difference I notice about the three hours is that they now have two different hosts. That's it! (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) I`ve yet to hear it. Every time I try multiple CBC webcasts from different timezones, servers are maxed out! (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. I`ve been finding shortwave more appealing each day, especially as the new fall programming starts on CBC Radio; that given, there`s also more to rant about. As a long-time listener (and I won`t be 40 for another few years!), I am not impressed with Mother Corporation`s new round of changes in terms of programming, especially with its alleged new emphasis on appealing to the 35 and under demographic (to which I belong). The CBC - who I used to work for, both in freelance and as a relief writer/broadcaster - is changing programming to sound ``more hip`` and ``more cool.`` Take programmes, for example, like Definitely Not The Opera, CBC Radio`s flagship audio magazine of pop culture. Once a sharp and funny programme under host Nora Young, who ``requested reassignment,`` the new programme is hosted by a former MuchMusic veejay who seems to be bringing her former employer`s approach to the show, including lame pieces on Winnipeg sex shows and knocking on people`s doors trading ``stuff.`` Other programmes (Out Front and Go) also come to mind – the net effect reminds me of old people trying to dress like teenagers for the sake of street cred. Russell Smith in his Globe and Mail column ``Virtual Culture`` points out that the 18-35 set is already well served by private broadcasters, and that CBC Radio is something you grow into, like Scotch, jazz and dark chocolate. What does this have to do with shortwave radio? Well, many of us listen to Radio Canada International, and RCI picks up much of its programming from CBC Radio. A good number of my DXer friends say they like SW because it`s an alternative to commercial radio, including RCI. What`s going to happen to RCI as its parent, CBC, sacrifices content in search of an audience that probably won`t tune in anyway? Oh well, there`s always the numbers stations; Mossad`s been very active lately (Sue Hickey, NL, Oct CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** CANADA. BACK TO THE NEWSROOM KEN FINKLEMAN'S SEQUEL GETS A CELEBRITY LAUNCH IN NEW YORK [by] Martin Knelman NEW YORK --- IT WAS NOT Ken Finkleman but another CBC satiric auteur, Don McKellar, who created a show called Twitch City. But if you were making a film about Finkleman's adventures at the Museum of Television & Radio, Twitch City would be the perfect title. Finkleman has the distinction of being one of the few Canadians who ever tasted Hollywood success and decided it wasn't worth having. So maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that being thrust into the spotlight two nights in a row in New York last week made Finkleman so jumpy he developed a compulsion to behave like one of his own ludicrously befuddled characters... http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_=0c6399a3ae6210e3&pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1026146622267 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. So klaert sich alles auf. Nachdem mir im Fruehjahr eine europ. Monitoringstation die Richtung 224 Grad bestaetigte, und ich in den Urlauben auf G.C. und Teneriffa viele Fischerboote aus Korea, China, Taiwan, JPN dort im Hafen liegen sah, hatte ich schon diese Ahnung mit der [geistigen] Versorgung der Fischer ausgedrueckt. Die Boote fahren von dort als Heimatstation bis in den Sued- Atlantik. Vor allem im 45 mb zugange, dort in der Naehe senden auch die Fischerboote aus Spanien, Italien und Griechen im Mittelmeer, den Funkverkehr hoert man im Urlaub hinter den Alpen sehr stark (wb df5sx Oct 16 – Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Oct 21 via DXLD) PROFESSIONAL direction finding sources in Europe told me a lobe and [back lobe] direction of 224 [and 044] degrees, that's fit the path line of Canary Islands... (wb, BC-DX Jun 3, 2002 via BC-DX Oct 21 via DXLD) ** CANTON ISLAND. Over the past 18 months, we`ve gradually added more information about Canton Island, but we never expected to get this message in late August from Edwin E. Calhoun, Arlington TX who wrote: I was a USCG Radio Operator at a LORAN station on Canton Island from 3 December 1945 to June 1946. Our official naval callsign was NSN. I operated a 5 watt radio station with the callsign WXLF and played music and news at night while on duty. You could hear the station throughout the small compound of six Quonset huts in about a 1000 square foot area. Thanks to Ed, you can now read the full WXLF story at http://www.radiodx.com and fill in some of the gaps about this early AFRS station on Canton Island. By the way, Ed just happened to keep an old photo of the WXLF studio hut, which we`re proud to share here in Talkback (Oct NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** CROATIA. 6165, 0520-, Croatian Radio, Sep 25. Home Service first program with phone feed talk in Croatian followed by a jingle ID and weather. Good reception. Parallels noted were 7365 (fair-good) and 9830 (best of the three). (Volodya Salmaniw, Brody, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EASTER ISLAND. Hi there, my name is Camila and I'm fairly new to the internet. I would like to listen to the local radio stations from Easter Island via the internet if it`s at all possible. So far all I have been able to learn is that the island has two radio stations both operated by local volunteers but I can't seem to find a way to listen to them. If you could help me with my tiny problem, I would be very greatfull. Thank you for your time, You can contact me at: aguilarfanny@hotmail.com (Camila Rocha, Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Esta noche (UT domingo 20 de octubre) antes de terminar la emisión en español (0045-0200) Radio El Cairo anunció un cambio de frecuencias a partir del 26 de octubre. La locutora Verónica Banderas dijo: "A partir del 26 de octubre, van a estar en 25 metros frecuencia 11790 kHz y también 25 metros frecuencia 11680 kHz; esto es un esfuerzo para que ya no escuchen interferencias. Pero lo que sí va a continuar igual son las transmisiones vía satélite a través del NileSat a 7 oeste, frecuencia de 11766 GHz con polaridad horizontal, tiempo 7500 en el programa número 7..." (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. ABU DHABI. 15215. United Nations Radio. 0506. A weak and difficult log with one hour broadcast (0430-0530) to Eritrea. Final 15 minutes is in English and gives postal address in Addis Ababa and Asmara. Tuesdays only. Regards from (New Zealand, Ian Cattermole, Oct 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** FIJI. Enquiries reveal that while there are no immediate plans for SW broadcasts there is a lobby pushing for such broadcasts to cater for the large number of expats living in mainly Australia, NZ and Canada and remains a possibility (Editor, Oct NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Referring to a mention on your website, the walkout last week on Wed was not specifically related to the cutbacks on Radio Finland. Actually, the talks concerning jobs at Radio Finland have been completed. The new series of talks concerns positions within domestic broadcasting. /// This Saturday, Oct 26, at 8.30 am Eastern Daylight will be the last English broadcast to North America on SW from YLE. The content will be partially the same as in the oldest broadcast in our archives, aired 1.1.1939. This week we have been airing clips of old broadcasts and will continue doing so during the remaining days. // Reactions to the closing have mainly come from Germany, though there has been a fair amount from other countries - particularly from Canada, presumably on account of the availability there via CBC. / With best regards (Juhani Niinistö, YLE, Oct 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s 1230-1300 UT to NAm on 15400, 17670. Must listen every day through Oct 26! On Oct 22, 15400 was better. Included examples of early drama; interview with Donald Field, originally a listener in Britain who heard the 15 kW well; until the late 60s, most of the English programming was produced by the Finnish DX Club. Field soon moved to Finland, went to work for station, and has lived there ever since. Discussed the continuing viability of SW (other than for YLE!), but rudely cut off in mid-word at 1258; by the time I punched up 17670 it too was gone. You`d think by now they could have coördinated the length of programming with the length of transmissions. Two minutes are evidently required for retuning antenna and transmitter for the next emission. I wouldn`t be surprised if at the studios no one monitors the frequencies off the air, as if often the case with SW stations, so they haven`t a clue what is actually being heard --- or not (gh) ** GEORGIA. I live two hours by car from Tel Aviv. At 1030 UT on 11910, I do not hear R. Georgia or anyone else (David Crystal, 19125 Israel, date unknown, aerogramme received Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tel Aviv being one of the specific targets of R. Georgia; there was some question whether the sked was an hour off due to DST confusion (gh, DXLD) ** GUINEA. RADIO E-MAIL IN WEST AFRICA: THE COMPLETE VERSION REMOTE NETWORKING WITH HIGH-FREQUENCY (HF) RADIO AND DAN BERNSTEIN'S QMAIL. (Date: 2002-10-14 00:00:00) Topic: Networking URL: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6299 You can read interesting articles at Linux Journal - The Premier Magazine of the Linux Community http://www.linuxjournal.com Thank you for your support of Linux Journal, Staff (via Joe Bernard, OR, DXLD) ** GUINEA. 7125, RTV Guinéenne. "Thanks for writing" non-QSL e-mail response with information about their new satellite service. Received 7 days after my email report to issaconde@yahoo.fr. Will try again and see if he will send a more explicit verification response. Text of the message follows. It can be translated by any of the Internet translation services e.g. http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn (Evans, TN, October 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Merci pour le courrier en l'endroit de notre station la R T G émettant de Conakry. J'ai le grand plaisir de vous faire part de notre montée sur satellite. Voici les paramètres d'exploitation de notre réseau: Satellite : Intelsat 605 Position orbitale : 332,5 degrés EST Transpondeur : 23/23 Fréquence de réception en bande C : 3.936,50 MHZ. en bande L : 1.213,50 MHZ. Taux de symbole : 4,55 M/s Une antenne parabolique de 3,7m de diamètre. Une fois encore merci de nous tenir informer de la qualité de réception si possible. Sincèrement à vous, à votre famille ainsi qu'à vos collaborateurs (via Evans, Cumbre via DXLD) ** HONG KONG. RTV Hong Kong was heard with fairly good signals at our location in Fredriksfors, Hälsingland, Sweden (some 350 km north of Stockholm) when opening at 2133 on Sat. Oct. 19, but was drowned by radiotelephone stations after a few minutes. Clear ID and a short instrumental tune played before the weather report. Before and after the broadcast, the transmitter was on the air sending out a tone (Ronny Forslund & Jan Edh, Delsbo Radioklubb http://hem.passagen.se/drak/index2.htm Oct 20, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** INDIA. Vidare har AIR/Jeypore 5040 svarat med brev på EE direkt från stationen efter 1 års väntan. V/s var A.Chanti Babu. assitant station engineer som uppger att man har e-mailadressen: airjeyp@sancharnet.in. Jag får tydligen övergå från LA till asiater (Börge Eriksson, SW Bulletin Oct 20 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI's External Service, Voice of Indonesia, has recently made some frequency changes, and all of its transmissions now appear to be on the single shortwave frequency 9525 kHz at 0030-0400, 0800- 1300 and 1730-2100 in various languages, and also in the Jakarta area on FM 89.0 MHz. Frequency usage has been erratic in the past, so it might not be surprising if alternates 11785 or 15150 kHz are occasionally used as well as or instead of 9525 kHz. The only other SW transmission heard out of Jakarta at the moment is the relay of domestic service RRI Pro-3 on 15125 kHz. Regards (from Surabaya, Alan Davies, Oct 20, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. ONEWORLD RADIO - SERVICING A GROWING RADIO FOR DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY Throughout September 2002, 35 new members (from Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Congo (DRC), France, India, Ireland, Kenya Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, UK, and the US) joined OneWorld Radio taking the total community to over 500. This is undoubted proof that a sizable community exists of development focused broadcasters and NGOs who are enthusiastic about networking online and sharing audio/resources. You can find out more about how we are meeting this need in our update for iConnect Online http://www.iconnect-online.org/base/ic_show_news?sc=107&id=1735 (Jackie Davies, GKD list, Oct 18, via George Lessard, CAJ list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** IRAN. Re new outlet on 1161: may be related to story in DXLD 1-168 of a 1000 kW transmitter being installed near Qazvin (BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRAN. Depois de enviar o primeiro relatório de recepção para a Voz do Irã, o ouvinte é convidado para participar do Clube DX da emissora. Para receber o segundo QSL, deve mandar 10 relatórios. Para obter o terceiro, 20 informes. A quarta verificação vem depois do envio de 35 relatórios. O QSL de número 5 é conseguido após a elaboração de 50 informes. Em seguida, 75 relatórios de recepção dão o direito ao sexto QSL. O sétimo QSL vem depois da remessa de 105 relatórios. Mais adiante, 140 informes valem o oitavo QSL. Já o nono, é obtido após o envio de 170 relatórios. Por fim, o décimo QSL é obtido depois do envio de 200 reportes de recepção. O ouvinte deverá numerar todos os informes. Após obter o QSL de número 10, o ouvinte receberá um valioso objeto do artesanato iraniano. Quem prosseguir enviando relatórios, receberá diplomas da emissora. Quem completar 250 relatórios, recebe o diploma de terceiro grau. Quem mandar 300 informes, ganha o diploma de segundo grau. Por último, a quota de 400 relatórios dá o direito ao diploma de primeiro grau. Quem ultrapassar todos os patamares, será incluído na lista de membros ativos do Clube DX da Voz da República Islâmica do Irã e será presenteado com um valioso souvenir. Você tem duas opções de endereço eletrônico para entrar em contato com a Redação Espanhola da Voz do Irã. Tome nota: spanisradio@i... e spanish@i... [truncateds] (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 20 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. IRAQ PREPARES EMERGENCY BROADCAST FACILITIES Faced with the prospect of their broadcast installations being targeted if the US launches air strikes on Iraq, the Iraqi authorities are determined to be better prepared than they were during the Gulf War. Residents of the northern city of Arbil report seeing at least five trucks loaded with broadcasting equipment, and similar stories have been emerging from other parts of Iraq. It seems to be part of an elaborate plan to maintain broadcasts from mobile installations in the event of attacks. Iraq Press, quoting "insiders", says that Saddam Hussein has already recorded two speeches to be broadcast once the attack starts. It's likely that the mobile installations would be moved around constantly to make it more difficult to locate them (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 21 October 2002 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. [HCDX] IRAQ-US WAR MONITORING Dear DX friends, I'm asking for DXers how are interested in monitoring the Iraqi and the War related stations. We will form a work group. *We will monitor all the stations related to the war: - Radio Iraq International. - Radio Kuwait. - VOIRI Tehran (Radio Iran). - Kol Israel. - BSKSA RIYADH (Arabia Saoudia). - VOA. *All the Iraqi stations should be monitored (Official, Clandestine, MW, SW, LW..). *We will make full reception reports and if possible audio records. *All the information received should be sent to all the group members. *This work is only for enjoyment. *After the war, we will make a full illustrated document graved on CD, or published in a web site. *If you would like to participate, olease send an e-mail to: achraftn@yahoo.com containing these information: Name: City, Country: Age: Equipment: Career: *Any comments or suggestions are welcomed. Please, reply me as soon as possible. Thank you so much. 73's from Tunisia (Achraf Chaabane, Sfax, Tunisia, Oct 21, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ITALY. 9670, 0424-0425, Rai International, Sep 27. Sign off announcements in Ukrainian with excellent reception. Parallels 11800 good, and 7235 very good. Carrier off immediately (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non?]. 13839.96, 0538-, IRRS, Sep 27. Good reception but with obvious transmitter problems, and cut-outs. English program about West Nile Virus, and reproductive cloning. Suddenly off in mid sentence, followed by canned ID (as usual), with the Milano address. This was followed by an American evangelical program from Philadelphia (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. WRTH 2002 on page 256 says R. Jordan broadcasts Arabic 24h on 207 kHz with 600 kW. If this were true, I would hear it like a ton of bricks. I don`t. My equipment: AOR AR 7030 receiver with simple outdoor antenna; and other receivers. My location: as far north as Haifa and Nazareth, 20 km west of the border with Jordan. I receive both Jordanian TV channels with a primitive antenna (David Crystal, 19125 Israel, date unknown, aerogramme received Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. RKI announced that this AM`s MULTIWAVE FEEDBACK show is be the last one. They are replacing it with a similar program with 2 hosts instead of one and an expanded format. It has a strange name which escapes me now... something like "Worldwide Friendship". (Bill Brady, Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Korea International listeners contact shows ``From Us To You`` and ``Multiwave Feedback`` will merged into one show under the name of ``Worldwide Friendship``. This new show will air every Saturday. Regards (Md. Azizul Alam Al-Amin, Official Monitor of RKI, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From 26th October onwards R Korea International listeners mailbag programme "From Us to You" will be renamed as "World Wide Friendship" with a total 50 minutes slot. First half only will be used for listeners letters (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola amigos: Aquí una noticia fresca para difundir. Saludos cordiales. República de Corea: (todas las horas: UTC) Además de los cambios de programación ya anunciados por el Servicio Español de Radio Corea Internacional, a partir del 27 de octubre y durante un mes de prueba será añadida a la vigente frecuencia de 11715 Khz vía Sackville-Canadá otra frecuencia desde el mismo punto de retransmisión con el fin de establecer cuál es la de mejor recepción en el sur del continente americano. Por lo tanto, entre el 27 de octubre y el 26 de noviembre funcionará junto con 11715 Khz una nueva frecuencia, la de 9760 kHz. Estas dos frecuencias utilizarán el horario de 1000 a 1100. Las otras frecuencias disponibles hacia Europa son 15575 Khz de 2000 a 2100 y ahora se sumará una nueva en los 15210 kHz de 1000 a 1100. Para Sudamérica seguirán funcionando las frecuencias de 9580 de 1000 a 1100 UT y 11810 en el horario de 0100 a 0200. Esta información fue anunciada en el programa "Antena de la Amistad" del 20 de octubre siendo la última edición irradiada un domingo ya que -a partir del 26 de octubre próximo- pasará a emitirse los días sábados, después de las noticias (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. Re 4025 unID: It was yesterday on 4023.68 and IDed at 1757 in Kurdish: "Era Dengi Gelli Kurdistana" and in Arabic: "Sawt al-Sha'ab al-Kurdistan, Sawt al-Ittihad al-Watani al- Kurdistanii". So it should be Voice of the People of Kurdistan. But could anyone knowing Arabic help me to recognize the frequencies mentioned in the announcement? I made a 200 kB MP3 audio clip of it. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Oct 20, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. QSL: Radio Komala, kurdisk clandestine-3930. Långt pers e-mail på EE. Det gladde verkligen, för den har mig veterligt inte svarat förut. Minst SM-1? Adress: Postfach 800272, 51002 Köln, Tyskland. www.komala.org. 3 d. (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Oct 20 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Laser Radio returns: see UK [non] ** LEBANON [non]. 11735, Voice of Charity via Vatican Radio verified with a short letter from Father Fadi Tabet who also signed/stamped my prepared card in 39 days for US1.00 return postage. Address: Voice of Charity, P. O. Box 850, Juniyah, Lebanon (Rich D'Angelo, PA, DXplorer Oct 19 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Hi Glenn, This AM on their MAILBOX program, RNZI announced the changes for B02 as follows: UTC Freq. Target 1650-1750 11980 NE Pacific [UT Sun-Thu only --- gh] 1750-2050 15265 (New) 2050-0505 17675 May be good for west coast US 0505-0705 15240 0705-1105 11675 May be good for east coast US 1105-1305 15175 NW Pacific 6095 Occasional use for sports, typhoons BTW, the MAILBOX program includes a South Pacific DX report (Bill Brady, Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. The sad story of Enid`s only local TV station continues: KXOK-LP channel 32/cable 18, went off about a week ago, but from Oct 18 or so until early on Oct 22 there was `dark snow` on the channel and no audio carrier. It might have passed for DTV, but I couldn`t imagine KXOK testing that yet, under its circumstances. Now, first noted just after local midnight Tuesday, 0500 UT, it has a new inhabitant: Dr. Gene Scott! Yes, the cigar-puffing, send-me-money, insulting, anointed-by-God Bible expert holds forth ad nauseam, and yes, parallel to his several SW outlets, from the same satellite feed, such as WWCR 5935. Still going at 1445 and 2225 rechecks, so this is not merely overnight, but 24 hours. Could be a stopgap/stunt as ownership changes, or a nod to Enid`s endless thirst for wacky religionists on the air. Or for my benefit as one of his greatest fans?? By the way, he`s really aged since the last chance I had to see him -- white haired, really pallid, except for being heavily freckled(?). Then at 1844 playing a tape of his younger self when beard was partly gray, no freckles -- or made up? What`s he talking about? Are you kidding? I unmuted the TV only long enough to confirm \\ to shortwave, and I should have done that by lipreading. Tsk, no closed-captioning (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15355.55v, 0320-, Radio Sultanate of Oman, Sep 27. Good signal on this off channel frequency, with modern English pop music. Big Ben chimes at 0329, with ID in English as the Radio Sultanate of Oman, with a time check for 7:30. Followed by news headlines. Slight drift lower to 15355.53 at 0332. Don't recall them being off frequency before. Glad to hear this station again --- like an old friend to me (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Re 6105/6105.65 and 7213.6/7213.86 - yes, these are Pakistan frequencies. 6105 is API-2 and carries the Islamabad Programme at 1615-1700. 7215 [nominal] is API-4 [ex-7095] and carries the Current Affairs Programme at 0200-0400 and 1300-1800. These are all current times - since the change back to PST from summer time. I heard c7214 myself around 1450 on the 14th (Noel R. Green, UK, Oct 16, BC-DX Oct 21 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Heard tonight on a R-390A receiver and 20 Meter long sloper antenna. Radio Nacional Paraguay, 9737.5 kHz. 0040-0055, SINPO 43444. Het from Radio Cairo (presumed) on 9740 "Notched" with Q- Multiplier. Male announcer in Spanish alternated by some nice music. I've been listening to this one the past couple evenings for the music content, though the audio sometimes seems somewhat muffled. Last night they gave some station IDs in English along with phone numbers etc. (Trying to woo Norte Americano Listeners?) 73 de (Phil KO6BB Atchley, Merced, Central California, 37.18N 120.29W, Oct 29, swl via DXLD) ** PERU. 5486.74, R. Reina de la Selva, OC as early as 0938 21 Oct. Start up at 0957 w/OA campo mx w/a lot of shouting. Finally live M anncr host at 1003, possible ment of Cajamarca. More beautiful campo mx at 1004. 1005 what appeared to be song anmnt, nice ID as "... la voz R. Reina de la Selva ?? numero uno...Amazonas ?? metros la onda corta para ?? Chachapoyas, Peru...". Back to mx at 1006. M again at 1011 w/TC and tlk w/ment of onda corta again and Peru, and then another TC. More lively OA campo mx. 1017 live M w/TCs again, then 2 promos or ads (2nd one had heavy echo effect and ment of onda corta) live M again w/poss. ment of Chachapoyas. 1020 another canned anmnt starting w/Rooster crowing and a M imitating a rooster(!!!), then M again w/another ment of Chachapoyas, Peru, a mx bridge, then continued tlk by M w/2 IDs as "Emisora Reina de la Selva de Oro". Surprised to find this!! Just strong enough to copy, but seemed to pick up a little after 1020. Unfortunately the tape ran out!! I'll bet this would've been very nice at the micro-DXpedition QTH (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Apologies, am too hurried to spend minutes fixing abbrs (gh) ** PRIDNESTROVYA (MOLDOVA). 549.06, 0415-, Radio Pridnestrovya, Sep 27. Note the off channel frequency. Excellent reception using Vlad Titarev's AOR 7030 and box loop. Into Ukrainian program (which I gather is new) at 0415, then Romanian at 0422:30 until BOH. Have a very good MD recording available (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PUERTO RICO. 6458.5, 0516-, AFN, Sep 25. Fair reception with sports news and usual cochannel QRM (Volodya Salmaniw, Brody, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. 7195, 0530-, Radio Romania International, Sep 25. RRI going through the motions with their Ukrainian service. Terrible muffled audio, cochannel with much clearer VOA in English. Disgraceful for a country adjacent to Ukraine. Compare this to the excellent reception from Radio Budapest with their brief 15 minute programs, and even Polish Radio. Not sure why this should be, as the English services monitored in North America propagate quite well (Volodya Salmaniw, Brody, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. RADIO ''THE VOICE OF RUSSIA'' - RUSSIAN WORLD SERVICE (OVERSEAS BROADCASTING) TIME/FREQUENCY SCHEDULE FOR WINTER PERIOD '2002-2003 (Times = UTC/GMT, Frequencies = kHz) ===================================================== To EUROPE: 0200-0400 = 1215 1300-1400 = 1386, 1323, 1215, 1143, 999, 603 1400-1500 = 1386, 1323, 1215, 603 1600-1700 = 612 (on Mo, Tu, Th, Su) 1800-1900 = 7360, 6145 2000-2100 = 7360, 7310, 7170, 6190, 6145, 6045*, 5895**, 1215, 1143, 936, 612, 603 NOTES 603 and 1323 kHz - for Germany via local transmitters 612 kHz - for Moscow Region To The BALTIC COUNTRIES 1300-1400 = 1143 2000-2100 = 7170, 6145, 6045*, 5895**, 1143 To The UKRAINE AND MOLDAVIA 1300-1400 = 1170*, 999 2000-2100 = 6045*, 5895**, 936* 2100-2200 = 9480 To The CAUCASIAN AREA 1600-1700 = 12055, 1170 (on Mo, Tu, Th, Su) 2000-2200 = 7445, 1089 To The CENTRAL ASIA 1300-1400 = 17570**, 15460*, 7365, 7315**, 7105*, 6185, 1143 kHz, and on VHF FM Range (65,574,0 MHz) via local transmitters 1400-1500 = 17570**, 15460*, 1251 To The AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND and PACIFIC AREA 1300-1500 = 9490 To ASIA and FAR EAST 1300-1400 = 17570**, 15510, 15460*, 9450, 7365, 7315**, 7155, 7105*, 6185, 6145, 1143 1400-1500 = 17570**, 15510, 15460, 9450, 9920**, 9875*, 7155, 6205, 5930, 1251 To NEAR and MIDDLE EAST 0200-0300 = 648 1300-1400 = 1143 1400-1500 = 9875**, 7315* 1600-1700 = 12055, 9875**, 1314, 1170 (on Mo, Tu, Th, Su) 2000-2100 = 7445, 6190, 1089 2100-2200 = 7445, 1089 To The WESTERN HEMISPHERE 0200-0300 = 17595, 17565, 15595, 12010, 7440, 7260, 7240, 7125 0300-0400 = 17595, 17565, 15595, 12010, 7440, 7350, 7260, 7240, 7125 To The BYELORUSSIA 0200-0300, 1300-1400, 2000-2100, 2100-2200 = on VHF FM Range (65,5...74,0 MHz) via local transmitters, and on the 3rd Channel of Wire /Cable/ Networks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES: *) - Till March 1st, 2003 ; **) - From March 2nd, 2003. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ADDRESS: Russian World Service, ''The Voice of Russia'', Moscow-Radio, 115326 Russia. VOICE: (+7 095) 950-6868, FAX: (+7 095) 950-6116. E- MAIL: letters@vor.ru ACTUAL INFORMATION, WEB and ''REAL AUDIO'': http://www.vor.ru/Russian.htm _______________ 73! Pavel Mikhaylov ("Club DX"), Radio "Voice of Russia" Moscow, Russia (via Michael Bethge, WWDXC, via Alokesh Gupta, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re 5930 - frankly, I don't know if this one is from Monchegorsk or from Murmansk city nowadays. The signal is not what it used to be, but since they are likely to have a special antenna for this transmission, I would guess that they have stayed in Monchegorsk. (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) Re Murmansk / Monchegorsk. If the former, it maybe(?) would be the most northerly SW transmitter operating? But probably, as you say, is the latter. I think there used to be a SW station at Murmansk. 5930 was again audible today - and I assume it was Yakutsk on 7200 peaking to S5 at 0655 \\ 9720, and Magadan 9530 after 0700 weaker. I could hear 7320, but much weaker than 7200. I didn`t try 7345 after CZH-SLK went off at 0727. I don't have much radio news - what I think is Yakutsk 7200 was again at fair strength this morning c0650 in \\ Rossii. I could also hear 7345 when CZE-SLK went off at 0657, but weaker. 7140 has not appeared. I'm trying to catch a local program/new/or local language to try to confirm which station 7200 is. Magadan 7320 was only showing traces of signal same time while NSB 9595 was also weak with a fluttery-echoing signal at 0658. There's nothing from them on 9760, and I believe this only operates at weekends now (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Oct 16/18 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 17302, 0825-, Murmanskoye Radio, Sep 27. Very good reception of this local program from Murmansk. I was unable to hear any other SW parallels. Impossible to hear in North America due to the very high frequency and the time of night (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also TATARSTAN ** RUSSIA [non?]. UKRAINE? 7415.55, 0427-, Radio Krishnaloka, Sep 27. An extremely interesting station from a DXer`s point of view. Times were very variable, and not according to the schedule announced. First heard at Vlad Titarev's DX shack on 27/09 at 0427 (nothing heard earlier despite frequent checks) using his AOR 7030 and 80 meter random wire. Hare Krishna heard in Russian with a difficult signal due to adjacent interference. About a S9 signal. Frequent dead air for 20 to 30 seconds. The music was always better modulated than voice. Somewhat variable frequency as well. Noted drifting upwards to 7415.57 at 0455. Long monotones by usually a woman. Talk about Walt Emmerson at 0437. Mostly though, long renditions of Krishna music. Reception consistently improved during the program as dawn approached locally. At 0450, a hypnotic guitar vocal, sounding like 'Zing Zan' by a male. No obvious ID. Appears to have left the air by 0459. Next monitored in Luhansk Ukraine, much closer to the apparent transmitter site in Donetsk (more on this later), on 29/09. This was a village location, with very little QRM. Used just a Sony 1000T with its built in whip. Monitored continuously from 0245. Nothing heard until about 0350 with weak talk in Russian and the same type of Krishna music as before. Faded up to decent levels, then back into the noise, with WBCQ audible in background. Frequency was approx. 7415 (unable to more accurately measure on this receiver). Very nice fade- up at 0413. Mentioned that this topic would be continued on a future show. Nice ID as Radio Krishnaloka at 0414 in the clear (RA file available). Signal became quite good with further Krishna music. Unfortunately suddenly cut-off at 0422 (0722 local). Since then, nothing further heard. I spent the next week almost in Donetsk, the supposed site of the transmitter, but failed to hear anything at all. Definitely a highlight of my trip! (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh and Luhansk, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAMOA AMERICAN. WDJD 580 Pago Pago is shortly changing call to KJAL according to Vickie Haleck, Station Manager. She adds they`ve had DX reports from Japan and Italy. (Personally, I doubt the latter very much and have told her so). (David Ricquish Ricquish, Oct NZ DX Times via DXLD) Bellabarba! Must maintain a J in the call; slogan would now be ``King Jesus...`` what? (gh, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. WEWN is listed currently 24 hours via 15745 and 1000- 1600 and 1800-2200 in B-02, so that's not much better. Maybe Victor could "persuade" SLBC to move up or down to improve things - although I guess WEWN is not much of a problem in S Asia? (Noel R. Green, UK, Oct 16, BC-DX via DXLD) Dear Glenn Hauser, About comments on the latest frequency changes of SLBC, Sri Lanka please note that in their target area where I am, their old frequencies of 7190 and 15425 were having terrible interference at night. Now their new frequencies of 7440 and 15745 are interference free here and so reception is fine. Anyway it would be nice if they select a good frequency suitable for DX listeners also. Sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. MADAGASCAR. 12060. Radio Voice Of Hope. 0430. Very good in English and parallel 15320 also very good. Broadcasts Sunday, Monday, Tuesdays only. Regards from (New Zealand, Ian Cattermole, Oct 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. Re: http://www.arabicsyradio.org Hi Glenn, A WHOIS search provided the following information: Registrant: Bashir Kyle, POB 7897, Oslo, Oslo 01673 NO Domain Name: ARABICSYRADIO.ORG Administrative Contact: Kyle, Bashir bkyle@post.com POB7897, Oslo, Oslo 01673, NO 47 22 16 Technical Contact: Name Services, Site Protect administrator@siteprotect.com 1 N. State Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60076, US 312 236 2132 Fax: 312 236 1958 Registration Service Provider: Alxhost, dns@alxhost.com 8-7925040 http://www.alxhost.com/ Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC. Record last updated on 04-Sep-2002. Record expires on 22-Aug-2004. Record Created on 22-Aug-2002. Domain servers in listed order: NS1.ALXHOST.COM 66.96.220.137 NS2.ALXHOST.COM 66.96.220.138 (via Andy Sennitt, Oct 20, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 7245, 1649-, Radio Tajikistan World Service, Sep 26. English news noted until 1652, and then a historical tale. S9 + 20 signal but weak modulation with adjacent splatter, so overall only fair reception. IDed as the world service (a bit of a stretch I'd say!) at 1659:30. IS at the TOH, and into presumed Arabic. It's been a few years since I've heard this one (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN. RUSSIA 9690, 0600-, Radio Tatarstan, Sep 27. Very strong signal from Samara, S9 + 20, with sign-on in Tatar. Well over barely audible DW. Has become a much more difficult target in WCNA this past year or two (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 7385, 1615-, Holy Tibet, Sep 26. Excellent reception at 1615 tune-in. Went into English at 1630:30, with the following: 'Hello dear listeners. Welcome to our English program, Holy Tibet'. Parallels noted were: 6130 (fair with cochannel), 4905 (fair to good), 5240 (good), 6110 (fair), and 6150 (poor) [had been 6130 --- gh]. 9490 was not heard. When rechecked at 1642, they were reading listeners letters (having had received 30 letters), and this continued until sign-off at 1648:42 with an ID as the 'China Tibet Broadcasting Company'. I have a very high quality MD recording of this program. Let me know if anyone wants to hear this one, and I'll send it out (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. VOT did not move to 9650 at 0300-0350. They stayed on 11655 (David Crystal, 19125 Israel, date unknown, aerogramme received Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. 4930, 1930-, Turkmen Radio, Sep 26. No sign of the English program at 1940. Just Turkmen and Russian music and talk. All at good levels (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. RADIO UGANDA REDUCES NEWS OUTPUT State-owned Radio Uganda has reduced its schedule of news bulletins. The station's Red Channel (the main outlet for English programming) is now only airing three regular major English-language bulletins a day - at 0400, 1000 and 1700 gmt (7 a.m., 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. local times). The major bulletins previously carried at 0700, 1400 (1300 on Saturdays) and 1900 gmt have been dropped or replaced by news summaries. The above mentioned Red Channel bulletin at 0400 gmt (but not those at 1000 or 1700 gmt) is relayed by Radio Uganda's other national network, the Blue Channel. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English Oct 02 (BBCM Oct 21 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE [and non]. Hello everyone! Below is a selection of loggings from my recent trip to Ukraine. I spent a very enjoyable week travelling with eminent DXer Vlad Titarev, and his lovely wife Ira. The highlight was a great DX session the evening of 26/09 to lunch time on the 27th at his urban dacha/office/DX shack. I was able to briefly use his Ukrainian made communications receivers (which I can vouch are every bit as good as anything I have used in the west). Mostly, though, I used his AOR 7030 receiver. A generous and gracious man, with quite a maverick streak, we spent many an hour talking about the real problems, and threats encountered by DXers in the former Soviet block. Only the hardiest of souls, of which Vlad is one, would have been able to stand up to the pressures of the state. Unlike Rumen Pankov, [Bulgaria], who was jailed for 10 years for his hobby, Vlad luckily escaped such a fate. Here are my logs from the trip. My apologies for the delay, but with 10 time zones crossed, and an exceptionally busy workload upon my return, I haven't been able to get to them until now (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. 765, 0631-, Radio Mayak, Sep 27. Odessa's Radio Mayak (no relation to Russia's Mayak) with Russian news after an American oldie. Jingle ID at 0634 'Radio Mayak, z dobrom kazhnoye dom'. They went into Radio Liberty's Ukrainian service without ID at 0700. Good reception (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. 9950, 2111-, Radio Ukraine International, Sep 26. Fair reception of RUI's German service on one of few remaining transmitters. Parallel to 25 kW Chernivtsi transmitter on MW 657 with good signal strength. Only other RUI frequency heard during my trip was 7410 (in local early mornings). (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Krishnaloka: see RUSSIA [non?] ** U K. BBC Press Office issues extensive program(me) previews for domestic radio (mostly R2/R3/R4), in weekly PDF files. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/ (Kevin Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, PublicRadioFan.com, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Laser Radio will be On-air again this coming Sunday October 27 with a 12-hour broadcast at 0900 to 2100 UT. HF Frequency : 5935 kHz shortwave with 100 kW MF Frequency : 576 kHz with 50 kW All transmissions will originate from Ulbroka, Republic of Latvia. http://laserradio.net (Andrew Yeates, Yahoo Radio Anoraks UK group via Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. ASCENSION IS. 17570, 1729:45-, UN Radio. Sep 26 Excellent reception at sign-on with UN Today program in English (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. L. CEE RECEIVES RADIO SAWA SCREEN SAVER Our big news this month is that our own ACE member L. Cee reports that he has received a reply to his e-mailed report to Radio Sawa. Although he did not receive a QSL as such, he did receive a Radio Sawa screen saver for his computer. I`ll let him describe this new acquisition in his own words: ``The screen saver is a ``Radio Sawa`` bounce. The letters S A W A are in orange, green, red, and blue. There are several musical notes over the letters. About 6 of these S A W A`s bounce around the screen and exit off the screen as new ones appear. I was hoping for something a little cooler....but what can you expect from the Government?? After all is was most likely paid for with our tax dollars.`` He did not send in the e-mail address that he used to acquire this screen saver, but the official Radio Sawa web site, found at http://www.ibb.gov/radiosawa/ on the internet gives an e-mail address of comments@radiosawa.com for contact purposes. This site also provides the shortwave frequency schedule for the station, which is 0400-0600 on 5965 0400-0600 on 7255 0400-0600 on 9680 0400-0600 on 11670 0400-0600 on 15380 0730-0830 on 9660 0730-0830 on 9715 0730-0830 on 9765 0730-0830 on 11820 0730-0830 on 11910 0730-0830 on 11995 0730-0830 on 15205 0730-0830 on 15355 1700-1800 on 7105 1700-2100 on 6040 1800-2100 on 7105 1800-2100 on 9505 1800-2100 on 11825 1800-2100 on 15545 1800-2100 on 6160 1800-2100 on 9620 1800-2100 on 11895 The Radio Sawa web site also provides a full medium wave and satellite service schedule, in case you have plans to be in the Middle East sometime soon, or in case you have satellite receiving equipment. The web site also provides a live internet feed of the Radio Sawa programming, both in RealAudio or in Windows Media Player format. So, even if propagation is terrible and your receiver is at the repair shop, you should be easily able to listen to this one if you want to. The station is quasi-clandestine in its nature. It is not exactly a secret that this station is a new Arabic service of the Voice of America, but it is not announced as such on the air. The schedule that we reprinted here off their web site comes from a variety of transmitter sites, some of which we decoded in the August issue of The ACE. Given the announced intentions of the United States to launch a military attack against Iraq, despite the fact that Iraq has not attacked the USA or anybody else for that matter during the last couple of years via military means, Radio Sawa becomes an important quasi-clandestine that we should pay attention to. In the past, aggressive military actions by countries such as Germany, Japan, and North Korea have always been accompanied by clandestine radio voices of the aggressor nation. Now that the United States has announced its intentions to join this undistinguished list of historically dangerous aggressors, it would be no surprise at all if the extent of clandestine radio broadcasting by the United States will significantly increase during the short run future. While I am on the subject of the ongoing argument in the United States about whether the USA should start attacking any country that it feels like attacking, as long as it is an election year and as long as the country is in a sharp recession, it has been a significant surprise to me to find that there is a significant degree of opposition to USA aggressive militarism in an otherwise middle-of-the-road place like Cleveland, Ohio. For instance, Mark Dodish, the editor of Crain`s Cleveland Business, the corporate business newspaper in Cleveland and precisely the opposite of the old Pravda, devoted his entire column in the November 14 edition of his newspaper to an assertion that it would be a dangerous and stupid thing for the United States to attack Iraq under the current circumstances. Much of the opposition to President George W. Bush`s policies in this matter has been coming from Republicans and business interests. The situation might be different by the time that this issue of The ACE arrives in your mailbox, but the whole subject is something that should cause everybody in the USA and elsewhere to think very hard about the policy, military, and economic implications of the situation (George Zeller, OH, Clandestine Profile for Nov The ACE via DXLD) AN ARABIC PERSPECTIVE ON RADIO SAWA Staying on the subject of Arabic language clandestines, even a cursory check of the internet will reveal that Radio Sawa is creating some controversy. Thus, its programming appears not to be the same dry and vanilla stuff that the Voice of America has been using up mega- kilowatts for years to bounce off the ionosphere. One interesting exchange about the program content on Radio Sawa is currently up on ``The Electric Intifada`` web site. This web site, whose slogan is that freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one, describes itself as, ``EI is independent of any political, factional, ethnic, or religious affiliation, and bases its view of the conflict on the foundations of universal human rights and international law. The Electronic Intifada condemns all attacks on civilians, regardless of the perpetrators, yet encourages people to examine the structural roots and dynamics of violence in the conflict and the imbalance of power that perpetuates it. The four founders of the project are Ali Abunimah, Arjan El Fassed, Laurie King-Irani, and Nigel Parry.`` None of these individuals are known in the DX community, so it is interesting to hear them commenting on the Radio Sawa programming. Like the new Free Radio Network web site, the MECCS/EI Project maintains a means to donate to their web site via credit card right from the web site at http://electronicintifada.net/features/articles/020820ali.shtml or via a street address at 1507 E. 53rd Street, #500, Chicago, IL 60615, USA Their web site commentary on Radio Sawa is by Ali Abunimah, identified on the web site as ``Vice-president of the Arab-American Action Network and a well-known media analyst, Abunimah regularly writes public letters to the media, coordinates campaigns, and appears on a variety of national and international news programs as a commentator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is one of the founders of The Electronic Intifada. Ali Abunimah contributed to ``The New Intifada: Resisting Israel`s Apartheid`` (Verso Books, 2001).`` Ali Abunimah`s commentary on Radio Sawa is interesting enough that I am going to reprint it here. The next seven paragraphs are a verbatim quote from the Electronic Intifada analysis of coverage of the news on Radio Sawa and on the BBC, with the analysis written by Ali Abunimah. ``On August 18, I listened alternately to the BBC and Sawa throughout the day and took notes about how they covered the news. First thing in the morning, the BBC led with news of a report from the Palestinian Ministry of Health documenting a one hundred and twenty five percent increase in child malnutrition in the occupied territories since Israeli began its siege and repression. Sawa led with news that an Israeli ``special unit`` had arrested Hamas members. Saying nothing about the health report, Sawa made only a vague reference to calls by Palestinian officials for the international community to intervene to ``relieve the humanitarian and security situation affecting the Palestinian territories.`` For much of the day Sawa seemed to be concerned with damage control for the U.S. campaign against Iraq, prominently featuring denials by unnamed Israeli officials that Israel was trying to goad the U.S. into attacking Baghdad. In the evening, the BBC and Sawa both reported on the visit to the region of the UN special envoy for humanitarian affairs, Catherine Pertini. While the BBC quoted Pertini as expressing deep concern about the grave situation, Sawa quoted her only as describing announced Israeli measures to relieve the plight of the besieged population as ``encouraging.`` The BBC highlighted a new report from the World Bank that put the number of Palestinians living in extreme poverty at over fifty percent. Sawa said nothing about that but repeatedly included an upbeat item about a planned meeting between Israel`s defense minister and the new Palestinian interior minister. Sawa did report that three Palestinians had been injured in an Israeli ``operation`` in Khan Yunis, but only the BBC bothered to add that these were civilians, one of them a sixteen year-old girl. In a late night bulletin, Sawa led with news that Jaweed Ghusein the former director of the Palestine National Fund had gone into exile in London from Gaza, and had told Israeli newspapers that Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat had diverted millions of dollars meant for the Palestinian people into his personal bank accounts. Only the BBC however mentioned that the same newspaper reports claimed that Ghusein had been spirited out of Gaza in a joint operation of Israeli, Jordanian and British intelligence, and that Ghusein had himself been accused since 1991 (before the Palestinian Authority even existed) of embezzling more than six million dollars from PLO funds. Sawa did include news items that undermine declared U.S. policy, for example that the German Chancellor strongly opposes a U.S. attack on Iraq. Perhaps adding such information, which is in any case well-known to everyone here, helps boost the credibility of the station as an ``objective`` whole, making it a bit easier to sell the largely sanitized version of the news that Sawa offers. While just about everyone knows that the U.S. government is behind Sawa, there is something very furtive about the whole affair. Unlike the BBC Arabic Service, or Radio Monte Carlo (the Arabic broadcasts of French radio), both of which have been available here on FM for several years, Radio Sawa`s news bulletins do not identify the station`s sponsor or where it is broadcasting from. Its anchors do not provide their names. This gives it an exceptionally sterile and anonymous quality that is in complete contrast to its competitors.`` (George Zeller, OH, Clandestine Profile for Nov The ACE via DXLD) ** U S A. FALWELL - PROPHET OF HATE Updated on 2002-10-09 09:39:49 Riding on the self-created Islamphobia wave, Fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell was given a microphone on prime time CBS program '60 minutes' to air pre-recorded racial slurs towards Prophet Muhammad. This program is normally reserved for investigative reporting and high profile interviews. Unfortunately, CBS let it be used as a propaganda tool and to preach hatred against Muslims... http://www.paknews.com/editorials.php?id=1&date1=2002-10-09 (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) I find it hard to believe CBS was endorsing Falwell`s remark -- more likely allowed him to make a fool of himself as usual. You can do that in America (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. This story was found via a link at http://www.paknews.com amongst a bunch of stories condemning Jerry Falwell and his moronic remarks about the Prophet Mohammed (Fred Waterer, Ont., Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Behind the Headlines, by Justin Raimondo Antiwar.com July 5, 2002 THE VOA FOLLIES 'VOICE OF AMERICA' LOSES A WRITER – AND THE WAR PARTY GAINS A MARTYR The neocons are up in arms – one of their own has been fired from his position as a "journalist" at the Voice of America and may be on his way to becoming the Mumia Abu Jamal of the War Party. The cause of Stephen Schwartz, a writer formerly known as "Comrade Sandalio," has been taken up by William Safire and Ronald Radosh. In a column berating the "accommodationist" US State Department supposedly in control of VOA – whose news director is under the illusion that he heads up a real news-gathering organization, instead of a propaganda arm of the US government... http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j070502.html (via Waterer, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. A personal note from John Vodenik sent along with a QSL for VOA Morocco for a report direct to him at Delano says he has not taken over (he hopes) all of VOA`s QSLing. He verifies reports sent to Delano, but has been helping out during the summer as Washington was short handed on people (Mickey Delmage, AB, Verie Interesting, the QSL Column, Oct CIDX Messenger, via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Re complaint that IBB is buying French transmitters: No Embargo, that's business. ... and to Vietnam too, similar 'Jamming' matter. In 1995 IBB replaced the former 300 kW RCA transmitter at Munich Ismaning by Thales-Thomson CSF type Thomcast TMW 2300-S7 (2 x 150 kW units). Similar type of THOMCAST has been installed recently at the new Cape Greco site at Cyprus too, on 981 kHz. However the [European] technicians prefer rather Telefunken, Nautel, or Continental-Harris units, but 'gnash one's teeth' when asked on the Thomcast installations (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 21 via DXLD) ** U S A. I found info on the new weather radio station this morning at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/nwrhome.shtml --- I got the call letters right, WNG-546. There is also info of another new one in Winona, MN, call letters KGG-95, which will be on 162.425. There is no sign of this station yet (Daniel Sampson, Arcadia, WI, Oct 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) About this station in particular including schedule: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/nwrhome4.html (via Dora Jean, DXLD) ** U S A. I got an e-mail from the CE at WHO confirming that they are still operating on the auxiliary antenna. He said that they hope to complete repairs on the main tower "by the end of next week". (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, Oct 19, NRC-AM via DXLD) Also have been off the air for brief periods (gh) ** U S A. WOR, 710 kHz, announced that they are digital at the top of the hour (0900 local time) this morning (10/21). A check of 700 and 720 kHz confirmed this, the digital hash is there (Dan Srebnick - NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IN-BAND OFF-CHANNEL (IBOC) PROBLEM RESOLVED AT WOR(AM) New York's WOR(AM) is transmitting both analog and digital signals once again, and says its IBOC transmission problem has been solved (re CGC #544). The station has changed its slogan to "710 WOR-HD." http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2119 (Dennis Gibson, IRCA, Oct 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. DIGITAL RADIO HAILED BY BROADCASTERS http://www.msnbc.com/news/822924.asp?0dm=N18LT (via mu23, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. TUNING IN TO DIGITAL RADIO By Evan Hansen Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 21, 2002, 4:00 AM PT The future of radio -- one of the last analog holdouts in an increasingly digital world -- is coming into view... http://news.com.com/2100-1023-962671.html (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. In this article, BBC journalist excoriates U.S. television news, especially Fox, and also comments about BBC World (BBC's international television)... SIMPSON BERATES 'HYSTERICAL' US NETWORKS Fiachra Gibbons, arts correspondent, Saturday October 19, The Guardian John Simpson, the BBC correspondent who "liberated" Kabul, has attacked "gonzo" journalists who are cheerleading the world to war. The veteran world affairs editor, who was smuggled into Afghanistan in an extra large burka and admitted he "got a bit carried away" when he strode into Kabul ahead of Northern Alliance fighters, was withering in his criticism of US news networks. He reserved most of his derision for Rupert Murdoch's Fox News channel... http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,814967,00.html (via Kim Elliott, DC, DXLD) ** U S A. GLUED TO THE NEW SNIPER CHANNEL I'm addicted to this new Sniper Channel. All day, all night, it features breaking rumours and witness fibs about regional murders it claims have "captivated" America. That's the breathless word they use. Roll tape. Aaron Brown: Hello it's me, your slow-talking news anchor with yet another hour of CNN's continuing sniper coverage, America Under Fire. With me is Wolf Blitzer, who's just wrapped his own special report, Sniper on the Loose... Wolf: I once bought a trellis at that Home Depot, Aaron. Aaron: ... and on the phone, Connie Chung. She's preparing tonight's two hour CNN Special, Living in Fear. Are you there, Connie? Connie: CNN changed our show's title, Aaron. We call it Diabolical Vans of Doom. As you know, a white van may be implicated in these crimes... Aaron: Tell us about white, Connie. At night, under high-intensity streetlights, could "white" perhaps be more like cream? Connie: Cream, eggshell, ecru, ivory, any of those hues, Aaron. A light-coloured truck, Chevy Astro, Ford Econoline, any boxy thing with four wheels should arouse suspicion... Aaron: Stay on the line, Connie! I hear CNN's Breaking News Music and see the Breaking News slide on my monitor. Go! Connie: We've reached Mrs. Loomis, Aaron. She lives in Virginia, next door to a state trooper. Are you fearful, dear? Is your neighbourhood under lockdown? How do you summon the strength to go out? Mrs. Loomis: Well I saw the CNN Special, People Too Frightened to Leave The House. I force myself to eat, sleep, go to work and not stay home watching endless hours as anchors show me AK 74s and maps with dots near my house. It's really disquieting. Aaron: This is Aaron Brown, Mrs. Loomis. Does living next door to a trooper make you feel safer? Mrs. Loomis: I live next door to a roofer. Not a trooper. Connie: My mistake, Aaron. There's so much information coming in for my late-night CNN Special, Massive Sinister Sniper Manhunt, inevitably some of it might be garbled. Mrs. Loomis, is it true you now pump gas from inside your car, using a broomstick? Wolf: Hold on, Connie. We've got Larry King! At the top of the hour, he hosts CNN's Special: To Catch a Killer. Larry? Larry: I've got a very special sniper panel, Wolf. We call it Assault Weapons: What the Heck Did You Think They'd Do With Them. We have a police profiler who says the culprit may be a man, a California psychic with a new book, a former spy plane pilot, author Dominic Dunne and the always-fabulous Ann-Margret. Later, I'll debrief a truly frightened Regis Philbin... Aaron: What we're looking at now is a lot of cars parked on an interstate, viewers. See the lights? They're not moving. This is on videotape. It happened, but it is not happening right now. Just to clear that up. Wolf: Larry, you're in a tiny Washington studio. How scared are you? Larry: We do what we can to escalate a bad situation. As I said on last night's CNN Special, America Under Curfew - I'm paid not to be frightened. But we don't have a sketch. This sniper's invisible. He could be anywhere. Aaron: You know what I keep thinking, Larry? That right now, some madman out there may be watching CNN, America's preferred sniper channel. Watching us talk about him, our speculations, the police press conferences, traffic gridlock, citizen fears... Wolf: He must be terrified. Or buzzed. Or something. Connie: That's the topic of CNN's Did The Media Shoot Anybody, Aaron. Some argue our breathless, non-stop coverage encourages mayhem. Criminal acts. Vigilantes. Public hysteria. Weapons sales. Bronco chases. Stunt crimes. Copy cats. Cable channel ratings. Bad makeup and hair. O.J. Aaron: A reminder to CNN viewers that any bang in Iraq, we'll certainly be going there. But in the meantime, what do police mean when they say they're looking for a "white" van, Wolf? Wolf: White is the absence of colour, Aaron. Connie: White is cream, light gray, vanilla. On my CNN Special, They Won't Let Us Stop Talking, I interview a biker artist who paints vans. And a graphic artist who puts coloured dots on our alarming sniper maps... James Earl Jones: All bang. All day. THIS ... is CNN. 18/10/2002 2:25 PM (AOL Canada news via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. LITTLE STEVE ANDERSON NEWS If you are interested in the latest news on the search for Steve Anderson of the now defunct clandestine KSMR, other than the continual parodies of Anderson and his now-defunct clandestine that continue to appear on the pirate bands from United Patriot Militia Bingo, one place to check is the web site for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. At the URL of http://www.atf.treas.gov/wanted/pages/18anderson.htm the bureau has provided the latest copy of their wanted poster for Steve. On the day that I checked the ATF web site, Steve was listed #3 on the list of nine wanted individuals on their web page. Steve is identified as ``Steven Howard Anderson,`` a.k.a. Steve Anderson. Of the other eight persons on the ATF list, one was listed as unidentified, with the following description: ``Subject fired a handgun at another subject near George Hall Elementary School (in Mobile, Alabama). This Suspect was shot in the Buttocks during the incident. Subject is wanted by ATF for discharging a firearm in a school zone.`` All of the wanted individuals on the ATF web site have additional information available in .pdf format for those who want more details. It is not clear if the ATF also thinks that Steve Anderson has a sore rear end, like his unidentified colleague on the ATF most wanted web site profiles. However, the content on Anderson`s ATF .pdf file is certainly of interest to those of us in the unlicensed broadcasting DX community, so here it is: ``Anderson is wanted by the Kentucky State Police for Attempted Murder. Anderson is wanted by ATF for violations of Federal explosives laws. Anderson should be considered Armed and Dangerous. Do not try to apprehend Anderson on your own - If you spot Anderson, immediately notify your local law enforcement agency, the Kentucky State Police at (606) 573-3131 or (800) 222-5555 or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms at (888) 283-8477.`` There are a couple of unflattering photos of Anderson on the ATF`s wanted poster, so you might want to take a look at this web site for yourself. A DIFFERENT STEVE ANDERSON Some of you may have noticed that Big Bear Publications, In their own words from their ``a small press publishing concern which runs infrequent poetry competitions,`` has published a poem by a guy named Steve Anderson. Although he announces on their web site that this poem is copyrighted, since ACE is a noncommercial publication, I am going to give both Big Bear Publications and Steve Anderson a little publicity by printing one of his poems here. The subject matter is actually a startling coincidence. Before getting to the poem, I am going to reprint the legal disclaimer that is associated with the poem, so that all of us are aware of this poem`s legal status. ``All poems here at the BigBear Publications Working A Way Through site are Copyright © Steve Anderson, 1999. All rights reserved. While it is my pleasure that you download my poems for your own personal enjoyment, you are expressly forbidden to use my work in any form for profit whether for barter, trade, promotion, or any other commercial endeavor without the prior permission in writing of myself, or BigBear Publications. The web site is at: http://www.bigbear.u-net.com/workingpoem25.htm The web site copy has a biography of the poet, saying that ``STEVE ANDERSON has been out and proud for more years than he cares to remember. Winner of the coveted school prize for poetry in his last year, he has been writing seriously for publication since 1991. He won the 6th Commonword Poetry Slam with a poem about kd lang`s Constant Craving. An appearance on Granada TV frightened the life out of him while, appearing live at a Candlelight Vigil in front of more than 5,000, didn`t faze him in the slightest. Steve has been published in a large variety of journals, winners anthologies and established poetry magazines. A non-Catholic, his work has even appeared in The Catholic Times. Steve has become quite a recluse of late so there are no poetry readings or workshops scheduled for the immediate future. This shouldn`t suggest that Steve has stopped writing. Far from it. He is currently engaged in writing his next collection. Quite when it will be completed is, so far, in the lap of the gods, but if you would like to be notified when it is ready, please write to Steve at rsvp@bigbear.u-net.com putting ``Next Poetry Publication`` in the subject line. He lives just outside Rochdale where he plays too many computer games writes games reviews for Gamer Grand Central and poetry reviews for New Hope International. Steve has a couple of rooms in a house owned by his landlord, Brian. He shares his strange existence with two cats, Chester and Kitty Kat and a free-range rabbit [loose in the garden] called Babs. Steve is free, single, available and open to offers...but don`t breathe a word to His Holiness.`` Obviously this description is of a different Steve Anderson than the guy who is featured on the AFT web site, and I therefore want to make it clear that there appears to be no connection whatsoever between Steve Anderson of Kentucky and Steve Anderson of Rochdale. But, given the striking subject matter of his poem, I am going to reprint it here anyway, as an extremely odd and interesting coincidence. MOST WANTED MAN by Steve Anderson I`m craving for a ploddy with a body that commands Come to bed. A private dick with stick, bomber jacket and well hung ammo pouches. I want to lay it on with the law wearing his stiff peak, hot pressed serge, with an easy zip or button fly. Not a slobby but a bobby in a smooth thin shirt with epaulette tongues, iron thick thighs and throbbing night-stick. Cuff me to your cruiser you big bruiser cop. Lay down the law as I lie on the floor spread-eagled. (George Zeller, OH, Clandestine Profile for Nov The ACE via DXLD) ** U S A. Hope the following be correct, as I was half-asleep at the time and rely on fuzzy memories: WJIE, 7490, seems finally to have acquired a new WOR, the current 1152, noted in progress around 0545 UT Sun Oct 20. Strangely enough, it was about a minute apart from the same via RFPI 7445 where it`s supposed to start at 0600, so I guess both actually started it around 0530. WOR has been heard previous weeks on WJIE around 0515 UT Sun, unlike on weekdays when the hour is unmodulated. Yes, current edition in progress UT Tue Oct 22 at 0322- 0331; I have heard me a few other days around 0300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. X BAND AT A GLANCE - October 2002 1610 CJWI Montreal QUE FF Caribbean music. 1620 WPHG Atmore AL Rel/Gos. (but silent) poss resurrection as WPNS WDND South Bend IN ESPN Radio 1620 KAZP Bellevue NE ESPN Sport ESPN .``The Zone`` WTAW College Station TX 'Newstalk 16-20 WTAW' CBS Nx KBLI Blackfoot ID SS ``Radio Fiesta`` KYIZ Renton WA Black Oldies/Urban//KRIZ ``Z Twins`` KSMH West Sacramento, CA Rel. EWTN Global Catholic radio WDHP Frederikstad, VI Variety.``The Reef`` //WRRA 1290 & WAXJ 1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA Hot AC /Classic Rock KKWY Fox Farm WY C&W ID slogan ``Spirit of Wyoming.`` AP nx KNAX Ft Worth/Dallas TX SS. Radio Vida/ Radio Dos Mil Dos. WTEL Augusta GA 'Newstalk 1630 WTEL' x WRDW 1640 WKSH Sussex WI Contemp Xtian. Salem Radio News. KPBC Lake Oswego OR Black Gospel//KKSL. (soon to Disney) KDIA Vallejo CA Talk/ 'Business Radio 1640' KBJA Sandy UT SS/Radio Unica EE ID on hour 1650 WHKT Portsmouth VA Disney KDNZ Cedar Falls IA Talk/ Sport ``The Talk Station``//KCNZ KWHN Fort Smith AR News//KYHN 'Newstalk 1650 KWHN' KBJD Denver CO Contemp Christian. ``The Beat' KFOX Torrance CA Korean/ EE ID on hour 1660 KTIQ Merced CA Sports/Sp News ``The Ticket`` WWRU Elizabeth NJ PP & SS Radio Unica/R. Portugal WCNZ Marco Is FL 'Newsradio 1660' AP nx WQSN Kalamazoo MI Sports/talk ESPN// WKLZ 1470. KRZX Waco TX ``Newstalk KRZX`` (off 6.p.m.-12 NZST) KQWB West Fargo ND Standards ``Star 1660 is KQWB AM' CNN KXOL Brigham City UT ``Big Oldies.`` KXTR Kansas City KS 'Classical 1660' WGIT Canovanas PRico SS oldies ``El Gigante`` 1670 WRNC Warner Robins GA Urban Gospel ``1670 The Light`` WTDY Madison WI Sports/Talk. ``1670 WTDY`` ``The Team`` KNRO Redding CA ``Redding's ESPN Radio 1670 KNRO' 1680 WTTM Princeton NJ Ethnic - Hindu WTIR Winter Garden FL ``Travel Information Radio`` WJNZ Ada MI R&B/Rap ``1680 Jamz`` (night power 680w) KAVT Fresno CA Disney/SS KRJO Monroe LA Gospel. ``Gospel 1680`` 1690 KDDZ Arvada CO Disney KSXX Roseville CA SS rel. /Radio Tricolour/ & Asian. EE ID on hour WPTX Lexington Park Sporting News Network 1700 WJCC Miami Springs FL SS/Rel/``Radio Luz`` WEUV Huntsville AL Black Gospel. ``Music of your Life.//1600 1kw KTBK Sherman TX Sporting News Radio KBGG Des Moines IA 'The new AM 1700 KBGG``. CNN KQXX Brownsville TX Oldies (880 watts night) (NEW ZEALAND DX TIMES OCTOBER 2002 PAGE 33 via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi, just wanted to point out an error on your page: http://www.dxing.com/dxr/dxld2035.htm You mention that the Time Capsule Show ran from 1968 to 1974 -- The show actually ran from 1963 to 1977. A minor point, but I figured in case you're a perfectionist you'd want it correct on your site! Thanks... (Erroll P. Foldes, NY, Oct 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Item is under USA, from DKOS, but this show was on WFUV. Actually, Big Steve mentioned it (gh, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. 5025, 2130-, Radio Tashkent, Sep 26. No change during the last 30 years, with the usual sign on announcement in English, with excellent reception. Parallels were 11905 (excellent), 9545 (very good well over cochannel German). (Volodya Salmaniw, Kremenchuh, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN CITY. 5890, 0513-, Vatican Radio, Sep 25. English programming with good reception about learning Latin (Volodya Salmaniw, Brody, Ukraine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. EXPLOSIVE DEVICE THROWN AT VENEZUELAN RADIO STATION PREMISES | Excerpt from report by Venezuelan Union Radio web site text on 19 October An explosive device was thrown at Unión Radio's headquarters at 0005 [local time] last night from an unidentified vehicle. Unión Radio President Sergio Gómez explained that "no-one was injured and property damage was minor, thank God, especially because no-one was hurt. It seems a car sped by and threw the device. What would have happened if one of the guards or operators had been outside smoking a cigarette? I imagine the shock wave could have killed him." The Unión Radio president stressed: "I believe that we Venezuelans have to stop this non-declared domestic conflict and stop treating each other as if there were two sides. This can be fun when it is between the people of Caracas and the people of Magallanes, but when you divide a country into two gangs, it always has very serious effects and we have to learn from what is happening to us and the history of other peoples." Sergio Gómez said that "one feels attacked, one feels bad. What feeling of hatred can these people have in their heads to do such a thing? I really do not understand." Sergio Gómez believes that the country's violence has become radicalized. "When there is a violent message, groups become radicalized and get out of control, which is what we are seeing. An example is what happened yesterday in central Caracas, the attacks on the media. Yesterday, we saw how Globovisión reporter Carla Angola was kicked." The Unión Radio president stressed that the radio station will continue its course of informing the truth. "As a media company, this is not going to intimidate us, we are going to continue along the same course as we have been doing up to now. I believe that if all the people who work for Unión Radio examine our consciences, we have nothing to regret"... Source: Union Radio web site text, Caracas, in Spanish 19 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 6930: Glenn-- VLB2 is from the Mossad, Israeli intelligence. They can be heard nightly in much of NA. 2 means that there is no msg. I have a sked if Petro would like it. 73/ (Liz Cameron, MI, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ HAMMARLUND WEB SITE has been updated and now includes a history of the Hammarlund Manufacturing Co. http://www.hammarlund.info/info/company_history/co_history.pdf Thanks for looking. (Les Locklear, SP-600 Historian, http://www.hammarlund.info/ via rec. radio.shortwave via SW Bulletin Oct 20 via DXLD) THE ROCKWELL/COLLINS FILTER WEB-SITE at http://www.rockwellcollins.com/otherbusinesses/collins- filters/Index.asp has an introductory overview at http://www.rockwellcollins.com/otherbusinesses/collins-filters/what-filter/ with application notes at http://www.rockwellcollins.com/otherbusinesses/collins-filters/notes/ A page describing the older types is at the Collins Virtual Museum at http://www.wa3key.com/filters.html (Albert P., BELLE ISLE, Cerberus Systems, Inc. via rec.radio.shortwave via SW Bulletin Oct 20 via DXLD) STATION E-MAIL ADDRESSES Over the past couple of years I have been compiling a file of e-mail addresses, mainly those that do not appear in publications such as WRTV and PWBR. Of course a few do now appear in the latest issues of the above. I send most of my reports by e-mail these days and enjoy a reasonable return. Of course I do have those that "Bounce" sometimes even using e-mail addresses obtained from a station's website. In those instances I print the report and simply post it off with a short covering note explaining that their e-mail address "bounces back" Voice of Armenia armen@arm.r.am or ARMEN@ARM.R.AM Azerbaijan Radio root@aztv.baku.az AWR_Broadcasts letters@awr.org Christian Voice Int voice@vil.com.au TWR Europe eurofreq@twr-europe.at_ V. of Afghanistan afbc2001@hotmail.com TDP (Ludo Maes) tdp@tijd.com Radio Bangladesh rrc@aitlbd.net or dgbetar@bd.drik.net Bhutan BC bbs@bbs.com.bt R. Bulgaria rbul@nationalradio.bg R. Minsk @ Hrodna RadioGrodno@tut.by_ Bolivian Stations http://www:schoechi.de/as-bol.htm RFPI radiopaz@rasca.co.cr High Adventure hiadventure@home.com V. Of Croatia D.Pavlic@hrt.hr (this one responds best) R. Habana radiohc@ip.etecsa.cu R. Budapest english@kaf.radio.hu RAI raiway.hfmonitoring@rai.it VOIRI englishsection@irib.com KOL [Israel] raphaelk@iba.org.il R. Jordan Zada@jrtv.gov.jo V. Of Africa africavoice@hotmail.com R. Moldova rmi.engl@mail.md V. Of Nigeria vonlagos@fiberia.com or dgovon@nigol.net.ng T8BZ (Palau) bentchan@hotmail.com R. Veritas Asia technical@rveritas-asia.org RDP isabelsaraiva@rdp.pt REE dxree.rne@rtve.es R. Veritas Africa veriprod@iafrica.com WEWN gtapley@ewtn.com RFA iwanciwt@rfa.org RHM remnantshope@hotmail.com WWRB dfrantz@tennessee.com SW Radio Africa mail@swradioafrica.com R. Pakistan cfmpbchq@isb.comsats.net.pk R. Marañón correo@radiomaranon.org.pe R. Paz Peru Int radiopaz@terra.com.pe Hopefully some of these will be of use to members and while many of the above broadcasters have other addresses listed in various publications I have found that these seem to be the most favoured in many instances. If anyone requires info re e-mail addresses I am only too happy to assist if I can. You can email Ian at iancattermole@xtra.co.nz or via P. O. Box 3011, Auckland (Chief Ed) (Ian Cattermole, Blenheim, NEW ZEALAND DX TIMES OCTOBER 2002 PAGE 36 via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-162, October 19, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1152: NEXT AIRINGS ON WWCR: Sun 0630 3210; Wed 0930 9475 NEXT AIRIMGS ON RFPI: Sun 0600, Mon 0030, 0630 on 7445, 15038 NEXT AIRING ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415 NEXT AIRING ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK: to NAm Sun 1400 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1152.html WORLD OF RADIO ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK. WRN has already posted its timeshifted schedules effective Oct. 27. WORLD OF RADIO will be at 0900 UT Sat to Eu, Af, As, Pac, also via WorldSpace; new to Eu only also at 0530 UT Sun. To North America Sun 1500, also at the same time via Sirius Satellite Radio. We thank WRN for its continued confidence in bringing WOR to a worldwide audience. ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Hello Mr. Hauser- Received in the mail today, Oct 18, a QSL of sorts from the 193rd Special Operations Wing (Penn. Air National Guard) with the following text: "This card acknowledges the receipt of a broadcast delivered by Commando Solo II during Operation Enduring Freedom. Thank you for your support of the 193rd Special Operations Wing" Also a personal note of thanks and apologies for the delay in responding on the back of the card. This was from a cassette recording of the 8700 kHz broadcasts I sent them in December 2001. 73s (Ben Loveless, WB9FJO, Michigan, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Afghanistan, Information Radio, 8700, n/d card with apology for delay for a written report (used my enclosed return postage + $.03 stamp of their own!). Had also sent a couple of e-mail follow-ups. No v/s (Greg Myers Clearwater, FL, Oct 19, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ALASKA. Here is some info I received about the upcoming KNOM test: --- (The sender is Les Brown, the engineer doing the test) One small change since our original planning for Saturday, October 26.... We'll go to 25 kW as planned at 12:00:01 AM that date but will hold the high power only to 1:00:00 rather than the 6 am we had originally planned. This is because it was pointed out that, with the time difference (we're 4-hours ahead [sic] of Eastern) the sun will have long-since risen everywhere else by 6 am our time and we'd just be running up a power bill for very little potential result. We now have a limited amount of audio on our KNOM.ORG website.... Also, I've dumped all the normal PSA's, substituting station promos to make for more and better ID opportunities! --- (via Lynn Hollerman, Lafayette, LA, Oct 17, Check out the IRCA Web site at http://www.ircaonline.org IRCA via DXLD) ?? Not so; there is plenty of darkness eastwards from Nome after 0900 UT in late October. Sunrise here in OK is around 1245. Not that Stillwater et al., will quell for this. KNOM perhaps needs to be reminded that by local sun (mean) time, they ought to be UT-11, that is 7 hours behind EDT! (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This decision to lower power after only 1 hour is rather unfortunate. If he can keep it at 25 kW until 3 Alaskan time, that will coincide with 7 AM EST [sic, standard lament] when the sun is actually rising at this time of the year in the east. This will give DXers 3 hours to try for them !! 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL?, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Glenn, Bali Murders: The Amateur Radio one minute silence is advised to be at 0000 UTC (Sunday 20 October 10 am EAST). This may be in error for the national one minute silence to be observed at noon EAST. EAST (Eastern Australian Standard Time) is currently UTC+10 - the switch to Eastern Summer Time does not occur until October 27, when it will be UTC+11. Tasmania already moved last weekend and is already UTC+11. Regards (Bob Padula, Victoria, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. WEEKEND HOT SHEET, SUNDAY OCTOBER 20, 2002 --- THE SUNDAY EDITION: A documentary from the BBC about a gay man of Jamaican roots who travels back to Jamaica where homosexuality remains a punishable crime. Then host Michael Enright speaks with author Meaghan Dealhung, whose new novel In the Blue House is a fictionalized account of Leon Trotsky's life in exile in Mexico. That's The Sunday Edition, right after the 9 a.m. news (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CANADA. The "Team Zone 2" Contest Group has just obtained permission to conduct the first Canadian experimental amateur radio transmissions on the 5 MHz. (60 meter) band from October 22nd to October 24th, 2002. Station will be operating from 257 KM north of Matagami, Quebec in the James Bay Region. Frequencies: 5280 - CW 5290 - digital modes 5400 and 5405 lower side band SWL Reports are most welcome. This info is "hot off the press" (the authorization was just received in the mail today from Industry Canada.) Callsign and QSL information to be announced. Please see the Team Zone 2 website at http://www.qsl.net/teamzone2 for further information. The site should be updated with further info tomorrow (Friday). 73 (Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, Oct 17, ODXA via DXLD) E-mail reports of our VA2BY 60 meter tests this coming week are much appreciated. They can go to radiotoronto@yahoo.com If you would like an actual QSL card, please send direct with return postage via VE3BY. More information on the 60 meter tests is available at http://www.qsl.net/teamzone2 73 (Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, Oct 19, ODXA via DXLD) ** CANADA. LET'S CLEAR THE AIR ABOUT HAM RADIO BILL BROWNSTEIN, The Gazette, Friday, October 18, 2002 Why "hams"? Well, it turns out that it has nothing to do with a penchant for pork products by those who practice this time-honoured pastime. Nor is it a sort of reference to juvenile theatrics. No, it seems that the origins of the word go way back. "In the days of Morse code, operators considered early radio communicators ham-fisted," Vernon Ikeda explains with a shrug... http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/columnists/story.asp?id={0655A1CF-414C-4DE3-AEF8-607761E86F5C} (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. A nice e-mail verification was just received for a report sent from last Wednesday's broadcast. The v/s Mr. Chung says: "Our church is from YOIDO FULL GOSPEL CHURCH which is in Korea. One of the missionaries from YFGC, is working as a priest in FGLP. The radio for the crew who work in the sea to hear live worships. We play this radio on live every Sunday at 11.00am and 7.00 pm in LP time, on Wednesday at 8.30 pm , and Friday at 10.00pm also in Las Palmas time." He wants reports to be sent to pulse@l21.net 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Cumbredx mailing list, Oct 18 via DXLD) According to the info I received from FG Las Palmas Church, the transmitter is located at the church in Las Palmas and rated 100 Watts (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 19, dxing.info via DXLD) ** CHILE. Update to Catholic station list here includes one SW item: Coyhaique: CD84 Santa María AM, 840 AM (10,000 watts), y CE603 on 6030 khz onda corta (10,000 watts). Vicariato Apostólico de Aysén, Red de Emisoras Madipro, Calle Bilbao 681, Casilla 1, Coyhaique, Chile. Tel.: (67) 232398, 232025, 231817; fax (67) 231306. E-mail: santamaria@entelchile.net o adminmadipro@tentelchile.net Señor Nelson Alvear Cabeza, director. 0500-2300 horas [local time, evidently, currently UT -3 ---gh], onda corta 1045-0230 y domingos 1130 a 0300 [UT evidently, unless an hour off due to recent DST shift – gh] (Oct 21 Catholic Radio Update, Oct 19 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. La Voz de tu Conciencia, 6011 approx., Oct 19 at 0618 and 0619 caught IDs amidst preaching in Spanish about Fearing the Lord. Naturally I did not listen long or bother to measure the frequency of the moment. Can`t tell me it`s not another gospel huxter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Hi Glenn: From the new issue of Semana (19 October 2002) at http://www.semana.com -- Radio rebelde: Causó sorpresa en el Eje Cafetero la aparición de una emisora de las Farc en el dial 101.3 F.M. El sonido es perfecto, los locutores parecen profesionales y la programación es variada y alterna vallenatos con arengas revolucionarias como la siguiente: "Arriba compañeros que tarde o temprano Manuel llegará al poder". Las autoridades no han logrado determinar dónde se originan las transmisiones (via Rich Stoller, Oct 19, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Dear Friends and Supporters: RFPI is temporarily unable to stream on the internet and download programs from the internet. We are in the process of installing new equipment which should put us back on the internet by November 7th -- if not sooner. The shortwave broadcast will not be affected except the following programs will be unavailable during this installation period: Democracy Now!, FreeSpeech Radio News, Between the Lines and World Opinion. Your financial support is greatly needed now more than ever to complete the equipment installation in the most timely manner possible (Debra Latham, CEO, RFPI, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. CLANDESTINE from USA to CUBA: 9955, Conversando Entre Cubanos replied direct and sent me a WRMI QSL that was stamped with the logo of ExClub, La Asociación de Ex Prisioneros Y Combatientes Políticos Cubanos. Also received a letter from Justo Gabriel Quintana, their Press Director, apologizing for the delay in responding and explaining that Rolando Borges, their President, had died so that they were reorganizing. Justo also enclosed an issue of their newsletter, Fragua. This was for a November 2001 reception in which a hurricane knocked Cuban jammers off the air and allowed clear reception of the program. Report was sent to 6858 West Flagler St, Miami, FL 33144 (Hans Johnson, WY, Oct 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. Hola estimados amigos de la lista, este mensaje es para preguntar ¿si algún colega sintonizó ayer la emisora turco chipriota BAYRAK RADIO en los 6150 khz? Lo pregunto porque ayer tarde a las 1500 horas UT me pareció escucharla en el Sureste de España y digo me pareció porque el audio era muy flojo y la S-meter de mi receptor no se movía, pero creo que la identificación en inglés de "BAYRAK RADIO". Me pareció escucharla el formato radiofónico de la emisora era un formato como una emisora de FM. Vamos a ver si algún colega escuchó lo mismo y si no es así, por favor que contestéis a mi pregunta y me digáis qué emisora podía estar en ese horario con ese formato a las 1500 h UT. Un saludo rompecostillas para todos desde Cartagena, España de vuestro colega (JOSE HERNANDEZ MADRID. 73´s y buenos DX, Oct 18, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Véase DXLD 2-160 {Never mind: it was really Singapore at this hour; see DXLD 2-165} ** CYPRUS [non]. IBRA vs Ibrahim and Kumru Hi Glenn, Re: ** CYPRUS [non]/RUSSIA. Radio Ibrahim seems to be linked with the Swedish radio mission IBRA Radio.... Yes, they say on http://www.ibra.se - Presentation, page 5: "Den mycket starka sändaren i ryska Krasnodar hörs över hela Mellanöstern och därmed stora delar av muslimvärlden. Förr sändes här kommunistpropaganda, nu sänds istället evangelium från IBRA varje kväll." The Turkish broadcast is called Radyo Kumru, with a web page http://www.radyokumru.com which is also shown on http://www.ibra.se -: Utgång For "Radio Ibrahim" the following schedule was given on PlayDX-list by Christian Gibaudo: P. O. Box 56500, Limassol, CHYPRE mail@radioibrahim.com Winter Schedule 0700-0715 : (Mon-Fri) : 21590 0700-0745 : (Sat-Sun) : 21590 2000-2045 : (Tues) : 5935 1170 2000-2100 : (Sun, Mon) : 5935 1170 2000-2115 : (Wed-Sat) : 5935 1170 2100-2115 : (Tues) : 5935 1170 2100-2130 : (Thur) : 12025 2130-2200 : (Sat-Sun) : 12025 2130-2215 : (Mon) : 12025 2145-2200 : (Tues, Wed, Fri) : 12025 2230-2330 : (except Thur) : 9405 2245-2315 : (Thur) : 9405 2215-2230 : (Mon) : 1467 1467 kHz - TWR Monte Carlo 1170 kHz - Krasnodar Russia 5935 kHz - Ibra Radio, Moscow Russia 9405 kHz - Ibra Radio, Jülich Germany 21590 kHz - Voice of Hope, Jülich Germany 12025 kHz - HCJB Ascension Island Regards, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. RADIO PRAGUE VALID 27 OCTOBER 2002 - 29 MARCH 2003 Czech 0930-0957 EU/AF/ME 15255 21745 1030-1057 sAS/wAF 21745 1200-1227 EU/AS/AU 11640 21745 1330-1357 EU 6055 7345 1430-1457 eAF/NAM 21745 1630-1657 EU/c,wAF 5930 17485 1830-1857 EU/AS/AU 5930 7315 2030-2057 EU/AS/AU 5930 9430 2200-2227 AS/AU/EU 5930 9435 0030-0057 N+SAM 7345 9440 0230-0257 N+SAM 6200 7345 0330-0357 NAM 7345 7385** 9435 English 0800-0827 EU 11600 15255 1000-1029 sAS/wAF 21745 1130-1157 EU/AF/ME 11640 21745 1400-1429 eAF/NAM 21745 1700-1727 EU/c,wAF 5930 17485 1800-1827 EU/AS/AU 5930 7315 2100-2127 EU/AS/AU 5930 9430 2230-2257 NAM/wAF 7345 9435 2330-2357 NAM 7345 9435 0100-0127 NAM 6200 7345 0200-0227 NAM 6200 7345 0400-0427 NAM 7345 7385** 9435 0430-0457 ME/swAS 9865 11600 French 0700-0727 EU 5930 7345 0900-0927 EU 11600 15255 1730-1757 EU 5930 17485 1930-1957 EU/nwAF 5930 9430 2300-2327 NAM 7345 9435 German 0730-0757 EU 5930 7345 1100-1127 EU 7345 9880 1300-1329 EU 6055 7345 1600-1627 EU 5930 1730-1757 EU 5990* Russian 0500-0527 eEU/AS 1359*** 6055 11600 1230-1257 eEU/AS 6055 15665* 21745 1530-1557 eEU/swAS 5915* 11975 13580 1630-1657 eEU 5990* Spanish 0830-0857 EU 11600 15255 1500-1527 EU 11600 13580 1900-1927 EU 5930 9430 2000-2027 EU 5930 9430 2130-2157 EU 5930 9435 0000-0027 SAM 7345 9440 0130-0157 CAM 6200 7345 0300-0327 C+SAM 6200 7345 7385** Transmitters at Litomysl, except: * = Relay via Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia ** = WRMI Miami, Florida, USA Note: *** = To Moscow from 1.1.2003 Local AM Transmissions on 1071 1233 1287: Spanish 1100-1130 French 1130-1200 Russian 1200-1230 English 1230-1300 English 1830-1900 German 1900-1930 Sked via Wolfgang Bueschel (retyped by Alan Roe, DXLD) ** EUROPE. Hi DX-ers / listeners, Now Sunday 20 oktober 2002 SENSATION AM from Western Europe on the shortwaves. FREQ: 15.725 MHz. TIME: 0615 UT. We changed our antenna-system. So probably the signal is better then before (Well let's hope) RECEPTION REPORTS ARE MOST WELCOME: sensationam@hotmail.com Meet you tomorrow! S.am [sic] (via George Maroti, NY, Oct 19, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** FRANCE. B-02 SCHEDULE: FRANCE - R. FRANCE INTERNATIONALE Sked effective 27 Oct to 30 March 2003 Albanian+French 0700 - 0800 9805 Arabic 0500 - 0530 3965* 5925 7135** 1600 - 1630 9790 12025 1700 - 1800 7325* 9790 12025** Cambodian 1200 - 1300 11600xi English 0400 - 0430 11910ga 11995* 3610** 0500 - 0530 13610* 15155ga 17800** 0600 - 0630 11710ga 15155* 17800 21620** 0700 - 0800 15605ga 1200 - 1230 15540ga 25820 1400 - 1500 7175xi* 9580xi* 11610xi** 17620 1600 - 1700 11615 11995ga 12015ga 17850 1600 - 1730 11615 15605 17605** French 0100 - 0200 15605be* 17710xi** 0130 - 0200 9800gu 11665gu 0230 - 0400 9790 11995 0300 - 0400 5915* 7135 7135me 7315 9845** 0300 - 0500 5945* 7135 9555** 9790 0400 - 0430 9790ga 0400 - 0500 3965 4890ga 7135* 7135ga** 7315* 9805ga* 9845 11995** 0400 - 0600 6045(0430-) 11685** 0430 - 0500 5990 7280 11850ga 11910ga 11995* 13610** 0500 - 0545 5990 0500 - 0600 6175ga 7135* 9555* 9790 9845* 11700 11995 15135** 15300** 15605ga 0530 - 0600 3965* 7135** 5925 13610* 15155ga 17800** 0600 - 0700 5925* 7135 7135ga 9790 11700 15135 15300 17850** 0630 - 0700 6175* 7280 9805** 11710ga 15155* 17800 21620** 0700 - 0800 7135* 9790 9790ga 11700 11975 15300** 15315 17620** 17850 0700 - 1600 11670(-1030) 21580 0800 - 0900 15300 15315* 21685** 0800 - 1000 15300(0900-) 17620 0800 - 1800 11845(-1600) 15300 0900 - 1200 21620 25820 0900 - 1600 21685 1000 - 1100 17850 1030 - 1200 7140ya* 9830ya 11890ya** 1100 - 1200 6175 11600be 11670gu* 13640gu 15300 15515* 15515gu** 17610** 21755ga 1100 - 1400 17620 1130 - 1200 17610* 21645** 1200 - 1400 9790ga 15300 1230 - 1300 15515gu 15540ga 25820 1230 - 1400 17860gu 21645gu(1300-) 1400 - 1430 15315* 17850 1400 - 1500 17650 1500 - 1600 15605* 17605 17620 17650** 17850 21620 1600 - 1700 6090ku 15300* 21580** 1630 - 1700 9790 11665 12025 13580 1700 - 1800 11965* 17620** 1700 - 1900 15300 17620** 1730 - 1800 11615 15605 17605** 1800 - 1900 5900 9790 11615** 11995 1800 - 2100 11955ga 11965(-2000) 1800 - 2200 7160ga 11705 1900 - 2000 3965 7315* 9485* 9790 11995 15300** 1900 - 2100 7315(2000-) 9790 2000 - 2200 6175 9485 9790 11995 2100 - 2200 3965 7315 9790ga 2300 - 0100 9805 17710ya(-0030) Mandarin 0930 - 1030 9655ya* 11890ya** 1200 - 1300 7140ya* 9830ya** Persian 1800 - 1900 7350* 9430 11650** Polish 0545 - 0600 5990 1700 - 1800 3965 7135 2200 - 2300 3965 5915 Portuguese 1700 - 1800 12015ga 15530 2000 - 2100 11965 Pushtu 1600 - 1630 11665 13580 Romanian 1600 - 1700 9805 2100 - 2200 6185 7135 Russian 0400 - 0430 5990 6045 7280 1400 - 1430 15155 15595 15605 17610 1900 - 2000 5905 7135 Serbian 0600 - 0630 6175* 7280 9805** 1500 - 1600 9805 11670 2000 - 2100 3965 6090 Spanish 0100 - 0130 9800gu 11665gu 1000 - 1030 6175gu* 9830gu** 1200 - 1230 13640gu 15515gu 1800 - 1830 17630gu 21645gu 2100 - 2130 17630gu 21645gu Vietnamese 1400 - 1500 6120ya* 11735ya** * = 27 Oct 2002 - 2 March 2003 ** = 2 March 2003 - 30 March 2003 Relays: be = Beijing, China ga = Gabon gu = French Guyana ku = Kunming, China me = Meyerton, S. Africa xi = Xi`an, China ya = Yamata, Japan (Sked via Wolfgang Bueschel, retyped into language order by Alan Roe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE / INTERNATIONAL VACUUM / CANADA. Canadian satellite TV company Bell ExpressVu has added Radio France Internationale's 24- hour-a-day French language service to its line-up of radio stations. In a press release, EVu says RFI will be "free of charge for the next four months -- until February 16, 2003." After that RFI will become part of the French "Divertissement" package. "RFI is the leading international French radio station, with 45 million listeners worldwide. RFI features 58 daily newscasts on world and French events, as well as more than 65 newsmagazines," the news release says. RFI is on Bell ExpressVu's channel 979. This appears to create a new method of obtaining RFI, even for non-EVu subscribers, since EVu's radio services are FTA (free to air) if you have a Ku-band and MPEG satellite receiver (though I've found the polarization on the Nimiq satellite is a bit problematic). RFI has been available for $1 a month through Dish Network in the U.S. Curiously, the EVu signal lags behind the Dish Network signal by a full second and is several seconds behind RFI as heard on shortwave (Mike Cooper, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle B-02 includes ENGLISH: 0000 - 0100 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 0100 - 0200 SAS 1548 TRINCOMALE 0100 - 0200 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 0100 - 0145 N/CAM 6040 SACKVILLE 0100 - 0145 NAM 6145 WERTACHTAL 0100 - 0145 N/CAM 9640 SINES 0100 - 0145 NAM 9700 ANTIGUA 0100 - 0145 NAM 9765 SACKVILLE 0200 - 0245 SAS 11965 TRINCOMALE 0200 - 0245 SAS 13605 TRINCOMALE 0200 - 0245 SAS 1548 TRINCOMALE 0200 - 0300 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 0200 - 0245 SAS 7285 WERTACHTAL 0200 - 0245 SAS 9765 WERTACHTAL 0300 - 0345 NAM 11985 BONAIRE 0300 - 0345 NAM 6020 SACKVILLE 0300 - 0345 NAM 6045 WERTACHTAL 0300 - 0345 N/CAM 9640 SINES 0300 - 0345 NAM 9700 ANTIGUA 0400 - 0500 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 0400 - 0445 AF 6180 KIGALI 0400 - 0445 AF 7195 KIGALI 0400 - 0445 AF 9565 KIGALI 0400 - 0500 KIG 96 KIGALI 0400 - 0445 AF 9710 WERTACHTAL 0500 - 0545 NAM 11795 BONAIRE 0500 - 0545 NAM 5960 WERTACHTAL 0500 - 0545 NAM 6120 SINES 0500 - 0600 KIG 96 KIGALI 0500 - 0545 NAM 9670 ANTIGUA 0600 - 0645 WAF 11785 WERTACHTAL 0600 - 0700 EUR 6140 JUELICH 0600 - 0645 WAF 7225 SINES 0600 - 0645 WAF 9565 WERTACHTAL 0600 - 0700 KIG 96 KIGALI 0700 - 0800 EUR 6140 JUELICH 0800 - 0830 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 0800 - 0900 EUR 6140 JUELICH 0800 - 0900 KIG 96 KIGALI 0900 - 0945 AF 11785 KIGALI 0900 - 0945 AF 15410 KIGALI 0900 - 0945 AF 17800 KIGALI 0900 - 0945 SEAS/OC 17820 TRINCOMALE 0900 - 0945 SEAS/OC 17845 TRINCOMALE 0900 - 0945 EAF 17860 TALATA VO. 0900 - 0945 AF 21560 WERTACHTAL 0900 - 1000 EUR 6140 JUELICH 0900 - 0945 OC 6160 ANTIGUA 0900 - 0945 OC 9510 ANTIGUA 0900 - 0945 N/CAM 9510 ANTIGUA 0900 - 1000 KIG 96 KIGALI 0900 - 0945 FE 9770 IRKUTSK 1000 - 1100 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1100 - 1145 AF 15410 KIGALI 1100 - 1145 AF 17800 KIGALI 1100 - 1145 AF 21530 KIGALI 1100 - 1145 AF 21780 WERTACHTAL 1100 - 1145 AF 25700 NAUEN 1100 - 1200 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1100 - 1200 KIG 96 KIGALI 1130 - 1200 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 1200 - 1300 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1300 - 1400 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1400 - 1500 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1500 - 1600 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1600 - 1645 SAS 11695 WERTACHTAL 1600 - 1645 SAS 13605 NAUEN 1600 - 1645 AF 15455 KIGALI 1600 - 1645 SAS 1548 TRINCOMALE 1600 - 1700 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 1600 - 1645 AF 21840 WERTACHTAL 1600 - 1700 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1600 - 1645 SAS 6170 TRINCOMALE 1600 - 1645 SAS 7225 TRINCOMALE 1600 - 1700 KIG 96 KIGALI 1600 - 1645 AF 9735 KIGALI 1700 - 1730 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 1700 - 1800 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1800 - 1830 EUR 3995 WERTACHTAL 1800 - 1900 EUR 6140 JUELICH 1900 - 1945 WAF 11765 WERTACHTAL 1900 - 1945 AF 13780 WERTACHTAL 1900 - 1945 AF 15275 KIGALI 1900 - 1945 AF 17560 KIGALI 1900 - 1945 C/EAF 17810 TRINCOMALE 1900 - 1930 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 1900 - 1945 EAF 21780 TRINCOMALE 1900 - 1930 EUR 3995 WERTACHTAL 1900 - 2000 KIG 96 KIGALI 2000 - 2045 EUR 6180 SINES 2000 - 2100 KIG 96 KIGALI 2100 - 2145 AF 11645 WERTACHTAL 2100 - 2145 SEAS/OC 11890 TRINCOMALE 2100 - 2145 SEAS/OC 15275 TRINCOMALE 2100 - 2145 WAF/AM 15410 KIGALI 2100 - 2145 WAF 17765 KIGALI 2100 - 2200 KIG 96 KIGALI 2100 - 2145 WAF 9615 WERTACHTAL 2100 - 2145 SEAS/OC 9765 WERTACHTAL 2130 - 2200 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 2200 - 2300 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 2300 - 2345 SEAS 13690 TRINCOMALE 2300 - 0000 BLN 199 DAB BERLIN 2300 - 2345 FE 21790 PETROPAVL. 2300 - 2345 FE 9470 NOVOSIBIR. 2300 - 0000 KIG 96 KIGALI 2300 - 2345 SAS/SEAS 9815 WERTACHTAL (Sked via Wolfgang Bueschel, resorted into language/time order by Alan Roe, DXLD) ** GHANA. 3285.5, weak signal with news read by female at 2204 UT (Oct 18). Sounded like mentions of Accra and Ghana during the news. Music at 2212. Found to be parallel to 3366 (fair signal) with Friday night music program. Didn't notice they were parallel until 2234. I thought this was Guyana off frequency (3290) originally. 4915 seemed to have Vernacular program from Radio 1. 73's (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 90m has lots of spurs from 3366 as in previous reports (gh, DXLD) GBC Radio Ghana heard once again on 3366, Oct 19, good signal with religious program at 2031 UT. Heard once again on 3285.5 and also 3446.5 (3366 +/- 80.5 KHz). (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. This reminds me a lot of the previous Cumbre item, but it is from `diverse sources`; illustrated, tho: VULKAAN BEDREIGT KORTEGOLF STATION http://www.kortegolf.info/KWHR.htm (Nieuwsbrief via gh, DXLD) ** HONG KONG. RTV Hong Kong has now been audible on both evenings on 3940 USB, as of October 16th. Broadcast schedule 2133-2143 UT. First evening it was hardly audible but last night there was a good reception. I missed this station exactly 20 years ago, when it was heard well in Finland - managed to hear it finally on mw, though, but always wanted to catch their SW broadcast. The station is regularly(?) on the air during the yacht race but very seldom heard at least in the northern part of Europe. Eg. last spring their schedule was hopeless in the Scandinavian point-of-view. I was using NRD535 and an L of 50 mts (Hannu Tikkanen Espoo, Finland, Oct 18, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Better reception today: 3940 USB, Radio Television Hong Kong, October 17th, 2133-2143, English, after a brief melody the following announcement could be heard: "This is Radio Television Hong Kong with a special weather forecast for the Hong Kong - Hainan yacht race 2002." SINPO 23322 I prepared a small mp-3 sound file of the ID. Please let me know, if you have interest (Michael Schnitzer, Germany, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 3940 USB, RTVHK weather broadcast 2133 UT (Oct 18) tentative logging. Music followed by British accented male announcer very weak signal with ham QRM. Heard again on 3940 USB Oct 19 at 2133 UT poor signal again, but definite Popeye type opening music and male with weather info (occasional words and numbers heard). Interference from the Maine Seagull Amateur Radio net in LSB and later two stations in possible Russian in USB which pretty well wiped out the signal (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, Oct 18-19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL from RTHK 3940 USB (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ------- On 19 Oct 2002 ccu@rthk.org.hk wrote: ------- Re: RTHK heard in Finland on 3940 kHz Dear Jari Savolainen Thank you for your enquiry. RTHK has seven radio broadcasting channels which are broadcast in AM and FM. We only provide occasional short wave weather reports for the Yacht race in South China Sea. It's so lucky that you have picked up our short wave signals. Kind regards. RTHK Corporate Communications Unit (via Savolainen, DXLD) RTV Hong Kong not heard yesterday, but was just audible here today (19 Oct) on 3940 usb at 2133 UT s/on with weather forecast in English, read slowly by male announcer. Blocked by ham interference from 2138. It should be on for another four days at this time so there is a chance of hearing it again if conditions remain good (Dave Kenny, Caversham, UK, Oct 19, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** ICELAND. RIKISUTVARPID, Reykjavík noted on new and free frequency of 15715 kHz with S/OFF at 1456 UT, SIO 354. 73 and happy week-end (from Turku! Jouko Huuskonen, FINLAND, Oct 18, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** INDIA. Several additions have been made to AIR`s External Services lately with the activation of transmitters from Khampur in Delhi. Here is a selection of them. 7410 (new) 1215-1330 Tibetan (Tibet) 9950 (new) 1515-1615 Swahili (E. Africa) 9950 (ex 15075) 1615-1730 Hindi (E. Africa), 1745-1945 English 9950 (new) 1945-2045 Hindi (Europe) 9950 (ex 9650) 2045-2230 English (Europe) 13695 (ex 13700) Bangalore 1115-1215 Tamil, 1215-1245 Telegu (SE Asia) 13750 (ex 13720) Bangalore 1515-1615 Swahili, 1615-1730 Hindi (E. Africa, Mauritius). 15050 (new) 115-1215 Tamil, 1300-1500 Sinhala (Sri Lanka) 15410 (ex 11585) 1000-1100 English (NEAsia) 15410 (ex 15235) Panaji 1115-1200 Thai (Thailand). 15235 will again be used in B-2002. 17845 (new) 0400-0430 Persian, 0430-0530 Arabic (Middle East). Some of these frequencies were used some time back. This changed schedule will continue in B-2002. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda, Oct 18, dx_india via DXLD) ** IRAN. ENFORCEMENT: IRANIAN JAMMER UPDATE --- The 40 meter Iranian jammers we recently reported on are still being heard. Intruder Watch Regional Coordinator Martin Potter says that the jamming is being done to a low power station called Radio Mujahed. It's being head in 10 Kilohertz steps from 7 point 010 to 7 point 090 MHz. Potter says that S-W-L's may find the same situation in the broadcasting frequencies as well (Q-News via Amateur Radio Newsline Oct 18 via DXLD) ** ITALY. In April, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi accused two famous journalists of "criminal" abuse of state television after criticising him during last year's general election campaign. State broadcaster RAI immediately leapt to the defence of the celebrated duo, Michele Santoro and Enzo Biagi, and issued a statement proclaiming that RAI was "an independent institution, autonomous from politics". Six months later, RAI unceremoniously dumped the pair from its autumn schedules, opening the floodgates on accusations that it was censoring the foes of the media-mogul-turned-politician. "If anyone is making criminal use of RAI then it is Berlusconi," said Santoro, a renowned left-wing sympathiser who has fronted successful current affairs programmes for years. "Berlusconi is behind all this. When he has an enemy he indicates them to his henchmen and they do the dirty work," he told a small group of foreign journalists recently. The government denies putting pressure on RAI to silence its critics, but the whiff of censorship won't go away -- if anything it is growing. Last week, RAI not only blocked a program from airing a satirical dig at the prime minister, but also prevented a recently sacked Culture Ministry official from appearing on two popular talk shows. "Italy no longer enjoys the same freedom of press that we have in other European countries," said Robert Menard, secretary general of Paris-based watchdog Reporters without Borders (RsF). "Indeed the situation in Italy is now worse than in a number of African countries," he told Reuters in a telephone interview (Reuters via SCDX/MediaScan Oct 18 via DXLD) ** ITALY. NEXUS STATION IN ITALY OFFERS LEASES OF SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTERS FOR CATHOLIC PACIFIC Mike, I was very interested in your article relayed by CumbreDX. Perhaps you heard of us here in Milano: we have been working since 1988 in the field, broadcasting with low power (10 kW) Shortwave into Europe. We are non profit, non denominational, with a free-access policy and our mission is to offer technical facilities ("media") to those in need to spread their message, by means of radio, and other electronic media such as the Internet. Our Charter says it all: http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/General-Info/Charter.html We operate on a cost shared basis, where all our users share the operational costs and enjoy all services and consulting that each member offers through NEXUS-IBA. Building a new station may be unnecessarily expensive, why do not use existing services? As a matter of fact, we just signed a new venture that allows us to operate some existing transmitter facilities with power from 10 to 500 kW Shortwave & MW, with antennas that are able to reach Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. We are just now modifying several high power transmitters with digital pulse code modulation (CCM), and enable them to operate with USB, -6 dB reduced carrier modulation. This type of modulation that we pioneered since 1988 is compatible with traditional AM receivers, and is able to provide from 50 to 100% additional "communication" power to existing transmitters, i.e. the efficiency of a 100 kW will be comparable to a 200 kW transmitter with 100 kW operating costs. We already linked these facilities with digital audio links that can be used to cheaply operate from anywhere in the world, and allow to be on the air at any time with basically no additional transport costs (i.e. no satellite or leased lines) Unfortunately I am not at liberty to discuss further details about this venture, but would in confidence provide more information if someone is seriously interested in using our relay facilities. I believe we can be quite competitive, and offer a cost-wise professional alternative to existing relays and especially to building a new shortwave station. 73, Alfredo Cotroneo President, Nexus-IBA Milan, Italy alfredo@nexus.org" http://www.nexus.org (Oct 21 Catholic Radio Update, Oct 19, via DXLD) See also USA: WRMI ** JAMAICA [and non]. Another obit for Dwight Whylie, from the Guardian and from a UK perspective. 73- Bill Westenhaver DWIGHT WHYLIE Norman Rae, Thursday October 17 2002, The Guardian The Jamaican broadcaster Dwight Whylie, who has died aged 66, was the BBC's first black radio announcer. He also worked in Canada, and at home, where he was general manager of the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), and, at the time of his death, chairman of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union. Born in Kingston, the son of a pharmacist, Whylie was educated at Kingston College, a grammar school modelled on the British educational system, with a reputation for encouraging students to explore beyond the standard curriculum to literature, music and the arts. After graduating from the University of the West Indies, and a period of teaching, he moved into public relations, and radio and television production. He also built a reputation as an announcer-presenter at the JBC, created in the heady days before Jamaican independence, in 1962, as an independent institution influencing the island's intellectual development. Eventually, he moved to the JBC's commercial rival, Radio Jamaica and Rediffusion, where he became chief announcer, and reported on the birth of the new nation. In 1964, Whylie moved to Britain, initially as information officer at the Jamaican high commission, and, a year later, as the BBC's first Caribbean radio announcer, an appointment that attracted considerable press interest. Perhaps he set the image in which other West Indian media presenters have subsequently been cast: here was a well- mannered, well-read, well-educated Jamaican, speaking with dignity and intelligence - an image that still seems to startle an outside world brainwashed by the promotion of Rasta and Reggae Boyz. But his beloved Jamaica was never far from Whylie's mind, and, in the early 1970s, he returned to the JBC. By 1973, he was general manager, in a position to play his part in the building of a potentially great and independent institution, modelled on the BBC. Whylie, however, did not understand fully the conflicts between political dictate and independent, though government-funded, institutions in a small, emerging nation. By 1977, his appointment was abruptly ended and, with his reputation considerably enhanced, he moved to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Apart from his work, for more than a decade he was active in the affairs of the Caribbean community in Canada, for which he received a number of awards. When he eventually returned to Jamaica - by now regarded as the grand old man of Caribbean broadcasting - Whylie became a consultant in media training, working with UNESCO, the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, the Commonwealth secretariat and the University of the West Indies. In March last year, he served as chairman of the UNESCO media monitoring and refereeing panel for the Guyana general elections. He is survived by his second wife, Joan, and his daughter Laura. Dwight Emerson Gregory Whylie, journalist, born June 7 1936; died September 15 2002 Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. B-02 SCHEDULE: R. KOREA INTERNATIONAL Sked effective from 27 October 2002 Arabic 1700-1800 EU/ME/AF 7275 9870 15575 1900-2000 EU 6480 7550 Chinese (Mandarin) 1130-1230 China 6065 1300-1400 AS 1170 5975 6135 7275 2000-2100 AS 5975 2100-2200 China 6035 2300-2400 AS/seAS/EU 5975 72759755 English 0200-0300 NAM/Japan 9560sa 11810 15575 0800-0900 AS/EU 9570 13670 1130-1230 NAM 9650sa 1300-1400 AS 9570 13670 1600-1700 AS/ME/AF 5975 9515 9870 1900-2000 AS/EU 5975 7275 2100-2200 EU 15575 2200-2230 EU 3955sk French 0800-0900 EU 15210 1700-1800 ME/AF 9515 1800-1900 EU/ME/AF 7275 9870 2100-2200 EU 3955sk German 0700-0800 EU 15210 1600-1700 EU 7275 2000-2100 EU 3955sk Indonesian 1200-1300 AS 9570 13670 1400-1500 AS 9570 13670 2200-2300 EU/seAS 7275 9755 Japanese 0000-0100 Japan 11810 0800-0900 AS 5975 7275 1100-1200 AS 9570 1200-1300 AS 1170 5975 6135 1400-1500 AS 5975 7275 2300-2400 Japan 15575 Korean 0100-0200 NAM 15575 0300-0400 Japan 11810 0700-0800 EU 9535sk 0900-1000 EU 15210 0900-1100 AS/EU 5975 7275 9570 13670 1000-1100 AS 1170 1100-1130 NAM 9650sa 1200-1300 AS 7275 1600-1800 EU 7150 1700-1900 AS 5975 1800-2000 EU 15575 1900-2000 ME/AF 9870 2100-2300 AS 5975 Russian 0700-0800 EU 13670 1100-1200 AS 1170 5975 6135 7275 1600-1700 EU 15575 1800-1900 EU 7235 2000-2100 EU 7275 7550 Spanish 0100-0200 Japan 11810 1000-1100 SAM/EU 9580 11715sa 15210 2000-2100 EU 15575 sa = Sackville, Canada sk = Skelton, UK (Sked via Wolfgang Bueschel, retyped into text version by Alan Roe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?????? Nothing here about additional frequencies, tests, e.g. in Spanish at 1000 as in DXLD 2-151 item (gh, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. I'm observing Clandestine Station on variable 4025 kHz in Kurdish and Arabic between fade in 1500 to 2100 with O=2-4 13.10.02: 4025.65 kHz 1828 UTC 15.10.02: 4025.17 kHz 1556-1951 UTC 16.10.02: 4024.80 kHz 1645 UTC 4025.60 kHz 1834 UTC 17.10.02: 4025.65 kHz 1959 UTC 18.10.02: 4024.80 kHz 1537-2100 UTC s/off Program is made professionally with correspondents` reports and musical bridges. I couldn't detect verification. Kurdistan was often mentioned. Change between Kurdish and Arabic ca. 1800 UT. Is it the reactivated Voice of the Patriotic Islamic Party of Kurdistan mentioned in BCDX 454, 403 and 399 and or a new station? 73 (Hartmut Engemann, location unknown, Oct 18, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. PRESIDENT SEES RADIO BROADCASTS AS 'INFORMATION TERROR.' RFE/RL's coverage of an increasingly tense political scene in Kyrgyzstan has clearly irritated President Askar Akaev in Kyrgyzstan. Indeed, in late July, Akaev labeled these broadcasts a "threat to the state," and foreign-financed "information terror" according to the AKIpress website. After Akaev's comments, according to opposition political activists, RFE/RL's signal has become more difficult to receive in Kyrgyzstan, "Eurasia Insight" reported on 16 October. Catherine Cosman, editor, RFE/RL Media Matters Oct 18 via DXLD) Like, jamming, or propagation, or??? ** LAOS [non]. ADDRESS AND TENTATIVE STATION ID FOR ULMD By Nick Grace, CRW Washington Bureau Thanks for Dave Kernick, Interval Signals Archive [Oct 18] The cloud of mystery surrounding the radio program reported as "United Lao Movement for Democracy" (ULMD) is finally clearing. The broadcasts, CRW can report, are indeed sponsored by ULMD. Multiple sources have also independently confirmed to CRW that the programs are recorded in Hmong, a minority dialect in Southeast Asia. A spokesman for ULMD reached by telephone refused comment but did confirm that the group is producing the radio programs. Armed with an online Hmong-English dictionary, we have translated an address announced during a broadcast featured on the Interval Signals Archive. P.O. Box 2426, St. Paul, MN 55106 USA The station ID, spelled phonetically, is "Xotvooj cua Tsa kom cua Ngem ah cua." Although we are unsure of two words in the station ID, "Xotvooj cua" translates to "Radio." A tentative translation of the station ID is "Radio Hmong Hope." Radio Hmong Hope/ULMD broadcasts between 0100 and 0200 GMT Fridays on 17540 kHz. Its frequency will likely change to 12070 kHz, according to Wolfgang Bueschel, during the B-02 Winter season. Developing... (Nick Grace C., Oct 18, Clandestine Radio Watch special via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. New addition is Voice of Malaysia website: http://www.rtm.net.my/vom/utama.htm (Prime Time Shortwave Oct 19 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. President Vicente Fox reduced the amount of time television and radio stations must dedicate to the government. In a decision announced October 10, Fox's government said television and radio stations no longer have to donate at least three hours a day to the government so that it can present "material recorded by the executive branch". The amount of time was reduced to 18 minutes for television and 35 minutes for radio but must be aired between the peak hours of 6 a.m. and midnight. Before the longer hours of government air time were broadcast during late-night hours when few viewers or listeners tuned in, a Fox spokesman said Friday night. Radio and television stations also agreed to dedicate another 30 minutes each day during peak hours to other government entities, he said. The resolution also states that the government will not have to pay for the 18 minutes of daily television time or 35 minutes of daily radio time but that it will be charged full price for any additional air time, the spokesman said. Senators from Fox's National Action Party criticized the president's decision, with Javier Corral saying it was contrary to national interest. Fox said the decision was part of his campaign for a more democratic, open Mexico. He lobbied for passage of Mexico's new freedom of information law, and has made the government funded news agency Notimex more independent (AP via SCDX MediaScan Oct 16 via DXLD) ** MOZAMBIQUE. 4925: I guess Mozambique operates here. On 7 Oct, Indonesia signed off at 1500, but even after that, weak broadcast of another station continued. Language sounded like Spanish or Portuguese, and that astonished me very much, because the time did not fit for American opening. After consulting with ILGRadio database, I became convinced that Portuguese might come from Mozambique, Africa. Signal totally disappeared by 1600 (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal Oct 18 via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5985.85, R. Myanmar, 1329-1345+ Oct 17 with IS of exotic Burmese music, then chimes to 1330 (Top of Hour in Myanmar). YL followed with talk in presumed Burmese, possibly news. Excellent signal today, perhaps "best ever". MYANMAR. 5040.6, R. Myanmar Minority Service presumed per others` logs, 1322-1329+ Oct 17 with lite vocal music, announcer in lang. Good at tune-in and soon began fadeout, while 5985.85 continued at good level to almost 1400 UT (8 AM here). (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot random wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Alfa Lima International on 15070 and somewhere between 6310 and 6200 tonight ALI will be on air (as almost always) on 15070 kHz AM and between 6200 and 6310 AM Transmission into the 48 mb will be carried out with only 50 watts and on 15070 with 300 Soon both frequency's will be used with 300 watts but until that time the lower one with lower power. Plans to start up around 2200 or 2230 UT this Saturday and continue till 0700 UT on Sunday. Maybe even a bit longer. Fairly said that we are broadcasting this way every week but due some heavy tech problems it was not sure if we did continue this way, but after sponsoring our selves again big time we can run our shows again Also we do have brand new full colour and great design QSL Cards and info sheets as well new design T-shirts in stock with full colour printing. Examples are to see on our webpage (see below). If you like to get our little QSL pack send a correct reception report to our mail drop (as well below) and enclose 1 USD or if you don't have US Dollars your local currency (money), Just enough to cover reply. Just a quick note for publishers, Al the information that is available on our webpage is free for publishing, There is also an zip file link below with a brand new pack with photo's and info concerning our station. Hope props are good. Greetings from Alfred ALI ____________________________________ Download Info's and new photos in high resolution http://www.alfalima.net/foto-paket.zip Huge webpage related to short-wave http://www.alfalima.net Take a look at our SW-online shopping center. http://www.alfalima.net/store.htm _____________________________________ And are you already a member? SW pirates group!!! Receive the latest SW-Pirates info. Simply subscribe by sending a blanc email to: SWpirates-subscribe@egroups.com More info at: http://www.egroups.com/group/SWpirates _____________________________________ Contact information Alfa Lima International, P O Box 663, 7900AR Hoogeveen, Netherlands Enclose 1 US$ email: alinter@rendo.dekooi.nl web: http://www.alfalima.net _____________________________________ Other sites of us are http://www.usaoldtimers.tk http://www.dxing.tk (Alfa Lima International, Oct 19, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KOKC, 1490, Guthrie, a long-silent station, bought from Fox Broadcasting for $150,000 by Jimmy Swaggart`s Baton Rouge LA organization. This is one of the outcomes of his paying less attention to FM translators and buying regular FM and AM Stations (Oct FMedia! via DXLD) KOKC AM 1490 SOLD TO SWAGGART'S CHURCH KOKC AM 1490 Guthrie has been sold to Family Worship Center Church based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Frances Swaggart is secretary/ treasurer of this church, according to the application. Since about July, the station has been carrying religious programming from Jimmy Swaggart's SonLife Radio Network http://www.jsm.org The new owners have requested new call letters KFAS replacing the current calls which have been in place since at least 1955. The seller is Fox Broadcasting of Norman, which owns sports/talker KREF AM 1400 (OKCRadio.com/News Oct 13 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Amigos! Hoy comenzó el Trans Chaco Rally que culmina el domingo próximo. Las radios que transmiten este evento usan las bandas utilitarias para "retorno" a los "móviles" que se encuentran en el Chaco y también como enlace de estas a los estudios centrales. Por tanto un "ojo" en las frecuencias desde alrededor de 5 MHz hasta aprox. los 15 MHz SSB. Básicamente es R. Primero de Marzo 780 kHz, Radio Cardinal 730, R. Uno 650 kHz y La "970" que transmiten el rally. 73 de (Levi P. Iversen, Paraguay, Oct 18, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 5290, Krasnoyarsk. Interesting behavior noted: the period between the start of signal decrease (~2330) and complete fade-out lasts approximately 3 hours. All other stations from Asia disappear from the dial more rapidly: for 1.5 or 2 hours. Probably it's because Krasnoyarsk lies farther to the North? (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal Oct 18 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re: DXLD 2-161, R. Rossii schedule may be incorrect: The Russians have a tendency of shifting around their frequencies wildly between the summer and winter seasons. Hence, comparing the summer season on air transmissions with transmissions planned for the winter is a rather useless exercise. The 16 mb R Rossii channel usually shifts between 17600 in the winter and 17660 in the summer, so there's a good chance that the published winter schedule is indeed correct (Olle Alm, Sweden, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Re gh`s previous comments: A note re the soft sign in Russian. I had a look into the 2002 edition of Encyclopaædia Britannica regarding Arkhangelsk vs. Arkhangel`sk, and it only shows the former model, without the soft sign. Using the soft sign is some kind of scientific transcription, while the normal practice in general texts obviously is to omit the soft sign. We have much the same problem with some other languages, a.o. Arabic, which in scientific transcription has various diacritics added, while these are always omitted in general texts. An extreme example is Vietnamese, where for instance the "o" exists in a dozen or so diacritic variations, which you will not normally see in non-Vietnamese texts. (In fact Vietnamese has so many characters that you will need two character sets to be able to write everything. The main set contains all variations of small letters plus the those variations of capital vowels that appear in normal texts. The secondary set contains all capitals of vowels with all diacritic variations (for headlines and similar uses)). 73s (Olle Alm, Sweden, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. B-02 SCHEDULE: SLOVAKIA - R. SLOVAKIA INTERNATIONAL Sked effective 27 October to 30 March 2003 English 0100-0130 AM 5930 7230 9440 0700-0730 AU 13715 15460 17550 1730-1800 EU 5915 6055 7345 1930-2000 EU 5915 6055 7345 French 0200-0230 AM 5930 7230 9440 1800-1830 EU 5915 6055 7345 2030-2100 EU 5915 6055 7345 German 0800-0830 EU 5915 6055 7345 1430-1500 EU 6055 7345 9450 1700-1730 EU 5915 6055 7345 1900-1930 EU 5915 6055 7345 Russian 1400-1430 eEU/AS 9440 11990 13715 1600-1630 eEU/AS 5915 9535 11990 1830-1900 eEU/AS 5915 6055 9485 Slovak 0130-0200 AM 5930 7230 9440 0730-0800 AU 13715 15460 17550 1630-1700 EU 5915 6055 7345 2000-2030 EU 5915 6055 7345 (Sked via Andreas Volk-D, ADDX, via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) Re illegality of 7230 in NAm hamband at 0100-0230; didn`t they actually use 6190 or vicinity last season? Why not 7345? Occupied by Prague during at least part of that sesquihour (gh, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Re: E-mail address needed for SLBC: Government owned, with six separate services broadcasting nationwide. Tel: (94)(1) 69-6329 Fax: (94)(1) 69-5488 Email: slbcweb@sri.lanka.net I found this e-mail, in http://www.tvradioworld.com/region2/sri/ don't know if it works....good luck John ! (Dario Monferini, Italy, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. I tried SLBC Colombo (Ekala) on their new 19 mb frequency on 15745 kHz. No hope to hear ALL ASIA SERVICE here. WEWN is a real nuisance, nothing can be done. What a bad choice by SLBC. I was monitoring their other frequency 9770 kHz. Most of the afternoon hours dominating station was DW with their Balkan language programmes. DW closed down 1430. After that SLBC offered enjoyable reception (S9 +5) with evergreens like "Volare". Even my wife Tuire liked the music! Bandwidth was 5.5 kHz on my AOR 7030 Plus-receiver. This is the best way to promote the hobby of DX-ing! (from Turku! Jouko Huuskonen, FINLAND, Oct 18, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Re harmonic on 37920: Excellent, many thanks for this, Glenn, it's definitely never been reported before, not even on other lists that I monitor. I must say the MUF in the UK for this time of year is currently very disappointing. Here`s hoping for better things 73's (Tim Bucknall, UK, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "HeartBeat" looks at the Nobel Prize in Medicine and the treatment of spinal injuries Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Spectrum" takes us to a performance of the Skånska Dance Theater from Southern Sweden at the House of Dance in Stockholm, and the International Theater and Dance Festival in the West Coast city of Gothenburg Sunday: Paolo guests "Sounds Nordic" We've just switched e-mail systems here, and after some problems, the new addresses for receiving our new shortwave schedule by e-mail seem to be working (but not always, please bear with us). (SCDX MediaScan Oct 16, but not posted until Oct 18, via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND [and non]. WITH THE SCOUTS: JOTA THIS WEEKEND This weekend, the 19th and 20th of October, is the scouts Jamboree on the Air, or JOTA. Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, tells us what its all about: - The Jamboree on the Air is an annual event. Every October a half a million Scouts and Scout Guides all over the world take to the airwaves to make contact with each other by means of Amateur Radio. The World Scout Bureau owns and operates its own Amateur Radio station. The the call sign H-B-9-S and it operates from a permanent radio room located in its offices in Geneva Switzerland. The station normally operates during Scout Nets and other major scouting events like the Jamboree On The Air. This year, the station is active on 160 through 10 meters in a number of languages. Here in the United States, the big JOTA gathering takes place at Camp Wisdom near Dallas, Texas. The call sign to listen for from there is K2BSA slash 5. Other stations expected to take part include GB2GP in London England and JA1YSS from Tokyo Japan. If you are hearing this newscast before or during this years Jamboree on the Air, get on the air and show your support of the worlds youth and of scouting by making contact with a J-O-T-A station. Who knows, it could evenb be HB9S. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennent, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- Again, this weekend, the 19th and 20th of October, is the 2002 Scouting Jamboree on the Air. And if you are hearing this newscast later in the week we hope you had time to contact a Jamboree station (ARNewsline, Q-News, GB2RS via Amateur Radio Newsline Oct 18 via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. CLANDESTINE IDENTIFIES ITSELF AS THE ARABIC RADIO The Syrian clandestine radio has identified itself as: The Arabic Radio [Ar: Al-Idha'ah al-Arabiyyah]. The radio has a web site with the following URL: http://www.arabicsyradio.org Listeners can access the radio's weekly broadcasts from Sunday to Saturday via its web site. The Arabic radio shows the following motto: Syria Arab Free Nation The radio broadcasts daily as follows: From 0430 to 0500 gmt on 9950 kHz From 1500 to 1530 gmt on 12085 From 1600 to 1630 gmt on 12115 The Arabic Radio broadcasts material condemning the Syrian government and its human rights record. It has relayed inter alia reports on human rights abuses in Syria and an article by a Syrian expert living in Switzerland on the blunders and abuses by the Syrian intelligence. It has also used material from the web site of the Syrian Human Committee [SHRC]. The radio recalls daily the massacre of Hama, a Syrian town, where many people were killed and broadcasts pan-Arab and other patriotic as well as old Egyptian songs. Some of these songs used to be broadcast during the union between Syria and Egypt from 1958 to 1961. Slogans such as the following are broadcast regularly: Syria will be Arab and free, not dependent and not Ba'thist. Source: BBC Monitoring research 18 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) OK, someone please look up where the website be based. As I recall, BBCM has never accepted nor confirmed the ID we were getting reported from everywhere else, Sawt al-Watan. Opens with presumed anthem in MIDI. Dramatic opening announcement does include the phrase ``watan al arabiya``. Schedule has been updated correctly as above, and also shows UT+2 times, but backwards, e.g. 0430-0500 UT matches with 07.00- 06.30. Seems to me right-to-left readers should have it 00.70-03.60 -- - but I gather Hebrew, Arabic numbers etc. read from left to right within a right-to-left text, requiring the eye to jump back and forth! How inconvenient, as if in left-to-right languages we had to read numbers right-to-left (gh, DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. CLANDESTINE - ?? to SYRIA -12085 Sout-al-Watan (presumed) *1500-1530* with usual opening music, brief announcement at 1502, then into Qur`an. Back to popular vocal music at 1510, talks at 1515, etc. Fair w/no // frequencies noted (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot random wire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. BROKERING PEACE AT KPFK --- A retreat seeks common ground between new general manager Eva Georgia and those who say she's undemocratic. By Steve Carney, Special to The Times, October 18 2002 Radio by collective -- with listeners and volunteers joining staff in programming and management decisions -- may seem a ludicrous notion in this era of corporate, consultant-driven radio, with playlists tighter than 'N Sync's choreography. But it's seen as a birthright at KPFK-FM (90.7), the Los Angeles outlet of the left-leaning Pacifica radio network. So staff unrest nearly percolated into mutiny only four months into Eva Georgia's tenure as general manager when a large contingent of employees and volunteers at the community-supported station were calling for her removal, or at least criticizing her for running a non-democratic workplace. Georgia, on the other hand, said that after years of upheaval at the station, any organization might be interpreted as authoritarianism... http://www.calendarlive.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=cl%2Det%2Dcarney18oct18 (LA Times via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. THE MOUTH OF MISOGYNY Who needs Howard Stern when L.A. has its own Tom Leykis? By Bob Baker, Times Staff Writer, October 18 2002 Is he really saying that? You don't usually get congratulated on Tom Leykis' syndicated radio show unless you're, say, a caller describing the way you talked your unexpectedly pregnant girlfriend into having an abortion -- and then dumped her. Or unless you're a woman with a lascivious tale to share, like the law clerk who boasts about tripling her pay by engaging in masochistic sex with the partner of another firm. But on this Thursday, in the first seconds of his afternoon program, Leykis sounds so delighted he can scarcely wait for the heavy-metal bumper music to fade. Praise be, he tells us in a stern, husky voice, for the Washington state Supreme Court, which hours before overturned the conviction of two men who secretly took pictures up women's skirts in shopping malls... http://www.calendarlive.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=cl%2Det%2Dbaker18oct18 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. A NATION STUCK ON ONE STATION? On his new release, Tom Petty laments the demise of the autonomous DJ. But radio executives say they're actually more in sync with listeners now. By Geoff Boucher, Times Staff Writer, October 19 2002 There goes the last DJ Who plays what he wants to play And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey And there goes your freedom of choice There goes the last human voice -- "The Last DJ," Tom Petty... http://www.calendarlive.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=cl%2Det%2Dboucher19oct19 (via Mike Cooper and Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Has the erosion in AM listening stopped? For the first time in over two sesquidecades, the AM share of audience has apparently stabilized, going from 18.7 in 2000y to 18.9 in 2002y, while the FM share deceased 1.2 percentage points. This from Julian Breen, a media researcher. While slight, this could be a trend that might bear watching. The best AM markets are San Francisco (helped by terrain that can make FM reception difficult), Chicago (with market leader WGN 720), and Boston (WBZ 1030 is a major player). The poorest market for AM in the top 10 is Washington DC, which lacks many strong-signal stations, as opposed to a dial full of maximum coverage FMs (Oct FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. WKDN, Camden NJ, *106.9 still with RDS, but this is a biggie! First you see the WKDN call letters for 10 seconds, then CAMDEN for 3 seconds, PHILA for 3 seconds, then -FAMILY for 3 seconds, then Radio- for 3 seconds. Then it repeats over and over! The Conrad display shows it constantly changing as does the PC software. Very cool! Their Radio Text also repeats over and over with two different lines, and it is very fast! They even have a huge list of alternative frequencies: 89.5, 88.7, 90.3, 101.7, 89.3, 97.7, 105.9, 88.9, 97.3, 92.3, 94.7, 107.9. Seeing WKDN`s RDS was truly a religious experience! (B.N., who is Jewish, Oct FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. Miami / Ft Lauderdale is deluged with FM pirates --- I mean, all over the dial. I counted 18 pirates operating at the same time throughout FM. Some people would love to hear these stations (Terry Krueger in FL has a web page on `micro` stations), but not me... Many of these pirates play nasty rap music (uncensored). We have one on 104.1 that must run 6 kW or so. The FCC has been motionless in recent months as far as tracking these crooks down. The 104.1 pirate is quite novel: it`s a Black Republican station, with frequent sermons from `Mike the Black Man` telling us how the Democrats have been slave- drivers and such; I don`t totally disagree either... Oh, the station is called ``WBOS`` ``Boss` radio (C.D., Oct FMedia! Via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Lots of pirate activity on 6925, 6950, 6955 as we approach Halloween. 73s (Ben Loveless, WB9FJO, Michigan, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. HAPPY HALLI-WEEN SPECIAL EVENT Even if you can not check in, reception reports will be honored! There will be a howling ghould time on Wednesday October 30Th from 6:00-9:00 PM EST, (2300-0200 UTC). This will be the W9WZE Special Event for the year, do not miss it! It is the Happy Halli-Ween magical mist that comes together to form a colorful and novel certificate suitable for framing. Or just hanging around the neck of one of those skeletons in your closet. This was drawn by Brian Hill and is the copyrighted property of HCI. The frequency will be 14.315 MHz usb. No +/- for teeth chattering, joints knocking or headless horsemen asking for directions. If you are courageous enough to harness a howling werewolf and feed him a juicy Halli-Burger or jab a diet challenged vampire in the rump with a syringe filled with blood plasma and V/8 juice or snatch a Bat with fangs sharper than a wood splinter on a wooden casket out of the air barehanded as it swoops by slurping up mosquitoes laden with West Nile virus - than you are indeed truly brave or simply incredibly stupid! But you will howl with delight as pumpkins fed with Viagra explode on their vines like overly ripe tomatoes splattering their slimy seeds all over passing cars as you fling them from the cover of a tombstone. You will groan with glee as unsuspecting children step on your pressure sensitive decorative Halloween doormat and then wet themselves as a Milk Dud curdling scream emanates from the goblins skull that drops down from the porch roof and lights up with a yellowish orange glow that comes straight from the bowels of Hell itself. Well, maybe it is actually from that local AM station playing Acid Rock from the seventies! You will squeal with pure joy as scurrying Rats with yellow teeth needing a lot of dental work leap into the air and rip the bottom out of unsuspecting children's sacks of candy spilling goodies all over the grass. Not to worry, those battery powered rodents won't eat the candy, but those bloodshot wide eyed teenagers who may have smoked some pot, rather than replaced one in a radio chassis, are a definite risk factor worthy of stepping into one of those little booby trap pits you filled with the slimy guts you scraped out of the pumpkins you carved with the chain saw. What fun! What fermentation! What fascinating fantasy from those things that still go glow in the dark. Be there and get your customized Happy Halli-Ween certificate, W9WZE QSL card and autographed magic brochure from me, the world's only totally blind professional Magician/Illusionist. The cost is two dollars to cover postage, printing and a special envelope that the post office hopefully won't turn into hamster cage lining material. If you can include a ready to use return address label, it will be greatly appreciated. No age restrictions apply. Hallicrafters and Halloween are indeed, timeless. I hope that many of you check in with your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, borrowed neighborhood youngsters or whomever. Hear you then! (Duane Fischer, W8DBF, NCS: Hallicrafters Collectors International, netcontrol@w9wze.org Oct 18, swl via DXLD) ** U S A. SENATE DELAYS WEBCASTER BILL By Jim Hu Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 18, 2002, 8:47 AM PT The legislation would permit a more favorable payment scheme for small companies to broadcast music over the Internet. The delay couldn't come at a worse time.... http://news.com.com/2100-1023-962556.html (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) viz.: SENATE PUTS WEBCASTING BILL ON HOLD By John Borland and Jim Hu Staff Writers, CNET News.com October 18, 2002, 10:21 AM PT update: A last-minute procedural twist Thursday night stalled a Senate bill aimed at softening the blow of new online music fees for struggling small Webcasters. Small Webcasters, many of which have said they will shut down rather than start paying new royalty fees that come due this weekend, had pressed for the passage of the bill as a last-ditch effort to stay in business. Negotiations earlier this month had won the support of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the measure. However, a last-minute hold anonymously placed on the bill by a single senator prevented the Senate from voting on the issue before adjourning Thursday night. Sources close to the issue say the senator was Jesse Helms, R-N.C., acting in part on concerns expressed by traditional broadcasters. "Jesse Helms killed Internet radio," said Michael Roe, manager of RadioIO.com, and one of the leading figures in the group of Webcasters who had helped negotiate the bill. "Pending some private deal (between the RIAA and Webcasters) materializing between now and Sunday, RadioIO will go dark." The bill still can be taken up in November after the Senate reconvenes, providing some measure of hope to Webcasters. However, as the law stands today, all Internet radio companies will be required beginning Sunday to pay royalty fees amounting to about one-fourteenth of a cent per song streamed to each individual person. The fees are retroactive to 1998, which means that huge bills will be presented to some popular stations. The record industry trade association had argued consistently that the rate, set by the Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress, was too low. However, the group had agreed in the course of the bill's negotiations to let small businesses pay between 8 percent and 12 percent of revenue instead of the flat fee. The RIAA said it was disappointed that the bill had not been taken up as expected. "We hope that the Senate will work this out quickly," said RIAA Chief Executive Officer Hilary Rosen. "All parties who support this legislation should contact their senators to urge passage of this bill." An RIAA spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the group was willing to discuss any "private deal" that would let small Webcasters avoid the Oct. 20 deadline without legislation. According to a spokesman for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., negotiations in the Senate over the last week had succeeded in winning most members' support. The bill was expected to pass on Thursday without significant opposition, so the last-minute hold--apparently by Helms-- came as a surprise. Capitol Hill sources said Helms was concerned by the objections of traditional broadcasters, most of which would not be covered by the bill's provisions. Over-the-air radio stations are seeking a court ruling that would exempt them from the new royalty fees when they play their programming on the Internet. However, both the U.S. Copyright Office and the courts have said that broadcasters must pay the fees. A representative for Helms could not immediately be reached for comment (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) WEBCASTERS GET EXTENSION ON COPYRIGHT PAYMENTS By ANICK JESDANUN, The Associated Press, 10/18/02 7:34 PM NEW YORK (AP) -- Smaller Internet music broadcasters are getting an extension on copyright royalty payments that would have been due Sunday, which means they can avoid shutting down. The webcasters will still have to pay up to $2,500 each in fees by Monday. But that is far less than the tens of thousands of dollars that many of them would have owed. The extension, granted by the recording industry and performance artists Friday, came a day after the Senate recessed for the elections without approving copyright rate revisions negotiated between webcasters and the copyright holders. The changes, unanimously approved by the House earlier this month, would have significantly reduced payment obligations for smaller webcasters, who complained that the higher rates could have put them out of business. "From the beginning, we have wanted to work with webcasters, and this temporary payment policy is another example of our commitment to the webcasting industry," said John L. Simson, executive director of SoundExchange, the organization collecting payments on behalf of the music industry and the artists. Only webcasters that would have qualified for reduced payments under the webcasting bill will be eligible for the extension. Simson's statement, issued late Friday, said the extension will be in effect until Congress could act on the bill. The statement does not say what would happen if Congress never passes the bill, or if the president does not sign it, although the statement refers to "this Congress" -- which adjourns at year's end. A message left with Simson after business hours was not immediately returned. Traditional radio broadcasters have been exempt from paying royalties to recording labels and performance artists on the grounds that the broadcasts had promotional value. In 1998, Congress passed a copyright law requiring such royalties from webcasters. An arbitration panel proposed rates of $1.40 per song heard by 1,000 listeners, and the U.S. Copyright Office halved them in June and set the Sunday deadline for payments. Under the settlement awaiting legislative approval, smaller webcasters could calculate payments based on how much they earn or spend. For a small webcaster like Ultimate-80s, that meant owing $7,700 instead of $24,000. Even the reduced rates are too high for some. Internet Radio Hawaii briefly went offline, although it has come back after listeners donated more than $2,000. Hundreds of other stations had previously shut down (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Oct 19 as usual, WJIE 7490 a minute or two after 0500 went silent. Forgot I had left the radio on, as the signal is strong enough now for full quieting. After an hour of open carrier, promptly at 0600 ID, and into WJIE This Week, identical program I quoted from some weeks ago still running, and after 0615 some preacher. Recheck around 1345 found open carrier again. Perhaps turning the transmitter on and off is too much trouble, or too risky, so they leave it running burning up 50(?) kW even when they have no programming. I can think of something they could play during those hours (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. B-02 SCHEDULE: WSHB EFFECTIVE 27 OCTOBER - 30 MARCH 2003 All broadcasts are one hour Languages are shown in order Monday to Sunday M T W T F S S Transmitter 1: 0000 9430 eNAM/Car : C S E F E E E 0100 9430 cNAM : C E E E E E E 0200 9430 NAM : C S F P R G E 0300 7535 Russ/eEU : C R R R R R R 0400 7535 Russ/eEU. : R R R R G R R 0500 7535 eEU : C R R R R R R 0600 7535 w,cAF : C F E F E E F 0700 7535 wAF : F E F E F F F 0800 7535 EU : R P R P F E E 0900 7535 EU : R E S E S G G 1000 6095 eNAM/Car : E F E E F F S 1100 6095 eNAM/Car : F E F S E E E 1200 6095 eNAM/Car : E F E E F F F 1300 9430 cNAM : E E E E S E E 1800 15665 eEU : G R G R G R C 1900 15665 eEU : R E R E R G C 2000 11650 wEU : P S P F S P S 2100 11650 wEU : E G E P G E C 2200 7510 wEU : S F S E F S C 2300 7510 sEU/wAF : F S E P S F C Transmitter 2: 0000 15285 C+SAM : C S E S E S S 0100 15285 C+SAM : C S P S P S P 0200 7535 Mexico : C S S E S S S 0300 5850 Russia : C R R R R R R 0400 12020 e,cAF : C E F E F E F 0500 12020 sAF : C E E E E E E 0800 9845 NZ : C E E E F E E 0900 9455 SAM : P P P P G P P 1000 9455 SAM : S P S P S P E 1100 9455 C+SAM : C S S S S S S 1200 9455 C+SAM : S G S G S E S 1300 9455 Mexico : S E S S E S S 1600 18910 eAF : F P F P F E P 1700 18910 cAF : P E F E F E F 1800 18910 sAF : P P E P P P C 1900 18910 sAF : E E E E E E C 2000 15665 AF : E F E F E F C 2100 15665 w,cAF : F F F F E F F 2200 15285 Brazil : S P E P P P C 2300 15285 SAM : S S S S S S C Far East Relay: 1000 11780 n China : C E R E E E E 1200 9880 Indonesia: C E E E E E E 1300 7460 India : C E E E E E E C = Church Service (in English?) E = English F = French G = German P = Portuguese R = Russian S = Spanish (C. Ed Evans, WSHB, via Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, via Wolfgang Bueschel, retyped into text version by Alan Roe, DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI MIAMI WILLING TO WORK WITH CATHOLIC BROADCASTERS FOR THE PACIFIC Dear Mike: Greetings from Miami. I have often seen excerpts from your "Catholic Radio Update" on Glenn Hauser's DX bulletins, and have always enjoyed them. Yesterday I saw the item where you talk about the lack of Catholic shortwave radio for the Pacific region, and mentioned our station WRMI, among others, as possible solutions. I agree with your assessment about the lack of Catholic radio in the Pacific, and I think you're right that the only thing that makes economic and technical sense is shortwave for the coverage of such a widespread region as Oceania. (Incidentally, my wife and I also visited Radio Veritas in the Philippines a few years ago and spent the better part of a day with the director, and we were very impressed with their operation and the way they cover Asia, especially since they are the only Catholic shortwave station to cover that part of the world.) You rightly note that WRMI is not the best shortwave station in the world for coverage of Oceania. However, we have made some interesting observations over the past eight years since we first went on the air. For example, we have consistently received rather good reports from listeners in Australia and New Zealand for our transmissions in the early morning hours (Miami time) -- this would be around 1000-1300 UT and possibly earlier as well -- on our Latin American beam on 9955 kHz. This is evening prime time in Oceania, and if Australia and New Zealand can hear it, then certainly much of the Pacific should be able to hear it as well. (The programming we have broadcast at that time has generally been in Spanish; I'm sure we would receive a lot more response from the Pacific if it were in English.) I also noted myself quite good reception of WRMI on 9955 kHz when I was in Hawaii, and we have had other similar listener reports from there as well. The other thing is that our "North American" antenna, which is currently at an azimuth of 317 degrees (towards Vancouver) is a rotatable log periodic-style yagi, and we have authorization from the FCC to change that azimuth to 284 degrees if we want. Looking at a great circle map centered on Miami, I note that 284 degrees goes right through northern Mexico and then almost straight over the Pacific toward Hawaii. And the azimuth could theoretically even be moved further south if desired (say to around 260 degrees, which would be toward Fiji, or 245 degrees toward Tahiti), although this would require an additional application to the FCC and payment of around $2500 or whatever they charge now for those sorts of things. But the beam width on that antenna is sufficiently wide that the 284-degree beam might cover those southern areas well enough anyway. In any case, my point is that if you receive any positive response to your article, we would certainly be willing to work with you (or whoever) on a project to reach the Pacific (not to mention the Caribbean and Latin America), whether it would involve buying part of all of the station, or simply buying airtime at a special rate. There are four of us who own WRMI, and my three partners are Catholic. (I am Methodist, but my wife is Catholic.) We have often broadcast 15-minute tapes in Spanish from Vatican Radio to fill gaps in programming over the years, and Padre Javier San Martín at Vatican Radio's Latin American service is very familiar with us. I wish you the best of luck in your very laudable pursuit, and if there is ever anything we might be able to do for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. Best regards. Jeff White, General Manager WRMI Radio Miami International 175 Fontainebleau Blvd., Suite 1N4 Miami, Florida 33172 USA Tel +1-305-559-9764 Fax +1-305-559-8186 E-mail: radiomiami9@cs.com http://www.wrmi.net (Oct 21 Catholic Radio Update, Oct 19, via DXLD) see also ITALY non, CUBA non ** U S A. BTW, Glenn. I'm sure by now it has been reported to you, that WOR's IBOC encoder "blew up", and they are back to just their analog signal. Regards, (Brock Whaley, Atlanta, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And sent this, headline missing: Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,55757,00.html 02:00 AM Oct. 18, 2002 PDT The noise big radio conglomerates are making about digital radio is likely to drown out community radio stations -- dashing small broadcasters' hopes that the new technology would boost their signal. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission endorsed digital broadcast technology for radio stations. Immediately, iBiquity, the company that makes the in-band on-channel (IBOC) system, began working with stations in the largest U.S. markets, outfitting them with transmitters that will allow them to broadcast digitally before the end of the year. The move was hailed as a great success by the National Association of Broadcasters; however, it has likely left low-power radio stations and small niche programs out in the cold. "If the system had been designed with the public interest in mind, it would have been made with more channel space," said Pete Tridish, a media activist with the low-power radio group Prometheus Radio Project. "Instead, we have another business that supports the status quo." Low-power radio stations are small, 100-watt stations that sit in between the major channels on the radio dial. They have a range of 3 to 7 miles, but never more than that. The bill that allowed the stations' creation also relegated their existence to a very limited part of the dial. That's because, the NAB claimed, the signals could bleed into subchannels that are used for public broadcasts and require a special receiver. Those subchannels -- which are made up of unused portions of radio spectrum -- are used to transmit information to pagers, or by community services such as broadcasts of people reading the newspaper for the benefit of the blind. President Clinton signed the bill in 2000, exiling low-power radio to small, rural areas. But two years later, the NAB endorsed the FCC's decision to give the largest stations the ability to broadcast 500-watt channels alongside those very subchannels that low-power stations were told were protected. "The NAB said our hundred-watt stations would destroy radio as we know it," said Tridish. "I would love it if they applied the same standards to IBOC (as) to low-power stations. They said that any interference caused by low-power radio would destroy radio, but now they have something that they want -- they have 500-watt data systems -- it's not a big deal anymore." The IBOC technology works by wrapping the new digital signals around the old analog signals, like gift wrap around a Christmas present. Stations will soon broadcast both digital and analog signals. That combination allows people with digital radio to receive crisper sound while also receiving backup analog signals to prevent the signal from dropping out. It also lets people with analog radios -- which is nearly everyone right now -- continue to listen. The ruling disappointed advocates who hoped digital radio -- like digital television -- would provide space for more programming since a digital signal carries five times as much information as its analog counterpart. Television networks with digital capabilities broadcasting with analog pictures such as HBO can show more than five channels at one time. The IBOC technology allows a station to broadcast at a higher sound quality, but doesn't allow that station to have multiple shows airing at the same time. "The other option would have been a technology that increased the number of audio feeds that a station could put out," said Cheryl Leanza, deputy director of Media Access Project, a nonprofit public interest law firm. "That has been interesting to noncommercial radio, because they can't serve the community and they would like another audio stream." But business models come first. The radio industry believes that before it can fully experiment with digital radio, there should be known revenue streams. "Most parties interested in digital radio at this time believe that the initial consumer interests will be in data associated with audio programming, such as scrolling information that ties directly to the music or talk audio," said Jeff Jury, iBiquity senior vice president. Data delivery may prove a more successful justification for IBOC than better sound quality. The digital signals will make FM radio CD-quality, said Frank Karkota, who runs ComPol, a business that makes receivers that allow listeners to hear subchannels. But stations already have the ability to do that. The sound quality of records actually exceeds that of CDs because the digital compression used when CDs are recorded causes some sounds to be removed, said Karkota. "People don't realize that if you record a piece of music, the amount of data produced by the artist's singing would probably fill up a CD," said Karkota. "So (engineers) take that recording and they run it through a computer. Note by note that computer takes out a lot of the echo, or reverberation." In other words, digital radio won't even live up to its promise of better sound. It's just a tool to create new business, while keeping smaller competition out of the way. Digital radio, Karkota said, is destined to fail because no amount of technology can change most stations' tired playlists (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. COMPRESSING SHOWS FOR COMMERCIALS MAY NOT BE AGAINST LAW By KATHY CARLSON, Staff Writer Trying to wring seconds from network shows to free up time for local commercials — as one Nashville television station is accused of doing — may not be against the law. But questions about whether WSMV-Channel 4 is doing this has put Nashville in the middle of a national industry issue. ''I don't see why it would violate federal law,'' said Dan Brenner, senior vice president for law and regulatory policy with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. The Federal Communications Commission doesn't set rules on how much time commercials can take up, except with children's programming. Using so-called compression technology, however, might run afoul of contracts that require a network affiliate to run programming without altering it, Brenner said. Earlier this week, Nashville's City Paper reported that WSMV, an NBC affiliate, was altering network programming to add commercials through use of a device called a time machine. Such devices remove about 3% of the video frames being broadcast, squeezing out more time for commercials. One device's creator has said the machine cuts frames ''imperceptibly.'' The City Paper reported yesterday that NBC was investigating WSMV's practices. WSMV Station Manager Steve Ramsey yesterday declined to comment on the reports, citing company policy. He said he hadn't talked with anyone at NBC, nor to his knowledge had anyone else at WSMV or its parent company, Meredith Corp. of Des Moines, Iowa. Debbie Turner, general manager of CBS affiliate WTVF-Channel 5, said her station does not use any compression technology. A spokesman for Nashville's ABC affiliate, WKRN-Channel 2, was not available yesterday. Compression technology isn't uncommon in the broadcast world, which like other industries has felt pressure to pump up profits. The American Association of Advertising Agencies, in a January 2002 position paper, criticized the technology's use. The group cited a Wall Street Journal article that indicated 120 compression machines had been sold in the United States, representing 10% of the nation's television stations. Pittsburgh television station KDKA used a compression device during a Steelers football game last year to add commercials worth thousands of dollars, The Associated Press reported then. At the time, the station's marketing director said the machine was programmed incorrectly. The National Football League requires networks to carry games live, and league officials contacted CBS when they learned of the delay of some seconds. The league didn't penalize the network after it corrected the problem. The machine, called the Digital Time Machine, was created by Bill Hendershot, president and founder of Prime Image Inc. of San Jose, Calif. The machine edits in real time, Hendershot told The Associated Press last year. ''We remove chunks of time imperceptibly.'' The machine's list price was $90,000, Hendershot said, suggesting it could pay for itself in three or four days in larger markets. In Nashville, it costs from $200 to $5,000 to place a 30-second commercial with one of Nashville's three major network affiliates, said Charla Fogle, vice president/media director with the Nashville advertising agency Bohan. Fogle said she's concerned by reports that WSMV might be compressing shows. Adding a 30-second commercial to an hour of programming raises the level of what Fogel called ''clutter,'' a series of commercials that increases the likelihood viewers will simply tune them out. Brenner of the cable association doesn't consider adding commercials through compression to be a major problem. ''It's not like we're seeing a 55-minute drama any more,'' he said. If, for example, a station cuts the sitcom Just Shoot Me by 25 seconds, he said, ''I don't enjoy the show less.''(Tennessean via Charles Gossett, Jr., TN, DXLD) ** U S A. TV ANTENNA WOULD TOWER OVER NYC BROADCASTERS ARE UNDER PRESSURE TO QUICKLY REPLACE SPIRE ATOP WTC By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY NEW YORK -- As the debate over what to build on the World Trade Center site continues to unfold, a structure even taller than the twin towers is already being planned: a 2,000-foot television antenna. Even in a city of superlatives like this one, size counts. The tower, which would replace the antenna lost when the Trade Center collapsed, would inescapably be part of the New York City skyline. All that's needed is a place to put it.... http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20021018/4547253s.htm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. The local NPR outlet seems to think I'm some kind of knowledgeable radio expert or something |g|; in any case, this piece aired today and probably won't tell anyone here anything they don't already know...but you can at least hear a few nifty bits of WBBF circa 1961 (which I think came to me from Russ Horton, unless I'm mistaken): http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=407325 (The audio is in .wma format and runs about 8 minutes...) Enjoy! -s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. I'm hearing what is apparently a brand new weather radio station in Black River Falls, WI, on 162.50 MHz. I can find no mention of this station on any list I can find on the internet. The call letters I'm hearing are WNG-564. It's a little difficult to understand the computer voice but I'm pretty sure that is what they are saying (Daniel Sampson, Arcadia, WI, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Language: see RUSSIA ** YEMEN. 9779.63, Rep. of Yemen R., 1840-1859 Oct 19, Talk by Male with lively instrumental music. 1842 Woman with mention of Rep. of Yemen R. and English service. Into Dance Pop song, then Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion(?) song, followed by another song. 1854 M with unreadable announcement. 1856 Arabic instrumental music. 1858 English s/off announcements by W "...English program from San'a. We hope you have enjoyed it. If you...San'a R., English Service, P.O. Box 2371, San'a, Republic of Yemen...(Web site)...1700 hours San'a local time...English Service of the Republic of Yemen R. from San'a signing off". Then 1 minute instrumental NA, and into Arabic service. Good signal but difficult to copy for some reason. 73's (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hello Glenn, A few loggings from Friday night. 2604 kHz, Arabic music heard from 2156 UT tune in (Oct 18). Announced as test broadcast then off at 2201. SINPO 44344. Announcer was Male with American accent (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 27105 AM, 10/17/2002, 0118+. An extremely faint, but clear signal. Continual music without announcements. It sounded like the transmitter was switched off between songs. Music selection on this reception sounded classic country and western. Does anyone have any ideas on the station? This station is on almost every night. Very poor (Joe Wood, Gray TN, Free Radio Weekly via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Solar activity has been mostly low except for an M2 class flare on Oct 14 and M1 on Oct 15. The geomagnetic field remained slightly disturbed with brief minor storm levels at high latitudes around Oct 13. MUFs were generally enhanced at most latitudes except for isolated depressed conditions at mid-high latitudes. Geomagnetic conditions should remain quiet until Oct 22, with disturbed conditions forecast again after Oct 27. Propagation conditions should remain similar. Prepared by Richard Jary using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Cumbre DX Oct 19 via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-161, October 18, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1152: AIRINGS ON WWCR: Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070; Sun 0630 3210; Wed 0930 9475 AIRIMGS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0630, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630 on 7445, 15038 AIRINGS ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415 AIRINGS ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK: Rest of world Sat 0800; NAm Sun 1400 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1152.html LATEST DXLD QUICK LINK. Following a suggestion from Jem Cullen, you may now go directly to the latest DXLD from our home page http://worldofradio.com or favoritise it -- that is, http://www.worldofradio.com/dxlatest.txt But if you get in the habit of using this, better check every day in order not to miss one; DXLD normally appears every 2 or 3 days, but sometimes only one day apart, as with this issue. ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Afghanistan via Norway, 18940, before and after 1400 UT Oct 18, was again running that fill music loop, as reported weeks ago, in the absence of any program input! If I didn`t know better, and perhaps I do not, I would think this 24-second broadcast, with numerous repeats, had been running constantly since last I listened. Among the previous reports of it was Sept. 22; see DXLD 2-151 of Sept. 30. Today, good signal but pretty heavy flutter, adding to the mystique, past 1430, when I pulled myself away. Beware, since that music loop can infest your brain (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. EDITORIAL: BALI MASSACRE - AUSTRALIAN DAY OF MOURNING Australians have been encouraged to observe a minute's silence at noon And wear a piece of wattle on Sunday October 20 to commemorate the National day of mourning for the dead and bereaved of the Bali terrorist attack. The prime minister, John Howard, has said activities already planned For Sunday should go ahead but suggests inclusion of a suitable Dedication or act of remembrance. Flags on commonwealth buildings will Fly at half mast. The Melbourne "Age" newspaper devoted eight pages Friday 18 October to continuing coverage of the Massacre, and several Melbourne hospitals are attending to many of the victims. The "Age" headlined the Massacre today as: 'TOLL OVER 100 - NEW TERROR THREAT - PRIME MINISTER ATTENDS SERVICE' It is thought that the Australian loss of life in the bombings is likely to rise to 110, and 40 Australians have already been confirmed dead. Australians have also been urged to leave Indonesia, as it is feared that the Bali bombing was planned as the first in a series of Indonesian attacks launched by groups associated with al Qaeda. ONE MINUTE RADIO SILENCE The Australian Amatewur Radio Scout Radio and Electronics Service Unit is supporting the call for a One Minute's Radio Silence at 0000 UTC, 0000 EAST [I guess he means 1100 EAST?? -- gh] on Sunday 20 October to remember the Australians and other people killed and injured in the recent Bali bombing. As many of Australia's Amateur Radio Operators, Scout Leaders and Scouts will be involved in JOTA/JOTI and other activities, the SRESU calls for these activities to pause for One Minute at 0000 UTC. While this is short notice, the advice is in keeping with the Prime Minister's request for all Australians to remember those killed and injured on Sunday next (APC News, Melbourne via Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) Local noon in eastern Australia is 0100 UT; what`s a ``piece of wattle``? (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RA English schedule from November [Oct 27?] ABC SOUTHBANK CENTRE, SOUTHBANK BOULEVARD, SOUTHBANK 3006, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 3 9626 1800 Fax: +61 3 9626 1939 e-mail english@ra.abc.net.au RADIO AUSTRALIA REGIONAL FREQUENCY GUIDE November 2002 ASIA Time (UT) Hong Kong Freq (kHz) 0000-0130 0800-0930 17775 0030-0400 0830-1200 17750 0000-0900 0800-1700 15415 0000-0900 0800-1700 21725 0430-0500 1230-1300 17750 0530-0800 1330-1600 17750* 0800-1130 1600-1930 15240, 11880 0830-0900 1630-1700 17750 0930-1100 1730-1900 17750 0900-1400 1700-2200 21820 0900-1330 1700-2130 11880 1100-1300 1900-2100 9475 1330-1700 2130-0100 11660* 1430-1900 2230-0300 9475* 1900-2130 0300-0530 9500* 2200-0000 0600-0800 15230 2200-0000 0600-0800 13620 2330-0000 0730-0800 11695, 15415 * Sometimes heard in Europe PACIFIC PAPUA NEW GUINEA, SOLOMON ISLANDS, MICRONESIA, GUAM and JAPAN Time (UT) Port Moresby Freq (kHz) 1700-2100 0300-0700 9815 1800-2000 0400-0600 6080, 7240 2100-2200 0700-0800 7240, 9660 2100-0000 0700-1000 17715 0000-0800 1000-1800 17580 2300-0800 0800-1800 9660 0000-0800 1000-1800 15240 0000-0900 1000-1900 21725 0800-0900 1800-1900 5995, 9710 0800-1100 1800-2200 9580 1100-1400 2100-0000 6020, 5995 1100-1700 2200-0300 11650 VANUATU, NEW CALEDONIA, FIJI, TONGA, SAMOA, NORTH AMERICA Time (UT) Suva Freq (kHz) 2000-2200 0800-1000 12080 2100-0000 0700-1000 17715 2100-0000 0700-1000 21740 2100-2200 0700-1000 7240 2200-0200 0800-1200 17795 2300-0900 1100-2100 12080 0200-0700 1400-1900 15515 0700-0900 1900-2100 15240 0800-1100 2000-2300 9580 1100-2130 2300-0330 9580 1100-1200 2300-0000 12080 1100-1700 2200-0500 11650 1400-1800 2400-0600 5995 1700-2200 0500-1000 11880 1800-2000 0600-0800 7240 GRANDSTAND Radio Australia's weekend sports program, Grandstand, is broadcast on English frequencies from 0110-0700 UT on Saturday and Sunday according to the schedule below: Target region Frequency (kHz) south east Asia 21725 south-west Pacific 12080, 17580 Papua New Guinea & west Pacific, Japan 9660, 17580, 21725 RADIO AUSTRALIA VIA SATELLITE Satellite: PanAmSat 8 at 166 E Transponder: 24c Pacific Beam (recommended for Asia & PNG) Downlink Frequency: 4180 MHz Downlink Polarity: Horizontal Modulation Format: QPSK Symbol Rate: 27.5 MS/ps FEC: 3/4 Controlled access: No, smartcard not required Receiver: Any DVB-S compliant receiver For more information about PAS-8 coverage or assistance calculating your dish's alignment, visit the "Look Angle" calculator under the "tools" menu at the http://www.panamsat.com/global_network/pas_8.asp PAS-8 website. Satellite: PanAmSat 2 at 169 E Transponder: 8c Pacific Beam (California Bouquet)(for Pacific) Downlink Frequency: 3901 MHz Downlink Polarity: Horizontal Modulation Format: QPSK Symbol Rate: 30.8 MS/ps FEC: 3/4 Controlled access: No, smartcard not required Receiver: Any DVB-S compliant receiver For more information about PAS-2 coverage or assistance calculating your dish's alignment, visit the "Look Angle" calculator under the "tools" menu at the http://www.panamsat.com/global_network/pas_2.asp PAS-2 website. Program details may be obtained from RA's website which is at http://www.abc.net.au/ra/ RA would appreciate reception reports, however a personal reply may not be possible in all cases. Reports, which should include the listener's postal address, may be sent to: Radio Australia GPO Box 428G or fax: + 61 3 9626 1899 Melbourne VIC 3001 or Open Line + 61 3 9626 1825 AUSTRALIA (via Ian Johnson, Australia, Oct 18, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. B02 SCHEDULES. The new SW transmission period B02 starts on October 27. As in the past, many broadcasters are playing games with their listeners, by refusing to divulge their operating schedules, claiming that this information is confidential! Direct requests by some of us to frequency and program managers for information results in the same shabby treatment. Many broadcasters seek technical or descriptive feedback about their program audibility or reception quality, but have little or no idea of forming and maintaining effective customer (listener) relationships. One would think that the uncooperative attitude of some major broadcasters is deliberate, by intentionally making the listeners' tasks impossibly frustrating, and encouraging us to "hear" their outpourings on our computers via the Internet! The cycle goes round and round, with listeners becoming disenchanted by not knowing where and when to tune, resulting in reduced station feedback, in turn giving broadcasters greater fuel to justify closure or reduction in output of their SW operations! We are urged to listen to this stuff on the Internet, but I get overwhelmed at the magnitude of some of the Web sites, full of flashy, high bandwidth, long download useless graphics. One international broadcaster's Website has over 200 images which have to be downloaded before you even get off the homepage! Then, when you finally burrow into all that rubbish, there is no schedule available! As an example, visit the Website of VT Merlin Communications; while you are waiting for the homepage to come up, go and make a cup of tea - paint dries quicker! Then, when you get to the Menu, go for a walk in the park. The site is atrociously designed, and is almost impossible to use when searching for even the most basic of News Releases! The Radio Australia Website is another example of absurdity: no where there will you find a simple consolidated listing of times, frequencies, languages, and target areas. You WILL find, however, a collection of data which is incapable of interpretation, under each language division, with timings shown as "morning" and "evening" against target areas. The whole thing is meaningless! Is there not anyone in those organisations who can put together basic information about their businesses, such that customers (listeners) can be reliably informed? I think not!!! Some hobbyists have attempted to penetrate the engineering areas of the broadcasters, who are not particularly pleased at these intrusions from the public arena. In many instances, there is strong evidence that the programming/production people have little effective communication with technical areas, a situation which has not been helped by the trend to outsource technical planning operations, and ownership of actual transmitter facilities from the broadcasters to remote consultants (Bob Padula, OAM, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. A new $500,000 AUS satellite dish has been installed at Voice International, confirming its long term commitment to broadcasting top quality programs into Asia. Voice is set to become one of the largest radio networks in Asia and multi-lingual program providers in Australia. With the 6 metre dish Voice can broadcast to a potential listening audience of 2.8 billion people living in the Asia Pacific region. Its broadcast footprint has expanded to cover one third of the globe and with the help of affiliate FM stations, Voice has the potential to broadcast worldwide. Planned B02 schedule, with all transmissions at azimuth 216 degrees: 11685 1630 1900 English 11745 1400 1700 Hindi 11935 2330 0000 Indonesian 13635 1100 1400 Indonesian 13660 1300 1800 Indonesian 13685 0900 1300 English 13690 1300 1630 English 15150 1400 1700 Chinese 15165 2200 0100 Chinese 15365 0900 1300 Indonesian 17645 0900 1400 Chinese 17775 0130 0200 English 17820 0600 0900 Indonesian 21680 0530 0600 Indonesian 21680 0430 0500 Indonesian 21680 0030 0100 Indonesian (EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Windsor-based CKLW was a strong musical force in its day. RADIO NIGHT OF EVENTS CELEBRATES THE GLORY DAYS OF CKLW By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News WINDSOR -- If you grew up with the sounds of "Cee-kay-el-double-u, the Mooootor Cit-y" booming out of your transistor radio with all the raw power of 80,000 watts, you'll want to tune in to the Big 8 this Saturday. From 7 to 10 p.m. [EDT; 2300-0200 UT], Detroit-Windsor legend CKLW-AM (800) will revert to its fast-talking, hit-making '60s and '70s identity, with many of its top jocks stopping in to spin records and do those breathtaking 20-second intros. Big 8 vet Charlie O'Brien will anchor the live broadcast, joined by Tom Shannon, Brother Bill Gable, Ted the Bear Richards, Joe Donovan, Johnny Williams, Keith Radford, Randall Carlisle, Mark Dailey, Pat Holiday and CKLW's eye in the sky, traffic 'coptor reporter Jo Jo Shutty McGregor. The original jingles, many of the top records and, of course, highlights from CKLW's wonderfully tabloidesque "20/20 News" will be heard. The reunion will air only Saturday night, although the CK vets are gathering for two days of activities across the river, and the broadcast will be filmed for a documentary. Called "Radio Revolution: The Rise & Fall of the Big 8," the documentary is being produced by Markham Street Films Inc. for History Television in Canada. The film will air in 2003. CKLW is now an AM talker featuring syndicated shows such as Dr. Joy Browne and targets the Windsor market, but back in the '60s, it identified itself as coming from "the Motor City." The station's music director, Rosalie Trombley, was a major influence in not only Detroit's music scene, but the national U.S. charts too as whatever hit on CK would find its way to most North American stations. To honor Trombley and the incredible reach of CKLW into the United States thanks to its massive tower, Bob Seger recorded the song "Rosalie," singing "she's got the tower/she's got the power." (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) 80,000 watts? Maybe in their directional lobe (Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** CANADA. This Sunday at 4pm EDT/2000 UTC, you may hear the CJAD Montreal studio link on 26200 KHz. This is on only during Montreal Alouettes home games. It's 1 watt. It connects the press box announcers with the announcer/s on the field (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE Tipsheet Oct 18 via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. More info on 6715-USB: The 6715-USB transmission is directly operated by Broadcasting Department of Laspalmas Full Gospel Church. TX POWER = 100 W (= 0.1 KW) TX ANTENNA = Dipole (reverse L type) directional to Western Africa TX starting HOUR = (ALL TIMES IN LASPALMAS TIME) [UT+1, soon UT] Sundays 11:00 Sundays 19:00 Wednesday 20:30 Fridays 22:30 [so look for it today Oct 18 2130-2230v UT! --gh] Info source= Mr.Chung Byoung Sung (the pastor of the church) (via Cho from Korea, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The target may be Korean ships, but if I am not wrong, the frequency 6715 kHz is not a maritime utility frequency, but designated and used for aeronautical mobile services (in use e.g. by RAF, USAF). 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Not wrong (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. PIONEER MEDICAL MISSIONARY GRANTED ECUADORIAN CITIZENSHIP Oct 11, 2002 From http://www.HCJB.org Dr. Paul Roberts, a former missionary to Ecuador who pioneered HCJB World Radio's medical ministries, has been granted Ecuadorian citizenship in recognition of his "extraordinary labor" to the country. Alejandro Suárez Pasquel, Ecuador's ambassador to Canada, made the presentation at the Ecuadorian Consulate in Toronto Thursday, Sept. 26, before about 40 of Roberts' family members, friends and local officials. He is the first Canadian to receive this honor. "To God be the glory," said Roberts, 79, who arrived in Quito with his wife, Barbara, in 1949 to begin HCJB World Radio's healthcare ministries. "I'm a bit taken aback by this honor." They now reside in Markham, Ontario. The Roberts came to Ecuador in 1949 even though Paul was told he could never get his M.D. in the country. But through persistence and hard work, including writing a thesis in Spanish, he became the first missionary to earn an M.D. from an Ecuadorian university in 1951. After arriving Ecuador, Paul would often travel with a nurse to remote towns and villages to hold medical clinics. "At that time the roads were all cobblestone," he says "Even the Pan-American Highway in Quito was a cobblestone road!" During the Roberts' first year in Ecuador, HCJB World Radio opened its first medical clinic in Quito, reaching out primarily to Quichua Indians. Paul was later instrumental in starting Rimmer Memorial Hospital (now called Hospital Vozandes-Quito) which opened in 1955. He helped raise funds to build the hospital, speaking 72 times each February for seven consecutive years on a Philadelphia radio program called "Morning Cheer." Although the Roberts only served as missionaries in Ecuador for 11 years, they have maintained a close relationship with the country. Every two or three years Paul and a team of doctors from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine (where Roberts worked for 27 years) have taught postgraduate courses on orthopedic surgery at Central University in Quito. Orthopedic surgeons come from across Ecuador as well as Peru and Colombia for these courses -- the planned to start on Nov. 24. At the last course in April 2000 the Ecuadorian Society of Orthopedics and Trauma made Roberts a full member of the society as a benefactor. He also served as honorary consul for Ecuador's Ministry of External Affairs for 19 years (1967-1986), issuing visas and passports. Recently he was reappointed to this position. As a result of his many contributions, Ecuador's president decorated Roberts in 1990 as a "Knight Commander in the National Order of Merit in Ecuador," the highest honor that the country can bestow on a foreign civilian. "Two years ago the Ecuadorian ambassador to Canada asked what else they could do for me," Paul says. "I said that I would love to be an Ecuadorian citizen. The ambassador said this might be impossible. But after 1½ years of paperwork, a presidential decree made it possible." (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Radio Cairo, B02, plans to use new 17775 (replacing 17595) for English to Asia 1215-1330. Arabic to Australia 2000-2200 remains on 11990 (Ian Banfield, UK, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) The 1215 service is generally inaudible here, tho one would expect some trace of it off the back/side. How is the signal and modulation in the target? (gh, DXLD) ** HAITI. 930, R. Cap-Haïtien, Cap- Haïtien OCT 5 0311 - "Radio Cap- Haïtien," male French news, mentioned Senegal, Israel bombings, good signal over domestics. + OCT 6 0332 - Male French vocal, Caribbean music in mix (Erik Stromsted, W1ZBT, Pepperell MA; Yaesu 1000MP, terminated NE long wire and unterminated N/S long wire, NRC IDXD Oct 18 via DXLD) ** HONG KONG. Tried for Hong Kong on the 16th and the 18th of October 2002 on 3940 at the 0933 time. On the 16th I was able to hear what was a whisper of a signal on 3940, nothing much there, but it did sound like a possible weather broadcast. On the 18th, nothing at all heard on the frequency. A disappointment to be sure, nothing at all like the reception had here in the '80's, but then as I recall, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Race was held in April then, and that may have a big effect on reception conditions (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non?]. CLANDESTINE from ? to IRAQ Following up on the NY Times story reporting that the Pentagon will start broadcasts to Iraq in a few weeks, I looked at Clandestine Radio to see what frequencies were used during the Gulf War by the Voice of the Gulf station that the US military operated. That schedule was- *0300-2100* 1134 kHz and ?1800-1900* on 8962 kHz. No telling what they will use this time, but these would be good places to start checking (From Hans Johnson WY, Oct 18, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRELAND. THE MYSTERY OF IRISH RADIO HISTORY - EARLY MEDIUMWAVE ERA In our continuing quest to determine the authenticity of claims for shortwave broadcasting from Ireland, we take another progressive step as we look at the early history of mediumwave broadcasting in the Emerald Isle. The first mediumwave station in Ireland was launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in October 1924 under the auspices of the BBC London. This new station was given the callsign 2BE and it was on the air with 1.5 kW on the wavelength 440 metres, corresponding to 680 kHz. The first station in the Irish Free State was launched a little more than a year later, under the callsign 2RN, reminiscent of ``Eirean``. This was also a 1.5 kW unit operating on 390 metres, 770 kHz. The inauguration ceremonies were relayed by the 25 kW BBC station 5XX at Daventry in England. The studios and transmitter for station 2RN were originally located in a wooden hut next to the police barracks, though soon afterwards, the studios were relocated above the downtown offices of the Employment Exchange. In preparation for the broadcasts of the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June 1932, a large 60 kW transmitter was installed temporarily for radio station 2RN. After the conclusion of the Congress, the transmitter was re-installed at Athlone, for nationwide radio coverage. In January 1941, the BBC London donated a new 2 kW mediumwave transmitter to replace the aging 15 year old unit. These days, Dublin is on the air as RTE1. The next radio station to be launched in Ireland was 6CK, a 1 kW unit operating on 400 metres, 750 kHz. This station was inaugurated in 1927 with its own production studios, though it became a slave relay for a period of nearly 30 years beginning in 1930. The Athlone station began with 60 kW in 1933, though this was upgraded to 100 kW in 1955, and more recently to 500 kW when the location was changed to Tullamore. The Athlone station was never allocated a callsign. During the European Conflict, several of the mediumwave stations in Ireland were synchronised on one channel so that they could not be used as radio beacons for invading aircraft and ships (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Oct 20 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. ISRAEL MIDDLE-EAST TV NETWORK As of Oct 20 the new Arabic-English Middle East Channel will take over the IBA's Channel 1 VHF TV transmitter network. IBA Channel I will continue on its UHF transmitter network (plus cable and satellite). There was a legal challenge to the recent removal of daily Arabic programming on Channel 1 and putting it on the VHF network has found to be a solution. I've been told that the above info has been covered in newspapers -- although I don't know exactly where --- and we're not sure if they mean the entire VHF network or not. There are some areas where Channel 1 is only available on VHF, and there are no Arab neighborhoods around. The TV channel webpage (Hebrew), has not been update to reflect these changes as of now (Thursday evening ET). http://bet.iba.org.il/tv_teder.html The IBA's website also has not been updated for the Winter SW schedule yet. The URL says Hebrew - but it's the top of the schedule written in English. http://bet.iba.org.il/shortwavws.html#hebrew --------- (Daniel Rosenzweig, NY, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel B02 - relay of Domestic Service in Hebrew scheduled: 5790 1900-0500 7545 2300-0600 9345 1800-0500 9390 1900-2355 11585 1700-0430 11590 0430-0600 15640 2100-2215, 1900-1950 15760 0500-1900 17535 0600-1900 Arabic: 0400-2225 5915 9310 12150 0400-2215 {sic}; English to Australia 0500-0515 17600 (via EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** ITALY. RAI-International: B02, only one freq 11895 (replacing 11900) is listed for the morning English service to Japan 2200-2225. The evening service [in Italian] (relayed by Kranji) 1000-1100 remains on 11920, to Au/NZ (Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** ITALY [non?]. IRRS: The station has just completed several technical upgrades, which are currently being tested on weekends. Transmitter modulation has been digitally-enhanced to support CCM (Carrier Controlled Modulation), DSB (Dual Side Band); the antenna system has been upgraded, and the digital audio link to the transmitter and modulation has been improved. Station would appreciate receiving reception reports for the weekend October 19-20, on 13840, from 0800-1200. Power for these broadcasts will be 10 kW, target area during these times will be Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, with DX reception in the former USSR. There were similar tests on October 12-13 (Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Radio Japan changes in B-02 broadcast frequencies as follows. frequency changes : B-02 [old frequency, then new frequency; we must avoid arrows in DXLD] Southeast Asia 1900-0000 (Japanese) 13680 11665 2000-2200 (Japanese) 11665 7225 Southwest Asia 1400-1600 (English) 11730 9845 1600-1700 (Japanese) 11730 9845 Oceania 2000-2100 (Japanese) 17860 11850 2000-2100 (Japanese) 6035 11920 SNG 2100-2200 (English) 17860 11850 2100-2200 (English) 6035 11920 SNG North America 0500-0700 (English) 13630 9835 Central America 1500-1700 (Japanese) 11895 9535 Europe 1030-1100 (Italian/Swedish) 21650 21730 GAB (July 02-) 2100-2200 (English) 6055 6090 U.K. Middle East & North Africa 0230-0300 (Persian) 11930 11875 0830-0900 (Persian) 17820 17675 1500-1520 (French) 11785 7190 (Source : Monitoring Section, Radio Japan) Regards, (via MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN, RAJSHAHI, BANGLADESH, Oct 18, DXLD) ** JAPAN. EAGLE FLIES AGAIN IN TOKYO Eagle 810, http://www.yokota.af.mil/afn/radio.htm --- the American Forces radio station in Tokyo, is back on the air after a break of three weeks during which its transmission equipment was upgraded. A new phaser has been installed in the station's 50 kW transmitter. Operations Superintendent, Air Force Master Sgt. Tracie Adams, hopes the improved signal will expand the station's coverage area. At Camp Fuji, for example, the old AM signal could not be received well inside buildings "because they're on the edge of our footprint." The station came back on low power while everything was tuned up, but the signal should be back up to full power by now. Eagle 810 serves an audience of 50,000 American service personnel and their families spread across a number of bases on Kanto Plain. Program Director Master Sgt. John Tway says the broadcasting team has not been idle during the station's three week hiatus. They have been busy recording about 60 new public service announcements. "We want a fresh sound," said Tway. The presenters also participated in four days of "radio boot camp," in which they learned techniques "to make radio more compelling." As a result, there will be some programme and format changes. Music will be reduced in the morning, from 10 to 12 songs per hour to a maximum of eight. "We're allowing the jocks more time for creativity," Tway said. A live local bulletin of military news from the various bases has been added in the mornings. And there's a new station slogan: "Hot news, hit music." (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 18 October 2002 via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN/UZBEKISTAN. The websites of two national broadcasters in Central Asia are no longer working properly: http://www.radio.kz (Kazakh State Radio) has been taken off the net http://www.teleradio.uz (Uzbek State Radio) is showing the same 98 (!) photos since last year already, no mention of the station anymore except in the title, the previous radio-related pages have been removed (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. IRAQ/USA: CNN STARTS NEWS OPERATION IN KURDISH REGIONAL CAPITAL | Text of report by independent Iraqi Kurdish newspaper Hawlati on 14 October The television news network CNN has opened an office in Arbil. The network plans to cover news directly should there be an attack on Iraq. The opening of the office coincides with decision taken by the American Congress and the Senate, which gave Bush the authority to use all means possible, including the use of military force, to destroy Iraq's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. The opening of a CNN office will also help journalists and its staff to come to the liberated region of Kurdistan from neighbouring countries without the need to go through Baghdad. It is worth recalling that CNN is the only news network which sold news without any written contract to all other agencies and television stations around the world during the second Gulf war [as published]. Source: Hawlati, Al-Sulaymaniyah, in Sorani Kurdish 14 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN? The station on 4050 kHz uses "Hit Shortwave" as identification and "Hit Music on Shortwave"-slogan. International pop tunes & Tajik melodies. I´m quite sure that this broadcast is not coming from Kyrgyz Radio. It can be the same transmitter that carried Radio Pyramid, Biskek broadcasts on 4050 in 1992 (they had 1 kW power according to QSL) and Radio RIK, Almaty broadcasts a year later. Maybe the same transmitter in a new CIS-country (Tajikistan?) (Jari Korhonen, Kitee, Finland, Oct 17, dxing.info via DXLD) I heard the same kind of "ID" on Wednesday. Why couldn't it be from Kyrgyz Radio? At least the power is in the same range (50-100 kW). It plays a lot of Indian film music and, as Bernd Trutenau suggested, could be intended for Afghanistan. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Kiihtelysvaara, Finland, Oct 18, ibid.) ** KYRGYZSTAN. Official info received from Bishkek lists the two SW transmitters of Kyrgyz Radio 1 on 4010 kHz with 100 kW and 4795 kHz with 15 kW. Acc. to the technical director of Kyrgyz State Radio, 4795 kHz was added in July 2002 in order to increase the coverage for Program 1. Both transmitters are located at the transmitting centre Krasnaya Rechka near Bishkek (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. Radio Mediterranean [sic], via Rome transmitters, B02: 6110 0630-0700 Mo-Sa, 9630 0800-1300 Su (Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. PROTESTS AT PROPOSED CHANGES IN MEXICAN MEDIA LAW Human rights and civil groups in Mexico held protests on Thursday at the government's proposed changes to the country's television and radio law, which has been in force for over 40 years. They fear the proposals would limit airtime for public service announcements. Laura Sala Sánchez, spokesperson for the Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights, said that the new law will "damage freedom of expression across the country." The current law requires TV and radio stations to grant the national government at least three hours of airtime daily. Under the proposed changes, this would be reduced to 18 minutes on TV and 35 minutes on radio. The government and the broadcasters say the changes would create more freedom of expression. But the current law allows the government's airtime to be used for public service announcements from independent bodies such as the Human Rights Commission, and opponents of the change argue that these would get squeezed out. But, according to Graciela Ramírez Romero, executive producer at Education Radio "they will use the time only for political ends." (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 18 October 2002 via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. Arzobispo de Managua censura cierre de radioemisora -- domingo 13 de octubre, 10:34 AM MANAGUA Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. - El arzobispo de Managua, monseñor Miguel Obando y Bravo censuró este domingo el cierre de una emisora propiedad del ex presidente Arnoldo Alemán, calificándolo de "un golpe a la libertad de prensa". El Instituto Nicaragüense de Telecomunicaciones (TELCOR) cerró la emisora el viernes debido a una solicitud de la Procuraduría General de Justicia, según la cual la concesión realizada en el 2000 era ilegal. La frecuencia había sido concedida por el Estado a la Comisión de Promoción Social Arquidiocesana (COPROSA), la que posteriormente la cedió al ex presidente. Obando y Bravo dijo que hubo una especie de arreglo con la frecuencia con COPROSA, organismo no gubernamental vinculado a la Iglesia Católica. TELCOR canceló la frecuencia porque, dijo, COPROSA nunca se registró ante el Ministerio de Gobernación donde están los registros de todos los organismos no gubernamentales. Juan Navarro, director de la estación radial clausurada, dijo desconocer que COPROSA se haya inscrito en el registro de asociaciones del Ministerio de Gobernación y si tenía potestad para tener una frecuencia radial. Navarro denunció el cierre como un plan del presidente Enrique Bolaños para sacar de circulación a Alemán, ya que éste con frecuencia utilizaba los micrófonos de la estación radial para dirigirse a los radioescuchas. Reconoció Navarro que a través de la Poderosa "se escuchaban algunos exabruptos en contra de muchos funcionarios del actual gobierno", pero dijo que no se debían a motivaciones políticas sino a la espontaneidad que caracterizaba a la emisora. (via Héctor García B., México, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ¿Qué frecuencia?! Finally the story below manages to mention the frequency (ggh, DXLD) LAMENTA ATAQUES DE LOS MEDIOS CONTRA LA IGLESIA A pesar que las conferencias de prensa a los medios de comunicación después de la misa dominical en Catedral fueron suspendidas, Monseñor Eddy Montenegro Avendaño, Vicario episcopal de la Arquidiócesis, concedió -por excepción- responder a las preguntas de algunos medios televisivos y radiales que lo abordaron minutos después de la celebración. El Boletín Arquidiocesano -señaló Su Excelencia- es un medio de respuesta de la Arquidiócesis de Managua, el cual no sólo catequiza y evangeliza, también "es un medio para poder responder a ataques a la Iglesia, los cuales son totalmente fuera de la ética, porque vos podés adversar a alguien, porque no todos pensamos igual, pero muchas veces se usan epítetos, caricaturas, programas que son devastadores en cuanto a los derechos humanos de cada persona". Se le preguntó si consideraba que hay gente que tiene miedo de ayudar a la Iglesia en este contexto: "La Iglesia desde tiempos inmemoriales ha mandado cartas de peticiones de ayuda a personas, laicos, instituciones estatales y privadas para diversas obras que la Iglesia realiza. Pero ahora pareciera pecado que la Iglesia pidiera para este tipo de obras". Le preguntaron sobre el cierre de Radio La Poderosa, con el argumento de que Coprosa no existió legalmente, y por eso era nula la concesión de esa frecuencia, expresó: "Coprosa es una parte del aspecto de la pastoral de la Iglesia, es como la pastoral familiar, como la pastoral de cárceles y enfermos, y la prueba es que allí está Caritas de Nicaragua, que es la misma acción social de la Iglesia, no con los requisitos que tiene una ONG, sino que es parte de la Iglesia Arquidiocesana". Insistieron en preguntarle sobre el caso de la 560 AM: "Lo doloroso en estos casos es la gente que queda sin trabajo, colegas suyos. En todo caso muchas veces estas cosas se resuelven políticamente, eso está probado en la historia de Nicaragua. Las cosas en este país se resuelven muchas veces a nivel de los dirigentes políticos, está en la frontera de lo político. Los periodistas pagan los platos rotos, en la historia de Nicaragua hemos visto que cuando ha habido cierre de medios los que quedan desprotegidos son los periodistas. Es difícil el aspecto humano de este asunto. Se lamenta que algunos periodistas queden sin el sustento y aunque los medios tengan una línea, pero son hombres y mujeres que tienen hijos, indiscutiblemente eso es lo doloroso y siempre queda aquel espectro que se ha temido en Nicaragua, de que la libertad de expresión es muy frágil en un país donde la democracia está en pañales, entonces hay que tener cuidado de alguna manera. Yo pienso que los dirigentes políticos, porque esto lógicamente tiene su tinte político, en Nicaragua casi todo lo tiene, buscarán alguna manera de arreglar el problema". Una periodista le preguntó si consideraba que se estaba volviendo al pasado con los ataques continuos a la Iglesia Católica: "Muchas veces no podemos estar en la misma sintonía de pensamiento, cada quien tiene sus propias ideologías, formas de ver las cosas, es difícil que podás encerrar a todo mundo en una opinión, positiva, negativa, general. Digo que a veces se pasan en algunos medios señalamientos con palabras que lesionan el derecho humano de la otra persona, aunque sea tu adversario tiene que haber respeto, y muchas veces estos medios no contribuyen a la unidad que debe haber entre los nicaragüenses, al final todos vivimos en la misma patria, Dios nos ha regalado este mismo cielo y el mismo suelo, y tenemos que tratar de buscar un punto de equilibrio, no se de que manera, pero tenemos que buscarlo para que pueda haber fuentes de trabajo, y pueda impactarse en los lugares donde hay mucha miseria". Otro periodista le dijo: La libertad de expresión es la base de la democracia ¿es un golpe a la democracia el cierre de La Poderosa?¿Es una debilidad del gobierno del Ingeniero Bolaños? Respondió: "No importa el tinte que se tenga de las cosas, de donde vengan, los dueños que sean, el problema es que es un medio cerrado. En días pasados nos reunimos con el Ministro de Gobernación y él nos explicaba su óptica y también los dueños de la emisora tenían su óptica, por eso digo, tienen que buscar una manera de solucionar esto, no nos toca a nosotros en este caso decir qué es bueno y qué es malo. Yo creo que todo mundo tiene derecho a expresar sus ideas en cualquier medio". [caption?] Monseñor Eddy Montenegro, Vicario de Comunicación de la Curia Arzobispal de Managua tras impartir la homilía dominical ayer en la Catedral Metropolitana de Managua, lamentó la campaña sistemática de calumnia y los ataques contra la institución católica y su clero desatada por los medios de la Carretera Norte como El Nuevo Diario y La Prensa (source? via Héctor García B., México, Conexión Digital via DXLD) GOLPE A LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN Los periodistas de Radio 560, La Poderosa, realizaron una protesta ayer en la Catedral Metropolitana de Managua por la medida dictatorial del presidente Enrique Bolaños de cerrar o "callar" la emisora sólo por mantener una posición crítica frente a las acciones de su desgobierno. Trinchera de la Noticia Los directores de los principales noticieros y programas de opinión, portaron pancartas en las que se leía "sólo las dictaduras oprimen la libertad de expresión". Según los trabajadores de La Poderosa, ciertamente la emisora con más cobertura en el país, eso sólo fue el inicio de una serie de gestiones previstas para tratar de recuperar la frecuencia que antojadizamente fue suspendida por Telecomunicaciones y Correos (TELCOR), por orden del Bolaños Geyer, quien se convirtió en el primer presidente que censura un medio de comunicación tras el triunfo de la democracia en Nicaragua en 1990. Las medidas incluyen elevar las denuncias de la censura en todos los organismos de defensa de los derechos humanos, tanto nacionales como internacionales. Los pobladores que asistieron ayer a la homilía dominical, mostraron solidaridad para los colegas periodistas y directivos de Trinchera de la Noticia, que encabezan las protesta en defensa de la libertad de prensa, mientras que Su Eminencia Cardenal Miguel Obando y Bravo condenó la medida de Bolaños expresando que "el cierre de La Poderosa es un golpe a la libertad de expresión". La Constitución Política garantiza la libertad de expresión y el propio Bolaños ha firmado cartas internacionales en las que se compromete a garantizar la libertad de información y prensa, pero todo eso lo tira al piso con su mala voluntad, explicaron los afectados. El Gobierno alega que COPROSA, organización de la Iglesia Católica, no tiene legalmente registrada la frecuencia, que tampoco tiene personería jurídica y que los administradores de Radio 560 no adquirieron la frecuencia como se debe, además, la antena transmisora de la emisora está en una zona inadecuada. Sin embargo, esos alegatos no justifican el cierre, al contrario, muestran la mala intención de Bolaños, porque todos esos inconvenientes se pueden resolver haciendo acuerdos, tal como ha sido una costumbre en el país, donde más un empresario o dueño de medios de comunicación se ha visto beneficiado tras negociar con la parte gubernamental (source? via Héctor García B., México, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Complementando lo informado por el colega Hector Garcia Bojorge, reproduzco a continuación algunos párrafos tomados de la nota publicada en el edición de la fecha del diario nicaragüense El Nuevo Diario. 55's Arnaldo Slaen Comunicaciones Independientes S.A. (COINSA), sociedad administradora de lo que un día fue Radio La Poderosa (560 kHz), emisora de Arnoldo Alemán, se encuentra intervenida por la Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA), por presunto contrabando de equipos que fueron introducidos al país con participación de la familia de Byron Jerez. Como parte del Plan de Fiscalización de la DGA y luego de un sorteo donde Radio La Poderosa salió electa para ser evaluada, ayer a la una de la tarde se hizo presente en esas instalaciones un equipo de oficiales de la Aduana, quienes solicitaron documentación de cada uno de los equipos que allí se encontraban. ``En la revisión, los oficiales pidieron los documentos de importación de los equipos con los cuales operaba la radio, pero sólo les fue entregado un legajo de fotocopias de facturas de cada una de las compras. Todas hechas en Estados Unidos y sin póliza de importación de respaldo``, dijo Fausto Carcabelos, director de la DGA. Todas las compras, que incluyen desde el transmisor de la radio hasta la cinta adhesiva que se utilizó para su instalación, fueron efectuadas a nombre de COINSA, el 28 de marzo del año 2000. La empresa que sirvió de referencia para la compra en Miami, y presuntamente la que transportó los equipos sin documentos de importación, fue ``Nicaragua Line``, propiedad de Gerol Jerez, hermano de Byron. PLAZO FATAL E INCAUTACION PRECAUTORIA Carcabelos, sosteniendo en sus manos estos documentos, explicó que ``esta empresa no se llamaba COPROSA, no se llamaba Carlos Campos Conrado, no se llamaba Radio 560, no se llamaba Radio La Poderosa. Esta empresa en realidad, legalmente, se llamaba Comunicaciones Independientes S.A. (COINSA)``. Señaló que en la revisión, Néstor Castillo se identificó como Gerente Administrativo de COINSA y entregó estos papeles explicando que las pólizas de importación existían, pero no se encontraban en la radio, por lo cual, debían esperar para serles presentadas. ``Ante tal situación y según la Ley 42 -agregó- la DGA les dio un plazo de 24 horas (hasta hoy) para que mostraran la documentación requerida, y por el momento se orientó una Incautación Precautoria``, dijo Carcabelos. ``Esto quiere decir que para salvaguardar los derechos del fisco, la Aduana toma posesión de la mercancía -en este caso los equipos de transmisión- en tanto se demuestran si tienen o no tienen póliza. Pero mañana (hoy) a la una de la tarde se vence este plazo``, agregó. En este sentido, explicó que de abrirse el proceso hoy a la una de la tarde, el Administrador Central de la DGA tendrá el papel de juez en los siguientes 60 días, ``y de acuerdo a las pruebas aportadas y la investigación de la institución, puede condenar o no el acto de importación``. ``Una vez que haya fallado, de ser condenados, los implicados tienen la opción de apelar ante el Subdirector General de la DGA, quien evalúa nuevamente con el administrador y presentan pruebas al director general, es decir yo``, precisó Carcabelos. ``Si yo también los condeno, tienen una última instancia de apelación antes de ir a los juzgados, el Ministerio de Hacienda, de lo contrario, después tendrán que ir hasta el Tribunal de Apelaciones, donde tendrán que entenderse con los juzgados``, destacó el funcionario. Sin embargo, también explicó que este proceso se aplica según la Ley 42, ``si la cuantía del delito excede los cien mil dólares van directo a los juzgados, si no excede esa cuantía los juzgamos aquí en la DGA``, puntualizó, al señalar que los más de 86 mil dólares contabilizados en las facturas de COINSA no es el total a considerar. EVALUARAN HASTA LA ANTENA Remarcó que el total a tomar en cuenta será el que arroje la investigación de la DGA, pues evaluarán cada equipo que encuentren en las instalaciones de la radio, es decir, en las oficinas de la Loma de Chico Pelón y en las antenas ubicadas detrás del Matadero Los Brasiles. De comprobarse el contrabando manifestó que las multas van desde tres veces el valor de la mercadería hasta cárcel de seis a ocho años para los contrabandistas e implicados. ``Las sanciones no sólo son para el importador deshonesto, sino también para la agencia aduanera involucrada y aunque no lo tenemos todavía confirmado, creemos que esta mercancía vino a través del Puerto de El Rama, en los barcos de la familia del señor Byron Jerez``, detalló. El director de la DGA, también dijo que en la inspección en Radio La Poderosa, ``como dato curioso adicional encontramos un carro sin placas y también sin documentos de introducción``. ``Ellos nos entregaron como soporte de este carro unos papeles de auditoría interna, donde encontramos una adjudicación ilegal de un vehículo de la aduana para esta radio emisora, como regalo. Ya buscamos en nuestro archivo y no existe tal adjudicación, así es que será otro caso por defraudación al Estado``, advirtió Carcabelos. El vehículo es un Honda Civic azul año 92, que ``aparentemente fue subastado por Aduana en dos ocasiones y nadie lo compró. Este carro en lugar de adjudicarlo a Bienes del Estado, fue adjudicado a COINSA, algo que según la Ley no se puede hacer``, concluyó el funcionario. ===== (via Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) CHAMORRO PROTESTA POR CIERRE DE EMISORA LIBERAL EN NICARAGUA martes 15 de octubre, 03:45 PM MANAGUA Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. - La ex presidenta Violeta Barrios de Chamorro manifestó este martes su "profunda preocupación" por el cierre de la emisora liberal La Poderosa que apoya al ex presidente Arnoldo Alemán. La emisora salió del aire el viernes pasado luego que el Instituto de Telecomunicaciones (Telcor) le suspendió el permiso de operación de frecuencia. TELCOR argumentó que la frecuencia estaba a nombre de un organismo católico que carece de personalidad jurídica. "Con independencia de las razones descritas esta decisión tiene consecuencias negativas para el clima del pluralismo y libertad de expresión que con tanto esfuerzo y sacrificio hemos construido en Nicaragua", dijo Chamorro en un comunicado. La ex mandataria alegó que como demócrata "defiendo su derecho (de la emisora) a existir pues la fortaleza de la democracia se basa en la norma de la tolerancia". Recordó que durante su gobierno enfrentó un clima de extrema polarización y violencia política con medios de comunicación radicalmente adversos a su gobierno y a su persona "pero jamás adopté ninguna medida que pudiera afectar los sagrados principios del pluralismo político y libertad de prensa". Chamorro solicitó al gobierno del presidente Enrique Bolaños "adoptar las medidas necesarias para que dicha emisora pueda continuar sus operaciones en el menor tiempo posible". Alemán condenó el hecho y afirmó que "esto indica el inicio de una dictadura nazista del ingeniero Bolaños... y sus temores a la libertad de expresión". Agregó que ni durante la dictadura somocista de 45 años y dictadura estalinista de (el ex presidente) Daniel Ortega se suspendieron frecuencias de radio. Alemán es acusado por fraude al Estado y lavado de unos 100 millones de dólares. Trabajadores de la emisora, acompañados de María Fernanda Flores, esposa de Alemán, protestaron en esta capital por el cierre de la emisora, llevando sus bocas cerradas con cintas adhesivas (via Héctor García Bojorge, Conexión Digital via DXLD) FSLN PROTESTA POR CIERRE DE EMISORA EN NICARAGUA jueves 17 de octubre, 11:24 AM MANAGUA Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. - El Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) condenó el cierre de la emisora liberal La Poderosa y exigió al gobierno del presidente Enrique Bolaños "enmendar esta grave violación a la libertad de expresión". La emisora fue cerrada la semana pasada por el Instituto Nicaragüense de Telecomunicaciones (TECOR) a solicitud de la Procuraduría General de Justicia que alega ilegalidad en la concesión de la radiofrecuencia. El FSLN dijo que "considera inexplicable e injustificado el cierre de la radioemisora, independientemente que todos y todas estamos obligados a ejercer responsablemente el derecho básico de libre información y de libre expresión". Agregó que el cierre de la emisora es "una grave violación a la libertad de expresión e información" que "no abona al clima de respeto, de tolerancia y de convivencia pacífica que necesita nuestro país, ". Durante su gobierno de los años 80, el FSLN cerró diarios y emisoras e impuso una férrea censura de prensa. La Poderosa alegaba la inocencia del ex presidente Arnoldo Alemán, acusado por fraude al Estado y lavado de 100 millones de dólares, y atacaba al gobierno de Bolaños. El cierre de la emisora ha sido condenado por el cardenal Miguel Obando y numerosos medios de comunicación del país. La Asociación de Profesionales de la Radiodifusión Nicaragüense se sumó anoche a las protestas (via Héctor García Bojorge, Oct 17, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. International DX Club: Hi Glenn, Re your comments on this club, I see Radio Netherlands is mentioned as one of the stations with whom they "maintain regular contact." I can only tell you that, as the person responsible for the media section of our Web site, and the club list therein, I do not recognise the name of the club. They may, of course, be on the mailing list for On Target. I guess it depends how you define "regular contact" :-) I am open-minded about this. We still list the African DX Association, but I don't know if it actually exists any more. Friday Okoloise was certainly genuine, and I still have the pictures he sent me of his family many years ago. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan B02, to FE/Asia includes To SAs: Assami 11655 15455 0045-0115 (Jan Nieuwenhuis, Netherlands, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) Check to hear if the so-called Assami service is still actually (mostly?) in English (gh, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. PNG GOVERNMENT TAKES TO AIRWAVES TO GET ITS MESSAGE ACROSS | Excerpt from report by Papua New Guinea newspaper The National web site on 18 October, by John Dau The government launched a radio programme with the National Broadcasting Corporation [NBC] in an effort to ensure the people are being informed of about policies. Public Service Minister Puka Temu officially went on air at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday [16 October] at its opening. The 30 minute programme, called "Meet your Government", would be aired every Wednesday night from 7.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the national radio service. [0930-1000 UT, on 4890, et al.?] Dr Temu said that he would keep the people informed of all the government policies and how they run the country. "As the minister, I will let you know of what the government wants you to know. Tune in and meet your government of the day," he said. He said that the people had the right to know important government policies so that they are able to see clearly the road ahead of them and contribute to the development of the nation. He said PNG is a beautiful country, very rich in culture and diversity, but the people were isolated from the government because of the geography of the country. As a result, he said that the government has opted to use radio to disseminate information about their development programmes... The programme would be on air every Wednesday night until 18 December, when it would be evaluated. NBC managing director Kristoffa Ninkama, a medical doctor by profession, welcomed this. "In a period where the country is going through very tough economic times, where infrastructure are falling apart, where service are not reaching the ordinary people, and where extension services have come to a halt in the rural communities, the move is timely and highly commendable."... Source: The National web site, Port Moresby, in English 18 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PERU. De Iquitos, transmite a Rádio La Voz de la Selva na frequência de 4824 kHz. Ela foi sintonizada em Tefé na manhã de 18 de outubro com um bom sinal, entre as 1017 / 1044 levando ao ar música, notícias, propaganda política e avisos (Paulo Roberto Sousa, via Jornalista Célio Romais, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Dear Glenn, Please refer to DXLD 2-158 Oct 13, news on R Veritas Asia, Philippines; the changed frequencies 11705 (Hindi) and 11995 (Bengali) kHz are giving poor reception in domestic made receiver. Perhaps monitors are using quality digital receiver resulting strong signal. This is a common contrast specially in R Veritas Asia (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES [and non]. THE FAMOUS ``I WILL RETURN`` BROADCAST BY GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR IN THE PHILIPPINES It is just 58 years this week since General Douglas MacArthur made his famous ``I have returned`` speech from the shortwave facilities on board three different radio ships at the beginning of the return invasion of the Philippines. The date was October 22, in the year 1944. This is how it all happened. In their concerted drive into the Pacific, the Japanese army landed on the north coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines on December 10, 1941. The American & Filipino troops were slowly pushed southwards until they were concentrated on Bataan (ba-TAHN) Peninsula and on Corregidor (cor-EGG-i-door) Island, near the mouth of Manila Bay. General Douglas MacArthur was on Corregidor Island at the time and he listened to the daily news bulletin every evening on shortwve from KGEI in San Francisco. General MacArthur was ordered by the president of the United States to evacuate to Australia and before leaving, he told his support staff that he intended to return as soon as possible. MacArthur, together with his wife and son, were quietly taken out of the Manila Bay area by small boat to a port in the southern Philippines where they boarded a plane for Australia. Soon afterwards both Bataan and Corregidor surrendered. However, in the meantime, the American forces in the Philippines established a shortwave radio station that identified on air as ``Freedom Radio``. This new station was first noted in Australia in February 1942 using a channel in the 31 metre band. Now, in the era immediately prior to these events, the original Far East Broadcasting Company, station KZRB, operated at least two mobile radio stations on shortwave. It is thought that one of these mobile stations was taken over by the American army and used on the Bataan peninsula for the broadcasts of ``Freedom Radio``. This station was afterwards transferred to Corregidor Island where it was noted until the time of surrender. It is probable that army equipment was also used for the broadcasts of ``Freedom Radio``, both on Bataan Peninsula and on Corregidor Island. MacArthur`s flight to Australia took him across Indonesia and Timor with the intent to land at Darwin. However, because of an air raid at the time, his flight was diverted to Batchelor, some 30 miles further south. Here it was that he made the first of three speeches, re- iterating his promise to make a triumphal return to the Philippines. According to several of his biographies, he made the same speech again at Alice Springs a day later, and a couple of days later again at the railway station in Adelaide, using on each occasion his handwritten notes on the back of an envelope. Radio station KGEI also re-broadcast this information on shortwave to the Pacific. In Australia, MacArthur made his headquarters, at first in Melbourne and then later in Brisbane. Radio magazines of that era state that a railway train was fitted up for use as his headquarters complete with several communication transmitters, though this is not mentioned in any of his available biographies. As the fortunes of war changed, MacArthur again moved his headquarters, to Port Moresby and then to Hollandia, both on the island of New Guinea. At this stage, the radio ship ``Apache``, followed by the smaller radio ship ``FP47``, arrived in Hollandia from Sydney Harbour in Australia. The return invasion was imminent and the American forces sailed for the Philippines, together with the ``Apache`` & the little ``FP47`` trailing at the end of the invasion fleet. This massive fleet arrived in Leyte Gulf on the evening of October 20, the ``Apache`` made a series of inaugural broadcasts on October 21, and MacArthur announced to the world on October 22, 1944, ``I have returned`` in fulfillment of the promise he had made more than two years earlier. The inaugural invasion was made at Red Beach, north of Palo on Samar Island. Here it was that MacArthur waded ashore in preparation for his ``I have returned`` speech. An American army vehicle, a weapons carrier, was fitted up as a mobile communication station and MacArthur made his speech from this location. This mobile broadcast was picked up on the navy vessel, ``Nashville`` and re-broadcast on several shortwave frequencies for reception throughout the Philippines. The ``Apache`` also relayed this broadcast and the ``FP47`` carried news despatches in Morse Code containing the same information. Two days later, MacArthur returned to the navy vessel ``Nashville`` and made a repeat broadcast, this time for all the world to hear. The ``Apache`` relayed this programming to the United States, where it was picked up in California and broadcast to the Pacific via KGEI as well as via other shortwave stations in California. Almost every biography on General Douglas MacArthur makes reference to his legendary radio broadcasts; ``I will return`` and subsequently, ``I have returned``. The date of his first ``I have returned`` broadcast, was October 22, 1944. Interestingly, October 22, 1844 is a very significant date in Bible prophecy and in American religious history. General Douglas MacArthur made his famous ``I have returned`` speech exactly 100 years later to the very day, a fact that is sometimes presented by Gospel preachers on radio and television. This week forms the anniversary 58 years later of these famous radio broadcasts that were carried on shortwave from the transmitters located on three vastly different ships. These ships were the freighter ``Apache``, the U.S. navy vessel ``Nashville``, and the converted fishing trawler ``FP47``. (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Oct 20 via DXLD) WTFK? KZRB - FEBC Manila 11840 mobile OB Far East Broadcasting Corporation; KZRB mobile heard on 11940 after Japanese invasion; Freedom Radio: 9640 31.12 New Freedom Radio heard; 9645 31.1 close to KZRH channel, morning & evening; 9645 31.1 news nightly at 9:30 pm; I will return speech on KGEI in 1942; Schneider KTAB-KSFO-KWID document 8; 9645 2 sessions daily 7:30 am & 8:30 pm; Freedom Radio closed with evacuation of Bataan; source: R&H (From AMP`s appendix via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I am writing to inform you of a possible error in the Radio Rossii schedule [DXLD 2-160]. Although the schedule begins next month (I am assuming that), one of the frequencies seems to be in error. The frequency of 17600 from Moscow that is used between 0830 to 1500 UT may be incorrect? Radio Rossii is booming in every morning on 17660 kHz and is nil heard on 17600 kHz. The only other freq audible here in Clewiston in the morning is 13705 kHz. All the others listed are either incorrect or blocked by QRM. I say "incorrect" because with one error already noted, I am wondering how many other errors the list might have? Hopefully there aren't any. (Chuck Bolland, FL, http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com Oct 18, Receivers NRD525, NRD535, NRD545 Antennas: Dipoles and Longwires (who measures?), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. RUSSIAN TV COMPANY LAUNCHES NEW VENTURE IN AMERICA | Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS New York, 18 October: Full-scale broadcasting of a new Russian- language television channel NTV America has begun in the United States. This event was announced at a news conference on Thursday [17 October] given at the Russian permanent representative office at the UN. NTV America is the American version of the international project of the Moscow channel NTV, NTV Mir, which since last December has been broadcasting to Europe, Israel and more recently to Australia and New Zealand. The new channel is specially intended for the Russian expatriate audience in the USA. Broadcasting will be round the clock. Seven news broadcasts will be broadcast during the day, the majority of them from Moscow. But at 2200 local time it will have its own news programme, put together by a team of New York journalists. The provider of NTV America is one of the leading companies in digital satellite television in the United States, EchoStar. It already sends a signal to practically all 50 States where subscribers to NTV America can receive it through "dishes" fixed to their homes. "We plan to show first and foremost the best programmes from the 'big NTV' which set the image of this channel, the general director of NTV America, Grigoriy Antimoni, told ITAR-TASS. These include the principal news programmes "Segodnya", "Freedom of Speech" with Savik Shuster, Leonid Parfenov's programme "Namedni". "But many of our programmes will be different from those that viewers watch in Russia. For showing in the United States, we will buy additional films, serials and several programmes specially made in Moscow for Russians living in America. This applies also to sports programmes. There will be a weekly programme "Football Courier" made for America with news of football in Europe and Russia and also "Chess Review" in so far as there is nothing on American channels about chess," Antimoni said. After the launch of NTV America in the USA, there are now two channels with similar names broadcasting for American audiences. Commenting on this situation, Antimoni said: "Indeed, already for some time Vladimir Gusinskiy's channel NTV International has been working here. However we have reached an agreement with Mr Gusinskiy that from December this year he will stop using the logo NTV and will continue to broadcast under another name. Our audience now has a real chance to chose between NTV America and Gusinskiy's channel." Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0317 gmt 18 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Radio Slovakia International, B02, to Australia: 0700-0730 English, 0730-0800 Slovak, both on 13715 15460 and 17550. A NF is 7230, 0100-0200 English and French to the Americas, violating ITU agreements for use of this band for broadcasts to the Americas, to protect the NAm amateur radio service. Somebody tell them? (Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. R. Sweden, English to North America at 1330-1345+ Oct 18, captured on my scanners at 37920, 2 x 18960; started checking lowband VHF after France was booming in earlier on 25820 (Ron Trotto, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Great catch; I don`t recall this harmonic reported before. Urge others who can tune 30+ to search for other SWBC harmonics; `tis the season! Indeed, 37920 is not yet on the harmonics by frequency list at http://www.dxradio.co.uk/harmonics.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. The listeners in South East Asia, CBS (Central Broadcasting System, Taipei, Taiwan) stopped broadcasting on the frequency MW 585 Khz UTC 1100-1200 beginning October 15. All other frequencies will continue as usual. Regards, (MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN, RAJSHAHI, BANGLADESH, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. NEW NAMES OF WEEKDAYS AND MONTHS DXers not seldom are misled when they hear the word "dushanbe" or similar on the radio and link it automatically with Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. However, "dushanbe" in its various forms means just "Monday" and is used in several languages in Central Asia. This has lead to occasional misidentification of programmes. At least this confusion will no longer happen with programmes in the Turkmen language, Turkmenistan's president Niýazow decreed in August new names for the weekdays and months, as shown below (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Viz.: TURKMENISTAN DAILY DIGEST http://www.eurasianet.org From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org) Date: Tue Aug 13 2002 - 10:06:25 EDT --------------------------------------------------------------------- DELEGATES TO TURKMEN ASSEMBLY HAIL PLANS TO RENAME MONTHS, DAYS Delegates to the last People's Council of Turkmenistan have praised decisions adopted by the Turkmen president to rename the months and days of the week. The following is an excerpt from report by Turkmen TV on 11 August. [Presenter] The joint forum of the 12th session of the Elders' Congress of Turkmenistan [council of elders designed as a consultative body to the president], the People's Council [of deputies and presidential appointees] and the National Revival Movement of Turkmenistan [coalition of Turkmenistan's official political parties and public associations], which was held on 8-9 Alp Arslan [new Turkmen name for August] in Turkmenabat [in eastern Turkmenistan], will be written down with golden letters in the history of the Turkmen people. Because our leader Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy the Great [Nyyazow, the Turkmen president] put forward proposals which attach a special sheen to the Turkmen national colour. He consulted with participants and adopted decrees and resolutions with the consent of delegates from all regions. [Correspondent, over video of the meeting] Any deed carried out by our esteemed leader, Saparmyrat Turkmenbasy the Great, is a successful step in the destiny of Turkmenistan and the Turkmen people. [Passage omitted: any decree adopted by the president is of great importance for the Turkmen people; known details of the last People's Council] [Correspondent] Participants in the meeting share their happiness with the decrees adopted. [Unidentified man speaking to camera in Turkmen in a foyer] As you know, before we said Dusenbe [Monday] and we didn't know the meaning of it. Starting from now we will use Bas gun [main day] of the week instead of Dusenbe, the second day [Tuesday] will be Yas gun [young day], the third day [Wednesday] is Hos gun [good day]. The fourth day [Thursday] is, of course, the day for asking for good things from the God, that is why it is Sogap gun [good deeds day], Anna [Friday], the sixth day [Saturday] is Ruh guni [spirit day] and the last [Sunday] is Dync alys guni [holiday]. The decision about new names for the days is very important and I admire greatly our leader's wisdom in this respect. [Passage omitted: an unidentified woman sitting in a hall and speaking to camera in Turkmen praises the decision on changing the names of months and week days] [Unidentified man speaking to camera in Turkmen] Gurbansoltan eje [Turkmen president's mother] is the sacred woman. She gave us the great leader. God granted good deeds to the soul of our leader and they provide their good results in the name of today's destiny of the Turkmen people and in the name of their future. We discussed naming a month after Gurbansoltan eje yesterday. I support the speech by Myratberdi Sopyyew [a farmer from the central Ahal Region, who proposed naming April after Gurbansoltan eje]. [Unidentified women speaking to camera in Turkmen] Our city of Turkmenabat [in eastern Turkmenistan] is to be divided into two districts. I am very glad of the fact that these districts will be named after the parents of our great leader, Gurbansoltan eje and Atamyrat aga. This issue is of great significance for us. I support these decisions with both hands. I will teach them to my pupils. [Passage omitted: correspondent about known details of issues discussed at the meeting] [Correspondent] Nurettin Safak [phonetic], the head of the Central Asian department of the Turkish TV, which has over 700m viewers, says the following: [Uncaptioned man sitting in an office and speaking to camera in Turkish] I admire the ability of our great leader to solve issues following the great traditions of our ancestors. The world states also admire how he adopts decisions. [Passage omitted to end: known details of the meeting; participants in the meeting visiting collective farms of Lebap Region] Source: Turkmen TV first channel, Asgabat, in Turkmen 1600 gmt 11 Aug 02 (via Bernd Trutenau, Oct 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U K. LISTEN WITH MICKEY A digital radio station targeted at kids could be about to get the analogue green light from the Strategic Radio Authority, but with backing from Capital and Disney, it's no Mickey Mouse operation John Cassy, Sunday June 09 2002, The Observer Listening with mother could be about to get a lot more interesting. The Radio Authority will tomorrow award a new analogue licence for the east Midlands region, and, in innovation terms, one application stands out above the others. Capital, the UK's largest commercial radio group, and Disney, the US entertainment giant, have submitted a joint application for Capital Disney, a station that they believe will become the first substantive radio operation targeted solely at children. Research conducted by Capital Disney and BMRB found that children are under-served by radio. Nine out of ten 10 to 16 year olds tune into radio each week, and 70% of teenagers have a radio in their bedrooms. More than 1m kids listened to Radio 4's eight-hour Harry Potter broadcast on Boxing Day, but programming tailored to their tastes is rarely broadcast. "Of the 255 analogue licences in the UK, not one is targeted at under 16s," says James Bethell, a strategist at Capital who gained experience of the youth market at the Ministry of Sound nightclub. "Television has done an excellent job providing tailored programmes for kids through things like Saturday morning TV and various cartoon channels, but radio has been left behind. "There are 17 children's TV channels but Radio 1 has only become their listening by default. There's nothing else out there for them. We're going to provide something much better and more tailored to them." Capital Disney has mobilised strong support for a format that would combine Capital's established music output with Disney's speech and feature products. Importantly for advertisers, it would also provide a route to the pocket money of an increasingly influential but traditionally difficult to target segment of the population. Spending surveys say UK children receive around 1 gigapound in pocket money each year, with parents spending a further 4 gigapounds on non-essential items for under 16s. "The challenge is to build a new commercial advertising market in the UK to target tomorrow's consumers today," says Paul Robinson, senior vice-president of Walt Disney Television. Media buyers including Zenith, agencies such as Leo Burnett, and advertisers including McDonald's and Coca-Cola have expressed their support. "The 15 to 34 age group remains the key market, but younger children are becoming a more attractive advertising group," says Tim McCabe, head of radio at BBJ. "Capital Disney is something new and catering to something different so I don't think it would be too difficult a sell to the right clients." The record of new entrants winning licences in the UK is not good, and Capital Disney's chances of emerging victorious for the east Midlands licence from a list of more than a dozen applicants are slim. Yet win or lose, Capital Disney will go live on digital radio by the end of the month and continue to apply for analogue licences when opportunities arise. The timing of Capital Disney's application could be good. In line with government policy detailed in the recent communications bill it would lead to foreign investment in domestic media, help develop a market that is poorly served, provide a public service function through its educational format and help drive the take-up of digital radio given that children are the most technologically-savvy section of the population. "Kids' bedrooms look like Dixons," says Bethell. "They have radios, PCs, TVs, games consoles and every other electronic gadget you can imagine. They consume a hell of a lot of media." Several recent on-air incidents have also led to concerns about the suitability of mainstream radio for young children. Sara Cox's Radio 1 breakfast show has been censured following swearing by Ali G. Virgin Radio was hit with a record fine after DJ Jon Holmes encouraged a nine-year-old girl to repeat the phrase "soapy tit wank" on a phone-in show. Yet building and making money out of this new market is unlikely to be simple. Capital has been trying for six years to make a go of children's radio, first through a station called Fun and latterly one called Cube, which broadcasts on digital radio in the north-east, north-west, west Midlands and Severn estuary. Neither has set playgrounds alight. The Capital Disney team also admits that targeting a notoriously fickle market that is extremely susceptible to fashion trends and peer pressure makes stable listening figures difficult to deliver. Perhaps most tellingly, not even the relatively cash-rich BBC has got involved in the children's radio market, even though its own charter specifies that it should develop markets that are poorly served by commercial operators. "Children are extremely discerning," admits Kevin Palmer, head of digital at Capital. "They enjoy 'cool' material tailored to 'their' tastes. Anything else is less appealing." A typical Capital Disney playlist is likely to focus on sugary pop, centred around artists such as Atomic Kitten, S Club 7, Gareth Gates and Will Young. Dance and new metal tracks will also be included Bethell says. "This won't be bedtime with mummy, it will be fun and varied listening. However, it won't be as edgy as Radio 1 and certainly won't have shock-jocks or swearing." Terrifyingly, for anyone over school age, none of the music will be more than two years old. "Ronan Keating is a veteran from another time as far as this audience is concerned," says Bethell. It will take advantage of Disney's links to Hollywood and feature regular star interviews, promotions built around new cinema releases and opportunities to meet the stars. There will also be an educational element. "We'll look at everything from bullying and revision to gadget reviews and environmental issues," Disney's Robinson says. "We want kids to be interacting and calling in as much as possible. Very little content will be imported from the US. This is going to be a UK-created venture with a strong regional slant." A "kids' council" will act like a board of non-executive directors, monitoring the content and feeding suggestions back to management on a monthly basis. Bethell expects their tastes to be conservative. "Sure, some 15 year olds are out smoking crack and having sex, but most of them are at school working hard and studying for exams." Despite the fact that kids spend most of their time either in school or asleep, Capital and Disney insist their business plan is viable. Peak hours will be early mornings before 9am, the hours after school finishes and then the time up until 10pm when children are in their rooms either doing their homework or sulking before they go to bed. Weekends and school holidays will also be crucial times. During school hours, content will be aimed at a category marketeers call "young mums with kids". The model already works well for Disney in the US where it is a well- established producer of kids' radio, having bought 51 stations and become active in all the major urban markets. Disney TV in the UK does not carry ads, so it also provides a unique opportunity for advertisers to access children, Robinson adds. Investment analysts are cautiously optimistic about the Capital Disney's prospects but privately express some doubt over how credible the Disney brand is to young teens. "It's a bit Mickey Mouse isn't it?" says one analyst. "Young kids might go for it but children always aspire to be older and cooler so I'm not sure they'll be able to attract the 15 or 16 year olds they're looking for." Robinson concedes: "The Disney brand does start to lose its resonance at 14 or 15. GCSEs are a turning point when kids are free to leave school and start to reject childish things." Early audience growth - with as few as 60,000 digital receivers in use nationwide - is likely to be minimal, although most children will probably tune in to audio streams using internet connections. Robinson insists Disney will not walk away if impact is not immediate. "This is our first radio venture of any kind outside the US. We are in for the long term and devoting significant resources to it." Cue Britney, Christina and S Club 7. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) DISNEY RADIO AIMS TO CASH IN ON PESTER POWER Julia Day, Tuesday October 15 2002, The Guardian Walt Disney is abandoning the "no advertising" pledge that governs its UK television channel for a new radio station aimed at the nation's children. The company will launch the digital station in a joint venture with Capital Radio tomorrow and plans to advertise to the under-16s through mobile phones and computers. Capital Disney is the first radio station dedicated to children and hopes to cash in on youngsters' love of pop music and cartoons. There may even be room for more cerebral fare. BBC Radio 4's eight- hour Harry Potter broadcast on Boxing Day last year attracted an audience of 1 million children but programming tailored to their tastes is rarely broadcast. Studies have shown UK children receive pocket money worth £1bn in total each year. Parents splash out a further £4bn for non-essential items, such as trainers and CDs, for their children. A main commercial feature of Capital Disney will be a website enabling children to get involved with the shows and play games. The site is expected to add to parents' worries by increasing "pester power". The website, which will tell children to "start saving that pocket money now", will showcase expensive toys and provide links to other sites where they can be bought online. For instance, the "Inspect A Gadget" area features a £199 Nikko camera car and links to the Firebox site where it can be bought. Capital Disney will pump out a mix of chart music, competitions, games and speech-based programmes focusing on entertainment, news, sport and technology. Paul Robinson, the managing director of Disney UK branded television, said: "Capital's expertise and Disney's knowledge of UK children's tastes will help build a radio station that is completely different to the existing commercial and BBC services." TV presenters from the Disney Channel will host the key breakfast, after-school and evening shows on the radio station. Capital Disney will have a potential audience of 25 million listeners. It will broadcast on Capital's Cube digital radio stations in five regions including London, the west Midlands and the North-east. Although there are only 70,000 digital radio sets in use in the UK, Capital and Disney are hoping their new venture will bring more listeners to the medium. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K. Re: ``Wouldn`t the 75th anniversary be a more fitting one to celebrate? (gh)`` Maybe they think they won`t be there :P (Fred Waterer, Ont., Oct. 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. More often that not lately, when I check 7490, WJIE is running open carrier, tho apparently at high power, e.g. after 0500, and Oct 18 at 1225 when I expected to hear yet another play of WOR 1148. And so OC all night, having lost program feed? What a waste. I also point out that Norway B-02 schedule in DXLD 2-160 shows they will continue using 7490, but to the south and east rather than North America, at 2300-0600 and 1630-2200, whilst North American beams will be on 7470 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re Spanish QRM to WWRB 5050: Glenn, My apologies for not being more descriptive on the source of interference, for my log of 5050 WWRB. As best as I can describe, it was multiple Spanish speaking peoples, I`m assuming amateur radio operators, tho I am not familiar with all the bands and frequencies used for such. 73 (Scott R Barbour Jr- NH, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is definitely not a hamband, but there could be fixed stations of much lower power, one would think, than WWRB is running, and not a significant QRM source (gh, DXLD) 5015, WWRB -- I guess some kind of product generated between 5050 and 5085. I bit weaker than the latter two, but decent signal at 0305 Oct 18 (From Hans Johnson WY, Oct 18, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. CEA LAUNCHES BATTLE VS. DTV-TUNER MANDATE By Bill McConnell Broadcasting & Cable 10/17/2002 11:33:00 AM The Consumer Electronics Association, making good on a vow to fight the Federal Communications Commission in court, asked the Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., to strike down rules requiring nearly all TV sets to be equipped with digital tuners by 2007. "The vast majority of consumers do not need and will not use these devices in order to receive digital-television programming," CEA attorneys told the court. The CEA argued that the FCC does not have legal authority to require digital tuners. Under rules imposed in August, 50 percent of sets 36 inches and larger must have digital tuners by 2004 and 100 percent of 13-inch and larger ones by 2007. (via Kevin Redding, Oct 17, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2111 Date posted: 2002-10-14 VOA FRENCH CONTRACTS QUESTIONED Two former VOA employees are asking why the Voice of America "systematically" has given transmitter business to a European manufacturer. In a letter to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and distributed to others on Capitol Hill, Jack Quinn and Nick Olguín complain about a recent IBB/VOA award for the "Kuwait Transmitting Station Shortwave Expansion" project to French firm Thales Radio Broadcast. "Thales ... is jointly owned by the French government and the Thomson conglomerate," they wrote. "TRB, in effect, is subsidized by the French government. No American broadcast manufacturer has ever won a job in France, nor are they even allowed to participate in the bidding process. Yet, the IBB continues to ignore our procurement laws and regulations by just handing over one project after another to the French." They say the VOA contract is not in the best economic interests of the United States. Further, they call it "unthinkable to award such a large anti-terrorist contract to a French company when their government openly opposes U.S. policy in that region." "The French have been trying very hard to put U.S. manufacturers of radio transmitters, antennas and vacuum tubes out of business, in order to create a monopoly. This attempt to eliminate or restrict competition is in direct violation of our Antitrust Laws (Sherman Act)," they write. The writers also cricitize VOA purchases of "subsidized foreign steel for IBB projects at giveaway prices." (via Benn Kobb, DXLD) ** U S A [and non?]. INSULTINGLY STUPID MOVIE PHYSICS http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/ Appalled by the fuzzy science rampant in today's movies, the critical smarty pants behind this site aren't afraid to stand up and educate Hollywood moviemakers. Comprised of scientists and average Joe brainiacs, these critics have come up with a special rating system to catalog physics gaffes: GP=Good Physics, PGP=Pretty good physics, RP=Retch, and XP=Physics from an unknown universe. Their reviews carefully explain why a movie sucked or didn't suck, scientifically speaking, of course (via Yahoo Weekly Picks, via Radio HF Newsletter Oct 16 via DXLD) ** U S A. SPAM RADIO http://www.spamradio.com/ Spam Radio is serving up delicious helpings of spam each hour of every day to all who are hungry. Using a complex arrangement of pipes and funnels we turn the junk mail that we receive into a streaming audio broadcast that can be enjoyed from anywhere on the Internet (via Bob Margolis, Chicago, Illinois, Radio HF Internet Newsletter Oct 16 via DXLD) Has computer voice reading spam with nice musical background; sorta catchy for a change. Into my favorites! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. AFN update: Greetings from Sactown once again, Glenn! Just wanted to hip ya where to listen for Armed Forces Network broadcasts! 12689.5 usb is kinda hit-n-miss, as is 10320 usb at west coast twilight! But 6458.5 usb goes past its former 0500 G.M.T. signoff when 6350 usb signs on! It's followed this pattern since 9/11 last year! And A.F.N.'s playing sports once again! I know you hate "silly ball games", but sports is what attracted this young swl hipster to A.F.R.T.S. back in the day (all those network news feeds were a bonus; got to hear Johnny Most, Red Barbour, & Ernie Harwell, amongst the legends on the international ether)! What's interesting about the 6458.5 feed, one evening it broadcast E.S.P.N. Radio's national feed of the National League Divisional playoffs, the next night it was Fox Television's audio feed! Guam's 5765 usb has been coming in surprisingly strong in the early morning recently, with programming like N.P.R.'s Morning News magazine, followed by Ron Barr's "Sports Byline" , then "Sam Donaldson Live"! Hope this signal makes it into Enid! ... 73s from (Sactown-n-Ed Gardner!!! Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I can hear AFRTS with many NPR and sports programs in my evening at 0900 (1900 local) UT using 5765 USB with some hum always there. The Hum is a definite giveaway that it is Guam. AFRTS Hawaii on 6350 is always jammed by a constant carrier hear in Australia; can sometimes separate by tuning a few kc's the other way with the filter on, but difficult. Deliberate Jamming? 73 (Tim Gaynor, Oxenford Q, Australia, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. PAUL HARVEY http://www.paulharvey.com/index.shtml No, no relation to me, unfortunately. Paul Harvey is one of the best known voices on U.S. commercial radio. This web site gives you info on where and when to hear Paul Harvey, plus features this famous broadcaster`s biography. The site also offers up the latest news (via Sheldon Harvey, Greenfield Park, Quebec, Radio HF Internet Newsletter Oct 16 via DXLD) Site supposedly leads to affiliate lists, but the US map section doesn`t go anywhere when I click on several states, and the foreign section says check with AFRTS. Also has links, untested, to audio of his past week`s morning and noon shows (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {and most of the morning show is repeated in the noon} ** UZBEKISTAN. See KAZAKHSTAN ** VANUATU. COURT OVERTURNS RULING ON DISMISSED VANUATU BROADCASTING CORPORATION STAFF | Text of report by Radio Australia on 17 October Vanuatu's Supreme Court has overturned an order to reinstate 30 employees of the country's [Vanuatu] Broadcasting and Television Corporation. The employees were sacked by the media organization in October last year for taking part in industrial action. In May an arbitration tribunal ordered they be reinstated but the broadcasting and television corporation immediately sought a stay on the ruling. The Supreme Court has now overturned the tribunal's ruling, leaving the corporation free to proceed with the sackings. Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 2000 gmt 17 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VATICAN. On to Rome. During all of our four-day stay I did not hear Rome-846. It was not on. And the Vatican station formerly on 526 is now on 585. This one put in a very good signal into our downtown hotel near the Vatican so I can presume its transmitter is located within the confines of Vatican City which are about 100 acres. The ones on 1530 and 1611 were much weaker so they are no doubt out in the Italian countryside. 1611 seems to sign off around 2130 GMT but of course they sign on at 0020 GMT. The others are 24 hours. And I also noted a station on 1260 in foreign languages which must be the 4th Vatican AM station. I had read that they were on only during the year 2000. I doubt if either 585 or 1260 could be picked up here, though it might be possible in Newfoundland (Ben Dangerfield, PA, NRC International DX Digest Oct 18 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. A Rádio Amazonas de Puerto Ayacucho, foi sintonizada com sinal regular em Tefé no manhã do dia 18 de outubro entre as 0954 / 1022, na frequência de 4939 kHz. Levava ao ar programação musical entremeada pelo slogan, Radio Amazonas, con el pueblo! (Paulo Roberto Sousa, via Jornalista Célio Romais, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi Glenn, Just wanted to let you know that someone must be testing tonight. I heard the following: Victor Bravo Lima To - the first 3 I am very sure I heard and understood but not the "To" 10/18/02 6930 khz 0246-0251 UTC Just wanted to let you know about it. Maybe a pirate was doing a short test there (Petro Giannakopoulos, Atlanta, GA, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Isn`t VLB2 the call of some spy numbers station? Nothing heard on 6930 after 0300 here (gh, DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ Radio Place closed recently, 10/4 to be exact! Sactown hams-n-swls lost their main hang-out to exchange ideas, radios, & other tall tales of d.x. past! ... Got their last ICOM IC R-75! It's a great rig! Like one of the ham reviewer's said, it makes a great Yaesu FRG-100 replacement! Better audio via internal speaker-n- tape out through an auld Marantz amp! Wonder what it'll sound like modded! Plan to get Kiwa's synchro-mode mod! Other than the bunk s-am, this is one tight rig! The two pre-amps dig out signals buried in da Century Frog! Also dig having 102 memories, as opposed to only 52 on the Century Frog! E.C.S.S. reception via sideband is crisper with the ability to use a wide filter, so ya get to really hear what those 6.955 Mhz pirates sound like! Same same with those Wednesday evenin a.m.ers on 3.870 Mhz; what dynamite fidelity! Sorry Glenn, but I sold out & sold me soul to that R-75 Cult! Oh well! 73s from (Sactown-n-Ed Gardner!!! Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM +++ DRM LONG TERM TEST TRANSMISSIONS DRM Long Term Test transmissions on short-wave continue from Sines, Portugal (Deutsche Welle), Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles (Radio Netherlands), Juelich, Germany (T-Systems Media Broadcast) and Rampisham, UK,(VT Merlin Communications). On medium-wave Medienanstalt Sachsen-Anhalt is transmitting 24 hours a day in Burg, Germany. The goal of these tests is to prove the reliability of the DRM system over a complete broadcast season. This is the HF test schedule until October 26 2002, daily unless stated otherwise, all intended for Europe: 5975 Julich Germany (T-Systems Media BC 1305-1455 Multimedia 7320 Rampisham UK (Merlin Comms) 1500-1600 BBC-WS Mo-Fr 11655 Bonaire N. Antilles (RN) 0530-0655 RNW-Dutch 15230 Sines Portugal (DW) 0930-1200 DW-English 15425 Bonaire N. Antilles (RN) 0700-0800 RNW-English 15525 Bonaire N. Antilles (RN) 2130-2230 RNW-Spanish 15565 Bonaire N. Antilles (RN) 2030-2125 RNW-English Also on mediumwave: 531 Burg Germany (Medienstalt Sachsen-Anhalt) 24-hrs Multimedia, to Burg region (via Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 18 via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-160, October 17, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1152: AIRINGS ON WWCR: Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070; Sun 0630 3210; Wed 0930 9475 AIRIMGS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0630, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630 on 7445, 15038 AIRINGS ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415 AIRINGS ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK: Rest of world Sat 0800; NAm Sun 1400 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1152.html [from UT Fri] MUNDO RADIAL on WWCR: New Oct-Nov edition from Oct 18, Fri 2115v and Wed 2100v on 15825; from Oct 30: Wed 2200 and Fri 2215v on 9475. (DOWNLOAD) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0210.rm (STREAM) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0210.ram (SCRIPT) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0210.html DX PROGRAMS: new edition by Bill Brady posted Oct. 17: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ALASKA. Saturday, October 26, 2002 - KNOM-780, Nome, AK will conduct a DX test from 12:00 to 1:00 am Alaska Local Time (i.e. 4-5 am EDT). From Les Brown, who arranged the test: "We are currently planning to go from nighttime power (14 kW) up to 25 kW within a minute or two after midnight on 10/26, a Saturday. Morse ID's will be frequent." KNOM will stay at 25 kW until 6 am Alaska Time. Reception reports (with return postage) may be sent to: Les Brown KNOM-AM EMAIL: rfn@nook.net P.O. Box 988 WEB: http://www.knom.org Nome, AK 99762 (Arranged by Les Brown for the benefit of all DXers) (via IRCA Soft DX Monitor via WORLD OF RADIO 1152, DXLD) UT: 0800-0900, onward to 1400 ** ARMENIA. Photos of the antenna of the 234 kHz Armenia LW station at L. Sevan ("Gavar" formerly "Kamo"?) By Ben Dawson: http://www.ydunritz.com/photoarm.htm (Ydun Ritz` MW News via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. TWR - Chuck Roswell (...) "Actually I retire at Midnight, 31 December 2002 and start the new year "retired!" We expect to travel to the USA on 2 January." (... and) "We are retiring from TWR but will still be available for special projects if they need us such as monitoring trips, HFCC meetings, etc. We will be volunteering as Associate Missionaries with Source of Light Ministries in Madison, GA. SOLM published, distributes and grades Bible correspondence courses. (TWR uses these at several of their locations for the listeners.) Needless to say, I will be setting up a listening post and my amateur radio station (K2MGL) after I get settled in Madison, GA." I trust that the bcs will be a blessing to all who tune in to TWR. 73, Chuck Roswell, Frequency Coordination & Monitoring, TRANS WORLD RADIO - Europe, Postfach 141, A-1235 Vienna, Austria (Chuck Roswell, TWR Europe, formerly at TWR Bonaire; via WWDXC Germany Oct 14 via BC-DX, DXLD) ["Charles K Roswell" <croswell@twr-europe.at>] Many thanks Chuck for the valued service over past decades, remembers on the days of editing typewriter news of World Wide DX Club 'DX Magazine' since 1970. (wb) (Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Dear Glenn, if you think is useful detail the e-mail is : bab@terra.com.br --- Ciao from Italy (Dario Monferini, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That is, for R. Educadora Limeira, 2380, truncated in previous item (gh) ** BRAZIL. Among a long list of Brazilians logged: On 9684.9 at 0252, Paul heard Radio Gazeta São Paulo. He believes they have done something to clean up their signal. On 11924.9 at 0316, Paul heard Radio Bandeirantes, which has sometime drifted up toward 11925.6 (Paul Ormandy, NZ, HCJB DX Partyline Oct 12, notes by Marie Lamb for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4934.99, Radio Capixaba, 9 Oct, 0020, Portuguese pop vocal, announcer with ID. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Radio Canção Nova- 9675- 0450-0458-10/16. Long talk featuring what sounded like prayers, each followed by 'Amen". Ballad heard until ID at 0458, then signal obliterated by DW IS via 9670, Antigua relay. Too bad as reception was rather nice (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Hi All, might interest you to know that the Democratic Voice of Burma not only broadcasts in Burmese but a number of other local dialects: Sunday: Mon language (morning and evening) Monday: Arakan language (morning and evening) Tuesday: Chin language (morning and evening) Wednesday: Shan language (morning and evening) Thursday: Karen language (morning and evening ) Friday: Karenni language (morning) Kayan language (evening) Saturday: Kachin language (morning and evening) These languages are given 15 min slots in each transmission. 73 (Sean, G4UCJ, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. LAS PALMAS = 6715 USB KOREAN STATION location??? I got reply from Yoido church and a religious organization called AG. They said they didn't know the existence of 6715 U. But afterwards I investigated many full gospel churches and listened to Mr. Hodgson's recording many times. I find the church relayed by 6715 USB transmission is "Full Gospel Laspalmas Church" The pastor of FGLC is Mr. Jung Byung Sung. I send him e-mail and waiting for his reply. Do you know where Laspalmas is? In a gospel church article, Mr. Jung said many Korean people can't go to his church because many Korean are fishermen. Maybe 6715 USB is meant for Korean fishermen who can't go to FGLC. LASPALMAS IS LOCATED IN ISLANDS??????? I don't know Laspalmas at all FGLC belongs to Yoido full gospel church and Mr. Jung is sent by Yoido full gospel church (Sung Chul Cho, Korea South, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After a quick search I found that the "Full Gospel Laspalmas Church is located in Spain. One can even find a picture of it at: http://www.soljiwon.com/archi/archi-b00.html 73, (David Hodgson, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Actually, La Palmas is one of the main towns in the Canary Islands, part of Spain (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Well, that would be consistent with qualities of reception both here and in Europe. I think it is quite likely that this is a transmission for intended fisherman as has been speculated (David Hodgson, DXLD) Via Cumbre DX, contact info: Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, Plaza de Augustin del Castillo 3, Las Palmas de G.C. Spain; email fglc@jet.es fax 928-20-0139, telephone 928-20-4245. Pastor's name is spelled as Chung Byung Sung (Hans Johnson, Oct 16, Cumbredx via DXLD) I have found very very very critical information about Laspalmas church. Because you don't read and understand Korean language, you will not figure out the following Korean language web page http://mission.fgtv.com/column_page.asp?num=33_12 The above Korean only web page contains Mr. Jung's letter sent to Yoido Full Gospel Church. I extract one decisive context from the above web. (S.S.B.) For those who can't understand Korean language, I translate the above Korean language text in English like this. "Every Sunday and Wednesday, Church service is relayed via S.S.B. for Korean fishermen." Please carefully see the word (S.S.B.)!!!!!!!!!!!!! What does it mean? Transmission site = Laspalmas transmission Operator = Laspalmas Church listeners = Korean fishermen (Sungchul Cho from Korea Republic, Oct 16, WORLD OF RADIO 1152, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think SSB implies 6715USB. I sent Mr. Jung an e-mail but failed to get reply from him. Telephone number of Laspalmas gospel Korean church = 34-928-20-9757 or 34-928-20-7410 Fax = 34-928-20-0139 (I am not certain whether these numbers are accurate or not) Postal address = F/G Las Palmas Church, Plaza De Agustin Del Castillo 3, Las Palmas De G.C. Spain. The following is my conclusion. Transmitter site = Laspalmas, Spain Relayed church by 6715 USB Transmission = Laspalmas Korean Church Listeners = Korean fishermen Without Mr. Hodgson's precious recordings and Mr. Savolainen's useful info on 6715 U, I could not reveal anything about 6715 U (Sungchul Cho from Korea Republic, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi, may be a little information, but I hope to be useful : Plaza Agustín Castillo, 3, 35011 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: So you have the correct postal code missing (Dario Monferini, Cumbre DX via DXLD) This item has been floating around the forums, hope Africa is a good home for it (wish we don't have to move it over International Waters.) --- All the credit and congratulations to Sung Chul Cho of the Republic of Korea for investigating and solving this 6715U mystery. As I was in close e-mail contact with Cho these days sharing some thoughts, may I put the findings in brief for those who might not be familiar with the "6715U unid". In February 2002, David Hodgson, TN, USA, first logged unid religious station on 6715U. Soon it was found out that the language was Korean and the programs were aired on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays during UT evenings. As heard only in Europe and USA suggested the station was somewhere in Europe or Africa. The broadcast schedule switched to DST in the end of March. Direction finding in Europe shows 224/044 degrees (WB). David sent a recording of the program to Sung Chul Cho. Cho finds out the program was related to Full Gospel Church of Korea. Cho finds out from the tape they mention "Full Gospel Las Palmas Church" Cho finds a letter from FG Las Palmas Church to Yoido (FG Church in Korea) in Koream at the Yoido web site, mentioning they relay the church service via SSB for Korean fishermen. An FG churchmember in Las Palmas confirms after listening to an audiofile of 6715 that the program is theirs (Cho). And finally, I myself just got an e-mail from the church itself (to my report and mp3 file) confirming this all (see below). Well, the transmitter might be located at Las Palmas, Canary Islands. Speculating - the programs may be relayed from the church via for example VHF radio to a fishing vessel and re-transmitted from there. Ahh, forget it (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ------- On 17 Oct 2002 fglc@jet.es wrote: ------- Thank you for your mail from Finland. 6715 kHz SSB that you heard is from our church, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, as you expected. This radio is used for the Korean crew who are working in the Western Part of the Africa to hear the live worship. As you might have predicted, our church is belong to the Yoido Full Gospel Church, and we, as one of the missionaries are working in Las Palmas as Rev. David Cho's disciple. Thank you for being concerned about our church and its radio. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions. Yours Sincerely, Pastor Chung from Full Gospel Las Palmas Church. /ps/ why do you want to know? : ) (via Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxing.info via DXLD) 6715 USB completely identified!!! I get reply from one Korean Christian who goes to Laspalmas church. His reply can be seen below. [translated] "I heard reception file you sent. This is our church's broadcast. Our church operates this broadcast for many Korean fishermen who are sailing and can't attend at church service. Any questions will be welcomed." 73! (Cho from Korea republic, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 5075, Voice of Pujiang, 1305 Oct 16 now heard here as well, // 4950 and 3280 (Hans Johnson, WY? Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. 5010, CNR 2 (presumed) 2214-2218 Oct 15. It looks like English language lessons are on again at this time. What sounded like a taped presentation by a YL in American accented English, then presumed translation/explanation by OM in Chinese. QRM on LSB, SINPO 32443. (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. Enjoying musical program on 15665 around 0000; not sure if CNR-1 or 2 (Chris Hambly, Australia, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably jammer against RFA See also HONG KONG ** COLOMBIA. La Voz de tu Conciencia, Bogotá (?) 6011 khz, 0445-0457, 17 Okt., religious program, clear ID "...en onda corta...la voz de tu conciencia...", moderate signal, SIO 243 (Daniele Canonica, Switzerland RX: JRC 535 D ANT: T2FD 25 meters, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 4259.97, Radio Rebelde (harmonic 6 x 710), 13 Oct, 0908-1026, weak ballad // 5025 (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. I can confirm the problems with R. Havana. Only 6000 works lately and it sounds crappy. I recognized Arnie Coro (of DXers Unlimited) on the Hurricane Net after the first hurricane went through (the one before Lily), and he was talking about antenna damage there. Perhaps that's why the other frequencies are dead. The audio quality problem seems to be lack of a decent recording/playback system, his live programs are always better than the repeats (Bill Brady, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. US JAILS WOMAN WHO SPIED FOR CUBA Wednesday, 16 October, 2002, 17:01 GMT 18:01 UK An American woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for spying for Cuba. Ana Belen Montes, who worked for US military intelligence, said she had wanted to defend the island against US injustice. [...] Prosecutors said she communicated with her Cuban handlers through short wave radio and coded pager messages.... Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2334507.stm (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: By Rob Watson, BBC Washington corespondent An American woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for spying for Cuba. Ana Belen Montes, who worked for US military intelligence, said she had wanted to defend the island against US injustice. Montes, who is 45 and of Puerto Rican descent, worked as an analyst at the Defence Intelligence Agency near Washington. From 1985, until her arrest in 2001, she was also a Cuban spy. She admitted to revealing the identities of four undercover agents to the Cubans and passing on secrets prosecutors said were so sensitive they could not be revealed in court. Dramatic defence Prosecutors said she communicated with her Cuban handlers through short wave radio and coded pager messages. Before being sentenced, Montes defended her actions in dramatic style. She said the US Government's policy towards Cuba was cruel, unfair and profoundly unneighbourly. She said she felt morally obliged to help the island defend itself from what she called US efforts to impose its values and political system. But the judge, Ricardo Urbina was unimpressed. He said if you can't love your country, then at the very least you should do it no wrong (BBC News via Sosedkin, DXLD) To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37827-2002Oct16.html SPY FOR CUBA SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS --- By Neely Tucker Ana Belen Montes, the daughter of an Army psychologist who grew up to be the most adept Cuban spy to infiltrate the U.S. military, was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday, a somber end to a stealthy career of espionage in the nation's capital. Montes, 45, the former senior analyst for Cuban affairs for the Defense Intelligence Agency, told U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina that she was motivated by a love of Cuba and a loathing of U.S. policy toward the impoverished island nation. She was never paid anything but her expense money, according to prosecutors. "I obeyed my conscience rather than the law," Montes said at the courtroom podium, wearing a striped, black-and-white prison uniform. "I believe our government's policy toward Cuba is cruel and unfair, profoundly unneighborly, and I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system upon it." Urbina was unmoved by the five-minute speech from an unapologetic spy who used shortwave radios and encrypted transmissions to relay sensitive U.S. secrets to the Cuban government. "Today is a very sad day, for you, for your family and loved ones, and for every American who suffers the betrayal of their country," Urbina said. "If you can't love your country, you should at least do it no harm." He then imposed the 25-year term that prosecutors and Montes's defense attorneys had agreed upon for her guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage. That is a capital offense, but prosecutors agreed in March not to oppose a 25-year sentence if Montes spent at least six months telling them everything she knew. The trade-off apparently worked. U.S. Attorney Roscoe C. Howard Jr. said yesterday that Montes had cooperated with federal investigators from several agencies. He declined to say what she had revealed. But in papers filed to the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Walutes Jr. assailed Montes's actions and her personal morality, dubbing her "the ultimate hypocrite. . . . Ana Belen Montes consciously and deliberately chose to join forces with those who would compromise the national security of this country. She secretly and without remorse systematically compromised classified information relating to the national defense of the entire country." Luís M. Fernández, spokesman for the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Montes, of Puerto Rican descent, was born on a U.S. military base in Germany. She is studious, frugal and single, and she appeared to friends and family to be a conscientious worker for the government. She and her family moved to the Baltimore suburbs in the late 1960s. She graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1975, noting next to her yearbook photo that her favorite things were "summer, beaches, soccer, Stevie W., P.R., chocolate chip cookies, having a good time with fun people." She received a foreign affairs undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and then a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Montes worked for the Justice Department in the early 1980s before moving to the DIA in 1985. The 40-year-old agency, with more than 7,000 military and civilian employees throughout the world, produces military intelligence about foreign countries. Montes worked her way up to become the agency's top official on Cuban affairs by 1992, working closely with the CIA and the State Department. The job gave her access to top secret files, the most sensitive information in the U.S. government, and she passed it along to Cuban intelligence officers from 1992 until her arrest last year. Montes used her apartment in the 3000 block of Macomb Street NW as her base of operations, but sometimes she ventured out to use pay phones at the National Zoo and in Chevy Chase and Bethesda to contact her handlers, prosecutors said. She told Cuban officers the names of at least four U.S. covert officers working in Cuba, gave them classified U.S. photographs and documents and let them know that the United States was monitoring several Cuban military installations. FBI agents had been trailing Montes for months or perhaps years. Her indictment lists a series of phone calls she made as far back as 1997. She was arrested in her office at Bolling Air Force Base last year, a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on Washington and New York. Her disclosures did not result in the deaths of any U.S. agents, Howard said. But he said she was "as dangerous as anybody" when compared with other recent spies, including Robert P. Hanssen. That FBI agent was sentenced in May to life in prison for giving secrets to Russia. "Her sentence was less than Hanssen's, and while I don't approve of 25-year terms, I suppose this is progress," said Plato Cacheris, the defense attorney for both defendants. At least one member of Montes's family was in the courtroom yesterday but declined to comment. A phone call to her brother's home in Miami was not returned (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) see UK for BBCR4 programmmmes on Cuban missile crisis ** CYPRUS TURKISH. Yesterday evening I heard an English speaking station with quite poor reception on 6150 kHz 2110-2130 UT. My guess is, this was BAYRAK RADIO INTERNATIONAL from the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus". Programme was consisted of old pop songs from the 60`s and the 70`s. S/ON of CRI in Hungarian via France on same frequency 2130 UT destroyed reception. 73`s (Jouko Huuskonen, Oct 16, Turku, FINLAND, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. La Voz del Napo, 3279.55, Oct 12 0820-0935+; tune-in to Spanish religious programming; NA at 0900 then back to local religious programming with choral music. IDs at 0909 and into Andean music. Good. A regular lately. Interesting they would play NA at 0900 even tho they were not signing on or off (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT [and non]. Found a very interesting website with news about Middle East, audio links, when I tried http://www.radiocairo.com (George Thurman, IL, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. PROTEST BY WORKERS AT NATIONAL FINNISH BROADCASTER SHUTS DOWN RADIO PROGRAMMING -- Wed Oct 16, 7:29 AM ET HELSINKI, Finland - Hundreds of workers at the state-owned Finnish Broadcasting Co., YLE, walked out Wednesday to protest planned layoffs, disrupting normal programming on several radio channels across the country. The protest, over plans to cut 45 jobs, started at 12:15 p.m. (0915 GMT) and was scheduled to end at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) Thursday, YLE said. The strike disrupted normal programming on YLE radio, which has several nationwide and local channels. It would not affect emergency broadcasts, government bulletins or marine weather reports used by ships in the Baltic Sea, the company said. The walkout also was not aimed at YLE's television programs. Some YLE radio channels played music nonstop or jingles. YLE is 99-percent government owned with 4,000 employees. The company is mostly funded by television license fees. The Nordic nation of 5.2 million also has several commercial radio stations broadcasting throughout the country as well as two independent commercial nationwide TV stations, MTV3 and Channel 4, and several cable TV networks. From: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021016/ap_wo_en_po/finland_radio_strike_1 (via Sosedkin) I wonder if this has anything to do with drastic cuts in YLE's External service. According to a report in Radio Finland's Russian news bulletin, the station carried the programs of Radio Peili during the 18-hour strike. R. Peili is "a digital channel of the news and factual programmes including YLE in Parliament; jazz at night." I wonder if anyone caught it on the SW (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [non?]. About unID 25765: As the TDF guys didn't bother to reply to my questions about 25765 BBC loop tests, I e-mailed the DRM Project Office in Switzerland requesting some info. Anne Fechner there kindly forwarded my e-mail to Hans Linkels, the Chairman of DRM System Evaluation WG. His reply can be seen below. However, the programming I heard on 24 Sep on 25765 was different (football loop and BBC promo loop) from what he describes. I sent him an e-mail, asking if Merlin has similar tests on 25 MHz, but no reply received. (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ------- On 13 Oct 2002 J.L.H.W. Linkels wrote: ------- Fwd: 26 MHz simulcast tests Dear Mr. Savolainen, The transmissions on Sept. 24 must have been from Rennes as well. DRM had a meeting there of one of the working groups and these transmissions were set up as a demo. The reason that you heard a BBC transmission in an endless loop is that this specific material was coded off-line, and we had only one minute or so of programme material. (The subject is about the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn murdered on May 6) Kind regards, Hans Linkels, Chairman DRM System Evaluation WG Contact information: Radio Netherlands International Bonaire e: jlinkels@rnbtech.com t: +599 717 5472 f: +599 717 5427 m: + 599 787 0738 (UTC-4) gsm: +316 5363 8569 (from 021014 until 021021) (via Jari Savolainen, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Luigi Cobisi of the European DX Council mentioned that he recently got to visit the IBB transmitter facilities in Lampertheim, Germany with a local FM/TV DX group. IBB facilities are still quite important in reaching Europe and Central Asia. Cobisi also got to meet members of Germany's ADDX radio club, including Hans Werner Lang, who contributes to HCJB's German-language DX program. Also, although every German state has its regional radio network, only the city of Cologne has both regional and national radio services. Westdeutscher Rundfunk, or WDR, is the regional radio service (also noted for its excellent big band: Marie). Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio are national networks. Deutsche Welle, the Voice of Germany, is the country's international radio service; Luigi Cobisi used to be a correspondent for DW's Italian service, which was discontinued in 1997. Next year, Deutsche Welle will celebrate its 50th anniversary, and it will move its headquarters from Cologne to Bonn. DW will move into the buildings formerly occupied by the West German government before the reunification of Germany in 1990. Germany will also host the next EDXC conference in August 2003, and more about that will be mentioned in November. For more information about EDXC, you may go to: http://www.edxc.org Letters may be sent to: EDXC ** P.O. Box 18120 ** 50129 Firenze ** Italy (HCJB DX Partyline Oct 23, notes by Marie Lamb for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. DRM: NO CAR RADIOS IN SIGHT Below I enclose a statement from the marketing section of the German car radio manufacturer Blaupunkt, posted in reply to a posting where statements allegedly received at the recent IBC fair were cited. Summary: At present no car radio manufacturer considers to produce a DRM set because less than 5% of all listeners still use the AM bands, not enough to justify the required investment of some 1.5 millions EUR for developing of such a set. The additional DRM wirings would cost roughly as much as the ones for DAB (Eureka-147), also for sets with DAB capability (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz: Da kann man nur staunen. Tatsache ist vielmehr, das derzeitig kein Hersteller ernstlich an die Produktion eines DRM-Autoradio denkt, da die Zielgruppe AM-Hörer kleiner 5% des Marktes beträgt und die daraus resultierenden Stückzahlen die hohen Entwicklungskosten von rund 1,5 Mio Euro nicht decken. Abgesehen davon wird der Aufpreis von DRM sich in ähnlicher Höhe wie DAB bewegen. Dies gilt auch für ein DAB/DRM- Gerät. Ergänzend der Hinweis, das ich als Sprecher auf der IBC glaube die zukünftigen Pläne von Blaupunkt klar dargelegt zu haben. DRM stand nicht zur Diskussion und wird auch in den nächsten 2 Jahren nicht zur Diskussion stehen. Volker Lauke, Marketing, Blaupunkt GmbH http://forum.myphorum.de/read.php?f=8773&i=5658&t=5658 (via Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] It's certainly much more convenient to write in English here... Meanwhile I received another comment, speculating that this statement is a bluff aiming at the competitors while Blaupunkt in fact already works on DRM sets. All I can say is that Blaupunkt evidently still believes in DAB, probably because their new "Woodstock" set is quite popular amongst radio freaks. Of course it is interesting for freaks to listen to the local 1.5 GHz bouquet from Karlsruhe on a hill near Wiesbaden, not less than 130 km away. This bouquet still contains a channel labelled Welle. This Karlsruhe-based station closed months ago; a new station called Hitradio RTL immediately took over the FM outlets (if you are interested: http://www.radioszene.de/audio/welle3.mp3 - Welle saying good-bye, http://www.radioszene.de/audio/welle4.mp3 - screwed-up switch from Welle to Hitradio RTL feed) but on DAB the Welle corpse (now a silent channel of course) remains till today. One has really to wonder if anybody cares about what goes out via Dead And Buried! This statement was posted in a bulletin board (I enclosed the URL of this thread), so it is definitely a public one, and of course a comment from the DRM crowd would be of interest. Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tja, da kann man in der Tat nur staunen und den Ignoranten ein baldiges verdientes Ende gemeinsam mit DAB wünschen, dessen Ende innerhalb der ARD-Technik nicht mehr ernstlich diskutiert (=in Zweifel gezogen) wird. Bestehen Einwände, das Blaupunkt-Statement an den DRM- Vorsitzenden weiterleiten zu dürfen? Mit besten Grüßen (Andreas Augner, via Ludwig, DXLD) ** GREECE. ERT S.A. THE VOICE OF GREECE B02 SHORT WAVE TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE Effective from 27/10/02 to 29/03/03 (0000) UTC EUROPE 0000-0400 49 5865 41 7475 Gr 0400-0550 49 5865 41 7475 Gr 0600-0700 31 9420 19 15630 Gr , Eng 0700-0800 31 9420 19 15630 Gr , Eng 0800-1000 31 9420 19 15630 Gr , Eng 1000-1100 [break] 1100-1200 31 9420 19 15630 Gr 1200-1300 31 9420 19 15630 Gr 1300-1400 31 9420 19 15630 Gr 1400-1500 31 9420 19 15630 Gr 1500-1700 31 9420 19 15630 Gr 1700-1800 31 9420 19 15630 Gr 1800-1850 31 9420 19 15630 Gr 1900-2000 31 9420 49 5865 Gr 2000-2100 31 9420 49 5865 41 7475 Gr 2100-2200 49 5865 Gr 2200-2300 49 5865 Gr 2300-2400 49 5865 41 7475 Gr Foreign Language Transmissions 1300-1430 19 15725 Gr, Ar 1430-1700 19 15725 D, Rus, E, R, Tr 1700-1800 19 15725 Sc, Bg 1800-1900 41 7475 Al, F 1900-2000 41 7475 Pl, Eng MW 0900-1800 792 Gr, Ar, D, Rus, E, R, Tr 1830-1900 792 Gr 2100-2230 792 Gr 2300-2400 792 Gr TASKEND 1300-1400 19 15725 Gr MIDDLE EAST & INDIAN OCEAN 0000-0350 19 15630 Gr 0400-0600 13 21530 16 17520 Gr 0600-0700 13 21530 16 17520 Gr 0700-0800 13 21530 16 17520 Gr 1300-1430 19 15725 Gr, Ar MW 1000-1500 1260 Gr, Ar, D ATLANTIC OCEAN 0000-0400 41 7475 31 9420 49 5865 Gr 0400-0600 41 7475 41 7475 49 5865 Gr 0600-0800 19 15630 31 9420 Gr 0800-1000 19 15630 Gr 1100-1850 19 15630 Gr 1900-2300 49 5865 Gr 2300-2400 41 7475 49 5865 Gr AFRICA 0000-0357 31 9420 Gr 1700-1850 [sic in this order] 1400-1500 [means on 9420 throughout?] 1900-2000 2000-2050 2300-2400 31 9420 Gr JAPAN, PACIFIC OCEAN 0600-0800 25 11900 Gr AUSTRALIA 0000-0358 19 15630 Gr 0400-0800 16 17520 13 21530 Gr 0600-0800 25 11900 Gr [Delano] 1200-1430 Gr. Ar 2100-2300 19 15650 31 9420 Gr 2300-2400 19 15650 Gr NORTH AMERICA 0000-0550 41 7475 49 5865 Gr 1200-1500 31 9825 Gr [Delano] 1600-2200 16 17705 Gr [Delano] SOUTH AMERICA, PANAMA ZONE & SW AFRICA 0000-0358 31 9420 Gr 2000-2200 16 17565 Gr [Greenville] 2300-2400 31 9420 Gr Gr=Greek, Eng= English, Al= Albanian, Ar=Arabian,Bg= Bulgarian, F=French, E= Spanish, I=Italian, Pl=Polish, P=Portuguese, R=Romanian, Rus= Russian, S= Swedish, Sc= Servocroatian, Tr=Turkish LIVE AUDIO URL http//www.ert.gr Reports via e-mail era5@ert.gr Technical information bcharalabopoulos@ert.gr ERT S.A. MACEDONIA STATION EUROPE 1100-1650 31 9935 Gr EUROPE 1700-2250 41 7430 Gr Macedonia Radio Station Angelaki Str 2, 54621 Tel+30310 244979, Fax+30310 236370 ERA 5 'THE VOICE OF GREECE' essogion 432,15342, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis, Tel +3010 6066308,6066297, Fax +3010 6066309 General Direction of E.RA (Engineering Div.), Messogeion 432, 15342, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis Tel + 3010 606 6257 Fax +3010 606 6243 (via Chris Rigas, IL, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND. Glenn, I heard your call for DX'ers to try to catch the short wave transmissions from KNR - now that conditions should allow the transmissions to propagate a bit further. So I rang my source and he was in touch with the people running the short wave transmitter earlier today. Now it turns out that the frequency is 3815 kHz (USB) - and not 3812 kHz as previously reported. The transmissions are no longer unofficial since KNR has started paying for the transmissions!! Broadcasting hours are 1200-1300 and 1800-1900 local time - which is 1400-1500 and 2000-2100 UT (when local DST is observed). One hour later UT [1500-1600, 2100-2200] when Greenland return to normal time from October 27th. I believe the transmissions consist of news in Greenlandic, followed by some PSAs of some sort and then finally news in Danish. The transmitter is located in Tasiilaq on the East Coast of Greenland and is running around 100-200 W. There's a general election coming up on December 3rd in Greenland, but there are no plans to let the short wave transmitter run for any longer on that date - but of course plans may be changed before the actual date (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. [Cumbre DX] VOLCANO AND KWHR The below volcano is located on the Big Island of Hawaii. This is also where KWHR is, in the South Point region. Worth keeping an eye on this story and an ear on this station (Hans Johnson, Oct 16, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Viz.: Mauna Loa is stirring after 18 years of inactivity, and an eruption could devastate the neighborhoods built on the volcano's slopes in the intervening years, scientists said Monday. Lava could reach Hilo on the eastern side of the island and the Gold Coast resorts of Kona in the west, and inundate neighborhoods in the southwest rift zone above South Point - possibly without much warning, said Peter Cervelli, a research geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Service's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (via Yahoo via Johnson, Cumbre via DXLD) Sked per their website- 2200-0400 17510, 0400-1000 17780, 1000-1630 9930 Angel 3; 0700-1045 Mon/Fri, until 1300 Sat/Sun 11565 Angel 4. Just checked at 2219 Oct 16 and 17510 was on as usual (Hans Johnson, WY? Cumbre DX via DXLD) HI, more details about the volcano visiting: http://wwwhvo.wr.usgs.gov/maunaloa/ 73's Dario Monferini, Cumbre DX via DXLD) But I see nothing recent yet (gh, DXLD) ** HONG KONG. CHINA 3940 Radio TV Hongkong not audible nor was there even a carrier discerned at 0930-0950 Oct 16 here on the West Coast of North America (Don Nelson, OR, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Frequency previously varied upwards a bit (gh) No joy when checking at 0937 today (Hans Johnson, Wyoming? Oct 16, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I could receive the special weather forecasts of Radio Television Hongkong for boats in the Hainan race. These forecasts will be broadcasted until October 23rd at around 2133 UT on 3940 USB. Reception from the Far East is possible in Europe at this time. Here now the logging: 3940 USB Radio TV Hongkong, October 16th, 2135-2143, English, weather forecast (showers, wind south east, visibility 4000m); no clear ID, however the coast of China was mentioned. SINPO 22322 (Michael Schnitzer - michael_schnitzer@web.de Location: Hassfurt, Germany, dxing.info via DXLD) Better reception today: 3940 USB, Radio Television Hong Kong, October 17th, 2133-2143, English, after a brief melody the following announcement could be heard: "This is Radio Television Hong Kong with a special weather forecast for the Hong Kong - Hainan yacht race 2002." SINPO 23322. I prepared a small mp-3 sound file of the ID. Please let me know, if you have interest (Michael Schnitzer, Germany, Oct 17, dxing.info via DXLD) Was audible here, too. Made an unattended recording, the station is audible, but it'll be a very tough job to dig out details. Antenna was just a Wellbrook loop on the balcony. SINPO 14331. Greetings, (Martin Elbe, Wolfsburg, Germany, Oct 17, ibid.) And was received also in Espoo, Finland with a very weak signal --- Hopefully the reception gets better in the coming days! Was using NRD535 & an L of 50 mts. (Hannu Tikkanen, ibid.) The station was also heard in my QTH at *2133-2143* with very weak signal on 3940 USB. No ID, but certain weather report phrases were heard (Jari Korhonen, FIN-82500 Kitee, Oct. 17, ibid.) Dear Glenn, I did not expect to hear this 2 kW transmission here in Denmark, but it was there this night. 3940, R TV Hong Kong (USB), Oct 17, *2133-2143*, Flute interval signal at 2129 and 2133, Deep male voice giving ID in English and then reading weather reports for the Hainan Yacht Race including wind, visibility and sea state at various locations. Hong Kong was heard mentioned twice. Disappeared when the last report was read. Weak signal in much atmospheric noise. SINPO 25131. Best 73 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3940USB, Radio TV Hongkong, Oct 17, 2135 tune in to 2143 off, man with weather information read slowly, showers, wind direction, visibility, mention of Hong Kong Time, ended "And that ends this... forecast....", poor on clear channel just above the noise level on peaks and could copy about 50 per cent (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also heard here in Finland tonight Oct. 17th with a clear ID at 2135: "This is Radio Television Hong Kong". (Mauno Ritola, Heinävaara, Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I am currently hearing RTHK on 3940, very week but just readable at sign on with int sig 2133, clear RTHK ID at 2134 in English plus weather reports, gone 2145 (Stuart Austin, Blackpool, England, Drake R8b, Wellbrook mag Loop, MLB Mrk 1, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yesterday evening (16 Oct.) from sign on at 2133 to s/off at 2143 I heard a very very faint signal in USB; opening with an I/S whose first bars seemed the well known Popeye theme (only in the beginning). Then into male voice reading something too weak to be readable in a language that I could not identify. A tentative log for RTV Hong Kong, consistent with their schedule but too weak for an ID. (Fabrizio Magrone, Forlì, Italy (JRC NRD-535, ICOM IC-R71, W41PC, 30m lw, hard- core-dx via DXLD) Last night 3940 was heard at 0933 with a short ditty then into weather forecasts, not good reception due local interference and a relatively weak signal., Will be checking every night for a decent log. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4925, RRI Jambi heard October 11th, 1540 Continuous Michael Jackson and similar music, 1555 announcements by lady, 1556 Kor`an like chanting over stringed instrument, 1558 Love Ambon and announcements to 1600 off. Fair on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, 2157-2201 Oct 16. Soft vocals, then "Radio Republik Indonesia" ID by OM. Song of the Coconut Islands at ToH. SINPO 23232, pretty good considering this was during a nor'easter. 4753.36, RRI Makassar, 2145-2201 Oct 15. Indo pops at tune-in followed by YL talk. Local IS at ToH, then dead air, until OM spoke; very low modulation. SINPO 34333 (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. RADIO CAROLINE SHIPS'S "GHOST" From Ivan caroline@carolinecentral.com ...Here is the story of the ghost on board the MV Ross Revenge, from an archive edition of the spiritualist psychic magazine Two Worlds. As found at a car boot sale by my totally far out soul mate. Title. The Spirit Of Radio Caroline By Kevin Carlyon. Forwood [sic]. If you have ever wanted to spend a night on board a haunted ship, here's your chance! Below, healer and psychic researcher Kevin Carlyon tells how he and his wife Sandie visited the haunted Radio Caroline, hearing how DJs have encountered an apparitional visitor who seems to be all at sea... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Although outlawed in 1967, Radio Caroline has survived in one way or another to broadcast up to the present day. Its days of piracy on the high seas did not finish until 1991 when laws were changed in the UK and Europe meaning that the pop pirate could be blown out of the water if it continued to broadcast from international waters! The first ship, the "Mi Amigo", sank in a force nine gale in 1980 when it drifted on to a sandbank in the Knock Deep area of the North Sea, fifteen miles off the coast of Essex. No one expected it to return, but in 1983 a new vessel, the "Ross Revenge", was secretly fitted out in Spain and sailed to its position via the English Channel, closely scrutinised by Royal Navy vessels, who had no idea what the ship or the three-hundred foot mast, the tallest on any sea-going vessel at the time, was for. Up until the time that the "Ross Revenge" was refitted and converted into a radio ship no paranormal goings-on were ever observed. But only a few days after broadcasting commenced the first sighting was made on the vessel. A figure in a souwester appeared at the front of the ship and seemingly walked through the newly erected mast. Although initial panic set in, it was soon put down to imagination and may be a few beers. Being anchored fifteen miles out in the North Sea and the crew being classed as "pirates", they could not really go anywhere else but a different part of the vessel. Perhaps the history of the ship before it became a broadcasting station could explain from where the haunting originated. The MV "Ross Revenge" was built as an Icelandic trawler at Bremerhaven in 1960. Although originally named "Freyr" after the Norse Goddess, she was bought by Ross Trawlers Ltd and renamed in 1963. The biggest side trawler built at that time, she was involved in the Cod Wars between Iceland and Britain in the early seventies. In 1982, the boat briefly became a salvage ship, but then found a new lease of life as a replacement for the earlier Radio Caroline vessel, the "Mi Amigo", which sank in 1980. While serving as a trawler there were two fatalities on board, the first being a crew member who was pulled overboard by the ship's nets. The second fatality followed a fire in the forepeak where the apparition has been seen several times. The current ship's engineer will not go down there alone. The ship remained at sea from 1983-1991 when it was forced to cease broadcasting due to new legislation, but during the time several DJs, including Nigel Harris, Stewart Russell, Tom Hardy, and Caroline Martin, claim to have seen the figure in various parts of the boat, including the galley and even the toilet. When Caroline was forced off the air in 1991 after running aground on the Goodwin Sands having lost her anchor, she was refloated by the Dover Harbour Board and towed into the port of Dover, being one of only two ships to have survived the Goodwin Sands, which have claimed many vessels and lives throughout the centuries. A support group was set up for Caroline and the £20,000 salvage fee paid. On Easter Sunday 1992 the station went back on the air legally, broadcasting from Dover on a one-month Restricted Service Licence (RSL). For the duration of the time that Caroline was not broadcasting there were no reports of any psychic activity, but the very day transmissions recommenced the apparition was seen by crew members and a member of the public. To support the station and obtain the money for further RSLs, Caroline allows people on board to look around the ship, asking a £5 donation towards the tender that has to ferry people back and forth to the mainland. Now the ghost attracts as many people as the radio ship. Since 1992 Caroline has broadcast twice a year from various locations... and each time she resumes broadcasting the ghost seems to start haunting. My theory is that the electricity generated from the ship and the transmitters actually gives the apparition "life". Electro-paranormal power is the main cause of hauntings: infamous scenarios of thunder and lighting in horror films when a ghost appears aren't far from the truth (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. Glenn, Here's the answer to your query. IMIB = Isle of Man International Broadcasting Plc. Regards (Mike Terry, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Glenn, I just looked at the WoR website --- and you thought the schedule a few days ago was a mess... look at my email! I didn't see how it would look, until I received it along with the rest of the mailing list. People always complain about receiving HTML in email - so I sent it plain text... Anyhow, using the links from my earlier posting, you can access properly formatted schedules where you'll see what @ and @@ stand for... @ - This frequency is valid from 15 Dec 2002 to 28 Feb 2003 @@ - Available upon request Thanks Doni (Daniel Rosenzweig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Kol Israel Winter schedule - now available The IBA website now also has English news in text. Go to http://bet.iba.org.il/ and click on the "Text" icon inside of the "English News" icon, on the left hand side of the page. ---New Winter Kol Israel Schedule---- Valid October 27, 2002 - March 30, 2003 In HTML format from israelradio.org http://www.israelradio.org/winter02.htm Also available from the Chief Engineer at Bezeq from: PDF (Adobe Acrobat) http://www.bezeq.co.il/Download/short_wav.pdf PPT (MS Power Point) http://www.bezeq.co.il/Download/short_wav.ppt Below is the English schedule, taken from the israelradio.org page. 0500-0515 UTC (For reference, this is Midnight EST) Europe + N. America 9435 6280~ 11605# Australasia and S.America 17600 1115-1130 UTC Europe + N. America 15640 17545 1730-1745 UTC Europe + N. America 11605 17545 2000-2025 UTC Europe + N. America 11605# 6280~ 15640 13720 Africa 15640 ~ In use December 15 -- February 28 # In use October 27 -- December 14, and March 1-30 --------- (via Daniel Rosenzweig, Oct 15, DXLD) Hebrew to Eu/NAm includes 5790 from 1900 to 0500, I`ll bet this gets reported as an unID (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non?]. IRRS, 13840, Oct 12 0800-0831+ English UN programming. Environmental news at 0820 about Greenpeace operations. Pop music. IRRS ID and address at 0831. Fair; reduced carrier USB (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. JAPAN. Worldspace JPN Co. Ltd., a Japanese bureau of Worldspace Corporation in U.S., will close its office in Tokyo on Oct 21. The office opened in 1997 for corresponding to develop the Worldspace satellite receiver by the 4 Japanese radio manufacturers - Panasonic, Sanyo, JVC, and Hitachi. They succeeded in develop the low-cost satellite rxs for worldwide use, such as Sanyo DSB-WS1000, Hitachi KH-WS1, which are reviewed in WRTH 2002. But in Japan L-band (1467-1492 MHz) is not distributed to broadcasting use, but to the mobile telephones and other special radiotelephone services. Therefore the reception of Worldspace is generally unstable in Japanese urban areas due to the interference from mobile telephone signals; moreover the receiver availability is very limited. The spread of Worldspace satellite receivers in Japan is presumed to be only less than a thousand, though they are not expensive. In their north-east Asian beam, there is only one Japanese speaking broadcster. Worldspace decided to concentrate their effort to spreading the system in 3rd world countries rather than in Japan. Their HP in Japanese http://www.wolrdspace.gr.jp will also be closed on Oct 18. Even after the withdrawal, the north-east Asian beam will continuously be on air. The satellite receivers will also be available from SatRadio Japan http://www.Satradiojapan.com in Hamamatsu and Hamers Co. http://www.hamers.co.jp in Yokohama (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, BC-DX, Oct 14, via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. KOREA DPR. 1614 kHz, Frontline Soldiers Radio (presumed) Oct. 10 1415-1615 33222 in Korean. Korean music and talk. I make reference to Passport to World Band Radio Edition 2002 (ISHIZAKI Kyoshiro, Mie, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN [tent.] The unID music station on 4050 kHz has identified yesterday at 1555 as "Hit(s) shortwave" (?) and "Hit music on shortwave" in accented English, heard by Mauno Ritola, Finland. The technical director of Kyrgyz State Radio meanwhile denied that his station is still using 4050 kHz (formerly Kyrgyz Radio 2), so the mystery about the program producer remains. There is little doubt however that it is the transmitter in Bishkek which is being heard (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list Oct 17 via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. Our file of stories in Spanish about La Poderosa, 560 being closed by the government, protests by the Sandinistas, etc., continues to grow, and would knock out a lot of other stories in this DXLD; so held over again (gh) ** NIGERIA. 6050, FRCN Ibadan, heard October 11th, 1745 Religious programme in English, Lagos address given at end of programme, fair on clear channel till 1758 when swamped by BBC interval signal (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK) ** NIGERIA. Even tho it comes from Nigeria, and landed in my junk mail folder, so I almost didn`t open it, this looks legitimate; reply at your own risk. It is a form letter with nothing really personal in it, though pretending not to be. What a shame the country has been so tarnished by spam scammers! [sic:] (gh, DXLD) INTERNATIONAL DX CLUB (I D C) Promoting global cooperation through radio interest. POSTAL ADDRESS P. O. BOX 1633, SOKOTO, SOKOTO STATE, NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA idclubnigeria@yahoo.com Dear sir, I am resending this mail to you. I encountened some problems with previous idc email account, so never go to see our reply. Looking forward to your unfallingly reply. I cannot remember exactly, where I saw your address for the first time, but must have being through one that short wave publications or in the Internet. I must have written it down after seeing it. I expect this letter to reach you as a surprise considering the fact that Africa is noted for her Short wave and Dxing exploits, (but if You have taken keen interest about short wave listeners in Africa then I wouldn't be a shocker to you, as am regular name on most Radio stations). Well, a few others and I are changing that notion now. In fact as you would see from the attached statement we are taking it very seriously. With what started accidentally as a mere interest in listening to musical requests and news on radio in my primarily school days, I have now within the last 10 years transformed into a full blown dxer, if you would permit that expression. Anyway, today I have the privilege of coordinating IDC which primarily exist to encourage Dxing in the world especially here in Africa, where not much is known about it. Do not get me wrong, a lot of people do listen to radio here, but it is mostly to get there favorite programs may be local news, or international station that broadcast in their native language. Example, top stations like BBC, VOA, DW, etc broadcast in Hausa language which is the common lingua in these parts of the world. But very few bother about monitoring the technical side of broadcasting, e.g qsl cards, transmitters, reception quality, staying all night to hear a far station, things like that. That is what we hope to change. So, we tend to catch them young, the youth are mostly our target. Membership into the club and all its materials are voluntarily and FREE. It is part of my principle to its continuous existence, to make it free, to encourage people to join. I completely cater for all its finances, I must confess it is not easy especially when you consider that I am a student. But the joy of knowing that you are contributing positive to keeping my fellow youth constructively occupied is what keeps me going. Like Herbert Spencer said, don't be perfectly happy, till all are happy. Of course it has not been the easiest of an assignment, but I am not giving up just yet. One step at a time. Together we (with your help) can all can make these world a better place. We do not have an office, so I do all my monitoring and correspondences at home. My plans for an office and to create a website for the organization have been handicapped due largely because of absence of funding. So I make photocopies of program guides and other information to members, or encourage them to write the stations directly. Space will not permit me to discuss in details all our numerous programs. I listen to and contact many radio stations, but I will try to summaries some here. As you would expect we maintain regular contacts with the top radio stations, including BBC, RFI, DW, RADIO CHINA, RADIO JAPAN, VOA, WHR, RADIO NETHERLAND, RCI to name but a few. Also we maintain steady contact with not so strong ones like SWISS RADIO, RADIO PRAGUE, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SW BROADCAST, VATICAN RADIO, RADIO ROMANIA, RADIO SWEDEN INT, RADIO AUSTRIA INT, RADIO VLAANDEREN INT, RADIO TAIPEI INT, and many many more, that I listen to. I also have huge collections of qsl cards paste in my wall corner at home. I catch transmissions that are actually aimed to other regions, particularly Europe, occasionally at night, evening or early morning, the wonders of radio signals. I just received a reply from radio VOICE OF VIETNAM and RADIO SANTEC. The increase in international postage have also affected our correspondence with numerous other stations and Dxers. Internet is relatively new here, their is only one cafe in the entire town and very expensive. It is very expensive to type mails online, since the Charges increase as you spend more time online here, and am not fast at it. but what choice do we have? Sometimes, I sacrifice my lunch to use the net. Funny isn't it? It is the truth. I visit the Internet to get more dx and sw news and information, when I can afford it. My favorite is the cumbredx website. As the founder, I have been single handed being in charge of all IDC correspondences. I have also being funding all the work, including all the printed materials, ranging for writing materials, postage costs, IDC id cards, forms, etc. Had it not been for the huge Postal cost for international mails, I would have sent you some of our other materials. May be next time. I am interested in making contacts with other sw dxers, am keen on any information concerning radio broadcast. Secondly, we are soliciting for any help we can get from concerned dxers. Presently, I use my Dad's PANASONIC RX - CT990 (DOMESTIC TYPE) RECEIVER with an EXTERNAL ANTENNA. I manage modest reception with it, considering its range, age and present condition, not too good, I must confess. So anyone with any second hand digital Radio can send it to me. It will be appreciated and very helpful. The present economic condition make purchasing those tops portable receivers advert completely a mere dream. I am into collecting stations materials, guides, stickers, pins, and very important after using any of your 2002 Radio broadcast books, like PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO, WORLD RADIO HANDBOOK e.t.c, send it over. Even if you couldn't help us, it would still be nice to hear from you. Your friend and co-dxer (EMMANUEL EZEANI, Coordinator, IDC, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. UPDATED B-02 SCHEDULE FOR RADIO NORWAY/RADIO DENMARK from Oct. 27, 2002: powers all 500 kW; S=Sveio, K=Kvitsoy ********************************************************************** 0000-0055 North America (east), Caribbean 7470 S 280œ South East Asia 7490 K 080œ ********************************************************************** 0100-0155 North America (east), Caribbean 7470 S 280œ South Asia (India) 7490 K 095œ North America (east + central), Greenland 9945 S 300œ ********************************************************************** 0200-0255 North America (east), Caribbean 7470 S 280œ South Asia (India) 7490 K 095œ North America (east + central), Greenland 9590 S 300œ ********************************************************************** 0300-0355 North America (west), Greenland 7470 S 315œ Middle East (east) 7490 K 110œ Europe (south east), Africa (east), Middle East (west) 9945 K 145œ ********************************************************************** 0400-0455 North America (west), Greenland 7470 S 315œ Russia, Middle East (east) 7490 K 095œ Europe (south east), Africa (east), Middle East (west) 9945 K 145œ ********************************************************************** 0500-0555 Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (north east) 7465 K 140œ Russia, Middle East (east) 7490 K 095œ ********************************************************************** 0600-0655 Europe 5945 K 165œ Europe, Canary Islands 7180 S 195œ Europe (south west), Canary Islands, Africa (west) 9590 S 220œ Africa, Europe (south) 13800 K 165œ ********************************************************************** 0700-0755 Europe 7180 K 165œ Europe, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 9590 K 195œ ********************************************************************** 0800-0855 Australia, Europe (south west), (South America) 13800 S 235œ Far East, New Zealand 15705 K 040œ ********************************************************************** 0900-0955 Australia, Europe (south west), South America 13800 S 235œ Far East, New Zealand 15705 K 040œ Middle East (east), South Asia (India) 18950 K 095œ ********************************************************************** 1000-1055 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180œ South America, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 21765 S 235œ ********************************************************************** 1100-1155 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180œ South America, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 21765 S 235œ ********************************************************************** 1200-1255 Far East 12070 K 035œ Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180œ South East Asia, Australia (west), Russia 15735 K 080œ North America (east), Caribbean 18950 S 280œ ********************************************************************** 1300-1330 Europe 9590 S 180œ Far East 13800 K 035œ South East Asia, Australia (west), Russia 15735 K 080œ North America (east + central), Greenland 18950 S 300œ ********************************************************************** 1330-1355 Europe 9590 S 180œ South East Asia, Australia (west), Russia 15735 K 080œ North America (east + central), Greenland 18950 S 300œ ********************************************************************** 1400-1455 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (east), South Asia (India) 13800 K 095œ North America (east + central), Greenland 17555 S 300œ ********************************************************************** 1500-1555 Middle East (west) 15735 K 120œ North America (west), Greenland 17525 S 315œ ********************************************************************** 1600-1630 Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) 13800 K 145œ North America (west), Greenland 18950 S 315œ ********************************************************************** 1630-1655 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (east), South Asia (India) 7490 K 095œ Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) 13800 K 145œ North America (west), Greenland 18950 S 315œ ********************************************************************** 1700-1755 Europe 7490 S 180œ Russia 9980 K 095œ Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) 13800 K 145œ North America (east), Caribbean 18950 S 280œ ********************************************************************** 1800-1855 Europe 7490 S 180œ New Zealand 9980 K 035œ Africa, Europe (south) 13800 K 165œ North America (east + central), Greenland 15705 S 300œ ********************************************************************** 1900-1955 Europe, Canary Islands 7490 S 180œ Africa, Europe (south) 9980 K 165œ North America (west), Greenland 13800 S 315œ ********************************************************************** 2000-2055 Europe, Canary Islands 7490 S 180œ Australia 9980 K 065œ ********************************************************************** 2100-2155 Europe, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 7490 K 195œ Australia 9510 K 065œ ********************************************************************** 2200-2255 Far East 7470 K 040œ South America, Canary Islands 7530 S 235œ ********************************************************************** 2300-2355 North America (east), Caribbean 7470 S 280œ South East Asia, Australia (west) 7490 K 080œ South America 7530 S 235œ Far East 9920 K 040œ ********************************************************************** xx.00-xx.30 Radio Norway in Norwegian xx.30-xx.55 Radio Denmark in Danish ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1330-1627 RADIO AFGHANISTAN PASHTO/DARI TO ME 18940 K 400 kW 095œ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 17 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4388.91, Radio Imperio, 13 Oct, 0912-1002, nice to hear them with Andean music and no religious harangues. Canned IDs between songs. Swiper QRM, back to usual preaching by 0935. Fair signal. PERU. 4421.35, Radio Bambamarca, 7 Oct, 0925, Andean vocals, announcer with IDs, TC's and talk. Fair to good signal. PERU. 5384.28, Radio Huarmaca, 13 Oct, 1014-1030, Andean vocals, announcer between songs with live IDs, occasional utility QRM. Fair to good signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. A little preview of next month's LN column: RUSSIA Radio Rossii B02 schedule Until March 1, 2003: (sort by frequency) 5895 1630-2200 100 Krasnodar 5905 1400-2100 200 St. Petersburg 5910 0200-0500 100 Moscow 5910 1530-2200 100 Moscow 5920 0200-0600 100 Moscow 6060 1530-2200 100 Moscow 6115 0200-0500 250 Moscow 6125 0200-0500 100 Samara 6125 1430-2200 100 Samara 7140 1830-2200 250 Moscow 7220 2200-1800 200 Yekaterin`burg 7250 0530-1500 100 Moscow 7295 2000-2300 100 Irkutsk 7350 1730-2200 250 Moscow 7365 0200-0500 100 Krasnodar 7380 0200-0500 250 Moscow 7440 0730-1600 100 Irkutsk 9450 0300-0700 160 Kaliningrad 9700 2330-0700 100 Irkutsk 9720 0630-1500 100 Moscow 9860 0530-0800 250 Moscow 11630 1530-1800 250 Moscow 11990 0530-1400 100 Samara 12005 0930-1600 100 Krasnodar 12060 0530-0800 250 Moscow 12065 0530-0900 100 Krasnodar 13705 0830-1700 250 Moscow 15355 0730-1400 160 Kaliningrad 17600 0830-1500 250 Moscow (sort by hour) 0000-0200 7220Y 9700I 0200-0300 5910M 5920M 6115M 6125S 7220Y 7365Kr 7380M 9700I 0300-0500 5910M 5920M 6115M 6125S 7220Y 7365Kr 7380M 9450Ka 9700I 0500-0530 5920M 7220Y 9450Ka 9700I 0530-0600 5920M 7220Y 7250M 9450Ka 9700I 9860M 11990S 12060M 12065Kr 0600-0630 7220Y 7250M 9450Ka 9700I 9860M 11990S 12060M 12065Kr 0630-0700 7220Y 7250M 9450Ka 9700I 9720M 9860M 11990S 12060M 12065Kr 0700-0730 7220Y 7250M 9720M 9860M 11990S 12060M 12065Kr 0730-0800 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 9860M 11990S 12060M 12065Kr 15355Ka 0800-0830 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 11990S 12065Kr 15355Ka 0830-0900 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 11990S 12065Kr 13705M 15355Ka 17600M 0900-0930 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 11990S 13705M 15355Ka 17600M 0930-1000 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 11990S 12005Kr 13705M 15355Ka 17600M 1000-1400 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 11990S 12005Kr 13705M 15355Ka 17600M 1400-1430 5905St 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 12005Kr 13705M 17600M 1430-1500 5905St 6125S 7220Y 7250M 7440I 9720M 12005Kr 13705M 17600M 1500-1530 5905St 6125S 7220Y 7440I 12005Kr 13705M 1530-1600 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7220Y 7440I 11630M 12005Kr 13705M 1600-1630 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7220Y 11630M 13705M 1630-1700 5895Kr 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7220Y 11630M 13705M 1700-1730 5895Kr 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7220Y 11630M 1730-1800 5895Kr 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7220Y 7350M 11630M 1800-1830 5895Kr 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7350M 1830-2000 5895Kr 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7140M 7350M 2000-2100 5895Kr 5905St 5910M 6060M 6125S 7140M 7295I 7350M 2100-2200 5895Kr 5910M 6060M 6125S 7140M 7295I 7350M 2200-2300 7220Y 7295I 2300-2330 7220Y 2330-2400 7220Y 9700I I=Irkutsk Ka = Kaliningrad Kr = Krasnodar M=Moscow S=Samara St=St. Petersburg Y=Yekaterinburg (Nikolai Rudnev, RUSSIA, Nov NASWA LN via Al Quaglieri, DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. Radio Hargeisa is no longer listed as a client on the TDP website. Not sure they ever were and it is worth noting that the site continues to list folks who have been off a while such as Jakada Radio and Netsanet (Hans Johnson, WY, Oct 1, 2002 in CDX-ML via CRW via DXLD) Dear Hans, Feel free to be as critical about TDP as you want on a public forum, but do not lose the confidence of your readers, by making wild guesses or going for a crusade. You want us to provide every little detail about everything we do and when we ask you about any political stations that you bring on the air (re: Dejen Radio), then the only thing you can say is "no comment". Come on. (Ludo Maes, Belgium, Oct 1, 2002 in CDX-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 15745, SLBC All Asia Service heard October 15th, 1524 Pop music, closing announcements by lady, religious chanting, anthem and off 1533. Ex 15425. Equal to and sometimes dominant over WEWN. Parallel to 9770 which was weak on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1152, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I tried to send Radio Sri Lanka my comments on their frequency change, using the e-mail address in WRTH, i.e. brzcast@sri.lanka.net but it was returned "user unknown." Do you have a good address for them? The All Asia Service and "Early Bird Show" will be useless here as long as they stay on 15745 under WEWN. 73, (John Cobb, GA, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. MADAGASCAR. BBCM also reports that "Radio Voice of Hope," a station based in the Netherlands and sponsored by the New Sudan Council of Churches, is increasing its output. Its target area is southern Sudan. Since Sept 7th, they've been broadcasting on SW at 0430-0500 on Sats, Suns, Mons and Tues. This is an increase from a single weekly hour-long broadcast. The frequencies are 12060 and 15320. The station began broadcasting to Sudan in Dec 2000 in Arabic and English. These are via the R Netherlands relay station in Madagascar. Their website is at http:\\www.radiovoiceofhope Their aim is to promote peace and reconciliation among the various rival groups in southern Sudan (HCJB DXPL via Marie Lamb, Cumbre Oct 10 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. RADIO THAILAND, WORLD SERVICE BROADCAST SCHEDULE ------------------------------------------------ For listeners in all parts of the world, on short-wave, relayed over transmitters in Ban Dung, Udon Thani, Northeastern Thailand, on frequencies shared with the Voice of America, as stated below: (effective October 27, 2002 as per B-02 seasonal change) GMT BKK Time Language Direction Frequency 0000-0030 0700-0730 English Europe-Africa 9680 0030-0100 0730-0800 English US-East 13695 0100-0200 0800-0900 Thai US-East 13695 0300-0330 1000-1030 English US-West 15460 0330-0430 1030-1130 Thai US-West 15460 0530-0600 1230-1300 English Europe 13780 1000-1100 1700-1800 Thai Asia-Pacific 7285 1100-1115 1800-1815 Vietnamese Asia-Pacific 7285 1115-1130 1815-1830 Khmer Asia-Pacific 7285 1130-1145 1830-1845 Lao Asia-Pacific 6040 1145-1200 1845-1900 Burmese Asia-Pacific 6040 1200-1215 1900-1915 Malaysian Asia-Pacific 11805 1215-1230 1915-1930 Indonesian Asia-Pacific 11805 1230-1300 1930-2000 English Asia-Pacific 9810 1300-1315 2000-2015 Japanese Asia-Pacific 7145 1315-1330 2015-2030 Mandarin Asia-Pacific 7145 1330-1400 2030-2100 Thai Asia-Pacific 7145 1400-1430 2100-2130 English Asia-Pacific 9530 1800-1900 0100-0200 Thai Asia-Pacific 11855 1900-2000 0200-0300 English Europe 9535 2000-2015 0300-0315 German Europe 9535 2015-2030 0315-0330 French Europe 9535 2030-2045 0330-0345 English Europe 9535 2045-2115 0345-0415 Thai Europe 9535 Radio Thailand, World Service, Public Relations Department, Royal Thai Government, 236 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Din Daeng, Bangkok 10400 tel(662)277-1814, 277-6139 (fax), 274-9098-9 website http://www.prd.go.th email address: amporns@mozart.inet.co.th (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Oct 16, GRDXC et al., via WORLD OF RADIO 1152; also via Giorgio Romanin via Mike Barraclough, World DX Club via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** U A E. ISLAMIC ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TV TO LAUNCH A channel claiming to be the world's first English language Islamic television station, Almajd [Glory] Channel 2, will start broadcasting at the start of Ramadan [5 November], from studios in Dubai. The new channel, which aims to become "the dream of every modern Muslim family that strives to live its life according to the principles of Islam," is owned by Almajd Satellite Broadcasting Ltd, which also owns the Arabic language Almajd Channel 1. The company is chaired by Fahad A. Al Shimeimri with Abdulwahed A. Al Obaid as director general and is a Dubai based subsidiary of the Saudi owned company Al Majd Trading. According to Daud Musa Pidcock, Almajd 2's marketing director, test transmissions will be on Nilesat which will enable viewers in the Middle East and northern Europe to view its programmes. The company intends to expand its activities to give the station a wider coverage area including the Far East and North America. The new channel, which already has offices in Cairo, Jordan and Mecca, is set to open others in Malaysia and South Africa. Pidcock admitted that the station has had "teething troubles" but says that starting with former CNN anchor Riz Khan's series on the Haj, the channel will have "several interesting programmes lined up for the weeks and months ahead." He went on, "We will not be a news channel, but will offer high calibre material in the form of introspective, informative and serious content, with, of course, a dose of edutainment," [According to the Lyngsat satellite and information web site test transmissions for Al Majd TV are being observed on Nilesat 101 at 7 degrees west, frequency 11900 GHz vertical polarization and Arabsat 3A at 26 degrees east, frequency 11785 Ghz vertical polarization] Source: Gulf News web site, Dubai, in English 12 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U K. I have just been listening to this fascinating Documentary on Radio 4 (BBC), regarding the Cuban Missile Crises in 1962. This includes the famous Broadcast made by the then Radio Moscow, of the text of the message from Khrushchev announcing the 'standdown' of Russian Intentions, thus averting the nearest we have come, to outright Nuclear War between East and West. This is being repeated on Saturday Next 19th October at 2115 to 2245 UT (=2215 to 2345UTC+1) also on BBC Radio 4. I presume this will be 'streamed' by the BBC Radio 4 Web Site, so some of Glenn Hauser's DXLD'ers, in other parts of the world, may also be interested. (Ken Fletcher, 2144 UT, 16th October 2002, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I caught the first hour of it before I had to stop and record WORLD OF RADIO. Mix of real people and actor`s voices was a bit disconcerting, perhaps less so if it had been obvious on TV. The actor portraying Kennedy did an exaggerated accent, also distracting, often the case with Kennedy portrayals; why is it so difficult? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, agreed. That bit was a bit artificial. I thought nonetheless it would be of interest. If you have time (!!!!!!!!) perhaps you might find it useful to browse on the BBC Radio 4 Web-site, as there are more programmes coming up in the next week or so, regarding the 40th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 I know you sometimes like this sort of thing for DXLD though I realise that it co-incides with preparations for the B-02 Frequency Season, which is unfortunate. Many Thanks for your E-Mail anyhow. Ken Fletcher [Later:] Apparently what you now need to do to get more on the Cuban Missile Crises is to being up the Radio 4 Web-Site and then in the Search Box put Cuban missile crises. this will bring you up the List of Programmes about it (By Clicking the first item on the list offered) (Ken Fletcher, UK, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC WORLD SERVICE WILL BE 70 YEARS OLD At the end of this year, BBC World Service will be 70 years old. We are planning a whole season of special programmes to celebrate our birthday - you will receive an email about this nearer the time. But you now have the opportunity to be part of this celebration by featuring in our 'Listeners' Tales' programmes. We want you to tell us about your most memorable experiences of tuning in over the last 70 years. How has listening to the BBC affected your life? Maybe you can remember hearing about a big news event on BBC radio? Or perhaps you were listening at an important time in your own life? Has the BBC help you to gain new insights into the world - perhaps to learn English, or to expand your horizons in some other way? Can you recall any funny or dramatic moments connected to your listening? Whatever your story, we want to hear from you now! We will invite a number of listeners to tell their story in this series of short programmes to mark our anniversary. So, if you have a funny, quirky or touching story to tell, email the producers now at truelives@bbc.co.uk or write to: 'Listeners' Tales', Room 610SE, Bush House, London WC2B 4PH, UK. Thank you! The BBC On Air Networks Team (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Wouldn`t the 75th anniversary be a more fitting one to celebrate? (gh) ** U S A. WWRB in a quick check at 0135 UT Oct 16 found duplicated on 5050 and 5085, sandwiching WWCR 5070 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WWRB, 5050, 2356-0005 10/16. Religious program with mention of Baptists and China Grove, NC address. Straight into another preacher at TOH until 0003 when station manager, Dave Frantz, gave an ID and mention of test broadcast and frequency. Absolutely brutal signal with Spanish QRM and het that made reception unbearable (not to mention the huckster from NC asking for $) (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What Spanish QRM? 5050, WWRB, 0200 Oct 17, heard station announce that this will be "their new frequency" and that it will be "fulltime November 1st with new programs." (Hans Johnson, WY?, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. AFRTS definitely active, good signal and not too much QRM on 6458.5-USB, at 0235 check Oct 16, Best of Our Knowledge. At 1225, nothing but digital-mode QRM there, and 12689.5 was audible with AFRTS weakly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. 13362 kHz remains off the air. Despite what Glenn Hauser says about this station, AFN from Guam 13362 kHz remains off, and has been on only intermittently. Location is east of China (Charlie, MSG USNS SUMNER, Oct 16, via B. Grove, MT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have no idea what he refers to; some report from months ago in MT? (gh) ** U S A. Received the following email from R Sawa. Dear Radio Sawa Listener, We have a special gift for our listeners -- a Radio Sawa screensaver for Windows. We would be happy to send it to you if you wish. Just reply to this email and ask for our screensaver. We are also proud to announce that Radio Sawa now has a very powerful medium wave transmission 24 hours a day to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and the entire Eastern Mediterranean. If you are in that area, you can tune in at 981 medium wave. Your friends at Radio Sawa (via Swopan Chakroborty Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) outside target (gh) Interesting promotional item received from Radio Sawa a few minutes ago was a screensaver! No this isn't a virus! They sent an email asking if I would like a Radio Sawa screen saver, I replied and 10 minuted later they emailed me a self extracting exe file which contains a screensave with the Radio Sawa logo bouncing all over the screens(s). Unusually this one works with a dual monitor set up. If you want one, either send an email to comments@radiosawa.com or I can forward it (Sean Gilbert, UK, EDXP via DXLD) Another outside target St. Petersburg (Florida) story about Radio Sawa, with Andy Sennitt comment: http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/17/Worldandnation/US_aims_pop_music_at_.shtml (via Artie Bigley and Kim Elliott, DXLD) Nevada Appeal op-ed re Radio Sawa: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=NA&Date=20021016&Category=OPINION&ArtNo=210160203&Ref=AR 73 (via Kim Elliott, DC, Oct 17, DXLD) ** U S A. Chicago Tribune: Street cred 101 CNN SHOULD LEARN TO WALK THE WALK BEFORE IT CRAWLS By Steve Johnson Tribune television critic October 13, 2002 CNN Headline News writers are being instructed, according to a memo leaked recently, to include hip-hop terminology in their screen crawls and headlines in order to better reach the youth demographic. But extensive study of the CNN culture indicates there is reason to be concerned about the Atlanta news organization's ability to accurately understand and use these terms... http://www.chicagotribune.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=chi%2D0210120408oct13 (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A. ALL THINGS INCONSIDERATE, by Michael Janssen IT COULD HAVE BEEN QUITE A CASE: NATIONAL PUBLIC Radio vs. The World's Most Downloaded Woman. The woman in question is Danni Ashe, the Web porn entrepreneur whose image has been downloaded a billion-plus times from her Web site, earning her a nod from the Guinness Book of World Records. Fame may open many doors, but it won't win special treatment from NPR. Ashe and her staff at her Marina del Rey offices are big NPR fans. Until recently, if you called Ashe to declare your undying love and got put on hold, you'd be listening to KCRW-FM 89.9, the Santa Monica NPR affiliate. But no more. After a scribe for the online mag Slate reported this fact, NPR's legal eagles wrote Ashe asking her to strip -- uh, remove -- KCRW from her phones. In response, she fired off an indignant press release. "I'm amazed that anyone at NPR thinks I'm a threat to their network," she said. "If they're surprised that pinup models listen to All Things Considered and Left, Right and Center between photo shoots, or that the people who call my office can appreciate intellectual stimulation, then perhaps they're not doing their job of keeping an open mind." "We are not singling out Danni Ashe's organization," responds NPR spokeswoman Jenny Lawhorn. "This is routine stuff." Ashe, perhaps correctly, argues that "thousands of companies" play NPR for bored callers, but the network says its contracts with content providers don't cover on-hold broadcasts (though NPR stations get a waiver). So if the Slates of the world let the word out, NPR seemingly has no choice but to swoop. Though miffed, Ashe complied with the order, and a recent caller to her office shunted to hold met with not the dulcet tones of NPR but Star-FM 98.7 in the middle of a tedious block of ads. If you've been ogling Ashe and want to move the relationship to the next level, maybe e-mail is best (LA Weekly Oct 11-17 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. SOME REAL FUN While most of us on the list were reliving our worst fears about IBOC, a handful of NRC'ers had some fun Friday and Saturday in the Dallas- Fort Worth area. The occasion was the visit by master tower hunters Scott Fybush of Rochester and Garrett Wollman of Boston, and I learned how much fun tower hunting could be. Fellow 2003 NRC Convention host Wally Wawro loaded his van with ice chests full of soft liquid refreshment and Scott and Garrett added mucho camera and tape equipment to the load. I took off from Krum about 7 a.m. Friday to make connections with the trio and to go along for the ride. I didn't get back to Krum until just before midnight. For the AM-FM-TV DX'er who enjoys seeing the sites from where the signals come, the Dallas-Fort Worth area seems to be Nirvana! On Cedar Hill southwest of Dallas stands what Scott and Garrett believe to be the most spectacular collection of tall towers ever to be assembled in the United States. Wally pulled some strings to get us through the electronically controlled gate at the barbed-wire surrounded KDFW- WFAA-TV. Clambering along the ice ramp under the WFAA tower, thanks to our host, Don Guemmer, maintenance technician for the Spirit of Texas, we took many still and video shots of a veritable forest of steel. Some of Scott's photos, we know, will enrich his 2003 tower calendar. But Cedar Hill isn't the only unique antenna site in the area. KEOM in Mesquite, Texas, on Dallas' east side, has its million-dollar-plus tower on the south end of a modern high school football field that would be the pride of many small colleges across the country. On the tower at two levels are buildings housing various kinds of communications equipment. We did not ride the elevator up the tower, though. For the taxpayers of the Mesquite Independent School District, Dr. James C. Griffin, the district's director of radio told us that lease payments from tower users more than carry the cost of the tower. KEOM, at 61 kw on 88.7, is almost certainly the most powerful high school station in America. The studio site was worth the visit, too. Another studio site worth the visit was KPYK-1570, located in the northwest corner of a small strip mall in the east Dallas suburb of Terrell. KPYK is truly a Mom and Pop operation, but when the four of us walked through the door a little after 5:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon, Pop was gone and silver-haired, diminutive Mom, left alone to operate the station, seemed a bit intimidated. But she did allow us to take some pictures and almost missed the 6 p.m. TOH station break, which she rushed back into the control room to give, live. One of the most spectacular tower sites in America is KFXR-1190's night-time facility where neighbors have slowly encroached on the ten towers, lined up in two straight rows of five towers each. Unlike some of the sites we visited, the KFXR sight was well-manicured and Scott and Garrett were happy to note that all ten tower identification numbers were posted on the gate to the facility, as required by the FCC. None of the neighbors contested us as we drove into a couple of cul-de-sacs looking for the perfect picture. Some of the AM tower sites presented some problems vis-à-vis getting close enough to get a good picture but far enough away to get the entire tower and whatever building there might have been below. It's surprising how many wilderness areas remain in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The KAAM-770 three-tower site does not qualify as a wilderness area, though it might have been when the towers were first put up a dozen or so years ago. Now, homes have crept ever closer to the tower site and a large church has been built on an adjacent property. Wally, Scott and Garrett pondered how much QRM the church's sound system might suffer from the proximity to a 10 kw transmitter during Sunday morning services. Hopefully, our sunset pictures from the east side of the KAAM tower site will pan out. A major highlight of the Friday afternoon session came when we met with 100000watts.com founder Chip Kelly, of Plano, Texas, at the KRLD transmitter site. It was the first head-to-head meeting for Chip and Scott, his successor running the website, though of course there's been a lot of e-mail and phone confabs between the two. Chip has not lost interest in the radio scene, and will continue to work with Scott on maintaining what I consider to be the most informative free internet site covering broadcast facilities that's currently available. Chip joined us at for the evening meal at a steakhouse somewhere in an eastern suburb of Dallas. Wally knows where we were, but I certainly couldn't find it again without a map and detailed directions. There was a lot of driving and a lot of conversation during the driving, but Wally and I also supplied some reading and viewing material. Wally had a 1938, hardbound, broadcast industry publication yearbook, similar to what the old Radio Daily Magazine published in the '40s and early '50s ... an item that Clarke Ingram probably would have bid even more for than he did for the 1950 Broadcasting Magazine yearbook if Wally would ever put it up at auction. (Don't salivate; he won't.) I brought an album of photos from this year's WTFDA and NRC conventions ... and a mint copy of the first NRC Log, published in 1968, compiled and typed by yours truly, and mailed to me this fall by Alan Merriman, who had protected it all these years. (Alan, I owe you big time.) It was fun to hear Garrett quiz Scott about the 50 kw, 10 kw, 5 kw, 1 kw., 500-watt, 250-watt and even lower-powered stations on the air in 1938, long before those two whippersnappers were born. I thought I did pretty well years ago when I knew the call letters of nearly all the radio stations in the country; well, these guys knew the addresses, and remarked upon the stations that are still located today where they were in 1968. Saturday morning, Scott and Garrett were left to their own devices to find Fort Worth area AM tower sites but, after lunch at Joe T. García's, the legendary Mexican restaurant near the Fort Worth Stockyards, they met up with me at Denton for a little rural tower hunting. For the Saturday show-and-tell, I brought along a three-ring binder full of foreign veries from the '50s and '60s and my copy of the 50th anniversary NRC book, which also were of interest to our intrepid radio historians. We had only three hours left before separate dinner commitments, but we did see the three-tower site for Denton-1440, unkempt, unpainted and still with a KDNT sign along the fence-line. (No sense painting it if they're going to move the transmitter to University City, moving my closest local to an easily nullible location.) We drove north of Denton to the KNTU-88.1 site, saw the new tall tower for the 107.9 FM'er just south of Ray Roberts Lake, moved west to the 104.1 transmitter site north of Krum and ended my weekend tower-hunting activities in the very southwest corner of Cooke County. This massive antenna there is visible during the daytime from more than six miles away ... at least that's where Scott made his first video ... and is a mere 19 miles from my DX den. The tower sticks up more than a third of a mile, and has a three-legged candelabra configuration at the very top. There are two antennas at the the top, leaving room for one more, and there's another antenna on the side of the tower, but lower than the candelabra. The HAATs of KKDL-106.7 and KZMP-101.7 are listed at 2,034 feet; the HAAT of KMEO-96.7 is listed at 2,037 feet; and the HAAT of the CP for KICM-93.7 is listed at 1,950 feet. (That makes me fear that KKDL and KZMP might be diplexed on one tower, and that KICM is closer to completing its move from Healdton, Oklahoma to city of license -- gasp -- Krum, Texas, than we had thought. And that there's room for one more at the very top of what Scott and Garrett say may well be the tallest FM tower in America.) Oh, what electro-magnetic riches we have in the Dallas-Fort Worth market! Somebody needs to set up a get-together where we can view John Malicky's convention and travel albums, Ernie Weselowski's convention videos and Scott's and Garrett's tower pictures. Hey, even if IBOC destroys DX'ing, we have a lot of DX artifacts to peruse, protect and preserve. Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon (John Callarman -301 W. McCart St. - Krum TX 76249-5503 Family Genealogist - Ham Radio Operator KA9SPA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. DIGITAL RADIO TO TAKE AWHILE [sic] TO HIT NASHVILLE By RICHARD LAWSON, Staff Writer Nashville could be in for a long wait before consumers have the chance to use digital radios to capture signals originating here... http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/02/10/23800801.shtml?Element_ID=23800801 (Tennessean via Charles Gossett, Jr., DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA [non]. BOSNIA/SERBIA. R. Yugoslavia, 9580 reactivated, Oct 12 0000-0027 English news, report on business developments in Bosnia/Serbia. Lite instrumental music, local rock music, ID, very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED: 4050: See KYRGYZSTAN UNIDENTIFIED: 6715-USB: See CANARY ISLANDS! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ COMMENTS FROM MOTOROLA RE ANALOGUE RADIO BREAKTHROUGH A response from Motorola to my email requesting more details and querying the "breakthrough": ----- Original Message ----- From: Hansen John-ra6595 To: 'Mike Terry' ; Aurit Starlyn-ra3342 Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 11:25 PM Subject: RE: Motorola claims analogue radio breakthrough Mr. Terry, The breakthrough is in the quality of sound delivered, the stations that you can receive that were "blank spots" on your analog radio dial before, the tuning out of adjacent channel interference, the customization and upgrade capability that comes from being a software radio and the audio processing that comes with the Symphony Digital Radio chipset. And it does all of this for about the same cost as existing analog radios and for the existing broadcasts for the 44,000 AM/FM stations around the world. I would be interested to see press coverage that indicated it was "not as spectacular". The response I have been hearing from the press, broadcast engineers, station managers, radio manufacturers, consumers and third part software vendors has been very positive. John Hansen (via Mike Terry, DXLD) DRM in Car Radios: See GERMANY PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES phil bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary September 30 2002 through October 13 2002 Tabulated from email status daily Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Etc. 9/30 140 24 4 moderate minor 4 10/ 1 140 34 6 strong minor 10 2 136 35 6 strong minor 10 3 146 27 7 moderate minor 8 4 158 40 3 strong moderate 7 5 155 21 3 moderate minor 7 6 162 16 3 minor minor 7 7 164 31 3 moderate minor 10 8 165 28 2 moderate minor 6 9 167 19 3 minor minor 7 10 172 16 2 minor minor 7 11 179 8 1 no storms minor 6 12 180 9 1 no storms minor 5 10/13 179 7 1 no storms minor 6 ********************************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor Oct 19 via DXLD) The geomagnetic field remained southward early in the week leading to depressed MUFs in some regions. Solar activity was low early but increased to moderate levels with an M2.2 flare on Oct 13 which led to the geomagnetic field being disturbed from Oct 14 up to minor storm levels. Conditions may remain depressed for the next couple of days but should slowly return to normal (Prepared by Richard Jary using data from http://www.ips.gov.au -- Cumbre DX Oct 17 via DXLD) Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 16 October - 11 November 2002 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate. Moderate activity is possible from Region 149 if further polarity mixing develops. Midway through the forecast period Region 139 is due to return and may have M-class potential. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit may reach event threshold on 28-29 October and again on 05-06 November due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled with isolated periods of active conditions. Active conditions are possible on 16-17 October due to the M2.2 event mentioned above. Active conditions are also possible on 27 October and 03-04 November due to recurring coronal holes. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Oct 15 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Oct 15 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Oct 16 175 15 3 2002 Oct 17 165 20 4 2002 Oct 18 160 20 4 2002 Oct 19 160 12 3 2002 Oct 20 155 12 3 2002 Oct 21 155 12 3 2002 Oct 22 150 12 3 2002 Oct 23 150 5 2 2002 Oct 24 150 5 2 2002 Oct 25 150 5 2 2002 Oct 26 140 8 3 2002 Oct 27 140 15 3 2002 Oct 28 140 12 3 2002 Oct 29 140 10 3 2002 Oct 30 145 10 3 2002 Oct 31 155 8 3 2002 Nov 01 155 8 3 2002 Nov 02 160 8 3 2002 Nov 03 165 20 4 2002 Nov 04 165 15 3 2002 Nov 05 170 15 3 2002 Nov 06 170 15 3 2002 Nov 07 175 10 3 2002 Nov 08 180 10 3 2002 Nov 09 180 8 3 2002 Nov 10 180 10 3 2002 Nov 11 180 10 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Oct 16 via WORLD OF RADIO 1152, DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-159, October 15, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1151: ON WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 ON RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1151.html WORLD OF RADIO 1152: FIRST AIRING ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 on 17495, 7415 FIRST AIRING ON WWCR: Thu 2030 on 15825 (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.rm [from late UT Wed] (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.ram [from late UT Wed] (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1152.html [from Thu?] ** AFGHANISTAN. 6100: see NEPAL ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Quantum Cryptographic Codes: THE CODE MAKERS GET CRACKING --- October 16 2002 Wars have been won and lost by the cracking of secret codes. Now Australian scientists are involved in an international race to develop the ultimate secret weapon, an uncrackable code. Deborah Smith reports.... http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/16/1034561163717.html (Sydney Morning Herald Oct 16 via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Educadora, de Limeira (SP), é uma das poucas emissoras brasileiras que permanece na faixa de 120 metros. Em contato com este redator, o seu diretor, Bruno Arcaro Bortolan, solicita aos ouvintes que reportem a sintonia da Educadora. A emissora, segundo ele, pretende, em breve, lançar um sítio na Internet, onde será disponibilizado um espaço para os dexistas. A Educadora transmite em 2380 kHz. Contatos pelo e-mail: bab@t... [truncated] BRASIL - Deve ocorrer nos próximos dias a mudança de freqüência da Rádio Educação Rural, de Tefé (AM). A emissora passará a transmitir em 4925 kHz. Durante os trabalhos, a estação ficará fora do ar por 4 ou 5 dias. A mudança estava prevista para o final de setembro, mas problemas com a liberação dos equipamentos e as diferentes alíquotas de impostos causaram o atraso. As informações foram prestadas pelo diretor da emissora, Thomas Schwamborn, ao dexista Paulo Roberto e Souza, que reside em Tefé (AM). (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 13 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. Harmonic logs: Sept 1: 35821.2 2357 Phnom Penh Nat VO Cambodia. Best yet. 4x4 35821 0040 VO Cambodia H3 4x4 Sept 7: 35821 0023 Cambodia 4x5, Sept 13: 35821 0023 Cambodia, talk in vern 4x3.5 QSB Sept 15: 35821 0059 Het S5, but no audio, has very low modulation All times UT. R7000 and six element beam. 35s 138e (David Vitek, Adelaide, SA, ICDX yahoogroup via Tim Bucknall, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) 3 x 11940.3v ** CANADA. 6030, CFVP: I can hear this one throughout the day now. Noted at 1620 Oct 12 with infomercials and at 1940 with usual oldies, ID, and news on Calgary Hitmen sports team (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi everyone. I just thought I would let everyone know that next Saturday October 19 from 7:00 to 10:00 P.M. [EDT] there will be a special program on AM 800 CKLW with some of the old air personality and music from the era that they were playing rock and roll. I just thought I would let everyone know and happy DX. (Jeffrey Michael Kenyon, MI, NRC-AM via DXLD) Sat Oct 19 2300-0200 UT Sun Oct 20 ** CANADA. Shelagh Rogers sounds like Canada Murray Whyte, Entertainment reporter READY FOR THE SHOW: Shelagh Rogers show debuts today on CBC. Shelagh Rogers cocks her head to one side, a little suspicious. It's been a long summer, and one that, until the final days before her June departure as host of CBC Radio One's This Morning, CBC's venerable morning show that was slated for cancellation, seemed to leave her fate up in the air. So, is everything okay, Shelagh? ... http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_=676dae6985624a45&pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1026146374170 (Toronto Star Oct 14 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHINA. BBC protests to China over jamming --- Uighurs want an independent East Turkestan By Malcolm Haslett, BBC`s Eurasia analyst The BBC is protesting to the Chinese Government over the jamming of its short-wave broadcasts in the Uzbek language. The Director of BBC World Service, Mark Byford, said the corporation was protesting to China in the strongest possible terms. Although there is no significant Uzbek population in China, the Uzbek language is very close to that spoken by Islamic Uighurs, who make up more than half the population in China's western province of Xinjiang. Uighur groups have long been agitating for independence for Xinjiang, or as they call it East Turkestan. BBC blackout The latest Chinese action has prevented Uzbek speakers, most of them outside China, from hearing broadcasts in their own language. BBC field tests have confirmed regular jamming since 1 September. It consists of a strong radio signal from a Chinese station on three frequencies. Engineers say it consists of the same music, with gongs and string instruments, played over and over again. China has been jamming the BBC's Chinese broadcasts since the suppression of protests in Tiananmen Square in May 1989. Recently, the BBC's English and Chinese internet sites have been blocked for users in China. East Turkestan issue There were regular reports of unrest in Xinjiang throughout the 1990s. The province was torn by demonstrations, mass arrests, sporadic gun battles between rebels and Chinese forces and a number of bombings of buildings and buses. Attacks on civilian targets led the United States in August to include the East Turkestan Islamic Movement to its list of terrorist organisations. The move pleased China but has caused concern among human rights organisations. They say there is evidence that the Chinese authorities are using the current international climate to clamp down further on the legitimate human rights of Xinjiang's Muslim population, including their right to listen to foreign broadcasts. (from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2330475.stm with illustrations, BBC News Oct 15 via Sergei Sosedkin, DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINA/UK: BBC WS UZBEK-LANGUAGE BROADCASTS JAMMED BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT | Text of press release by BBC World Service on 15 October The BBC World Service's shortwave broadcasts in the Uzbek language are being jammed by the Chinese government, it was revealed today (Tuesday, 15 October). The BBC confirmed jamming on three separate shortwave frequencies when it followed up unconfirmed reports with field tests in Uzbekistan over the last few weeks. The jamming, which began on 1 September, consists of a strong radio signal from a Chinese speech station on the three frequencies used by the BBC during broadcasts. Although eastern band FM and mediumwave broadcasts are available around the Uzbek capital Tashkent, the action by the Chinese government means that listeners in other parts of Uzbekistan are unable to hear BBC World Service broadcasts. Around 500,000 Uzbeks listen every week to the BBC. Uzbek is also spoken by 1.5 million people in northern Afghanistan and the BBC's Uzbek service is an important part of the BBC's response to events following last year's 11 September attacks. The BBC has been broadcasting in Uzbek since 1994 and currently broadcasts six hours a week. BBC World Service Director Mark Byford says: "We are concerned at the actions of the Chinese authorities who are preventing citizens of another country from hearing Uzbek broadcasts, especially at a time when the thirst for international news and information is increasing. We are protesting to the Chinese authorities in the strongest possible terms." The jamming coincides with reported demonstrations for a separate state by Uighurs, a Muslim minority group living in Xinjiang - the north-west Chinese province nearest to Uzbekistan. The Uzbek language is easily understood by Uighurs. Human rights groups have voiced concern that China has used the US-led war on terror to crack down unfairly on the Uighurs. The region's oil reserves are of great economic importance to China. The BBC's Chinese service broadcasts have been regularly jammed since May 1989, at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests, by deliberately broadcasting a strong radio signal on the same frequencies. The BBC's English and Chinese internet sites are currently blocked for users in China. For further information: BBC World Service Press Office; Telephone: 0207 557 2941. Source: BBC World Service press release, London, in English 15 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Ha, nice of them to mention VOA! ;-) As usual, we were jammed first, discovered it first [ours and theirs] and are monitoring it DAILY via our network of Remote Monitoring Systems. It's been going on for MONTHS -- against both VOA and BBC. We first thought it was a 'training exercise' for 'new jammers' or a screw up but when it continued and followed a couple of frequency moves we made, it was clear that something else was going on. Some colleagues at RFA suggested the Uzbek -- Uyghur connection. BTW, just about ALL Chinese jamming has taken for form of co-channel 'Chinese opera' these days. I'm not sure why but I guess it does help the Chinese with the 'denial' game ... 'just innocent interference.' bw (Bill Whitacre, DC, IBB, Oct 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. Christer Brunstrom is often listening to RHC especially on Sunday mornings, when they are transmitting the program "World of Stamps" - best reception on 9665 (if it`s on!) and sometimes on 9820 kHz. If the programme ends before 0700 UT they sometimes put on Radio Reloj, Havana programming! Not often Radio Reloj Cuba is on SW, one could say, hi! 73 (Torre Ekblom, Finland, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]/RUSSIA. Radio Ibrahim seems to be linked with the Swedish radio mission IBRA Radio. The time slots via Tbilisskaya RUS 1170 kHz are listed as "IBRA Radio" in Russian internal sources. The website http://www.radioibrahim.com has existed since 2001 and is hosted in Sweden, but is registered for J.V. Scan Media Ltd. in Limassol, Cyprus. IBRA Radio uses Tbilisskaya 1170 kHz since a longer time; during the A01 season the relays are listed in Russian sources as 1900-1930 in Turkish, 2000-2115 (Sun/Mon 2000) in Arabic (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IBRA was mentioned in the 2001 EMWG item I quoted ya. It strikes me that IBRA Radio is not so much heard any more using its own name, but those of various subcontractors (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague Extends Use of Mediumwave for Foreign Service Radio Prague has extended its foreign service broadcasts on mediumwave following the cessation of Radio Free Europe's Czech language service on 30 September, and is now broadcasting on 1287, 1233 and 1071 kHz as follows: 1000-1030 Spanish 1030-1100 French 1100-1130 Russian 1130-1200 English 1730-1800 English (Mon-Fri) 1800-1830 German 1830-1900 English (Sat/Sun) (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 14 October 2002 via DXLD) Like they did long before RFE moved there (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Perhaps this has been on the Media Network hitlist for some time, but I just noticed what is labelled as an `unofficial` Radio Cairo site. Actually, it`s on FM 95.4, and apparently unrelated to the shortwave Radio Cairo! But it does have English webcast at certain hours, pop-ups and lots of promotion: http://radiocairo.cjb.net/ I had just realised that it`s been a few years since I have seen a mimeographed English program schedule of the shortwave Radio Cairo, and was looking for something like that on a website. No luck. Has anyone received one lately? Please forward a copy, if current. Tho, of course, it can only lead to frustration when coping with the atrocious modulation on 9475 (Glenn Hauser, OK, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. UAE [Merlin broker via Al Dhabbaya to ETH] 13735, R UNMEE: I have tried for this one infrequently if I am home on a Friday (it's Fri only at 1900), and finally got a useable signal on Oct 11. Carrier came on at 1857, but not much to work with when the programming started at 1900, mostly talk, occasional pop-style music, hard to distinguish much. Signal was somewhat better by 1945 when they started English and had a couple of features, but copy was still difficult. Things improved markedly at 1951 when they gave their Asmara (P.O.Box 5805) and Addis Ababa (P.O.Box 3001) addresses, and then presented an interesting and fully understandable segment about the need to use care in going through areas with mines and unexploded ordnance. Good English ID at 1954 as "That ends today's program from R. UNMEE, the Voice of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Listen again next week on this station for another program of news from R UNMEE." Brief [unknown] language talk, then vocal music to 2000*. Pleased to hear this (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Oct 13 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** FINLAND [non]. SCHOOLS REVIVING A DEAD LANGUAGE AS SCHOOLS FOCUS ON BASICS, LOVERS OF LATIN RISING Monday, October 14, 2002 Posted: 10:19 AM EDT (1419 GMT) FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia (AP) -- A funny thing happened on the way to higher standards: Schools remembered Latin. ... Classes in Latin, which once attracted only college-bound students, are drawing youngsters from all backgrounds. Sales of Latin textbooks and materials are up, and even elementary schools are starting programs. The number of students taking Advanced Placement exams in Latin is nearly double what it was a decade ago. More at: http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/10/14/schools.latin.ap/index.html (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re DXLD 2-158 CYPRUS: ``October 9 [...] I wonder where was MDR-Info that night? Really no sign of them.`` Certainly referring to 783: Recently the Wiederau transmitter had to be switched off during a couple of nights because "a filter" was built in. Apparently this concerned not the transmitter itself but the antenna output because they can still at any time throw in the Funkwerk Köpenick transmitter from the sixties. This is a really needed lifeboat; at least in the beginning Wiederau had serious problems with the new semiconductor transmitter. The observed silence periods were announced on short notice, of course I tried 783 then but the result here in eastern Germany was not really exciting: Croatia on top, ballgame bawling from Spain underneath and an off-frequency carrier hetting against this duet, likely Syria. All these signals are often audible here underneath MDR info, Wiederau suffers at night from ground-/skywave congestion because only a cheap trideco antenna with equal radiation towards all elevations is in use. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I thought he was referring to 981 kHz, because it was clear for Sawa (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6085 kHz, BAYERISCHER RUNDFUNK, partial data QSL-card in German and English (including transmitter-site), card shows antennas, v/s J. Berguser (?), in 7 days for a report without rp to Bayerischer Rundfunk, Rundfunkplatz 1, D-80300 München. Return address given : Bayerischer Rundfunk, Technische Information, D-80300 München (large German companies have own zip-codes). 7265 kHz, SÜDWESTRUNDFUNK, full data QSL-card in German (including transmitter-site, very individual and professional!), computerprinted, card show symbols of several SWR programs, v/s Dieter Jangel, Technische Information, including a few stickers, frequency guide for SWR programs on FM and MW, in 4 days for a report without rp to Südwestrundfunk, Neckarstrasse 230, D-70190 Stuttgart. Return address given : Südwestrundfunk, D-70150 Stuttgart (large German companies have own zip-codes). (M. Schoech, Germany, 15 Oct 2002, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GREECE [non]. Frequency management of ERA 5 in Athens informed me of some last-minute frequency changes for the Delano relay transmissions in B02: 0600-0800 UT on 11900 kHz (not 12110). 1200-1500 UT on 9825 kHz (not 12110). (ERA-5 via Andreas Volk, Germany, BC-DX Oct 12 via DXLD) But for now the 1200-1500 is still on 11730 (gh, Oct 15, DXLD) ** IRAN. Tentative B-02 schedule for Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran /I R I B/: ALBANIAN 0630-0727 15235 17680 1830-1927 7165 9610 2030-2127 6100 9740 15084v ARABIC 0230-0627 576 9895 0330-1527 13770 0330-1627 15125 15545 0330-2127 1080 0530-1127 612 1230-1627 13820 1530-1927 7285 1630-1927 3985 6025 6065 6200 1730-1927 11905 2030-0327 3985 6025 6065 6200 11905 2130-0127 11710 ARABIC (VOICE OF ISLAMIC PALESTINIAN REVOLUTION) 0330-0427 7250 9505 1930-2027 3985 6025 6065 6200 11905 ARABIC (VOICE OF ISLAMIC REVOLUTION OF IRAQ) 0330-0527 6145 7100 9790 ARMENIAN 0300-0327 7295 0930-0957 9885 15260 1630-1727 6185 7230 ASSYRIAN 1830-1927 936 AZERI 0100-0327 6150 ||| Nov.6-Dec.6 RAMADAN 0330-0527 702 11720 1430-1657 6220 1500-1657 702 BENGALI 0030-0127 765 5965 6005 6085 1430-1527 6090 9885 11850 15415 BOSNIAN 0530-0627 15084v 15235 17680 1730-1827 7295 11660 2130-2227 7235 9710 15084v CHINESE/MANDARIN 1200-1257 9895 11670 13645 15150 2330-0027 7130 7325 9635 DARI 0300-0627 720 9885 0830-1157 11860 1200-1457 5965 ENGLISH 0030-0127 6065 6135 1100-1227 15375 15385 15480 21470 21730 1530-1627 7140 9605 11870 1930-2027 702 6110 7215 11695 15140 2130-2227 9780 11740 GEORGIAN 1700-1757 702 GERMAN 0730-0827 15084v 21770 1730-1827 6180 9500 15084v FRENCH 0630-0727 17590 21645 21770 1830-1927 6180 9565 9805 15084v 2330-0027 6135 7260 HAUSA 0600-0657 17810 21810 1830-1927 7335 9775 HEBREW(KOL DAVID) 0300-0327 6010 6215 ||| ADDITIONAL 0700-0727 21745 ||| ADDITIONAL 1900-1927 6130 7120 7315 HINDI 0230-0257 15165 17635 1500-1527 7195 11640 11950 13745 ITALIAN 0630-0727 15084v 17560 17605 1200-1257 15084 15275 17610 1930-1957 7295 9615 JAPANESE 1300-1327 9510 9750 2100-2127 6125 7180 KAZAKH 0130-0227 7190 9880 1300-1357 11745 13755 15410 KURDISH 0330-0527 612 639 1430-1627 1161 MALAY 1230-1327 15200 15585 17560 PASHTO 0230-0327 765 1098 6095 9525 9605 0730-0827 15440 1230-1327 765 1098 9630 9790 11870 13720 1430-1527 765 1098 7270 1630-1727 1098 3945 6005 6015 7195 PERSIAN 0830-1157 15084v ||| irr 1630-1727 15084v 1930-2027 15084v 2230-2327 15084v ||| irr RUSSIAN 0500-0557 12025 15330 15530 ||| RETIMED, ex 0300-0327 1400-1457 702 1449 9575 9735 1700-1757 6035 7170 ||| RETIMED, ex 1530-1627 1800-1857 6035 7115 7205 7215 7305 ||| RETIMED, ex 1730-1827 1930-1957 7100 7205 ||| RETIMED, ex 1930-2027 SPANISH 0030-0127 6175 9650 9660 0130-0227 6135 6175 9650 9660 0230-0327 5960 0530-0627 15320 17590 2030-2127 6005 9750 SWAHILI 0330-0427 13640 15260 15595 1130-1227 17630 21550 1730-1827 9595 11750 TAJIK 0000-0057 3945 ||| Nov.6-Dec.6 RAMADAN 0100-0227 720 5950 1600-1727 720 5955 TURKISH 0200-0257 7145 ||| Nov.6-Dec.6 RAMADAN 0430-0557 15260 15365 1600-1727 7125 9735 1830-1927 639 702 TURKMEN 0230-0457 1449 1500-1827 1449 URDU 0130-0227 765 1098 6010 6190 7210 1330-1457 765 1098 9655 11640 11950 13595 1530-1727 765 1098 7270 UZBEK 0230-0257 720 5950 1500-1557 720 5955 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 15 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. PsyOps broadcasts for Iraq? From today's NY Times- "Congressional officials said the Central Intelligence Agency had already begun covert operations in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. And military officials said the Pentagon planned to start a psychological operations campaign, which would probably include broadcasts and leaflet drops in coming weeks urging Iraqi military leaders to defect or rise up against Mr. Hussein." (Hans Johnson, Oct 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. 1566 kHz, zu 1647, Twin Rivers Radio (Kuwait), arabisch, ID exakt wie in EMWG (33443) (station heard in Northern Italy) (G. Lorenz, Germany, Oct 4-6(?), 2002 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) ** IRELAND. New on http://www.longwaveradio.com/News.html A bid by former Radio Caroline and Luxembourg DJ and manager Chris Cary to relaunch Radio Nova on 252 KHz has been rejected by Radio Telefis Eirran, the owners of the Irish transmitter. Radio Nova was a very successful station in the 1980s operating from Dublin. Speaking about the rejection, Mr Cary explained "20 Years ago I severely embarrassed RTÉ and 20 years later they will not let it happen again." He revealed that he was ready to pump £5m into the project. Mr Cary moved to the Island last year and has previously considered building an 800 feet high long wave mast at a farm, near Glen Vine. The facility, used by Atlantic 252 until late last year was reincarnated as TeamTalk 252, a sports station in the Spring, but the company operating it was taken over by a rival wand the transmitter has been silent since July. Owners RTE have received eight serious bids to use the frequency and have been considering several options. They have also reportedly requested additional funding to enable them to launch their own station on the channel which would broadcast a mixture of programming from the RTE channels to the Irish diaspora in the UK. Other bids have been made by operators of Asian, rock music and soul stations in the UK and a talking book channel. IMIB is keen to see the frequency brought back into use, especially by a station as dynamic as Radio Nova, as this will attract more listeners to Long Wave, although we have not considered using it for our own station due to technical shortfalls in 252's performance. the transmitter is located at an inland site in Ireland and was designed to cover Ireland - its signal into the UK is strong, but not in London and the South east which are in the shadow of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. IMIB's signal on 279 kHz will have an easier path over the Midlands and cover the south east much more easily, making the station very marketable. 11 October 2002 (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) What`s IMIB? Something to do with Isle of Man? (gh, DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. Also new today on http://www.longwaveradio.com/News.html (despite the date) A series of posters and a pamphlet circulated by objectors in the Isle of Man are a simple re-run of unfounded scare stories circulated at the previous planning inquiry. The leaflets claim there is a serious risk of pollution and danger from radio waves, however, extensive tests by medical and other scientific experts under the auspices of the National Radiological Protection Board http://www.nrpb.gov.uk and Cambridge University have failed to find any link between radio waves and claimed medical effects of brain tumours or other cancers. Being non-ionising radiation, radio waves cannot alter the structure of living cells - the only relevant concern has been on the 'pulsed' nature of digital microwave frequencies used by mobile phones which have very different properties to the analogue signals we shall emanate. Long Waves have been in use for a hundred years without any effect noted on mankind and many high power long wave stations are just over a hundred yards from homes - the BBC Radio Four transmitter at Droitwich is a good example. It has been agreed by the NRPB and other bodies that the 'investigation' level is 1000 volts per metre, but this is only found within twenty two metres of our antenna, which will be inaccessible to the general public. The field strength in Ramsey, 9kM away, will be less than 1 volt per metre. Other concerns about pollution, noise and visual impact have all been addressed in great detail by an Environmental Impact Survey which has been in the public domain for six months; a summary of the report can be read elsewhere on this web site (from http://www.longwaveradio.com/EIS.htm 10 September 2002 [sic], via Mike Terry, Oct 14, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel tentative B-02 English 0500-0515 N.America/W.Europe 9,435 N.America/W.Europe 6,280 @ 11,605 Central America/Australia 17,600 1115-1130 N.America/W.Europe 15,640 N.America/W.Europe 17,545 1730-1745 N.America/W.Europe 11,605 N.America/W.Europe 17,545 2000-2025 N.America/W.Europe 6,280 @ 11,605 South Africa 9,435 N.America/W.Europe 15,640 7,520 @@ 13,720 37605 |----| 37680 ( @ ) [sic -- means between two dates? in what calendar??? normally change to 6 MHz last from Dec to Feb, I recall -- gh] When Conditions Meet's Requierment ( @@ ) [sic -- means if needed?] (via Alokesh Gupta, GRDXC via DXLD) The format of this schedule is such a mess that I am hoping for a better version. Note new 5790 will be used for Hebrew (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. Article that mentions Italian-Americans' shortwave bands removed or shortwave radios confiscated during World war II. http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cumberland/101502ITALIAN.html 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IVORY COAST. CÔTE D`IVOIRE: BBC, RFI FM RELAYS OFF AIR As of 1600 gmt on 15 October, the FM relays of Radio France Internationale in French, BBC World Service, and Gabonese Africa No. 1 radio remain unheard. BBC Monitoring's Abidjan unit continues to monitor RFI via the World Space receiver with good reception and BBC and Africa No. 1 via shortwave with good reception. Meanwhile, French television networks TV5 and Canal Horizons are back on the air after reports on 5 October of transmitter damage due to attacks by "unidentified saboteurs". Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 15 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. Hi Glenn, In this Washingtpon Post article about North Korean espionage in Japan, a process very much like writing shortwave reception reports is described: In Japan, Shin would listen to Radio Pyongyang at midnight on a shortwave radio, copy numbers broadcast on the station, and decipher messages using a book - - Don Quixote -- or a table of random numbers, Pak said. "After he would listen to the radio, he would go to the post office and send a letter to North Korea," she recalled. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18308-2002Oct12.html (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LEBANON. A new 1 megawatt transmitter was installed in May 2002 at Hamat which is between Batroun and Tripoli. It will operate on 837 kHz (with a directional antenna) and replace the existing transmitter (100 kW?) at Amchit. It was not possible to use Amchit for the higher power because of safe RF levels outside the site. The Amchit MF will close down. I think there is still a 10 kW transmitter in Beirut (at the studio). (Info from Jack Fitzsimons-UK) (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 15 MWDX yahoogroup via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. VATICAN CITY. Voix de la Charité answered my RR with a letter without details and some station informations. V/S was P. Fadi Tabet, R Voix de la Charité, Couvent St. Jean, Rue Fouad Chehab, B.P. 850, Jounieh, Liban; in 38 days (Klaus-Peter Hilger, Germany, BC- DX Oct 10 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 2390, R. Huayacocotla, 0030-0100. Band music, not quite mariachi, announced by W in Spanish, several IDs by M. Deep fades but good copy at top of the fade cycles, faded out completely before presumed sign-off with het gone shortly after 0100. This was on 10/12 UT; only weak het heard on 10/13 and 10/14 UT (Steve George, MA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Both 5005 and 6100 are audible at nearly same level S7/S8, but 5005 readability is slightly better (P/F), while 6100 is barely audible (noisy). 1516 woman with news. 6100 was killed by YUG later (1530). BTW, no trace of Afghanistan under weak Nepal at around 1516- 1525 (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, BC-DX Oct 9 via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. We have several long stories in Spanish, finally getting around to mentioning the identity of the station the Catholics gave to disgraced former Pres. Alemán, and which has been closed by the current government: La Poderosa, on 560. For reasons of space --- we try to keep each DXLD under 100K --- these and other items are being held over (gh, DXLD) ** OMAN. History - Masirah off: last moment of Masirah activities was -21.59:30* UT on 6030 kHz on Oct 7th. NOW CLOSED all Masirah A02 scheduled activities replaced by new site A'SEELA. Call is SLA. This smooth take-over took 2+ month (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer Oct 10 via BC-DX via DXLD) PS: fortunately I've QSLed both AM/HF from BBC-ERS some 10y back... 1413 kHz V/S: Senior Transmitter Engineer (Paddy O.). 7160 kHz: V/s: Tim Mullins, Senior Transmitter Engineer. Alle Masirah A-02 Registration Aktivitaeten wurden durch die neue Sendestn in A'SEELA auf dem Festland uebernommen. Das Kuerzel lautet SLA. Der weiche Uebergang von der alten zur neuen Station wurde in den letzten zwei Monaten durchgefuehrt, gestartet wurde mit der 17790 im Juli, danach folgten die Meterbaender aufwaerts bis zum 49 mb. Die Station ist nunmehr geschlossen. Alle Masirah A-02 Registration Aktivitaeten wurden durch die neue Sendestn in A'SEELA auf dem Festland uebernommen. Das Kuerzel lautet SLA. Die Oman Belegung koennte wie folgt in B-02 lauten (tentatively): 5970 0000 0100 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 6030 1300 1345 39SE SLA 250 290 G BBC MER 6030 1630 2200 38E,39S,39NE SLA 250 300 G BBC MER 6035 1500 1600 41NW SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 6065 0030 0100 41NE SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 6065 0100 0200 41NW SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 6090 1615 2000 40 SLA 250 335 G BBC MER 6140 1400 1615 41S SLA 250 110 G BBC MER 7235 1700 1800 41NW SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 7245 0000 0030 49 SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 9580 0000 0030 49 SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 9670 2030 2115 28SE,39NW SLA 250 305 G BBC MER 9825 2000 2130 29,30SW SLA 250 335 G BBC MER 11685 0230 0300 41 SLA 250 100 G BBC MER 11750 0100 0200 41NW SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 11750 0200 0300 40 SLA 250 335 G BBC MER 11760 0500 0600 39NE,40 SLA 250 320 G BBC MER 11760 0700 1400 39NE,40 SLA 250 320 G BBC MER 11920 1400 1500 41 SLA 250 60 G BBC MER 11955 0100 0300 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 15185 0330 0600 38E,39S,39NE SLA 250 290 G BBC MER 15310 0300 0600 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 15420 0700 1100 40 SLA 250 10 G BBC MER 15420 1100 1300 40 SLA 250 35 G BBC MER 15575 0300 0500 30S,39E,40 SLA 250 20 G BBC MER 17615 2200 2330 42,43 SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 17790 0700 0830 41NW SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 17790 0900 1700 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER (BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Pakistan reverts to old timing system: At the stroke of midnight on Saturday, October 6, 2002, Pakistan reverted back to its old timing system under which it is UTC +5.00 Hrs (Hindu Newspaper) 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Box 1555, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500082, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan nach ID um 1615 auf 7213.86 kHz mit englischem Programm. Inlands- oder Auslandsdienst? (Thomas Lindenthal- D, A-DX Oct 14 via BC-DX via DXLD) So English back to 1600-1615? aber: UNID 7213.7 at 1515 unID, vermutlich Englisch, leise, tx, QRM 7215 (24322) (Guenter Lorenz, in Italy, A-DX Oct 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** PALESTINE [non]. Voice of Palestine --- Voice of Palestinian Islamic Revolution Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VOIRI) observed on 1161 kHz with a service in Arabic, parallel to 1080, 6200, etc. First noted on 7th October. The frequency 1161 is not included in a schedule of the Arabic service published on web page of IRIB/VOIRI. Maybe VOIRI installed a new more powerful transmitter? Too strong signal for 10 kW of listed power. The Arabic service on 1161 kHz heard from the beginning at 1630 until fading out at 0300, including Voice of Palestine-Voice of Palestinian Islamic Revolution which was at 1930-2030 UT (Robertas Petraitis, Lithuania, Oct 9, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Onde ouvir polcas paraguáias? Acertou quem respondeu: na Rádio Nacional do Paraguai! A emissora transmite, nos sábados, o programa Reminiscências, com orquestras ao vivo, por volta de 0000 [quer dizer domingo TU?? --gh], em 9735 kHz. A emissora foi ouvida, em Porto Alegre(RS), em 12 e 13 de outubro, neste horário. Detalhe: a emissora já não conta mais com aqueles problemas de transmissor desregulado (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 13 via DXLD) ** PERU. 6419.2, RADIO TROPICAL. New station from Huancabamba, Piura. Broadcasting in 6419.2 with regular signal and better in LSB. In the first moment I think that maybe it`s harmonic but I heard ``...Radio Tropical a través de los 6420 kHz en la onda corta internacional de 49 metros...``. As slogan ``Radio Tropical, la señal integradora de los pueblos del norte del Perú...``; Mentions of Ernesto Laverde as Owner- Manager and Felicito Campos Campos as Administrator. In 1995 was Radio Imperial in 6420.2 from this city, but the shortwave transmitter was sold to Radio Mi Frontera from Chirinos. I think but not confirm, that the equipment returned to Huancabamba since Radio Mi Frontera is inactive for long time. I send audio file from this station to friend Mika M. (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, dxing.info via DXLD) 6419.2 RADIO TROPICAL. Huancabamba, Perú. 2311-0158* Oct. 13 Nueva Estación. Música peruana. Señal con mucho ruido, mejor en LSB. Publicidad política para las elecciones de noviembre 17, entre ellos uno para alcalde de Federico Ibáñez quien es propietario de RD Huancabamba (6536 Khz.). ``...nosotros seguimos con la buena música aquí en su Radio Tropical...`` ``...7 de la noche con 15 minutos en Radio Tropical de Huancabamba...`` Por la calidad de la señal en un principio pensé que se trataba de un armónico, pero luego mencionaron transmisión ``...Radio Tropical a través de los 6420 kHz en la onda corta internacional de 49 metros...``. Hacia 1995 muy cerca de esta frecuencia emitió Radio Imperial desde Huancabamba (6420.2) cuyos equipos fueron vendidos a Radio Mi Frontera en Chirinos pero esta emisora hace mucho esta fuera del aire, no aseguro pero pueden tratarse de los mismo equipos de vuelta a Huancabamba. Mencionan como slogan: ``...Radio Tropical la señal integradora de los pueblos del norte del Perú...`` Como gerente al señor Ernesto Laverde y Administrador Felicito Campos Campos. Lamentablemente no capté dirección correcta pero mencionan continuamente Avenida Ramón Castilla. En correo aparte envío al amigo Nicolas un archivo de audio de esta emisora para que sea colocado el la pagina de grupo. 5384.2 RADIO HUARMACA. Huarmaca, Perú. *1001-1010 Oct. 14 Apertura luego del Himno Nacional: ``A la paz de los nuevos rayos del astro rey y la más firme voluntad y entrega de hacer bien las cosas aquí esta la nueva imagen de Radio Huarmaca con sus ondas media y corta llegando hasta sus hogares e invitándolos a poner su correspondiente cuota de amor, trabajo, acción y recolección a favor del pueblo generoso que nos cobija a nombre de nuestro amigo y gerente Simón Zavaleta Pérez y su plana en general da la bienvenida a todos ustedes y las da las gracias por que a partir de este instante la voz es de la primera estación Radio Huarmaca....`` (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Love those florid sign ons/offs! ** PERU. Hello my friends! Early, in the morning, I talked to General Manager of Radio Tarma, Mr. Mario Monteverde, and he told me the new e-mail address: radiotarma@terra.com.pe 73's (Alfredo `Spacemaster` Cañote, Lima, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Dear, Glenn! I had a wonderful holiday in DX Pedition with my friend, Hideki WATANABE, a member of RNM. As the Solar activity was moderate, we had a pleasant experience, especially on MW X-band. But, conversely, it was a very hard time on SW, hi. --- PERU. UN-ID. October 12, 1058-1115 on 4260.4 kHz with very poor conditions, heard many huaynito criollo and announcement of folklore festival. Peruvian harmonic? I remember that R. Pampa (Costa Rica) was heard on 4260.66 kHz (1420 kHz x 3), here in Japan on 30/Dec/'00 (Shoji YAMADA, Tokyo, Japan, yamaoyabin@jcom.home.ne.jp RADIO NUEVO MUNDO ** PERU. 5500.2, Radio San Miguel, Jr. Alfonso Ugarte Nº 668, San Miguel de Pallaques, Cajamarca, Perú. QSL letter with complete dates received from e-mail for a reception report of July 8, 2002. I sent my reception report by ordinary mail and received my QSL from email. V/S: José Cabanillas Luna, from the next electronic address: cococabanillas@hotmail.com He wrote a very pleasant letter too. He is a journalist and the station general manager Inelso Cruzado Díaz request him answer my letter. The station hasn`t electronic address and José Cabanillas Luna (nickname: Coco) lives in Cajamarca and sent me the mail from that city. Coco would like to subscribe to our Conexión Digital electronic bulletin!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 5500 kHz, R. San Miguel de Pallaques, lengthy p/d e-mail QSL in 3 mos. for snail-mail report. Using AltaVista, this is a short version of what was said: The e-mail was from Jorge Cabanillas Luna, Lawyer in Journalism by direction of the station manager, Inelso Cruzado Diaz. Mr. Diaz has no e-mail in San Miguel, so he authorized Jorge (nicknamed Coco) who lives in Cajamarca and does have the Internet that "your reception report is true and that the Manager certifies you had tuned to Radio San Miguel, that it transmits from the city of San Miguel, province of San Miguel, department of Cajamarca, Republic of Perú; the 7 of July 2002 between 19:31 to 20:00 and the 8 of July between 19:29 to 20:00 in our frequency of short-wave." Those were the dates of my cassette/reports. They obviously know how to respond to reception reports. They also mention they have been on AM and FM for 6 years, but just started SW on July 2nd of this year. They mention other interesting facts like staff size, the broadcasting situation in San Miguel, etc. They may have even made it a full-data e-mail but I incorrectly reported them on 5055 in my report instead of 5500, so they just left it as "their SW frequency" in the response. A very nice surprise that appears is going to be my only response from the station. 73s- (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, USA, JRC NRD-515 w/ K9AY/A-D DX-Sloper, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Jari Savolainen-FIN wrote: ``I wonder if you have a frequency listing showing from what site is Russian program on 5965 transmitted from. And what times is it on the air.`` I've been monitoring 4876 unID Russian (reported by Anker Petersen and others). Last nite 2030 noted that it was in \\ with 1089 (Tbilisskaya I guess). Calculated and noted strong Russian (with different program) on 5965. Both 5965 and 4876 signed off at 2100 and I also lost the signal of 1089 at that time. I was thinking possibility 5965 minus 1089 = 4876. But I think both transmitters should be co-located to make this mix happen? So, where is 5965? :) (Jari Savolainen, Finland, BC-DX Oct 9 via DXLD) 4875 or 4876 kHz. 21 Sep. SIO=353...351 1840-1900 VOR Sodruzhestvo program. 1900-2000 VOR Russian \\ 5950 7370 9450 9480 12020 12040 12055. 2000-2059 unknown Russian program. Where does all that come from? Too weak for it ... Compared signals on 4876 and 9480 kHz (both carry VoR Russian sce at about 1930). Broadcast on 4876 kHz is slightly (0.5...1 sec) delayed. Monitoring on 4876 kHz: 1500-1600 R Rossii 1600-1700 VoR, Sodruzhestvo progr 1700-1800 R Rossii 1800-1900 VoR, Sodruzhestvo progr 1900-2000 VoR, Russian sce 2000-2059 R Radonezh??? Didn't hear any ID because of considerable fading, needs further checking (Vladimir Doroshenko, Ukraine,, DXsignal Oct 5 via BC-DX via DXLD) That's great, guys, you have solved a mystery! I can only add that 1089 kHz must carry R Rossii local relay for Krasnodar area before 1600 and at 1700-1800. That very well fits into monitoring data by Vladimir Doroshenko (see at the very bottom of original messages). So, audio on 4876 comes from 1089 kHz. The last hour (presumed as religious station R Radonezh in Vladimir's report) might be the Voice of Russia, too. VoR has a 15-minute Christian feature "Rossiya pravoslavnaya" (=Orthodox Russia) in its 2000-2100 program block on Sundays (Dmitry Mezin, Russia, DXsignal Oct 9 via BC-DX via DXLD) 4876 location mixture, 5965 R Rossii minus 1089 V of Russia in Russian = 4876 location mixture !!! Hi Jari, you are a SMARTIE boy, WELL DONE !!! Yes, that`s a location spurious mixture of - maybe - nearby antenna installations at Tbilisskaya, Armavir Krasnodar site in Caucasus forefield. 5965 R Rossii minus 1089 VOR Russian 4876 location mixture !!! 5965 from Sept 1st, - ex 9490 til Aug 31 (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re the two Russians on 5930 and 6160 - is 5930 still coming from Monchegorsk? --- or are the 2 x 20 kW actually at Murmansk? I can hear 5930 when Prague goes off c0657, but very fluttery and with splash from Brother Scott 5935. Audio quality is difficult to judge under these conditions. There is no trace - yet - of Arkhangel`sk 6160. CKZN continues to be well heard on that frequency - now from c0700, which is around local sunrise (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Oct 14 via DXLD) I tire of having to put in the soft signs even the Russians like to omit in Roman transcriptions! So much that I begin to wonder if I remember correctly where they go. By searching on Arkhangelsk I finally found an entry which apostrophised it as fixed above. But I may miss others. Forgive me, or better yet, correct them (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA [and non]. South African commentator provides arguments for a broadcasting system that is publicly funded but journalistically independent from the government, and remarks about U.S. commercial television news. http://www.witness.co.za/showcontent.asp?id=10278&action=full&catid=3 (Kim Elliott, DC, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC noted on 7440 signing off at 0400 UT just now in Hindi. The normal frequency of 7190 was not heard then (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS Hyderabad, India, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Friends, SLBC changed frequency from yesterday in line with a proposal to move out of 7100-7300 !! Also All Asia English is on 15745 replacing 15425. So the changed schedule of SLBC All Asia Service is: 7440 (ex 7190) 0050-0430, 0900-1530 Indian languages 15745 (ex 15425) 0030-0430, 1230-1600(?) English (Thanks to Victor Goonetilleke for the clarifications) (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), Hyderabad, India, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why in the world would they need to vacate 7100-7300? Or 15425. Great choice, 15745, with WEWN already there, blasting in here. Per website, that is on 24 hours! Actually, at 1410 UT check Oct 15, I could hear some undercurrent, not sure if SLBC, but more likely WEWN input problem or cross modulation. I expect this conflict would distress Catholic Victor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SLBC changed from today to 7440 for All Asia Vernacular Service 0025- 0400, also about 0800-1600, so this is not an error. In line with a proposal to move out of 7100-7300 to leave the band for Amateur Radio in All regions!! Also All Asia English is on 15745 0025-0400, 1225-1530 replacing 15425 from the ex VOA Collins 35 kW transmitter. Hope those two frequencies make it easier to hear Sri Lanka!! (Victor Goonetilleke 4S7VK, BC-DX Oct 14 via DXLD) Less good news for WEWN and their 15745 kHz. Monitored 15745 kHz today here in Denmark and found WEWN pretty weak prior to 1100 UT, but then very quickly picking up and by 1110 very good signal free of any sort of interference. Sri Lanka (tent.) weak under WEWN from s/on 1230. By 1440 SLBC (with plenty of oldies pop music) and WEWN were received at equal strength making reception of the European service of WEWN in Europe pretty useless. I have taken the trouble of informing both stations by e-mail about the unfortunate frequency clash. Let`s see if something happens. S/off time for SLBC on 15745 kHz is 1530 (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [non]. IBC Tamil Radio (UK) and LTTE The LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] has one of the best publicity networks covering Europe, Australia and North America and they have even setup radio and tv satellites. It was widely reported in the recent weeks in the Sri Lankan media how the LTTE has infiltrated BBC. They began to hire a weekly one hour Tamil language slot in Sunrise radio owned by an Indian in London and is now broadcasting in Tamil three days a week to a London based Tamil audience. Similarly stations are broadcasting in Tamil in Paris, and Toronto and they have also setup the International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) a satellite based 24 hours radio station broadcasting via the Astra satellite and cable channels into the Europe, North America, Middle East, Sri Lanka, India etc. The LTTE has a controlling interest in IBC and broadcast heavy LTTE content from time to time operating their small office with a staff of 15 reaching an estimated Tamil audience of over 600,000. The IBC has been granted broadcasting licence by the British government and so far only one complaint has been lodged with the British licencing regulatory body against the IBC. Canada's main LTTE radio station is Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corporation (CTBC) which is operated by Kandiah Sivasothy alias 'Iliyabarathy'. Kandiah Sivasothy is from Karinagar, in Jaffna. He was a former employee of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). Most of the LTTE programs at the station are broadcast by Krishnaligam who originates from Puloliyur in Point Pedro. Recently, Krishnaligam interviewed LTTE supremo's sister who is resident in Canada. The significance the LTTE attaches to all this radio and TV activity can be gauged by a recent LTTE appointment to CTBC and its new production officer. He is Kathiravel Selvakumar alias `Raff' who is a well known LTTE intelligence leader who originates from Prabakaran's home town, Valvettithurai in Jaffna. He is noted for killing many innocent Tamil people and for hanging them on lamp-posts in Jaffna. These were the famous lamp-post executions, which were carried out during the early days of the Tamil `liberation` struggle. Canadian law enforcement authorities are at present gathering evidence from the murdered victims families in Canada with a view of prosecuting this particular Tamil refugee for mass murder. Other LTTE radio stations in Canada are "Geethavani, CTR and ITBC. Geethvani belongs to Nadaraja Rajakumar a former WTM Montreal Leader. The World Tamil Movement (WTM) is categorized by the US State Department as a LTTE front organization. The Sri Lankan political establishment is yet to awaken to these many LTTE strategies abroad and respond to them in any way. No attempt has yet been made to hire channels of the Astra satellite, or to secure other means of broadcasting, in order to transmit the Sri Lankan Tamil language broadcasts of the SLBC in competition to the IBC broadcasts world-wide on a commercial basis. This would give the Sri Lankan state instant and direct access to the Tamil diaspora world-wide and opportunities not only in terms of generating commercial revenue in foreign exchange, eroding the LTTE fund-raising potential, but also the opportunity to carry out psy-ops (D. Prabakaran, India, Oct 1, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) We continue to assume: no relation? (gh, DXLD) IBC Tamil Radio (UK) reacts on recent reports in CRW : Dear Sir, I write as director of programming for IBC Tamil Radio based in London and must state that I and my colleagues read with dismay a report you carried about us that referred to the station as being clandestine and funded by the LTTE. IBC Tamil was originally formed by members of the BBC Tamil service in 1997, who brought with them the concepts of impartiality and editorial independence. IBC Tamil holds a United Kingdom Radio Authority licence that requires adherence to its Codes of Practice. In all respects, IBC Tamil operates openly and is in no way, shape or form a clandestine organisation. We are in the London telephone directory and our name is on a sign outside the building. IBC Tamil exists to entertain, educate and inform the Tamil community in Europe by direct-to-home satellite radio and provide a link with families in Sri Lanka via shortwave transmission at 1230-1330 UTC on 17495 kHz and 0000-0100 UTC on 11570 kHz(7460 kHz in winter). IBC Tamil has been very successful in furthering the integration of Tamil refugees into life in Western Europe and their development. IBC Tamil is a private company whose ownership is a matter of public record. Thank you, Your sincerely, (S. Shivaranjith, Great Britain, Oct 8, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) IBC Tamil Radio (UK) "Tamil Media Ltd., trading as IBC (International Broadcasting Corporation) functions as a Radio Station and has started broadcasting in Tamil since June 9, 1997. This is a 24 hour service, broadcasting to all European countries on Astra satellite, with an hour long daily programme to India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia on short-wave radio, 25mb commencing 1430 GMT." Coverage is primarily of news ("non-partisan") and entertainment, education, and culture. Website includes current news and many pre-recorded recent programs, and is all in Tamil. QSL information for IBC Tamil: IBC Tamil, P. O. Box 1505, London SW8 2ZH, United Kingdom. Tel. +44-171- 787-8000 Fax +44-171-787-8010 E-mail : desk@ibc-tamil.com and radio@ibctamil.co.uk (D. Prabakaran, India, Oct 1, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. TAMIL LOG SHEET Oct-2002 [Times in IST - Indian St. Time ? -CRW] 0530-0630 IBC - London 11570 kHz 0700-0830 Voice of Tigers 7460 kHz 0600-0700 IBC - London 17495 kHz 0730-0900 Voice of Tigers 7460 kHz (J. Aakthivel, India, Oct 7, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN [non]. Re `Radio Voice of Christ`: most likely 1530-1630 via 1251 kHz Dushanbe-TJK. 1251 1530-1600 sm.wt.. Duchanbe 100 kW nondir HCJB 1251 1600-1615 smtwt.. Duchanbe 100 kW nondir HCJB (A-02 schedule) 0530-0700 Fris via UAE Al Dhabbaya 9660, and via FEBA SEY on 15555 in Persian. Also GHI [???] in Persian 17510 at 0330-0430, at 1530-1830 on 15770 and 17510. 1630-1730 9940 Persian via Grigoriopol`-MDA. 1600-1700 15715 HAM High Adventure Min VoHope, Persian via Juelich (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** U A E. UAE Radio, Dubai, 21597v was almost listenable Oct 15 at 1330 in English; feature at 1334 seemed to be about Arabic poetry. I rechecked their recently established website http://www.dubaitv.gov.ae/home.asp but the English FM 92.0 link is still dead, ``coming soon`` as it was months ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. New BBC service is launching soon on Sky Digital, DAB, and the internet. It is called BBC7. It will have classic and new comedy, drama and kids programmes. To hear test of the service try http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7 --- I was listening to the test service on Sunday and sounded very good. Keep up the good work; I listen every week (Ian Gilligan, South Yorkshire UK, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Offshore (just): GB2LBL will be on the air from the light- vessel Planet, berthed at the Historic Warships Museum in Birkenhead, over the weekend of the 18th to 20th of October. Members of the Mersey Light-vessel Preservation Society, a registered charity, will be running two stations, one on CW and one on SSB, from 0900 on the Friday until 1600 UT on the Sunday. The general public will be able to visit the ship from 10.00am to 4.00pm local time on all three days. The society is aiming to save the light-vessel from being sold abroad or for scrap and is raising money to buy the vessel to turn her into a Merchant Navy museum. A grant from the Queen's Jubilee Fund has enabled this event to take place. GB2LBL will therefore also be celebrating the Queen's Golden Jubilee and will attempt to contact as many stations in Commonwealth countries as possible. The current frequency of operation will be uploaded to the group's website within minutes of changing frequency, so they can be easily found on the bands. QSL either via the RSGB bureau or direct to M0CMW with an SASE (From The RSGB via Mike Terry, Oct 12, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison October, 10, 2002 United States Senate 284 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4304 Dear Senator Hutchison: Continental Electronics in Dallas, Texas has been the pioneer and a major innovator of high and super-power transmitters since the late 40's. However, since 1979 most of the VOA (Voice of America) - IBB procurements have been systematically given to a European manufacturer. The latest of these is the International Broadcasting Bureau's (VOA) unfortunate decision to award the Kuwait Transmitting Station Shortwave Expansion contract to a French firm - Thales Radio Broadcast (TRB). Thales, previously named Thomson-CSF, Thomcast, etc, is jointly owned by the French Government and the Thomson conglomerate. TRB, in effect, is subsidized by the French Government. No American broadcast manufacturer has ever won a job in France, nor are they even allowed to participate in the bidding process. Yet, the IBB continues to ignore our procurement laws and regulations by just handing over one project after another to the French. We are asking you to take whatever action is necessary to correct an injustice perpetrated on the American worker by unthinking government bureaucrats. The recently awarded contract to the French for the Kuwait Transmitting Station Shortwave Expansion Project should be terminated forthwith. Awarding a multi-million dollar contract to foreigners from U.S. taxpayer's funds at a time when our economy and workers are suffering, is not in the best interest of the U.S. government or its citizens. This is an improper decision by U.S. Government employees who are paid by U.S. taxpayers. The decision to award this contract to a foreign company which is not obliged to adhere to the same U.S. labor and contractual laws, naturally has less costs. The decision defies the President, the Congress, and the laws of our land. Further, it is unthinkable to award such a large anti-terrorist contract to a French company when their government openly opposes U.S. policy in that region. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (F.A.R.) Part 3.5 (Improper Business Practices) states that buying-in may decrease competition and result in poor performance. Over the years it has been the modus operandi for this French government-subsidized firm which consistently underbids to keep its workers and plants operating. Another VOA procurement example is the purchase of subsidized foreign steel for IBB projects at giveaway prices, while our own steel industry is laying off its workers. This is in defiance of the National Security Strategy of the United States released September 2002 which specifically states that government procurement practices should "help domestic industries and workers." U.S. manufacturers of radio transmitters and antennas must abide by our government laws and regulations. They hire handicapped workers, employ minorities, pay above minimum wages and give full benefits to their workers equally. Only under unusual circumstances, does the U.S. Government subsidize a domestic manufacturer. We think U.S. engineers are more innovative and U.S. workers work harder than their European counterparts. U.S. employee hours are longer, and our factory workers' wages are less than half of those workers in France and Switzerland. Yet, it is easy to see how subsidized French companies can always offer lower prices. It is commoname [sic] French companies which are our avowed enemies! The fact that trading scales are already weighted in favor of European companies makes it even more important that the U.S. Government ascertains that American businesses receive more favorable consideration when spending its taxpayer money. We appeal to all our esteemed Congressmen, Senators, and their associates, to look into a fiasco occurring at a time when much of the world, especially the French, do not support our President, or our Congress, nor our fellow citizens in the fight against tyranny, injustice, and terrorism. It is un-American, unjust, and immoral to put American workers on unemployment rolls when foreign workers benefit from taxes paid by those very same citizens. Sincerely, Nick Olguin Jack Quinn Ex-VOA, RFE/RL Ex-VOA, RFE/RL. Varian/EIMAC Distribution List: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Senator Phil Gramm Senator John McCain Senate Foreign Relations Comm, Senator Joe Biden Senate Sub-Committee on Int'l Ops and Terrorism, Senator Barbara Boxer Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson Rep. Henry Hyde, Chairman House Int'l Relations Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, House Sub-Comm on Int'l Ops and Human Rights Karl Rove, Presidential Advisor, White House Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Chairman IBB BBG David Lum, IBB Contract Administrator George Moore, Dir. Engineering IBB William Saffire, NY Times Georgie Ann Geyer, Universal Press Syndicate Glenn Hauser, World of Radio (via DXLD) Recall that Continental has been criticized for its sales of shortwave transmitters to China. China may not use the new Continentals for jamming, but the Continentals free up China's old clunker transmitters for the less high-fidelity task of jamming (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. BOARD SEEKS 517M DOLLARS FOR US INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING [Excerpt from 2002 report of the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, (available on US State Department web site) ... As a result of long-term declines in US spending, critical public diplomacy needs are not being met. For example, from 1993 to 2001, overall funding for the State Department's educational and cultural exchange programmes fell more than 33 per cent, from 349m dollars to 232m dollars (adjusted for inflation). From 1995 to 2001, the number of exchange participants dropped from approximately 45,000 to 29,000. The US spends five million dollars in public opinion research overseas - less than the polling costs of some US Senate campaigns. The US spends 25 gigadollars on traditional diplomacy and more than 30bn dollars for intelligence and counterintelligence initiatives. In comparison, the government spends only one billion dollars to inform and persuade international audiences. There are public diplomacy operations in more than 200 missions around the globe, many in critical areas where negative and incorrect perceptions of US foreign policy prevail. The funding levels are clearly insufficient. The Broadcasting Board of Governors spends approximately 94 per cent of its overall budget on radio and only six per cent on television. (The BBG's 517m-dollar request for US international broadcasting services in FY 03 includes 47m dollars for television, 23m dollars for VOA TV, 14m dollars for satellite leases and 10m dollars for TV Martí for Cuba alone - a radio/TV spending ratio of 16 to 1.) While radio continues to be an important instrument of public diplomacy - particularly in countries such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia and China, where listening rates are high - we must invest much more in television where this medium is a primary source of news and information. During the 1990s, Congressional cuts in public diplomacy budgets were driven by fiscal deficits and a general desire of many in Congress to reduce the size of government. In recent years, officials of both parties have continually failed to make public diplomacy a high priority. Reductions in public diplomacy are part of a long-term militarization of foreign affairs in which the share of the national budget devoted to military spending has increased, while the amount committed to international affairs has decreased. This Commission recommends that all categories of public diplomacy be looked at coherently in terms of foreign policy priorities, situational relevance, and comparative assessments of programme value, and then be funded accordingly... [The full text of the report is available on the US State Department web site at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/13622.pdf ] Source: US State Department web site in English 15 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Greetings from Southern California once again. Just want to let you know that I and Bill Fisher of SCADS attended the meeting for US International Broadcasting: Challenges and Opportunities in the Middle East, Iran and China at the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Broadcasting Board of Governors Seminar on October 9th from 1 pm to 4:30 pm. The panelists for the Middle East were Norman Pattiz of the BBG, Cheryl Halpern of the BBG, Murray Fromson of USC Journalism Department, Mouafac Harb, news director of Radio Sawa and Ian Lessar, VP Pacific Council on International Relations. Next panel was on IRAN and they were Kenneth Tomlinson, Chairman BBG, Norman Pattiz, founder of Westwood One radio network, Pari Abasalti, broadcaster for KRSI Los Angeles, Gina Nahal, novelist, and Fred Zandpour, associate dean of California State-Fullerton. And the last panel was made up of Edward Kaufman, China Committee of the BBG, Robert Ledbetter, member BBG, Stanley Rosen, political science professor USC and Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman BBG. The three moderators were Geoffrey Cowan, Jonathan Aronson and Michael Parks, all of the USC Annenberg School for Communications. The approximate attendence was about 100 people which included students, the press and us regular type people. The event was taped for replay over the Los Angeles School District TV services. All-in-all it was a great seminar and Bill and I got to talk to most of the speakers. We plan to attend more of the communication seminars at USC (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, Oct 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Regarding Ray Briem. He will be back on talk radio soon. He is currently talking to the folks at KPLS/830AM which is owned is Catholic Family Radio which also has the radio station up for sale! The station contacted Ray first and they would be tickled to have him join with Don Imus and George Putnam on the station. So, I am sure that Ray will soon be back on the air-waves. His new program would possibly be scheduled for Saturday nights in the Midnight to 2 am slot. Will let you know when we get the news he is back on the airwaves! Have a great week of radio listening! (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, "World Friendship Through Shortwave Radio where Culture and Language meet" ASWLC - http://communitylink.ocnow.com/groups/aswlc SCADS - http://communitylink.ocnow.com/groups/scads Oct 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KIMF Piñón, NM. E-mail Dr. James Planck at james@p... [truncated]. On their website http://plancktech.com/ claims: "One of our specialties is the retuning of older transmitters to new frequencies and the conversion of older AM transmitters for use on the HF bands. We also manufacture a line of low cost HF broadcast transmitters up to 50 KW. Planck Technical Services has more than 21 years of experience in engineering, construction, installation and service of broadcast and wireless systems. We have supplied equipment and built more than 200 LPTV stations for organizations such as Trinity Broadcasting, National Minority TV, and Public Broadcasting. Military & Government agencies are also our customers." Nothing is mentioned about KIMF or partner stations in Latin America (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, BC-DX Oct 9 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Glenn, Do you know if any of the AFRTS SW frequencies are still active? I haven't heard any for some while (Dave Kenny, UK, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dave, I got so fed up with the constant interference on them that deleted most from my memory bank; however just checking 12689.5 at 1925 I hear traces of SSB talk, but can`t be positive it`s AFRTS. Will check further (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) ** U S A. WEWN: clash on 15745: see SRI LANKA ** U S A. 5920 kHz, WBOH, Newport, NC, 0212, Heard the test transmission tape already posted by others. The tape loop was by a female Don't know if anyone noticed, but I taped them for 47 mins and on playing it back, they switched their power output a number of times from 0237 and were still doing so at 0259 when the cassette ended. The signal went from a SINPO of generally 4's across the board to a signal strength of 2. I asked in my report for the power range they were using at the time (John Sgrulletta, NY, Oct 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 26450, WLW at 1907 Oct 13 with Bengals football. Heard the same time a few weeks ago with Reds baseball (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: ``While many have chimed in with a doomsday scenario for AM broadcast DXing in the shadow of IBOC, I still contend that it won't be that bad.`` What is the basis for your optimism? Have you heard any of the IBOC tests so far? I don't believe you have (and please correct me if I'm wrong). The reason I ask is because there is a clear pattern to the comments on this list about IBOC. Those who haven't heard any of the tests are the ones who think IBOC won't be a problem. Those who have heard IBOC- --- Kevin Redding, Pat Martin, Fred Vobbe, Russ Edmunds, myself, etc. --- are the ones who are convinced we will have major problems if IBOC operates at night. It's easy to breezily say that phasing, etc., will be able to cope with IBOC and it won't be a big deal --- if you haven't heard IBOC in action. But those of us who have heard IBOC know reality beats such theory and speculation. I doubt phasing will be much help with IBOC if two or more IBOC transmitters are on an adjacent frequency. IBOC is a broadband noise source, much like lightning QRN from an approaching cold front, and phasing is usually not much help there. The coming generation of DSP- based receivers (like the JRC NRD-545 and Ten-Tec RX-350) offer the promise of being able to differentiate analog and digital signals in the IF chain and to reject the unwanted type. But consumer DSP receivers are still early in their development cycle and will require a major investment by DXers. A lot of us will also get an IBOC receiver as soon as they're available and try DXing digital signals. And none of us who feel IBOC will have a significant negative impact on DXing want to be right in our conclusion. Speaking for myself, I hope my fears are totally overblown and that I look ridiculous a decade from now. Because if my fears are justified, AM DXing will take a major hit, far worse than the end of MM silent periods and the explosive growth in new stations since the mid-1980s. IBOC, I fear, will do more than just make the game more difficult; it will change the rules of the game so that we DXers can't "win." I look forward to reports from DXers when the first IBOC stations begin regular service and I hope some good ideas and techniques for coping with IBOC are quickly developed (Harry Helms, AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15, NRC-AM via DXLD) After listening for 2 days of IBOC from KIXI-880, I can tell you that this white noise is going to be a problem for all DXers. Even the ones that live on the coasts will have to deal with it. I hope it is not adopted and the trouble it causes will get dealt with quick and swift so we will not have to be concerned about it in the future. This is all a bad dream and maybe we will wake up and it will be just that a dream. :). But on a serious note, if stations all over the country adopt IBOC, the hobby as we know it is in real trouble. KIXI-880- Seattle is only S9 here at 150 miles during the day off my Eastern beverage. Not a big signal. Easy to get rid of. Yet the noise on 890 was S7! That was not easy to get rid of. The noise was more troublesome than KIXI's signal! Even after I switched to my EWE antenna that has KWIP-Dallas OR at 100 miles dominant on 880, with KIXI barely audible under them, the white noise on 890 only dropped to S5! So even when there is hardly a signal from a station the white noise is there big time. That is why Kevin and Harry heard the WLW noise all the way across the country when WLW's signal wasn't strong. This noise gets out! No doubt about that. I can just figure someone like KGO (S9+40-50 DB), KNBR (S9+30 DB) and others running IBOC. I shudder at the thought. It will give me nightmares if I think about it. Like I said, we may have to move far away to DX. It will be interesting to find out how much of this noise is heard my DXers overseas. I am sure it will royally screw up the dial worldwide. If not worldwide, a lot of the world where DXers hear US stations, like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, etc. So many US stations are directional that way. The European DXers are going to love DXing through all the noise. This IBOC plan has far reaching effects. It is not a pretty picture! 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) Partner, its gonna be REALLY ugly. I called my bud in Poughkeepsie today, Jim Nichols and he was talking about the horrendous white noise on 700 to 720. He says to me that I better get my HF gear ready because the noise is so bad. He put the phone to the speaker and I told him that this was EXACTLY the noise I heard during the WLW IBAC test. My friend in Monticello, NY, Chris Cuff, said he can't see how any radio can survive the sideband noise to do ANY DXing. Bros, I can tell you that if IBAC goes night, we are HOSED until we can figure out some kind of DSP, or some chip that will accept one mode and kill the other. That`s the only way. PERIOD. When the noise floor is 20 to 40 over S-9 forget all those TPs and TAs, they are going to be a memory until a work around can be devised. That noise is unbelievable. Phasing will get pointed away from one station to hear IBAC noise from another station. It sounds exactly like a TV tuned to a frequency with no receivable station. And it`s LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! || The coming generation of DSP-based receivers (like the JRC NRD-545 and Ten-Tec RX-350) offer the promise of being able to differentiate analog and digital signals in the IF chain and to reject the unwanted type. || If this can be done, it will be great but if everything is going totally digital, then no manufacturer will develop this because they will not make money with this enough to pay for the development cost. It will take a couple of years to write the algorithms, the software, design the chip circuits, find a chip foundry to run prototypes, test the software and circuitry under many conditions, and by then a lot and I mean a lot of money would be spent. It would be great if it happened, but I don't expect this kind of money and effort to be expended on something that will run a very short time. || But consumer DSP receivers are still early in their development cycle and will require a major investment by DXers. || This is exactly what the manufacturers want and the consumer doesn't want at present. I don't see the demand. Unfortunately the government will create the demand eventually by FORCING us to have to buy this new equipment to hear radio. I believe that this is EXACTLY the wrong approach to take but the corporations have bet lots of money on this and paid their bribes and they will be like Burger King and have it their way. || A lot of us will also get an IBOC receiver as soon as they're available and try DXing digital signals. || I will be one of these. I fear it will be a waste of money but I will be one who buys one. I will buy it not for the engineering quality, nor for the programming, only for the DX and that`s it. No other reason. || And none of us who feel IBOC will have a significant negative impact on DXing want to be right in our conclusion. Speaking for myself, I hope my fears are totally overblown and that I look ridiculous a decade from now. || AMEN! I want to have people pointing their fingers at me saying here`s what you said back in 2002. I want my hobby to survive because I enjoy it. I am sure things will be very different when the time comes and everything is digital but the transition time is going to be very hard on the radio clubs that concern themselves with broadcast radio. IBAC is going to be terribly tough in the transitional time on the DX community. I don't know how DXing will be but its going to have some tough days ahead. I would love to see that chip with the ability to discern analog or digital and disregard the one that is not desired by the end user. If this happens, then its not going to be horrendous but it will be an expense that will be a burden on the common radio user. The analog stuff will still be obsolete no matter what. My advice, don't buy any new radios and TVs until IBAC and DTV get moving into gear. If you buy gear now, its going to be utterly and completely useless. (Kevin Redding, Mesa AZ, NRC-AM via DXLD) I've lurked on the IBOC thread till now, mainly because I consider its adoption either inevitable or unworkable. That's why I didn't waste my time responding to the FCC's notice for public comment. Like the FCC cares about my opinion. If it's inevitable, there's nothing I can do about it and I'll spend much less time doing MW DXing and more time on shortwave and ham radio. I gather that many others, as Rick Kenneally suggests, will do likewise and our hobby will take a severe hit. I will be very disappointed to leave the MW band, but there's always 60 meters and the shortwave pirates for listening. I don't like the graveyard channels much at all, and I rarely DX them. DXing will go the way of the crystal set and Amos n Andy. Specialized equipment and great locations may enable some MW DXers to continue doing what they're doing, but I fall into the majority of NRC members with (mainly) non-specialized equipment and a mediocre location. Any spare $1K lying around will go to my credit card company and not into an R8B. And the last time I had that kind of disposable cash I spent it on a much more versatile ham transceiver. If IBOC proves unworkable or of limited impact, then nothing will change. Passive resistance on the part of broadcasters and consumers, in refusal to buy new equipment, could also make it a flop. It's happened before. Finally, like many others on the list, I have also been dismayed (but certainly not surprised) at the hypocrisy shown by broadcasters and regulators on the interference issue. Block LPFM because of potential interference, but embrace it on AM in the form of industry-sponsored IBOC. A classic case of regulatory capture and a subversion of the FCC's statutory mandate (Communications Act of 1934) to uphold the public interest. IBOC is not intended to improve the quality of the AM service or to rejuvenate AM broadcasting. Its real purpose is to get everybody, from broadcasters to consumers, to spend a bunch of money on new equipment they really don't need or want. As one of the Gilded Age robber barons (William H. Vanderbilt, I think), once said: "The public be damned!" (David Hochfelder, NJ, NRC- AM via DXLD) Group: Check out the NY Radio Message Board http://musicradio.computer.net/wwwboard/ for more on the first WOR-710 IBOC transmissions. Reads like they're a disaster. Is there any reason to think FM will be any better? (Tim Cronin, Worth, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) Although this is off topic, I was up around the Newark/Belleville line Sunday which is about 5 miles, give or take a little, from the WOR towers. The digital garbage was tremendous on 690/700 as well as 720/730. Picture the NYC AM dial if the stations all go IBOC...... (starting at 550) hash/hash/WMCA/hash/hash/hash (maybe some WICC)/hash/WSNR/hash/hash/hash/WNBC/hash/hash/hash/hash/WOR/hash/hash/ maybe WHLI/hash/hash/WABC/hash/hash/hash/hash/WNYC/hash/hash (830......). And nothing gets thru this hash...no transparency to it at all. My experience with the FM version (WNEW-102.7) was that you lose the adjacents (and that's using a MR-78). But WNEW is medium power compared to the 100 kW stuff in most of the country. I wonder how powerful the IBOC buzz would be on one of those babies. Happy listening, (Joe Fela, NJ, WTFDA via DXLD) Posted by Bob Seeburg on October 14, 2002 at 07:28:02: On Friday I first heard this 'hash' across the WOR carrier and assumed it was just a tech prob with the new equipment; however in the three days since then this station's daytime signal has been all but unlistenable. If your radio has any IF bandwith at all this racket of hiss bleeds into everything, the program level seems to be 3-4 db lower and is so frequency limited that it has the same response as a cheapie dial-up remote. Now that I have heard it, it's safe to say that IBOC is a crude Rube Goldberg "hack" and I can't imagine how the standards for broadcast quality could be so degraded as to approve a scheme like this. WOR now has the honor of having the worst full-power signal on the dial (NY Radio Message Board via DXLD) Posted by al germond on October 14, 2002 at 16:12:39: In the past, I've posted a number of items about the so-called "IBOC" system [which it isn't because the digital subcarriers are actually in the sidebands] and deposited a couple of lengthy postings on several midwestern message boards --- e.g.: http://www.showmeradio.com --- which have elicited very little response. I want to have an open mind about "IBOC" but some of the things I've been predicting may be coming true. There's the temptation to compare "IBOC" with WQXR-FM's first limited stereocasting which the New York Times-owned station began on Sept. 7, 1961 using the then just-approved GE/Zenith "pilot-tone" system. There was a lot of angst at the time because audiophiles had been rooting for the late Murray G. Crosby's stereo system which had been given debut tests in 1958-9 under experimental authorizations granted to WGHF/95.1/Brookfield, Conn., [now, ironically, WRKI, the station referred to in the New York Times article about "high definition radio".] and WBAI/99.5/New York. Purists liked Crosby's technique because it was less noisy and offered greater frequency response. The FCC chose the technically similar but separately developed GE and Zenith systems because they would accommodate subsidiary functional multiplex channels -- 67 kHz and now 92 kHz as well -- which the FCC had first allowed FM broadcasters to occupy starting in May, 1955. In 1960, more than a half-dozen competing multiplex systems were tested via KDKA-FM/92.9/Pittsburgh with reception at Uniontown, Pa., and the results were exhaustively analyzed by the National Radio Systems Committee which submitted its findings to the FCC. I well remember those early FM multiplex stereocasts when virtually every piece of equipment at both ends of the communication channel was vacuum tube-operated. While there was some noise and clean reception required strong signals and an outdoor antenna helped in some weak- signal locales, both stereo separation and frequency response was startling -- especially considering the equipment on hand and the program material from tape or disc, some of it recorded only binaurally -- and there was absolutely no degradation or disruption of the monaural main channel signal, aside from having to reduce total modulation somewhat. Periodically, I'll drag out some elderly stereo item such as the H.H. Scott model 335 multiplex adaptor [which when offered sells on eBay for $200 or more] or the Fisher FM-200 tuner to recall some of the burrs in the system. Multiplexed FM stereo is considerably improved today though FM radio in general has been marred by the competitive forces that requires most broadcasters to mutilate their audio frequency response. It's disheartening to learn in actual practice that "IBOC" is apparently trashing the original AM analog signal. Over its eighty year history, WOR has been heralded for progressive AM engineering where high fidelity response -- among the station's many other attributes -- was closely sought after. First, with the 1927 Kearny, N.J., Communipaw Ave., upgrade to 5 kW and then the 1934 Carteret 50 kW "plant", WOR worked closely with AT&T's Western Electric subsidiary nearby to install equipment that was publicly proclaimed to demonstrate excellent AM fidelity. Growing up with WOR, the station was always the exemplar of the best AM could offer even with all of amplitude modulation's faults and limitations. Isn't is more than noteworthy that there's not a single engineer among the present panel of FCC commissioners? This should be a requirement because the FCC regulates technology but then, we are dreaming. Of course. Years ago, the FCC listened to its engineers and followed their advice. We knew who the leading engineers were by name and they listened to us. Now, the FCC is "tuned-in" to industry-backed lobbyists who slip these fast ones of questionable technological merit over us (Germond, NYRMB via DXLD) It's certainly true that radio broadcasting doesn't exist for the benefit of DXers. If IBOC represented a genuine step forward for both the broadcasters and the public, in terms of revitalizing the industry and providing superior services, then we have to accept that progress is being made, even if it's to the detriment of our hobby. But I don't think that is the case. I predict that IBOC will be a huge flop, and the biggest casualties will be the small broadcasters. They're being hoodwinked into believing that they must "go digital" to survive, making investments in new equipment and licence fees that they can ill afford. Few people will buy IBOC receivers, since they will be expensive (receiver manufacturers are not going to take a chance on building them in huge quantities, which is the only to bring the cost down) and they offer little perceived value (slightly improved versions of radio services that listeners can already receive). The broadcasters will get no ROI from their digital investment, and in the meantime will face declining revenues from their analog services, since their quality and coverage has been compromised (partly from their own digital transmissions, but mainly from those of other stations). The result will be a further acceleration of consolidation, as the small players fall by the wayside and are scooped up by the big guys (a.k.a. iBiquity partners). This is not a healthy situation, and it's definitely not in the public interest (but as David says, the FCC has long since abdicated the role of guardian of the public interest). It's not good for us DXers either, but it will be an interesting spectacle to watch unfold. Ironically, in the short term IBOC may give AM DXing a shot in the arm, as we all hasten to our radios to see how much it trashes the band, and try to get our DX licks in before everything gets drowned in the digital buzz (Barry McLarnon, Ont., NRC-AM via DXLD) DIGITAL RAISES THE BAR FOR AM AND FM QUALITY By Raoul V. Mowatt, Tribune staff reporter, October 13, 2002 So you missed your favorite radio program? No problem. It's been automatically recorded for your listening pleasure.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=chi%2D0210120405oct13 (Chicago Tribune via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC RULING = DEATH TO SATELLITE RADIO? (open forum) From http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=7550932635 Last week the FCC gave the go ahead for radio stations to add digital broadcasts. This ruling is unlike the mandated switch over to digital television broadcasts, as of now radio stations have the choice on whether or not to adopt the technology. The cost of adding digital will be about $75K and the stations will most likely still offer analog broadcasts. The digital technology developed by iBiquity Digital claims to offer CD quality sound for FM and FM quality for AM broadcasts. To be able to receive digital broadcasts consumers would need to dish out for a new radio which would receive both digital and analog transmissions. The switch also will allow stations to transmit data streams which could provide additional information such as traffic and weather reports as well as allowing a digital radio to display the title and artist of songs. Of course while the industry wants to tout these benefits, many of us are still waiting for enhanced services to show up with older technology such as cable TV. There is also some questions about how jamming the spectrum with these added streams will affect low power analog AM/FM stations. The FCC ruling may leave the satellite radio stations Sirius and XM radio out to dry. Will consumers want to dish out for a separate receiver and monthly charge for satellite radio when they can have "CD quality" with digital broadcasts? The ruling allows for radio stations to begin switching to digital right now, but they only expect 70 stations to be digital by the end of the year. Satellite radio have an opportunity to adjust before a significant number of stations switch over and the technology takes hold. Finally, one aspect of the decision that has not been touched on by news stories so far is how these broadcasts will be protected. It is surprising there are no talks about DRM now radio stations will be offering "CD quality" broadcasts over the airwaves. Was the RIAA caught off guard by the announcement? It will be interesting to see how things play out (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. BROADCAST GROUPS BALK AT NET RADIO COMPROMISE Mon Oct 14, 7:58 AM ET Jefferson Graham USA TODAY A compromise on royalties reached last week between Internet radio stations and the music industry -- and quickly ratified by the U.S. House -- could be in trouble in the Senate after two broadcasting organizations expressed last-minute reservations. Sunday's the deadline: Small Webcasters say government-set fees scheduled to go into effect then would bankrupt them. About 600 of 10,000 Net radio operations have gone dark in the past months, according to Radio and Internet Newsletter. A bill that lightens the load on small firms and non-profits is headed for the Senate. But as it did in the House, the bill needs to pass by unanimous consent, a parliamentary maneuver to speed the process. Now two senators have objected after concerns were raised by the National Religious Broadcasters and the National Association of Broadcasters. The original levy was only a fraction of a cent per song per listener. But for Netcasters, most of which have far more fans than money, the fees outpaced revenue. The record industry and Webcasters compromised on a formula based on small Webcasters' revenue. The NAB, whose member over-the-air stations often simulcast on the Web, has called for unspecified changes to the bill. But a changed bill would have to be sent back to the House to resolve differences. Having that bill finished and on President Bush`s desk to sign by week's end would be unlikely. ''Under the guise of seeking changes, they know they're really killing it,'' says Hilary Rosen, the Recording Industry Association of America's chairman. ''The big guys don't like that the small guys are going to be paying proportionally less.'' National Religious Broadcasters CEO Glenn Plummer says even the reduced royalties agreed to by the House ''would be the largest royalty fee ever assessed in history. That's quite a precedent.'' Even without legislation, Webcasters could make private deals with the record industry. But Webcasters tend to play more small-label music, and many deals would have to be reached (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. CBS HAS ITS EYE ON 51ST ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY TV DIARY By Sheryl Krieg of The News-Sentinel Television shows come and go, but network icons never do. No, I'm not talking about CEOs or VPs. I'm talking about the symbols that identify the networks we watch. When I see a peacock, I automatically think of NBC. For CBS, it's the Eye, and its 51st anniversary is Sunday. The Eye, first seen during station breaks on Oct. 20, 1951, has undergone changes in color and dimension, but the basic design has remained intact. Designer William Golden first thought of the Eye while he was driving through Pennsylvania Dutch country, where he became intrigued by the hex symbols resembling the human eye drawn on Shaker barns to ward off evil spirits. With help from an 1850s Shaker art book and graphic artist Kurt Weiss, the first Eye logo was drawn. The design began as several concentric eyes, in which the camera zoomed in on the pupil to identify the network, then clicked shut. The first appearance was a still composite photo of the Eye and a cloud formation photographed from an abandoned Coast Guard tower. However, there were no useful cloud-picture stock photos. The cloud formation returned to the sky, but the Eye remained. Another man also was instrumental in preserving the Eye logo. Evidently, a year later, Golden felt he needed to design a new symbol for CBS. Then-CBS President Frank Stanton vetoed the request, and the rest certainly is an important part of TV history (Fort Wayne News- Sentinel Oct 14 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN [non]. Jamming: see CHINA ** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. Lo que informamos estuvo a punto de ocurrir. He aquí lo dicho por el Presidente de Venezuela. Nota: No se tome esta información como politica, si no como una relacionada con la televisión y la radio en su afan de informar a la colectividad. Atte: José Elías El 10 de octubre "estuvieron en la franja amarilla" Chávez: Estuve a punto de dar la orden para tumbar la señal de los canales de televisión El presidente Hugo Chávez confirmó una versión que había circulado días antes del 10 de octubre, al revelar que el Gobierno estaba "listo para tumbarle la señal a los canales privados de televisión", ante la sospecha de que estarían involucrados en un complot que buscaba repetir las acciones del 11 de abril, cuando fue depuesto brevemente del poder. Añadió que estaban preparados en Mecedores, donde están las antenas repetidoras, y en otros puntos, "porque ellos tienen sitios escondidos acá en Caracas desde donde pueden transmitir; los tenemos ubicados. No sé si en todos, pero casi todos". Reiteró la advertencia de suspensión a los propietarios de los canales de televisión comercial. Exhortó a no olvidarse de que su salida al aire es gracias a la concesión de la señal electromagnética que el Estado les otorga. "Pero si ustedes no cumplen con la Constitución y la ley, igual se les puede quitar la concesión". De manera que "en cualquier momento que eso esté ocurriendo estos canales pueden ser desactivados o retirados del aire", advirtió Chávez, quien reveló que el 10 "estuvimos ahí en el border line, pisaron la franja amarilla (via José Díaz, Venezuela, Oct 14, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. National Radio of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic Auf 1550 kHz konnte ich um 2300 UT eine Station mit span. Nachrichten empfangen, gefolgt von einer ID "Radio Nacional de España", und danach kam arab. Musik. Ich vermute hierbei handelte es sich um das National Radio der SADR, die die Nachrichten von RNE übernommen hatten (P. Robich, Austria, Oct 12, 2002 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. RSF DISCUSS 1999 BOMBING OF RADIO TELEVISION SERBIA WITH NATO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) met last week with NATO officials, including Assistant Secretary General for defence planning and operations, Edgar Buckley. On the agenda was the controversial bombing of the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) on 23 April 1999, in which 16 employees of the state-owned television station were killed. RSF asked about the choice of RTS as a military target, the proportionality between the strategic gain and the risk for the civilian population, and the question of giving the civilian population warning of an imminent military attack "in sufficient time and by effective means," as the Geneva Conventions stipulate. Buckley said that, like all the sites bombed, RTS was identified as a military target after a long process of discussion between the allies and after consulting with jurists. "The RTS building was chosen solely for military reasons," he told the RSF delegation. According to Buckley, "a NATO military target is not necessarily a target of a military nature." While deploring the civilian losses caused by the bombing, he said both its strategic and tactical objectives were achieved. "We always tried to reduce the risks for civilians as much as possible when taking our decisions. Sixteen dead is too much, and we regret it," he said. Nonetheless, he said the principle of proportionality was respected. NATO has thus far not adopted any compensatory measures for the families of the victims of the RTS bombing and it does not envisage doing so either, said Buckley. RSF fears that the military strike on RTS could constitute a dangerous precedent, opening the way for other actions of this type against news media in future conflicts. The organisation has therefore decided to formally ask the International Committee of the Red Cross to define or elaborate its position on the role of news media and journalists in times of conflict. (excerpted from RSF/IFEX press release). (via RN Media Network 14 October 2002 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. For ca. 2 months now, there's been a station with non- stop music without announcements on 4050. Heard here in Finland fade in around 1500, close down at 1800. I asked Vlad Titarev of Ukraine about this and he monitored the frequency on 14 Oct. At 1450 he heard 1 kHz test tones (like ex-USSR tune up) and at 1453 into music. Vlad says the music is Tadjik pop and folk, English pops and also some Indian film music. No Russian songs at all (so I made a mistake earlier reporting I heard those). And no announcements at all. Transmitter went off sharp 1800 mid-song. Reception in Ukraine was rather good, and also here in Finland the last hour is usually good. So, we have again an unID non-stop music tester. 4050 was used by Kyrgyz Radio in the past, but has been off for some time. Many thanks, Vlad, for your help (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think it could be helpful get confirm whether the language is indeed Tajik or maybe DARI (which is very similar to Tajik), spoken in Afghanistan. If it is Dari, then Afghanistan would be a possible target. Indian films are reported to be extremely popular in Afghanistan these days; so is Indian film music. However, that goes for other Central Asian countries as well. 73s, Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi Glenn, Here is an unID I heard yesterday. I was not able to check it today, as I had an appointment early. I was not able to find any information on it from any of the frequency lists I use (Elke Bierwith's, WRTH, Passport, Klingenfuss) or searching DXLD. It was unusual in that it was clearly in lower side band. Unidentified Station: 10/13/02 6055.0 LSB 1228: alternating F/M announcers, occasional musical pieces (sounding like Chinese traditional music). 1228: speech by M in a different language, with voice over by F in broadcast language. (Signal deteriorated to SINPO 14121.) 1258: F announcer, music, M and F alternating, musical bridge, 1300: anthem, 1301: begin repeat of 1230 program. Fade out at 1311. (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One would normally expect to find NSB Tokyo there at that hour, but this doesn`t sound like it (gh, DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-158, October 13, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1151: ON WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 ON RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1151.html ** AUSTRIA [non]. MISCELLANEOUS. TRANS WORLD RADIO - EUROPE: Just received the latest schedule for TWR-Europe from Chuck Roswell, who has performed frequency coordination and monitoring activities for TWR in Europe and Bonaire many years. Chuck will be retiring shortly and will be moving back to the USA in January 2003. He has always been quite helpful to the shortwave listening community over the years (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 12 via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC Preview for Oct. 14: SOUNDS LIKE CANADA: Join host Shelagh Rogers Thanksgiving Monday for the debut of Sounds Like Canada. Featuring a mix of in-studio and on-location production, Sounds Like Canada will venture into the real world, beyond the radio studio. On Monday's show, the musical contest "All for a Song". Send in your lyrics. Ten winners will be chosen and a professional musician will set those winning words to music. And a look at why people line up at donut shop drive-throughs when it's easier to go inside? Plus Workology with Jane Farrow, on mixing dining with business and how to polish up the old image. That's Sounds Like Canada, this morning at 10 (10:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. [one sesquihour, followed by Workology at 11:30] TRAVEL ADVENTURES IN NUNAVUT: ***may not be heard in all locations*** From the vast expanses of the Barren lands to the eastern shores of Iqaluit, Nunavut is a place of contrasts. A place that has become an adventure destination from around the world. This Thanksgiving Day, host Leah Shaw will take you on a Travel Adventure across Nunavut. Meet the woman who guided the first all-woman British relay trip to the North Pole on skis, plus a couple who traveled by raft down the Soper River valley for ten days last summer - with their preschoolers. [no time given, but positioned in the noon-2 pm slot, to fill what is normally locally-originated programming if on holiday] SNAP, CRACKLE, POP: ***may not be heard in all locations*** Join hosts Roy Forbes and Paul Grant this Thanksgiving Monday for Snap, Crackle, Pop - a trip down a very twisted Memory Lane of music. Roy is a genius at locating musical oddities - rare recordings rescued from Delete bins, garage sales, even the odd trash can. This time around, he'll have everything from French Canadian fiddle music to pop oddities. That's Snap, Crackle, Pop - Thanksgiving Monday afternoon at 4 (4:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. [two hours optional fill for local drivetime shows if on holiday] (CBC Hotsheets via gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. WALL AT CBC BLOWN UP It has taken 50 years, but the CBC and Radio-Canada are finally making a concerted effort to pool their resources and produce dramas and news shows in both English and French BRENDAN KELLY, The Gazette, Saturday, October 12, 2002 Many of Quebec's top francophone actors, including Roy Dupuis, were featured in CBC/Radio-Canada's bilingual miniseries The Last Chapter/Le Dernier Chapitre. "I never talk programming with (government) ministers," says CBC president Robert Rabinovitch, the driving force behind CBC/Radio-Canada co-productions. It might seem like an obvious idea to outsiders, but it has taken 50 years for the bosses at CBC and Radio-Canada to make a concerted effort to work together on joint English-French projects. There have been occasional examples of collaboration between the English- and French-language TV networks in the five decades since CBC TV first went on the air - notably the English remake of the hit Quebec series La Famille Plouffe in the early days of Canadian television. However, it's only in the last couple of years that the country's public broadcaster has begun focusing on pooling its resources from the two sides of the linguistic divide to shoot dramas in English and French. At the same time, broadcaster has also shaken up its news-and-current- affairs department with the introduction of a number of prominent international correspondents - including Don Murray, Céline Galipeau and Michel Cormier - who deliver their reports in English on CBC and en français on Radio-Canada. The most prominent example of this new bilingual glasnost has been The Last Chapter/Le Dernier Chapitre. The miniseries set in the biker-gang milieu in Quebec and Ontario was a quintessentially bicultural project. It was shot simultaneously in English and French, and the gritty drama that aired last season on CBC and Radio-Canada was the first project in the language of David E. Kelley from hot Québécois TV writer Luc Dionne (Omerta, Bunker). The Last Chapter also featured many of La Belle Province's top francophone thespians, including Roy Dupuis, Marina Orsini, Maxim Roy and Michel Forget. Filming recently wrapped on the sequel, which will be broadcast this winter on both networks. There are many more CBC/Rad-Can co-productions to come, including a prequel to the popular Trudeau miniseries focusing on Pierre Trudeau's early life, a biography of René Lévesque, and Ciao Bella, a dramatic comedy set in Montreal's Little Italy district, created by Mambo Italiano scribe Steve Galluccio. Former Montrealer Wayne Grigsby, producer of both Trudeau projects, thinks this new spirit of co-operation at the CBC is great news for the Corp. and for TV viewers across the country. "It's always bothered me as a Montrealer that you don't see much of the other side of the linguistic fence on either of the networks," said Chester, N.S.-based Grigsby, who wrote Trudeau and is co-writing the new Trudeau miniseries with Quebec author Guy Fournier. "We're quite familiar with each other in terms of news coverage. But in terms of dramas or comedy, you just don't go near it. It's something we haven't done in a long time, and I'm interested in seeing if we can cross those lines," he said. "Montreal has amazing stories to tell to English Canada and vice-versa. I think it's important that Quebecers get some sense of life outside the Quebec borders. Certainly, we're not spoiled by French-language newspapers in terms of their bureau coverage from Toronto or Vancouver or Saskatoon," Grigsby said. The drive to forget about the myth of the two solitudes and have the two networks work together pre-dates the arrival of CBC president Robert Rabinovitch in late 1999. At least one major English-French project, the mammoth documentary series Canada - A People's History, had already begun before Rabinovitch took office. But Rabinovitch has sped the push for bilingual co-productions in a big way. Part of his enthusiasm for the initiative is driven by bottom-line concerns. The CBC's purse strings are tighter than ever and Rabinovitch, who has plenty of private-sector experience, is well aware of the value of spending wisely and maximizing resources. Sitting in his office halfway up the Maison de Radio-Canada tower on René Levesque Blvd. E., Rabinovitch talks of using resources creatively, spreading costs and getting as much of a bang as possible for the CBC buck. He is happy to point out that construction is under way on a new headquarters in Ottawa that will house the city's French- and English-language CBC services for the first time. Convergence is a dirty word in business circles these days with so many merged conglomerates - like AOL Time Warner - paying the price for trying to take advantage of synergies between different media. But Rabinovitch thinks the CBC might have come up with a form of convergence that actually makes sense. Eight of CBC's ten foreign correspondents report in English and French for both TV networks and radio. "We're the only convergence model that works," Rabinovitch bragged. But linguistic convergence doesn't work for every story. A drama about the blood-soaked biker war is clearly of great interest across the country. Ditto for Trudeau or Levesque. But Daniel Gourd, acting Radio-Canada V.P., noted that not every project would fly in the two cultures. "The identity of each of the networks has to be respected," Gourd said. "If a project risks calling into question our identity, then we won't do it. For example, if CBC Toronto decides to do a dramatic series on Mordecai Richler, it's not certain that we'd follow their lead. He is a personality who is not well-known to our audience and, among those that know him in our audience, he is not well-liked. So it would be very difficult to respect the different points of view of the two networks on Richler - loved in English Canada, held in contempt in French Canada. It would be hard for us to do this series and maintain our identity. So it'll have to be decided project by project." Part of Rabinovitch's zest for the initiative is because of his work habits. In the past, CBC presidents spent most of their time far from the maddening crowd at head office in Ottawa. Rabinovitch, in marked contrast, logs as many hours as possible at the two main production centres in Montreal and Toronto. In commuting between the two, Rabinovitch became more convinced than ever the CBC had to function as an integrated company. But it's not simply about pragmatism. As a bilingual Montrealer who's always lived and worked in both languages, Rabinovitch felt it was natural for the corporation's two sides to talk to each other. "It's the way of Montreal," Rabinovitch said. "I come from this city so I understand it. We cross over from French to English and English to French. When I was working at (Montreal-based investment company) Claridge, one of our biggest partners was the Caisse de Dépôt (et Placement du Québec). We worked with the francophone community and the anglophone community. I think it's one of the beauties of living in Montreal. You can fall into the trap of saying, 'I'm only English' or 'I'm only French,' and let's face it, a big percentage of our population does that. But the fun is to live in the middle. Because of my Montreal experience, when I came to the CBC, I said: 'We can't reinforce the divide, we've got to break the divide down and it'll be better for all of us." Some, particularly in sovereignist circles in Quebec, will undoubtedly see the drive to make more English-French projects as the latest attempt by Ottawa to impose a federalist agenda on Quebecers. A biography of Quebec nationalist icon Levesque will almost certainly elicit complaints from those who fear the drama will reflect an English-Canadian view of the founder of the Parti Québécois. This is not some sinister political plot hatched by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's government, Rabinovitch insisted. "I never talk programming with ministers," Rabinovitch said. "Contrary to what some people think, I don't get phone calls at 11 p.m. saying: 'I watched the news and I'm pissed off.' It just doesn't happen that way. The more important message, which they do get and they tell me, is that they understand that we're trying to get the most for our money, that we're trying to be efficient." And it's not only the CBC that benefits from these collaborations, noted Last Chapter producer Claudio Luca. "It helps the two networks, but it also helps the country to have more communication between the two cultures," Luca said. ===== Events in CBC-TV's first 50 years 1952 - First CBC TV station, the bilingual CBFT, opens in Montreal Sept. 6, followed by CBLT in Toronto Sept. 8. 1953 - Opening of first CBC affiliate station, CKSO in Sudbury. 1953 - English CBMT opens in Montreal and CBFT switches to full French service. 1955 - First telecast of the opening of Parliament. 1967 - CBC is host broadcaster for Expo 67 in Montreal. 1968 - First nationally televised debate among Canada's political party leaders, a CBC/CTV co-production. 1972 - CBC broadcasts the historic Canada-Russia hockey series. 1973 - Official opening of La Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal. 1976 - CBC is host broadcaster for the summer Olympics in Montreal. 1981 - CBC introduces closed-captioning on Canadian TV programs. 1988 - Cabinet approves CBC license to operate an English all-news channel. 1989 - CBC English all-news channel Newsworld is launched July 31. 1989 - The CRTC rejects first proposal from CBC for a French all-news channel. 1994 - The CRTC grants CBC license to operate a French all-news channel. 1994 - CBC, in partnership with Power Broadcasting, launches two specialty channels, Trio and Newsworld International, in the U.S. 1995 - CBC's French-language all-news channel, RDI, is launched on Jan. 1. 1997 - CBC goes even more distinctively Canadian, making prime-time schedule almost 100-per-cent Canadian. 1998 - The International Olympic Committee awards the CBC, in partnership with specialty broadcaster NetStar, the broadcast rights to the next five Olympic games. 1999 - CBC president Perrin Beatty leaves for private sector. Robert Rabinovitch takes over as president in November. 2000 - Rabinovitch complains about stringent CRTC license-renewal terms, saying they will cost the cash-strapped broadcaster an extra $50 million. 2002 - CBC-TV celebrates its 50th anniversary with slew of birthday specials on CBC and Radio-Canada. © Copyright 2002 Montreal Gazette (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHILE. Desde este 13 de octubre hasta el segundo sábado de marzo de 2003, Chile queda -3 UTC (Hugo López, Chile, Oct 11, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CHINA. Xinjiang PBS has reverted to its winter schedule, and all four main channels now sign on at 0000 (ex 2330). No frequency changes noted so far (Olle Alm, Sweden, 13 Oct, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CNR-1 on 21660 at 1230-1300*, in Chinese. Good signal with usual talks and some pop music. QRM on low side from Portugal on 21655. Also noted Chinese music-jammer underneath REE-Spain in Spanish to South America on 21570, before 1300. All monitored 10/13 (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, SWBC via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. LOCKHEED MARTIN'S AEROSTAT SERVES AS TRANSMISSION TOWER FOR TV MARTÍ Friday, October 11, 2002 The International Broadcasting Bureau awarded Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, Akron, Ohio, a commercial services contract to maintain the TV Martí radio transmission system that beams the U.S. government's 24-hour/7-day news service into Cuba. "A 275K (275,000 cubic feet) aerostat, at Cudjoe Key, Fla., flies at altitudes up to 10,000 feet, serving as the 'tower' for the station's transmitter," Ron Browning, director-surveillance systems business development, said. "Winning the TV Martí contract is another signal that the work we are doing on the Tethered Aerostat Radar System modernization program meets the needs of our customer," he said. NE&SS-Akron's Melbourne, Fla., facility will provide engineering support and modifications during the contract that is valued at $350,000 and has a base performance period of one year with three one- year renewal options. Akron absorbed the Melbourne operations in late 2000 to complement its other systems capabilities in building lighter- than-air surveillance platforms. Melbourne has won engineering services contracts in support of TV/Radio Martí since the early 1990s, and it designed the first transmission system for mounting onto an aerostat. Since then, Melbourne has converted the system from a VHF to UHF transmitter. It has also integrated the feature of switching among one of three transmission channels to thwart signal jamming. Day-to-day operations and maintenance activities at Cudjoe Key are conducted by Lockheed Martin Technology Services. The integration of Melbourne's radar engineering and production unit with Akron's aerostat business melded a key contributor with the company's leader in lighter-than-air platforms. Within this system context, NE&SS-Akron is developing upgrades to the radar, air vehicle, and other system elements to provide aerostat users with improved capabilities. NE&SS-Akron continues its successful Tethered Aerostat Radar System site conversion program under contract to the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command. It completed the systems integration of a 420K (420,000 cubic feet) aerostat, L-88 radar and ground equipment at Deming, N.M., in mid-2000. The U.S. Air Force then approved the company to begin conversion preparations for a second site at Yuma, Arizona. The 420K aerostat, with a helium volume of 420,000 cubic feet, was designed specifically to carry the L-88 radar. The L-88 radar connects to the underside of the aerostat and is covered by a windscreen. The 29-foot radar antenna rotates within the windscreen to provide 360- degree coverage at ranges out to 200 nautical miles. Radio Martí, put into place in 1983 by the Broadcasting to Cuba Act, follows Voice of America journalistic standards and guidelines for presenting a variety of news and information in an accurate and objective manner. It began service on May 20, 1985 and its broadcasts are on medium wave (AM) and shortwave. Source: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/akron/protech/aeroweb/aerostat/radiomarti.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** CYPRUS. Hi Glenn, Just let you know, last Wednesday October 9 I finally managed to hear R. SAWA on 981 kHz around 21 UT after several unsuccessful attempts. I wonder, where was MDR-Info that night? Really no sign of them. So, R SAWA is still on 981 kHz, not on planned 990 kHz. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, RX: AOR 7030 Plus, Ant: Wellbrook ALA 1530P-active loop, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]. For me, R. IBRAHIM. 1170 kHz is a new station, heard last Wednesday evening around 21 UT with severe QRM by a Slovenian R Capodistria with jazz music programme in Italian. Thanks to my friend MAUNO RITOLA for identifying this new religious broadcaster. They broadcast in Arabic both on SW and MW. Their web-site: http://www.radioibrahim.com 73s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Website mentions R. Monte Carlo and R. Moscow as transmitters. Altho site needs Arabic script support, all programs are obviously Christian, titled and described in English, but I assume everything is really in Arabic? Also has SW and satellite schedule. The MW and SW portions, no sites specified: To the Gulf: 5935: 2000-2115 Tue-Sat, 2000-2100 Sun and Mon. To ME: 21590 0700-0715 daily; 5935 Mon only at 2000-2100; 1170 at 2000-2115 Tue-Sun, 2000-2100 Mon. To N Africa: 9405 2230-2330 daily except 2230-2315 Tue & Thu; 12025 2130-2215 Mon, 2145-2200 Tue, 2100-2130 Thu, 2100-2115 Fri, 2130-2200 Sat & Sun. 1467 2215-2230 Mon. Time zones are not specified, but may really be UT as this fits with Jouko`s logging on 1170. I list this under Cyprus non, since the mailing address is there. From the 1170 entry in the Jan 2001 Euro MW Guide: RUS Radio Mayak, Tbilisskaya 1200 kW 0000-1630 information, Interviews, sports, music RUS Voice of Russia/Ibra Radio, Tbilisskaya 1200 kW 1630-2000: 1600- 1700 (Su-Mo) English, 1800-2000 Arabic; 2000-2200 Ibra Radio in Arabic; also reported relay Radio China International in Turkish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DEUTSCHES REICH. Glenn, An interesting item from a local newspaper in southern England: From http://www.thisiseastbourne.co.uk by Linda Harrison For years, Beryl Payne believed her father's passion for tinkering with old radio sets was nothing but a hobby. Her childhood memories were of him sitting in the garden shed, surrounded by home-made radio equipment and aerials. Her father, Cyril Thomas Fairchild, spent hours communicating by morse code with amateur radio fanatics around the world. But Beryl, 56, recently discovered her father had been involved with one of Britain's best kept secrets, kept from his closest relatives and friends for more than 50 years. Cyril, who died in July this year aged 86, was a member of a top secret spy network during the Second World War. He was among more than 1,500 British radio amateurs who voluntarily spent their evenings and weekends locked away in attics or spare rooms listening to enemy encoded signals. In many cases, even close family members did not know what they were doing. Some believe the radio hams helped bring the war to a speedier conclusion but little has been publicised about their contribution. Beryl, of Varndean Road, Brighton, said: "I only started to find out about my father's work in the early Nineties. Until then I had no idea. "It was quite traumatic to find out how much involvement he had and that my own dad was a spy." In 1940 Cyril was one of the first radio amateurs to be asked by the Government to help listen to enemy signals. The select group were given the name Voluntary Interceptors (VIs) and the organisation became MI8 but was generally known as the Radio Security Service (RSS). The volunteers, who were spread throughout Britain, listened to signals from Germany, Italy and Russia in their spare time. Cyril and his fellow volunteers had no idea what they were listening to. Decades later they discovered many transmissions they picked up were from the German Secret Service. From the attic of his home in Dover Road, Brighton, Cyril may even have listened to messages from Hitler's bunker (via Mike Terry, DXLD) SECRET AGENT YVONNE MAKES RADIO CONTACT 60 YEARS ON (Filed: 11/10/2002) John Shaw meets a courageous woman who 'helped set Europe ablaze' as part of Churchill's Special Operations Executive A small brown leather suitcase was one of the first things that caught Yvonne Basedon's eye at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford yesterday. The lid was open to show a powerful portable wireless. Brushing a practised hand across the controls, she smiled and said: "What a surprise. I remember these so well, so well."... http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/11/nspy11.xml (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** ESTONIA [and non]. Re: WHEN THE CURTAIN JAMMED The original article is still available at http://www.okupatsioon.ee/english/mailbox/radio/radio.html What RNW presents seems to be a somewhat edited version of this article (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. See KURDISTAN [non] ** FINLAND. On Thursday the announced special two-hours German broadcast of YLE took place, as they announced on frequencies where German is no longer carried already for some time. In the studio was also the director of Radio Finland. He stated that this is actually no matter of radio vs. Internet simply because the affected services will be terminated completely, he also expressed his opinion that this decision is in fact about principles, hardly a cost saving measure, because there is indeed not much money to save here as the critics say. Altogether a sad show of course, and it raises one question: Who will be the next? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. I sent a reception report to Radio France International for my logging of 25775.1 a few weeks ago. What appears to be a standard RFI package arrived in the mail. It consisted of a "Dear Listener" photocopy form letter from a John MaGuire who is an editor in the English section. Also included was a disturbing list of names and addresses of pen friends featured on Club 9516 (I imagine my name may make that list and warm letters from various African countries seeking assistance and/or get rich quick schemes will make their way to my mailbox). Rounding out the package was a photocopy information sheet about RFI's English Service, a reception report form, a program and frequency guide for the expiring transmission period, and two stickers (the most valuable part of this package to me). There was no indication that anyone read my letter asking if it was RFI transmitting the program on 25,775.1 that I heard. However, a recent report from Jari Savolainen from Finland in Hard-Core-DX appears to confirm that the transmission on 25,775.1 was a field trial for the DRM consortium using an old test program and a 200-watt shortwave transmitter located in Rennes, France. This trial was made in a simulcast mode (analog + digital) of DRM protocol. Jari's information was from a message from Alain Delorme of TDF, France (Richard D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 12 via DXLD) I think I see a great new subset of the QSL hobby developing: send reports to the wrong station and see what they do! (gh, DXLD) Hi, Glenn. Alan Roberts and I have been working on these 11 meter transmissions and have come up with some additional information for you and everyone else. First off, regarding the 25765 kHz. transmissions of strings of BBC identifications... [see UK]. Now regarding the 25775 kHz French transmissions, I e-mailed the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) in France to ask them about any French services that might be testing on 25775. I have received the following answer, in French. It is followed by my original e-mail to them. To paraphrase in English, their response says that they have checked with colleagues at TDF and that the transmissions are digital and digital/analog transmissions being operated by the CCETT at Rennes. They recommend checking out the DRM webpage for more info, but also give a contact name and e-mail for a Mr. Daniel Blochant at TDF for more information. My e-mail to them basically asks them if they know who might be conducting transmissions on 25775 and telling them that they have been heard by several people in North America. CSA answer to me: "Le CSA vous remercie de votre message. Nos correspondants à TDF nous informent que l'émission à laquelle vous faites allusion est une émision d'essai assurée par le CCETT à Rennes et destinée à tester la diffusion DRM (radio numérique) en mode plein canal numérique et en mode simulcast numérique/analogique. Lors de ces essais, un programme en boucle est diffusé sur la partie analogique du signal. Vous pourrez trouver des informations complémentaires sur DRM ou sur ces essais en consultant le site http://www.drm.org ou en vous adressant à noter correspondant daniel.blochant@tdf.fr " My original e-mail to CSA on September 24th ----- Original Message ----- From: ve2shw@yahoo.com To: emradio@csa.fr Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 3:50 PM Message de : Sheldon Harvey Objet : Une émission de radio Adresse Email : ve2shw@yahoo.com Message : Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel Tour Mirabeau 39-43, quai André- Citroën 75739 Paris cedex 15 Fax: (33)01 45 79 00 06 Cher Monsieur, Nous sommes un groupe des amateurs de la radio au Canada et les États-unis. Un de nos membres ici dans la region de Montréal a capté une emission d`une station de radio qu`il pense vien de la France. La fréquence est 25775 kHz, dans la bande ondes-courtes de 11 metres, dans le mode de l`émission `AM`. La programmation est une émission de 50 à 51 minutes qui repete, en francais et anglais. Ils parlent des sujets des regions de Bretagne, Normandie, Mont St. Michel, un parc de technologie dans la région de Poitier. Ils parlent encore des bateaux-navettes et d`autres informations touristiques. Il- y-a d`autres membres de notre groupe qui ont capté l`émission aussi. Les textes qui suivent sont les rapports de réception de Pennsylvanie et New York. Je veux savoir si vous êtes capables de nous informer avec plus des informations de ces émissions. On veut savoir la source de ces emissions, si c`est possible. Merci pour votre assistance. Si vous avez des informations, vous pouvez me contacter par fax à +1-514-940-1418. Sheldon Harvey President, Canadian International DX Club Montréal, Québec, Canada. ===== (Sheldon Harvey, Owner-Radio H.F., Canada's specialist in radio communications http://www.total.net/~radiohf President-Canadian International DX Club, Canada's national radio monitoring club since 1962 http://www.anarc.org/cidx/ Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GAMBIA? 648 kHz, unID Africa OCT 3 2350 - Possibly Gambia here with strong but poorly modulated carrier: audio from apparent African music about even with that from RNE-Spain underneath [Marc Connelly, MA] OCT 4 2255 - Strong het against 650 WJLT, solid +7 dB signal with extremely weak audio (Bruce Conti, ME, both NRC IDXD via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Yesterday I was again in Berlin and went out to the old Köpenick/Mahlsdorf mediumwave site. Meanwhile the fencing of the station is down with the exception of the last remaining mast, but unfortunately there were some people around, so I did not dare to look after the transmitter building. Altogether a distressing sight, and this applies also to some other place I visited yesterday, too. I will put pictures of both dead places on my webpage tomorrow. Have a nice Sunday, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GRENADA. 535, GBN St. George's - Nothing noted here even at 0032 on OCT 4 when 555 [St Kitts] was loud. Grenada off air? [Mark Connelly, MA] As I compile this edition of IDXD, I'm listening to GBN on the Internet at http://www.spiceislander.com with "Classic AM Five-Three- Five and Sun FM" IDs, reggae, soca, and romantic R&B music, so I would assume it's still on the air (Bruce Conti, NRC IDXD via DXLD) ** GUAM. B-02 Schedule: Guam - KTWR Final Frequency Request for KTWR Trans World Radio - Guam (October 27, 2002 - March 30, 2003) Balinese 0900-0915 (12) 567 15200 248~ Burmese 1300-1415 (1234567) 15365 285~ Cantonese 1400-1415 (6) 9500 285~ 1400-1445 (12345) 9500 285~ 1400-1500 (7) 9500 285~ 2200-2215 (6) 11875 293~ 2200-2245 (12345) 11875 293~ 2200-2300 (7) 11875 293~ English 0715-0900 (12345) 15215 278~ 0745-0930 (12345) 15330 165~ 0800-0930 (67) 15330 165~ 1445-1545 (1234567) 15330 285~ Hakka 2230-2300 (1234567) 12105 285~ Indian 1330-1400 (1234567) 15395 293~ Indonesian 0930-1100 (1234567) 15330 255~ 1100-1230 (1234567) 15200 248~ 2200-2230 (1234567) 15195 255~ Japanese 1200-1300 (1234567) 9465 345~ 2100-2200 (1234567) 11690 345~ Javanese 1200-1300 (1234567) 11850 255~ Khmer 1300-1330 (1234567) 11720 278~ Korean 1100-1200 (1234567) 11765 345~ 1500-1530 (12347) 9430 345~ Madurese 0915-1000 (1234567) 15200 248~ Mandarin 0915-1100 (1234567) 9910 320~ 0915-1615 (1234567) 12130 305~ 0930-1100 (1234567) 9865 315~ 1100-1615 (1234567) 7455 320~ 1300-1330 (1234567) 9500 315~ 2115-2200 (1234567) 9465 305~ 2200-2315 (1234567) 12130 305~ Sgaw Karan 1415-1445 (1234567) 15330 285~ Sundanese 1030-1100 (1234567) 15200 248~ Swatow 1330-1400 (1234567) 9500 285~ Torajanese 0900-0915 (34) 15200 248~ Vietnamese 1100-1200 (1234567) 9430 285~ 1400-1445 (1234567) 9430 278~ Notes: Days: 1 = Monday .... 7 = Sunday ~ = degrees (Sked from George Ross, KTWR via Alan Roe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. There were rumours that the Home Service relay of IRIB Teheran was shut down. In fact, the transmissions have been reduced; the following transmissions were monitored on Oct. 10-12 on 15084 kHz: 1030-1200, 1630-1730, 1930-2030, 2230-2330. Beside these mentioned time frames for programmes in Farsi, the Foreign Service is still using that frequency also. Regards, (Willi Passmann, Germany, Oct 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ: This listing of Radio Baghdad is from ILG data base. Freq Station Times Language Target 11787 R.BAGHDAD 2100-2200 French EU 11787 R.BAGHDAD 2300-0100 Arabic EU 11787 R.BAGHDAD 2000-2100 German EU 11787 R.BAGHDAD 0600-1300 Arabic EU 11787 R.BAGHDAD 2200-2300 Turkish EU 11787 R.BAGHDAD 0400-0500 Turkish eNA 11787 R.BAGHDAD 1900-2000 English EU 11787 R.BAGHDAD 0200-0300 German eNA 11787 R.BAGHDAD 0100-0200 English eNA 11787 R.BAGHDAD 0300-0400 French eNA (James Nipper at usenet rec.radio.shortwave via JKB, 14.9.02) Try the following, 0100 to 0300 GMT in Arabic-German-French. 1900-2000 GMT in Arabic and Turkish. Or write to Radio Iraq International at PO Box 8145, Baghdad 12222, IRAQ. Has no known web site that I know of at this date and time (Stewart H. MacKenzie - WDX6AA at usenet rec.radio.shortwave via JKB, 15.9.02 via Oct WWDXC DX Magazine via DXLD) Subject to great variation (gh, DXLD) To the best of my knowledge, Iraq has erratic broadcast schedules in the past few years. As far as I know via the A-02 season, they have no English segments. Try monitoring 11.785 as it is one of their main freqs. Good Listening and DX! (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, shortwaves yahoogroup Oct 11 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. From http://www.radiowaves.fm/news/index.shtml Fri 11 Oct: NO NOVA 252 --- Chris Carey has announced that RTÉ have turned down his proposal to relaunch Radio Nova on their 252 long wave frequency. Speaking today, he says: "At last a response and it's a resounding 'no'! It clearly is 40 years too late." Explaining why he thinks he was turned down, he says: "20 Years ago I severely embarrassed RTÉ and 20 years later they will not let it happen again.". He revealed that he was ready to pump £5m into the project and had already got the station's schedule in mind (via Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** IRELAND. 7940 Lazer Hot Hits, IRL (2 x 3970) 1854 Oct 12, poor, playing the specials "ghost town" (Tim Bucknall, Congleton, Cheshire, NW England, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** ITALY [non?]. 13840, IRRS, Milan, 0800-0835, Oct 13. *0800 with opening music, ID, and mailing address. Then into United Nations Radio program, with commentary on earthquakes and national disaster relief. At 0817 another ID mentioning Nexus International in Milan, and reduced carrier SSB; however, this particular transmission was in DSB AM. They looped the UN Radio segment again, and broke into it at 0829 and IDed again. After that some music was played. Very poor propagation to N America on this freq this morning, presumably the result of recent coronal hole and M class flare activity; nevertheless, I was able to receive much of the signal with 100% copy. Overall, fair reception (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Site? ** JAPAN. I am pleased to introduce and post into this reflector, the contents of "Play DX Philatelic", the excellent column written by well-known DX-er and DX-Philatelist Mr. Christer Brunström, from Sweden. This work is regularly published in "Play DX", the Italian hardcopy bulletin edited by another well-known DXer and collector, also member of this "radiostamps" list, Mr. Dario Monferini. With due credits given, it follows below. Many thanks, Dario! Congrats to Christer for the continued good work! Regards from Horacio Nigro, Montevideo - Uruguay moderator, "Radiostamps" list ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PLAY DX PHILATELIC The hot and sunny summer period is slowly coming to its end (at least in the northern part of Europe) and it is time to resume normal DX activities. Also when autumn approaches many stamp collectors once again take an interest in their collections. There have been a number of radio-related new issues over the past several months and they will be featured in a number of columns here in the Play-DX bulletin. We start today with a new stamp from Japan. On November 15, 2001, the Japanese Postal Service released an 80-yen postage stamp honouring the 50th anniversary of commercial radio and TV in the country. The stamps depicts the images of the microphone used when commercial radio broadcasting began, the first monochrome television camera used for commercial television broadcasting, and a television set up for street viewing. In addition, the left surface colours express a television screen and the three primary colours (red, green and blue) of light. The very first commercial radio station in Japan went on the air in 1951. It was the Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Co., Ltd. in the city of Nagoya. Using the call sign of JOAR, the station serves listeners in the Nagoya area on medium wave 1053 kHz where it broadcasts with a power of 50 KW. JOAR can often be heard in Lapland during the winter period. Today Japan has some 50 commercial AM stations as well as a similar amount of commercial FM stations. This is a fairly limited number considering that Japan is a nation of almost 130 million people. It would appear that the Japanese radio market is not as deregulated as is the case in many other countries. Strangely enough, Japan has a commercial station broadcasting on shortwave. Called Radio Tampa, the station offers a selection of very specialized programming catering to the needs of different groups of listeners Radio Tampa can often be heard in Europe and is known for its beautiful QSL-cards. Commercial television began in Japan in 1953. The first station was called Nippon Television Network Corporation. I suppose most DX philatelists would have appreciated a slightly different design. JOAR is not mentioned in the design of the stamp which of course is a great pity. Readers interested in obtaining a copy of the new Japanese stamp can contact me by e-mail for further details: christer.brunstrom@u... [truncated] (Credits: Christer Brunström, Sweden via Play-DX, Nº 1166, Dario Monferini, Milano, Italy, Sep. 15, 2002.) The original article -xeroxed- reproduces the stamp in B/W. (via Horacio Nigro, Radio Stamps yahoogroups via DXLD) ** JAPAN. RADIO JAPAN'S WORLD LINK : WEBSITE HAS OPENED! 'Radio Japan's World Link' is a forum for listeners around the world to exchange views on a given monthly theme. Some of these opinions are also introduced on the English language radio program, 'Japan & the World 44 Minutes'. Click on the 'Send Your Opinion' button to make your contribution. Radio Japan's World Link Homepage -| http://www.nhk.or.jp/worldlink/ (Source : NHK WORLD e-GUIDE Oct.11, 2002) Kind regards, (Md. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN, RAJSHAHI, BANGLADESH, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. Radio Japan "NHK World" in B-02 season: To SoEaAS Burmese 1030-1100 11740SNG 1230-1300 9695* 2320-2340 13650* Chinese 0630-0700 17860* 1230-1300 11740SNG 2240-2300 13650* 2340-0000 17810 addit 13630* English 0100-0200 17810* 11860SNG 0500-0600 17810* 0600-0700 11740SNG 1000-1200 9695* 1400-1600 7200 0000-0015 13650* 17810 Indonesian 0930-1000 9695* 1130-1200 & 1230-1300 13660 2300-2320 17810 2340-0000 13650* Japanese 0200-0300 11860SNG 0200-0500 17810* 0700-0900 17860* 0700-1000 11740SNG 0900-1500 11815* 1600-1900 7200 1900-0000 11665* 2000-2200 7225 Malay 1200-1230 9695* 13660 1300-1330 9695 2240-2300 17810 Thai 1130-1200 11740SNG 1330-1400 7200 2300-2320 13650* Vietnamese 1100-1130 13660 1200-1230 11740SNG 2320-2340 17810 To Asian Continent Chinese 0430-0500 & 0530-0600 17845* 1130-1200, 1230-1300 & 1430-1500 6190 2230-2250 9560 English 0100-0200 17845* 0500-0700 15195* 0600-0600 11715* 11760* 1000-1200 15590* 1500-1600 9750* Japanese 0200-0300 17845* 0200-0500 & 0700-0800 15195* 0700-0800 6145* 6165* 0800-1500 & 1600-1700 9750* 1600-1900 6035* 1900-0000 11910* 1900-2100 6165* Korean 0400-0430 & 0500-0530 17845* 1100-1130 6090 1200-1230, 1300-1330 & 1400-1430 6190 2210-2230 9560* To FE Russia English 0600-0600 11715* 11760* Japanese 0700-0800 6145* 6165* Russian 0330-0400 addit 17845* 0600-0630 11715* 11760* 0800-0830 6145* 6165* 1900-1920 5955* To SoWeAS Bengali 0630-0700 15590* 11890SRI 1300-1330 11890SRI English 0100-0200 15325* 1400-1600 9845* Hindi 0700-0730 15590* 11890SRI 1330-1400 11890SRI Japanese 0200-0400 15325* 0300-0400 11890SRI 0800-1000 15590* 1500-1700 12045SRI 1600-1700 9845* Urdu 0730-0800 15590* 11890SRI 1400-1430 11890SRI To Oceania English 0100-0200 17685* 0300-0400 21610 0500-0700 & 1000-1100 21755 2100-2200 11850 11920SNG Japanese 0200-0400 17685* 0200-0300 21610 0700-1000 21755 11920SNG 1600-1800 7140 2000-2100 11850 11920SNG To NoAM English 0000-0100 6145CAN 0500-0600 6110CAN(West) 0500-0700 9835* 1100-1200 6120CAN(East) 1400-1500 & 1700-1800 9505 2100-2200 17825* Japanese 0200-0400 5960CAN(Ea) 17875 0800-1000 9835* 1300-1500 11705CAN(Ea) 1500-1700 9505 2200-2300 6110CAN(Ea) 17825* To Hawaii English 0600-0700 17870 2100-2200 21670 Japanese 0700-0800 17870 0800-1000 9825 1700-1800 9835* To CeAM English 0300-0400 17825* Japanese 0200-0300 17825* 0800-1000 12030 1500-1700 9535* 2200-2300 11895GUF Spanish 0500-0530 11895GUF 1000-1030 12030 To SoAM English 0100-0200 17835 Japanese 0200-0400 17835 0300-0400 9660GUF 0800-1000 9825 9530GUF 1700-1800 21600GUF 1700-1900 9835* 2200-2300 15220ASC Portug 0230-0300 15565GUF 1030-1100 15590GUF(East) Spanish 0400-0430 9660GUF 1000-1030 15590GUF 9710 To Europe English 0500-0600 5975UK 0500-0700 7230UK 1700-1800 11970* 2100-2200 11830* 6180UK 6090UK French 0630-0700 11915GAB 1800-1820 11970* German 0600-0630 11915GAB 1100-1130 9660UK 11710UK Italian 0530-0545 11915GAB 1030-1045 21730GAB Japanese 0800-1000 11710UK 1700-1800 9750UK 1700-1900 6175UK 2000-2100 11830* 2200-2300 6115UK Russian 0430-0500 11915GAB 1130-1200 11710UK 1840-1900 11970* Spanish 0500-0530 11916GAB 1820-1840 11970* Swedish 0545-0600 11915GAB 1045-1100 21730GAB To ME & NoAF Arabic 0400-0430 11930GAB (delete 11880SRI) 0700-0730 15220ASC English 0100-0200 17560* 11880SRI (delete 11930GAB) 1400-1500 17755GAB French 0500-0530 17820SRI 1500-1520 7190* Japanese 0200-0400 17560* 0300-0400 11930GAB (delete 11880SRI) 0800-1000 21550GAB 1700-1800 11880SRI Persian 0230-0300 11880SRI (delete 11930GAB) 0830-0900 17675SRI To Africa Arabic 0400-0430 11930GAB 0700-0730 15220ASC English 1700-1800 15355GAB(South) extended 2100-2200 11855ASC(Central) French 1230-1300 15400ASC(West) 17790ASC(Central) 1800-1820 9685* 11785* Japanese 0800-1000 17650ASC(West) retimed 1500-1700 21630ASC(Central) retimed 1800-1900 15355GAB(South) Swahili 0330-0400 6135ASC(Central) 1300-1330 17790ASC(Central) Relays: ASC = Ascension CAN = Sackville GAB = Gabon GUF = Fr. Guiana SNG = Singapore SRI - Sri Lanka UK = United Kingdom. * via Yamata 300kW - others 100kW Please be advised that the schedule is subject to change (NHK World, R. Japan via Andreas Volk-D, ADDX, Oct 2 via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 12115 khz, Denge Mezopotamia, *1700-1800*, 8 y 9 Octubre, estuvo aquí haciendo pruebas en esta nueva frecuencia a un nuevo horario. Escuchada a 1700-1705 con anuncios e identificándose en 5 idiomas. A las 1700 en dos dialectos kurdos (kurmanji, zazaki o sorani, según esquema en la emisión de 1200-1600 emitida en 11530 khz), a 1701 ID en inglés "Dear listeners! You are listening to the test broadcast of the Voice of Mesopotamia and the Mesopotamian Television in (dos sílabas de una palabra incomprensible). You can be with us on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and on Fridays between 8 and 9 a.m. (sic! 8- 9 a.m. corresponde a la hora de Alaska, entonces 8-9 p.m. sí corresponde a la hora en Irak!) in 12.115 MHz on this shortwave frequency.", a 1702 ID en árabe y a las 1703 ID en farsi. En la ID en farsi fue mencionado Irán y Dushanbe, pero probablemente se refiere a las zonas horarias más que a un sitio transmisor o estudio. A las 1706-1756 música folklórica kurda sin interrupciones, excepto por una ID en inglés a las 1730 y en arabe a las 1742. A las 1757 anuncios de cierre e ID en kurdo sorani con el canto de una mujer de fondo. SINPO 44444. Hubieron pruebas de tonos con el transmisor desde las *1652; entonces bien podría ser Samara en Rusia que fue escuchada el martes 8 Octubre a *1600-1630* en 12115 khz con LV de la Patria emitiendo hacia Siria (44444). Este transmisor está ocupado a 1730-1800 los lunes y jueves emitiendo programas de LV de Oromiyaa en oromo y a 1700-1800 los sabados con Dejen Radio en tigriña, y los domingos con Netsanet Le-Etiopia en amhárico, todos dirigidos a Etiopia (Anker Petersen, Dinamarca, en DXplorer 10/10 via Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MEXICO. THE VEIL OF SECRECY IS BEING LIFTED IN MEXICO The rules are changing, thanks to an agreement between President Vicente Fox's government and broadcasters themselves. As it is now -- the public isn't entitled to know how licenses are granted or when they expire. Mexicans believe that radio and TV licenses were often granted as political favors (From Inside Radio via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. MANAGUA - The Nicaraguan government canceled the frequency [WTFK????] of former President Arnoldo Alemán`s Poderosa radio station, saying it was operating illegally. The station was among the last tools Alemán had to generate support in his fight against the government's campaign to put him on trial for stealing US$100 million in public funds. The station was cut off late Friday by the Nicaraguan Telecommunications Institute at the request of the country's attorney general. Mario González, director of the telecommunications institute, said the license had been given to the Roman Catholic Church's archdiocese, which then turned the station over to Alemán. The change was not registered with the government, as required by law, officials said. "It is nothing political and had nothing to do with freedom of expression," González said. Prosecutors allege that, before his five-year term as president ended in January, Alemán transferred US$100 million to banks in Panamá, then later passed the money to a foundation controlled by his family. Before his station was taken off the air, radio announcers at La Poderosa criticized the government's campaign against Alemán and asked listeners for their support. Neither Alemán nor representatives from the archdiocese were immediately available to comment on the action. Two months ago, the newspaper La Noticia, which also belonged to Alemán, was closed because of a lack of money (From AP Sat Oct 12, 12:50 PM ET via Mike Terry, DXLD) Which station is this? YNRC Radio Católica? Hard to believe that the bishops gave Nicaragua's most powerful and the only nationwide Catholic station to Alemán (Mike Dorner, of CRU, Oct 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. Re DXLD 2-157: Actually, Kvitsoy has two 500 kW transmitters for coverage to the East, i.e. Asia; another site in Sveio uses two 500 kW transmitters for coverage to the Western Hemisphere. The new Merlin/Norkring agreement will cause a reduction of broadcasts from the NRK home service and Radio Denmark, with only two transmitters available for NRK/DR at any time other programmers want to use them, as is already the case with the programs to Afghanistan (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Seems to be back on standard time. This morning they signed on at 0045 ex 2345 on 4790, 6165 (Olle Alm, Sweden, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Dear Mr Glenn Hauser: Greetings from Paraguay! To advise that we are now testing, simultaneously, on the following frequencies: 1480, 2300, 7737 and 9983 KHZ, in the 203, 120, 41 and 31 Metre bands. Your reception reports will be most welcome! With best regards (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay ramerica@rieder.net.py Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio América anuncia que está probando, en forma simultánea, las siguientes frecuencias: 1480, 2300, 7737 y 9983 KHZ, en las bandas de 203, 120, 41 y 31 metros. Sus reportes de sintonía serán muy bienvenidos (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay, ramerica@rieder.net.py via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. La Voz de las Huarinjas, until July 13 was on 6816.8; from July 17 heard on 6819.6. On the previous frequency it was heard 8 mornings in July, sign on 1050 variable: 4 dates at 1050/1055, two at 1100, one each at 1040 and 1045; and on 13 evenings. On the newer frequency heard three mornings in July from *1100, and 13 evenings. Evening checks were made between 0000 and 0200 (Emilio Pedro Povrzenic, Villa Diego, Santa Fé, Argentina, Latinoamérica DX, July, Asociación DX del Litoral, Rosario, via Sept Radio Nuevo Mundo via DXLD) ** PERU/BOLIVIA. La Voz del Campesino: two stations with the same name, one in Bolivia (6537.3) and the other in Peru (6956.7), rarely audible at the same time (only local Sundays, the only day the Bolivian is on at night). So far the two have been audible together on eleven Sunday nights, and even more rarely on a single morning. The Bolivian has another peculiarity: on Mondays they rest a bit longer and open later than usual (between 0830 and 1030), predominantly at 1030 currently in the winter (Emilio Pedro Povrzenic, Villa Diego, Santa Fé, Argentina, Latinoamérica DX, July, Asociación DX del Litoral, Rosario, via Sept Radio Nuevo Mundo via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. RADIO VERITAS ASIA: A recent edition of RVA Uplink had an article about new frequencies and better reception although none of the new frequencies were specifically mentioned in the piece. In June RVA changed frequencies for its broadcasts resulting in better reception except for the North Indian target areas, "Official Monitors from the different target areas confirmed strong signal following change of short wave band. Moreover, the Audience Relations Section headed by Ms. Cleo Labindao, reported that DXers and listeners gave feedback that reception is generally fair, with slight interference and disturbance." It's not often DXers are put in a favorable light by international broadcast stations these days (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 12 via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. This morning (Sat, 12 OCT) I heard Radio Polonia starting at 0600 UT on 1475.60 kHz. Interval signals and identifications from 0558. At 0600 identification also in German, followed by a catholic program in Polish. No doubt it was the Ukrainian transmitter listed as Lviv. GOOD DX, (Karel Honzík, the Czech Republic (Czechia), hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 5930, Murmansk and 6160, Arkhangel`sk are both regular signals at my location in mid Sweden, but both have the problem that the modulation very shallow. Apparently each is using two parallel transmitters (2 x 20 kW) that are out of phase in the sidebands when the carriers are synchronized (Olle Alm, Sweden, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Glenn, My apologies for not getting back to you on this information: Re DXLD 2-148: RUSSIA (Eur.) 11945 Radio Space Moscow via Balashikha. ?? What was this? I don`t recall such a `station` (gh, DXLD) 11945 Radio Space via Balashika (former jammer transmitter located 20 km outside of Moscow 23:49E 55:02N. Power: 20 kw) Radio Space was a station which aired from 1500 to 1600 UT. The programming consisted of Arabic Programming with opening 'Call to the Prayer' Kor`an Recitation. Variety Program of local music geared to the Muslim community near Moscow/area. There where promotions, contact information via telephone and FAX numbers, and address in Moscow. This station was heard back in 1992 when it appeared on short wave (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. See KURDISTAN [non] ** U K. Regarding the 25765 kHz transmissions of strings of BBC identifications, Alan Roberts has come upon an article in the October 2002 edition of Shortwave Magazine focusing on Merlin's digital test transmissions on 11 meters. They claim to be using 10 watt transmitters. Alan has also heard periods of wide band noise, presumably digital transmissions on and around the 25765 kHz frequency (Sheldon Harvey, QC, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also FRANCE! ** U S A [and non]. Commentary NEEDED: CATHOLIC SHORTWAVE FOR THE PACIFIC The recent meeting of diocesan communicators at Tofamamao in Samoa under the aegis of SIGNIS, the Catholic mass media organization, to study ways of using radio effectively —for some, it was an introduction to using radio at all— highlights something that I have noticed before but have commented only in a distant issue on shortwave radio: There is no Catholic radio to speak of in the Pacific. I have been able to find only one station: the Diocese of Agana`s KOLG 90.9 FM on Guam. HVJ Radio Vaticano does broadcast a few hours of programming to the Pacific daily, but not more than some minutes to anyone area. EWTN`s WEWN Birmingham targets Europe and North America in English and Latin America in Spanish, but if its signal gets into the Pacific, it is by freak of physics. This should not be. Here we have the conceptual ``continent`` of Oceania, thousands of islands swept across the immense Pacific Ocean from off South America to the East Indies and the Asian continent. These include the only nation-continent, Australia, as well as New Zealand. Apart from the Philippines, the only Catholic nation in Asia, there are no Catholic stations. I suspect there is little Catholic programming, period. There are a number of Protestant stations, including several powerful shortwave stations— the 50+ year-old Far East Broadcasting`s KFBS and the Christian Science Monitor`s KHBI on the Northern Marianas, now with a new owner and call sign; there is KHBN on Palau, and KWHR on Hawaii (LeSea Evangelism), and the Adventists` KSDA on Guam. If ever there is a need for somebody to do something about an egregious situation, this is it. Here we have a large land-mass of dozens of nations, the majority of which speak English, whose populations including those of Australia and New Zealand total in the millions and of whom a significant percentage are Catholics, and there is no broadcast service for them, no all-day broadcast service, unless they happen to live in the Philippines or on Guam. We have Catholic satellite television service to all of the developing world now, including areas of Asia and most of Africa, where few people can afford television systems, even fewer satellite television systems, and where cable television systems are not found outside major cities. Further, in most of these nations, only the educated and governing classes are fluent in English. But we have no Catholic radio service to the English-speaking area of the world that is the Pacific Basin! Think about it! Catholics, English language, farflung nations and dioceses that need Catholic radio. As far as I know by perusing the World Radio–TV Handbook, all of these nations permit private radio stations and authorize religious groups to have them. There is no radio like local radio, true. But the economics of serving large island groups in some cases extending for miles over the ocean, and the little economies of these islands seem to show that what is needed is an international Catholic station, not necessarily located in the Pacific, to serve this area. I therefore propose that some organization, ecclesiastical, laical, in the radio apostolate or not, some large religious order or religious organization, take on the challenge of building or buying an existing shortwave station and begin Catholic international radio to the Pacific. There is the need, there is the willingness obvious in the Samoan meeting and workshop. I further propose that the station be operated on the judicious principles of DZN Radio Veritas Asia, operated by the Bishops of the Philippines: Program production at least in large part is done by the individual dioceses and sent by Internet, tape cassette, or compact disc to the proposed Catholic shortwave operation. This is an extraordinarily well thought out system: programs are produced by people known to the target listeners; programs address local interests, needs, and problems; programs are produced under the authority and blessing of the local bishops; production costs are lessened for the international shortwave station owners, who have the expense of operations; listeners recognize the program participants and tell them what kind of a job they are doing, whether the material is interesting or not. One should also note the not unimportant sense of excitement on the part of program participants and listeners knowing that their work is being heard not just in their diocese or island nation, but across thousands of miles of Pacific Basin. The time is now. Will some group step forward? Knights of Columbus, who have been so generous in the past towards the American Church? Legionnaires of Christ, a dynamic organization filled with zeal for the Gospel? Opus Dei, known to undertake great works for Christ? EWTN, can you add a fourth transmitter with an antenna aimed at the Pacific? Can you launch out with another major endeavor? I understand there is a former Voice of America facility closed but well-maintained and protected, up for sale and awaiting purchase. WRMI Miami is up for sale— $600,000. Its antenna is aimed at the Caribbean and it runs only 50,000 watts, but it is a start. KJES Vado, New Mexico, has a daily English service to the Pacific of Liturgy of the Hours, but it is short and limited. Perhaps arrangements can be made with Father Rick Thomas, SJ, to extend the hours of Pacific service as well as its targets. There may well be a Protestant group ready to drop Pacific area broadcasting. The shortwave station does not have to be located either in the United States or on an island, where parts and electricity are expensive. It can be located in Central or South America; it can be located in Australia or New Zealand, or even the Philippines. One possible scenario is to arrange with DZN Radio Veritas Asia to operate additional transmitters aimed at the Pacific, in the opposite direction that DZN serves with its 17 Asian languages. DZN aims west and southwest; the projected station would aim east and southeast. Perhaps this can be done simply by buying an additional transmitter and constructing a new antenna targeted to the east (shortwave antennas essentially are textures of cables slung from short towers and tall poles; they aim the signal as one would aim a light beam). It`s time to act. The harvest is ripe. Takers, anyone? (Michael Dorner, editor, Oct 14 Catholic Radio Update, Oct 12 via DXLD) In Catholic Radio Update, Michael Dorner makes a plea for a new Catholic SW station to reach an unserved area, the Pacific. But he overlooks WEWN, which he says targets North America and would reach the Pacific only by a `freak of physics`. Two of its antenna beams on several of its frequencies are 220 and 285 degrees. The former heads toward Pitcairn, and the latter across Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Bougainville, Port Moresby – and both are no doubt broad enough as distance increases, and with 500 kW to fill most of the gap between them. WEWN`s own campaign for new monitors ought to confirm this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did not know that. But I do know that EWTN makes no attempt to serve the local Catholic populations; if it does put this signal directly over the Pacific, it is news to me. Are you sure it is not off the back of their antenna. Mother Angelica once commented on the air that she received a letter from Japan, and that they ought not to be able to get the signal, so she was told. I am sure that if you are correct I will hear from EWTN. I will also hear from them for criticizing putting up satellites to cover areas with few English speakers and even fewer Catholics. What the hell! Bring it all on! (Mike Dorner, LA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mike, No, the beams are not off the back, but direct, according to HFCC registrations. Look up their frequencies (or search on EWN) as I just did in the A-02 by-frequency schedule at http://www.hfcc.org Public Data section [zipped]. The 285 blasts us here in OK, and I am sure keeps going much further. The 220 I suppose is actually mainly for Mexico, but also no doubt keeps going. As a matter of fact, 285 ought to be for some target other than USA, to maintain the fiction that it is not for domestic consumption. I didn`t check the registered target CIRAF zones. Perhaps they pretend that is for Mexico and Canada. Well, Japan is a bit off the listed beams, but SW can go anywhere, as we know if she does not (Glenn to Mike, via DXLD) Thanks, Glenn. I'll take your word for it. What you sent is interesting, and I shall have to pursue propagation and high frequency directionals some day. It is Greek to me. What led me to my conclusion, apart from Mother's statement, is that I have watched EWTN fairly frequently over the last 15 years here, and have listened many hours to it, and I have never heard them mention the Pacific area, or Australia and New Zealand; they have never mentioned letters or received phone calls (maybe because of the difference in hours, but they do have some live call-ins during the day), nor have they mentioned any news or events in that area. My guess is, they have never really thought of it. What I want to do with the editorial is plant the seed; we may not see anything for years, but it is there, in the back of the minds of a lot of readers, and I think a few people in high places get the newsletter passed on to them. A lot of EWTN honchos read it, or at least get it. I hear from some of them on occasion (Mike Dorner, LA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Since I never listen to EWTN/WEWN, I`ll take your word for lack of interest in the Pacific, as far as programming goes (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WFMT is presumably in its final day of webcasting Oct 13, and here`s another classical station which stopped earlier, and what they say about it; tnx to Kevin Kelly: http://www.wcal.org/programs/streamingannounce.html http://www.wcal.org/programs/streamingFAQ.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Sorry to hear about Ray Briem retiring from the talk-radio business; we will never forget those "shortwave specials" heard in the days when he was on KABC, WABC and other ABC-affiliated stations back in the 1980's, with you and other SW notables appearing on those shows. BTW is he still active with shortwave? I hope someone in the LA area could tell us about that (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On the road back from the Watonga Cheese Festival, the scan stopped on 17895, VOA to Africa, at 2045 Oct 12. Nightline Africa I must not have paid much attention to before, but this one seemed a bit strange. Interspersed with (train?) sound effects, the announcer was greeting listener after listener by name in Liberia, and assigning them consecutive `seat` numbers, around 5370. Then the same for Nigeria, along with brief greetings or homilies to each. Our tax dollars at work gaining friends for the US in Africa. Perhaps they had better not get framed certificates, lest they be suspected of spying for US... Who needs QSLs or SWL callsigns if you can get a seat number? Or is that Night Train Africa? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NPR TAPS TWO NEW HOSTS TO CONSIDER 'ALL THINGS' By Jacqueline Trescott, Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 10, 2002; Page C04 National Public Radio yesterday announced two new hosts for its afternoon standard "All Things Considered." Michele Norris, a former correspondent for ABC News and The Washington Post, will become a co-host of the weekday show in December. NPR's announcement came on the same day the organization informed its employees that it was eliminating nine people from its staff of 700. Norris, 41, has won several national awards for her coverage of politics, poverty and education. She most recently was a contributing correspondent for the "Closer Look" segment on ABC's "World News Tonight." She joins veteran host Robert Siegel and Melissa Block, who has been on the program's staff for 17 years, most recently as a senior producer. Block starts her new assignment in February. NPR also announced that Steve Inskeep will become the regular weekend host of "ATC" next month. Inskeep, 34, an NPR correspondent since 1996, has covered presidential politics, Congress and the Pentagon. In the last year he has reported from Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he covered the capture of al Qaeda senior leader Abu Zubaydah. Norris said yesterday that she had been a "loyal ATC listener" during her personal and journalistic journeys in the Midwest, Los Angeles and Washington. "It is a chance to host a flagship program and a program of substance and depth," said Norris, explaining that she was exchanging visibility for a lead role. "I can't think of another broadcast program that explores the world in its way and in the way it takes a risk every day." Bruce Drake, vice president for news, said the additional voices will eventually bring some change to the award-winning format. "With a new host team and a new executive producer," said Drake, "once they are all in place it will be a time for the show to think about itself. We don't have changes in hosts that often." The new weekday hosts replace Linda Wertheimer, who is now an NPR senior national correspondent, and Noah Adams, who is on sabbatical writing a book about the Wright Brothers. Inskeep succeeds Lisa Simeone, now the host of NPR's "World of Opera." Discussing the layoffs in an interview, NPR President Kevin Klose blamed "flat to declining revenues." He added, "We're in good financial shape overall, but we have to be very smart how we manage our way through these economic doldrums." Klose said the eliminated positions will come from a "variety of disciplines across the company" and will not affect any one program. The layoffs come six months after NPR cut nearly 20 jobs from its cultural programming division. Staff writer John Maynard contributed to this report. © 2002 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Another story about this: http://www.calendarlive.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=cl%2Det%2Dcarney11oct11 (Los Angeles Times Oct 11, via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Mixed signals, By DAVID MENCONI, Staff Writer 1999 was an eventful year for WUNC, 91.5 FM, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's public radio station. The year began with WUNC moving into new quarters, and ended with longtime general manager Bill Davis preparing to leave for National Public Radio in Washington. Something else that happened in 1999 went unnoticed for some time. The week WUNC moved to its new studios at Goodmon Hall, a Florida-based religious broadcaster called Radio Training Network applied to the Federal Communications Commission for permission to construct a station at 91.1 FM in Raleigh... http://www.newsobserver.com/features/arts/v-print/story/1790568p-1796037c.html (News & Observer Oct 6 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. WOR is now transmitting in IBOC. I assume it is days only. I was talking to a friend in the NYC area on the phone and he let me hear what it sounds like on groundwave. The standard signal at 710 is clearly heard with no interference. At 720 and 700 digital a loud hissing sound is heard. It sounds similar to a commercial two-way radio in open squelch mode. This hash is as loud as the standard signal at 710. Talk about a wideband signal! (Dave Marthouse, VA, Oct 12, NRC-AM via DXLD) I still feel with a series of phased arrays, EWEs, K9AYs, etc, can cut down a lot of the domestic DX. We still have the mountains to the East from the coast that knocks many domestics down. I am not giving up unless we find we have no choice. I do feel IBOC will die anyway. As one top engineer told me the other day, the public is not going to buy into this, not for AM. I still feel with the QRN IBOC will cause will make a whole lot of people unhappy. I can still see this going into the courts. We may have some IBOC QRN during tests from a handful of stations, but the whole country going IBOC? I just can't see it. Again if the people do not buy the radios, then it wont work. For us "Hard- Core" DXers we always have Alaska and NFD to move to. :) 73s, (Patrick Martin Seaside OR, ibid.) I see a huge impact. The trans-pacific signals that are best during and after local sunrise will now likely suffer from the white noise of IBOC. I plan to get everything I can this season while it is still possible. As for the IBOC noise, it will destroy the top of the hour quiet period where slop on most split channels goes down as the domestics go to news. I'd rate the top of the hour quietness as being at least 6 dB in terms of slop onto splits that are more than a few kHz removed from the domestic channel (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) I look forward to the challenge. I still maintain that with phasing and skywave conditions, I'll be able to receive Venezuela on 1020 or CJMS on 1040 despite WBZ interference. Okay, maybe Spain on 1026 kHz or Portugal on 1035 kHz will be nearly impossible inland, but at the seashore with a Beverage or phased array, no problem! This is all speculative of course. We shall see (or hear) in the not too distant future (Bruce Conti, Nashua NH, ibid.) I really think that the issue of acceptable interference, when they ruled against LPFM on the same grounds, points out a problem with ethics and trust. I really doubt that stations will get more profit out of digital, the same way DTV will not give any additional revenue from simulcasting what is on NTSC. I do foresee that the number of stations will have to decrease by 50% if nighttime service is to take place (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) Fred; Yes, I do think IBOC will be terrible for us DXers, no matter where we live. The DXers along the coasts might have a bit better luck, but the noise will still be a factor. I like to do some domestic DX too. That will be about impossible. I can just fiqure 50 KW KGO- 810-SF going IBOC. At night KGNW-820-5KW_Seattle and KPDQ-800-500w- Portland will no longer be listenable outside the metro areas. With KGO's 250 KW North, the IBOC signal will totally cream anything else. There are many other stations too. I just don't see this going. Stations are not going to stand for their signal being wiped out 20 miles from the transmitter. If your figure is right that 50% of the radio stations will have to shut down in the US for IBOC to work, what business man in his right mind will just shut the station off the air? No way. This is going to be a real mess. 73s, (Patrick Martin Seaside OR, NRC-AM via DXLD) "Sold out" says it pretty well. I'm still really disappointed at the lack of technical completeness of the IBOC evaluations all the way from start to finish (FCC). Some of the FCC comments were particularly worrisome as they prattled on and on about how IBOC is "a perfect solution" "and everyone is a winner". I don't mind as much if someone decides that - after adding up all the plusses and minuses - IBOC is beneficial to the majority. That's playing the game fairly and honestly. But all we saw here was a bunch of posturing and half-truths designed to advance the position of a particular organization (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) That states it well, Chuck. The one thing that really bothers me the most is that both the FCC, and the House Telecommunications Committee failed to check the facts as they pertained to the issue of adjacent channel interference. But in the case of LPFM it was a BIG factor in stomping the little guy. This tells me that either we have some folks in positions that have no real concept of what interference is, or someone has an ethics problem. Either way, they have to go. A fellow on another list suggested that when a listener encounters interference that they file a complaint against the station or a small claim action. My first thought was that we didn't need frivolous suits in the courts, but now I wonder if fighting fire with fire is not the way to go. |grin| (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) When it comes to interference, there is some fairly strong protection in the FCC's October 10 order. Paraphrasing, any station receiving interference within their primary service area can either work things out with the offender (reduce the IBOC power level) or get IBOC turned off at the offender. If they can't reach agreement within 60 days, the IBOC gets turned off! I'll be waiting eagerly to see whether AM stations use this protection or whether they all fall in line and say that harm given and harm received are equal and therefore no foul. If they choose to use this protection, I bet certain people on a certain list we know might help them out by submitting complaints. And by the way, I blame the NRSC for the majority of this problem. Rather than take a "what are the problems?" approach, they merely validated the claims of the manufacturers. A real study should have included nighttime interference so that broadcasters and the public would know ahead of time that they are investing their money in a daytime only system with no possibility of nighttime usage. Additionally, they did not do an analysis of how many stations across the nation will suffer daytime interference. No mention of Canadian clear channels. I see also that the FCC will accept IBOC interference from 6 AM to sunrise and also from sunset to 6 PM as it is economically beneficial to the IBOC broadcaster. Dollars made this decision. That's a poor process, as they have no clue as to the skywave interference that will be received. Whitewash. If you want to read the exact wording, get FCC document FCC 02-286 (the October 10 order to move "forward" with IBOC) andread paragraph 39. Basically, it's a work-it-out-between-yourselves via power reduction of IBOC followed by a document-it-damn-well-to-the-FCC if you can't work it out and the FCC will then order IBOC power reductions or - worst case - turning IBOC off. Complaints to the FCC must be based on actual interference problems inside the primary service area. Attention, 1-A clear channel stations.... (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) ** VATICAN. Vatican Radio Sked eff. 27 October 2002 to 30 March 2003 [as usual, durations are not specified! If you really want to know, hunt for the same frequency elsewhere in the list, and leave a break of 5 minutes or so between services --- gh] ALBANIAN 0620 EU 1260 1611 2000 EU 1260 1611 7250 9645 AMHARIC, TIGR [sic] 0400 AF 103.8 9660 11625 1630 AF 103.8 15570 17515 ANGELUS 1100 (su, H) AF 93.3 105.0 585 1530 15595 21850 1100 (su, H) AS 93.3 105.0 585 1530 15595 21850 1100 (su, H) EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 5890 9645 11740 15595 21850 ARABIC 0500 AF 1260 9645 11715 0500 AS 1260 9645 11715 0745 (W) AF 93.3 1530 7250 9645 15595 0745 (W) AS 93.3 1530 15595 0745 (W) EU 93.3 1530 5890 7250 9645 15595 1630 AF 1260 11625 15595 1630 AS 1260 11625 15595 2145 AF 93.3 1530 5890 7250 2145 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 7250 ARMENIAN 0310 EU 1260 6185 9645 1650 EU 1611 9585 11715 BULGARIAN 0540 EU 1611 6185 7345 1920 EU 1260 1611 6185 7365 BYELORUSSIAN 0420 EU 1260 6185 7345 1800 EU 1260 1611 7365 9585 CHINESE 1230 (ex sa) AS 103.8 6020 15235 17515 2200 AS 103.8 6205* 7305* 9600* 2200 AS 103.8 7305** 9600** 11830** CROATIAN 0350 EU 93.3 1530 4005 1750 EU 93.3 1467 1530 4005 5890 7250 CZECH 0410 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 1830 EU 93.3 1467 1530 4005 5890 7250 ENGLISH 0250 AM 7305 9605 0300 AF 103.8 9660 0500 AF 103.8 9660 11625 15570 0600 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 7250 0630 AF 103.8 11625 13765 15570 1000 (exwe,su) EU 105.0 585 5890 1730 AF 103.8 13765 15570 17515 2000 AF 103.8 7365 9660 11625 2050 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 7250 ESPERANTO 2020 (we, th) EU 1260 1611 7250 9645 2020 (su, H) EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 2250 (su, H) EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 FRENCH 0230 AF 103.8 9660 0230 AM 7305 9605 0430 AF 103.8 9660 11625 0540 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 7250 0600 AF 103.8 11625 13765 15570 1200 (W) EU 105.0 585 5890 1700 AF 103.8 15570 17515 2030 AF 103.8 7365 9660 11625 2030 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 7250 FRENCH - ENGLISH 1700 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 7250 9645 15595 1700 AS 93.3 105.0 585 1530 15595 GERMAN 0520 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 7250 1920 EU 93.3 1467 1530 4005 5890 7250 GERMAN - POLISH 1500 EU 93.3 5890 7250 9645 HAUSA 0700 AF 103.8 11625 13765 15570 HINDI/TAMIL/MAL[ALAYAM]/ENGLISH 0040 AS 103.8 7335 9865 1430 AS 103.8 9865 13765 15235 HUNGARIAN 0440 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 1810 EU 93.3 1467 1530 4005 5890 7250 ITAL FRENCH ENGLISH 0700 (W) AF 93.3 105.0 585 1530 9645 15595 0700 (W) AS 93.3 105.0 585 1530 15595 0700 (W) EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 6185 7250 9645 11740 15595 ITALIAN 0620 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 6185 7250 1100 (W) 105.0 585 5890 1130 (su, H) EU 93.3 105.0 585 5890 1300 AF 93.3 105.0 585 15595 21850 1300 AS 93.3 105.0 585 15595 1300 EU 93.3 105.0 585 5890 9645 11740 15595 21850 1530 (fr) 93.3 5890 7250 9645 1630 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 5890 7250 9645 2000 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 2200 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 2230 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 ITALIAN / ENGLISH 2020 (mo) EU 1260 1611 9645 KISWAHILI 0330 AF 103.8 9660 11625 1600 AF 103.8 15570 17515 LATVIAN 0500 EU 6185 7345 1840 EU 1260 1611 7365 9585 LITHUANIAN 0440 EU 1260 6185 7345 1820 EU 1260 1611 7365 9585 MASS IN CHINESE 1230 (sa) AS 103.8 6020 15235 17515 MASS IN ENGLISH 1130 (fr) AF 103.8 15595 17515 1130 (fr) AS 103.8 15595 17515 1530 (sa) AF 103.8 9865 13765 15235 1530 (sa) AS 103.8 9865 13765 15235 MASS IN ITALIAN 0830 (su, H) EU 93.3 105.0 585 7250 MASS IN LATIN 0630 AF 93.3 105.0 585 1530 9645 15595 0630 AS 93.3 105.0 585 1530 15595 0630 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 6185 7250 964511740 15595 MUSIC 1530 (ex fr) EU 93.3 5890 7250 9645 ORIENTAL LIT[URGY] 0930 (su, H) EU 93.3 11740 15595 17515 PAPAL AUDIENCE 0930 (we) EU 105.0 585 5890 PHILIPPINE [sic] 2020 (fr) EU 1260 1611 POLISH 0500 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 7250 1900 EU 93.3 1467 1530 4005 5890 7250 PORTUGUESE 0030 AM 1260 7305 9605 0530 AF 103.8 11625 13765 15570 0900 (W) AM 1260 1000 (W) AM 1260 21850 1415 EU 93.3 1260 9645 11740 1500 (th) AM 1260 1600 AM 1260 1800 AF 103.8 13765 15570 17515 2130 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 7250 ROSARY [languages??] 1940 AF 93.3 103.8 105.0 585 1530 7365 9660 11625 1940 AS 93.3 103.8 105.0 585 1530 11625 1940 EU 93.3 103.8 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 6185 11625 RUMANIAN 0520 EU 1611 6185 7345 1900 EU 1260 1611 6185 7365 RUMANIAN LIT[URGY] 0710 (su, H) EU 93.3 7250 9645 RUSSIAN 0330 EU 1260 6185 7345 9645 1330 EU 1260 13645# 15595# 1330 EU 1260 11805## 13645## 1710 EU 1611 6210 7365 9585 11715 2100 EU 1260 7305 9585 SCANDINAVIAN [languages? See previous discussion] 0600 EU 1260 1611 7345 9645 1940 EU 1260 1611 7250 9645 SLOVAK 0425 EU 93.3 1530 4005 5890 1845 EU 93.3 1467 1530 4005 5890 7250 SLOVENIAN 0330 EU 93.3 1530 4005 1730 EU 93.3 1467 1530 4005 5890 7250 SOMALI 0345 (su) AF 103.8 9660 11625 1615 (sa) AF 103.8 15570 17515 SPANISH 0100 AM 1260 7305 9605 11910 0145 AM 7305 9605 11910 0315 AM 7305 9605 0900 (W) EU 105.0 585 5890 1130 (W) AM 1260 21850 1400 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1260 9645 11740 1500 (mo,fr) AM 1260 1730 AM 1260 1900 (sa) AF 103.8 9660 11625 2110 EU 93.3 105.0 585 1530 4005 5890 7250 UKRAINIAN 0400 EU 1260 6185 7345 1740 EU 1611 7365 9585 UKRAINIAN LIT[URGY] 0715 (su, H) EU 1611 9850 11740 VESPERS [language?] 1600 EU 93.3 5890 7250 9645 VIETNAMESE 1315 AS 103.8 6205 17515 2315 AS 103.8 7305 9600 Notes: H = Holy days W = Weekdays * = from 27/10/02 till 01/03/03. ** = from 02/03/03 till 30/03/03 # = from 27/10/02 till 30/11/02 and from 02/03/03 till 30/03/03 ## = from 01/12/02 till 01/03/03 (Sked via Wolfgang Bueschel - converted from spreadsheet to text format by Alan Roe, via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Re VOV QSLing 9840 as Sackville instead of Vietnam: Yes, I agree is not the first time a station doesn't know its own schedule, which I pointed out in my report. But on the other hand, I had also listed 12060, which is another one of their Son Tay frequencies. The result is going to send another report, a quote from their own schedule. (1230 TO 1300 UT in English) The reception of 9840 was definitely not Sackville and favoured the path from Vietnam (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED: Glenn: With the days getting shorter now, I decided to give this one a try again. 6715U, Full Gospel Church, 2203 Oct 11, Light copy, but audible with same format as what I heard last winter. Very excited preacher with gospel type hymn music accompanied by piano. Nothing heard after 2230, so that is the apparent sign off time (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ Analog to digital in signal quality (more on the Motorola story) From the radio wave PHONY DIGITAL RADIO ----------------------------------------------------------- An interesting story appeared recently in The NEW YORK TIMES which reported that MOTOROLA is readying a new chipset to create AM/FM analog receivers that take analog broadcasts, convert them to digital, and clean the signals up from multipath and interference problems. The first radios with the technology will be car radios to be available late next year. BLAUPUNKT has announced similar technology, "Digiciever." Reacting to this, a company called Ibiquity, who are in the business of producing genuine digital receivers, sent out the following release. (edited) Some of you may have seen the story Monday in the New York Times "As Digital Radio Stumbles, New Products Fill the Gap". There was a similar story in the Wall Street Journal and in several of the radio industry dailies. We have received some inquiries from broadcasters and investors about the articles, and thought it appropriate to try to put this article in perspective for you. Chipsets that improve analog performance do not offer the value upgrade in quality or the wireless data services offered by digital solutions, like iBiquity's HD Radio technology. The Motorola chips referred to in the article were actually unveiled earlier this month at the NAB Radio Show in Seattle, where they did not generate much interest. We were therefore not surprised to see these stories, but were somewhat bemused at the amount of coverage they have received, since the chipsets do not represent much of an upgrade from the current state of analog radio technology. Simply stated, these chips digitally process analog signals in receivers. This approach and technology are not new - these types of "digital radios" have been on the market for several years from various manufacturers. Although the chips mentioned in the article use digital technology to process the received analog signal, these chips, cannot enhance the actual broadcast from the station - it is still analog. While digital processing of an analog signal does yield important benefits, analog has inherent limitations that can only be addressed at the source using digital broadcast technology. Once a broadcast is transmitted digitally, audio quality is greatly enhanced, reception is crystal clear and new offerings such as the "Tivo for Radio" applications and other wireless data services can be provided. These benefits can be realized only through digital transmission. Our belief is that Motorola has announced this somewhat old news story with so much fanfare because they see a potential loss of business now that digital Radio technology is a reality. We'd also note that this effort - trying to improve analog in the face of a digital transition - appears to have been taken right from Motorola's cell phone business plan. As the analog market leader, they tried to extend the life of analog cell phones as the entire industry was transitioning to digital. The results of that strategy were devastating, as Motorola lost major market share to other cell phone providers who embraced digital technology. After many years in development and test, and with support from our valued partners, digital broadcasting in the U.S. is on the cusp of endorsement by the FCC. [in fact, by now – gh] Every medium in the U.S. has made the transition to digital as consumers are demanding the latest in technical advancements. HD Radio technology represents a true upgrade from analog to digital in signal quality and wireless data capabilities. Enhancing analog will not offer the same range of benefits available from a digital transmission. [END] So basically this means if a radio station is not transmitting using fully digital equipment (even including digital microphones) and the listeners are not using total digital receivers then it's phony digital radio we're talking about. If you're interested in finding out more check out: http://www.ibiquity.com/navframe.html?01content.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-157, October 11, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1151: ON WWCR: Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630 on 7445 and/or 15039 ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415 ON WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800; North America Sun 1400 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1151.html ** AUSTRALIA. DISPUTE DELAYS SHIPPING OF HCJB TRANSMITTER TO AUSTRALIA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Oct 8, 2002. The dock workers labor dispute on the West Coast of the U.S. has held up the shipment of a 100,000-watt shortwave transmitter to HCJB World Radio-Australia`s property near the continent`s northern coast. The transmitter, designed and built at the ministry`s Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., is destined for Kununurra near the northern coast of the continent. ``Many of you have prayed about all of the roadblocks that the Australian office has met each step of the way to get a shortwave radio site up and running in Kununurra,`` said Dave Pasechnik, director of the center. ``God has been awesome throughout this five- year process. Now we need His intervention again.`` A team from Elkhart is in Kununurra to install the antennas and the transmitter as soon as it arrives. The goal is to begin the shortwave broadcasts on Dec. 22, reaching across Asia, the South Pacific and parts of Africa with Christian programs. Source: HCJB Web Site (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Cumbre DX via DXLD) So when the strike is settled it`s because of this one shipment, and divine intervention? Is God, in His Infinity, really concerned about meeting such arbitrary deadlines? (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. OFF-BAND STATIONS - 1611-1701 kHz Interrogation of the Australian Communications Authority on-line master listing reveals that there are now 289 approved licences for "Narrowband Area Service" (NAS) stations in the range 1611-1701 kHz. Most of these are not operating, and the owners have paid the licence fees to secure a form of "squatters' rights" to specific channels in defined localities. Maximum antenna power input is limited to 400 Watts, but monitoring and enforcement by ACA people only occurs if a genuine complaint is received. Spectrum bandwidth is limited to 6 kHz (double sideband AM), with actual audio being confined to 0.3-2.6 kHz. In-band stations are permitted to operate to a 9 kHz spectrum usage, but in practice, actual audio bandwidth is still around the 3 kHz cut-off. One such owner is "Heart N Soul Productions", which has 21 registrations across Australia, all on the single frequency of 1638 kHz. It is believed that only two of these are active, in Melbourne and Sydney, using the title "Arab Radio", and locally known as 3ME and 2ME respectively. One network is "Promo Radios Australia", based here in Melbourne, which operates as Radio Salsa on 1629 kHz, from a transmitter in the western suburb of Williamstown. This is 24-hrs, with no advertising, continuous music format, and very few announcements. There is one ID announcement each day, for about three minutes, generally given between 5.30 and 6.00 pm (0730-0800 UT), consisting of brief notes about Melbourne's weather. The station is also known as "Melbourne Radio 1629". Promo Radios Australia runs one other station, in Dalby, Queensland, on 1611 kHz, which has locally produced programming. A third station is at Moama, NSW, 1620 kHz, but that's is not on the air, due to lack of suitable technical people in the area to manage it. Very soon, Radio Salsa (Melbourne) 1629 kHz will make a major change to its format, will carry relays of Sydney's 2WS, 1611 kHz, which serves Sydney's Western suburbs. The Melbourne relay will be from 6 am to 6 pm local time (2000-0800 UT) daily, and will be the same program as on 2WS. Advertisements for products in Sydney and Melbourne will be carried. Radio Salsa has another station being set up, in Adelaide, and is being sited at Old Noarlunga on 1620 kHz. Commencement is imminent. Chinese language programming is also proposed for the Melbourne station, and this will start as soon as technical requirements have been arranged. Reception reports for the Melbourne station are handled by your writer - please use my personal address, and return postage is mandatory. To date very few reports have been received, due to the non-stop music format with very few announcements to generate verifiable program detail. The 2WS relay will provide greater opportunity for gathering specific content for inclusion in reception reports. There is no "log" of actual song titles, tracks played, or performers, most of which are from CDs. Please visit http://clix.to/promoradios for detailed information and a coverage map! A reminder that EDXP will be releasing the second edition of the printed "Guide to Australian Extended Band Broadcasting Stations" in January (Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 11 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5955, R. Pio XII, 0230* Oct 11 ending transmission with full ID including phone numbers and e-mail address (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo - Uruguay, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA/PERU. La Voz del Campesino: dos emisoras con un mismo nombre, una en Bolivia (6537.3) y la otra en Perú (6956.7), rara vez audibles las dos juntas (sólo los domingos hora local, único día en que emite por la noche la boliviana). Hasta ahora sólo han sido audibles las dos juntas once noches de los domingos y más raro aún una sola mañana. Además la emisora boliviana tiene otra particularidad: los lunes descansan un poco más y abren la transmisión más tarde de lo habitual (entre las 0830 y 1030), con predominio de las 1030 ahora en el invierno (Emilio Pedro Povrzenic, Villa Diego, Santa Fé, Argentina, Latinoamérica DX, July, Asociación DX del Litoral, Rosario, via Sept Radio Nuevo Mundo via DXLD) ** CANADA. CJWI 1610 Montreal: I was there about a week ago. They're using a fiberglass whip atop a two-story metal warehouse building. The whip is perhaps 40' tall, at most. Not an impressive, or even terribly listenable, signal in much of Montreal itself! If I were running the station, I'd be looking to diplex on someone else's existing vertical antenna... there's a little loop on the top that I suspect functions as something of a capacitance hat. See for yourself and tell me what you think... http://www.fybush.com/cjwitower.html -s (Scott Fybush, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC RADIO UNVEILS SATURDAY SHOW -- FROM CANADIAN PRESS A voice familiar to CBC's prairie listeners has been pegged to host CBC Radio One's new Saturday morning hour. Peter Brown launches That Saturday Show on Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. out of Vancouver. It promises to be a mix of arts, entertainment and lifestyle listening and will replace Go, a summer series hosted by Brent Bambury. "As the program moves out of the studio and right onto location, listeners will be invited along," says Adrian Mills, CBC Radio programming executive. "From medieval jousting in Milton, Ont., to the experience of riding the historic wooden roller-coaster in Vancouver, the program will convey a sense of participation." Brown has hosted the Edmonton-based Radio Active since 1994, and before that he was a host, reporter and satirist on CBC Saskatchewan's The Arts Tonight. (Toronto Star Oct 11 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CANADA. HOT SHEET FOR WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 12 & 13, 2002 GO! This week on Go!...host Brent Bambury dives into the world of your favorite classical cartoon music. Alan Neal answers queries about old TV shows. And the Go! gang hits the streets to find out whether Canadians really appreciate hair products. That's on Go!, Saturday morning at 10:05 (10:35 NT) on CBC Radio One. STRANDED: This Saturday on Stranded, host Jane Hawtin welcomes comedian/actor Dave Thomas of SCTV, the MacKenzie Brothers and, soon, the new Beachcombers. Find out which book, music, food and film he'd take if he were...stranded. That's Stranded, Saturday morning at 11 (11:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. CROSS-COUNTRY CHECKUP: Sunday on Cross Country Checkup...the Monarchy. The Queen is touring Canada to mark her Golden Jubilee...and everywhere she's met by adoring crowds. But behind it all, many - including the Deputy Prime Minister - question whether Canada needs the monarchy...especially one based in another country. What do you think? Does Canada need the monarchy? Join host Rex Murphy Sunday on Cross Country Checkup. That's on Cross Country Checkup Sunday afternoon from 4 until 6 (EASTERN) on CBC Radio One (CBC Hotsheet via gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. He estado observando, junto al colega local Luis A. Beauxis, aqui en Montevideo, que la presencia de Radio Habana Cuba ha desmejorado mucho desde un tiempo a esta parte. Ya no es posible escucharla con sus potentes señales en 25 metros, por nuestras noches. Solo capto una debil presencia en 9600. En 15230, ya no escucho nada. Pálida imagen de lo que era hace algunos años!. Alguien puede agregar alguna opinion al respecto? 73 (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo - Uruguay, Oct 9, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Gastando demasiado en fluido para jamming; y daños huracanetas? (gh, DXLD) Hola amigos, Aunque no es una emisora de mi predilección, sí he notado mucho las distorsiones en la emisiones, señales espóreas, frecuencias desajustadas, etc.; pero en cambio sí he notado el incremento del jamming cubano a estaciones como Radio Martí, WRMI y otros servicios que son para Cuba desde USA. Muchas veces interfiriendo y haciendo inaudibles canales adyacentes. Sabemos cómo es la politica y considero que para el gobierno, no para el pueblo de Cuba; es mejor tapar que mostrar (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital) Efectivamente cada vez es peor la recepción de Radio Habana Cuba; a las 1200 en 9550, 15230 y 11760 se escuchan muy distorsionada, más débil y deteriorada ... en ocasiones he notado que cesan de repente sin aviso sus emisiones. Saludos (Héctor Garcia B., México, Oct 10, Conexión Digital) Yo creo que la emisora debe adolecer de falta de repuestos y, por supuesto, de recursos para poder adquirirlos, amen del bloqueo impuesto a Cuba que obviamente la limita más en lo que se refiere a poder acceder a insumos desde otros países. Además, me imagino que como sucede con las pocas emisoras latinoamericanas nacionales que aun operan en la onda corta, parte de su equipamiento debe ser obsoleto. Es simplemente una opinión pero no se me ocurre otro motivo. Chau Saludos (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) ** CYPRUS. See LEBANON ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [non]. UNITED NATIONS. "RADIO UNMEE BROADCASTING FROM ABU DHABI". Radio UNMEE is the "Voice of the United Nations Peace Keeping Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea". It broadcasts news about the peacekeeping mission, such as exchanges of prisoners of war and messages for the reuniting of families. In January 2001, the Public Information office of the UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia launched its broadcasts for the Horn of Africa and were heard once a week on all channels of the Eritrean radio. In October 2001, all Radio UNMEE transmissions were suspended over Radio Ethiopia, but in June 2002, resumed via the Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, on SW. In April 2002, Radio UNMEE commenced broadcasts from the Merlin facility at Al Dhabbiya, Abu Dhabi, in parallel with the African learning satellite channel of the WorldSpace Foundation. The current SW transmission schedule is: Tuesdays 0430-0530 on 15215, mainly to Eritrea in Eritrean Tigrinya, Arabic, Tigre and English Fridays 1900-2000 on 13735, mainly to Ethiopia, in Amharic, Afan Oromo, Tigrinya, Ethiopian Tigrinya, and English. The English segments are 1945-2000, and 0515-0530 and the other language segments are translations of the English features. The 1900-2000 service is well heard here in Melbourne on 13735, with some interference from Voice of Vietnam 13740, from Son Tay. Mailing addresses are: ECA Building, PO Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia PO Box 5805, Asmara, Eritrea Comprehensive background information, images, program transcripts and audio files are available at: http://www.reliefweb.int http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/unmee/radio.htm (Bob Padula, EDXP Oct 11 via DXLD) ** ESTONIA [and non]. WHEN THE CURTAIN JAMMED After the Iron Curtain came down following the end of World War II, people inside the Soviet Union didn't receive much information via the state media about what was happening abroad. What little information did reach them through official channels was highly censored. But radio waves could penetrate the Iron Curtain, and this was a major worry to the authorities. One of the ways they dealt with the problem was to jam Western radio broadcasts. Now the truth can be told about what went on inside a typical jamming station. This week we publish the first in a series of articles in co-operation with the Kistler-Ritso Estonia Foundation. The Foundation aims to establish an Occupation Museum of the recent past in Estonia, where the developmental processes during the period 1940-1991 can be studied and where relevant materials, both objects and documents, can be collected and exhibited. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/jamming021011.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network Newsletter Oct 11 via DXLD) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS. Coming Soon: My colleague Alfonso Montealegre of RN's Spanish department leaves this weekend for a trip to Chile and the Falkland Islands. Amongst the many items on his agenda is a visit to the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station, where he'll be finding out how things have changed since the conflict with Argentina 20 years ago. Now there's TV on the island as well as a local outlet of the British Forces Broadcasting Service. The rural population is actually decreasing, while Stanley is a considerably bigger place than it was in 1982. So how has this affected FIBS? (Andy Sennitt, Media Network Newsletter Oct 11 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. On Saturdays Finnish Radio inserts short features in Komi and Erzya into its Russian service broadcasts. Both languages are Fenno-Ugric, spoken in Russia. Last year they had similar services in Mari and Udmurt (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal Oct 10 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. I found Your posting according DAO, Kielradio. Please refer to http://www.kielradio.de Email is info@kielradio.de Kind regards (Martin Reincke, CEO Kielradio via Marion Tempel, Germany, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. I just completed a thorough update of my webpages. Now finally a picture report about the Königs Wusterhausen site is available, I also added something about Wilsdruff and more nostalgia. Perhaps it will be further completed once I could deposit some files elsewhere. Das Ergebnis von zwei Tagen Stubenruhe, bedingt durch eine arge Erkältung, liegt nun vor. Nach fast fünf Monaten steht nun ein Bildbericht aus Königs Wurstklause zur Verfügung. Und klar: Man wils druff ankommen lassen. Und noch mehr feine Sachen. Es besteht auch eine Grundlage, einen Teil des Materials zwecks Hinzufügung weiterer Goodies auf andere, ihrer Verwendung harrenden 10 MByte auszulagern. Gute Unterhaltung! (Sollte das mit dem 27. August 1997 nicht stimmen bitte Alarm schlagen, janz sicha binnich miah da nämlich nich...) http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. The present Head of the English Service of DW is in the process of moving on to a different department within Deutsche Welle. As from the middle of this month there will be a new Head of the English Service. (via: Ms. Margot Forbes, DW English Service). Regards, (Md. Azizul Alam Al-Amin, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Names? ** GREECE. B-02 schedule for Voice of Greece, broadcasts to Australia: 0000-0358 15630 0400-0800 17520 21530 0600-0800 12110 (via Delano) 2100-2300 15650 9420 2300-0000 15650 All broadcasts in Greek (EDXP Oct 11 via DXLD) ** HONG KONG. RADIO TELEVISION HONG KONG You can find below details about RTV Hong Kong and their schedule for the Hainan Race, including transmissions on 3940 kHz. This information was obtained by email from from Ailsa Angus (Sailing Manager) - Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HAINAN RACE 2002 --- RADIO/WEATHER BROADCASTS These notes do NOT form part of the Hainan Race Sailing Instructions, and are issued for information only. RADIO CALLSIGNS Radio Relay Vessels in charge of radio communications schedules will have the following callsigns (with vessels' functions in brackets): RACE CONTROL ONE : (Yacht Elektra: in charge of the daily morning and evening radio position reporting schedules). RACE CONTROL TWO : (Yacht Dolphin Six: backup for both the daily morning and evening radio position reporting schedules and to relay reports as necessary to Race Control One). RACE CONTROL : in Hong Kong is any vessel designated by the Race Committee to give race information such as postponements, premature starters etc., before and up to 30 minutes after the start of the Hainan Race. After this, it is the callsign used by the Race Committee representatives in Hainan, who MAY be guarding 4060 kHz and 2638 kHz at the appropriate reporting times and MAY have 2182 kHz and 4125 kHz for distress and calling. RTHK : is Radio Television Hong Kong, which will broadcast special weather forecasts for boats in the Hainan Race on 3940 kHz. These forecasts, provided by Hong Kong Observatory, will be broadcast at the times shown below. They will also give detailed weather information for each of the five areas marked A to E on the map overleaf: ||||| [Local time of UT+8, so 0933 and 2133 UT. Some other DX sites have not made clear the correct UT for this. We have not converted any of the times in this item: they are as given, LOCAL -- gh] ||||| Date Time Time 16th October 2002 1733 17th October 2002 0533 1733 18th October 2002 0533 1733 19th October 2002 0533 POSITION REPORTING TIMES Take Position Radio Schedule 0600 0603 1800 1803 Yachts will be called in alphabetical order. From the start of the race until you are in port, EVEN IF YOU HAVE RETIRED AND ARE HEADING BACK TO HONG KONG OR ANY OTHER PORT, you MUST comply with the radio reporting schedules. Frequencies/Channels: SSB frequencies Ship transmits Ship receives Race Communications (Primary) 4060 kHz 4060 kHz Race Communications (Secondary) 2638 kHz 2638 kHz and International ship-to-ship International distress and calling 2182 kHz 2182 kHz RTHK weather forecasts ---- 3940 kHz Supplementary distress and calling 4125 kHz 4417 kHz Supplementary distress and calling 6215 kHz 6516 kHz International ship-to-ship 6218.6 kHz 6218.6 kHz Transmission mode is J3E (SSB suppressed carrier) unless otherwise specified for special purposes by your yacht's radio instruction manual. VHF channels: (transmit and receive) Contacting Race Committee Channel 72 Distress Channel 16 Ship-to-ship Channel 99 (Hong Kong waters) Channel 72 (International) Channel 77 (International) Civilian aircraft band frequency 121.5 MHz (distress and calling VHF) Military aircraft frequency 243 MHz (distress and calling UHF) Other frequencies/channels which may be used will be advised at race briefings. Radio Checks/Times: All times in these advisory notes are Hong Kong local time, which is the same as Hainan local time -- GMT/UTC plus eight hours. PLEASE NOTE: Any boat which fails to have a satisfactory radio check recorded and which subsequently fails to report their positions during the Hainan Race is unlikely to find much sympathy in any subsequent protest hearing relating to position reports. PLEASE ALSO NOTE that the radio reporting schedules are being run for reasons of safety, and therefore compliance with them is in your own interests in case of an emergency, quite apart from being required by the Race Instructions. The Radio Operator's Routine: PLEASE REMEMBER TO OBSERVE THE THREE MINUTE SILENCE/LISTENING PERIOD FROM :00 TO :03 MINUTES PAST THE HOUR AND :30 TO :33 PAST THE HALF HOUR. THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT. Your typical day's radio work is as follows: Morning Schedule Run engine to charge batteries. Listen to and note down the special weather forecast broadcast by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) at 0533 on 3940 kHz. Obtain your boat's 0600 hours position. Listen to and use for tuning if necessary the warning call from RACE CONTROL ONE at 0603. Give your boat's 0600 position when your boat is called beginning at 0603 on 4060 kHz. A sample call is: "YACHT ALPHA, this is RACE CONTROL ONE, your position please." Your sample reply is: "RACE CONTROL ONE, this is YACHT ALPHA, position two zero one zero, one one four two six, over." You should then hear your position read back, so you can correct any mistakes in reception. Remember to give about a one-second break after pressing your transmitting switch before you start speaking, otherwise the start of your speech may be clipped off by your transmitter's self-tuning. If you can't get through on 4060 kHz, RACE CONTROL ONE will call again for boats not heard the first time after completing the roll. Otherwise, try again on 2638 kHz when RACE CONTROL ONE will run through the list of those boats not heard previously. If your SSB is working, at worst you should be heard by other boats that can relay your position. If you know or suspect you have an SSB problem during the race, try calling any other boat on SSB and VHF (Channel 72) to ask them to relay your position. Evening Schedule In the evening, repeat the procedure as above but with later times as appropriate i.e.: Listen to and note down the special weather forecast broadcast by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) at 1745 on 3940 kHz. Obtain your boat's 1800 hours position. Listen to and use for tuning the warning call from RACE CONTROL ONE at 1803. Give your position to RACE CONTROL ONE when called on 4060 kHz. Additional Broadcast Information : All boats are strongly advised to leave their radios on at all other times on SSB frequency 2182 in case emergency assistance is requested by other boats during the race. Other Calls : Before and during the race, information MAY be broadcast on VHF Channel 72 and SSB frequency 4060 kHz. The Race Committee in Hainan MAY keep watch on VHF Channel 72 and SSB frequency 4060 kHz. Advisory calls we may ask you to make, if any, will be detailed during race briefings. If it all goes wrong ... It shouldn't, if your radio kit has been properly installed in a sensible place away from the companionway, and you've had it checked and tested. But it might if you manage to get water over the set - it's easy enough to protect it with a spray barrier comprising a plastic chart cover or something similar. It also might not work too well if you fail to charge your batteries. If you find yourself without SSB or VHF or both at some stage, for safety reasons alone (let alone what a subsequent protest committee might do in its naturally infinite wisdom) you should resort to communicating your predicament AND your position to other boats by any other means to hand AND log the fact and any signals you make. PLEASE NOTE that if your boat is the one with a radio problem, it is up to YOU to find another boat to tell - leaving aside the dictates of prudent seamanship, good manners and a willingness to help others, we cannot force other boats to drop down or head up from their proper courses to go and have a look at you. The way back: Because boats return to Hong Kong according to their own timetables rather than in one fleet, the trip home is outside the control of the Race Committee. Also, because ship-to-shore communications are covered by Hong Kong Telecommunications International's exclusive franchise, we cannot legally set up a radio base station at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club for this purpose. Those of you who are licensed ham radio operators can, of course, arrange to make your own contacts legally with Hong Kong-based ham operators at whatever times and frequencies you choose. While ashore and in the company of other yachties in Hainan or wherever, the most sensible option would be to try to find other yachts returning home at or about the same time as you. Set up your own radio schedules with them at the times used in the race. If you wish, you can establish an account with Hong Kong Telecom so as to make radio-telephone calls to Hong Kong : please contact Hong Kong Telecom for details. Race Office representatives in Hainan will keep a list of yachts' intended departure times as they receive them, so that boats can team up for the return trip if they so wish. The special RTHK weather forecasts will be broadcast daily at 0533 from 20th October to 24th October (inclusive) on 3940 for your return journey (via Marcelo Toníolo, NY, Oct 10, DXLD) ** ICELAND. Iceland National B.S. heard on new(?) 15715 at 1425 tune in until close down at 1443 after news headlines. A fairly good signal, and assumed to be the nominal 1410-1440 service to NoAmerica. Listed 15775 was occupied until 1430 by a transmission in Vietnamese - presumed to be VOH via Jülich (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Oct 11, Cumbre DX via DXLD) The current frequencies in use are: To Europe: 1215-1300 UTC 15715 kHz 1755-1825 UTC 13865 kHz To USA: 1410-1440 UTC 15715 kHz 1835-1905 UTC 13865 kHz 2300-2335 UTC 13865 kHz Icelandic Telecom has engaged a small German frequency consulting company to coordinate the frequencies at the HFCC conferences since season B00, but is quite unsatisfied with the results and tends to choose alternative frequencies. Those frequencies which were circulating in the DX press during the last weeks labeled "B02 schedule Iceland" are only HFCC registrations, not any decided frequencies. There is still no definite decision about how long the relays of RÚV domestic news on SW are going to continue. The Icelandic fisherfleet still requests these relays, however. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithunia, Oct 11, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9525, Voice of Indonesia. Received in 1 year 2 months for English report, 3 IRCs and a follow up report, a hand written verification on the follow up report, which I had sent by email to Liem Kwet Hian in Jakarta, who hand carried my report to the station. v/s Endang R promises a QSL card to come. Card or no, I consider this to be valid QSL already. This ends a 12 years quest for verification from this station. My thanks to Mr Liem for all the legwork (Richard Lam, Singapore, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Satellite radios head for used car lots By Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 9, 2002, 4:17 PM PT XM Satellite Radio unveils plans to supply thousands of independent car dealerships, including used car lots, with $400 satellite radio receivers to offer to their customers... http://news.com.com/2100-1033-961468.html (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Hi Glenn, Further to Noel Green's observation in DXLD-2156: Further information from Radio Caroline Station Manager Peter Moore confirms that the transmitter site for 7140 kHz has been established as Ireland. Moore believes it is the same site as mediumwave 1593 kHz (whatever that is, I haven't had time to check). But he continues to insist that the shortwave transmission is unauthorised. Audio is apparently taken from Radio Caroline's satellite signal on Astra 19.2 degrees east. We also forwarded to him a report that appeared in HCDX of a QSL being received for 7140 kHz. He says that a QSL may have been sent out if the programme details were correct, but that doesn't mean that Radio Caroline itself was responsible for the shortwave transmissions, although it was aware of them. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CAROLINE ON SHORTWAVE - STATION MANAGER PETER MOORE'S COMMENTS From: RadioCarolineMailinglist@yahoogroups.com Date: 08 October 2002 15:51:09 Hello everyone, I've been reading the comments here and elsewhere about the relay of our programmes on short wave. While we are delighted to have our programmes relayed by authorised broadcast organisations that have received our prior permission and consent, but we do not and will not condone either unauthorised or illegal re-transmissions of our programmes. Over the past ten years we have injected a massive amount of time, effort and our own money into this project - as well as that of our Support Group members. We will not jeopardise either our Licence nor this investment by being irresponsible enough to authorise illegal relays. Radio Caroline has and does not issue QSL cards to listeners' reception reports that quote unofficial platforms, so I can only assume that someone is either mischief making or has made an error in reporting that we have. Even if our message is the same, we are no longer in International Waters - whether we like it or not we MUST adhere to national and international broadcasting legislation if we are to continue to be heard. I hope this makes our position clear. Peter Moore may not thank me for reproducing a recent message he sent to me regarding this subject, but for clarity it follows below: Best regards, Rob Leighton ****************************************************************** Dear Rob, Re SW thanks for the info that you sent of various postings on the fan lists. My attitude about relays is simple. From the time we went on satellite onward, we sometimes get reception reports concerning ' Caroline ' broadcasts on frequencies that we do not use. Our assumption is that persons unknown are either re-sending our satellite signal or sending out some historic Caroline recording. Perhaps this is done since the operator(s) think they are assisting us, or perhaps they enjoy causing mischief. Radio Caroline and the Radio Authority have spoken and they agree that there is nothing that we can do. To appeal for the activity to stop, could only be done on air, which would only draw attention to the matter. Further, confusion happens when operators put out a 'Caroline Tribute' as happened recently via a Laser test on 5935. Speculation that a recent direct relay may have come from Riga or Italy is I am sure based on the knowledge that we have associates in Riga and on the French Italian border. I do not send QSL replies. I send such stuff to Caroline Sales in case they can turn their reply in to some merchandise sales. Of course neither we or they can legitimise a QSL on a frequency that we do not use. My personal interest in a sporadic low power SW transmission is too small to quantify. We already have a third of the world covered in perfect digital quality via Worldspace. What do I care about some mono signal that is there one day, gone the next and at best is heard under morse code, utility signals and mush. My ambition is to do such a good job for W/Space that they add us to Asiastar (another third of the World). Also we are still looking longingly at a Sky channel. SW is of no interest to me. Why do the people doing all the rumour mongering not just listen to this relay and enjoy it. At present it seems that they may frighten the operator in to turning it off. If the signal comes from the UK, the operator will get captured in due course and if it comes from far abroad it is not a UK problem. It is certainly not my problem in either case. When I was a young man and a pirate we used to put out an AM signal and play music for the purposes of entertaining the listeners. What would actually happen is that spotty anoraks would soon be seen creeping around our location, carrying wire frame aerials and huge radio sets. Since the location was usually our parents home we would have to go off air. Thus the anoraks would actually ruin the very thing that supposedly gave them so much excitement. Nothing much changes does it. Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach. The rest just watch and speculate. OK, bills to pay, letters to write, see you soon. Peter M (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ITALY [non?]. MONITORING IRRS-SHORTWAVE THIS WEEK-END ON 13840 KHZ Hi There, We have just completed several technical upgrades, that will be tested in the coming two weeks at IRRS-Shortwave. Transmitter modulation has been digitally-enhanced to support CCM (Carrier Controlled Modulation), DSB (Dual Side Band); our antenna system has been upgraded; and our digital audio link to the transmitter and modulation has been improved. We would appreciate receiving reception reports for the coming two week-ends Oct 12-13 and Oct. 19-20, 2002 13,840 kHz from 0800-1200 UTC. Power for these broadcasts will be 10 kW, target area during these times will be Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, with DX reception in the former USSR. We are also pleased to announce some special broadcasts this coming week-end Oct. 12-13, on 13,840 kHz: ==| at 0800-0815 UT: United Nations news (Sat & Sun) ==| at 0830-0930 UT Saturday 12 Oct. 2002 (repeated Sunday Oct. 13): Radio Rasant, with a special program on UNICEF. See http://www.radio- rasant.org and: ==| at 0930-1000 UT Saturday (also on Sunday at the same time): Radio Santec in German. Both Radio Rasant and Radio Santec above will issue their special QSL cards when writing to the address mentioned on the air. You may also send reception reports and comments on these broadcasts to reports@nexus.org, and we will forward them to the program producers that you hear on the air. Additionally, you may tune into http://mp3.nexus.org and obtain a QSL card by reporting on our streaming audio service in parallel with all of our radio broadcasts. Thanks and stay tuned! 73, Ron -- (Ron Norton, NEXUS-IBA support, PO Box 11028, 20110 Milano, Italy e-mail : ron@nexus.org Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But, but, if we get QSLs, what country do they count as?? (gh, DXLD) ** LEBANON. The German ADDX Kurier magazine published in its 4/98 edition a report about a visit at Radio Lebanon in October 1997. Here is the gist: The studio equipment is more than 30 years old and was once obtained from Germany. The shortwave and mediumwave transmitters were damaged in the civil war, for this reason only 10 kW are in use on mediumwave anymore. Radio Lebanon employs about 30 people in the engineering section but has about 200 people in the administration. Only a single program is produced [sic], about 10 % of it are transferred via satellite to RFI for retransmission on shortwave [sic]. On FM 96.2, 100.2 and 100.6 are in use, it is said that the same program goes out on FM and MW but instead always another program was heard on 989 instead. Mediumwave is said to use two frequencies, 873 and 989, but only 989 could be heard. There are two transmitter sites, one inmidst Beirut in the Al Hamra district of the town, containing on a 45 metres tall mast and two Harris transmitters. The second site is at Amschid, about 40 km north from Beirut. Radio Lebanon has to share this site with private broadcasters. Comments: It remains unclear what the figure for engineering staff means, only sound engineers? The statement about retransmissions via RFI appears to be a misunderstanding, in fact it is certainly Radio Lebanon which relays RFI programming caught via satellite. The transmitter site inmidst Beirut appears to be FM while all AM transmitters are at Amschid (or Amchid), hard to say whether or not this site is really in use by other stations, too. So in 1997 they were on 989 and 873 was silent, but today? Of course for Germany there are anyway no other stations than Deutschlandradio, RAI and SER on 990 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Olle Alm looked into old WRTHs and found this info about Lebanon 989/900 kHz: the station first appeared in WRTH 1959 with 10 kW. Before that, only 836 kHz with 4 kW was listed. From WRTH 1964, the power on 836 kHz was listed with 100 kW. When 989 kHz started, it carried the Arabic prgr of R. Lebanon, while 836 kHz carried the French program. 836 was logged often in Scandinavia, 989 kHz more seldom. When the Geneva Plan came into force on 23 November 1978, the 989 kHz was supposed to be changed to 990 kHz, 836 to 837 kHz (new frequency pattern). The 873 kHz mentioned in the ADDX Kurier article is probably a typo for 837 kHz. WRTH 2002 lists Achmit on 837 kHz with 100 kW and on 990 kHz with 10 kW. Lebanon has registered the following transmitters with the ITU (recorded by the ITU in 1982): Telznoub 549 (100 kW D), Hamat 837 (600 kW D), Beyruth 945 (10 kW ND), Achmit 990 (100 kW ND), Aito 1494 (10 kW ND). All are Geneva Plan assignments. Note - the Master Frequency Register of the ITU does not make a difference between active and inactive (resp. not built) stations (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEOI, 6010, was dominating the frequency, for a change, after 1200 UT Oct 10; the het(s) had pretty much disappeared, but there was splash from 6015. Had a talk/news program with CDT time checks, and never heard a `Your dog has fleas` jingle. BTW, the story below mentions that Encuentro DX is no longer carried on MW, just SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Publicado en el Diario Milenio La ventana ciega-Claudia Segura ¡LA RANCHERA DE MONTERREY EN MI RECÁMARA! La madrugada de anoche escuchaba la radio, cuando de pronto se coló a través de mi radio la emisora La Ranchera de Monterrey. Indudablemente se trataba de una recepción excepcional, porque en la chilanga capital del país nunca es audible una emisora de Monterrey. Mi sorpresa no acababa, cuando me enteré que La Ranchera de Monterrey se ubica en el 1050 de AM y que antes no la había percibido, pese a ser una frecuencia libre internacional, porque atraviesa en la ciudad de México con el 1030 de AM, que es nada más y nada menos Radio Centro, emisora piloto de Grupo Radio Centro, la cual cuenta con un gran alcance, además de ser, al igual que La Ranchera de Monterrey, una emisora de sistema de transmisión AM Stereo y, pa` colmo, con 100 mil wats de potencia. Lo que escriba yo es poco para describir la emoción que me dio recibir desde aquí una señal de Núcleo Radio México de Monterrey, que para mis castos oídos chilangos corresponde a NRM Comunicaciones. En fin, que en las más de tres horas y media que seguí en el 1050 de AM, escuché ``Los cañonazos de la Ranchera de Monterrey`` y entre corte y corte, me enteré que hay frecuencias hermanas de La Ranchera en Núcleo Radio Monterrey: Génesis y Morena, las que se anunciaban en la voz de Gustavo Alvite Martínez, voz también institucional de Sinfonola en el DF. Fue una gran experiencia, no sólo porque sin trucos de magia ni antenas parabólicas percibí a la radio regia en su máximo esplendor. No fue necesario meterse en un asunto de internet, aunque sí resultó muy grato notar que en la web Núcleo Radio México cuenta con una pagina similar a la NRM. Por otro lado, es de lo más sabroso notar qué bien programan los regios, ``¡están bien perrones!``, como lo indica su eslogan que se repite con esta misma frase en Sinfonola (1410 de AM), también de NRM Comunicaciones, ¡la más perrona del cuadrante chilango! En fin, que no me he querido dormir hasta escuchar tres horas más de radio regia. Y por ello canturrié ``y nos dieron las dos y las tres y las cuatro y una y las dos...``, y nada más porque recordé que debía dormir al menos un minuto, sino me sigo hasta el amanecer, pues es un placer escuchar radio de otros puntos del dial nacional, como solamente sucede con la XEB, que es también una frecuencia libre internacional, como La Ranchera de Monterrey, que ha transmitido por seis décadas en el 1050 de AM bajo el mismo formato y, claro está, ya se ganó el derecho a que ninguna otra emisora ocupe su lugar en el cuadrante mexicano. Ahora, para que usted y yo comprendamos qué significa que una emisora de radio tenga un derecho de transmisión como frecuencia libre internacional, ejemplifico con un suceso futbolístico, donde por respeto a un jugador muy fregón como Hugo Sánchez, por mencionar al mejor de México, sacan su número de las camisetas del equipo porque ese será siempre el designado al niño de los pichichis. Fue una experiencia religiosa también, porque no hay ninguno como los regios para programar rancheras, gruperas, balada ranchera y hasta quebraditas con un encanto, que se podía uno dejar llevar por horas y horas sin que la programación musical brincara. Lo confieso, me desvelé, sí, pero valió la pena porque la radio es siempre tan local, que es un placer de placeres el que rompamos los esquemas y escuchemos a la radio de aquí y de allá. Lo que me trae a la mente que hoy comienza la 54 semana de la CIRT en la ciudad de México, y que está por celebrarse un aniversario más de Encuentro DX en Radio Mil onda corta. De este festejo lo que me entristece es que sacaran de la onda media de Radio Mil Encuentro DX, porque la serie podría haber sonado muy lenta o de poco interés para los no versados en la radio diexista, pero de que es un programa básico para esos cazadores de la radio sin fronteras, lo es. Con mucho agrado debo de confesar que La Ranchera de Monterrey me dejó enamorada de cualquier cantidad de regios, pero en especial de uno: del dial de Nuevo León. Fue un placer sabrosísimo. Claudia Segura (via Héctor García B., DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. WINTER BROADCAST SCHEDULE OF THE VOICE OF MONGOLIA Language UTC Freq Power Azim Days Japanese 0830-0900 12085 250 126 every day Mongolian 0900-0930 12085 250 126 every day 0900-0930 990 500 120 every day Chinese 0930-1000 12085 250 126 every day 0930-1000 990 500 120 every day English 1000-1030 12085 250 178 every day Mongolian 1030-1100 12085 100 178 every day 1030-1100 990 500 120 every day Chinese 1100-1130 12085 100 178 every day 1100-1130 990 500 120 every day Japanese 1200-1230 12085 100 126 every day Russian 1330-1400 12015 50 315 Saturday, Sunday English 1500-1530 12015 50 315 every day English 2000-2030 12015 50 315 every day (via Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Oct 9, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. BURMA 5040.60 R. Myanmar (presumed) Oct 6 1510 in Burmese(?) 23222 poor signal and audio. Some women talking and laughing. No musics. Using lang. sounded like Burmese I guess. 4725 was not heard (Gaku IWATA, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hello from Hilversum, It has been a sombre week here at Radio Netherlands, and across the country. As you will have seen from the special announcement we sent out last Sunday, the death of HRH Prince Claus was followed by the immediate suspension of our normal programmes for 24 hours. We had quite a lot of reaction to Marijke van der Meer's documentary that was broadcast in their place, many telling us that they had not been aware of just how much good work Prince Claus had done in his life, and how popular he was with the Dutch people. If you missed it, you can listen online. The link is on the obituary page of our Web site at http://www.rnw.nl/obituary/en/html/claus.html On Tuesday 15 October, Radio Netherlands will carry live coverage in Dutch of the funeral of Prince Claus between 0800 and 1200 UT. Additional transmitters will be on the air to ensure good reception in all target areas. The details are on our schedule page at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/schedule.html. Please note that the details of transmissions via Russian sites are preliminary and subject to last minute change. The English service will be covering the event in Newsline, and Martha Hawley has prepared a special edition of Music 52-15 for broadcast on the day (Andy Sennitt, Media Network Newsletter Oct 11 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hi guys, I have put some photo's up of our DX weekend to Holten in East Holland. I also had the chance to visit the Radio Nederland Flevo transmitter site on the way home. http://home.planet.nl/~kalle216/ 73 (Dave Onley, ARDXC via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Some changes for RNZI in A-02 schedule: 0459-0728 Daily on 15340, ex 0459-0658 0729-1105 Daily on 11675, ex 0659-1105 1750-1830 Sunday on 15160 || new transmission, noted on Sep. 29 and Oct. 6 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 11 via DXLD) ** NORWAY/UK. MERLIN SIGNS AGREEMENT TO MARKET KVITSOY SW AIRTIME | Text of report by VT Merlin Communications newsletter The Oracle July- September 2002 edition VT Merlin Communications has signed an exclusive agreement with Norkring, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telenor, operators of Norway's communications infrastructure. The agreement will see VT Merlin market capacity from its shortwave facilities in Kvitsoy, Norway, providing extensive coverage of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and beyond. The facilities consists of 4 x 400 kW shortwave transmitters that can be operated at half power, providing customers with immediate cost savings on broadcast transmissions, whilst providing comprehensive coverage of their target regions. The rotating and fixed curtain antennas offer customers flexibility to broadcast their programmes within 360 degrees of the facilities. The efficient and well managed facilities will now allow VT Merlin to offer its customers more comprehensive coverage of Europe, with the added flexibility of permitting out of band broadcasting, allowing us to provide additional services in the crowded 6 MHz band. Source: VT Merlin Communications newsletter The Oracle, London, in English 10 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Bring on the gospel huxters! (gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 9737, R. Nacional del Paraguay, 0235 Oct 11, reactivated again, heard with talks on Health issues "Dia Nacional de la Salud Mental". Always some distorted audio, like a ripple effect of a 50 Hz unfiltered voltage (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo - Uruguay, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Daily report from S.E. Michigan using a Grundig Satellit 800: 9737, R. Nacional Paraguay, 0030-0040 Oct 11. Traditional music in Spanish, OM talking, ID "ésta es Radio Nacional de[l] Paraguay. Reception very clear. BTW, anyone ever get a QSL from them? (Joseph B. Miller, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Dear Glenn: This morning at 05:30:16 local time (2130:16 UT) I heard Radio Nacional del Paraguay on 9740 kHz, when The Voice of America was s/off their Serbian at 2130:16 UT, The first hearing was a song by a woman, then program in Spanish announced by a man. The special events broadcast was Paraguay President's speaking in Taiwan; he was visiting Taiwan to celebrate the National Day of Double Ten's National Holiday (10.10 2002) for our 91st National Birthday, at 2145:10 UT, and then broadcast the speech of Paraguay ambassador to Republic of China at 2147:20 UT. I think may be speaking also in Taiwan by ambassador and at 2154:06 UT announces ID Radio Nacional del Paraguay by a lady, then announced frequency, at 2157:03 UT, BBC with stronger signal of 3-note IS covers the signal of Radio Nacional del Paraguay (every time BBC has precision s/on time at 2157:03 UT with 3-note IS for their Indonesian language service). Today's signal of Radio Nacional del Paraguay is 34333. Thank you very much for your valuable information of world shortwave broadcasting. Sincerely yours, Your faithful reader (Yin Yung-chien, Taiwan, 11. 10. 2002 07:19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Adán Mur, de Radio América me dijo en un mensaje personal que durante todo el fin de semana seguirán las pruebas por los 7385 en paralelo con los 7737 khz. El inicio de los tests en 9980 khz están postergados momentáneamente hasta que se dé solución a algunos problemas técnicos menores. Saludos (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Oct 11, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. During the whole afternoon of 29 Sep heard a harmonic of Radio Rossii on 14880 kHz (2 x 7440). Good modulation, steady signal. (Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine, Signal Oct 10 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN --- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Wednesday: Nobel Prizes announced in Chemistry and Economics, feature on men's clothing over the centuries Thursday: Nobel Prize in Literature announced, "GreenScan" on sawdust pellets and the Latvian Environmental Foundation Friday: Our weekly review, including the Nobel Peace Prize announcement Saturday: "Sweden Today" looks back at the recent Swedish elections Sunday: Another chance to hear the "Sounds Nordic" Ace of Base special Here's the new Radio Sweden English shortwave schedule for the period beginning October 27 (all times UT): Europe/Africa/Middle East 1430-1500 17505 kHz 1830-1900 1179 and 6065 kHz (not Sundays) Sundays on 5840 kHz 2030-2100 1179, 6065, and 9445 kHz 2230-2300 1179 and 6065 kHz Asia/Pacific 0130-0200 9490 kHz 1230-1300 17505 kHz 1330-1400 9430 kHz 1430-1500 17505 kHz 2030-2100 9445 kHz North America 0230-0300 and 0330-0400 on 9495 kHz (via Sackville, Canada) 1230-1300, 1330-1400 and 1430-1500 18960 kHz (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Oct 9 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Found extremely distorted signal in Chinese peaking around 15090, 15150 and 15210, but spreading up to 15 kHz, before 1400 UT Oct 11, when FE conditions were excellent (China music jammer loud and clear on 15060). 3+1 timesig at hourtop, then into English reciting entire RTI frequency schedule (the stale news can wait!). Per website, the only frequency for English at 1400 is 15265, to SE Asia, but not heard there. Extremely maladjusted. While at site, noticed: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CBS Radio Taipei International`s first ever series of radio dramas ``Tales of Dutch Formosa`` will be rebroadcast every Friday starting Oct. 11. These radio dramas are dramatic interpretations of true historical events from the Dutch occupation of Formosa, now called Taiwan. Prof. Llyn M. Scott and Mr. Norman Szabor are the authors of the dramas. Prof. Llyn M. Scott also act as the director. Our host Andrew is the producer and engineer. Our regularly scheduled programming, both Hour 1 and 2, for Fridays of Oct. 11, 18, 25 and Nov. 1 will be cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. Make sure you tune in then! For more information and listen to the program, click here! http://www.cbs.org.tw/english/Formosa/index.htm (RTI website Oct 11 via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN [non]. Re: Voice of Christ. Hi Glenn, I don't know if this helps, this is the registration info for the website http://www.rvoc.org Registrant: RVOC (EAYGIBHVAD) PO Box 14871, Reading, PA 19612 US Domain Name: RVOC.ORG Administrative Contact, Technical Contact: RVOC (MJGSESPQKO) ADMIN@RVOC.ORG RVOC, PO Box 14871, Reading, PA 19612 US 800-760-7862 fax: 123 123 1234 Record expires on 29-Sep-2005. Record created on 07-Aug-2002. Database last updated on 9-Oct-2002 15:11:40 EDT. Domain servers in listed order: NS1.BURLEE.COM 66.36.103.1 NS2.BURLEE.COM 66.36.102.113 The Donation website https://www.burleecom.com/rvoc_secure/donate2.shtml is no longer active but can be found in the Google cache, it gives also a Canadian contact address: Radio Voice of Christ, PO Box 2161, Sardis Station Main, Chilliwack, B.C. V2R 1A6 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY: Regarding Anker's comments on Istanbul Polis Radyosu, DXLD 2-156: This station now has a website with live audio stream at: http://www.polisradyosu.net A list of FM frequencies is given for various Turkish cities, including Istanbul on 94.1 MHz. Regards, (Dave Kernick, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. RADIO UGANDA PLANS DIGITAL SHORTWAVE BROADCASTING, EXPANSION OF FM USAGE Radio Uganda on 8 October carried a interview with two unidentified officials of the state-owned station who discussed the problems facing the organization and its "big plans" for the future. The future of shortwave The officials were asked whether, in view of the expansion in FM broadcasting, Radio Uganda would cease its shortwave and mediumwave transmissions. One of them replied: "No, no, because you know, as I said, with mediumwave and shortwave we've got the means of talking to the people with [only] one or two [transmitting] stations. For instance, we have operated in the shortwave with one transmitter for Red Channel [in English, Swahili and some Ugandan languages] and one transmitter for Blue Channel [mainly in various Ugandan languages] and we have been covering the whole of Uganda. So you cannot really move away from that. Important is of course to the listener to be aware that these are still [in] operation. So, likewise also for the mediumwave. Because this is a fall-back position. You know, if the FM, if you have a problem with the satellite [feed], for instance, you still just tune to your mediumwave or shortwave and get that programme that you like." Listeners were assured that shortwave broadcasting was "going to get a new lease on life" through the development of a digital system "whereby you can get the quality, FM quality, on shortwave". "We are going to convert our shortwave equipment to digital such that the signal goes digitally... Nobody is going to throw away shortwave." It was also noted that shortwave broadcasting allowed Radio Uganda to be heard elsewhere in Africa, and indeed other parts of the world. The station was also looking seriously at the possibility of digitizing other aspects of its operations. However, this would be a major undertaking as it had over 20 studios. Expansion of FM and regional broadcasting One of the officials noted that Radio Uganda's five-year development plan envisaged - "finances allowing" - an expansion of regional broadcasting, with 10 new stations opening upcountry. It was noted that one upcountry station, Mega FM radio in Gulu (northern Uganda) on 98.6 MHz, was already on the air, although it had not yet been launched officially. On FM broadcasting, it was noted that Radio Uganda's Blue Channel was now relayed on FM from Kololo (Kampala) using a new transmitter on 105.7 MHz FM while the Red Channel was using an old transmitter on 98 FM. FM transmitters had also been installed at Jinja (95.7), Fort Portal (98.8), Kabale (93.7), Mbarara (97.4) and Mbale (96.9). A further seven FM transmitters were planned for various places around the country. Equipment problems The interviewer put to the two officials that there had been a deterioration in Radio Uganda's equipment and studios. They agreed that it was a "challenge" to maintain the station's old equipment. However, it was pointed out that "Radio Uganda is on air, is operational, we produce the programmes... we record them, broadcast them. That means we have the equipment to do that." A "malicious" press report that things at Radio Uganda were tied together with "rubber bands" and that "machines are being sustained by stones" was denied. Source: Radio Uganda, Kampala, in English 1900 gmt 8 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U A E. Insight: Seeking to conquer new heights Dubai |By Jay B. Hilotin | 11-10-2002 Whoever said that the Arab world is one massive monolith is patently parochial. This is one of misconceptions that the Emirates Dubai Radio and TV is trying to correct through its three radio stations and four TV channels dealing in news, current affairs, business, sports, and cultural programmes. These operations have a single mission: to reflect the Arab world not just in all its diversity. And it is not way off the mark. Despite its being a latecomer in the broadcast scene, Dubai RTV has established its commanding presence both in the regional and global arenas. With over 900 employees working its different services, the present size and nature of Emirates Dubai RTV's international reach places it in a unique position.... http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=65288 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U K [non]. RUSSIA: BVBN noted on Sat Oct. 5 with new schedule on 7430: 1700-1815 in English, ex 1700-1900; 1815-1900 in Arabic || new language (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 11 via DXLD) Received QSL from Bible Voice for their Bengali transmission at 0030- 0100 UT on 9855 kHz. Full data hand written QSL was issued from Eastbourne office (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5920, WBOH 0310-0340+ Oct. 9. Test Loop with female speaker giving information and address for reception reports, then test tones of 8 and 11 second duration. Audio was fair, noisy and generally unstable signal. Thanks to Jerry Berg for the tip on the Test! (Ed Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbre DX via DXLD) The WBOH test transmissions were heard today (Oct. 10) around 0640 tune in on 5920 at weak to fair strength. Tone followed by announcement by woman: "This is WBOH, Newport, North Carolina, USA, conducting equipment tests on five-nine-two-zero kilohertz..." followed by requests for reception reports and an address [which I could not copy completely]. WTJC 9370 was either off air, or the extremely weak "something" peaking up from time to time on the frequency (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Also again here around 0500 UT Sept 10, poor. Brief recording is on WORLD OF RADIO 1151 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Apparently a computer glitch is causing WJIE to play outdated backup WOR defaults instead of the latest. This was still the case Oct 11 at 1200 on 7490, this date with extreme DVR QRM. They have also been broadcasting a lot of dead air, sometimes at this hour, and as a rule after 0500 -- all night?? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7385, WRMI, Miami FL; 2304-2333+, 10 Oct; WRMI QRMing itself! English Bible thumper over repeated WRMI ID loop. Program is Apocalypse Chronicles and continued at 2331 after ad for Green Harvest survival food. SIO= 5(5 or 3?)4- (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. [AMFMTVDX] Digital Radio Vote Upcoming Does anyone have information on the upcoming FCC vote regarding IBOC (In Band On Channel Digital Radio)? I heard the on-channel tests conducted from WLW recently, and I think it might behoove every one of us to write to the FCC, urging them to vote "NO" on the conversion of the AM band to all-digital. My thoughts on the matter are simple: There's NO WAY we can cram 44.1 KHz of dual-channel digital into one 7.5-KHz wide channel. There's NO WAY I could listen to WSB, WLW, or WGN from Omaha. This is, in my own opinion, another cash mill concocted by the same folks who brought you the dot bombs of this millenium. Something new to sell: "Hey! We're going live with our all-digital signal next month!" Just another "selling point" for numbnutted account executives. I believe that if the FCC had SELECTED an AM stereo standard in the 80s, and if the FCC had never chosen NRSC, but insisted on regular station inspections for splatter-emitters, AM would sound better than anything a digital transmitter could produce! (I mean, come ON! Have you ever heard the "digital quality" that the new cellphones produce?) 73, (Steve Lawrence, Omaha, Oct 9, AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. Technology - AP FCC APPROVES PLAN FOR DIGITAL RADIO Thu Oct 10, 10:18 AM ET By DAVID HO, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators gave the go-ahead Thursday for digital radio, approving a plan to modernize the medium with better sound and new features for personalized programming. The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) voted 4-0 to adopt digital radio technology created by iBiquity Digital Corp., a company backed by large broadcasters including ABC and Viacom. The commissioners enthusiastically endorsed the technology, saying it will benefit the industry and consumers. "We don't get many items where it's a win-win for everyone. There's no down side," Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy said. Radio has changed little for decades. FCC (news - web sites) Chairman Michael Powell said he's heartened that such a dramatic leap forward in technology is in store. "I'm thrilled and excited to see the radio wagon train finally get to the other side," he said. The approval allows radio stations to immediately begin broadcasting digital signals, though it probably will take a few months for the first stations to start. Manufacturers plan to sell digital receivers for car stereos and high- end audio systems starting next year, adding about $100 to the price of a traditional unit. It's unclear how soon digital technology will be included in portable radios. The iBiquity technology allows broadcasters to use their existing airwaves to simultaneously send digital and analog signals. Listeners won't have to buy a new radio to continue listening to their favorite stations, but can if they want better sound and other options. Supporters say the new technology will bring CD-quality sound to FM broadcasts, an end to static for AM and new data features. Radio One Inc., which owns and operates 65 stations and primarily targets black listeners, already has ordered digital transmitters, said John Mathews, the company's director of engineering. He said the Lanham, Md.-based company plans to start digital broadcasts within three months in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit and Los Angeles. "We wanted to be in the front on this," he said. "The quality improvement is just phenomenal. It's analogous to the transition between cassettes and CDs." Some digital car stereos will have small screens, displaying news or advertising or pictures of the artist whose song is playing. Others will allow listeners to choose when to hear reports on stocks, sports, weather and traffic. The digital broadcasts will be free, unlike the subscriber services offered by Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, which beam music and talk to radios from satellites. Digital broadcasts use the same language as computers — a series of on and off electronic pulses. Broadcasts with the proposed technology won't increase a radio station's range, but digital signals can be cleaned up, removing garble and uneven reception (AP via Yahoonews via Artie Bigley, and Ricky Leong, DXLD) FCC APPROVES METHOD OF BROADCASTING DIGITAL RADIO By BARNABY J. FEDER c.2002 New York Times News Service The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve a method for broadcasting digital radio that can be deployed within current analog channels. And in a move likely to speed adoption of the technology, the agency endorsed a patented approach for delivering such services developed by iBiquity Digital, a privately held company whose investors include the nation's 15 largest radio broadcasting companies. The technology enables broadcasters to begin sending digital signals while also continuing to provide standard AM and FM analog service to listeners who do not own receivers capable of picking up the digital programming. ``Radio can now formally begin its long-awaited digital transformation,`` said Robert Struble, president and chief executive of iBiquity, which is based in Warren, N.J. and Columbia, Md. ``It's the most significant advance since the introduction of FM radio.`` The first digital radio broadcasts are expected before the end of the year. But the equipment to receive the signals will not be available to consumers before next spring. A digital car radio is projected to cost $100 or so more than a comparable analog receiver. Digital radio broadcasting promises clearer sound than conventional analog transmissions, and the ability to transmit streams of data along with audio programming. But it has been delayed by regulatory and technical concerns. Thursday's FCC ruling, however, coupled with the iBiquity technology, gives regulators a way to back digital radio without enduring the controversy that comes with any effort to reallocate portions of the broadcasting spectrum. Yet, some supporters of low-powered community radio stations that serve college campuses, small towns and urban neighborhoods say that the impact of new technology on them could be devastating. ``The big guys will be trashing the signals of the little guys,`` said Christopher Maxwell, who is attempting to create a low-powered station in Richmond, Va., and maintains a Web site opposing the technology http://www.digitaldisaster.org The problem, Maxwell said, is that by broadcasting digitally, stations will be filling more of the spectrum at the very edges of their allotted channels. That might make it harder for receivers to pick up weak signals from stations that cannot afford to invest tens of thousands of dollars in digital transmission equipment, he said.The ruling also worried nonprofit groups that use portions of the broadcast spectrum to read newspapers and books over the air to blind and disabled listeners. Millions of Americans receive the broadcasts, according to David W. Noble, head of the government affairs committee of the International Association of Audio Information Services. They are generally broadcast at the edges of the channels owned by public radio stations. It is possible that a fully digital system may lead to big improvements in such ``sideband`` services, as they are known. But fears about interference will be heightened as long as stations are carrying both analog and digital signals. The FCC acknowledged that such issues exist and said it wanted to address them in proposals for a final digital broadcasting standard. For now, the industry has temporary permission to broadcast digitally on FM frequencies around the clock and in the daytime only on AM channels. Ibiquity said that tests to establish proposed standards for AM digital broadcasting after sundown, when AM signals travel farther, would be finished by the end of the year. Advocates of the technology say that digital broadcasting can improve FM broadcasts to CD-quality sound and AM broadcast to FM quality. In addition, digital broadcasts are less likely to be disrupted by obstructions like buildings or hills. Digital`s biggest advantage, though, is the wide range of data services that it could eventually offer to listeners. For instance, listeners could receive information about an artist whose music is being played, customized traffic reports, or data about discounts at stores in shopping centers they are approaching. Owners of digital radio receivers that are envisioned for the future will also be able to set them to record, edit and replay programming, just as owners of technologies like TIVO do today with television. CP 1911ES 10-10 (New York Times via Mike Terry, DXLD) You can see further information on these exciting events, including our press release and commentary, at our website, http://www.ibiquity.com/news/news_fccapproves.html We will also be adding information to the site relating to today's press call and any pertinent transcripts from the FCC or iBiquity over the next few days.... (Bob Struble, President & CEO, iBiquity Digital Corporation, via Sid Merhi, National Manager, Heart N Soul Radio, Sydney, EDXP via DXLD) Here's the FCC's release on the move, thanks to a poster on the NY Radio Message Board: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: News Media Contact: October 10, 2002 Audrey Spivack 202-418-0512 FCC SELECTS DIGITAL RADIO TECHNOLOGY Authorizes AM and FM Interim, Voluntary Digital Operation Washington, DC -- Today in a First Report and Order, the FCC selected in-band, on-channel (IBOC) as the technology that will bring the benefits of digital audio broadcasting to AM and FM radio broadcasters efficiently and rapidly. Also, the Commission announced notification procedures that will allow AM (daytime operations only) and FM stations on a voluntary basis to begin interim digital transmissions immediately using the IBOC systems developed by iBiquity Digital Corporation. During the interim IBOC operations, stations will broadcast the same main channel program material in both analog and digital modes. After extensive tests, the National Radio Systems Committee endorsed the AM and FM IBOC systems developed by iBiquity, the sole remaining IBOC proponent. IBOC technology permits ``hybrid`` operations, the simultaneous transmission of analog and digital signals with a single AM and FM channel. The NRSC tests show that the iBiquity IBOC systems offer better audio quality, more robust signals, and the potential for new auxiliary services. According to system supporters, IBOC technology will provide near CD-quality sound on FM channels and FM quality on AM channels. Hybrid IBOC operations will have minimal impact on the present broadcast service. The Commission announced its support for a public and open process to develop formal IBOC AM and FM standards. It also deferred consideration of IBOC licensing and service rule changes to a future Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Radio broadcasters have been working toward a digital transition for more than a decade. Many broadcasters view digital operation not only as a technical opportunity, but as a competitive necessity. During the last few years, opinion in the radio broadcasting industry has consolidated strongly in favor of the IBOC approach. It is the only technology that will permit the rapid development and introduction of digital operations by radio broadcasters. IBOC is spectrum efficient. It allows digital operations for all existing broadcasters with no new spectrum allocation requirements. The FCC noted that although it is no longer considering the proposed approach of requiring new spectrum in TV Channel 6, it is not today categorically foreclosing new spectrum options. In the event that new spectrum is identified for broadcast use, further consideration of both IBOC and non-IBOC out-of-band digital audio broadcasting approaches may be warranted. Action by the Commission October 10, 2002, by First Report and Order (FCC 02-286). Chairman Powell, Commissioners Abernathy, Copps and Martin, with Commissioners Abernathy and Martin issuing a joint statement and Commissioner Martin issuing a separate statement. MM Docket 99-325 -FCC- Media Bureau contacts: Peter Doyle 202-418-2789; Edward De La Hunt 418-2726; Ann Gallagher 418-2716; Norm Miller 418-2767 (via TimCronion, WTFDA via DXLD) --------- There you have it. Hope for "minimal impact," but based on what our Eastern correspondents say, it'll be worse (Tim Cronin, Worth, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) And the countdown to the end of AM and FM DXing has begun....... (Joe Fela, NJ, ibid.) For me I think is NOT end of era by DXing various transmission mode by digital or analog on MW broadcast band or VHF broadcast band!! I think you guys need to stop being a worrywart, about end of DXing world as we know it! There`s always for any signal to skip around regardless of AM narrow or AM wide, Narrow FM, Wide band FM, SSB mode, AM video, FM video, Digital 8VSB, COFDM, IBOC digital radio and who's know what next new transmission mode they might come up with!! Just think of new skills of DXing arts we can learn in the digital world. :>) And mayby someday we will DX on the subspace radio for all we know it!! 10-10-02 "72's N5XZS" From (Timothy C. Johnson in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, WTFDA via DXLD) Tim... Have you ever heard an IBOC signal? I suspect you haven't. Basically, it more than doubles the bandwidth of the station so that you lose to a very high degree both adjacents (unless you are far enough away from the local and have a very strong semi-local on one of the adjacents - that station might get through the IBOC junk). (And we're talking using a MR-78 here, too...not some unmodified run of the mill tuner). And IBOC propagates, Picture this....you have a nice, strong e-skip opening and you are trying to DX one of the frequencies that has a lot of 3 kw or 6 kw stations on it, like 100.9. But you can't hear anything on 100.9 because the 100 kw. blowtorches on 100.7 and 101.1 are running IBOC and the junk they are putting on the adjacent, 100.9 in this case, it taking it right out. I already encountered this but via tropo during earlier IBOC tests. Now some DX will still be possible with IBOC. But if most or all stations adopt it, it will be difficult and probably even painful to DX thru the IBOC noise (on Es, it might even be easier to try to DX thru a local than the local's adjacent frequencies). If it becomes that difficult, where's the fun??? And if there's no fun to DXing anymore, what is the point of it? (Joe Fela, NJ, ibid.) What is wrong with IBOC is that IBOC has serious technical problems, and that's what people are complaining about, not simply that it's a new technology. DX'ers (like anyone else) tend to embrace beneficial technology, remain neutral or philosophically supportive on new technology that's non-invasive. IBOC is at this point an unproven, inadequately tested get-rich-quick scheme for the government and the manufacturers. In pure concept, the idea is attractive to station- owners, but the drawbacks and the costs are going to pose problems. In pure concept, most of us wouldn't object to it. IBOC will, for a time at minimum, make significant negative impact on the DX hobbies because of its technical flaws and its myopic implementation. If it fails, so will its effects on DX. If it takes hold and becomes the greatest thing to come along in decades ( which I doubt, but I also concede the possibility ), and all of our radio becomes all-IBOC all the time, then a new era of DX'ing will arise from the ashes of the old, as some here have suggested. Now, to get to the point about age. There are a number of us here, who are of an age where either the time it will take to get to an all-IBOC place becomes a limiting factor. Similarly, the costs of complete conversion will be impossible or a deciding deterrent for some. That may factor in for some of us - but that's not an avoidance of new technologies. That's enlightened self-interest on the part of people who have participated in the DX hobbies for decades. Joe's bottom line says it all --- "If it's not fun anymore, what's the point?" (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) ** U S A. BC-CA--Middle East TV,265 VOICE OF AMERICA NEEDS $65 MILLION TO BRING TV TO MIDDLE EAST BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- The U.S. government's Voice of America needs $65 million to bring TV programming to the Middle East along with its youth music-driven radio shows, its governing board was told Wednesday. The entity would be called MTN, Mideast Television Network. "There's a media war going on and we aren't even on the battlefield," VOA said in a video that is part of the organization's fund-raising effort to get television programs in the area. Voice of America's Arabic-language "Radio Sawa" began broadcasting in the Middle East on March 23. There is support for the millions needed for television in committees in both houses of Congress, said board member Norm Pattiz. All VOA board members are appointed by the president. "The mission of international broadcasting is to promote freedom and democracy through the free flow of accurate, reliable and credible news and information about America and the world to audiences overseas," he said. MTN would go up against Arab al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based satellite television news channel that has been criticized by the United States for broadcasting several videos of Osama bin Laden. It also aired exclusive reports from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. Pattiz, founder and chairman of the Westwood One radio network, bristled at the suggestion that Voice of America is biased. "We are not a propaganda organization, we are an organization of journalists," he said. "We wouldn't know how to do propaganda if they asked us to do it." AP-NY-10-09-02 2231EDT (via David R. Alpert, DXLD) U.S. AGENCY PROPOSES MIDEAST TELEVISION NETWORK October 09, 2002 By Sue Zeidler LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The federal agency overseeing a U.S.-funded Arabic-language radio station in the Middle East wants to expand its reach by creating a sister television station to promote America's music and image. "We need to have an American voice on television and the White House has said it supports the concept," Norman Pattiz, one of the board members appointed by the president to oversee the agency, known as the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), told Reuters on Wednesday. BBG oversees U.S. international broadcasting, including the Mideast radio network known as Radio Sawa and other U.S.-funded networks like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. A BBG spokeswoman said the agency requested $65 million from Congress in a proposal to start-up the Mideast television network. "We've asked Congress for the money. Congress has approved the first of several steps for getting the money," said the spokeswoman, noting that many more steps were still needed. Analysts said a U.S.-based Arabic television station could potentially counter the often biased and anti-American news broadcast by Middle Eastern stations like the wildly popular al-Jezeera television station, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Pattiz, who is also the chairman of the Westwood One Inc. radio programming company, said he and other BBG members recently met Hollywood television and entertainment executives to discuss a possible Arabic-language television network. "This was a rare opportunity to put the leaders of U.S. international broadcasting together with the leaders of the television and entertainment industries," said Pattiz. On Wednesday, the BBG also released a survey on Radio Sawa listener trends, with research showing that the Arabic-language station created six months ago to replace the more stodgy programming on the Voice of America's Arabic service, was the number one station among young people in Amman, Jordan. Radio Sawa broadcasts an upbeat mix of Western music, a la Britney Spears, with Arabic pop music and news. The survey, conducted by Edison Media Research, showed 43 percent of the respondents in a 17-28 year-old target audience listened to Sawa more than any other station and that Radio Sawa was also number one in news among young people. Despite the surveys, other experts voiced skepticism, noting that while Arabic listeners may indeed enjoy the music, they are less receptive to the news, brushing it off as American propaganda. "I'm skeptical that people are tuning into the news or are being influenced by it," said Marc Lynch, a professor of political science at Williams College. Others agreed. "It's popular because the mix of music is nice, but in terms of changing opinions about U.S. foreign policy, its not having the intended effect," said Chris Toensing, of the Middle East Research and Information Project, a non-profit public education organization. "The whole endeavor is based on the concept that the U.S. needs to be marketed and that by presenting a nice image of the U.S. in the Arab world, opinion about U.S. policy in the Mideast will be changed," said Toensing. "But it gets people angry because the message that gets across is that they think we believe they can be duped," he added. Pattiz dismissed assertions that Radio Sawa promotes propaganda. "We wouldn't know how to do propaganda if they gave it to us," he said. Pattiz said Radio Sawa acts like a firewall between the independence of journalists and the pressures from the State Department to manage its message. "When the State Department complains about stories we do, we remind them that this is an independent network," he said. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. U.S. RADIO REACHING OUT TO IRANIANS Wed Oct 9, 1:13 PM ET By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A U.S.-funded radio station is preparing to reach out to young Iranians with music and a message: Stay tuned to America and its values. The broadcasts, scheduled to begin early next year, are another attempt by Washington to use youth-oriented media to bolster America's sagging image in the Middle East. The concept — round-the-clock, multi-lingual pop music and news — debuted March 23 with the Arabic-language Radio Sawa, which replaced the more stodgy public affairs programming on the Voice of America's Arabic service. Surveys indicate a growing audience for Radio Sawa — or "Radio Together" in Arabic. The music features American favorites such as Jennifer López and the Back Street Boys along with Arab pop stars from Egypt, Lebanon and other countries. One poll in Amman, Jordan, in late September found Sawa's news was favored by at least a third of radio listeners aged 17 to 28, according to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees all U.S.-backed international broadcasts. "These surveys inspired us to try the same idea in Iran," said board member Norman Pattiz, founder and chairman of Westwood One Inc., the largest U.S. radio network. The challenges and potential in Iran are clearly evident. Iran's powerful clerics have relentlessly vilified America — the "Great Satan" — since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Chants of "Death to America" still resonate with some groups, particularly the deeply religious classes convinced that the United States is an enemy of their faith. But many younger Iranians don't feel so threatened. American culture — fashion, music, political freedoms — is absorbed via the Internet, clandestinely imported Western magazines and satellite television channels from the large U.S-Iranian community. On Sept. 10, the Voice of America began its own youth-oriented satellite TV broadcasts to Iran called "Next Chapter." The potential audience is huge. About half of Iran's citizens were born after the revolution. They have no memory of its seminal events: The collapse of the U.S.-backed monarchy and the 444-day hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy that severed diplomatic relations. Last month, a poll by an Iranian government-run research group found nearly 75 percent of respondents favored improved ties with the United States. A court then closed the polling firm. "This is who we are after — the people who are open-minded about America," said Pattiz. "We want them to learn about the America we know, not the America that is represented to them in the government- controlled media." The new station will have offices in Washington and in Prague, Czech Republic. It still doesn't have a name and its broadcasting plan — including details like where its news and music will emanate from — has not been completed. Pattiz said the new station will abandon "old-style propaganda" methods such as ringing praises for democracy and the free market as a global cure-all. The news bulletins — with an American focus — will attempt to showcase the breadth of American freedoms and pluralism. "We want to be an example of the freedom of the press in the American tradition," said Pattiz. It may be a hard sell. The "axis of evil" label President Bush gave Iran, Iraq and North Korea had far-reaching consequences in Iran. Reformist leaders, including President Mohammad Khatami, interpreted it as an arrogant rebuff to their attempts to expand contacts. "The long history of U.S. action against Iran has left its mark on the mind of almost all Iranians," said Reza Sekini, a 31-year-old student who occasionally listens to the Voice of America's Farsi service, which began broadcasting in 1979. "I won't listen to the voice of Satan," insisted 38-year-old Reza Khodakaram. "Americans have never wanted anything good for us." But the new broadcasts could find a niche. The appetite for foreign news reports is high these days following the closure of many newspapers that sought to challenge the clerics' vast powers. The Voice of America appears far behind the tastes of young Iranians as restrictions on music ease. The new station for Iran is expected to use the same programming format of Radio Sawa, a mix of Western and local bands. "If the new station wants to win listeners, it has to come up with a musical revolution," said Mirnaser Porsofi, a retired health ministry employee. The new station for Iran will share the airwaves with the Voice of America. But the Farsi service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty will be merged into the new venture, said Joan Mower, spokeswoman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The $8 million project plans to seek listeners any way it can: AM, FM, shortwave and the Internet. "We have to have a number of ways to get in there," Mower said. "You never know what measures the authorities could take to try to block us." (via Artie Bigley; also via Guardian via Mike Terry, DXLD) RESEARCH SHOWS RADIO SAWA SURGES IN MIDDLE EAST; Broadcasting Board of Governors Discuss Projects with Television Executives Beverly Hills, California, October 09, 2002-- The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) today released its first survey showing Radio Sawa http://www.radiosawa.com the Arabic-language station created by U.S. international broadcasting six months ago, is the number one station among young people in Amman, Jordan. The survey, conducted by Edison Media Research of Somerville, N.J., showed 43 percent of the respondents in the Radio Sawa target audience (17-28 year olds) listened to Radio Sawa more than any other station. The next most-listened station was the Jordanian Government`s Amman FM at 18 percent. Radio Sawa was also number one in news among young people. Twenty-five percent of the respondents said Radio Sawa was the radio station they listened to most for news. That compared to 22 percent for Amman FM and 20 percent for MBC-FM. "We know we`re very popular in the Middle East, but this Amman survey is the first one that shows young people in our target audience are tuning to Radio Sawa for their news and their entertainment," said Norman J. Pattiz, a member of the BBG and chairman of its Middle East Committee. The research was conducted in Amman between August and September 2002 among 500 radio listeners in Amman between the ages of 17 and 28 who like both Western and Arabic music. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Edison has been doing on-going research on Radio Sawa in Amman and other cities in the Middle East since the station went on the air on March 23, 2002. The research is designed to track audience attitudes towards news, music and overall station popularity. Other survey findings also showed Radio Sawa #1 with young Jordanians: • 86 percent of the target audience said they had listened to Radio Sawa in the past 7 days. • 23 percent said they considered Radio Sawa to have the most up-to- date news, compared with 19 percent for Amman FM. Asked which station provided the most accurate and trustworthy news, Radio Sawa and Amman FM were almost tied: 19 percent said Radio Sawa; 20 percent said Amman FM. In Amman, Radio Sawa`s FM competes with well-known local and international broadcasters including Amman FM, BBC-FM, MBC-FM and Radio Monte Carlo. During the six months it has been on the air, Radio Sawa has yet to do any advertising or promotion. Radio Sawa, a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week Arabic-language "Full Service" network, is unique in the Middle East. It broadcasts an upbeat mix of Western and Arabic pop music along with up-to-the minute news, news analysis, interviews, opinion pieces, sports, and features on a wide variety of political and social issues. Radio Sawa originates its programming from Washington and is broadcast across the region, using a combination of medium wave (AM) and FM transmitters, digital audio satellite, shortwave and internet. In another development, BBG members met with Hollywood television and entertainment executives to discuss U.S. international broadcasting initiatives, including a possible Arabic-language television network. "This was a rare opportunity to put the leaders of U.S. international broadcasting together with the leaders of the television and entertainment industries," said Pattiz, who organized the private luncheon at the Museum of Television and Radio. Pattiz described the meeting as an exchange of ideas between executives of U.S. international broadcasting and private industry. He said the BBG members outlined U.S. international broadcasting projects and sought ideas and thoughts from the private executives (BBG press release via DXLD) Note this sentence from the release: "The research was conducted in Amman between August and September 2002 among 500 radio listeners in Amman between the ages of 17 and 28 who like both Western and Arabic music." Radio Sawa's format is a combination of Western and Arab music (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Q.E.D. ** U S A. Re Florida EAS problem: Hi Glenn, We are a primary EAS station in East Central Illinois. When we set off the EAS (which is a lot clunkier system than the old EBS days), there are some small and/or automated stations that interrupt programming and take our live feed. I imagine that a weekly or monthly test triggered the feed at that particular station. Once the EAS is over, the station usually takes back the signal automatically. I imagine whatever computer was running the station went to fill, and found the PSA in question. Keep up the good work! (Eric Loy, WDWS Radio, Champaign IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SAN DIEGO PIRATE PLANS DEBUT ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13 An entity calling itself Free Radio San Diego has announced plans to begin broadcasting on October 13, at around 7 PM, on 96.9 MHz. The transmitter location and parameters are unknown. The operator does have a web site, however: http://www.pirate969.org (From the CGC Communicator via Fred Vobbe, Oct 9, NRC FM-TV via DXLD) ** U S A. NAMES IN THE NEWS: RAY BRIEM, N6FFT TALKRADIO LEGEND RETIRES Talk radio legend Ray Briem, N6FFT, has retired. Briem's last show was on Sunday evening September 28th over Los Angeles radio station KRLA. Before moving to the 870 spot on the AM dial Briem spent several decades honing the art of late night talk over at KABC radio on 790 Kilohertz. While there his show was eventually put on the ABC radio network, nationwide (ASWLC via Amateur Radio Newsline Oct 11 via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. UZBEK INTERNATIONAL RADIO MARKS ITS 55TH ANNIVERSARY It was the "Tashkent International" radio which announced Uzbekistan's independence to the whole world and which marked its 55th anniversary on 7 October, the newspaper Delovoy Partner Uzbekistana reported on 10 October. "Launched in 1947 it started broadcasting in English, Uighur and Persian. After 35 years it began to broadcast in Arabic as well. Today people listen to the radio in 12 languages - Indian, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Chinese and others - in more than 80 countries of Europe, Asia, East and America. The programmes of the radio are different - economy, culture, history, women's rights and art," the report said. Source: Delovoy Partner Uzbekistana, Tashkent, in Russian 10 Oct 02 p8 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VANUATU. Adrian Sainsbury, RNZI's Technical Manager has just returned from installing a new SW receiver and aerial for Radio Vanuatu. He tells me Radio Vanuatu no longer have QSL cards so recommends that DXers send PPCs. Given the pace of life in the Islands, it could be some time before new cards are printed. Kind regards, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. From Oct. 8 Vatican Radio broadcast a new daily service in Hausa to W and C Af 0700-0715 on 11625 SMG 250 kW / 223 deg 13765 SMG 100 kW / 210 deg 15570 SMG 500 kW / 170 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 11 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 5034.60v, V. of Vietnam, 4 Oct 06 1210 in H'mong 22222 Poor. Talk with man and woman. Some regional musics was heard man vocal. \\ 6165. 31221 (IWATA) 6494.10v, Cao Bang R., Oct 06 1220 in Vietnamese 34232 strong but low audio. Woman's singing continued (Gaku IWATA, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** YEMEN. Radio San'a in Arabic noted: 1200-1530 on NF 6135.0 via ALH 050 kW / non-dir \\ 9779.6 via SAN 050 kW / non-dir (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 11 via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ MOTOROLA INTRODUCES NEW TYPE OF DIGITAL RECEIVER MIGHT CONFUSE THE IBOC/IBAC MARKETPLACE Motorola claims its new "symphony" chipset will make a radio sound better than analog and enlarge a station's coverage area without having to resort to IBOC/IBAC. The company is calling its invention "a disruptive technology" that "raises the bar as to whether IBOC makes sense," said John Hansen of Motorola. As one observer put it, "The real key is how much they confuse the market and dilute the definition of digital radio." http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=2061 (From CGC Communicator via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES phil bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary August 26 2002 through September 8 2002 Tabulated from email status daily. Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Etc. 8/26 169 21 3 minor minor 6 27 161 14 3 none minor 5 28 163 10 2 minor minor 8 29 169 8 2 minor minor 7 30 170 10 1 strong minor 5 8/31 180 12 3 none minor 7 9/ 1 181 12 2 none minor 6 2 174 12 2 none minor 3 3 171 7 6 moderate minor 10 4 171 35 3 moderate minor 6 5 175 12 2 none minor 6 6 178 8 1 none minor 3 7 183 36 6 strong minor 9 8 192 23 3 moderate minor 7 9 206 6 2 minor minor 7 10 221 15 3 minor minor 9 11 216 23 4 moderate minor 8 12 212 15 3 no storms minor 7 13 206 18 3 no storms minor 9 14 207 8 1 no storms minor 9 15 188 8 2 minor minor 6 16 183 6 2 minor minor 3 17 194 14 3 no storms minor 6 18 177 13 2 no storms minor 7 19 165 16 5 no storms minor 5 20 164 4 1 minor minor 5 21 159 7 1 no storms minor 5 22 160 7 2 no storms minor 4 23 154 3 0 no storms minor 1 24 158 5 2 no storms no storms 1 25 153 5 2 no storms no storms 4 26 150 6 1 no storms no storms 6 27 152 7 1 minor minor 4 28 149 5 2 no storms minor 3 29 138 4 1 minor minor 5 9/30 138 4 5 minor minor 8 (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ****************************************************************** ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-156, October 9, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1151: ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 17495, 7415; Mon 0415 7415 ON WWCR: Thu 2030 15825, Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210... ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630 on 7445 and/or 15039 ON WJIE: See USA below ON WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800; North America Sun 1400 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1151.html [from Thu] ** AFGHANISTAN. ANALYSIS: BROADCASTING IN AFGHANISTAN - ONE YEAR ON | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 8 October 2002 A year after the US-led attacks, the media in Afghanistan have fared better than some sectors since the collapse of the Taleban regime. Radio remains the main source of news and information for most Afghans, owing to the low literacy rate and the country's poor infrastructure. According to a 1999 survey carried out by the Peshawar-based Afghan Media Resource Centre, over 85 per cent of Afghan men have a radio in working order. Since the fall of the Taleban, however, increasing numbers of urban Afghans have bought television sets and satellite dishes. Radio Afghanistan has resumed nationwide broadcasting, although the country is still without a national TV service. In the capital, Kabul, the following radio stations are on the air: Radio Afghanistan (national broadcaster, on FM, MW and SW); Radio Kabul, BBC World Service (English, Pashto and Persian), Radio Free Afghanistan/Voice of America (Dari and Pashto), all on FM; the US-run Information Radio (which transmits from the US base at Bagram in Dari and Pashto on MW and SW); Voice of Freedom, a German-run FM station; and Radio Turkiyem, an FM service for Turkish-speaking members of the international security force contingent. Afghanistan TV broadcasts in Kabul, with a limited range. In the provincial capitals, local radio and TV stations operate. Foreign aid for media Foreign broadcasters from a dozen countries provided millions of dollars' worth of equipment, programming and training. And most international broadcasters either launched new services or stepped up existing broadcasts in Dari and Pashto since Afghanistan became a focus of world attention a year ago. The US supplied two FM transmitters for Kabul, with more FM transmitters promised for other cities including Kandahar, Mazar-e Sharif and Herat, and is to install two MW transmitters with nationwide reach. Japan will fund a new TV transmitter near Kabul as a step towards the establishment of a nationwide TV service. The BBC World Service retains a large audience in Afghanistan. With the help of a one-million-pound grant from the UK Government's Department for International Development, the BBC World Service Trust is providing equipment to Radio/TV Afghanistan, training more than 150 journalists in Kabul and the regions, and working with the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) to assess future needs and the foundations for a regulatory framework for the media. In August 2002 the Dari and Pashto Services of the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Radio Free Afghanistan service combined to create a new joint 24-hour stream of news, features and music in local languages. In August Germany launched the Voice of Freedom FM station, which broadcasts news, music and language courses to Kabul from a nearby German military camp. And the German international broadcaster DW-TV produces a 10-minute daily news slot for Afghan TV, as well as weekly documentaries. In February, a daily morning programme "Good Morning Afghanistan" went on the air from Kabul on Radio Afghanistan. The broadcasts are supported by the Baltic Media Centre, an aid agency based in Denmark, with financial support from the European Commission. Iran has also been closely involved with the rebuilding of Afghanistan's broadcasting infrastructure, donating radio and TV equipment including a 50-kW radio transmitter and increasing Dari and Pashto programming on Iranian regional radio. One short-lived foreign venture was Radio Voice of Afghanistan, a London-based station funded by an exiled Afghan entrepreneur, which suspended broadcasting in July 2002 after seven months on the air. Print media glut An estimated 150 printed publications are available today in Kabul, but many suffer from poor standards of journalism and are of no relevance to the two-thirds of Afghanistan's population who cannot read or write. A Kabul bookseller told the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) that many new publications had no readers because "they do not reflect the needs and worries of the people... Their focus is too vague and their political analysis is very weak." Battle for media independence, pluralism A press freedom bill was adopted in April 2002, ending years of censorship and a ban on free speech under the Taleban. However, some media freedom watchdogs have expressed concern about the bill, particularly the registration and licensing provisions, the requirement that media owners need permission from the government to operate, and the stipulation that only citizens of Afghanistan may print publications. They fear this could leave local outlets too weak to withstand potential government pressure. The draft law also grants the government control over the distribution of foreign publications. Conflict over censorship In September, state TV in Kabul resumed screening Indian films and women singers were heard again on state radio, after a special media commission appointed by President Hamed Karzai overruled a ban imposed by Mohammad Ishaq, the head of Afghan TV and Radio. Ishaq, a senior figure in the Northern Alliance movement that dominates Karzai's government, imposed the restrictions without warning a month earlier. The removal of the ban was viewed as a victory for Karzai and Information Minister Makhdum Rahin, who had sacked Ishaq's predecessor, Abdol Hafez Mansur, in July after a row over what should be shown on television. Residents of Kabul are reportedly signing up for cable TV to get round laws censoring popular films. But the Ministry of Information and Culture is now threatening to close down the cable operators. This is bound to swell the numbers of people buying satellite dishes, now available for under 100 dollars in Kabul. Media analysts say the disputes illustrate broader questions of how to balance political coverage in a country with a divided post-war leadership, and how fast to introduce secular culture to a religiously conservative society. What audiences want Afghan leader Hamed Karzai has appealed to the country's journalists "to serve the people of Afghanistan and not, in any way, be abused by political and military factions". Audiences, for their part, say that after 23 years of war and the Taleban government, they would rather hear and watch programmes that entertain and educate them, instead of endless coverage of politicians coming and going. For those who can afford them, there are alternative sources of news and entertainment, in the form of satellite TV and radio programmes from abroad. But the lack of private domestic radio and TV stations in Afghanistan means there is virtually no competition pushing state media outlets to respond to viewer demands. BBC Monitoring research 8 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. RNA - Canal A, Mulenvos, 11955.7, noted after a long time at 2255-2303 in Portuguese with program "Boa Noite, Angola" followed by news 2300 when adjacent QRM de 11960 suddenly started (presumably de China), spoiling reception of Luanda's newscast. 35433, \\ 4950 vy, vy poor (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Oct 4, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 4759.11, at 0951 Oct 4, Radio Nacional, harmonic of AM 1190? with phone in mention of "Rio de la Plata" and "Radio Nacional de Argentina" ID at 1000, great signal whilst it lasted, thanks to Paul Ormandy for AM details (David Norrie, Dxing at Matarangi, Coromandel Peninsula, North Island New Zealand, AOR 7030, 20mlong wire through balun, Oct 8, Cumbre DX via DXLD) `great signal`? Leads me to suspect a non-harmonic (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Para cazadores de QSL`s y de grabaciones históricas El amigo hondureño Elmer Escoto me envía la siguiente información. A continuación se reproduce en esperanto, y más abajo en nuestro idioma. Saludos, (Arnaldo Slaen) [Esperanto`s unique accents are rendered here by apostrophes --- gh] Nia lasta disau'digo Lastfoje au'deblos la esperantlingva programo de Radio Austria Internacia Mezonde: la 25-an de oktobro 2002 je 20:04 MET je frekvenco 1476 kHz Mallongonde: la 26-an de oktobro 2002 je 20:05 UTC je frekvencoj: 5945 kaj 6155 kHz Interrete g'i aperos nur: ekde 20:04 MET 25.okt.2002 g'is 24:00 MET 01.nov.2002 Nuestra última emisión Por última vez se escuchará el programa en idioma Esperanto de Radio Austria Internacional. En Onda Media: 25/Oct/2002 a las 2004 (Hora de Europa Central) por 1476 kHz. En Onda Corta: 26/Oct/2002 a las 2005 UTC por 5945 y 6155 kHz. En Internet: Disponible desde las 2004 (HEC) 25/Oct hasta las 2400 del 01/Nov Our last transmission For the last time one can hear the program in Esperanto from Radio Austria International Mediumwave: 25/Oct 2002 at 2004 (Central European Time) on 1476 kHz Shortwave: 26/Oct/2002 at 2005 UTC on 5945 and 6155 kHz On the Internet: Program will be available from 2004 (CET) 25/Oct until 2400 of 01/Nov (Direct From ORF Radio Austria Contributed by Elmer Escoto via Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. ROI: Intermedia is to stay as a radio show, but the question is how it will be produced and what it will contain without Wolf Harranth. By the way, the Intermedia webpage also announces a frequency change for the Sackville transmission 1500-1600: Now on 17865 instead of ex-17860. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A época é propícia para a confirmação de algumas emissoras. A Rádio Ternura, de Ibitinga (SP), confirmou informe que enviei recentemente para eles. Eis o endereço: Rua Capitão João Marques, 89, Jardim Centenário, CEP: 14940-000, Ibitinga(SP), Brasil. A Rádio Ternura transmite em 4845 kHz. BRASIL - A Rádio Caiari, de Porto Velho(RO), foi sintonizada, em Tefé (AM), por Paulo Roberto e Souza, em 02 de outubro, entre 0146 e 0211, transmitindo programas religiosos, na freqüência de 4785 kHz. Atenção para seus horários de funcionamento nas ondas curtas: de 0900 às 1400. Depois, entre 1900 e 0400. A programação emitida é gerada pela Rede Paulus Sat. Tem o seguinte endereço eletrônico: caiari@e... [truncated] BRASIL - A Rádio Inconfidência, de Belo Horizonte(MG), completou 66 anos de atividades em 2 de outubro. Detalhe interessante: o profissional Jairo Anatólio Lima trabalha na emissora há 61 anos. As informações são de Robson Ribeiro, do sítio http://www.planetaradio.cjb.net BRASIL - A programação emitida em 3325 kHz é a da Rádio Mundial AM, de São Paulo (SP). Foi ouvida, em Porto Alegre(RS), em 03 outubro, com a seguinte identificação: "ZYK 724 AM, 670 kHz, ondas tropicais de 92(?) metros, emissoras vinculadas à Rede CBS!". (Célio Romais, RS, @tiviade DX Oct 6 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11915, R Gaucha, 0937, Oct 7, Good signal strength and modulation. Commercial format. ID at 1040 (David Hodgson, Nashville, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Anna Maria Tremonti`s program now has a name WHERE CAN CANADIANS GET A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CANADA AND AROUND THE WORLD? THE CURRENT is CBC Radio's new current affairs program, heard Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 10 a.m beginning November 18 on CBC Radio One. Hosted by veteran journalist Anna Maria Tremonti, THE CURRENT features a team comprised of journalists based in every major region of Canada who will bring an informed, thoughtful and provocative approach to presenting insights into the stories of the day. "I can't wait to get started," says Tremonti. "THE CURRENT will feature stories from across Canada and around the world that matter now. We want it to be electric, to have depth, to be fluid. Some days, we'll try to go against the current and talk to people and introduce ideas that don't make it into the mainstream." Adrian Mills, executive director of Programming, CBC Radio, says, "Anna Maria's range and depth of experience with Canadian and international news will be an enormous asset to this new national program. THE CURRENT is an example of CBC Radio at its best, creating programming that is thought-provoking and responsive to our audience, and will certainly enhance their morning listening experience." THE CURRENT's production team will ensure that regional coverage is well represented within the program. The show will also place a greater emphasis on international stories than has been done previously at this time of day. In order to respond immediately to evolving news stories during the morning, the show will often be presented live to Western time zones as well as to Eastern ones. The combination of THE CURRENT with sister program Sounds Like Canada, hosted by Shelagh Rogers from 10 a.m. to noon, means that weekday mornings on CBC Radio One will offer a comprehensive exploration of the events of the day, one that is tailored to the needs and interests of listeners. The executive producer of THE CURRENT is Jamie Purdon. THE CURRENT showcases the CBC tradition of developing radio programming that enlightens, reflects and connects Canadians (via Ricky Leong, QC, DXLD) ** CANADA. NEW CBC RADIO MORNING SHOW DEBUTS OCT. 14 Canadian Press CBC Radio says its new morning show to be hosted by Shelagh Rogers weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon will be called Sounds Like Canada. The show starts Oct. 14 on CBC Radio One. The title "sums up what the show will be," said Rogers. "We want to drench the airwaves with voices and sound from all over the country." Sounds Like Canada will include new shows such as Out There, produced in British Columbia, and existing programs Workology, C'est la vie and Outfront. It will be preceded by The Current, a new current affairs program set to debut Nov. 18 and to be hosted by Anna Maria Tremonti. The Current will air Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Toronto Star Oct 8 via Ivan Grishin and Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CLANNY Address Falun Dafa R? I sent a RR to Falun Dafa R with the address P O Box 117, Buford, GA 30518, USA. My envelope was returned with a stamp "Attempted, not known" Who knows the correct address? (Max van Arnhem, Netherlands, hard-core-dx Oct 3 via DXLD) Try editor@falundafaradio.org or World Falun Dafa Radio, P O Box 93436, City Of Industry CA 91715, USA (??? via BC-DX via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Presumably La Voz de tu Conciencia the one dominating 6010, actually about 6010.9, on various checks between 0505 and 0530 Oct 9, sermon in Spanish with gringo accent, but never heard any ID. If XEOI is also on it only provides a het (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LV de tu Conciencia heard at 0650 tune in today (Oct. 9) initially on about 6010.6, but had drifted up to about 6011 by 0710. All did not seem well with the garbled audio either. Signal was fair at first, but gradually fading down. No dance music heard today - only long dialogue in Spanish - but this included some chime like music at 0658 and an ID. The usual mix of at least two other transmitters was audible as hum on 6010 - if one is Mexico, what is the other at this hour - Chile? Brazil is usually heard slightly HF of nominal channel (Noel R. Green, Blackpool - NW England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. The following message has been received from David Smith at R. Okapi, Kinshasa. We are now broadcasting on 6300 and 11690 kHz using our new Marconi SW transmitters. Please let your people in the field know about these frequencies and, whenever possible, send reception reports to R Okapi technician Georges Schleger. Reports should indicate: 1. Frequency 2. Time of broadcast 3. Location of listener 4. Type of receiver used to listen 5. Quality of reception RRs help us to adjust and maintain the best signal quality possible to the target audience. We will soon begin broadcasts on 9550 kHz as well. I'll send an e-mail once the third frequency is operational. Thank you, David Smith, Chief - R Okapi. Note that the E-mail address of Georges Schleger is schleger@un.org (via Jerry Berg, DXplorer Sep 30 via Bueschel BCDX, via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI is suffering a major setback, as its high-speed internet service will be cut off ``in an act of censorship`` after Oct 18. It is beyond RFPI`s control; nothing can be done to prevent this. RFPI will no longer be able to receive and broadcast on a timely basis programs such as Freespeech Radio News, Counterspin, Radio Nation. Will still try to get WORLD OF RADIO, but no guarantee. Needs to raise money for its own independent internet link, $800 on hand for that now and $3000 more needed. This is for a wireless bridge network spanning about 20 miles. Or any donation of same gladly accepted. New address for this effort is rfpiradio@yahoo.com Will also lose capability to stream RFPI programming out and to upload any shows to the archive. [Evidently no connexion with royalties ruling in the US – gh]. Tho RFPI does not have the talent or resources to replace Amy Goodman`s Democracy Now, RFPI will produce a show to substitute, as best it can, at 2200 UT weekdays. Joe Bernard is now back in Oregon, and fortunately two new interns are at RFPI to help out, Kevin Moore from New York, who has been at the station for a month, but has spent time in CR before, such as at Monteverde; and Anja?, a trilingual woman from eastern Germany, there for two weeks so far and plans to stay at least half a year. RFPI will not have much but E-mail left, and asks listeners to send in stories of interest for use on the air. This has been discussed on the Interactive Radio Show, so check that too for further developments, 0345 UT Tue-Sat on 7445, 15039 (James Latham, RFPI Mailbag Oct 9 0130, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [and non]. LEBANON/CYPRUS. IBB has now deleted the planned Cyprus frequency 990 kHz from their (summer) frequency schedule. As for the Lebanese station in Achmit on 990 kHz (100 kW in the Geneva Plan) - the EMWG guide lists this transmitter for 0530-0130 with "Radio Lebanon 1". No power given here, WRTH has been listing this station with 10 kW. The distance to Cyprus is about 300+ kilometers. Has anybody heard this Lebanese transmitter in the last time? The EMWG guide says that it is drifting to 989 kHz occasionally. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuaia, Oct 9, MW-DX yahoogroup via DXLD) So are you saying that because of the Lebanese station, IBB no longer plans to move Cyprus to 990, or just that it won`t happen before Oct 27? (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. B-02 transmissions for HCJB beamed to Eu: Czech/Slovak 0530-0600 9765 2030-2100 11690* 15550 ||||| ex 17795* for B-01 English 0230-0400 12040 also to SAs [till Australia be on?] 0700-0900 5965 ||||| ex 9780 for B-01 2000-2200 11895 German 0600-0700 9765 2100-2130 11850* 15550 ||||| ex 11755* for B-01 Russian 0330-0430 9775 Spanish 0700-0730 9765 2130-2230 9630 11850* ||||| ex 11755* for B-01 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 8, via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17833.16: Not that I managed to have Radio Imperio audible on the receiver, but there's definitely a carrier allowing zero beating on 17833v evenings (when there's also some splatter de RCI 17835), so let's only hope conditions may improve some time so as to have a signal with some audio (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 26, BC-DX via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** FINLAND. 5980, Scandinavian Weekend R, Villat, Oct 5, 0900-0950, DJ Madman with ``Radio Roulette`` in English including his interview of me at the EDXC Conference. Very weak signal with 23212 at best, but deep fades. Heard here and not on scheduled 6170. No other frequencies were heard that Saturday, but at 0350 reception was better on 5980: 24333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** FRANCE. I think the following message from Alain Delorme of TDF, France finally explains who, where and why on 25775 kHz. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We are doing field trials for the DRM consortium. What you heard is an old test program (in order not to be considered as a real one) we use on a 200 W short wave transmitter in Rennes (Brittany - France). These trials are made in a simulcast mode (analog + digital) of DRM protocol. I hope this answer your question. AD (Alain Delorme, TDF, Oct 7 via Savolainen, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is a translation in English of the French sentence sent to Jari Savolainen: ``Yes, these are tests on 26 MHz, in analog system (AM) from Rennes. There are also reception reports from the U.S.A. That's a good start! We would make care of reports when we will be on DRM.`` Reading the French sentence, I understand that DRM tests will be on the air soon. In 1972 the ORTF and the French Telecom unit DGT established a joint Research and Development facility in Rennes called TDF CCETT. One of their main areas of research and test nowadays is Digicast Technologies to be used in TV, Radio (DAB and DRM) and Cable broadcasts. Their postal address is: TDF CCETT; 4, rue du Clos Courtel; B. P. 59; F-35512 CESSON SÉVIGNÉ Cédex; France (Christian Ghibaudo, France, Oct 3, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Very interesting to read about the impending - temporary - close down of the BR 6085 transmitter. I've been listening [seriously] since the 1950's, and cannot recollect a time when it was not on air, so it will be novel to hear the channel clear - at least, until it is used for something else, as Kai hints. What is now the status and purpose of the German SW relays of the domestic programme? When there was an East & West Germany I could understand that they probably improved the choice of programmes to listen to by those living in the East. And particularly of the DLF and RIAS - although the high power LW/MW senders should have ensured this service was available to most in the East without SW. Then I have read that Germans going abroad for their holidays like to listen to their own domestic station - but are 6005 6030 6085 6190 and 7265 the best frequencies to do this? How well are they heard in the Canary Islands, Crete or Majorca for instance in daytime? They are obviously DX signals outside of Europe. Then I read that they are intended for German expatriates or those understanding German in Eastern countries. I would have thought that the DW's extensive German language service adequately kept German people/speakers overseas informed. Except for the Italians I cannot immediately think of another west European country that broadcasts its domestic services on SW. Extracts - yes - but not dedicated own transmitters. I can also remember the NWDR SW transmissions. These transmitters - from memory - were I think used by the then fledgling DW. I cannot remember hearing the HR SW relay, and don't think SFB ever had one of its own. AFN did - on some strange OOB frequency around 5450 if my memory is still working (the BDN from Austria too - 9617 comes to mind). These have all gone, but the ones listed remain - why? And why does SWDR carry the same programme on its two SW frequencies? Thanks for the interesting 'Burg 531' file - Kai. So Germany continues to press ahead with MW DRM - I am waiting with interest to hear something similar taking place in the UK! At present, all the emphasis in the UK seems to be centred on DAB radio on VHF. Something I read a few days ago concerning deliberate interference to DRM transmissions was interesting - apparently a jammer would cause the intended signal to "stop" - i.e., nothing would be heard from it, unlike an AM signal which would still be present. The technicalities of this are beyond my understanding, but I wonder what the effects would be of co-channel interference to signals on MW? Kai mentioned tests from three sites on 1485 (Berlin - was it?). Do the transmissions need to be offset in frequency or maybe synchronised to avoid "interference" and thus cancelling out? For instance, I receive at least three transmitters on 909 [the BBC's synchronised R5 transmission]. What would happen if they all used DRM? Best 73's (Noel Green, England, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) To avoid an apparent misunderstanding: I am not aware of any plans for another use of 6085. Anyway another occupation of 6085 would be nothing new; I still remember the tests of Golos Rossii (the then independent Russian-language world service from Moscow) via the Ukrainian Kopani site. They also used 6085 and overrode BR completely here. And we should not forget a possible use of 6090 for a DRM signal at Luxembourg. If this really happens BR could definitely forget about 6085. The question about the status of the 6005, 6030, 6085, 6190 and 7265 transmitters is an interesting one. As well-known, they are included in the HFCC file "for info" only, in other words, the transmitter operators have no objections against interferences from other broadcasters. I have no idea about the reasons for this renounce. Certainly these shortwave outlets were once inaugurated especially with listeners in the GDR in mind. By the way, DLF never transmitted its German program on shortwave in the old days. I wrote German program because DLF once also produced foreign language broadcasts, and some of them were also aired via Deutsche Welle shortwave transmitters (not only the facilities in Germany actually operated by the postal office then; at least Sines was involved, too). After 1990 these language departments had to move to Deutsche Welle where many of them were wound up soon afterwards. Of course the regular reach of the transmitters in discussion is limited to Europe. Indeed holidaymakers and other travellers can be certainly considered as main, uh, target audience today, and a friend of mine indeed found it quite nice to listen to SWR 3 on 7265. We can also include the East of Europe when discussing how rare domestic services on shortwave are meanwhile. There is Radio Rossii, there are the recently curtailed (no longer on 6115 and 7210) transmissions from Belarus`, and that's all, if I do not overlook something. For the history: Yes, indeed Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR), the institution later split into Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), did the first Deutsche Welle transmissions. If I remember correctly, NWDR started the construction of the Jülich station; only later it was handed over to the postal office. It is also right that SFB never operated an own shortwave transmitter, they only used the Radio Bremen one. AFN on 5450: Perhaps this was actually a feeder? At least RFE/RL had no privileges in this matter over the German broadcasters; they had also to lease post office circuits to feed the programming from Munich to the transmitters; Lampertheim had six incoming circuits then. Regarding DRM: Indeed a disturbed reception of a DRM signal results in the audio being cut off. When this happens it sounds similar to a failing RealAudio stream, so the disruption is "smoother" than on DAB where suddenly gurgling noises replace the program audio; the most recent Blaupunkt DAB car radios solve this problem by muting, but this of course only replaces the disturbing noises by silence but does not increase the reliability of the system. Yes, the three-site test on 1485 takes place at Berlin. DRM is indeed capable of synchronized network operation, at least in theory, and the purpose of the 1485 test at Berlin is to try this in practice (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONG KONG. China Coast Race Week : It's almost that time again, according to the RHKYC website: http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/chinacoastraceweek.htm Does anyone have any further information? The last 2 Cumbre DX Specials are here: http://www.cumbredx.org/cdxsp/cdxsp3871.txt http://www.cumbredx.org/cdxsp/cdxsp3923.txt (George Maroti, NY, Oct 9, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Oct. 12-19; two events seem to be involved, a race to Hainan, where immigration is a factor! And the China Coast Regatta. I see no mention of SW weather broadcasts here (yet?) but previously 3940 has been used, 10 kW from Cape D`Aguilar, at 0945 and 2345 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. "El Gouna Radio & Internet Club" Dear sirs, we are Italian and we have a radio station in Egypt from 4 years, we are interested to transmit on satellite Eutelsat Hotbird with a bandwidth 128 kbps 24/hours daily, but we need to transmit up to satellite from Palermo Italy. Please can you communicate us if you can help us and the price for uplink and yearly rent on satellite frequency. Thanks in advance and please note we need to start if possible in January 2003. El Gouna Radio & Internet club, Shop 107 - Tamr Henna, El Gouna - Red Sea, E G Y P T. tel. +20 12 3591848; fax.+1435 5188315 romolo1@romolo.com (Romolo Bellomia, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry, this is not my area of expertise, but perhaps some reader can help; sounds like an interesting station and project (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. IRELAND, 7140, R Caroline (pirate), first heard here on Sep 27 at 0720. A good signal peaking S8 to 9 and obviously a 'live' transmission as giving actual time checks and where the station could be heard etc. Talking about the Ross Revenge open day in between playing pop music. Audio quality very buzzy on this day, but the signal and audio were much improved on consequent days when heard between circa 0630 / 1230. Fade in characteristics corresponded with Laser 7465 - known to come from Ireland (Noel Green, England, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** IRAQ. A week ago I noticed two transmitters from Iraq and they are both on exactly 1548 kHz. One carries the Main program \\ 846 and 908.94 and the other the 2nd program \\ 756 kHz. 2nd program signs off at 2302v and main program at 2312. Below two clips from the Washington Post; at least they don't seem to be aware of the Iraqi transmitters. If it isn't called jamming, it is at least deliberate interfering of R Sawa (two transmitters on the same frequency with different programs, surely interfering each other in Iraq, too): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49600-2002Sep21.html "The Iraqi government has not jammed Sawa. It's available all day in southern cities. In Baghdad, it's heard only in the evenings, when AM signals travel farther. "We know the news is American propaganda, but we love the music," said a merchant named Sayed who was listening to Sawa on a recent evening." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57857-2002Sep23.html "What worked for Stalin may be working for Hussein. He has allowed unprecedented, although limited, access to the Internet and to Western videos. He doesn't even jam R Sawa, a U.S.-funded station that transmits from Kuwait. These steps do not a Jeffersonian democracy make, but they do suggest Hussein is less afraid of his own people than some people in Washington assert or believe." (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Oct 5, BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Arabic under BBC 7120 at 0335 Oct 9 is presumably V. of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, listed by PWBR `2002` here as from 250 kW in Iran (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. RADIO HA-SHAMS AWARDED TENDER FOR ARAB RADIO STATION From http://www.jpost.com/ Oct. 7, 2002 By YEHEZKEL LAING Radio Ha-Shams has won a tender to run an Arab language radio station in the north of the country, the Second Authority for Radio and TV announced Monday. Three groups originally contended for the tender, Radio Ha-Shams, Radio 24 and Radio Kul Anas, however Kul Anas pulled out following management problems. According to the Second Authority, Ha-Shams's bid was especially strong in the technical field and earned an overall score of 82.25 which it said was "very high." Radio 24 scored 70.59. The Radio Ha-Shams group is made up of four partners: Amal Karem with a 61 percent share, Gaon Productions and Programming with a 20% share, Sami Shimon - 16%, and Yazid Hadid - 3%. The tender is good for four years with two additional options of four years each for a total of 12 years. Minimum investment was set at NIS 3 million and the potential audience is estimated at 900,000 or 75% of the total Israeli Arab population. The station plans to begin broadcasting by April of 2003. This is the third time the Second Authority has offered an Arab radio tender. The first was for a station called Radio 2000 which operated between 1994 and 1999. That station eventually closed due to management problems. A second tender was offered in 2000 but no groups bid on it. Though only three groups contended on the third tender, this was considered a great success by the Second Authority. In order to make it easier for groups to contend, the broadcast area was widened from the Galilee to include all of the lower "Triangle" region and conditions for such things as bank agreements and equipment were lowered. While there are dozens of pirate Israeli Arab radio stations, the new northern one will be only the second to operate legally and the only legal independent station. Israel Radio's Arabic broadcast is the other legal station. Meir Shani of Gaon Productions, which is controlled by businessman Benny Gaon, told The Jerusalem Post that it was on the initiative of his firm that the company was formed. While Shani said he was aware of the past failures in the field he still believes the business can be successful. "The Arab Israeli sector totals 1.3 million people. This a huge potential audience in which virtually no organized advertising is currently being directed. In addition, there exists no private Arab station on the national level. If you put these two things together it spells success," he said. Shani hopes to reach earnings of NIS 5.7m. the first year and NIS 7-8m. in each subsequent year. He also noted that the Radio Ha-Shams group is half Jewish and half Arab with a clear division of responsibilities. The Jewish side will handle the administrative aspects while the Arab side will handle the broadcasting content. "We see this project as being very important also beyond its economic aspect," he added. The Second Authority for Radio and TV currently has 14 radio stations operating under its authority (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Since you are opposed to both religion and DST I thought you might be interested in the fact that in Israel, the most of the secular are all for summer time because it conserves fuel and makes the highways safer whereas the religious either want no summer time or as short a period as possible because it tends to play havoc with the before-sunset-to-after-sunset Sabbath and the holidays. ("and it was evening and it was morning the first day" in Genesis - so Jewish calendar days begin in the evening) (Joel Rubin, NY, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Hello, I've made some update on "The HF Archive", the website dedicated to Italian HF/LW/MW stations with photos and infos. http://www.mediasuk.org/archive Inside "HF Archive" you can find info about: Broadcasting site Rai - Shortwave Center Prato Smeraldo - Roma Awr - Shortwave Center Forlì Rai - Long Wave and SW Center - Caltanissetta Rai - Medium Wave Center - Santa Palomba Rai - Medium Wave Center - Capo Vaticano Rai - Medium Wave portable trasmitter Rai - Medium Wave Center - Sanremo with CFA antenna Rai - Medium Wave Center Genova Granarolo Utility Station Coast Station IAR Roma Radio ICI - IRM Station Coast Guard Roma Coast Station IPP Palermo Radio CIRM - Radio Medical Service Station IRM NDB Beacon Campagnano NDB Beacon Albenga NDB Beacon Santa Maria di Leuca NDB Beacon Capo Vaticano SalCost - Salini Costruttori IGN - Protezione Civile Roma (Andrea Borgnino, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** JAPAN. NEW TV TOWER PLANNED FOR TOKYO A plan has been unveiled to build the world's tallest TV tower in Tokyo. At 600 metres, it would comfortably beat the 553 metre CN Tower in Toronto. A group of businessmen plan submit a proposal to construct the tower in Ueno Park as a tourist attraction. But as a bonus, they say it would provide an ideal solution to the problem of finding a new TV transmission site when terrestrial digital broadcasting replaces analogue services. Currently, public broadcaster NHK and a number of commercial stations broadcast from the 333 metre high Tokyo Tower, but since it was built in 1958 many tall buildings have been constructed in the vicinity. Digital signals are more adversely affected by such obstructions than analogue signals. The group plans to formally submit its proposal to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in November (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 7 October 2002 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. AFN Tokyo on 810 kHz (50 kW), located at Yokota Air Base in the western suburb of Tokyo, has stopped transmission since Sept 26, for the entire maintenance of transmitter facilities. The station began in Sept, 1945 (soon after Japan's surrender to U.S.) and has continuously been on air. They are planning to resume on Oct 18. The spurious-free signal will be expected thereafter. Until then their URL http://www.yokota.af.mil/orgs/afn/ is also out of service. Good chance for MW DXers in the area for receiving Russian Primorskii Kray and Korean stations on the same frequency! Other AFN stations in mainland Japan (Misawa, Iwakuni, Sasebo on 1575 kHz) are normally transmitting (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, Sept 30, BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. BCDX lately reported on the SW activities from Malaysia. Shortwave activity and in particular their foreign sce apparently have not the very highest priority in this country. Personally I'm wondering whether their En service "Voice of Malaysia" (at European morning hours / afternoon local time) on 15295 kHz has been regular during the last decade or so. Although I heard it in Germany every now and then I was unable to hear it in South Australia in Jan 1994. This surprised me a bit as to my understanding this service is intended for Australia as a target area. Their Arabic service at 1530 can usually been heard with much better signals in Europe, but I don't know whether this has been regular. 15295 0300-1230 55,58-60 KAJ 250 kW 133 degr English MLA RTM RTM 15295 1530-1900 39 KAJ 250 kW 295 degr Arabic MLA RTM RTM During recent months their service in Bahasa (either Bahasa Malaya or Bahasa Indonesia) on 9750 kHz at around 1600 UT seems to be the most reliable reception in Europe. On 21 Sept this year, however, I heard NHK World in English instead at 1535 on 9750 kHz and nothing from Malaysia. This might have been due to propagation. [Kajang-MLA 100 kW 150 degrs, Yamata-JPN 300 kW 290 degrees] Getting into contact with the station other than by "snail mail" seems to be not that easy. In Jan 2000 I tried to phone the station from KL airport on a weekday afternoon. The phone number from the WRTH resulted in a taped message "Thank you for calling Angkasapuri". Does anyone have a valid email address of the station or contact person for schedules? The transmitter site at Kajang must be located somewhere between the ultramodern Sepang airport (and Formula One circuit) and downtown Kuala Lumpur. While driving along the free- and motorways in this area I could not see any antenna masts or other hints of a SW transmitter site inmidst the huge oil palm plantations (Well, it is also quite difficult to see the Lampertheim and Biblis sites from A 67 motorway). (Wolfgang Schweikert, Germany, BC-DX Oct 4 via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 4866v, Mongol Radio & TV, Dalanzadgad, Sep 12 and 14, 1040 (fade in) – past 1300, active again with talks in Mongolian and Mongolian folkmusic. The crystal is defect, so it drifts up and down in frequency 4865.48 – 4866.20. There are also modulation problems and the transmitter power seem to be less than 12 kW as listed. 25332 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Radio Nepal back till 1715 s-off on both 5005 and 6100 kHz. Since about late Sept. Checked a little while ago at 1715; s-off after Nepali news update and National Anthem (Victor Goonetilleke 4S7VK, Oct 2, BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. In case you don't already know, summer time starts in NZ at 3.00 am local time Sunday morning, 6 Oct, which is 1500 UT on 5 Oct (BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** NORWAY. Got yesterday a QSL for the Norwegian NRK station Kvitsoy on 1314 kHz. The RR was send to NRK info@n... [truncated] --- they wrote me that NRK do not send out any QSL-cards. After re-asking for a QSL-letter I got the answer from the operating company (orkring AS, Kvitsoy Transmitter Station - http://www.norkring.no directly from Kvitsoy. They use a 8 x 10 cm big rubber-stamp stamped on a blank card, filled-in with all details, INCLUDING their CALLSIGN which is LKS. This is one of the very few callsigns from European mediumwave broadcasters I ever seen. Has anybody any further? (Tom - DL8AAM, hard-core-dx Oct 3 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 4790, R Pakistan, Islamabad, Oct 6, *0042-0216*, Azad Kashmir song, IDs in Urdu and Kashmiri, Call to Prayer, 0100 Urdu news. In September I heard them regularly sign on at *2342, so the Daylight Saving Time period obviously is now over in Pakistan ! QRM AIR Chennai 4790 in Tamil until 0045*. 24333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. A few hours ago, Nicolas Eramo and his son, Nicolas Jr., Enrique Wembagher and I, returned from a new DX Camp in Chascomus, 120 km south-west of Buenos Aires city. The results were fair because of the very, very bad propagation conditions. This is the log of Radio América, Villeta: 7737.1, Radio America, 0141+, October 6. Christian music. Religious program in Spanish. Commentary by male. Bad modulation. 24232. At 0208+, other commentary by male in Spanish. At 0756+, with commentary in Spanish by female, 24232. At 0823 we listened the two frequencies in // with 7386! (not 7385). The best reception on 7737.1 with SINPO: 24232 and 7386 with 14231. At 0929 not interference from WRMI from 7385 and QRK 2 on 7386 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 7737.1, Radiodifusión América, Villeta, 0212-0250, Oct 6, Spanish, religious program, very weak signal a lot of atmospheric noise and static noise, 24232 (Nicolás Eramo, Chascomus, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Acabo de retornar del DX Camp en Chascomús y la señal de Radio América fue recibida en ambas frecuencias 7386 y 7737.10 ambas en paralelo hoy por la mañana y a las 02:38 llegaba solamente en los 7737.10. La señal es débil y por momentos no se entiende lo que estaán emitiendo. Cordiales 73s (Nicolas Eramo, Oct 6, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Todavía no he podido identificar el audio; solamente en modos USB y LSB es posible advertir la presencia de la portadora tanto en 7737 como en 7385 Khz, en este último caso sólo cuando no está en el aire la doméstica emisora china XINJANG PEOPLE'S BROADCASTING STATION de Urumqi, según el "WRTH'2002" opera con 50 KW y según el "2001 Shortwave Frequency Guide" su horario es 23:30 a 07:30 y 10:30-16:50 en idioma mandarín. Me parece que con tan poca potencia -300 vatios- dependerá de muy buenas condiciones de propagación y, al menos, por aquí no las hay. 73's (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, ibid.) Dear Friends: After a couple of hours I receive the QSL from Rdfn America, Villeta, Paraguay in the QSL Adán Mur tell me that this week began the transmission in 7737 // 9980 all reception reports are welcome specially the Real Audio Files. 73s Nicolas Eramo QSL RADIODIFUSIÓN AMÉRICA, VILLETA, PARAGUAY. TRANSMISIONES EXPERIMENTALES EN LA ONDA CORTA. Señor Nicolas Eramo, Buenos Aires, República Argentina Estimado Nicolas Eramo: Tengo el placer y privilego de confirmar su sintonía a las transmisiones experimentales de Radiodifusión América, Villeta, República del Paraguay. Fecha: 6 de octubre de 2002 Hora: 0212 a 0250, UTC Frecuencia: 7737 KHZ Los pormenores mencionados corresponden, en forma completa, con la programación realizada por ZP20 Radio América, y retransmitida por las frecuencias de la onda corta. En la fecha mencionada, la potencia utilizada era de 300 Vátios. La antena utilizada era un Reflector de Esquina, dirigida hacía los 184 grados, del norte magnético, con una ganancia teórica de 25 dBi. Muchísimas gracias por grabar la recepción, en forma de REAL AUDIO. Esta información nos ayudará, en gran manera. En esta semana, esperamos agregar la frecuencia de los 9980 KHZ, en lugar de los 7385 KHZ. Primeramente Dios, probaremos la combinación de los 7737 y 9980 KHZ. Estoy de acuerdo con sus comentarios, referente a la amplia entrada de señales, desde Asia. No es una gran sorpresa, al considerar las características propagacionales prevalentes y la plenitud de pasos transpacíficos, sin obstáculos. o, también, capto muchas frecuencias desde la Asia y del Medio Oriente. Algunas de los servicios de aquella región utilizan una potencia increíble, en combinación con antenas de alta ganancia. Sus saludos al Pastor José Holowaty serán dados. Sus reportes de sintonía siempre serán bienvenidos. ¡Saludos! (Adán Mur, Asesor Técnico, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay via Nicolás Eramo, DXLD) ** PERU. 5500v, R San Miguel, which has been observed since April of 2002, is one of the new stations broadcasting from San Miguel de Pallaques, capital of the Province of San Miguel, Department of Cajamarca. This station is not R San Miguel Arcángel, which formerly transmitted between 5707.0 and 5721.1 from July of 1980 through December of 1995, then the station reactivated its shortwave transmissions on 6339.7 between April of 1999 to May of 2001. I visited San Miguel in October of 2001 to make local stations' research. I noted that four stations were in operation: R Andina on 994.9, R San Miguel Arcángel on 1370.3, Radio San Miguel on 1453.0 and R San Miguel FM on 97.9 MHz. According to Inelso Cruzado, the owner and station manager of R San Miguel, the station is licensed to broadcast on the frequency of 1450 with callsign OAU2W. R San Miguel FM is licensed to broadcast on the frequency of 97.9 MHz with callsign OAT2K. R San Miguel also experimentally operated on 4815 in 2000 without authorization, and they would made application for license to the Ministry of Transports and Communication. It was discontinued due to expensive electricity, but they informed me that the station would be resumed when they obtain more client that are interested in shortwave broadcasts. As of Oct 2002, R San Miguel broadcasts at 0900- 0200 daily on MW and at 1200-0300 daily on FM (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) 6020.27, R. Victoria, Lima, Sep 25-Oct 01, 0556-0839 (fade out), full Spanish ID, Spanish and Portuguese religious programmes produced by "Dios es Amor" church. ID: "estamos por Radio Victoria, transmitiendo el programa La Voz de la Liberación"; other ann.: "todo Lima y el Perú lo escucha cuando son exactamente las dos con 33 minutos",35442 // 9720.27. (Gonçalves, Howard and Slaen...). This has not been reported since June 2001! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** POLAND. Re selling airtime on non-existent 1503 transmitter: Maybe offering usage of 1503 kHz MW channel, which is registered at ITU Genève by TPSA Poland, otherwise 'silent' in central Europe (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA/CIS. Here are the known ex-Soviet zarya antennas: Columns: Transmitter RV number, where known; location; frequency; type of zarya antenna (B 3,5 km, S 2,5 km, M 1,5 km); azimuth. tx# freq deg 70 Ussuriysk 1251 M. zarya 116 Chita/Kruchina 801 B. zarya 185 161 Lviv-Krasne UKR 936 B. zarya 238 (232?) 445 Razdolnoye (site Ussuriysk?) 648 B. zarya 483 Angarsk 1170 M. zarya 489 Angarsk 1080 B. zarya 195 591 Oyash 1026 B. zarya 593 Oyash 675 M. zarya 602 Kamo ARM 1314 B. zarya 679 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 720 B. zarya 680 Tbilisskaya 1170 B. zarya 210 750 Komsomolsk RS1 630 M. zarya 769 Belogorsk 585 B. zarya 857 Popovka 11.3 1494 S. zarya 258 950+ Maiac MDA 1548 M. zarya 245 Ashgabat, TKM 1125 B. zarya Sasnovy BLR 1170 ? zarya 244 Many transmitters can also be switched to normal mast antennas for local services. Some transmissions or frequencies are not currently in use. Besides the Popovka zarya antenna I have also seen pictures of the Krasne and Chita zaryas. Both of the latter ones are of the 36 tower type. The towers carry a complicated structure of several \\ wires. Each wire seems to follow a zig-zag pattern upwards-downwards. The Chita picture is a broadside one taken from a considerable distance, so no details are visible. The Krasne picture is much like the Popovka picture featured in the WRTH (Olle Alm, Sweden, Arctic R Club editor, Sep 30 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND. SOMALIA: UNHCR DONATES EQUIPMENT TO RADIO HARGEYSA | Text of report by Somali Radio HornAfrik on 8 October The UNHCR has donated equipment to Radio Hargeysa which is owned by the self-declared administration of Somaliland. According to reports from Hargeysa, Mr Stephen Morris, the UNHCR representative handed over the equipment to the information minister of Somaliland, Abdullahi Muhammad Duale. The equipment donated included antennas and studios [as heard]. This is the first time the UNHCR has provided such a donation to the Somaliland administration... Source: Radio HornAfrik, Mogadishu, in Somali 0500 gmt 8 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. Sowt al Watan: Dear Mr Hauser, I am now hearing the morning transmission at 0430-0500 UT [ex 0330-0400] on 9950 kHz. The evening one is as you reported 1500-1530 12085 and 1600-1630 12115. This may be due to the start of winter time in Syria. According to http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=487 this was on October 1. Did anyone note when the transmissions changed? Regards (Stavros M., Limassol, Cyprus, Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In which country happened clock backsetting already on Oct 1st? Iran and Israel, and ? ed. Vielleicht nicht der allerheisseste Tip, aber immerhin eine Beobachtung des arabischsprachigen Senders auf 12085 kHz. There has been some speculation regarding the origin of the Arabic (?) speaking station on 12085 kHz at 1500 UT. Well, in September - when actually looking for Mongolia - at around 1515 UTC I heard the same signal in Arabic (or other Semitic lang) as on 12085 kHz also on the harmonic of 24170 kHz. Although the signal on the harmonic was weaker I'm quite sure it was the same station (Wolfgang Schweikert, Germany, BC-DX Oct 4) ** TAIWAN. I was surprised to here a radio play on Radio Taipei Int'l tonight using the word F**K on several occasions. The programme 'Cultural Express' was relayed via the Skelton Site in the UK on 3955 kHz at 1815 UTC tonight. I thought that use of this sort of language was prohibited by International Broadcasters (Graham Powell, Webmaster for the Online DX Logbook & 21 MHz.Com -- Full details available at: http://www.shortwave.org.uk Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Seems to me such restrixions would be up to each country/station; I know of no international regulation re, nor would it be enforceable (gh, DXLD) I couldn't believe it myself, but there is a recording on the Latest Tropical Loggings page at http://www.shortwave.org.uk Still it does seem really odd, maybe a mix-up in the translation? More likely it was a mix-up in the translation. The recording definitely states "F**k You" on at least two of the several occasions that this four letter word was used. Cheers (Graham, ShortWaveRadio, via DXLD) Listened and it seemed quite gratuitous. Perhaps these non-native speakers were not clued in to the way this expression is avoided in polite English-speaking broadcasting (gh, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. The Orzu transmitter in southern TJK on 801 kHz (ca. 500 kW) now carries IBB programming 1400-0200: 0000-0030 RFE Dari 0030-0100 VOA Hindi 0100-0200 VOA Urdu 1400-1430 VOA Urdu 1430-1530 RFE Farsi 1530-1630 RFE Dari 1630-1700 VOA Hindi 1700-1800 VOA Urdu 1800-1830 RFE Dari 1830-1930 VOA Pashto 1930-2030 RFE Dari 2030-2130 VOA Pashto 2130-2230 VOA Dari 2230-2330 RFE Pashto 2330-2400 RFE Dari (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 9, MW-DX yahoogroup via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN [non]. Radio Voice of Christ: Hi Glenn, I came across this Web site (in English) of an organisation that broadcasts Christian programmes in Persian to Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan. http://www.rvoc.org/index.shtml No frequencies are mentioned. I can't immediately figure out what Persian broadcasts this refers to, but just in case it's something hitherto unreported in DXLD I thought I'd mention it. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One is hard pressed to find any location for this ministry, until it comes to donations! Then they give postal addresses in Reading PA, and Chilliwack BC; and they have an 800 number. One is even harder pressed to find out any details of the broadcasts, other than this vague assertion: ``Our programs are broadcast by radio stations around the region and can be heard by over 70 million Persian speakers. Tens of thousands tune in to our programs to hear about Jesus Christ, many for the first time in their lives. Interested listeners contact us to request more spiritual help.`` And: Radio Voice of Christ partners with other Christian ministries to buy airtime on three powerful radio transmitters in the region. Two of the stations are shortwave and one is an AM (or medium wave) facility. Shortwave Broadcasts People throughout the developing world depend on shortwave radio for their news and entertainment. The advantage of shortwave is that the radio signals travel long distances. Almost all radios in the Persian world are able to receive shortwave broadcasts as well as AM and FM. Radio Voice of Christ programs are broadcast from shortwave radio stations at the following local times (Tehran time): Friday 10:00 and 11:00 am; Monday - Friday 9:00 pm AM Broadcasts Radio Voice of Christ programs are also broadcast on AM radio (called "medium wave" in many countries). The AM station that we use is rated at 1,000,000 watts --- 20 times more powerful than the most powerful AM stations in North America. The performance of AM radio signals is predictable and changes very little with the seasons of the year or natural phenomena. AM radio signals travel short distances during the day and longer distances at night. Although AM signals cannot travel nearly as far as shortwave, AM is popular in the Persian world. Our AM programs are heard Saturdays through Wednesdays at 10:10 pm, local time (Tehran time).`` Naturally, when no such details are provided, donors must take it on faith that such broadcasts actually exist, not always the case with fly-by-night ``evangelical`` organisations. A great way to get money flowing in with no more expense than setting up a website. I am not saying that is the case with this organization: only that, if they have nothing to hide, they need to make it possible for anyone to confirm the broadcasts, by giving the transmitter sites and frequencies, not just the times! Someone should figure out which megawatt mediumwave in the region would be likely to carry this. ``R. Voice of Christ`` -- isn`t the very name grossly presumptuous? WWJD? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. On Oct 7 I could confirm the above mentioned schedule [Olle Alm`s in previous DXLD], as I heard the Tibetan Service until sign off at 1650* on 4905, 4920, 5240, 6110, 6130, 6200 and 7385 (ex 1700*/1735*), and the Chinese Service until sign off at 1730* on 4820, 5935, 6050, 7170 and 7240 (ex 1735*). (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 6325, Istanbul Polis Radyosu, Gamlica, Istanbul. This station which is scheduled in WRTH 2002 at 0600-1700 was not heard at any time during my stay in the Old City of Istanbul, so it is probably inactive. I also was unable to hear any of the Ankara-based private stations on 6900, 7101 and 7370, but due to a distance of 500 km and their low power, I cannot exclude that they still are active. In Istanbul are about 90 FM transmitters! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** U K. LIFE 87.9 FM -- Ten offenders carrying out community service helped build a new radio station, which started broadcasting on Monday. They worked on converting a defunct betting shop in Stonebridge Shopping Precinct into the radio station Life 87.9 fm. The ten offenders were supervised by the Probation Service after receiving Community Service Orders from the Courts. They ripped out shop fittings, put down carpet tiles on the floor and walls of the room in the building. The team then redecorated the defunct William Hill betting shop in the Precinct into a radio station in just 4 weeks. Offenders worked on the project for 2 days a week. Probation Service Community Officer Patrick McKay said: ``We`re pleased we were able to assist this project which is going to benefit the community. The offenders worked hard to make sure the deadline was met for the launch of the radio station.`` Some of them who have finished their community service are staying on to help out with the daily running of the radio station, so it's a real success story. Life 87.9 fm is run by young and unemployed people, and will broadcast for 15 hours a day in the week, and up to 24 hours at the weekend. The station is sponsored by Stonebridge Housing Action Trust, and will be run by the charity Bang Edutainment. Residents working on the station have received training in broadcasting skills, and programmes will cover everything from features, arts and music to advice on training and jobs. Jennifer O`Goley, Bang Edutainment Project Manager said: ``It was a real challenge; the place was in a state and had a bad reputation. We couldn`t have done it without the help we received from the Probation Service. Everyone's worked so hard.`` Life 87.9 fm will broadcast until 27 October, and after that the premises will be used as community offices. (Pictured is MP Paul Boteng with a youth worker and radio DJ at the launch of Life 87.9 fm earlier this week). The preceding was taken from a local newspaper published on 3 October, and picked up by the London Borough of Brent's Talking Newspaper "Brent in Sound", recorded on the same day. Talking newspapers provide a service in the UK similar to radio reading services in the USA and other places. (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, Chair of the Brent Visually- Handicapped Group, celebrating 25 years of providing talking newspapers to the Borough, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. The following message appeared on the UK-radio-listeners' e- mail list today: This morning, Wednesday, BBC Seven, the spoken word archive channel, has started testing on D A B, and its position is between Six Music and BBC World Service. Currently the transmission is in mono, and I would be interested to hear from any Sky or Digital TV users to find out if their signal is stereo or mono. I am concerned that this may be another instance of D A B users getting mono when other platforms give the service in stereo. PETER WILKINS (via Paul David, Oct 9, DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. NAÇÕES UNIDAS - Está de parabéns a Rádio das Nações Unidas. O boletim gravado por João Lins de Albuquerque é retransmitido pelas seguintes emissoras: Nacional de Angola, Canal África, Rádio França, HCJB e Nacional da Amazônia (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 6 via DXLD) ** U S A. Clearing a Path for Digital Radio IBIQUITY TECHNOLOGY MAY SET NATIONAL STANDARD, FCC WILLING Robert J. Struble, standing, president and CEO of iBiquity Digital Corp., talks to Russell Iannuzzelli, principal engineer in the company's sound lab. (Andrea Bruce Woodall - The Washington Post) By Shannon Henry, Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 9, 2002; Page E01 Radio, long the low-tech cousin in the media family of television, telephones and the Internet, may be about to break out of its rut with a handful of new technologies that promise better sound and more information without requiring more space on the limited radio band. The Federal Communications Commission is to decide tomorrow whether to allow radio stations to broadcast digital signals, and whether it will regulate them. Industry insiders expect the FCC to approve a national digital standard created by iBiquity Digital Corp. of Columbia, a system that would require the cooperation of large broadcasting companies, local stations and manufacturers... To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63499-2002Oct9.html (via Tom McNiff, DXLD) ** U S A. HOUSE APPROVES BILL THAT REDUCES SMALL WEBCASTERS' FEES FOR COPYRIGHTED MUSIC October 8, 2002 3:37am The House approved a bill yesterday that would reduce the amount that small Internet radio broadcasters must pay for copyrighted music, and would be likely to allow many online radio stations to avoid bankruptcy. The bill approved by the House of Representatives came one day after webcasters and the recording industry agreed on a plan to let Internet radio stations pay royalties based on a percentage of their revenue. That means they would pay less money to record labels and artists than they would have under a formula approved by the librarian of Congress in June. The agreement was a victory for the young Internet radio industry, which many have said could sink under the weight of high royalties. The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires webcasters to pay for copyrighted music. Webcasters insisted all summer that those rates would exceed their revenue and threaten Internet radio. Some webcasters have moved operations overseas out of concern over high copyright fees. "It's not a fantastic deal, but it's better than the alternative. Is it expensive? Yes. But it is a rate that allows us to grow and survive," said David Landis, the founder of www.ultimate-80s.com, in Los Angeles. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had introduced legislation to delay payment of royalties, but he pulled it last week because he expected webcasters and the record labels to reach an agreement on a new formula. The two sides finally reached a deal Sunday night. The Senate must still approve the bill, and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he supports Senate action on the House bill. "Time is short in this congressional session, but I believe that final action on this solution is possible," he said. Under the deal shepherded through the House by Mr. Sensenbrenner, small webcasters will pay royalties of 8 to 12 percent of revenue for copyrighted music played from 1998 through 2004. The agreement covers webcasters with as much as $1.25 million in revenue in 2004. When the copyright dispute began, small webcasters hoped they wouldn't have to pay more than 4 percent of revenue to record labels and artists. That's equivalent to the royalties they pay to music publishers. Record labels had hoped for a royalty closer to 15 percent of revenue. But Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said Internet radio stations must pay 0.007 cents per song, per listener -- 70 cents for every song heard by 1,000 listeners. The new rate approved by the House will save webcasters money, said Mike Roe, who runs http://www.radioIO.com, in Jacksonville, Fla. Mr. Roe would have paid $8,221 in royalties for copyrighted music he played during September under Mr. Billington's plan. Under the terms of the new formula, he would pay $990. One important element of the deal between webcasters and the recording industry reduces what Internet radio stations owe for music played from October 1998 through September 2002. Full payment of royalties from past years would have been due Oct. 20. The new deal delays the deadline for retroactive payments and allows webcasters to pay retroactive royalties in three installments over 11 months. Mr. Landis said his retroactive royalties would have amounted to about $24,000 under Mr. Billington's plan. He will pay about $7,700 under the new formula. Perhaps most important, the agreement gives webcasters peace of mind by ending a long-running dispute with the recording industry, Mr. Roe said. "There has been this huge black cloud over our industry for four years. None of us have been able to attract investment capital. None have been able to forge relationships with the labels," he said. The deal also helps artists, said John Simson, the executive director of SoundExchange, the group that will collect and distribute royalties. "For four long years, artists and record labels have awaited compensation for the music that webcasters have used as the foundation for their business," he said. Negotiations are continuing between the Digital Media Association and the Recording Industry Association of America on a contract for large webcasters, including Yahoo and AOL Time Warner. © 2002, The Washington Times {Moony]. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. HIGH COST OF ROYALTIES AND UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING WEB STREAMING FORCES 98.7WFMT TO DISCONTINUE SERVICE OCTOBER 14 Joining hundreds of other radio stations, the management of 98.7WFMT, Chicago's classical fine arts station, has made the difficult decision to discontinue streaming the station's signal over the Internet. WFMT's signal streaming will cease on Monday, October 14. "The substantial cost of maintaining a streaming service over the Internet combined with potentially huge royalty payments for that service has forced WFMT to discontinue streaming. That's the same conclusion reached in recent months by broadcasters across the country," said Steve Robinson, Vice President for Radio. "Terminating this service is something we tried hard to avoid, but given the reality of having to pay not only past royalties but future royalties at a rate that is still being determined makes continuing service at this point impossible. We feel very badly that we can no longer provide WFMT to listeners outside the Chicago market." 98.7WFMT has been streaming its signal on the Internet since 1998 and has enjoyed providing programming 24 hours a day to a national and international audience. WFMT has continued to provide this service after large radio groups like Clear Channel Communications and Emmis Communications turned off many of their web streams. WFMT's management is prepared to find the funds to cover royalties, retroactive to 1998, once a federal plan for determining such payments is finalized. Moving forward without a royalty payment structure in place for future web casting, coupled with the expense of maintaining a high quality web broadcast was simply too much for the station to bear financially. "We hope to be able to being streaming again at some time," said Robinson. "We just can't afford to do it at this point." The staff of 98.7WFMT extends its thanks to all the listeners who have tuned in to enjoy the station's unique programming over the Internet. We would also like to extend a special note of gratitude to those listeners who have chosen to support the station by becoming members of this listener-support station via the Web. We all hope to able to bring our programming signal to you again in the future. (from http://www.networkchicago.com Oct 8 via DXLD) ** U S A. WFMT PULLING THE PLUG ON INTERNET BROADCASTS October 8, 2002 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Once in the vanguard of broadcast technology, WFMT-FM (98.7) is yanking its signal off the Internet, effectively cutting off the classical music station from its worldwide audience. Effective Monday, WFMT will cease streaming its signal. Steve Robinson, WFMT's vice president for radio, cited the $30,000 annual cost of maintaining the service and potentially huge royalty fees that are being calculated retroactive to 1998, when the station began streaming its signal on the Internet. "Terminating this service is something we tried hard to avoid, but given the reality of having to pay not only past royalties but future royalties at a rate that is still being determined makes continuing service at this point impossible," Robinson said. "We feel very badly that we can no longer provide WMFT to listeners outside the Chicago market." Once the federal government approves a payment structure for royalties, the station will seek funding to cover them. Resumption of streaming also is a possibility. "We just can't afford to do it at this point," Robinson said. (Chicago Sun Times Oct 8 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Note that WFMT-FM remains available via analogue C-band satellite on G5/7 audio 6.30 and 6.48 (Mike Cooper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SMALL WEBCASTERS GET BREAK ON ROYALTIES -- ASSOCIATED PRESS Internet music broadcasters and the recording industry agreed yesterday to settle their long-running dispute over how much small webcasters must pay to broadcast songs over the Internet, officials familiar with the negotiations said. The two sides in the debate over online music royalties agreed to set lower fees for small webcasters, who argued that heftier rates would have put their fledgling industry out of business. At issue are the small webcasters, typically companies and individuals whose operations are listener-supported and reach, at most, just a few thousand people. In June, the U.S. Copyright Office ruled that webcasters have to pay 70 cents for every song heard by 1,000 listeners. The fees were retroactive to 1998 and full payment of royalties from past years was due Oct. 20. Neither side was happy with that decision, and they began trying to work out an alternate deal. The agreement reached yesterday would provide "significant discounts" to small webcasters for both future and retroactive payments, said one official close to the negotiations, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The proposed deal, which would supplant the copyright office's ruling, still must be approved by Congress. Under the deal, payments would be based on a percentage of a webcaster's revenue and include installment payment options, the official said. More details were not immediately available. Negotiations are continuing between the Digital Media Association, which represents larger webcasters, and the Recording Industry Association of America, said another official familiar with the talks. The larger webcasters had said the rates set by the copyright office would cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, more than they get from advertising or listener contributions. House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Republican, had introduced legislation to postpone the Oct. 20 deadline for six months, but he pulled the bill last week, saying he expected a deal soon that could be codified into law. Internet radio — either simulcasts of traditional over-the-air radio or Internet-only stations streamed over the Internet to computers — is becoming more popular as more people get high-speed connections (Washington Times Oct 7 via Tom McNiff, DXLD) ** U S A. HALLOWEEN RADIO TREAT: 'TWILIGHT ZONE' TO DEBUT October 9, 2002, BY ROBERT FEDER, SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST With or without a Chicago radio outlet, a locally produced radio drama series based on "The Twilight Zone" is set to debut in national syndication on Halloween. About 100 radio stations are expected to be onboard in time for the launch of the adaptation of Rod Serling's classic science-fiction series. The show also will air worldwide via the American Forces Radio and Television Service. Hosted by Stacy Keach and featuring a distinguished lineup of guest stars, each hourlong drama will be adapted from Serling's original 150 television scripts. With Serling as host, producer and, in many cases, writer, "The Twilight Zone" originally aired on CBS from 1959 to 1965. Serling's widow, Carol Serling, praised the radio adaptations, calling them "truly astounding." Executive producer of the radio series is Carl Amari, chairman of northwest suburban Schaumburg-based Falcon Pictures Group and producer of the syndicated old-time radio series "When Radio Was." The entire production will be based in Chicago, under the supervision of veteran producer and sound engineer Roger Wolski. Amari has been in talks about airing the series with two Chicago stations -- WBBM-AM (780) and WLS-AM (890)--but no deal has been finalized. WBBM already airs "When Radio Was" at midnight Monday through Friday (Robert Feder, Chicago Sun-Times Oct 9 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Hope this is better than the new TwZ series on UPN TV. I watched he first two episodes, but they leave me cold --- stale and predictable. Think I will bail out in future. What we really need by now, are some *new* scripts, on radio or TV (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Regarding the article about the potential threat of hackers to the Emergency Alert System........ This was probably not a "hack," but rather a system screw-up -- nonetheless, an odd incident. About a week ago, I was driving around Orlando FL listening to jazz on the local college station (WUCF-89.9) when an EAS test was announced. The usual data bursts were followed, uncharacteristically, by the long emergency tone (not used on tests anymore). My ears perked up in this post-9/11 environment, and for a minute I wondered if some major event had occurred. The tone was followed by a long silence, and then by a taped announcement/commercial for some Christian gathering in Lakeland FL!! I had no idea at that moment if the odd promo was related to the EAS screw-up. After a bit more dead air, programming resumed on the station and no one addressed the odd event. I believed it to be a local screw-up at the station......until a short time later I heard the exact same sequence (with the same promo) on another local station!! Sounds like perhaps the EAS people ran the wrong test tape, and were just using the Christian promo as "filler" to represent where the actual announcement would have come in a real emergency. Again, probably not a hack......but very strange, indeed (Stan Jones, Orlando FL, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Here`s what happens when you go to http://wbcq.net :: ``The WBCQ.net website is no longer in service. Please go to http://www.wbcq.us for WBCQ schedules and station information. Please also try http://swradio.us --- a site operated by the former wbcq.net operators. This site features information on all US shortwave broadcasters and selected programs.`` The redirect actually leads to Different Kind of Oldies Show site, with no info on other WBCQ programs: http://www.dorsai.org/~bigsteve/index1.htm But http://www.wbcq.us has a redesigned WBCQ site with program schedule in hard-to-read format. Also has a webcast of the 7415 schedule, via complexvariablesstudio, so we tried it. In the 1600-1700 hour, despite WBCQ not being on air then, it was running OTR like George Burns & Gracie Allen, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy (Glenn Hauser, OK, Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hello Glenn, I came across WOR 1148, from September 18, broadcast from WJIE on 7489.95 at 0130 on October 8. The signal was strong and steady with no interference and only minor fading and noise, overall 444. Notable tonight as the signal of many of the other domestics are suffering from poor conditions this evening, as they have since last Thursday. Noticed a telephone tones at 0153, like a modem dialing the same number a couple of times. WJIE commercial at 0158, station ID at 0159, and into a bible program at 0201. Good to hear you on another outlet here, but it would be nice if the program was current! Regards, (Larry Will, Mount Airy, Maryland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I must keep encouraging them to download the latest WOR each Thursday. 1148 also re-ran Tue Oct 8 at 1200, followed at 1230 by a somewhat more recent ``WJIE This Week``, from Sept 28, but the same one quoted before. This date the DVR CCI was less of a problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBOH is testing again on 5920, at 0340 UT October 9, good signal (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the tip; first time I`ve heard it; quite weak in the noise, only slightly better than WJIE was when on exciter. Female ID loop with two high-pitched tones, Newport NC address for reports. At least there is no QRM on the frequency; still going past 0500; taped for illustration on WOR 1151 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5920, WBOH, 0454 Oct 7 [sic] Equipment test with Female vocal describing the test and giving address for reception reports, interspersed into tones. Best towards LSB (Don Nelson, OR, Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Received Oct 9 UT, probably the date meant (gh, DXLD) Hi all, Audible here at 0612 with tones and FA with IDs but barely legible. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FA = female announcer, I guess ** U S A. Christer Brunstrom's Christian Shortwave Report reported on WMLK, the radio station of the Assemblies of Yahweh. They have done their "Sacred Name Broadcasts" since 1966; they began on a station in Baltimore, and it spread to other local stations in the U.S. and Mexico. The announcer was Elder Jacob O. Meyer, who soon found that it was expensive to buy time on commercial stations. He decided to set up a shortwave station in Bethel, PA to reach the world. In the early 1980s, he bought a secondhand transmitter and had a building constructed for it near Bethel, with the help of some members of the Assemblies of Yahweh. Testing on shortwave began in 1985, and after they made some changes demanded by the FCC, they went on the air in 1986. WMLK targets Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. They broadcast from Sunday to Friday on 9465 from 0400 to 0900, and also from 1700 to 2200, or so their schedule says; Christer reports that they have not been heard at 0400 UTC for quite some time. However, he does hear them in Sweden with weak signals around 2000. Christer says that the station does not reach its target area, and probably never really has. WMLK is planning to upgrade its facilities. The Assemblies of Yahweh have bought an old BBC 250-kW transmitter, and they have announced on the air that it is currently being installed in Bethel. Elder Meyer usually QSLs with letters, and Christer says he seems to do just about everything at WMLK! Christer suggests checking out 9465 kHz for possible transmitter tests (HCJB DX Partyline Oct 5, notes by Marie Lamb, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WJKM AM 1090 AM in Hartsville, TN is back on the air. (Charles Gossett Jr., Nashville TN, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So what? Search on WJKM at dxldmid ** U S A [non]. USA/AUSTRIA: B-02 schedule, AWR via MOS 500/300* kW: 7235*/ non-dir 1600-1630 German 9650 / 145 deg 0300-0330 Oromo 9660*/ non-dir 0800-0900 German/English 9660 / 215 deg 2100-2200 English 9740 / 100 deg 0330-0400 Farsi 9835 / 090 deg 0100-0200 English/Urdu 9850*/ non-dir 1630-1700 English 9875*/ 115 deg 0400-0500 Arabic 11670*/ 190 deg 0600-0700 Arabic 11740 / 115 deg 1800-1900 Arabic 11905 / 145 deg 0500-0600 Arabic 11905 / 100 deg 1630-1700 Farsi 11935*/ 215 deg 2000-2100 Dyula/French 15130 / 190 deg 1900-2000 Arabic 15385*/ 145 deg 1700-1800 Arabic 17670*/ 215 deg 0900-0930 English 17820 / 215 deg 0730-0900 Dyula/French/English USA/GERMANY: B-02 schedule for AWR via JUL 100 kW: 5840 / 115 deg 1730-1800 Romanian ||||| ex 1700-1800 9840 / 200 deg 0600-0730 Arabic/Arabic/French 9885 / 115 deg 0500-0600 Bulgarian 11845 / 200 deg 1900-2030 Arabic/Arabic/French 12015 / 115 deg 1800-1900 Bulgarian 15195 / 145 deg 1000-1030 Italian Sat/Sun ||||| ex 1000-1100 USA/UAE: B-02 schedule for AWR via DHA 500 kW: 6035 / 100 deg 0000-0100 Hindi/English 6055 / 075 deg 0000-0100 Hindi/English 9695 / 045 deg 0230-0300 Farsi 9890 / 045 deg 1600-1700 English/Russian ||||| new time, ex 1300-1400 11945 / 225 deg 0300-0330 Tigrina 11975 / 230 deg 0300-0330 Amharic 12015 / 205 deg 0330-0400 Somali 15160 / 045 deg 0400-0500 Russian/English ||||| new time, ex 0300-0400 15215 / 075 deg 1500-1600 Punjabi/Hindi 15385 / 060 deg 1330-1500 English/Urdu/Urdu 15465 / 225 deg 1630-1800 Somali/Afar/Oromo 15485 / 225 deg 1700-1800 Amharic/Tigrina 17590 / 075 deg 1500-1530 Nepali 17590 / 105 deg 1530-1600 Malayalam 17700 / 100 deg 1400-1430 Hindi 17775 / 105 deg 1400-1500 Telugu/Kannada 17835 / 060 deg 1100-1300 Mandarin Chinese 17870 / 045 deg 1330-1400 Tamil 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 8, via DXLD) ** VATICAN. VATICAN RADIO LAUNCHES HAUSA SERVICE Vatican Radio has begun broadcasting in Hausa for first time. A spokesman for the station told journalists that the broadcasts are aimed particularly at northern Nigeria, although they will also reach millions of Hausa speakers in neighbouring countries. The programmes are produced by a Catholic communications centre in Kaduna. The service was started at the requests of Catholic bishops in the region, which was the scene of rioting between Muslims and Christians two years ago, when 2000 people were killed. Kaduna and 11 other states in northen Nigeria have been under Islamic Sharia law since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999. The broadcasts are on the air daily at 0700-0715 UTC on 11625, 13765 and 15570 kHz (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 8 October 2002 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re: 6715 once again ! Revived discussion. Hi, See my personal comment [BELOW] of June 3rd, 2002 ! 73 wolfgang BC-DX ``PROFESSIONAL direction finding sources in Europe told me a lobe and [back lobe] direction of 224 [and 044] degrees, that's fit the path line of Canary Islands, Argentina/Chile, Wellington NZ, Seoul, Irkutsk, from Europe. Broadcasting time of about 1900-2100 UT would suggest an audience in W Europe and - I guess - on the Korean F i s h i n g f l e e t v e s s e l s in the C & Southern Atlantic, and maybe between Africa and Brazil?? (wb, BC-DX Jun 3, 2002)`` Well, can you ask the pros to get a DF fix on this once and for all by combining the above bearing with another from somewhere outside Europe; or certainly by amateurs (gh, DXLD) Hi Wolfgang, long time, no see. Yes, I remember very well your comment about possibility this being a transmission for fishing fleet. And I consider this is very possible case. I tend to think similar way you do. During my monitoring of this station (some hours so far, whew) on numerous Sun, Wed and Fri evenings I noted following: 1) It is always same pattern in reception. The early evening programs are a lot weaker than the late evening. It suggests this coming south/west of me. If coming from east, the early evening transmissions should be stronger. This of course if all programs are from the same txer. 2) Couple of times we have compared the reception in real time with Rik van Riel in Brazil. The reception in Curitiba has been practically non existing. That suggests the station is not very near Brazil. At the same time reception in UK and Netherlands has been OK. 3) When comparing the program on 6715U with Yoido fgtv webcast, they sound very different. The SW program is more lively and home-made like. Lot of singing and at times the preacher seems to be jumping and shouting among the crowd. I don't know if the fgtv webcast is edited leaving all that out:). 4) Using SSB I think means this is not meant for ordinary people, but possibly (as you say) to be distributed inside the ship. It might even be shipboard transmitter (fishing mothership etc). 5) As we don't know if this is possibly picked up from satellite or web and then rebroadcasted on sw, it is hard to say anything definite. 6) Using this frequency is strange. If it was ship to ships broadcast, one would expect a marine frequency used. Of course it is possible that this is transmitted from land to ships and only available transmitter happened to be on this frequency. 7) The audio of the programs has last months been poor at times. When the preacher or someone else sings and plays, the audio is good. But during most preach portions, the audio is bad. This could be a problem in the audio feed path but also possibly just a problem with the mikes in the church or where ever they are. And so on. This all is just speculating with rather little amount of facts. Hope we will get some more clues. Thank you for your message. Let's keep in touch. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland via Cumbre DX via DXLD) In my recent message about this unID 6715U I forgot to mention about its schedule. They apparently shifted to "summer time" in the end of March as all programs were 1 hour earlier since that. Here is a monitored "summer time" schedule (s-on/off times are variable. Sometimes up to 10-20 minutes): Sunday: fade in 1845-1920 Wednesday: 1915-2030 Friday: 2045-2230 They have also been totally unheard here on some Sundays and Fridays, maybe off the air for some reason. It will be interesting to see if they switch to "winter time" at the end of this month (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 6100: Liberian Communications Network has not been reported here since it closed on May 13, 2002 according to BBC Monitoring. But 5100 is reactivated recently, so why not also 6100? (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ Re:- Motorola claims analogue radio breakthrough At best this can only be a digital filter, like the ones we use to clean up the signal. As AM is, when compared to FM, a Narrow Band transmission its quality can never be as good. IE:- you cannot get from it what is not there! (Anthony Brittain, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This is not a DAB or DRM rival. This is just about using Digital Signal Processing (DSP), replacing electronic filters with software ones. Such a system only works at the receiver by digitising the conventional AM and FM spectrum it receives. DSP has been used in amateur and military receivers for a few years now. It might sell a few new analogue radios but it isn't going to be a longterm solution because it does not involve digital transmission (CHRIS McWhinnie, BDXC-UK via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Hi there, I was wondering if you could help me by answering a question that I have been wondering about for some time. I realise that Solar Flux is a measure of overall solar activity, but, what sort of an affect does it have on ShortWave reception, and why? i.e. is ShortWave reception likely to be better when the flux level is high, or when it is low? Cheers (Henry Brice, e-garfield.com, DXLD) Henry, This question is not so easy to answer. It depends. High solar flux generally correlates with the maximum usable frequency extending higher, and improved propagation on the higher bands (such as 21 MHz) -- unless there is also increased geomagnetic activity (higher A and K indices). SF correlates with sunspot numbers, on a longterm basis -- during the trough of the solar cycle, SF will be well below 100, and the higher bands less useful if at all. On tropical bands and mediumwave, however, DXers long for lower flux, since that improves longrange propagation there. Regards, Glenn FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 09 OCTOBER - 04 NOVEMBER 2002 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate during the forecast period. Moderate activity is possible early in the period due to Region 139 and the return of old Region 119 (S14, L=228). Moderate activity is possible late in the period with the Return of Region 134 and Region 137 on 19 October and 23 October, respectively. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo- synchronous orbit may reach event threshold on 10-12 October due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to active levels. Coronal hole effects are expected on 09-10 October and weak coronal hole effects are possible on 03-04 November. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Oct 08 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Oct 08 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Oct 09 170 15 3 2002 Oct 10 175 15 3 2002 Oct 11 180 10 3 2002 Oct 12 185 10 3 2002 Oct 13 190 8 3 2002 Oct 14 190 10 3 2002 Oct 15 185 10 3 2002 Oct 16 175 10 3 2002 Oct 17 170 10 3 2002 Oct 18 165 10 3 2002 Oct 19 160 10 3 2002 Oct 20 155 8 3 2002 Oct 21 155 8 3 2002 Oct 22 155 8 3 2002 Oct 23 150 5 2 2002 Oct 24 150 5 2 2002 Oct 25 150 5 2 2002 Oct 26 145 8 3 2002 Oct 27 140 15 3 2002 Oct 28 140 12 3 2002 Oct 29 145 10 3 2002 Oct 30 150 10 3 2002 Oct 31 160 8 3 2002 Nov 01 160 8 3 2002 Nov 02 160 8 3 2002 Nov 03 160 20 4 2002 Nov 04 160 15 3 (de http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1151, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-155, October 6, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1150: NEXT AIRING ON WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 AIRINGS ON RFPI: Mon 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 NEXT AIRING ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1150.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1150.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1150.html ** ARMENIA. Yerevan is active on 234 kHz! Heard it with a stable signal on 23 Sep, at 1843 with SINPO 35333. Parallel frequency is 1395 kHz, but signal on it is weaker and more noisy, 22222. Song in French. News at 1845, mentioning Robert Kocharyan, Azerbaijan, Karabakh, etc. A long listing of locations and frequencies (including FM) read after 1850. It continued even at 1858, when I left the frequency. A kind of DX program, hi... (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal Oct 5 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. I think it was already reported that ROI will terminate the programs in Arabic and Esperanto. Wolf Harranth will do his last Intermedia show on Oct 25; the programme will continue but only in a modest way, basically relying on unpaid contributions (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) as webcast only? (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Hello, Glenn! I can confirm that Brazil has remained on regular time. Matter of fact, my wife flew there just last night, and there was conflicting info re. arrival time. On Air Canada's site, it was shown in DST at the time the reservation was made, only last week, but as of a couple of days ago it was shown in standard time, and that already puzzled me. And the actual arrival recording gives it in DST, which is wrong. The presidential election takes place today. A second round (as in France) is scheduled for October 27, if needed. So I guess somebody thought better and decided to move DST to the following weekend, but this may have taken place recently, as the Air Canada schedule (update downloadable every Friday) still shows flight arrival happening 1 hour later as of today. Their polls open very early and close at the also ungodly early hour of 5 PM! So imagine somebody who didn't know of the time change showing up at his 4:30, and it's already 5:30, poll closed... Best regards (Carlos Coimbra, Canada, Oct 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Glenn, Site of things to come: http://cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/ (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA. CHECHEN REBEL RADIO BROADCASTING DAILY - WEB SITE | Text of report by Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency web site 5 October: Dzhokhar state [Chechen] radio station has started daily broadcasts in Chechnya, the head of the internal information service of the State Defence Committee - Majlis ul-Shura of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria [CRI], Bashir, has told Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency. The radio is broadcast in most parts of Chechnya and people can listen to the Chechen radio station without significant noise interference. In addition, several newspapers and magazines are printed in Chechnya now, Bashir said. The total print run is 16,000. Most of them are printed twice a month. Source: Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency web site in Russian 5 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Incluyo a continuación algunas direcciones WEB de Emisoras de Medellín: Vida AM 870: http://www.vidaam.com Munera Eastman Radio 790 AM: http://www.radiomunera.com (audio) Allegro 90.3 FM: http://www.allegrofm.com Latina Stereo 100.9 FM: http://www.latinastereo.com La Z 91.3 y Rumba Estéreo en: http://www.geo.net.co (audio) Radio Altair: http://altair.udea.edu.co De Bogotá: Los 40 Principales: http://www.40principales.com.co Radio Santafé: http://www.radiosantafe.com Me despido hasta otra oportunidad (HECTOR ARBOLEDA via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH. A SHORTWAVE MESSAGE'S LONG RANGE September 22, 2002 Nearly 60 years ago, Antoinette Addazio was a student at what now is Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Her name back then was Antoinette Casula, and the school was called Bloomsburg State Teachers College. Late on summer nights, to keep up her skills in the Gregg shorthand method she had learned in high school, Antoinette would listen to shortwave radio broadcasts from American prisoners of war in German camps.... http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/columnists/ny-lflowe2932981sep22(0,6448048).column?coll=ny-li-columnists (Newsday via Jill Dybka, TN, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 5 via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Hi Glenn, Re station on 12256.7 in DXLD 2-154: ``En 12256.7, a las 0600, sólo alcancé a oir "Uptown Girl" de Billy Joel, para luego disiparse en un fade eterno. Nombre:?? 29/09. [R. Fax?]`` This was almost certainly UK pirate WRI (Wrekin Radio International) who broadcast most Sunday (UT) mornings on 12256. SRS news (Swedish Report Service) log for 29 Sep shows: 12256.6 WRI 07.45-08.44 EE, mx WRI have a website at: http://www.wrinternational.net and use this address: WRI, Ostra Porten 29, S - 442 54 Ytterby, Sweden A copy of their QSL (received by Jim Parker in Wales) is pictured on page 57 of BDXC-UK's Aug 2002 edition of "Communication". (Re R. Fax? - they have not been on air for many years but the same transmitters I think (in Ireland) are used by Reflections Europe who broadcast various religious programmes Sundays only on 3910 6295 and 12255 from 1500 UT sign-on (to around 2100?).) (Alan Pennington, BDXC- UK, Caversham UK, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Anker Petersen, and DSWCI Tropical Band Survey Editor, notes that "in November 2001 CKTM, Trois Rivières, Canada, was heard with a feeder on [2]6145 - 26150 at 1330" opening up a possible alternative to Comité Department du Tourisme de la Chanente-Maritime as the one on 25,775.1 kHz. However, the English language programming suggests France over Canada at this point. If France, is it possible that this could be only 1 watt as listed? Also, Anker notes the phone number appeared to be dated so if France the programming could be about seven years old (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 5 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6085 Closedown Confirmed: The current ROI Intermedia programme contains an interview with the technical director of Bayerischer Rundfunk. He confirmed that 6085 will be switched off by the end of this year due to high operational costs (hardly a surprise; that's a Telefunken S4005 500 kW transmitter, although running on reduced power) and continued with declarations that this is a temporary shut-down only. Of course! By the way, first Bayerischer Rundfunk complained about the regarding item in the teletext service of Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg, claiming that there would be no decision to close 6085. Some kind of internal communication, not to discuss the circumstance that the times when only official statements could be used for publications are over for almost 13 years now (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. DDH47 CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF SERVICE. November 8th and 9th will see a special station on the air from Pinneberg Germany. This as Weather Service's station DDH47 will be operating crossband on 147 kHz and listening on 80, 40 and 20 meters CW to celebrate its 50th anniversary of the service. Slow speed Morse transmissions to North America are also planned (G4NJH From ARNewsline via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. Hello listeners of RADIO RASANT, This is the announcement of our third transmission at the coming weekend by IRRS transmitter. It is a special broadcast due to the World Childrens' Day 2002 by UNICEF council, celebrated in Germany in September every year. Cause of the fact that the students produced this programme RADIO RASANT got the title "Junior- Ambassador of UNICEF Germany 2002". The topic of this transmission is "Children and War" and will be broadcast in German. As far as you will get no corrections or further information about the schedule of this broadcast, the following schedule is the complete one: Saturday 12th October 2002 7.30 - 8.30 h UTC on 13840 kHz Sunday 13th October 2002 7.30 - 8.30 h UTC on 13840 kHz PS: If you haven't got any QSL confirmation due to your former reports, you will get a letter in a few weeks. Please keep in mind, that the RADIO RASANT members met once a week for 1,5 hours only to do their complete work. Of cause you have the opportunity to use this email address and ask whether your letter has already been answered or not. Further reports to coming transmissions should be send by snailmail to the already known address. We are sorry about this situation and beg your pardon. Thank You! Mit freundlichen Grüßen with kind regards RADIO RASANT Radio Rasant, Rotbuschweg 28, D- 59846 Sundern, Germany (via Tom Read, M1EYP, Macclesfield, England, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. Received a QSL from Radio Caroline for a report on the transmission on 7140 kHz. It says "Transmission from Southern Ireland". (Claes Olsson, SWEDEN, Oct 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Re DXLD 2-148: ``So KBS openly acknowledge they are responsible for this station 6348 Echo of Hope? Or `automatic` response like UMC for the wrong R. Africa International?`` If this QSL card is not an 'error' it would be the first QSL card for a Clandestine directed to North Korea that appeared on the QSL Info Pages (Martin Schoech, Germany, Sept 30 Clandestine Radio Watch, Oct 5 via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. A partir del próximo 21 de octubre Radio Corea Internacional modifica su programación. En el programa "Antena de la Amistad" conducido por Soñia Cho y Ramiro Trost del día de hoy 6 de octubre de 2002 se anunció lo siguiente: Soñia Cho: "Empezamos en primer lugar con los cambios en las frecuencias y programación de nuestra emisora, Radio Corea Internacional a partir de finales de octubre, esto es sólo un anticipo que ampliaremos con detalles y nuevo esquema de frecuencias en las siguientes ediciones". Ramiro Trost: "...Pero podemos decir entre las novedades que quedarán sin efecto las frecuencias que hasta el momento resultan inaudibles, se va a agregar otra frecuencia hacia España y otra más desde Sackville-Canadá hacia Sudamérica que funcionará juntamente con la frecuencia ya existente hasta establecer cuál es la de mejor recepción para transmitir hacia Sudamérica". S. Cho: "Las frecuencias todavía están en negociaciones lastimosamente por lo que no podemos anunciar con puntualidad en este momento pero les prometemos que lo vamos a hacer dentro de poco y también vamos a pedir ayuda a los monitores para que nos indiquen qué frecuencia es la mejor de las que se mandan desde Sackville-Canadá para que sean captadas en el sur de América del Sur". R. Trost.: "En cuanto a los programas del Servicio en Español de Radio Corea Internacional veamos primero los nuevos espacios y cambios en días de emisión". S. Cho: "El espacio de entrevistas 'Seúl en Contacto con el Mundo' pasa de los sábados a los jueves, luego de 'Corea a Diario' y 'Hablemos Coreano'. R. Trost: "'Redacción Económica' de los jueves va a pasar a los martes para convertirse en un micro-espacio muy compacto dentro de 'Corea a Diario', así podrán seguir el panorama de la economía coreana con sus noticias y perspectivas". S. Cho: "Las grandes novedades vienen los fines de semana ya que los sábados -luego de las noticias- vendrá 'Antena de la Amistad' que reemplazará el lugar que ha dejado 'Seúl en Contacto con el Mundo' y luego escucharán el tradicional espacio 'Buzón del Radioescucha' así que podemos definir que el sábado se convierte en un día imprescindible para los diexistas". R. Trost: "Y los domingos superprogramón ya que 'Melodías de Corea' amplía su emisión para incluir no sólo las noticias del momento y los últimos discos de los cantantes modernos sino también informaciones y música de películas, música tradicional de Corea y muchas sorpresas más". S. Cho: "A preparase que a partir del 21 de octubre viene con muchos cambios el Servicio en español de Radio Corea Internacional". (transcripción de Rubén Guillermo Margenet, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MACEDONIA. Macedonia on 810 kHz is off (OCT 4+5). I hear Mayak from Volgograd instead. On 5 OCT after 1800 UT observed sporadic attempts to keep the transmitter on the air. Usually on for 2 seconds, then off again... GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Oct 5, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. THE SPIRIT OF DON BOSCO LIVES ON MADAGASCAR AIRWAVES THROUGH A STATION NAMED FOR HIM Ivato, Oct 2 (CRU) --- When the BBC Monitoring Service did a study of the media, electronic and print, of Madagascar, a large island republic off the southeast African coast, it found one Catholic radio station, Radio Don Bosco 93.4 FM in Anatananarivo, the capital. As the name indicates, the station belongs to the Salesians, the order of St Francis de Sales founded by St. Don Bosco, one of the warmest saints to be canonized in the last two centuries. The Salesians operate a number of radio stations around the globe, all apparently in connection with their youth apostolates, for they operate schools, orphanages, vocational training centers, and the like. Radio Don Bosco 93.4 FM covers the entire capital area and gets out as much as 200 km., thanks to rebroadcast by Haja Radio in the large city of Antsirabe and repeater stations elsewhere that give it extensive coverage over much of center of the island. The station has an extraordinarily developed website at http://www.radiodonbosco.mg --- all the more remarkable in that Madagascar is a poor, developing nation that has seen its share of political and social troubles. I cannot recall seeing as developed and well written statements of mission, philosophy, and methodology as I have for Radio Don Bosco, all the more remarkable because these are written in plain English, the kind most people speak and write. All the more remarkable it is, too, because Malagasy is the language of the people, not English, nor was English the colonial language and the present language of the educated, but French. ``Plus je l`écoute, plus je l`amie`` --- ``The more I listen, the more I love it`` --- is the station slogan, clearly visible on its homepage. Click on the Enter button, and you are rewarded with an attractive page that offers the website in Malagasy, French, or English. The English pages, the only ones I visited, are detailed, simple, in large typeface and have a simple but effective attractiveness. You can learn everything you want to know about the station, from the listing of its main offices to detailed inventories of its control room and two production studios, to its statement of mission and methodology. Click on ``Jingles`` and you will hear clearly a home-grown variety (How many international custom jingle shops offer jingles in Malagasy?) but nonetheless effective. The more you scrutinize the website, the more impressed you become. This is no mickey-mouse operation out of a large closet. There is a public relations office, a treasurer, a customer service office, a transportation office (no doubt to get presenters and guests to and from Radio Don Bosco, RDB), a board operator, a transmitter operator, a record librarian and archivist, a technical staff, a production center, and a full-blown news operation responsible for five daily newscasts. In all, 30 people work at RDB, and many of them are young, because RDB, in keeping with the Salesian philosophy, is geared to the interests of young people, particularly in being trained in radio broadcasting. But programming is not targeted exclusively at the young. The RDB 24-hr schedule comprises music, culture, religious programming, news, sports, and entertainment. There are programs for children, teenagers, and youth, but also geared to women and the rural inhabitants of this rugged land of 15 million people. Advertising is accepted and sought; the station uses it to help support itself. RDB can better describe its philosophy than anyone. ``RDB`s Audience is a general audience, belonging to all age brackets and to all social levels. RDB covers a fairly large and deliberately differentiated territory, with a field of potential use which comes close to about 4 million, that is from the ``highest`` part of the capital to the peripheral parts and to the outskirts which build the periphery, joining the villages along the four large roads towards the North, the East - the West - the South, with a range of 80/180 km, getting up to Antsirabe, the second town of the country. ``The Audience adjusts itself with RDB in a differentiated way depending on the programs which please most, even if we must not exclude the existence of ``faithful listeners`` who choose it as their radio and listen to it preferably from any other one. In our opinion, the ordinary population is especially the one who listens to it; the young choose some parts from it, depending on the programming grid: RDB does not make of music its unique ``product``. It does not market it by following new fashions which incite to consumption, even if it is the only radio whose music is 80% Malagasy. A particular attention has been granted to the show public, to sports people, to artists, especially to those who are rising. This is because we have wanted to implement the strategy of approaching, of encountering, of collaborating to the events which touch it in some way. Of course a radio is made to satisfy the `` customer`` who, in such as case, is precisely the Audience. Yet RDB, given its identity as a cultural, educational and Catholic radio, is also a radio of ``proposals`` . Hence, it in a responsible way ``invites`` the audience to make choices.`` Radio Don Bosco is a Catholic station, and the website explains that, ``in keeping with the apostolic and pastoral action of Madagascar`s Catholic Church, [it] fully observes its guidelines and its orientations, in particular as regards Social Communication [the mass media], in this oecumenical perspective and spirit that the Media World should, by its nature, tend to favor and to develop.`` Catholics number 3,612,000, about 23% of the population; almost a century ago, in 1900, there were only 100,000. There are 3 archdioceses and 16 dioceses, and the Church runs hundreds of schools and a number of orphanages, and it plays an active role in social justice and the public forum. Database: Itavo (Antananarivo): Radio Don Bosco (RDB) 93.4 FM (power unknown.) Repeated by Haja Radio, Antsirabe; and by several repeaters elsewhere. Oeuvres et Missions Don Bosco, Salésiens, B.P. 60, 105 Ivato, Madagascar. Tel.: ++261-20-22443.87 (Ivato) and ++261-20-22626 72 (Antananarivo). Fax: ++261-20-22445.11 (Ivato), ++261-20-22626.73 (Antananarivo). E-mail: rdb@dts.mg. 24 hrs. Website: http://www.radiodonbosco.mg Fr. Giuseppe Miele, chairman; Fr. Erminio DeSantis admin. official; Fr. Cosimo Alvati, manager; Fr. Luca Treglia, technical director. On the air June 27, 1996. (Mike Dorner, Oct 7 Catholic Radio Update, Oct 6 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. La ventana ciega --- Claudia Segura OPUS 94 SALVA A XELA Dos de octubre no se olvida, ni primero de enero, pues fue entonces cuando los adoradores de la música de concierto se encontraron con la desaparición de XELA Buena Música. Desde entonces muchas han sido las manifestaciones de los que gustan de la música de cámara y los ofertorios, pero también muchas han sido las rebatiñas para recuperar este genero de la radio que poco, muy poco se da en el cuadrante nacional. El día de ayer, en plena calle de Bucareli y frente al reloj chino, los niños cantores de Chalco se manifestaron por la vuelta de la emisora de Grupo Imagen que tenía más de seis décadas de vida cuando desapareció. Por ello, hoy no es de sorprender que una hermana de genero, Opus 94 de el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio, haya salido a la defensa de la XELA, ofreciendo que a partir de enero próximo pondrá una barra de programación dedicada a la famosa emisora que sustentó a ``La hora sinfónica Corona``. En la gerencia del 94.5 de FM, Rosa Virginia Sánchez ahora ha iniciado algo muy especial junto con María del Rayo Monteagudo, que era la directora de ola XELA desde hace añales, para que juntas rescaten esta emisora que, de verdad, primero murió por la falta de audiencia y luego fue rematada por la familia Fernández a principios de año, con lo que hoy felizmente hemos visto llegar a la familia Macsise de Toluca con Grupo MAC. Tengo claro que cuando se trata de ponerse solemnes la cosa es seria, por lo menos así ha sucedido desde que inició el frente de apoyo por la salvación de la XELA, en donde hasta José Luis Cuevas ha hablado de la radio perdida en lo que a música de cámara se refiere. Pero lo grato del asunto es que será el IMER quien ha ofrecido por primera vez por lo menos unas horas a la emisora que de facto era su competencia. En fin, que luego de 16 años de contar con Opus 94, la competencia de la radio pública ha sido la única que le salió al paso a la XELA. De cualquier manera yo no me quedo con las ganas de decir que es una pena la desaparición de la XELA como parte de Grupo Imagen, y no sólo por el acervo musical, sino porque esta frecuencia era una emisora comercial que se atrevió por muchas décadas a realizar una emisión de música culta que era, quieran o no, rentable, por lo menos para la cervecería Corona, que de allí se inspiró para hacer sus famosísimos anuncios de televisión y de radio. El que podamos hablar de el IMER ahora en este rescate de la XELA confirma, una vez mas, que el trabajo que Dolores Beistegui está realizando en el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio es museográfico, y no por ello aburrido, desfachatado o sin sentido. ¿Rescatar o no rescatar a la XELA? Esa es la pregunta que los concesionarios se hacen para justificar que no tenía rentabilidad una emisora de genero culto, pero yo creo que es como no saber imaginar o proyectar a la música, porque a poco no es vendible incluso un noticiario donde se tocan los temas más solemnes. Es más, me atrevo a decir que José Gutiérrez Vivó se ha llevado más las palmas de la comercialización por sus mesas de análisis, por aburridas que parezcan, que por lo banales o mercantiles que pudieran ser. Es cierto. Alfredo Palacios vende menos que Gutiérrez y el primero toca temas mas ligados al show y a la farándula. ¿Por qué entonces se cierran los mercadólogos de la radio a no ``poder vender`` una programación que incluya Buena Música? Muy bien por Opus 94 que se está tomando la molestia no de salvar al enemigo o al competidor, sino de darle vida al género orquestal y sinfónico en la radio. Muy bien por el Comité de Rescate Nacional de la XELA, que se ha dado cuenta de que Opus no es competencia, sino vía de salvación por este acervo musical nacional. Ojalá que Radio UNAM y tantas emisoras universitarias nacionales se pongan también las pilas, rescaten y reprogramen las barras musicales que XELA hizo sonar por 60 años en el 830 de AM. Ojalá que los radiodifusores comerciales tengan la agudeza de experimentar con buena música y con mejor comercialización. Vamos en paz, nuestro rescate ha terminado! Claudia Segura (diario Milenio via Héctor García B., Conexión Digital via DXLD) CAMBIO DE FRECUENCIA - Fernando Mejía Barquera Anuar Maccise, nuevo dueño de XELA Bueno, en realidad ya no lleva la sigla XELA, ni es ``La estación de la buena música``, ahora se llama XEITE Radio Capital –después de recibir por unos meses el nombre de Estadio W– y todo indica que ya no pertenece al Grupo Imagen Telecomunicaciones (donde le pusieron las letras ``ITE``), sino al Grupo Mac, propiedad del señor Anuar Maccise Dib y familia. Sin embargo, su trayectoria de 60 años en el cuadrante de la ciudad de México y su retiro abrupto en enero de este año, junto con las protestas en demanda de su retorno al aire, han hecho que la denominación ``XELA`` sea, por ahora, la que más recuerdan los radioescuchas de la metrópoli. GRUPO MAC El martes pasado, frente a la Secretaría de Gobernación, miembros del Comité Nacional de Rescate de la XELA (Conarexela) y antiguos radioescuchas de la legendaria emisora realizaron un mitin para exigir a esa dependencia la restitución de las transmisiones de música clásica retiradas a principios de este año cuando la frecuencia de 830 AM fue ocupada para transmitir contenidos deportivos. Difícilmente lo conseguirán, al menos en esa misma frecuencia; en primer lugar porque Gobernación, autoridad a la que se han dirigido, carece de facultades legales para hacerlo, pero además porque quien decide ahora lo que debe transmitirse en los 830 kilohertz es un grupo empresarial poderoso que acaba de posicionarse en el Distrito Federal –el mercado radiofónico más grande del país y al que no es fácil entrar– y cuyos planes parecen muy lejanos a la idea de difundir música clásica. Grupo Mac es como se conoce a este conglomerado de empresas asentado en al Valle de Toluca, el cual maneja varios periódicos, una estación de radio en la capital mexiquense y ahora una más en el DF. Entre las empresas de este grupo está MAC Ediciones y Publicaciones S.A. de C.V., propietaria del periódico toluqueño El Diario. Asimismo, el grupo posee la emisora XECH Radio Capital (1490 AM) que también difunde en aquella ciudad del Estado de México. ``DEFEMEXIQUENSE`` Desde 1997, el Grupo Mac trató de penetrar en el mercado radiofónico del Distrito Federal y la forma que halló para hacerlo fue un convenio con el Grupo ACIR para que los noticiarios de XECH Radio Capital fueran difundidos en el Distrito Federal a través de la emisora Bonita (1590 AM). La intención obvia del grupo propiedad de la familia Maccise era, además de entrar al mercado del Distrito Federal, llegar a los municipios mexiquenses que rodean a la capital de la República; o sea, dirigirse a un nicho radiofónico muy atractivo integrado por habitantes tanto del Distrito Federal como del Estado de México. De ahí que esos noticiarios, que llevan el nombre genérico de Al instante, difundieran noticias consideradas de interés para las dos entidades. A partir de agosto de 2002, la frecuencia de 830 AM, originalmente llamada XELA y luego Estadio W asumió el nombre de Radio Capital (la programación de Estadio W, como es ampliamente conocido, emigró a la frecuencia 590 AM, hogar de la antigua Radio 590 La Pantera). La Radio Capital que funciona en el DF –nada que ver con otra estación legendaria: Radio Capital, que transmitió muchos años en el 1260 de AM– es prácticamente igual a la mexiquense: difunde ``pop`` en inglés y en español, programas ``hablados`` y noticiarios con un contenido ``defemexiquense``. Probablemente por falta de instalaciones propias, la estación tiene su sede en Prado Sur 150, donde se ubican las oficinas de Grupo Imagen, el anterior dueño de la emisora, sin embargo los noticiarios se transmiten desde Toluca y son conducidos por los señores Guillermo Garduño y Luis Pantoja, a quienes se unió en días pasados Marissa Escribano. La estrategia de fusionar en una emisora contenidos que puedan ser de interés para el DF y el Edomex podría resultar comercialmente exitosa –habrá que ver sus resultados–, y también políticamente atractiva. Incluso está recomendada como necesaria por la administración de Arturo Montiel en su ``Plan de Gobierno``: ``La estructura de los medios de comunicación ha correspondido a patrones de centralización. La mayor parte de las publicaciones, las emisoras de radio y de televisión de cobertura local, tienen su marco de influencia en la Zona Metropolitana del Valle de Toluca, mientras que en los municipios del Valle de México, donde se concentran siete de cada diez mexiquenses, y en las zonas rurales, su presencia es limitada``. De ahí que en el propio plan se recomiende abrir espacios en el Valle de México, tal y como lo ha hecho desde hace varios años el gobierno mexiquense con el Canal 34 de TV en la capital del país. Sin duda, la presencia de Radio Capital en el 830 AM del Distrito Federal debe ser vista con simpatía por el gobernador Montiel. EL SECRETO DE SIEMPRE El Grupo Mac, de los señores Maccise, tiene dos divisiones: la editorial, que preside Anuar Maccise Dib, y la de Radio, que dirige Luis E. Maccise Uribe. Su adquisición de los derechos para operar la frecuencia de 830 AM al Grupo Imagen no se ha hecho pública por parte de las empresas. Sólo una breve referencia en la columna de Marcela Gómez Zalce (MILENIO Diario, 6 de agosto de 2002) dio pista sobre la operación cuyo monto y detalles tampoco se han conocido. En aquella ocasión la colega escribió: ``La familia Fernández se ve obligada a vender otra de sus estaciones, la famosa XELA, legendaria por su programación de música clásica, a un señor de apellido Maccise (estrechamente ligado al gobernador Montiel...)``. Sin duda el Grupo Mac quiere echar raíces en la radio del Distrito Federal, por lo que de inmediato solicitó su ingreso a la Asociación de Radiodifusores del Valle de México (ARVM). El pasado 11 de septiembre, al tomar posesión como presidente de esa agrupación, Antonio Ibarra Fariña dio la bienvenida al Grupo Mac como nuevo socio de la ARVM. Rápidamente, la nueva operadora de una frecuencia en el DF ingresó al Consejo Directivo de la agrupación a través del señor Luis Maccise Uribe, quien fue designado vocal de la ARVM. De esta manera, si los promotores del regreso de la XELA consiguen su objetivo, será seguramente en otra frecuencia, porque en los 830 de AM se ve difícil. (diario Milenio via Héctor García B., Oct. 4, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. The death has been announced of HRH Prince Claus, the husband of Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands. In accordance with protocol, Radio Netherlands has suspended its scheduled programming and is broadcasting a documentary about the life of Prince Claus (Andy Sennitt, Oct 6, Radio Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last airing presumably 0430-0530 UT Monday on 6165, 9590 (gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Radio New Zealand International --------------------- Frequency Schedule 27 October 2002 to 30 March 2003 UTC kHz Days Primary Target 1650-1750-11980 Mon-Fri-To NE Pacific, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands 1751-2050-15265 Daily -To All Pacific, also heard in Europe 2051-0505-17675 Daily -To All Pacific, westcoast of the USA 0506-0705-15340 Daily -To All Pacific, also Europe, and mid-west USA 0706-1105-11675 Daily -To All Pacific, also mid-west USA Daily 1106-1305-15175 Daily -To NW Pacific, Bougainville, East Timor, Asia 1306-1650-6095 -To All Pacific 0' Usual Closedown is 1305 UTC - this frequency is for occasional overnight broadcasts to the Pacific for Sports commentaries or Cyclone Warnings. Bougainville/Timor Transmission 1105 -1305 UTC 1105-1305 UTC programme is directed to the North Western Pacific and Asia for NZ Forces serving overseas (RNZI Website via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. A Radio América, la escuchamos en dos frecuencias en paralelo: 7737 khz, con QSA 2 y hasta en algun momento 3, sobre las 0830 UTC+ y 7386 (no 7385) con QSA 1/2 a la misma hora. Siempre la encontramos con programas religiosos. Lo importante es confirmar que la nueva emisora paraguaya está activa y en las dos frecuencias en paralelo. 55's (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, DX Camp Chascomus, Oct 6, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 6 Oct'02 Radio Veritas Asia - B'02 (Tentative) FREQ STRT STOP CIRAF LOC POWR AZIMUTH SLW ANT DAYS LANGUAGE --------------------------------------------------------------- 6060 2100 2300 43,44 PUG 250 350 0 215 1234567 Mandarin 6190 2100 2300 43,44 PUG 250 350 0 215 1234567 Mandarin 7130 2100 2300 43,44 PUG 250 350 0 215 1234567 Mandarin 7265 1300 1330 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese 7265 2230 2300 42-44 PUG 250 331 0 146 1234567 Filipino 9505 2300 2330 54 PUG 250 222 0 146 1234567 Indonesian 9520 1000 1200 43,44 PUG 250 355 0 215 1234567 Mandarin 9520 1330 1400 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Sinhala 9520 1400 1430 41 PUG 250 300 30 216 1234567 Tamil 9535 1430 1500 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Telugu 9540 1400 1430 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Bengali 9555 1000 1030 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Hmong 9590 1330 1400 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Hindi 9615 1130 1200 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Burmese 9615 1200 1230 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Karen 9615 1230 1300 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Kachin 9670 1430 1500 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Urdu 9670 2330 2400 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese 11705 2330 2400 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Kachin 11705 0000 0030 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Zomi Chin 11705 0030 0100 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Hindi 11705 2300 2330 42-44 PUG 250 331 0 146 1234567 Cantonese 11725 0000 0030 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Karen 11725 2330 2400 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Burmese 11770 0000 0030 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Zomi Chin 11795 1030 1130 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese 11795 1500 1600 31,32 PUG 250 331 0 146 1234567 Russian 11820 0000 0030 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Sinhala 11820 2300 2330 54 PUG 250 222 0 146 1234567 Indonesian 11820 2330 2400 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese 11850 1030 1100 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese 11935 0030 0100 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Tamil 11935 2300 2330 54 PUG 250 222 0 146 1234567 Indonesian 11935 2330 2400 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese 11995 0030 0100 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Bengali 12035 1200 1230 54 PUG 250 222 0 146 1234567 Indonesian 15130 1500 1600 31,32 PUG 250 331 0 146 1234567 Russian 15240 1000 1030 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Hmong 15240 2230 2300 42-44 PUG 250 300 15 216 1234567 Filipino 15240 0000 0030 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Sinhala 15240 0030 0100 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Tamil 15240 0100 0130 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Bengali 15240 0130 0230 33,34 PUG 250 0 15 215 1234567 Russian 15305 1500 1600 38,39 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Filipino 15305 0030 0100 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Bengali 15335 0030 0100 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Hindi 15335 0100 0130 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Urdu 15335 0130 0230 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Hindi 15360 1000 1200 43,44 PUG 250 355 0 215 1234567 Mandarin 15360 1500 1600 38,39 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Filipino 15360 2300 2330 42-44 PUG 250 331 0 146 1234567 Cantonese 15510 0000 0030 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Zomi Chin 15530 0100 0130 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Telugu 15530 0130 0230 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese 15570 0000 0030 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Sinhala 15570 0030 0100 41 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Tamil 17665 0100 0130 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Urdu 17830 1000 1200 43,44 PUG 250 355 0 215 1234567 Mandarin 17830 0100 0130 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Urdu 18830 0130 0200 33,34 PUG 250 0 15 215 1234567 Russian 17845 0100 0130 41 PUG 250 300 0 216 1234567 Urdu 17885 0130 0230 49 PUG 250 280 0 146 1234567 Vietnamese Postal Address:P.O.Box 2642,Quezon City,1166 Philippines. Email: technical@rveritas-asia.org (RVA Website via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. CHURCH TURNS AGAINST POLISH RADIO STATION WHICH HELPED END COMMUNISM From The Scotsman Sun 6 Oct 2002, NICHOLAS WALTON IN WARSAW BEDRAGGLED vagrants and beggars queue up for their bowl of soup outside Warsaw's main train station. They shuffle and cough as they wait at the soup kitchen run by Catholic broadcasters Radio Maryja. The pitiful scene is a rare show of support for those who have failed to flourish in post-Communist Poland. But despite Radio Maryja's good work for Poland's neediest, it has become a painful thorn in the side of the country's Catholic Church. The independent radio station's broadcasts are infused with fundamentalist Catholicism, fierce Polish nationalism and bitter opposition to membership of the European Union. The Church, intent on a modernising agenda, wants to silence such reactionary views. Cardinal Glemp, the Primate of Poland, has controversially called for the closure of Radio Maryja's parish offices in Warsaw. The bureaux are the station's lifeline, raising funds for its broadcasts and campaigns. It has been a difficult decision for the Catholic hierarchy . Faced with waning influence, the Church is wary of alienating Radio Maryja's avid listeners, who account for more than one in seven of the population. The move threatens to create a schism in the Church, pitting modernisers against traditionalists. Radio Maryja is a post-Communist success story. It was set up in the old city of Torun by a cleric called Tadeusz Rydzyk. By 1993 it was broadcasting its mixture of prayer, sermons and masses nationwide. The radio station now claims to be listened to by 14% of Polish adults - around four million people . However, to its critics Radio Maryja symbolises the Poland they want to leave behind. The radio station's reactionary message supports a right-wing Catholic political party, the League of Polish Families, which has almost 40 seats in parliament, the Sejm. The party and the radio station lead opposition to the European Union. Scratch the surface and the religious nationalism takes on a sinister anti-semitic and xenophobic tone. The Catholic Church entered Poland's post-Soviet era on a high, having played a direct part in the fall of Communism. To retain its influential place in Polish society, the church has to decide which way its future lies. If it goes along with the reactionary view, the powerful message of Radio Maryja and Father Rydzyk, it risks siding with the losers of modern Poland. If it allies itself with a modern Polish state in the EU, as favoured by the Pope, it risks alienating fervent Catholics. By undermining the power of Radio Maryja, Cardinal Glemp has sided with the modernisers (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. PUTIN ANNULS DECREE ALLOWING RADIO LIBERTY BROADCASTS FROM RUSSIA By STEVEN LEE MYERS c.2002 New York Times News Service MOSCOW – It was not the most dramatic symbol of the end of the Cold War, but a momentous one nonetheless. In 1991, six days after the abortive putsch that signaled the end of the Soviet Union, President Boris N. Yeltsin issued a decree allowing Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to broadcast from Russia. On Friday President Vladimir V. Putin annulled the decree. The Kremlin said Putin`s decision was purely technical and would not affect the work of the station, which was established by the United States during the Cold War to broadcast unfiltered news and information – which some saw as propaganda. In Russia, however, purely technical matters rarely lack political undertones. To advocates of a free press here, Putin`s decision was stunning, raising the specter, they said, of still more Kremlin meddling in Russia`s mass media. ``We are concerned because freedom of speech is deteriorating day by day in Russia,`` said Andrei V. Shary, who heads the network`s Moscow bureau. ``If Yeltsin`s decree was a symbol in 1991, then the revoking of the decree by Putin is a symbol, too.`` Yeltsin`s decree gave the station the right to open permanent offices in Moscow and elsewhere across a newly independent Russia. In a statement released Friday, Putin`s administration said the revoking of Yeltsin`s decree was simply an attempt to treat Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as it does all foreign news organizations. At the same time, however, the statement reiterated criticisms that Russian officials have leveled against the station for its coverage. It singled out the station`s reporting on Chechnya, where Russia is mired in a civil war, and on Ukraine, a former Soviet republic. Earlier this year the station began broadcasting Chechen-language reports into the Northern Caucasus. The station has a license to broadcast until next year on 1044 AM in Moscow. It was unclear Friday whether the decision would have any effect on the possibility of renewal. Sergei V. Yastrzhembsky, a spokesman for Putin, told the Interfax news agency that Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov had told Secretary of State Colin L. Powell by phone on Thursday evening and that Secretary Powell had not objected. The State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, had no immediate comment Friday. Shary said he had received reassurances that the decision would not affect operations. But Aleksei K. Simonov, chairman of the Glasnost Defense Foundation, a private group, saw a trend to control mass media under regulations adopted in 2000. ``We are becoming a closed society,`` he said. Last year, the law was at the heart of the corporate takeover of NTV, one of Russia`s most independent television networks, by the state- controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom. Earlier this year, a court ordered the agency that grants broadcasting licenses to shut down TV- 6, whose staff members were mostly refugees from NTV. In both cases, the Kremlin denied influencing what it called ordinary business disputes. (NY Times via DXLD) From © 2001 RIA Novosti RUSSIAN STATE DUMA SPEAKER: REVOCATION OF PRIVILEGES FOR "LIBERTY" RADIO STATION DOES NOT INFRINGE ON ITS RIGHTS MOSCOW, October 5th, 2002. /From RIA Novosti correspondent Viktoria Prikhodko/. Russian State Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev said that the fact that the "Liberty" radio station would have to be registered as a foreign mass media office did not infringe on its rights. In such way the Russian State Duma Speaker commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to revoke an act issued by the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin under which "Liberty" radio station had been granted certain privileges. "All mass media have equal rights now," Mr. Seleznev said. "'Liberty' radio station will have to be registered as other foreign mass media outlets. It is not an infringement on the rights. The radio station will have to be reregistered," emphasized the Russian State Duma Speaker (via Mike Terry, DXLD) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45804-2002Oct4.html PUTIN ENDS SPECIAL STATUS FOR U.S. RADIO MOSCOW, Oct. 4 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin today repealed a decree that granted the U.S. government-funded Radio Liberty special permission to operate in Russia, culminating years of tension with the Kremlin over its unstinting coverage of the war in Chechnya. The revocation of the decree, first issued in the heady days following the failed Communist coup of August 1991, will not force Radio Liberty to leave and may have little practical impact, because the station can still operate under normal laws governing foreign media. Kremlin officials described Putin's decision as merely an attempt to put Radio Liberty on a level playing field with other independent media. But journalists and human rights leaders interpreted it as a blatant, if symbolic, attack and a warning to other media not to incur the government's wrath in reporting on the drawn-out conflict in Chechnya as Radio Liberty has over the years. Russian authorities arrested Radio Liberty reporter Andrei Babitsky in 2000 and charged him with helping Chechen rebels, only to later release him. The dispute escalated with the start of Radio Liberty Chechen-language broadcasts to the region in April, which Russian officials equated to broadcasting al Qaeda propaganda in the United States. Putin's decision to strip the station of its special status fit with what democratic reformers consider a broader crackdown on independent media. State-affiliated entities last year forced out management of the NTV and TV-6 networks, closed a newspaper and ousted the staff of a newsmagazine. State-run RTR television last spring appointed the spokesman for Russia's security service to a top post. Thomas A. Dine, the president of Radio Liberty, said the station would not "allow the revocation . . . to affect our reporting of events in the Russian Federation in any way." Andrei Shary, editor in chief of the Moscow office of Radio Liberty, said he was confident the decision would not have much tangible effect. "What does it mean? I just do not know," he said. "I doubt any potential impact will follow." Russian officials said Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov informed Secretary of State Colin L. Powell of the decision in a telephone conversation Thursday night. The decree establishing Radio Liberty's right to broadcast in Russia was one of the signal moments marking the end of the Cold War after years of attempts by the Soviet Union to jam its anti-Communist messages. Boris Yeltsin, then president of the Soviet republic of Russia, signed the decree on Aug. 27, 1991, just days after staring down hard-liners who failed in an attempted coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Putin, Yeltsin's successor as Russian president, took a different view of the station, once describing Babitsky as "working with bandits." An unnamed aide told Interfax news agency today that the Yeltsin decree had "lost its initial significance" and was no longer needed in a country with a robust press. This decision, he said, "makes all the players equal." At the same time, he railed at Radio Liberty, saying it "has not only maintained its ideological coloring but it has become still more biased. This is demonstrated in its broadcasts to Chechnya and Ukraine, which tend to present information selectively and not impartially." (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. FRANCE/KAZAKHSTAN. Voice of Orthodoxy, 20 Sep, 1530- 1559 on 9355 kHz. SINPO=44444. Slightly interfered by VOR on nearby 9360 kHz (I guess it was in Farsi). (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal Oct 5 via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE [and non]. Glenn, Here's a small mystery involving Radio Sawa. In a New York Times op-ed on 4 October, Nicholas Kristof wrote "...Iraqis listen openly and constantly to the BBC, Iranian radio, Israeli radio and especially to an excellent new American broadcast called Radio Sawa, which mixes popular music with news... ." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/opinion/04KRIS.html But when the same op-ed appeared in the Straits Times of Singapore on 5 October, Mr. Kristof wrote... "...Iraqis listen openly and constantly to the BBC, Iranian radio, Israeli radio and especially to a new American broadcast called Radio Sawa, which mixes popular music with news." http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/analysis/story/0,1870,147195,00.html Somehow, 24 hours later, Radio Sawa is no longer "excellent." 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA. R. G. STAIR WIEDER AUF FREIEM FUß (HjB) Brother Stair, gegen den zahlreiche Klagen verfolgt werden, ist derzeit auf Kaution frei. Auf seiner Website http://www.overcomerministry.com sind alle Hinweise darauf, dass er festgenommen war, wieder entfernt worden. Neben diversen finanziellen Unregelmäßigkeiten soll R. G. Stair sich auch an den Frauen seiner Anhänger vergriffen haben (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Kirche und Rundfunk July-Sept via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. IBC Tamil & Tamil BC. Tamil clandestine radio IBC- TAMIL started its one hour evening transmissions to South Asia: LTTE funded Tamil clandestine radio IBC-TAMIL started its one hour evening transmissions to South Asia and discontinued its half-an hour news broadcast during 1500 UT at 17485 kHz. TIME - 1230 UTC -1330 UTC. FREQUENCY - 17495 kHz. Its morning transmissions on 11570 kHz {may be the Russian transmitter?} at 0000 to 0100. Both the abovesaid frequencies provides good reception at my location. Interestingly, IBC'S main rival at European skies, TAMIL BROADCASTING CORPORATION- LONDON stopped its shortwave transmissions, which was usually heard 1230-1330 at 21590 (D. Prabakaran, India, Sep 21, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. Syrian Human Rights Commission send a postcard they promised in response to an electronic reception report for a Sout Al Watan broadcast in 24 days for a report to its president, Saleem El- Hasan. The Palace of Westminster card simply states "with thanks and respect" and is signed by Saleem El-Hasan. A thank you e-mail - inquiring further about Sout Al Watan - resulted in the following reply: "Thanks again for your message. All wishes of pleasure and happiness to you too. I have asked several friends in Syria and in the USA, but nobody confirmed so far that he or she heard of such a broadcast. Regards, SHRC." They continue to deny any relationship between clandestine shortwave station Sout Al Watan and the SHRC. Believable? (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 5 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. CBS-Radio Taipei International will bring you live coverage of the ROC National Day celebrations on October 10. Schedule as follows : To Southeast Asia - 0100 to 0300 UT on 15320 kHz. To North America - 0203 to 0300 UT on 5950 and 9680 kHz (there will be a 3-minute delay due to frequency change) To Central America - 0200 to 0300 on 11740 kHz. Regular programs on 15465 kHz from 0200 to 0300 UT will be cancelled on that day. Regards (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi,India, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TURKEY. I think Turkey is still using 11655 at 0300 UT. They didn't move to 31 meters as promised! (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, Oct 6, SWBC via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. The current pattern is as follows. Since 28 Sep, only two transmitters from Khar`kiv site are active in SW, using 7320, 7410, 11950, 12045, 13590 kHz. LW/MW stations on 549 and 207 kHz are off- air, too (Signal, Oct 5 via DXLD) ** U K. MARCONI MAY SELL INVENTOR'S COLLECTION STRICKEN phone giant Marconi may sell the record of founder Guglielmo Marconi's work, including messages sent from the Titanic. Princess Elettra Marconi, the inventor's 72-year-old daughter, said from Rome: "The company has run out of money. Now anything can happen to my father's collection." Historians and the family want to stop the company selling the collection on the grounds that it would break up a unique resource for the public and researchers interested in early radio technology. It holds wireless equipment from Marconi's first experiments in 1895, messages sent by Queen Victoria and thousands of photographs, as well as duplicates of the Titanic's radio equipment. It was valued in 1997 by auctioneer Christie's at £3 million. John Griffiths, senior curator of Media Technologies at the Science Museum in London, said: "Preserving this collection in its entirety is crucial." The company, which last month agreed to hand over control to creditors in return for most of the £4 billion it owed, set up a trust last year to oversee the collection. It has yet to transfer ownership of its contents to trustees. Marconi reported a loss of £5.9 billion for the year to the end of March as demand for phone equipment slumped. Its shares have fallen from £12.50 in September 2000 to 1.5p. The company hopes to cancel most of its debt by handing control of its equity to creditors in January. The son of a wealthy Italian father and an Irish mother from the Jameson whiskey family, the inventor set up Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company in 1897. On 12 December, 1901, Marconi sent the first radio signal across the Atlantic from Cornwall to antenna- equipped kites flying above the coast of Newfoundland. He then developed ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship radio. The record of his work includes two of the kites and 3,000 messages sent between the Titanic and ships coming to rescue crew and passengers after the liner struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland in 1912. Marconi, who died in 1937 at the age of 63, helped to pioneer civil and defence communications and was also a founder of the BBC. His company was acquired by General Electric in 1968. GEC changed its name to Marconi in 1999, after selling its defence electronics business to BAE Systems to focus on selling phone equipment. The inventor's collection, which is housed in a former Marconi factory in London, was almost sold in 1997 after GEC's then-chairman Lord Arnold Weinstock had Christie's value it. By: Simon Clark -- 28-Sep-02 (from http://uk.news.yahoo.com/020928/17/dallr.html via Horacio A. Nigro, Uruguay, Oct 5, DXLD) ** U K. Glenn, Site of things to come: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/ (Kevin A. Kelly, Arlington, Massachusetts, USA, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC LAUNCHES NEW RADIO STATION - BBC 7 Mon Sep 30, 1:26 PM ET LONDON (Reuters) - The BBC said Monday it would be launching a new digital radio station focusing on drama, comedy and children's programs. The station will feature "Big Toe," a daily two hour interactive ( news - external web site) program for children aged nine to 11, with "Little Toe" aimed at a younger audience everyday at 7 a.m. There will also be five hours of drama and two hours of book readings daily. BBC 7, which will go on air in the next few months, is the latest in a series of new stations unveiled by the BBC this year, following on from 1Xtra, Five Live Sports Extra, 6 Music and the yet-to-be launched Asian Network. "BBC 7 gives us a tremendous opportunity to bring new listeners to speech radio through a range of wonderful programs and the latest technology," Mary Kalemkerian, editor of BBC 7, said in a statement. (Reuters/Variety Source: Yahoo News via Sergei Sosedkin, DXLD) ** U S A. INSECURITY PLAGUES US EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus Online Posted: 10/09/2002 at 22:21 GMT A national alert system that gives the president the ability to take over the U.S. airwaves during a national crisis may inadvertently extend hackers the same courtesy, thanks to security holes that put radio stations, television broadcasters and cable TV companies at risk of being commandeered by anyone with a little technical know-how and some off-the-shelf electronic components. At issue is the Emergency Alert System (EAS), a nationwide network launched in 1997 to replace the cold-war era Emergency Broadcast System known best for making the phrase "this is only a test" a cultural touchstone. Like that earlier system, the EAS is designed to allow the President to interrupt television and radio programming and speak directly to the American people in the event of an impending nuclear war, or a similarly extreme national emergency. The EAS has never been activated for that purpose -- it was not used on September 11th -- but state and local officials have found it a valuable channel for warning the public of regional emergencies, recently including the "Amber Alerts" credited with the recovery of several abducted children over the summer. But even with Amber's successes, the EAS is increasingly under fire by critics who charge that its national mission is obsolete in an era of instant 24-hour news coverage, and that the technology underlying it is deeply flawed. One of the most stinging criticisms: that the EAS is wildly vulnerable to spoofing, potentially allowing a malefactor to launch their own message that in some scenarios could quickly spread from broadcaster to broadcaster like a virus. The system works this way: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activates the EAS for a national alert through 34 radio stations around the country that act as "primary entry points" (PEPs) for the system. Those stations, typically all-news AM stations with powerful transmitters, immediately interrupt their programming to broadcast the alert on the air. The alert begins with a burst of data coded by a low-speed modem, repeated three times. It's followed by an eight-second alert tone, and then spoken emergency information and instructions -- or a presidential address -- before another burst of data terminates the message. 'No Security' The data header is the key to the system -- it's what allows the same broadcast to simultaneously warn the public, and other broadcasters. To radio listeners, it sounds vaguely like the quacking of a duck, but encoded within it is a timestamp, a station identifier, a region code, an expiration time, and a three-letter event code identifying the type of alert. EAS boxes at hundreds of radio and TV stations are tuned in to at least one of the PEPs, and to them the burst is a wake-up call. The equipment reads the header, determines what kind of alert is being sounded, and then the station interrupts its programming to retransmit it (with its own identifier) on the air, and starts carrying the audio live. Thousands of other stations are tuned to those broadcasters, and they do the same, until the message has filtered all the way down the hierarchy, even reaching cable T.V. companies which are required to interrupt every channel for a national alert. The problem, experts say, is that the EAS data headers include no authentication whatsoever. That means anyone capable of following the specifications and with the skill to build a low-power radio transmitter akin to a "Mr. Microphone" toy can get their own messages into the system -- commandeering a radio or television station with a custom broadcast of their own, which would in turn be picked up by a cascade of other stations. An attacker could even omit the end-of- message indicator, leaving some stations off the air until engineers figure out the snafu. "It's very, very simple to generate those messages, and there's literally no security," says Richard Burgan, a Columbus, Ohio radio engineer who's studied the problem. "If you were to go to one of the stations... and get near their antenna and generate a false transmission, you could start an EAS message that would lock up all the stations down the line.... You wouldn't be able to get the whole state that way, but if you were to do a little research you could pick the right point to get the most." Alternative Plans Proposed So-called "replay attacks," in which a spoofer records and retransmits a genuine message, would likely be thwarted by the region code and expiration time in the header. But the only thing preventing someone from generating their own original message are the system's non- standard 500 baud modems. That's not much protection: the modem specs are published in the FCC regulations, and the technology is simple and slow enough to be easily emulated by any off-the-shelf PC with a sound card. A transmit-only modem could even be built from scratch with a few dollars in components, according to Burgan. "The only thing that's mentioned in any document I have relating to security is that you have to transmit the message clearly three times," says Burgan. "And that's not security. I think they overlooked it entirely because it's too complicated to do." The FCC adapted the EAS from an older National Weather Service system used to issue severe weather warnings. Large broadcasters have personnel assigned to handle EAS alerts manually, and the humans in the loop provide a common-sense bulwark against obviously false alerts. But many smaller stations and automated broadcasters turn their transmitters over to the EAS automatically upon receiving an alert. A false alert could trigger widespread panic, and undermine public confidence in genuine warnings. Though it's not known to have ever been exploited, the spoofing risk is one of the factors quietly driving calls to reform the EAS. In a paper published earlier this year, Columbia University researchers Henning Schulzrinne and Knarig Arabshian proposed enhancing the system with an Internet-based emergency notification system, noting that under the current design "it would not be hard to drive by an EAS receiver with a small transmitter and make it distribute a false alarm." Peter Ward, chairman of the Partnership for Public Warning, a nonprofit group formed this year to explore advanced warning systems, would phase out the EAS, and replace it with an all-digital network tied to cell phones, digital televisions and pagers, turning any networkable device into a "smart receiver that would know the wishes of the owner, and could provide them with the information they want to receive." He says the potential for spoofing is only one the EAS's problems, and one that's "not likely to be corrected soon." FCC Silence In fact, with weak security etched into FCC standards, the system effectively creates open backdoors into broadcast stations across the country that the broadcasters are forbidden by law to secure. Burgan says the government should shoehorn security into the existing system, possibly by digitally signing EAS headers. "It wouldn't have to be very complicated to make it highly secure," he says. So why didn't the FCC build in security in the first place? "It's a classic case of something that was designed by committee," he says. Other experts say that's unfair. "I really think that the EAS has provided a great service, and it needed to be simple to go into these mom and pop radio stations, literally running their own business with a transmitter in the back field," says Mark Manuelia, engineering manager at WBZ Radio in Boston, one of the primary entry points for the system. "These things stand alone in little radio station that have no Internet access... That's something we don't think of where we are in big cities." Manuelia says the FCC isn't to blame, because information security wasn't on anyone's mind when the they were working on the plan in 1995. "They were doing something that was better than was there before," he says. "Whether they were thinking ahead to the year 2002 - - I guess they weren't." The FCC is mum on the question -- indeed, on the entire issue. John Winston, assistant chief of the enforcement bureau overseeing the system, says the commission doesn't comment on EAS security. They're more talkative on the system's popular new role in Amber Alerts, through which parts of the country not prone to tornados and floods are becoming acquainted with EAS for the first time. Under Amber, in the minutes or hours immediately following a child abduction, state officials use EAS to broadcast critical information like a description of a suspect's vehicle to the public. (Highway signs also disseminate Amber Alerts, and are not a part of EAS). The programs are gaining in popularity: last week, New York became the 17th state to adopt a statewide Amber Alert plan, and Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill that would set up a nationwide Amber program. Ward says the successful Amber programs demonstrate that the killer app for warning systems is local alerting, not the national duck-and- cover message that the EAS, and the Emergency Broadcast System it replaced, was built for. "In the cold war days when we were talking about missiles coming over the poles there was a much stronger fear that all the broadcast authorities might have disappeared, and we needed a way for the President to commandeer the surviving broadcasters." © 2002 SecurityFocus.com, all rights reserved. (The Register via Jill Dybka, TN, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 5 via DXLD) ** U S A. 'OPEN SPECTRUM' IS NEXT BIG WIRELESS IDEA LEE GOMES, The Wall Street Journal Monday, September 30, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press (09-30) 05:43 PDT There is a big new idea out there, one that may forever change what we think when we look up at the sky. The idea involves not stars but spectrum -- the radio spectrum, which cellphones, radar, TV stations, garage door openers and other gadgets use to transmit signals. Our current thinking about spectrum was shaped by technology from the dawn of the radio age. Transmitters back then were big, dumb louts that had to be confined to narrow parts of the spectrum lest they interfere with each other when they broadcast. And so we were forced to treat the spectrum as something limited, like real estate. We assigned selected parcels of it -- say, cellphone frequencies -- to specific users, in recent years often to the highest bidder. Strict antitrespassing laws were set for everyone else. But there is a movement afoot called Open Spectrum. It argues that modern technology allows us to build "smart" transmitters that don't interfere with each other. Such transmitters could listen to the airwaves and then change the way they transmit based on what they hear. If one part of the spectrum is busy, for example, they could use another. With no interference problem, there would be no need to divide up the spectrum. And with no divided spectrum, the bandwidth-scarcity problem vanishes. That's because the total usable spectrum is so vast it could accommodate everything anyone would want to do. The line of numbers on a car AM radio measures off just a sliver of the spectrum. To measure the entire usable spectrum at the same scale, the radio's display would need to be 24 miles wide. Open Spectrum has been around under that name for the past year or so. Its backers are a diverse group. Some are partisans from the "open software" world who are philosophically attracted to the sort of "commons" that they believe Open Spectrum makes possible. One of them, Yochai Benkler of New York University Law School, wrote a 1998 law review article on the topic. Others are more technically oriented. David P. Reed, Timothy J. Shepard and Dewayne Hendricks are all respected technologists of varying backgrounds who have written on the engineering aspects of the idea. The Open Spectrum ranks are growing. Among those counting themselves as general supporters are Dale Hatfield, former chief of the Federal Communications Commission office that parcels out spectrum, and Bennett Z. Kobb, a consultant whose book, "Wireless Spectrum Finder," is the industry's bible. Companies in the wireless world are noticing, too. Steve Sharkey, Motorola's director of spectrum and standards strategy, says that while his company isn't yet convinced of some of Open Spectrum's more sweeping claims, it's taking the core ideas very seriously and working on them in its labs. After radio and tv, the pentagon is the country's biggest user of spectrum, controlling roughly 6 percent of it. Steven Price, deputy assistant defense secretary for spectrum, says it's too early to know how feasible Open Spectrum will be. But he notes that the Pentagon, too, has been moving toward increasing its usable spectrum by relying on smarter transmitting devices. Indeed, the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency has lately funded research into Open Spectrum-like technologies, and veterans of those projects are now at the FCC. In general, Open Spectrum backers believe the law shouldn't dictate where on the spectrum you transmit but, instead, the design of the devices you use to transmit, to ensure they're smart enough for the new, open world. But there are already polite disagreements among Open Spectrum boosters. The true believers are so confident of their approach that they say the entire spectrum should be opened up. More cautious types say it might be better to open up only certain parts, leaving the rest regulated. What could happen with more spectrum? The sky is the limit, backers say. They cite the many serendipitous things happening with "WiFi" wireless networks, which were designed to connect machines in a home or office but now link whole neighborhoods. Imagine a camcorder in an Open Spectrum world that not only recorded your kid's school play but also sent DVD-quality video of it to the grandparents' TV -- live. The children in this play are probably not yet born. An Open Spectrum world is still five or 10 years off. But children of that brave new world would surely regard their parents' tales of the old days, when cellphones had sound but not video, as something simply too primitive to be believed. ©2002 Associated Press (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. IN SAN DIEGO, LEGAL QUIRKS HELP A RADIO EMPIRE ANNA WILDE MATHEWS, The Wall Street Journal Friday, October 4, 2002 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/10/04/financial1057EDT0058.DTL&type=printable (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) FIRM SKIRTS RADIO CAPS IN SAN DIEGO http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-clearmex4oct04.story (via Ray Robinson, CA, DXLD) ** U S A. LETTERS October 4, 2002 --- More static for WFMT WHEATON -- Regarding the article on Oct. 1 about the WFMT signal, Clare Close is not the only listener to have experienced a change. I have had intermittent "static" on my car radio while listening to WFMT for the past several months. In fact I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking of having the radio checked out; only to be told that the friend was also experiencing the same problem. I live in Wheaton, have been a WFMT listener for 10-plus years in this area. Have never had this problem before and do not have the problem with any other station (that I can receive clearly). The radio in question is top-of-the-line and the car is less than a year old. This is definitely a new problem. In fact, I wondered if the new WDCB antenna at COD was causing interference. It would seem that the cause of the interference is the decision by WFMT to "sell out" part of their signal band (Katherine Damitz, Letter to the Editor, Chicago Tribune Oct 4 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. OFFICE OF GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM A remaining advantage of shortwave over the Internet as a medium of international broadcasting is that the Internet is more vulnerable to interdiction. Now Rep. Chris Cox has introduced legislation to create an Office of Global Internet Freedom, within the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau, to try to overcome some nations' attempts to block web content. A Wired story about the proposal is here... http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55530,00.html A House Policy Committee press release is here... http://policy.house.gov/html/news_release.cfm?id=111 And a scathing commentary about the propsal, from the BBC website, is here... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2299259.stm (Kim Elliott, DC, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. 7489.94, WJIE, very strong at 0730 Sep 29 but with constant audio hiccups. Prgm in what I think was Urdu, as program URL they gave http://www.questionsforgod.org is in English and Urdu. Talk and S. Asian music. Also gave address of Hope From Heaven, P.O. Box 53379, Limassol, Cyprus. Then gave English announcement as, "You've got a friend in the High Adventure Global Radio Network." And a WJIE ID at 0750 (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 5 via DXLD) As of Oct 6, WJIE 7490 had been missing again since Oct 4, but was back at 0236 UT Oct 7, with undermodulated gospel music, ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5920, WBOH. Per David Robinson, station engineer A 50 kW converted AM transmitter engineered by Transcom (as heard), a Canadian company, is in place at a site about 5 miles from WTJC. They are running low power tests right now with just the exciter at about 50 watts to check and tweak their antenna pattern. At this time, they will keep it on most of the time. Once these are complete, they will go to full power. The antenna is a rhombic at 180 degrees. They are using a cable to feed the signal to this transmitter. While the tests are // to WTJC on 9370, WBOH will have about 50% Spanish programming of its own. Like WTJC, it will be on 24/7. The website says the call stands for Worldwide Beacon of Hope. They will verify these tests. They will also write the power on the card if you ask them, they did for me when I heard them at low power during an ice storm a few years ago (Hans Johnson, Sep 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. WYFR High Frequency Schedule 27 October 2002 - 30 March 2003 FREQ LANG TIME (UTC) AZ ZONE PWR 100 kW u.o.s. 5810 ENGL 0500-0600 44 27,28,39 5810 SPAN 0600-0700 44 27,28,39 5810 PORT 0700-0745 44 27,28,39 5810 FREN 2000-2100 44 27,28 5810 ITAL 2100-2200 44 27,28 5810 GERM 2200-2245 44 27,28 5950 ENGL 1000-1245 355 4,5,9 5985 SPAN 2200-2300 181 11 50 5985 ENGL 2300-0000 181 11 50 5985 SPAN 0000-0300 181 11 50 5985 ENGL 0300-0400 181 11 50 5985 SPAN 0400-0445 181 11 50 5985 MAND 0500-0600 315 2 5985 CANT 0600-0700 315 2 6065 ENGL 0100-0445 355 4,5,9 6085 ENGL 0000-0100 355 4,5,9 6085 FREN 2300-0000 355 4,5,9 6085 SPAN 1000-1400 181 11 6105 SPAN 0800-1100 160 14 6175 PORT 0800-1000 142 13 7355 RUSS 0304-0400 44 27,28,39 7355 GERM 0500-0600 44 27,28,39 7355 ENGL 0600-0745 44 27,28,39 7355 MAND 1100-1245 315 13 7520 RUSS 0504-0600 44 27,28,39 7520 FREN 0600-0700 44 27,28,39 7520 ITAL 0700-0745 44 27,28,39 7580 ENGL 2000-2245 44 27,28 9355 RUSS 0304-0400 44 27,28,39 9355 GERM 0400-0500 44 27,28,39 9355 SPAN 0500-0600 44 27,28,39 9505 ENGL 0000-0445 315 2 9555 SPAN 0804-1100 160 16 9575 PORT 0900-1000 160 15 9575 SPAN 1000-1200 160 15 9605 PORT 0800-1000 142 15 9605 SPAN 1100-1245 222 11 9680 PORT 0900-1000 140 13 9680 FREN 1000-1045 140 13 9690 PORT 0000-0045 142 15 9690 SPAN 0100-0200 160 15 9715 SPAN 0000-0045 285 10 50 9715 ENGL 0404-0500 285 10 50 9725 SPAN 0500-0600 285 10 50 9985 GERM 0300-0400 44 27,28,39 9985 ENGL 0400-0445 44 27,28,39 9985 ARAB 0500-0600 87 37,46 9985 FREN 0600-0700 87 37,46 9985 ENGL 0700-0800 87 37,46 9985 SPAN 0100-0300 151 15 11530 ENGL 0400-0500 44 27,28,39 11530 ARAB 0500-0600 44 27,28,39 11530 ENGL 0600-0700 44 27,28,39 11530 ITAL 0700-0800 44 27,28,39 11565 ARAB 2000-2100 44 27,28,39 11565 GERM 2100-2145 44 27,28,39 11580 PORT 0400-0500 87 47,52,57 11580 FREN 0500-0600 87 47,52,57 11580 ARAB 0600-0700 87 47,52,57 11580 ENGL 0700-0845 87 47,52,57 11665 SPAN 2100-2200 44 27,28 11665 PORT 2200-2245 44 27,28 11720 ENGL 0000-0100 142 15 11720 PORT 0100-0145 142 15 11725 ENGL 1100-1200 222 12 11725 SPAN 1200-1400 222 12 11740 ENGL 1300-1500 355 4,5,9 11740 FREN 1000-1100 151 15 11740 SPAN 1100-1300 151 15 11740 ENGL 2200-2345 315 2 11830 ENGL 1100-1700 315 2 11855 SPAN 2200-2300 222 11 11855 ENGL 2300-0000 222 11 11855 SPAN 0000-0300 222 11 11855 ENGL 0300-0400 222 11 11855 SPAN 0400-0445 222 11 11885 PORT 2300-0145 140 13 11970 ENGL 1200-1345 285 10 13695 FREN 1100-1200 355 4,5,9 13695 ENGL 1200-1300 355 4,5,9 13695 MAND 1300-1500 355 4,5,9 15115 PORT 1700-1800 87 4,5,9 15115 FREN 1800-1900 87 4,5,9 15115 ENGL 1900-1945 87 4,5,9 15130 PORT 2200-2245 142 15 15130 SPAN 1300-1500 285 10 50 15170 ENGL 2300-0000 160 15 15170 PORT 0000-0045 160 15 15215 SPAN 2300-0200 160 16 15355 SPAN 1300-1400 222 11 15400 ENGL 2300-0000 151 15 15400 FREN 0000-0045 151 15 15565 FREN 1800-1845 44 27,28 15565 ARAB 2000-2100 87 37,46 15565 ENGL 2100-2245 87 37,46 15565 ITAL 1600-1645 44 27,28 17510 ENGL 1300-1500 160 16 17575 ENGL 1300-1500 140 13 17575 PORT 1500-1600 140 13 17575 ENGL 2000-2200 140 13 17575 PORT 2200-2245 140 13 17760 SPAN 1700-1900 44 27,28 17760 ARAB 1900-1945 44 27,28 17760 ENGL 1400-1700 285 10 17790 ENGL 1600-1645 87 4,5,9 17845 SPAN 2304-0045 160 14 18930 ARAB 1600-1700 44 27,28 18930 GERM 1700-1800 44 27,28 18930 ITAL 1800-1845 44 27,28 18980 ENGL 1600-1945 44 27,28,39 21455 ENGL 1600-1800 44 27,28,39 21455 FREN 1800-1900 44 27,28,39 21455 GERM 1900-1945 44 27,28,39 21525 ARAB 1900-2000 87 47,52,57 21525 FREN 2000-2100 87 47,52,57 21525 ENGL 2100-2200 87 47,52,57 21525 PORT 2200-2245 87 47,52,57 21745 RUSS 1600-1745 44 27,28 (via Evelyn Marcy, WYFR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. The following will be the shortwave schedule for Family Stations, Inc. aired from Taiwan 27 October 2002 to 30 March 2003. Language Time (UTC) Freq (kHz) Target English 0100-0200 15060 S. Asia 1300-1500 11550 S. Asia 1500-1700 6280 S. Asia Hindi 0000-0100 15060 S. Asia 1500-1600 11550 S. Asia Mandarin 1102-1602 6300 E. Asia 1102-1602 9280 E. Asia 2100-0000 6300 E. Asia 2100-0000 9280 E. Asia Russian 1500-1700 9955 Eu/Sib (WYFR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. New E-mail address for "Radioactividades" (a weekly programme of media news mixed with radio historical features aired via 1050/6125 SODRE on Sat/Sun 1400-1500 and 0200-0300 Mon) is: radioact@adinet.com.uy Also the new URL for their website is: http://www.radioactividades.com Can be a useful contact info for reception reports on SODRE's radio stations. Programme hosted by Dr. Daniel Ayala Gonzalez (a former DXer and member of the DX Club of Uruguay) (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Oct 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. From October 8, Vatican Radio is scheduled for a new service in Hausa, for West Africa. It's daily, 0700-0715, on 11625 13765 and 15570. This appears to be a new language for this station. Regards! (Bob Padula, EDXP via DXLD) Doubt there be many Christians among Hausa speakers, let alone Catholix (gh, DXLD) NIGERIA: SENDUNGEN VON RADIO VATIKAN IN HAUSSA GEPLANT (HjB) Auf Wunsch der nigerianischen Bischöfe soll Radio Vatikan mit regelmäßigen Sendungen in Haussa beginnen, das in Westafrika Verkehrssprache ist. Ein Teil des Programms würde in Nigeria selber hergestellt, ein anderer Teil am Zentrum der römisch-katholischen Weltkirche in Rom. Eine Bitte um Mithilfe bei der Finanzierung ist an die deutschsprachigen ``Freunde von Radio Vatikan`` ergangen, die auch bisher schon fremdsprachige Redaktionen der Stimme der Weltkirche unterstützten (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Kirche und Rundfunk July-Sept via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. Espero que todos se encuentren muy bien. A continuación la siguiente noticia. La señal de YVTO Observatorio Naval Cajigal se encuentra actualmente en el aire. Hoy 05 de Octubre a las 2230 UT la estoy captando en mi QTH familiar y ajustando la hora de mi receptor con dicha señal. Un abrazo rompecostillas para todos. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Oct 5, Conexión Digital via DXLD) {Presumably 5000, as later here -gh} ** VIETNAM [non]. Lim Kwet Hian from Indonesia and John Wilkins from the USA both provided pictures of their new Que Huong Radio QSL cards to the CRW Clandestine Radio QSL card gallery at http://www.schoechi.de/bild-cla.html Until now the gallery only had an older QSL letter from 2000 (Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. I've been hearing a weak signal in Spanish over the last few nights on 4759.15. David Norrie has identified it as Radio Nacional from Argentina, so presumably this is the 4th harmonic of Radio Nacional, San Miguel de Tucuman 1190 kHz??? Any ideas, Conosur DXers? Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE NEW HARD-CORE-DX.COM WEBSITE IS OPEN Visit: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ A hard core DXer is a shortwave and mediumwave listener who tries to listen to rare, weak, and normally unheard broadcasting stations. This kind of radio listener has been around since radio was born in the early 20th century. And since the early days of the Internet, Hard-Core-DX.com has been around, trying to cover the information needs of these specialized listeners. We are announcing today a complete redesign of the Hard-Core-DX.com web site which will bring DX content providers even closer together and introducing an unique portal for all DXers. We're very excited to see several premium partners joining us and providing unique content on the new site. This will bring a lot of up- to-date and valuable resources available in one portal better than ever before. Also, web surfers can easily find indepth information from HCDX channel partners' dedicated web sites and mailing lists -- now easily accessible through the new Hard-Core-DX.com web site. During the beta period 82% of visitors rated the new site good (37%) or excellent (45%). We believe this is a very strong signal that we're on the right track and encourages us going forward with our services to all DXers around the world. We hope you'll find our service useful and adding value to your DXing hobby. The new web site is available at http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ (Risto Kotalampi & Hermod Pederson & HCDX Channel Partners, via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-154 October 4, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1150: AIRINGS ON WWCR: Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 FIRST AIRINGS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600 on 7445, 15039 NEXT AIRING ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415 ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK: Rest of world Sat 0800; N America Sun 1400 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1150.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1150.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1150.html UPDATED WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL SCHEDULE: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html MONITORING REMINDERS, with many new October entries (bookmark and check as needed, since it is constantly being updated): http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html ** AFGHANISTAN. US to install two MW transmitters with nationwide reach | Text of US Broadcasting Board of Governors press release dated 3 October Washington, DC, 3 October 2002: The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan signed the US- Afghanistan Radio Agreement today, paving the way for the installation of two mediumwave (AM) transmitters with nationwide reach in Afghanistan. Radio TV Afghanistan, operated by the Afghan government, will use one transmitter. The Afghan Radio Network Initiative, a joint 24-hour service of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, will use the second transmitter to broadcast round-the-clock Dari and Pashto language programmes. These programmes include hourly news and information reports from around the world, as well as feature reports on issues such as health, education, women's rights and economic reconstruction. "We hope to be a part of a better day for Afghanistan," said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, who signed the agreement along with His Excellency Dr Makhdum Rahin, Afghan minister of information and culture. Dr Rahin commented that the agreement will "allow the voices of freedom, democracy and tolerance to have a stronger chance of being heard in Afghanistan". The Afghan vice-president, Hedayat Amin Arsala, attended the ceremony, along with Ambassador David Johnson, senior coordinator for Afghanistan at the Department of State, and representatives from the Embassy of Afghanistan. Ali Jalali, director of the BBG Afghan Radio Network Initiative and the chief of the Voice of America's Pashto service, hosted the signing ceremony. In his welcoming address, Jalali noted that Afghans "depend more than ever on accurate, balanced and comprehensive news coverage about politics, health, education and many other topics." The 10.2m-dollar project, which will include constructing, transporting and installing equipment, is expected to take about six months. In addition to the two AM transmitters, the BBG will also install FM transmitters in up to five cities across Afghanistan. US Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, Washington DC, 3 Oct 02 Best 73s (via Ydun Ritz, Denmark, Oct 4, DXLD) ** BENIN. Radio Parakou on 5025 kHz heard this morning (4 Oct) with an unusually strong signal starting at 0500 UT (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030 30 m Long Wire, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 5025, ORTB Parakou/Benin just signed on in French with 'Radiodiffusion TV Beninoîse éméttant de Parakou" 0500 Oct 04, fairly decent signal with slight RTTY QRM. Presently vocal music accompanied by some sort of drums. 73 de (Thomas, DL1CQ, Roth, FISTS #6402 Hannover, North Germany R-390/URR, SP-600-JX21, R&S EK047 swl via DXLD) ** BRAZIL [non]. See USA for story on VOA`s non-Portuguese ** BRAZIL. The 60 mb reception conditions tonight, Oct 3, were bad, just the most regular ones were heard, but also 4845.1 Oct 3 -0200 Rádio Cultura Ondas Tropicais, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Signed off with a fine canned ID and the national anthem. They only announce the 4845 kHz frequency. I find that it's a bit odd, most Brazilian stations I thought use tropical bands as a supplement to MW or FM, but this one is just "ondas tropicais", so the name is very correct. But what do I know? Anyway QSA 4. 73 (Johan Berglund, AOR7030, lw, K9AY, Trollhättan, Sweden, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Really 250 kW? ** CANADA. Found some promo material at the CBC Radio One website regarding the new Shelagh Rogers-hosted morning program, "Sounds Like Canada". Quoting from the website: "Featuring a mix of in-studio and on-location production, Sounds Like Canada will venture into the real world, beyond the radio studio. We want to drench the airwaves with voices and sound from all over the country and bring the listener what is new, surprising and thought provoking, while presenting familiar voices in different and creative ways. "There is no better voice than that of Shelagh Rogers to represent what Sounds Like Canada. She will be the tie that binds, leading listeners to places both new and known in the manner Canadians have come to respect, trust and enjoy. "Sounds Like Canada will present segments that vary and change on a daily basis, featuring diverse content that will reflect Canada. Also, audiences will be invited to help choose content that's heard during the program. The program begins at "10:05 AM" (10:35 NT) which suggests it's a rolling live program, like NPR's "Morning Edition". See http://cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/ Interestingly, the on-air schedule beginning 14th October is now populated. "This Morning" is cut down to one hour (9A - 10A). "Sounds Like Canada Tonight" airs 8P-9P Tuesday-Thursday, with "Workology" on Mondays and "Richler on Radio" Fridays. As for shortwave, I *believe* RCI currently takes the Atlantic time zone feed for "This Morning" and its follow-on program in its 1200- 1500 UT US/Caribbean release. If this trend continues, we'd get the one remaining hour of "This Morning" plus the two hours of "Sounds Like Canada". However this is just a guess. Have a good weekend, everybody! (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA , Oct 4, swprograms via DXLD) ** CUBA. Radio Rebelde, captada el pasado 28/09 a las 0330 UT, transmitiendo el programa informativo "Ventana Rebelde", en los 6120 kHz. SINPO 5/4. Fuera del aire a las 0420, aproximadamente (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Adán González, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. Regarding the mediumwave antenna debate: I also know 5/8 wavelength as a popular mediumwave antenna design. This refers to the frequency the antenna is optimized for, but the point is that the antenna can be used also to operate other frequencies, just with a somewhat decreased efficiency. And we not even know about the antenna actually in use for Radio Sawa on 981; this frequency was put on air in such a short time that one has really to wonder if this is actually an already existing antenna at the RMC site on Cyprus (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. Glenn: Didn't mean to be insulting, just was surprised at the comment, since most AM arrays (if well designed) are wideband enough to have +/- 10 kHz bandwidth of 1.2/1 VSWR or better, and non-DA antennas are retunable over a 2/1 frequency range without much trouble. (The EIA Standard for AM antenna systems is 1.2/1 VSWR +/-5 kHz, 1.46/1 VSWR +/-10 kHz. Most systems probably meet this requirement, although there are certainly some that do not.) Re your comment about 5/8 lambda: Indeed, the general height limit for good performance is somewhat shorted than 5/8 wavelength, perhaps about 195-205 electrical degrees. That is because the high angle lobe from a 5/8 wavelength antenna can cause pretty severe skywave/ groundwave "fade zone" interference close in to the antenna, even within the 70 or 80 dBu groundwave service area. Another reason is that the "speed of light in steel" is slower than in free space, so that for most antenna mast/tower geometries the current distribution results in an electrical height that is greater than the physical height by as much as 5 or even 10%. There is a pretty egregious example at 1100 in Cleveland, where the other antennas on the tower have modified the current distribution so that it has a very noticeable high angle radiation problem and skywave/groundwave interference in the suburbs within the 70 dBu groundwave service area. In another case I am aware of, a new antenna installed for an old station has an antenna which includes one tower which is 225 degrees (5/8 wavelength) physically tall, and it destroyed most if not all of the nighttime outer groundwave service area of the station. I know the person who did the design, and he is incompetent. Thanks (Ben Dawson, via Ydun Ritz, DXLD) Tnx for the tutorial, useful for us non-broadcast engineers. Now at Ydun`s site are a couple jpg`s of the Cape Greco site, clearly showing two groups of antennas: one with three apparently identical masts, and another with four in a trapezoid: http://www.ydunritz.com/cape_greco-1.jpg http://www.ydunritz.com/cape_greco-2.jpg (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 12115, Dejen R. Sep 28 *1700-1710 44444 Tigrigna, 1700 s/on with local music. ID and opening announce. Local music (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium, via DXLD) This is the station which Ludo Maes of TDP, in a Cumbre DX posting, accuses Hans Johnson of backing/organizing/brokering? Perhaps Hans will issue QSLs? (gh, DXLD) ** EUROPE. ¿Piratas europeas?: captada la de 15070 kHz, desde Holanda, a las 0158 UT, el 29/09. Con música de Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody", "Please Release me" de Engelbert Humperdick y Tom Jones con "Green Grass of Home". Comentarios en inglés de un locutor. Sólo alcancé a oir "from the Netherlands", varias veces. Mucho fade. SINPO 24222. Nombre:?? [Alfa Lima International] En 12256.7, a las 0600, sólo alcancé a oir "Uptown Girl" de Billy Joel, para luego disiparse en un fade eterno. Nombre:?? 29/09. [R. Fax?] {NO: Wreckin` Radio International; see DXLD 2-155} En los 15795, a las 0545, buena música pop hasta cierre a las 0620. SINPO 3/3. Locutor en inglés. Escuchada de nuevo a las 0739 con Europe y "Final Countdown", con SINPO variable de 2/2 y 2/1. Nombre:?? [Borderhunter] (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Adán González, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Unfortunately I just missed the scheduled German broadcast from YLE (0930 on 15530), but apparently at least this service is not dead yet. They still update the German webpage, meanwhile also the announcement for the special call-in show on Oct. 10 was posted there (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Concerning Radio Finland. Hi Glenn, There's been some discussion in DXLD re whether R. Finland has already discontinued its English, French and German broadcasts. I haven't put them on lately: I'm not always around for the scheduled time of the SW broadcast to NAm, and the listed time for them on CBC overnight would be starting at 5:30 AM, but the local CBC Radio One morning show here in Montréal starts at 5:30 AM, so we don't get that segment of Overnight. (Although, checking the latest schedule of CBC Radio Overnight, at: http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/overnight/schedule.html I see that R. Finland is also listed on weekends in the 1-2 AM hour, which I was unaware of.) However, looking at the website of Radio Finland makes me think that they're still going. That's more evident by looking at the French and German pages, both of which today had the texts of today's (4 Oct.) newscasts. The English page doesn't have texts of newscasts, which makes it difficult to see at a glance if the page has been updated lately. As for a lack of links on the English page for other sources of information concerning Finland, you should go and consult the French and German pages. In the right-hand columns on those pages, at the end of the texts of the newscasts, are a number of links to sources of info about Finland in those languages. I would presume that those available in French, and those which are duplicated in German, would have info in English as well --- http://virtualfinland.fi certainly does. The German list includes, as well, a few which are also solely in English, including the English page from the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QC, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Howdy how radiofolks! IT IS NOW FIRST WEEKEND OF OCTOBER beginning and so Scandinavian Weekend Radio will start its monthly 24 hours transmission today Friday 4th October at 21 hours UT! Come along to listen us on 48 and 25 meters on shortwaves. More details on our webpage http://www.swradio.net E-mail address: info@swradio.net Reception report form: http://www.swradio.net/fin/rapo.htm Postal address: SWR, P. O. Box 35, FIN-40321 Jyväskylä, FINLAND. And remember add return postage 2 EUR/ 2 USD/ 2 IRC's (correctly stamped) with your reception report. Best regards, (Alpo Heinonen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. http://www.tdf.fr/article/articleview/2336/1/1570/ Hi Glenn, this is the WEB page giving all the news about the TDF operating in Rennes, from where has been originated the transmissions listened on 25 MHz. I guess this is the solution to the programs listened. Thanks to Christian Ghibaudo for this information (Dario Monferini, Italy, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, I don`t see any mention of 25 MHz, or even SW on this website, just generalities about Rennes being an R&D centre including DAB (no DRM mentioned), and digital TV (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. I am not aware of a mediumwave licence awarded to the Countrystar project of Starlet Media. They indeed applied for longwave 261 but as already reported this frequency was allocated to Europe 1 instead. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] The reported mediumwave transmissions of CountryStar are apparently just a participation in the DRM tests on 531 (Burg, 2 kW). This DRM signal contains alternately Megaradio, CountryStar and 531 Digital (the last one program is the output of yet another Dalet system at Hit-Radio Antenne Brocken). Here is a record of the 531 transmission with such a switch from Countrystar to 531 Digital: http://www.digitalerrundfunk.de/mittelwelle/drm-umschaltung.zip But beware, the file is 1.4 MB large, it contains a MP3 file, of course of almost the same size (it is nonsense to "zip" MP3's). You will note that the transmission is in pseudo-stereo, as I recall this was the case already back in last year when the 531 signal was presented on the DRM booth at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin. The CountryStar project has a website: http://www.starletmediaag.de There you will find also a stream http://62.146.2.66/audio/test.asx, labeled as "demonstration program" and probably containing the feed used for the DRM tests, too. A collection of transmitter site pictures is available here: http://www.sender-tabelle.de/frame_fotos.htm Alongside with many FM sites also various AM sites like Mühlacker, Stuttgart-Hirschlanden, Mainz-Wolfsheim, Beromünster (note the picture of a shortwave HQ) and others are featured. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. 4VEH QSL for sale on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=719873016 (Bob Wilkner, FL, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL cards for sale?? Why should someone collect verifications that confirm a reception of a third person? What will be next - a printed guide how to get QSLs without having heard a station? I cannot understand the idea behind making money with those personal documents. 73, (Willi Passmann, ibid.) From Paul Ormandy, NZ, who has been selling a number of QSLs lately. Tho bemused, I can understand why. They are a collectible like anything else, any other historical document. I am perfectly satisfied to see the scan of it, and a higher resolution one is offered (gh, DXLD) Sure, QSL are personal documents. But as time pass, they also become historical documents. QSL from 4VEH, Stimme der DDR, RIAS Berlin, Spanish Morocco, RTV Hong Kong, Radio Saigon, and Radio Peace and Progress all tell a story. To me, that's a pretty good reason to save, and even collect, such personal items (Hermod Pedersen, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. B-02 schedule for Radio Budapest from October 27, 2002 to March 29, 2003: Croatian to Eu 0500-0513 Daily 6025 2100-2113 Daily 6025 English to Eu 2000-2028 Daily 6025 7135 2200-2228 Daily 3975 6025 English to NoAm 0200-0228 Daily 9835 0330-0358 Daily 9835 German to Eu 1300-1358 Sun 6025 11925 1500-1558 Sun 6025 9735 1800-1858 Sun 3975 6025 1830-1858 Mon-Sat 3975 6025 2030-2058 Mon-Sat 3975 6025 French to Eu 0530-0543 Daily 6025 7115 2115-2128 Daily 6025 9800 Hungarian to Eu 0600-1158 Sun 6025 (relay HS-1 Kossuth R) 0600-1658 Mon-Sat 6025 (relay HS-1 Kossuth R) 1200-1258 Sun 6025 1400-1458 Sun 6025 1900-1958 Daily 3975 6025 2300-2358 Daily 6025 Hungarian to NoAm 0000-0058 Daily 9835 0130-0228 Daily 9835 2000-2058 Daily 6130 Hungarian to SoAm 2300-2358 Daily 9580 11990 0000-0058 Mon 9580 11990 Hungarian to AUS 1200-1258 Daily 21560 1900-1958 Daily 6130 Italian to Eu 0545-0558 Daily 6025 7195 2130-2143 Daily 6025 7215 2230-2243 Daily 6025 7215 Romanian to Eu 0445-0458 Daily 6025 1600-1613 Sun 6025 1715-1728 Daily 6025 Russian to Eu 0400-0428 Daily 3975 6025 1630-1658 Sun 6025 11680 1800-1828 Mon-Sat 6025 7130 2030-2058 Sun 6025 7130 Serbian to Eu 1745-1758 Daily 6025 Slovak to Eu 0515-0528 Daily 6025 1615-1628 Sun 6025 1730-1743 Daily 6025 Spanish to Eu&SoAm 2145-2158 Daily 6025 7215 2245-2258 Daily 6025 7215 Ukrainian to Eu 0430-0443 Daily 3975 6025 1700-1713 Daily 6025 11745 (Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 4, via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. Today I received the confirmation from Latvia that [Caroline] 7140 kHz was NOT transmitted from Riga. I should have waited for that before throwing in my 2 cents yesterday (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 4, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. According to announcements on Kol Yisrael they will move their broadcasts one hour later by GMT because of the end of summer time beginning Monday [Oct. 7] (Joel Rubin, NY, Oct 4, swprograms via DXLD) At 0000 UT (Chris Hambly, Australia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. About two weeks ago Rai International unveiled a new web- site geared to its overseas audience. Now every language service has its own page with a brief history of the station and current schedule. Multi-language programs from Hotbird are related live in RealAudio at rtsp://live.media.rai.it/encoder/international.rm Schedule for on-line broadcasts: http://www.international.rai.it/radio/hotbird/index.shtml The management of the station promises that soon there will be a 7-day audio archive. Also, there are plans for a "DX-corner". There the DXers will be able to confirm their reports in real time by downloading the electronic QSLs (Ivan Melkunyan, Rome via DX-Libero, via Moscow DX-Bulletin #287 via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Oct 4, DXLD) Err, does any human check the reports before `confirming??` (gh, DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. BBC, RFI, AFRICA NO 1 FM RELAYS IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE "DESTROYED" BY "UNKNOWN PEOPLE" At around 1530 gmt on 22 September, the local relays on FM of the BBC World Service (on 94.3 MHz), Radio France Internationale (97.6 MHz), and Gabon-based Africa No 1 radio (91.1 MHz) went off the air in Côte d'Ivoire's commercial capital, Abidjan. This followed the start of the current crisis in the country on 19 September. The relays have remained unheard since then. Reporting the cessation of the relays, the French news agency AFP on 22 September cited acting Communications Minister Lia Bi Douayaoua as saying that he had given "no order along those lines". A communiqué issued on 30 September by the Ivorian media freedom watchdog OLPED, which was published by the Ivorian newspaper Fraternité Matin on 2 October, noted various recent incidents in which journalists had been attacked or abducted, and newspapers threatened. It also said that "some unknown people went and destroyed the technical installations of three international radio corporations. Since then, it has not been possible to receive their programmes on FM radios." (All three stations can still be heard in Côte d'Ivoire on shortwave.) Sources: Monitoring research Sep-Oct 02; Fraternité Matin, Abidjan, in French 2 Oct 02 p 4 (BBCM via DXLD) So answering our previous question Since the name rarely comes up, but is now back in the news, may I point out that we reject the insistence of Ivory Coast that the name of the country be rendered only in French, even in other languages. This is as absurd as the US insisting that French speakers call us ```United States`` instead of États-Unis, or that Finland be known everywhere only as Suomi (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. U.S. Armed Forces in Japan broadcast (AFN-TOKYO/EAGLE 810) stops broadcast extensively between September 26 and October 17 for large-scale exchange of equipments and a maintenance. In addition, the resumption of broadcast is on October 18. Frequency is broadcast by 810 kHz in Tokyo (MATSUI Toshiaki, Osaka, JAPAN, Osaka, Japan Premium, Kanto DX Circle, Oct 4 via DXLD) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. Among WJIE`s numerous projects is setting up a SW station here (Doc Burkhart, WJIE mailbag Oct 4 via gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. XEW is currently running a comedy show on Monday nights at 10 PM CT entiled, "XHDRBZ". Those letters on the promos look like actual call letters. If the signal is strong and stable, you will likely realize that the calls are fake because the "R" is backwards. Otherwise, these promos can easily be mistaken for actual calls. Jeff Kruszka did some research and learned that "DRBZ" stands for the name of the program's star (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Sept 25, WTFDA via DXLD) ** PALESTINE [AND NON]. PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS: AL-QUDS RADIO BROADCASTS DISRUPTED BY INTERFERENCE Al-Quds Radio, a Palestinian radio station opposed to PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat's authority and to peace with Israel, has over the past two weeks suffered from strong interference on the mediumwave frequency 702 kHz, making reception poor. The station has been observed to increase its transmission time in recent weeks, carrying the same pattern of programming it had broadcast prior to September 2001, namely from 0500 to 1400 gmt on 702 kHz. Al-Quds Radio describes itself as "the Palestinian Arab station on the path of liberating land and man". It began broadcasting in January 1988. Al-Quds Radio broadcasts from Syria and supports Palestinian factions opposed to Yasir Arafat and the peace process, notably Ahmad Jibril and his Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). In the late 1980s and early 1990s the station carried programming in Hebrew, French and English as well as Arabic. Prior to April 1996 it also transmitted on shortwave. Cuts in 2001 In August 2001 Al-Quds Radio's mediumwave broadcasts were cut back to two hours a day, while its FM broadcasts continued. At the time, the station cited its financial plight as the main reason for the cuts and appealed for funds to be sent to a bank account in Shtawrah, Lebanon. The statement was intended to dispel rumours that the Syrian government was exercising pressure on the PFLP-GC to close down the station or reduce its output. Interference Over the past two weeks, Al-Quds Radio has been observed to suffer from strong interference on 702 kHz, making reception on that frequency poor. The interference has been noted suddenly at any time between 0500 and 0700 gmt and continues until the radio's 1400 gmt sign-off. The station was jammed by Israel in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the effect on reception from the interference over the past two weeks is now the same. However, the current interference is stronger, covering a four-kHz bandwidth. The radio no longer mentions 630 kHz, an alternative frequency on which it also used to broadcast. Current programming Programming consists of Palestinian patriotic songs in praise of the Palestinian intifadah and talks and interviews with Palestinian figures. News is heard on the half-hour. A political commentary by the station's general manager, Fadl Shururu, is carried after the 0930 gmt news and is repeated after the 1330 gmt news. The commentary is now called "Fadl Shururu's Opinion". The radio asks listeners to send their letters to "our Post Office Box No 5092 in Damascus, Syria, or to Fax No 444-8374." The fax number is the same one to which the radio last year asked people to fax the receipts of their financial contributions. The radio no longer announces any Beirut address or bank account details. Source: BBC Monitoring research Oct 02 (via DXLD) Well, what is the interference like? Noise jamming? Open carrier? Any modulation? DF fix?? (gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. More about Radio América: Yesterday, at last hour, I received this mail. Mur tells about the new frequency transmission and future plans to transmit on 9980 and 2300 kHz!!! on 120 mb. Below, the mail received. I checked 7385 from Buenos Aires this morning, at 0900 UTC+ and I only heard the WRMI Radio Miami Internacional in Spanish! 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Oct 4, Cumbre DX via DXLD) --Estimado Arnaldo Slaen: Muchísimas gracias por la amabilidad de buscarnos. En este momento, únicamente la frecuencia de los 7385 KHZ está en el aire, dirigida hacía los 184 grados, del norte magnético. Hemos retirado la frecuencia 7300 KHZ, para evitar interferencias. Primeramente Dios [mediante??], agregaremos la frecuencia 9980 KHZ, en estos días. También, espero probar los 2300 KHZ, en la banda de 120 metros. Como reserva, tenemos una frecuencia "fuera de banda", los 7737 KHZ, y otra, en la banda de 41 metros, los 7370 KHZ. El propósito de estas pruebas es de seleccionar frecuencias de alta calidad, para proporcionar servicio a nuestras audiences en el Cono Sur. Con los mejores de saludos (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay, Oct 2 via Slaen, Cumbre via DXLD) ?? WRMI is not supposed to be on 7385 at that hour, tho it surely block ZP20 in NAm earlier; switch to 9955 scheduled at 0900. We still await a an update since mid August at http://wrmi.net (gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Sin señal de vida, Radio Nacional del Paraguay en 9737.1 kHz. Ya lleva una semana inactiva. Hasta nuevo aviso (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Adán González, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5024.90, Radio Quillabamba, 1028 Oct 4, A program of Huaynos music and Spanish comments from a man. Radio Rebelde was off the air. Usually Radio Rebelde is booming in at this hour and wonder if off due to Lili? Signal of Quillabamba was poor (Bolland, Chuck, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. I want to draw your attention to Monday's edition of Euroquest [on R. Netherlands], produced and presented by my colleague Jonathan Groubert. One of the items should be of particular interest: CATHOLIC RADIO ATTRACTS MOST LISTENERS IN PORTUGAL Radio Renascença regularly attracts a listenership of over 2 million with its popular mix of music and conversation. And it's particularly popular with Portugal's youth. Renascença, or Renaissance Radio, is a Catholic station. It was set up in 1937, and has since established itself as a broadcasting juggernaut, with 2 national channels and the 24 MEGA FM, aimed at the youth of greater Lisbon. Sylvia Smith tuned into Radio Renascença to find out just how they get their message across the airwaves -without turning listeners off. That's coming up on Monday 7 October at the following times (UTC): 10.30 (Pacific/Asia/Far East), 11.00 (Europe/East Coast USA), 15.30 (Asia/West Coast USA), 19.00 (Africa), 21.30 (Europe), 00.30 (North America) (Andy Sennitt, Media Network Newsletter Oct 4 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. PUTIN REVOKES DECREE GIVING SPECIAL STATUS TO RADIO LIBERTY Fri Oct 4, 8:24 AM ET From AP By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday revoked an 11- year-old decree that allowed U.S.-funded Radio Liberty to open a bureau in Moscow, the Kremlin press service said. It was not immediately clear what effect the decision would have on the station, but the Kremlin said it was aimed simply at putting Radio Liberty in equal conditions with other media operating in Russia. The original decree - signed by then-President Boris Yeltsin in the wake of the failed hardline Communist coup that ushered in the end of the Soviet Union - permitted Radio Liberty to open a Moscow bureau and ordered the government to provide the station with the necessary communication channels and Foreign Ministry accreditation. The Interfax news agency quoted the Kremlin information office as saying the 1991 decree had put Radio Liberty "in a privileged position compared to other foreign media working in Russia" and was out of date. The information office criticized Radio Liberty for what it called the increasingly "tendentious character" of the station's coverage. However, the decision to revoke the decree has nothing to do with the station's editorial policy, it said. Sonia Winter, a spokeswoman for Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe in Prague, denied the station had ever enjoyed special privileges in Russia. She said the cancelation of the decree was most likely a technicality. The head of Radio Liberty in Moscow, Andrei Shary, said he was waiting for clarification from the Kremlin and could not comment on the decision's significance. "Those officials in the Foreign Ministry with whom we have spoken say it is just a technical change and the status of the station won't change," he told The Associated Press. "For now, we're continuing to work in our normal mode of operation." Radio Liberty, whose broadcasts to Russia previously came from outside the country and were often jammed during the Cold War, was one of the few sources of uncensored information that Russians could hear during the Soviet era. In the 1991 decree, Yeltsin said that he was allowing Radio Liberty to open an office in recognition of "the role the station has played in providing unbiased reporting to the citizens of Russia and the world public on the progress of democratic changes in Russia," according to Interfax. The station, which is funded by the U.S. Congress, is still one of the most critical media outlets in the country, focusing attention on human rights abuses (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. PUTIN REVOKES 1991 DECREE ON RADIO LIBERTY, RADIO FREE EUROPE | Text of report by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 4 October: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree "On the revocation of Russian presidential decree No 93 of 27 August 1991 'On the office of the independent radio station Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe'". The text of the decree was released on Friday [4 October] by the head of state's press service. It reads: "In accordance with the law of the Russian Federation 'On the mass media', I resolve: 1. To revoke the Russian president's decree No 93 of 27 August 1991 'On the office of the independent radio station Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe' (Published in the official gazette of the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, 1991, No 35, page 1167). 2. This decree takes effect from the day of its official publication." Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0706 gmt 4 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) DECREE ON RADIO LIBERTY RESTORES FAIRNESS IN RUSSIAN MEDIA - KREMLIN | Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 4 October: The Russian president's decree "On the revocation of Russian presidential decree No 93 of 27 August 1991 'On the office of the independent radio station Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe'" restores fairness in the Russian media sphere. Such was the comment from the presidential information department made to ITAR-TASS regarding the decision. "Figuratively speaking, this decree sets fair conditions for all the players," the Kremlin information department said. The earlier decree of 1991 was issued "right after the putsch, in the period of rapid democratic transformations in Russia and as a symbolic demonstration of the new Russian leadership's adherence to the principles of freedom of speech and the media. During that time, the decree played an important part in creating a positive image of a democratic Russia abroad". As economic and political transformation progressed and the legislation regulating media activities developed, the decree lost its original meaning. "Moreover, it virtually put Radio Liberty/Free Europe in a privileged position, compared to other foreign media working in Russia," the information department said. In spite of the fact that the Cold War has ended and a new level of trust and cooperation in Russian-US relations has been reached, "this radio station's editorial policy has not only lost its ideological angle, but has lately begun to demonstrate even greater bias, clearly evident in its broadcasts to Chechnya and Ukraine, which often present deliberately selective information in a subjective way". At the same time, the present decree by the Russian president was not a reaction to the radio station's information policy, the Kremlin information department stressed. To sum it up, "the only thing that is being changed is its status, which now puts it on an equal footing with other foreign media working in Russia." Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0728 gmt 4 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) RADIO LIBERTY DENIES THAT 1991 DECREE GAVE IT SPECIAL PRIVILEGES IN RUSSIA | Text of report by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 4 October: Radio Liberty hopes that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree revoking President Boris Yeltsin's decree of 1991 on the Radio Liberty office will not have an impact on its work. "At the moment I cannot say anything about this because we have not received either the decree itself or any explanation that satisfies us. Therefore, we hope to get some explanation of this situation soon," the editor-in-chief of the Moscow office of Radio Liberty, Andrey Sharyy, told Interfax, adding that he had only learnt this morning that such a decree had been signed. Sharyy recalled that Yeltsin's decree allowed the radio station to open a permanent office in Moscow and obliged the relevant departments to provide the office with the necessary channels of communication. The Foreign Ministry was instructed to give the radio special accreditation. Commenting on the explanation given by the president's information directorate, which indicated that after the revocation of Yeltsin's decree, Radio Liberty was now on an equal footing with other media outlets, Sharyy said: "We never felt we enjoyed special privileges. We operated on the basis of those conditions, including legal ones, which the Russian authorities proposed to us." He made the assumption that the radio station would now be asked to undergo some form of new registration or to re-register on the basis of present legislation. He gave an assurance that the radio station would agree to do this. "We would like to believe the information directorate's assertion that none of this is political," Sharyy said. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0743 gmt 4 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) RFE/RL COMMITTED TO REPORTING IN RUSSIA, DINE SAYS (October 4, 2002) The President of RFE/RL said today that Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to revoke the 10-year-old decree that allowed the service to establish a Moscow bureau would in no way affect news coverage. Thomas A. Dine, the President of RFE/RL, said: "We will not allow the revocation of Mr. Yeltsin's significant policy declaration to affect our reporting of events in the Russian Federation in any way." President Yeltsin issued his decree in recognition of RFE/RL's contribution to Russia's democracy and principles of freedom of the press. "We will continue to give the people of Russia accurate and balanced news and information about major occurrences inside Russia," Dine added. Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees RFE/RL, concurred with Dine's statement, expressing his "confidence that our journalists will continue to do their job." RFE/RL is a legally registered foreign mass media outlet in the Russian Federation. Dine said he hoped that Putin's action today would not narrow RFE/RL's ability to operate on an equal footing with other foreign media outlets in Russia's media environment (RFE/RL press release Oct 4 via DXLD) ** SUDAN. Muy inestable en 7200 kHz, el servicio nacional de radio de Sudán, en árabe, a las 0415 UT. El 03/10 salió del aire tres veces en menos de 15 minutos, con pausas de hasta 4 minutos entre cada interrupción. Según el esquema oficial, la emisión empieza a las 0200, pero no se oye sino hasta pasada las 0400. SINPO 4/3 (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Adán González, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. RUSSIA: New schedule for anti Syrian station Voice of Homeland in Arabic effective Oct. 1: 0330-0400 on 9950 1500-1530 on 12085 only and deleted 12115 1600-1630 on 12115 new transmission 73 from Ivo and Angel! (Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 4, via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN. The article about Tatarstan and The Voice of Tatarstan (DXLD 2-151) by Richard A. D`Angelo was superb (Thanks a lot!) and the transmission on 11925 at 0800, Oct 1 had perfect reception here. 252 kHz LW has been logged here with a non-Russian language, but this was the first time I can surely say that I heard the Tatar language. (Well, obviously I have not tried to do so with much zeal). Ironically the transmission ended with a weather forecast in Russian: "Govorit Kazan...." (Johan Berglund, AOR7030, lw, K9AY, Trollhättan, Sweden, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. China Tibet People's Broadcasting Company, Lhasa, lower frequencies now riding the gray line in at sunset. On 3 OCT, parallels 4905 and 4920 weak with het QRM, 5240 and 6130 good from around 2330 UT, peaking 44543 around 00 UT, fading rapidly after 0015. VOA came on 6130 (late) after 0005 and blocked that frequency. I got the same QSL package that others have reported, for 9490 in four weeks. Very nice! (John Cobb, Roswell GA, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUVALU. TUVALU'S SINKING FEELING --- A Pacific island nation fears vanishing beneath the waves. It is weighing a suit against the U.S. over emissions blamed for global warming. By RICHARD C. PADDOCK, TIMES STAFF WRITER VAIAKU, Tuvalu -- This isolated country is not much more than a few specks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Its population wouldn't fill a fifth of Dodger Stadium. Its highest point is 16 feet above sea level. But Tuvalu is at the center of international debate over climate change. Many of Tuvalu's people worry that rising sea levels caused by global warming will wash away their country. They talk of suing the U.S. government or big American corporations for polluting the atmosphere and causing the planet's temperature to rise. They condemn President Bush for backing out of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.... The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-tuvalu4oct04004444,0,4435353.story (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K. The BBC has long prided itself on its roll [sic] as guardian of the Queen`s English. Why then does it insist on distorting Spanish proper names into some twisted English version of their correct pronunciation? Today I heard on the news where a football referee in Quito, Ecuador had been disciplined for adding too much extra time to the end of a match. I could barely figure out where the game was being played until I realized that ``Kwee-toe`` was in fact our ``Key-toe`` of HCJB fame. Some months ago I heard a BBC announcer refer to a Cervantes character, who tilted at windmills, as Don ``Kwix-oat``, instead of Don ``Kee-oh-tay``. Give me a break. The purpose of speech is to communicate. If the listener has to spend time figuring out the true meaning of some convoluted BBC pronunciation, the communication of ideas suffers. I think I`ll leave now and go listen to Rah-dee-oh Hah-bah-na, Koo-bah (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) I so agree; makes BBC a laughingstock for those of us with even a smattering of Spanish, where pronunciation is so *easy* and *regular* (unlike English) once you take the trouble to learn a few simple rules. Actually, it`s kee-HO-tay (approximately), and I also refuse to say kwix-OTT-ick, but kee-HO-tick (Glenn Hauser, Oclajoma, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is the standard Brit pronunciation. The Beeb is unlikely to resolve such differences in favor of real English as she is spoken in these United States any time soon. One case in which American usage seems to have triumphed east of the pond is that the Brits used to follow the French in that million, billion, trillion had 6, 12, 18 zeros. They now seem to folllow the Yanks with 6, 9, 12 zeros. At least I assume that when there is a story in the London Telegraph about an £80 billion pound deficit in some budget the number has 10 rather than 13 zeros. I prefer the former Britspeak thousand million for one with 9 zeros because it eliminates any question as to whose billion is being used. http://www.bartleby.com/64/C007/0157.html § 157. quixotic This word, pronounced (kwk-st´k [sic]), derives from the English word Quixote, which in turn derives from the name of the hero of Cervantes`s novel, Don Quixote. Quixote is generally pronounced (kwk´st [sic]) in British English and (k-h´t [sic]), an attempt at the Spanish pronunciation, in American English. http://www.blaketashi.com/pronunciation.htm The British refuse to accommodate the pronunciation of foreign names or words to any sounds not actually contained into the (sometimes transliterated) English spelling of such. With equal vigor, they also find an almost compulsive need to annunciate [sic] each and every letter of said word or name. We therefore have Don Quixote being pronounced by the British as Don Quicks-oat, and Don Juan as Don Jew-an. We shall not even mention Jag- u-ar (via Joël Rubin, NY, swprograms via DXLD) The issue is not British vs. American usage, but approximating as closely as possible the pronunciation of a foreign name, whatever one`s accent in English (gh, DXLD) ** U K [non]. BBC-Worldservice: I was told that the Astra outlet is of the same poor quality as FM 90.2 at Berlin (muffled audio, sounding more like mediumwave than like FM), and a quick check with the tiny loudspeaker of the ATS 909 seems to confirm this for the 91.1 outlet here at Dresden, too. So shortwave is wrong for BBC-WS, but they are not able to produce or deliver their programming in 15 kHz quality (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. R. Liberty loses its special status: see RUSSIA ** U S A. VOA SILENT AS TERRORIST THREAT LOOMS SOUTH OF THE BORDER Wes Vernon, NewsMax.com, Washington NewsMax Colaboración: Armando F. Mastrapa III, New York La Nueva Cuba Septiembre 23, 2002 A Castroite with extensive ties to international terrorism is leading in the polls in Brazil`s current presidential campaign, and thanks to Clinton holdovers in Washington, the U.S. is not able to reach the Brazilian people with the truth about the front runner and the dangers he represents to his country and the entire Western Hemisphere. If Luis Inacio da Silva is elected next month [Oct 6], it will add Brazil to Fidel Castro`s Cuba and Hugo Chávez`s Venezuela as nations right in our own backyard who pose a threat to the security of the post-9/11 United States. What`s more ironic is that several months ago, the Voice of America`s governing board made a decision to cut its broadcasts to Brazil in Portuguese, the dominant language in that country. That means that just as terrorist-friendly regimes increase in this hemisphere, the U.S. voice is muted. ``It was a preposterous decision,`` stormed Robert Schadler, a onetime chief of staff at the U.S. Information Agency, predecessor to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), now dominated by Clintonites, which presently oversees VOA. Schadler also formerly held a variety of responsible positions at VOA itself. ``Brazil, I think, is the seventh largest country in the world,`` added Schadler, now a leader of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, ``It`s clearly the dominant country in South America.`` In an interview with NewsMax.com, Schadler said, ``A Voice of America that gives an American perspective on America and international issues [in Brazil] is absolutely vital and very inexpensive.`` Writing in the Washington Times August 7, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Constantine C. Menges said if da Silva is elected, ``the results could include a radical regime in Brazil re-establishing its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs, developing close links to state sponsors of terrorism such as Cuba, Iraq, and Iran, and participating in the destabilization of neighboring democracies.`` Menges, a former member of the National Security Council, points out that this could lead 300 million people in six countries coming under the control of radical anti-U.S. regimes and the possibility that thousands of newly indoctrinated terrorists might try to attack the United States from Latin America. ``With Mr. Castro`s support,`` Menges writes, ``Mr. da Silva founded the São Paulo forum in 1990 as an annual meeting of communist and other radical terrorist and political organizations from Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. This has been used to coordinate terrorist and political activities around the world and against the United States.`` The São Paulo Forum is still very much in business and pursuing its goals. Its last meeting was held in Havana, Cuba in December 2001. That meeting sharply condemned the Bush administration`s leadership in the war against international terrorism after 9/11. When Menges talks about the threat from a Brazil under da Silva`s leadership, he is not merely theorizing. The Brazilian presidential candidate has said Brazil should have nuclear weapons and move closer to China, which has actively courted the Brazilian military. Free Congress Foundation President Paul Weyrich notes that the Clinton loyalists dominating the BBG have persistently thwarted the objectives of the Bush administration. ``even deciding to practically shut down broadcasting in Latin America without consulting Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich, who argued it was important to maintain a U.S. presence on the airwaves there.`` Schadler told NewsMax that he has good reason to suspect that budget considerations drove this move. ``I believe that this issue was tied to the idea that they need to have a major initiative in the Middle East with music [programming],`` he said. That raises another issue that can backfire against the U.S. that NewsMax.com will deal with in separate report. Suffice it to say that the terrorist threat against the United States is increasing in Latin America, and the U.S. voice is missing in action, so to speak. On Thursday, NewsMax.com e-mailed the International Broadcasting Bureau, the sister organization of VOA with an inquiry. The spokesman was referred to us by the State Department under whose umbrella both the VOA and IBB operate at the direction of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The question read as follows: ``It is my understanding Portuguese language broadcasts to Brazil were cancelled due to budget constraints. Now that a Castroïte is up in the polls to lead that country in the upcoming election. In hindsight, should those broadcasts to Brazil have been given a greater priority? Will they be reinstated?`` We gave the IBB a deadline to respond, with over 24 hours to come up with an answer. As we went to press late Friday, no reply had been received (via Oscar, Miami, DXLD) STATIC: THE CONTROVERSY AT THE VOICE OF AMERICA By Paul M. Weyrich, CNSNews.com Commentary, CNSNews.com Colaboración: Armando F. Mastrapa III, New York La Nueva Cuba, Septiembre 23, 2002 The Voice of America charter calls for its broadcasts not only to be a "consistently reliable and authoritative" news source for its listeners, but also to "present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively." Edward R. Murrow, the noted CBS news broadcaster who became head of VOA's parent agency, the United States Information Agency, used to insist: "To be persuasive, we must be credible." USIA no longer exists, having been replaced by a Broadcasting Board of Governors that is even now dominated by Clinton holdovers. The unfortunate and unfair departure of Bob Reilly as the VOA's director demonstrates why it is time for the Congress and the Bush administration to reëxamine the so-called reforms of the United States' international broadcasting operations that were instituted during the administration of President Clinton. The problem has its origins in an effort to streamline the United States' international broadcasting operations in the post-Cold War era. During the Reagan and Bush years, the director of the Voice of America was a presidential appointee who required approval from the United States Senate, which ensured that the person holding the position had the power to implement the vision of his administration. However, the end of the Cold War led to a push to reduce the size and scope of the VOA and other international broadcasting operations of the Federal government. A Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was created, giving the commissioners wide authority over the various broadcast entities such as the VOA. Now, the director is at the mercy of the board, and it remains a board dominated by Clinton-Gore holdovers because the Democrat-controlled Senate has refused to provide timely consideration to Bush appointments. The nine board members take it upon themselves to poke their nose wherever they want, making it "Management by the Marx Brothers" in their haphazard, anything-goes style, although the results are no laughing matter. The board does what it likes, having made it difficult for Reilly to set a firm agenda for VOA and for the Bush Administration to have its wishes respected. When President Bush came into office, the Democratic director of VOA remained in office at first, later to be replaced by a career interim director. Writing in The New York Times on September 20th, columnist William Safire charged in a column titled "Equal Time for Hitler" that the United States government needed to put forward a stronger message to the Middle East. But the leadership needed to do that was not present because, as Safire noted, the BBG chairman was nothing more than an "amiable" political appointee who had raised money for Al Gore and was overdue to be replaced. "The Voice of America leadership is even more vacant," he added. Safire wrote that soon after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, an interview with a leader of "Egypt's largest Islamist group" was broadcast by VOA without identifying that his group had killed 58 foreign tourists and 4 Egyptians four yeas ago. The VOA news director conceded that the terrorist should have been identified but maintained interviews with terrorists would continue to be done to ensure balance. [Even though the VOA charter says its mission is to present "responsible discussions and opinion" on United States policies.] Then, soon after Safire's column appeared, the VOA aired, over the objections of the State Department, an interview with Mullah Mohammad Omar, a Taliban leader. New York Times writer Felicity Barringer noted in an October 8, 2001 article that anti-Taliban emigrés viewed the VOA's Pashto-language broadcasts to be "the Voice of the Taliban." (Pashto is spoken in Central Afghanistan.) After spending years writing editorials and producing VOA programs, Bob Reilly became the new director of VOA, intent on balancing the demands for journalistic objectivity with putting America's best foot forward. There was no more "equal time or Hitler." I have known Bob Reilly for many years, and I know him to be a fine gentleman and conscientious public official. He has a background in the conservative cause, having served as President of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which promotes the works of conservatism's leading thinkers. Reilly had worked at the United States Information Agency and in the White House Office of Public Liaison handling foreign policy and national security issues in the early 1980s. Reilly wrote in The Washington Times on January 28th: "One of our key responsibilities is to promote and provide the free flow of information by broadcasting comprehensive, objective, and balanced news." However, Reilly argued that an equally important mission of VOA is to "reveal the character of the American people" in that we can live in a democratic-republic and discipline ourselves to use our freedom wisely. Reilly raised questions about the image -- a false one -- that many foreigners receive of the United States from pop culture. Also important, said Reilly, is that the VOA use what amounts to an audio "editorial page" to explain U.S. policies clearly for friends and enemies alike to understand. The board constantly countermanded Reilly's objectives and those of the Bush Administration, even deciding to practically shut down broadcasting in Latin America without consulting Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich, who argued it was important to maintain a U.S. presence on the airwaves there. A consolidation plan promoted by the BBG brought matters to a head. The VOA can broadcast into countries that would shut out Radio Free Asia because its programming actively attempts to undermine the government. By lumping the programming together, the BBG would have created diplomatic problems. But that's not all, folks. For a powerful member of the BBG is Norman Pattiz, the founder and chairman of Westwood One Broadcasting, who views pop entertainers (recording "artists" is simply not an appropriate term) such as Britney Spears and Eminem as potential cultural warriors who can convert Arab youth to the post-modern American Way providing that they perform well in focus group tests. Pattiz was either exhibiting sheer naïveté or, more likely, avaricious opportunism when he made the astonishing assertion in a New Yorker profile that "it was MTV that brought down the Berlin Wall." Pattiz spearheaded an initiative called "Radio Sawa" to provide MTV-style programming in Arab countries. Pattiz even had placed former associates of his at Westwood One to advise VOA on programming, raising the question whether there would be a conflict of interest should Westwood One ever decide to start their own rock broadcasts in the countries where Radio Sawa broadcast. Reilly did not disagree with the idea of experimenting with some rock programming, but he absolutely disagrees with the idea that VOA should become the MTV of the United States government. And any social issue conservative should likewise be outraged at this mindless idea. Many Middle Eastern Muslims hate the United States because of the perceived hegemony of its pop culture. Events came to a head when the newly installed, Bush-appointed chairman of the BBG, Ken Tomlinson, asked for Bob Reilly's resignation. He received it. But it does not say much for the Administration or Tomlinson that they did not stick up for their own director, but simply bent to the will of this Clinton-dominated board. Bob Reilly was selected and vetted by the Bush White House. Then, the Clinton-dominated Board forces him to resign and hires a replacement who was neither vetted nor nominated by the White House. For the first time in VOA's 60-year history, the President of the United States did not select the VOA director. Is it any wonder that our public diplomacy in the Middle East is failing to send a clear message to the region when this holdover board can hijack the Bush Administration's message and appointees, replacing it with the programs and personnel that they favor? I was among the first to sign a letter addressed to Karl Rove expressing the opposition of conservatives to the BBG's decision to fire Bob Reilly. We also register our unwillingness to have the BBG transform VOA broadcasting into a "music, entertainment, and news" format in which the values of Madonna displace those of Murrow. There is talk in Congress about slashing VOA funding unless satisfactory explanations are given as to why the BBG actively worked to thwart Bob Reilly from carrying out the Bush Administration's agenda and then fired him. It's bad enough that a committed journalist like Bob Reilly was considered to be the management problem when it is the board. It's even worse that this board that does not reflect Administration policy. And if Mr. Pattiz, as he admitted to The New Yorker, thinks that the "religious extremists" in the Middle East will not like his ideas for programming, then I've got news for him. He's aroused the enmity of many `responsible' social conservatives in the United States too and he has only started to hear from us. (Paul M. Weyrich is chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.) Copyright © 1997-2002 - LA NUEVA CUBA NOSTROMO PUBLISHING CORP. All Rights Reserved. 73's (via Oscar, Miami, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. I checked the Radio Sawa program format; the transmitter in Kuwait 1548 is very good here from dusk and onwards, and it is indeed a fast-moving stream of music in Arabic and English, a lot of station IDs, electronic addresses, websites etc. News came every 30 minutes lasting for two minutes or so, for a second or two the voices of Bush or Powell were heard, then on in Arabic. It was definitely something new to my ears (Johan Berglund, AOR7030, lw, K9AY, Trollhättan, Sweden, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION (Geoffrey Cowan, Dean) and BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS (Kenneth Tomlinson, Chair) invite you to a forum on U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING: Challenges and Opportunities in the Middle East, Iran and China 1:00 - 4:00 pm Wednesday, October 9, 2002 USC Davidson Conference Center, 3415 S. Figueroa Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089 The forum includes three engaging discussions with members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which has responsibility for all United States International Broadcasting - including the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio and Television Marti, USC Annenberg faculty--including Geoffrey Cowan, Jonathan Aronson, and Michael Parks--along with other distinguished scholars and journalists. Parking is available on campus. To RSVP and reserve parking call 213-740-5658 by Monday, October 7. (via Kim Elliott, DC, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Here's a story appearing in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, by David O'Reilly, profiling Family Radio and its co- founder, Harold W. Camping. No mention about its shortwave radio station WYFR or the relays from overseas sites (UK, UAE, Taiwan, etc.) but near the end of the story there's a mention that Family Radio now broadcasts on AM (MW) to China and will soon broadcast to Indonesia and Vietnam --- in fulfillment, Camping maintains, of the new, electronic "Age of Evangelization". http://www.philly.com/mld/Inquirer/living/religion/4170944.htm (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subsequently to be found instead at: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/entertainment/television/4170944.htm TRADING CHURCHES FOR THE AIRWAVES A famed on-air preacher has stirred a tempest, proclaiming that God is on the radio, not in church. By David O'Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer Like many other Bible-believing Christians, the Rev. Dean Harner for years has tuned in to Harold Camping's Bible studies on the Family Radio Network. But Mr. Harner, who just bought an eight-acre parcel in Burlington Township to start a Baptist church, has parted ways with the famous old preacher over a most unlikely cause. Camping wants Christians to stop going to church. "The church age has come to an end," according to the Oakland, Calif.- based Camping, a fixture on national Christian radio for 43 years who is not ordained. The end times are imminent, and churches are not merely irrelevant but "altogether apostate" because they soft-pedal the gospel, Camping, 81, has been telling his national audience since about June of last year. Instead of using Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other "corporate" denominations to evangelize the world, he says, God has turned instead to... radio. Camping's unorthodox stance has riled many church leaders, and his heavy-handed editing of their programs has prompted several preachers or their broadcast ministries to quit Family Radio in recent months. Unwelcome editing - deleting references to church and to theology that Camping opposes - provoked the Philadelphia-based Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals last month to halt Family Radio's use of the alliance's Bible Study Hour, which features the sermons of the late Rev. Dr. James Boice. The nationally known Dr. Boice was senior pastor of the conservative Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia until his death two years ago. The Bible Study Hour was being broadcast on 283 radio stations, including the 38 stations and 107 affiliates of Family Radio, until last month. Withdrawing from Family Radio "means tens of thousands of people are now not getting [Dr. Boice's] broadcast," said the Rev. Dr. Philip Ryken, Dr. Boice's successor at Tenth. "But we felt it incumbent to take a stand." Camping's belief that the so-called "age of churches" has passed and the great tribulation predicted in Revelation has begun "represents a theological position we believe is in error, and dangerous," according to Dr. Ryken. And on Friday the Rev. Woodrow Kroll of Lincoln, Neb., ended nearly 40 years of broadcasting his Back to the Bible program on Family Radio. "I can no longer be sure what you hear conveys what I spoke or intended," Dr. Kroll explained in an open letter to his listeners. Numerous Web sites have sprung up denouncing Camping for "heresy" and "apostasy," and several pastors have written to complain that his views have compelled some of his listeners to quit their churches. Mike Zeimann, a staff member at WKDN (106.9 FM) in Camden, which is owned and operated by Family Network Inc., said employees are not expected to subscribe to Camping's thesis, and "the vast majority don't support his particular point of view." In addition to WKDN, the network has low-wattage "translators" at Atlantic City (89.3 FM), Cape May (92.3 FM), Emmaus/Allentown (88.7 FM), Harrisburg (101.7 FM), Lancaster (97.7 FM) and York (88.7 FM). Camping, a civil engineer who cofounded Family Network Inc. in 1958, is not surprised at the criticism. "Of course the churches are unhappy," he said in a recent telephone interview. "It's understandable when God makes such a major shift." But, just as the age of churches supplanted the "age of synagogues" at Pentecost, God has "made another step," he said. "He's finished with the churches." "After 13,000 years of history... God allowed mankind to discover electromagnetic waves" so people can preach the gospel to Earth's swelling population, he said. His realization of God's will obliged him to quit his own congregation of the Christian Reformed Church, where he was an elder. "Personally, it makes me very unhappy to tell people the church age is over," he said. "My 80th birthday was my unhappiest ever" because it followed close on his church resignation. "But the problem with studying the Bible is that you come up with truths." But Camping's truth, in this case, isn't Mr. Harner's. "There's no biblical basis for what he's saying," Mr. Harner said. "The Bible is clear; we're not in the tribulation period." Mr. Harner, whose newly formed Faith Baptist Church on Fountain Avenue has just 10 members, studied Bible at fundamentalist Bob Jones University and generally respects Camping's teaching. However, he said, Camping's argument that Christians should be funding Christian broadcast operations instead of congregations and denominations reminds him of a Christian newsletter publisher's recent argument that the biblical mandate to tithe permitted tithing to Christian newsletters. "People tend to look at things the way they're situated," Mr. Harner said with a laugh. "I see that as very common." Dr. Ryken called his alliance's split "unfortunate," but said Camping had lost credibility with many biblical scholars a decade ago when he predicted the world would end in 1994. "This whole situation shows why, in hermeneutics [the interpretation of biblical texts], it's so important to pay attention to the context of a thing and not apply every verse to your [current] situation," Dr. Ryken said. For example, Camping cites the Book of Isaiah's calling on the faithful to leave Babylon as a mandate incumbent on today's Christians to abandon their churches, Dr. Ryken noted. "But in the context, it's talking about leaving Babylon, a godless and pagan culture, and being separate from its sin, not its local church." Camping insisted that he is right, however, and that despite the resignations of "three or four staff" - including the executive director of Family Network - over his view of churches, "We just had our best year ever." Family Radio is now broadcasting on AM to China, he said, and will soon be broadcasting to Indonesia and Vietnam - in fulfillment, he maintains, of the new, electronic "Age of Evangelization." "The Lord has blessed and blessed us beyond measure," he said (Philadelphia Inquirer Sept 29 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. From WJIE`s oft-repeated unnamed station news and mailbag show, 1230 UT Oct 4 on 7490, difficult copy with VOR in Japanese, operatic music co-channel, much better modulated, and we must try to hear it again; in the 0000 hour? (BTW, WOR was NOT on at 0300 UT Fri Oct 4 as had been suggested): First annual ``reception report jamboree`` is coming up, a contest, by e-mail, to evaluate reception. Added 11.5 hours a day of High Adventure programming, for Europe, as HA is no longer via Germany. Sister station is KVOH. In process of installing new SW in Liberia, after setting up FM there 2 months ago. Equipment for SW has left Lagos, on way to Monrovia. Had been in storage in Nigeria. Did not work out. Rough to get license, numerous obstacles. Someone had messed with the containers. Looking to set up SW station in Marshall Islands. Acknowledged reports from Lars; Arnaldo (no doubt Slaen) in Argentina. Hope to be on 13595 by next week or two, simulcasting. Still carrying some programs from WJCR-FM in Upton. In Louisville over past several weeks have installed new automation equipment to control all programming on SW as well as FM stations in Louisville, Evansville; and adding new AM stations to network (Doc Burkhart, WJIE, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shortwave Radio Update for Oct 4, 2002 WJIE International Shortwave THE LATEST NEWS It looks like over the next several weeks we will be firing up our SECOND transmitter from Kentucky, WJIE-2. This transmitter will be aimed at South America and will be operating on 13.595 MHz. For those that monitor frequencies, be listening, and shoot me a QSL! NEW FAMILY MEMBERS We would like to welcome to Louisville, Kentucky our new friends with High Adventure Ministries. They have relocated here from California in order to more easily partner with us in our broadcast efforts. Many know of the work that George Otis did with radio and especially shortwave in the Middle East over the years. Their ministry has paid dearly to broadcast God's Good News, with the spilled blood of ministry workers in the Middle East. Our new relationship with High Adventure helps both our ministries to expand our efforts. Nearly twelve hours a day of programming from High Adventure is now on the air on WJIE-1 on 7.490 Mhz. We are now broadcasting in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and English. These truly are exciting times! FREE BROADCAST TIME We are still offering to ministries and churches of any size the opportunity to broadcast for free on WJIE International Shortwave. How does it work? Well, Dr. Bob Rodgers, pastor of World Prayer Center in Louisville and president of Word Broadcasting, our parent company, instructed us to offer pastors, evangelists and ministers of various backgrounds the chance to reach the world through shortwave radio. Programmers can broadcast weekly to Europe, Africa or the Middle East, at no cost. All we ask is that each month you send us a love offering of any amount. If you are willing to partner with us in this effort, and faithfully present the need of shortwave radio to your church or ministry, then we will gladly work with you and find a place for you. This is a faith ministry, and we are believing God to supply our financial need. So, if you have been considering broadcasting, and cost was a factor...NO MORE EXCUSES! Contact me at WJIESW@HOTMAIL.COM, and we will send you the information you need to get started. SPEAKING OF MONEY.....Thank you for $18,000! I want to thank all of you on our email list, now over 12,000 strong, for your recent support. As you know, we have established an FM station in Monrovia, Liberia, working toward the time we will be putting a shortwave station on the air in that wonderful country. We had our equipment sitting on the docks in Lagos for a month for clearances and more importantly, the money. The fact is, we didn't have it, but we knew God would supply. After presenting the need to God's people, and to this update list, we were able to raise the entire $18,000 to ship the equipment from Nigeria to our new location in Liberia! Bless God and Thank YOU!! I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions, comments or prayer requests, please let me know. We are in ministry, and people, not radio stations, are our first priority. Let us know how we can minister to you, and also work together with you and your ministry to share God's Good News! (WJIE newsletter Oct 4 via DXLD) ** U S A. Escuchada en período de prueba en los 5050 kHz, la estadounidense WWRB. Con música mezclada de finales de los 70 y comienzos de los 80. A las 0145, el 03/10. SINPO variable de 4/3 y 4/4 (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Adán González, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Another incident of Clear Channel trying to get control of programming of more stations than legally allowed. 73- Bill Westenhaver FIRM SKIRTS RADIO CAPS IN SAN DIEGO By JEFF LEEDS, TIMES STAFF WRITER October 4 2002 SAN DIEGO -- Federal regulations prohibit any broadcaster from owning more than eight radio stations in a single market. But here along California's southern border, industry giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. has figured out a way around the rules --- and that has left its smaller competitors fuming.... The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/la-me-clearmex4oct04,0,5547211.story (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. Though this has nothing directly to do with radio, it's a very interesting piece, and concept! 73- Bill Westenhaver -------------------- THE CULTURAL ANARCHIST VS. THE HOLLYWOOD POLICE STATE -------------------- A Stanford Professor Is One Supreme Court Decision Away From Ending Copyrights on Thousands of Movies, Books and Songs. By DAVID STREITFELD September 22 2002 Larry Lessig is a 41-year-old Stanford University law professor who still looks like a graduate student, someone who has spent years in library stacks researching arcane subjects, miles from the real world. He's very pale and very quiet, as if he doesn't want to bother the fellow in the next cubicle. His hair sometimes sticks straight up, but he doesn't notice. Lessig has a student's idealism, too; he wants to change the way the world does business... The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/la-tm-copyright38sep22001450,0,3658280.story (via Bill Westenhaver, Oct 4, DXLD) Hurry before link expire? ** U S A. I'm surprised no one spotted this yet. I saw this link via the WCPE webpage: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28764-2002Oct1.html (Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) --- DEAL IMMINENT ON WEB RADIO ROYALTIES By David McGuire, washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Tuesday, October 1, 2002; 4:54 PM The House of Representatives today canceled a vote on an Internet radio bill after webcasters and recording industry officials said they are nearing a compromise in their long-running battle over music royalties. The House was scheduled to consider legislation that would prevent Internet radio royalty rates established by the Library of Congress from taking effect until July 2003, instead of October of this year. "Congress never intended to put webcasters out of business," said Richard Diamond, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Richard Armey, referring to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which opened the door to the Net radio royalty debate. Diamond said that House leaders delayed action on the bill after House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) hinted that an industry-led compromise was imminent. Sensenbrenner introduced the bill last week to postpone the rate structure established by Librarian of Congress James Billington's ruling last June. "The parties involved have assured me they will reach a comprehensive agreement by Friday that will be fair to webcasters, record companies and recording artists, as well as provide the economic certainty and stability necessary for webcasters large and small to succeed," Sensenbrenner said in a prepared statement. Sensenbrenner also said that the House likely will consider a bill that formalizes whatever arrangement the parties decide on. In June, Billington ruled that Internet radio stations should pay a royalty rate of .07 cents per song, per listener, to the owners of the music they stream over the Web. Although lower by half than the .14- cent per-song rate set earlier by an arbitration panel, webcasters said that the .07 cent figure would run them out of business. Recording industry officials complained the rate was too low. Billington's ruling also would have required webcasters to pay royalties going back several years, which many Internet radio also said would scuttle their businesses. Both sides expressed optimism about the ongoing negotiations, but neither would discuss specifics of a possible compromise. "We're very happy for the opportunity to solve this dilemma before us," Dan Horowitz, federal affairs director for the Digital Media Association (DiMA) said. "We hope to see a speedy resolution to these issues." DiMA represents large and mid-sized Internet broadcasters. "We've been trying to close a deal with the webcasters for months and this is a great opportunity to find common ground," the RIAA said in prepared remarks. "We are encouraged by the prospects of reaching a resolution." TechNews.com Home © 2002 TechNews.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi, I am David Gleason in the Programming Department at KLVE, 107.5, in Los Angeles. We are trying to put together some information to determine the true history of our station and can find very little in print sources. So, we thought that your members might have information, verification letters or memorabilia on KLVE that we might obtain copies of. We vaguely know that KLVE was originally part of PSA, the airline, in the 1973-1977 period and was an Adult Contemporary station in English. Somewhere in 1977, it became a fulltime Spanish FM. Its name or slogan was K-love in both the English and Spanish incarnations. It is very possible that KLVE was the first fulltime Spanish FM in the continental US; we simply lack proof. Anyone who has any memorabilia or verifications can contact me directly. We will reward any providers with current KLVE T-shirts and other goodies, of course. David Gleason, Vice President, Programming & Special Projects Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. KLVE (FM) Los Angeles. (And National Radio Club member and IRCA founding member) Dav-@davidgleason.com [truncated] (via Mike Bugaj, WTFDA via DXLD) Hi, recently Carol and I sold several back editions of the "FM Atlas" and we supplied photocopies of issues no longer in print. We pinpointed, for one of the attorneys in the lawsuit, the history of KLVE's becoming Spanish and its embracing of the "K Love" call letters. I think if you check with your counsel you will get all the information you need. We are now out of print of some of the editions that we supplied. I hope you are not trying to exploit the WTFDA club for information that could be highly valuable in a $1.5 billion lawsuit involving two major Spanish language FM contenders in the United States (Bruce Elving/FM Atlas Publishing, Sept 22, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. DELETION OF TRANSLATOR STATION W280CT This is to report that the FCC has treated me adversely. They deleted my FM translator, W280CT 103.9, Hermantown MN for not operating in the last 12 months. It has actually been 12 years since it operated, yet I dutifully paid the renewal fee and explained that the translator was off after losing its site, and I was looking for a meritorious station to rebroadcast. Too, I told them I wanted a new site providing coverage of the Duluth market, and I provided a copy of a recent (2- 2002) letter from a broadcaster giving permission to relay their signal. They, instead, chose to delete the translator. Is there a recourse, such as a good communications lawyer who might be able to get the license reinstated, or is a translator worth that much effort? It was grandfathered in under the old rules, with 2nd adjacent spacing to one local station and third adjacent to another, so it would have some market value simply because those kinds of translators are not being granted now (Bruce F. Elving, Ph.D., former translator licensee, Sept 27, WTFDA via DXLD) http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/status/silent.html Any broadcast station (including translators) which fails to operate for 12 consecutive months must be deleted, according to the Communications Act of 1996. (NOT FCC regulations but the FCC is responsible for enforcing this act of Congress.) To my understanding it doesn't matter *why* the station hasn't operated, if it hasn't operated it must be deleted. Some stations have received special temporary authorizations to operate at greatly reduced power (sometimes in violation of the city-of-license-coverage rules, though those don't apply to translators) in order to keep their license. For example, a Wilmington, Delaware AM station operated at 25 watts (vs. authorized 1 kw) duplexed into another station's antenna. Unfortunately I don't think there's much ground to appeal this. But I'm no lawyer, don't take my opinion as final! -- (Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) The rules are quite explicit about the 12-month requirement, and they have been enforcing it, and with a reasonable amount of publicity (although mostly on AM) for the past several years. My guess is that they've finally started in on FM. I have seen a few re-instatements come thru the Public Notices, but very few, and certainly none with the length of time off the air that yours has been, nor have I seen any that have been reinstated for the types of circumstances you site. Any reinstatements I've seen have been only a bit beyond a year and they have had operable facilities. Sorry to say this, but frankly, I'd think hiring a lawyer would probably be throwing the money away (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) Perhaps it is a wild idea, but my recommendation for a station to rebroadcast on this translator is WNCW-88.9, Spindale NC (serving Asheville). This is a VERY interesting noncommercial station and has a translator network from Knoxville to Charlotte. The only way I can listen to it is over the Internet. Is it too wild to consider having a dedicated broadband connection from the WNCW Web site to the translator? I know... "why rebroadcast a North Carolina NPR station in Minnesota?". It's an awesome station, that's why. Take a listen at http://www.wncw.org (David Austin, KF4NDW, Northeast of Columbia, SC, ibid.) That it is. Problem is, "foreign" translators must be owned by their primary. A WNCW translator in Minnesota must be owned by WNCW. I have toyed with the idea of picking up CBLA-99.1 off satellite and translating it here (I'm pretty sure 98.9 *would* be possible) but as long as that rule is on the books, no go (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Inactiva desde el 26/09 y hasta el 03/10, la estación YVTO, Observatorio Naval Cajigal, desde Caracas, en los 5000kHz. Posible mantenimiento del transmisor (Saludos desde Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Adán González, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. A unidentified station heard using 6100 at tune in 0650 on Oct.4. Not heard during previous days monitoring of this band around this time. Signal very weak and only occasional words understood. Language was 'American' accented English and possibly religious programming. One phrase was "wake up to my saviour" and another mentioned "---wonderful life---". Male and female voices heard plus some music. At 0703 a possible ID by a male "---broadcasting----" then a talk by same voice. By this time the signal was rapidly disappearing into the noise. Propagation seems predominantly from the south again today. The most likely *listed* station seems to be from Liberia but I have no details of their programme content on this frequency or if it is on air. 73's (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, NW England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 17837.2 or so: Around 1715 UT Oct 4, when high-latitude propagation was degraded and there were few strong signals on 16m, I could detect a carrier here, occasional talk in uncertain language, marred after 1727 by DW IS, maybe from 17835 or an image the YB-400 is prone to. One super-strong signal as usual on the band was VOG Delano on 17705, so I made sure this was not parallel. My suspicion is that this really is a harmonic, like 3 x 5946v, from Latin America, tho I was not convinced what little audio I had made out was Spanish. From Mark Mohrmann`s current LA listing: 5944 UNIDENTIFIED Andean station? [2356*] Feb 02 L LA Quechua The L meaning that it was reported in DXLD! Two others close by, in his LA archives, but probably not close enough at 3x, since we need something slightly below 5946 to work out: 5948.28 BRAZIL UNIDENTIFIED [2105-2245] 5948.82 GUYANA GBC, Georgetown [0755-1000](48.82-50.53) Feb 01 C At the same time, 17833.3v unstable carrier was detectable, no doubt R. Imperial, El Salvador (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ Now at Universal Radio: A $100 rebate is being offered on purchases of the Ten-Tec RX-340 and RX-350 receivers, until December 15 (Joe Hanlon, PA, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO CHIP TURNS ANALOGUE INTO DIGITAL (This could be a major development for dxing - Mike). From http://www.netbuyer.co.uk/ Friday 4th October 2002 --- Rupert Goodwins While digital radio remains a minority pastime Motorola hopes to make money from digitizing already-established analogue stations Analogue radio is far from dead, says Motorola. The company is backing up its claim with a new chipset that receives analogue AM and FM signals and enhances them digitally. The chipset, called Symphony, has a 1500 million instructions per second (MIPS) digital signal processing (DSP) core that can reject interference, receive weaker signals than before and produce better stereo, giving an end result that according to the company is as big a leap in sound quality as that from cassette to CD. The chipset can also process two radio or audio sources at once, a feature aimed primarily at car radio manufacturers who want to provide split back seat/front seat programming. As well as enhanced radio processing, the chipset provides copious audio processing, including Dolby Digital and other 5:1 or 6 channel surround sound, equalisation, spectrum analysis, bass enhancement -- indeed the whole range of modern tweaks that have long since replaced the tone knob. Symphony can also have new or upgraded processing algorithms uploaded into memory, which Motorola says leaves room for companies to provide their own differentiating features or to cope with new broadcast standards such as the new shortwave digital audio system, DRM. Symphony will be available in production quantities at around $30 (£20) per set in 2003. Motorola joins a number of other manufacturers who have introduced DSP to analogue radio, including Texas Instruments, Philips, and STMicroelectronics, but this is the highest profile launch aimed primarily at supporting the existing analogue market. Fully digital radio has taken longer to become established than predicted, with the European Eureka-147 DAB market only recently seeing sub-£100 receivers on the market. In the US, digital terrestrial broadcasting has yet to begin, scheduled for the end of 2002 in a handful of cities on the Eureka-incompatible IBOC standard (via Mike Terry, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Solar conditions have remained reasonably quiet, with DX conditions in the main being similar to recent weeks with elevated MUFs. An unexpected reversal of the earth's magnetic field occurred on October 2 leading to active/minor storm levels with subsequent poor high latitude conditions at this time. Conditions should remain fairly good with possible poor conditions on October 8. Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, Australia, Oct 4, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) TRANSEQUATORIAL PROPAGATION I know this concerns TEP reception and we're never going to get TEP here but it still is interesting to read. You might want to plan a Mediterranean vacation really soon. This is from the FMDXweblist... (Bugaj) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Everyone, Thanks very much for all the interest shown in my TEP reception. Perhaps you guys up North are feeling bored now your SPE season has finished and have turned your thoughts to TEP possibilities? :-) There does seem to me some confusion and some misunderstanding, so I'll try and explain the situation in more detail. I suspect several people on this list are not on the TVDX WEBlist? TEP is a well documented mode of propagation for Band I (40-70 MHz). It does exist on higher frequencies, but is less often received. From here in Orapa, Botswana (21 deg. 16 min S), on Band I TV I receive the following countries via evening TEP (not necessarily all of them every evening!): Kenya, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Hungary, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Equatorial Guinea. These have all been positively identified from on-screen IDs etc. There may be others too! (I also receive Italian 'studio to transmitter links' in Band I, often these are strong enough to give RDS) Therefore, if you look at a map, from my location in Central Botswana I receive band I TEP from quite a wide angle either side of a perpendicular drawn from my location passing through the "Geomagnetic Equator". However on the CCIR FM Band (87.5-108 MHz) TEP is only received from a narrow angle either side of a perpendicular drawn from my location passing through the "Geomagnetic Equator". (Also the range does not extend as far North as Band I TEP) I receive the following countries via evening FM TEP : Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Italy and an unid Arabic-speaking country, probably Egypt. My results fit the theory very well. The evening TEP MUF has reached 107.1 MHz on several occasions, and is in the CCIR Band most evening at around 100-102 MHz. My recent OIRT FM reception from Bulgaria was of course within Band I at around 66 MHz. Strangely, for TEP here signals at the lower frequency end of Band I are strong, those at the top end are weaker, then there is nothing until the FM band, and the MUF does not rise like for SPE - often the first signal received will be around 93 -95 MHz, rather than at the bottom of the FM band! (I do get signals at the bottom of the FM band, but these are usually weaker than those from 90-100 MHz) So it should be possible in theory to receive FM evening TEP from Southern Africa in Turkey, Greece and Southern Italy, especially Sicily. The problem is as some of our friends have pointed out, is the crowded state of the FM Band in most of these locations! Another problem is that FM TEP usually sounds a bit like distorted weak tropo - as though it was weak tropo coming in through the back of the aerial. Most FM DXers who go on holiday to Turkey or the Islands in the Mediterranean are looking for tropo as it is excellent in such locations, and would dismiss TEP as weak tropo and try and find stronger tropo! TEP can only be received for a couple of months either side of each Equinox, during the Solar maximum period. (Roughly February until May and August until November). It is not quite true to say that Southern Africa does not have many FM transmitters, there are more than you think! Countries that would be possible FM TEP targets for DXers planning a trip to the Mediterranean are Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and possibly South Africa's Limpopo Province. There are many FM transmitters in these countries, obviously not as many as in European Countries. The powers do tend to be low, typically 1-10 kW, but I receive transmitters of similar power from Turkey and Greece via TEP. (Zimbabwe for example, has more than 20 FM transmitter sites, each one broadcasting four National networks, Namibia has even more FM transmitter sites and stations, some of which have RDS. Even Botswana has more than a dozen FM transmitter sites, each one Broadcasting 2 Networks) Spain would not be a suitable location for FM TEP, as the TEP target area from there would be the South Atlantic Ocean, which doesn't have many FM transmitters! The best location for a FM TEP DX-pedition would be somewhere without many local FM signals in Southern Turkey, the Greek Islands (some of which are off the coast of Turkey), Tunisia, Libya or Egypt. (A location shielded from tropo would be good too!) I have received TEP on a 2 element FM aerial, but I usually use a 4 element aerial (Vertical) - it does not need to be very high. I receive FM TEP from about 1930 local time (1730 UT), for about 30 minutes or sometimes more. (Some evenings I've received FM TEP for 2 hours) So if you guys want to try your hand at FM TEP, book a trip to the Mediterranean sometime between now and late October this year, as there is no guarantee there shall still be TEP conditions next year! (Don't forget to pack a sensitive receiver and a 5 element yagi in your bag!) Regards, Peter Wilson, Orapa, Botswana (via Mike Bugaj, Sept 19, WTFDA via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-153, October 3, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1150: FIRST AIRINGS ON WWCR: Thu 2030 on 15825, Sat 0600, Sun 0230 on 5070 FIRST AIRINGS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600 on 7445, 15039 AIRINGS ON WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800; North America Sun 1400 NEXT AIRING ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1150.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1150.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1150.html [from Thu] WORLD OF RADIO IN AUSTRALIA. Hi Glenn, thought I'd let you know about World of radio 1149. I heard it over RFPI COSTA RICA on 7445 kHz at 0700 UT (1700 LOCAL) [Wednesday] using AM, nice clear frequency, signal a little fluttery but listenable. Also, WJIE Louisville KY has steadily improved its signal into Australia, and usually audible from 0900 UT (1900 LOCAL) on 7490, not quite as strong as KTBN 7505 which booms in here, but nevertheless now fully audible. Your show heard at 1200 UT, Suffering USB interference from Russia, which is a shame! If I tune to say around 7487 and use the filter I can separate it a bit. I have detected signal from WJIE very strong at times and marginally fair at other times, and the other night, very strong with no audio? Could they be testing a new transmitter at all? All the best Glenn (Tim Gaynor, Dxers Calling, Oxenford Q, Australia, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Bill, We run WOR every weekday morning at 8 AM eastern and each evening at 11 PM Eastern. We also air it at various times in our schedule as filler, so it may be heard at times other than these. Thanks for your assistance! Doc Burkhart" (via Wm. "Bill" Brady, Harwood MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 0300 UT is news to me. Could not confirm it Oct 3 due to extremely poor reception; Norway should also be on 7490 then; WOR 1149 very good (except for DVR in Japanese) at 1200. I tried LSB on the ATS-909, but VOR could still be heard, tho much weaker than USB (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS Many thanks to Bill Brady for taking over the job of updating the WOR site DX program listing. New Oct edition is now posted at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN. ------------- CRW 117 Extra October 1, 2002 INFORMATION RADIO PROGRAMMING CHANGES By Takuya Hirayama, CRW Japan Bureau on assignment in Kabul [Oct 1] Information Radio continues to be monitored in Kabul on 8700 kHz AM and 864 kHz. 6100 kHz, which European monitors continue to report despite a lack of a definitive identification or noted parallel frequency, has not been heard. The station's programming, CRW can confirm, has undergone tremendous changes since re-launching from Bagram Air Force Base. Morning broadcasts (*? - 0630 GMT) include popular Afghan music with announcements in Dari and Pashto approximately every twenty minutes. The generic announcement is "Now you will listen to (name of singer) singing (title of song)." Station ID is currently (Dari) "In radyio-i mau'lumati" and (Pashto) "Da radyio mau'lumati." Occasional public service announcements on behalf of the U.S. military and Afghan transitional government are also broadcast in the morning, however, not as often as previously done. One such announcement on behalf of the transitional government explains the importance of polio vaccination for children, and advises residents to go to public health centers for more information. Between 0630 and approximately 1930 GMT Information Radio broadcasts only music and does not seem to identify. In fact, no announcements have been noted. The station's programming does not appear to be prerecorded. In fact, technical glitches are often heard. For example, the transmission sometimes breaks for periods of ten minutes or more and then returns without any announcements. Music also skips from time to time, indicating that the station uses both cassettes and CDs. During a September 13 broadcast, for example, a CD skipped for over a minute before the song was switched. The station also broadcast two songs simultaneously on September 17. On occasion, music is switched in the middle of a song. Technical issues of this nature are, in fact, common here so it is unlikely that it "turns off" its listeners. Reception of 864 kHz here in Kabul is fair during the day and becomes unstable after sunset. The transmission is not heard after 2300 Kabul time (1930 GMT). 8700 kHz is received a bit better than 864 kHz, however, but its sign-off time seems at this time to be earlier than the medium wave frequency. Gauging the effectiveness of Information Radio among Afghans is difficult but it is clear among people we have spoken to that the station is no longer paid much attention to in Kabul. It is possible and perhaps probable that its impact is greater in Kandahar and the Afghan countryside (Clandestine Radio Watch Extra Oct 2 via WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DXLD) ** AFRICA. 1 OCT GOOD AFRICA PROPAGATION On 1 Oct around 1700 while scanning the 60 mb I noted that all Asian signals were extremely weak. Later the Africans on 60 and 49 mb started booming in. Between 1730 and 2215 I heard most of the "regular" and some "not so regular" stations on these bands. The regulars (did not wait for IDs of all these, but based on freq/language/program style etc., they were these) logged were: 4770 R Nigeria Kaduna 4783 Rdif Mali Bamako 4820 R Botswana, Sebele 4835 Rdif Mali Bamako 4845 R Mauritanie, Nouakchott 4915 R Ghana and KBC Kenya 4950 RN Angola 4965 CV Lusaka, Zambia 4976 R Uganda 5010 RTM Madagascar 5025 ORTB Parakou, Benin 5026 R Uganda 5030 R Burkina 5050 R Tanzania 5985 R Congo, Brazzaville 5990 R Ethiopia 5995 Rdif Mali, Bamako 6055 R Rwanda 6210 R Fana, Ethiopia 6265 ZNBC Lusaka, Zambia 6350 V of the Tigray Revolution, Ethiopia 6940 R Fana, Ethiopia Unfortunately no R Okapi heard on any of its frequencies. Also 90 mb Africans were weak. And some interesting stations, I paid more attention to: [see CHAD, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, LIBERIA, NIGERIA, SUDAN, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE] (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. I am fairly certain I logged Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Antarctica, 15475 from 2030 to 2125z (sign off) today October 2, 2002. Poor to fair signals peaking S5 with no QRM. Several quick mentions of "Radio Nacional" in Spanish although the audio was rather hard to understand. This was followed by a still weaker station opening up at 2130z in Dutch. I posted a short composite .wav file at http://members.aol.com/j999w/DX (340k) for anyone interested. 73! (John WB9UAI Milwaukee, WI USA R71a, 55 ft vertical, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Yes, I hear a full `R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel`` ID (gh, DXLD) ** BENIN. Re previous report about `synchronization` of Cotonou and R. Parakou at 2000-2100 LT daily: presumably means the same news programme will be heard in parallel on 7210 and 5025 respectively at 1900-2000 UT (Tony Rogers, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** CANADA. CHALMERS NAMED HEAD OF CBC RADIO Jane Chalmers, a veteran CBC journalist, regional director and manager, replaces the retiring Alex Frame as the new vice-president for CBC Radio, network president Robert Rabinovitch announced today. The appointment will be effective Nov. 1 upon Frame's departure after 40 years with the public broadcaster. Chalmers said there are plans to "bring about improved programming while further building upon and strengthening our relationship with our listening audience." In a statement Rabinovitch said Chalmers has been "tireless in her pursuit of greater regional reflection and service on all our English networks." Just last year Chalmers had been named director of current affairs and weekly programs for CBC-TV. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1026145675230&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News (via Ivan Grishin and Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) A follow-up on the retirement of Alex Frame, as I mentioned on "IRR" last Sunday (Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CHAD. 6165, RNT, N`Djamena, 1 Oct at 2000 in French. First almost buried by Croatia, but later was strongest station at times on this frequency. Announced "Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne". Audio a bit distorted (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Recent reactivation reported may refer to this, not 4904.5! ** CYPRUS. I am shocked that Hauser, who is pretty knowledgeable, is so ignorant about antennas. Moving the frequency of an AM array 9 kHz is just a retuning job - changing the adjustment of inductors and capacitors a small amount. Tower height has next to nothing to do with it, within reason. Well designed AM antenna systems operate with towers that range from around 1/6 or 1/7 wavelength all the way up to about 0.55 wavelength, and height can be selected for coverage reasons, impedance reasons, or just the height limits of the local political jurisdiction. He should buy a good elementary textbook, like the recently reprinted "Radio-Electronic Transmission Fundamentals" by Whitfield Griffith, published by Noble (originally by McGraw-Hill). (ISBN 1-884932-13-4) Ben Dawson in an email (3/10-2002) (Ydun Ritz` Medium Wave News Oct 3 via DXLD) Guess my tongue not clearly visible in cheek; however, I have never claimed to be especially knowledgeable about transmitting antennas. So thinking 5/8 wavelength be preferred is also incorrect? (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. The director of the engineering center for HCJB in Elkhart, Indiana, David Prosheznik, was back on the show. He told listeners that the center has around 45 people working there, including employees, volunteer ham operators, missionaries and other support staff. The center builds transmitters for HCJB and other religious broadcasters, but also does a lot of research and development. They have a department for HF/shortwave that makes 100-kW transmitters. Although those use a similar basic design, they're also looking at DRM, or Digital Radio Mondiale, for the future. They're building one of the first exciters for a digital transmitter for DRM Europe, and the Harris company is planning to use it. They're trying it on AM first, and then modifying it for shortwave use, which makes the design more complex. The HC-100 transmitter design, such as is being sent to the new HCJB transmitter site in Australia, will have to be modified a lot for digital shortwave use. Also at the engineering center, they have designed suitcase-sized FM transmitters for use in isolated areas of the world. They also have an automation system that many of HCJB's partner stations use; this design is going to be modified because it is getting outdated, and it will be replaced with something called "Aerial," which is a server-based unit that should be ready for HCJB and its partners within a year. They're also nearly complete on a new low-power shortwave transmitter design. This will be 1-kW and solid state, and is small enough to transport easily. There is one operating in Liberia at ELWA, another in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Bukavu, and one in Peru that should be on the air soon if it isn't already. HCJB's partner ministries operate in nearly 100 countries, and one has put in an FM station in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. There may be a new shortwave transmitter going there, too. The Papua New Guinea government wants FM translators all over the country, and the shortwave transmitter will be used to feed the translators. There are 25 partners in Africa alone. HCJB trains the partners in how to run equipment, create programs and everything else they need to run things on their own; however, the stations are independent and not owned or run by HCJB. The Elkhart center also builds antennas for AM, shortwave and FM, and can use engineers who can design them, people who can design and test circuit boards or transmitters, and others with similar technical skills. Those who might be interested in volunteering or paid positions may find out more on the Web at: http://hcjb.org. Check the Information section on the website, and one can also send an e-mail from the website. The postal address: HCJB Engineering Center ** 2830 South 17th Street ** Elkhart IN 46517 ** U.S.A. The phone number: +1 574 970 4252 HCJB is offering a QSL from the past with a photo of the cubical quad antenna invented many years ago by HCJB engineers. It is available for the asking to anyone who sends an accurate reception report. Reports may be sent to: DX Partyline ** HCJB ** Casilla 17-17-691 ** Quito **Ecuador. E-mailed reports may go to: dxpl@hcjb.org.ec (HCJB DX Partyline Sept 28, notes by Marie Lamb for Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR/PERU. Don Glenn, estas líneas sólo para una aclaración: el noticiero Gamavisión es retransmitido por La Voz del Napo, no por la Radio LV del Destino como erróneamente se registra en el DXLD 2-152 (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. Re what time was I checking for R. Imperial? Around 2000-2100 UT (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6249.4, R. Nacional, Malabo, 1 Oct at 2050 in Spanish. Announced "R Nacional" (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 01/Oct/02. YLE Radio Finland. Programmes in English, French and German are no longer being produced by YLE. The programs died a month earlier than had been announced. I find this rather sad; for years Radio Finland in English produced a program only insomniacs would have enjoyed, but in the last several month that all changed. The feature programs really did a good job of telling about Finland. Not Sweden, not Denmark. Elizabeth Moulton was really top notch. I wonder which station will pick her up? (Larry Nebron, CA, WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Then checked 15400 at 1248 Oct 3 and found English still running as usual, Elizabeth Moulton hosting Finland This Morning. What made you think it had stopped already? She closed with usual advisory that English would be going off at end of October. I suppose we will still be able to get local English productions via webcast? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It was delisted from WRN (Larry Nebron, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Indeed: News Items 2002 01/Oct/02. YLE Radio Finland. Programmes in English, French and German are no longer being produced by YLE (WRN Website via DXLD) Interesting that YLE will continue to produce English language programming for domestic radio and TV, so says the YLE website at http://www.yle.fi/rfinland/en_etusivu.shtml It looks like this "YLE24" news airs for a few minutes at the bottom of the hour. They were supposed to have used some of their last days to suggest other sources (primarily web-based) for Finnish news and information. Regrettably they didn't post any of these sources at their website. First Norway, then Finland... everything I have seen indicates Radio Sweden doesn't plan to bail out on shortwave anytime soon (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, swprograms via DXLD) And before that, Denmark ** FRANCE. I sent an e-mail (in English) to Télédiffusion de France (TDF) asking if 25775 mysterious English/French programs are transmitted via their facilities. As I said earlier, one telephone number mentioned in the English program was a pre-1996 TDF number. I also said in my message to TDF that 25775 was heard in USA, too. Below is a reply from Mr. Penneroux of TDF. He says the analog transmissions on 26 MHz are from Rennes. Maybe someone translates this word by word in English. Thanks to Ari Kilponen for preliminary translation. If someone who speaks French, wants to ask Mr Penneroux more details about these transmissions, I can give his e-mail address. ``oui, ce sont les essais en 26 MHz effectués en analogique depuis Rennes. Il y a également des réceptions aux USA. çà promet, il faudra faire attention quand on passera DRM. MP. 10/02 11:36 TDF- International`` 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 2, WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. K`ekchí, 4845, Sept 28 0145-0258*, presumed with local religious music, marimba, lite instrumental music. K`ekchí talk. No ID heard. Sign-off with NA. Weak. Must use ECSS-LSB due to Brazil`s R. Cultura on 4845.24. R. Verdad, 4052.47, Sept 28 0045-0505*, variety of religious organ music, lite organ music, choral music, marimba music, lite instrumental music. IDs, Spanish announcements, very little talk. English ID announcements with address, asking for reports at 0221 and 0303, 0321. Sign-off with national anthem. Weak but in the clear. Fading up to fair to good levels at times (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So not yet with full English preacher at 0415? ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. RADIO CAROLINE NOT INVOLVED IN MYSTERY SHORTWAVE RELAY A mystery shortwave transmitter that was heard for several days carrying the programmes of Radio Caroline, apparently relayed from its Astra satellite service, has nothing to do with the UK-based commercial station. That's according to Caroline boss Peter Moore, who is as mystified as anyone else about the source of the signal on 7140 kHz which was heard in north west Europe on several occasions during the daytime over the past week. Although quite weak and obviousy low powered, the signal was monitored in Hilversum over several hours when the frequency was absolutely stable on 7140.0 kHz with good modulation. So far, nobody has claimed responsibility for the broadcasts (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 2 October 2002 via WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. There's a bit of activity on 10780 kHz with radio checks for the impending shuttle launch. Most of it is a bit low in level here but someone else may have better luck (Nick Gibbs, location unknown, 1300 UT Oct 2, ARDXC via WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DXLD) Hurricane pushed launch back to no earlier than Monday Oct 7 (NASA website Oct 2 via WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Hurricane Lili: see U S A ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. Radio Caroline was noted with fair to good signal on September 30th on 7140 kHz from tune in at 0830 till the signals were wiped out by Voice of Turkey in Bulgarian at 1330 UTC. Signal strength was a bit stronger than Laser Hot Hits from Ireland on 6219 and 7465, so if the origin of the transmitter is somewhere in Northern Europe it isn't likely to be more than a few hundred Watts. On October 1st (checking at 0500-1400) and October 2nd (checking at 0500-1200) absolutely nothing of Radio Caroline was heard on 7140 kHz (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Caroline: I heard this one here in Sweden last Sunday around 0900 UTC. The signal here was very strong, almost as a local station, and the frequency exact 7140 (Claes Olsson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Just an idea - since the signal was strongest in NW Europe, what about a new frequency tested in Riga (ex-5935)? They are familiar with the Caroline satellite feed from earlier relays and their SW antennas have a beam of 250 resp. 300 degrees. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Vilnius, Lithuania, Cumbre DX via DXLD) {NO: see DXLD 2-254} 1593 kHz: At 2130 UT 2nd Oct Radio Caroline from Ireland is silent AND Egypt is on extended schedule. Egypt normally observed signing off around 2100 is still dominating frequency. 73s (Steve Whitt, UK, MWC via Stig Hartvig Nielsen, DXLD) Apparently also the low power relay on 1593 kHz of Radio Caroline is off air. One may speculate that the [7140] signals are - or were - originating from the same site in Cork, Ireland ?? (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran again heard in Bulgaria: 0830-1157 in Farsi on 15084v (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Re inquiry on Middle East Channel: Some info is found: http://israelradio.org/tv.htm The IBA's website also mentions (besides the satellite info mentioned on the israelradio.org site), in Hebrew, that it is available on cable in Israel on "Arutzei Zahav" (Golden Channels) on channel 100 and "Matav Digital" on channel 100 on Tevel on channel 810 and on Yes (DBS in Israel) on channel 169 (Doni Rosenzweig, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non?]. B02 operational schedule from IRRS-Shortwave to Europe Dear all, Please find below IRRS-Shortwave operational schedule for the B02 effective on Oct. 27, 2002. Reception reports may be sent to: reports@nexus.org, or by mail to: IRRS-Shortwave, PO Box 10980, I- 20110 Milan, Italy. Since the advent of automatic monitoring stations reception reports are still welcome, but we rather encourage listeners to send **comments** related to content in the current programming. Letters may be sent to addresses you hear on the air, or to the above email address for a prompter reply. Listeners letters and comments (rather than mere DX reports!) are extremely important to help us improving the quality of our broadcasts, and show NEXUS-IBA members that there is an interest in our Shortwave transmissions, helping every Shortwave station to remain on the air! Please also check our 24 hrs MP3 live streams in parallel with our Shortwave broadcasts at http://mp3.nexus.org Thank You for your co-operation and very best 73 from Milano, Ron Live audio at http://mp3.nexus.org Schedules also available at http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules B02 (winter 2002) operational schedule for IRRS-Shortwave, operated by NEXUS-International Broadcasting Association, based in Milan, Italy, effective 27 October, 2002 - 30 March, 2003: 13840 0630-0730 UT Mon-Fri ITU Zones: 18-19,27-29,37-39 10 kW A3A/A3 13840 0900-1400 UT Sat&Sun ITU zones: 18-19,27-30,37-39 10 kW A3A/A3 -- Ron Norton, NEXUS-IBA support, PO Box 11028, 20110 Milano, Italy e-mail : ron@nexus.org (via Cumbre DX via DXLD) Ron, Could you please confirm whether or not your 13840 transmissions are emanating from your facility in Milano or from somewhere else? Thanks, (Glenn Hauser to Ron, NEXUS) Hi Glen[n], It's some time since I heard from you. Hope you're doing well. Ron passed this to me for proper answer. IRRS-Shortwave is owned and operated by NEXUS-International Broadcasting Association, based in Milano, Italy. 90% of our programs are coming from members of NEXUS-IBA, who are located in countries (mostly) outside Italy. NEXUS-IBA started IRRS-Shortwave operations in November 1988, and our transmitter(s) are located in the outskirts of Milano, in the north of Italy. The current situation in our part of the world clearly shows both a steady decrease in interest in Shortwave broadcasting from our members, as well as listeners, compared to the 1988-1995 period (also confirmed by the closure of most SW services beamed to Europe and N America), and very high operational costs in Italy, mainly due to extremely high licence fees, and very restrictive "environmental" laws, that specify very low limits of electro-magnetic field (emf) around transmitters. You may have heard the situation regarding Vatican Radio and the cancellation of the AWR project for a new station in the NE of Italy (Argenta), that are strictly related to the latter. All the above has contributed to the acceleration of our projects to improve existing agreements with other stations; to improve the audio delivery chain with the use of our proprietary technology named "WorldDirecrtor" http://www.worlddirector.net and http://mp3.nexus.org in order to be able to distribute our members' programs to other transmitter sites located outside the country technically and cost- effectively. NEXUS-IBA is by no means funded by Government or by advertising, so we may continue to exists only until we are able to provide competitive relay services to our member broadcasters and program producers. Our charter clearly states that all our efforts must be put in this direction, and we have no resources to be on the air with programs directly produced by ourselves. NEXUS-IBA has more than 40 years experience in the field, and has provided consulting services to other foreign broadcasting organizations and member stations. Co-operation agreements have been signed with a number of foreign broadcasting organizations during the past years. Although we may not currently disclose any additional information at this regard, we are working to transfer and expand our transmitting facilities outside of Italy, and tests have already began from multiple locations without making a lot of "noise". In the next few months our offer will include transmitting powers up to 500 kW, and we will be able to cover much better such areas where shortwave reception is still quite popular, such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. Our commitment to cover Europe will remain as far as there will be listeners and our members confirm their interest in reaching them. You may have heard of our pioneer use of A3A modulation, with which we provide a signal comparable to a 25 kW conventional AM transmitter, even if our power is only 10 kW. Over the years this has contributed to keep operating costs down, and at the same time provide optimum coverage of our target area. With higher powers up to 500 kW, with a like-wise use of modulation, upgrading transmitters to A3A (reduced Carrier USB) and CCM (Carrier Controlled Modulation), as well as a full digital audio chain, we will be able to provide a signal that is one of the most effective and most competitive on the market. And would DRM convince millions of listeners in the world to upgrade their receivers ... we may also upgrade our transmitters ;-) Since then, stay tuned. We will be keeping you updated with some more information as they become available for public disclosure. Take care, Best 73s. Alfredo -- Alfredo E. Cotroneo, CEO, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association PO Box 11028, 20110, Milano, Italy email: alfredo@nexus.org ph: +39-335-214 614 (try first)/+39-02-266 6971 fax: +39-02-706 38151 (via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So Alfredo is saying they may be using an outside relay, now or in future, but nothing specific about 13840 now (gh, DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. COTE D'IVOIRE: RFI, BBC WORLD SERVICE STILL UNHEARD ON FM -- As of 1030 gmt on 2 October, the FM broadcasts of Radio France Internationale in French on 97.6 MHz, BBC World Service on 94.3 MHz, and Libreville Africa No 1 on 91.1 MHz remained unheard. These stations became unheard at 1530 gmt on 22 September. RFI is available via WorldSpace, and London BBC via shortwave on 15400 kHz with good reception. Libreville Africa No 1 is heard via shortwave with fair reception on the following frequencies: 17630 kHz, 15475 kHz, and 9580 kHz. Source: BBC Monitoring research 2 Oct 02 (via WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DXLD) ** JAMAICA [and non]. ANNOUNCER STOOD BY HIS ACCENT Dwight Whylie, who has died at the age of 66, was one of the first black radio announcers at the CBC, starting out reading radio newscasts in 1977. He earlier had worked at the BBC in London, England, where he was also the first black staff announcer. In his native Jamaica, he had been a morning man on local radio, and he ended his career as chairman of Jamaica's Broadcasting Commission... http://www.nationalpost.com/national/story.html?id=A86E947F-C200-4A99-8B37-8A1A2D934D83 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** JAMAICA. BBC 104 FM LAUNCHES IN JAMAICA ON MONDAY The BBC's new 24-hour radio service in Jamaica will launch on Monday 7 October. In April 2002 the Jamaican Government amended the Broadcasting and Radio Rediffusion Act to allow the granting of a non exclusive special broadcasting licence to the BBC. The new station will carry BBC World Service programming, including the Caribbean Report, on FM 104 MHz. There are no plans to carry locally produced programmes. The BBC is paying a one-off amount of US$3,500 and an annual fee of US$2,500 for the six-year licence. In 1997 the government sold the assets of its own public broadcasting service to the commercial broadcaster Radio Jamaica. Currently, Radio Jamaica and five other commercial stations in the country carry portions of the BBC's output (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 2 October 2002 via DXLD) Is it really 104.0, or an odd frequency rounded off as in North American practise? FM DXers want to know (gh, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5100, R. Liberia, 1 Oct at 2130 with Liberian news in English, announcing "Liberian Communication Network" (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. The High Adventure SW transmitter is on a boat from Lagos to Monrovia and should be there within a few weeks (Doc Burkhart, WJIE, 1230 UT Oct 3 via gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Per discussion last spring, when DST started late, was supposed to go off DST Sept 29, to UT minus 6 in most of the country; but checking 9705 XERMX Oct 2 at 1400 there was Antena Radio summary in English, which was the summer time scheduling with 5 hour difference on their summer pdf grid; so not changed yet? No sign of 11770 at this time; before 1400 they were playing children`s music in Spanish. Indeed, the time change has *not* been made: checking the R. Centro webcast at 1719 UT Oct 2, timecheck was for 12:16. So have they decided to wait until Oct 27 like the USA? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes: see http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=155 (Glenn Hauser, Oct 3, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Re unID in DXLD 2-152: 2 Oct at 1515 on 5040.6 I heard a station with some kind of lesson in SE Asian language. The female teacher used some phrases in English. Signal was not strong, so I didn't understand what was the subject. This sounded exactly similar what I used to hear on Myanmar frequency 4725 some months ago. A change of frequency or some other station with similar programming? On 4725 nothing was heard at the same time. Audio on 5040.6 went off at 1537 and carrier off at 1541 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 6050, R. Nigeria, Ibadan, 1 Oct at 2140 with religious program "Voice of Lord" in English. Announced "R. Nigeria Ibadan, Station with Salvation". Before sign-off at about 2146 said they'll be back next morning at 5.25 and mentioned only 49 mb frequency. 6089.9, R. Nigeria, Kaduna, 1 Oct at 1959 in local lang (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 4769.94, Radio Nigeria; Kaduna, Oct. 1, 2246-2259*, Unusually strong signal for them, sometimes up to S9+20. Been ages since I last heard them this strong. Instrumental music (sounded like Kenny G.), English announcement and ID by male at 2253 UT. Different announcer then, with several IDs and a news summary (and a sneeze, followed by "excuse me" :-)). Then S/off announcement with mention of frequencies, followed by National Anthem. Carrier off shortly afterwards. Not the best audio in the world, but all in all very listenable (except for the Anthem, which was very distorted). (Mark Veldhuis, Netherlands, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. The other day on the way to the grocery store, we noticed that KLGB-LP 94.3, which has been on the air for months, unbeknownst to christiancommunitybroadcasting.com, had a new tower up, but still topped by their minuscule one-element vertical antenna. It finally made the local newspaper. All faiths??? Yeah, sure, as long as they are Christian, or even Protestant. Seven more frequencies for Enid? I don`t think so (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NEWEST RADIO STATION OPEN TO ALL FAITHS by Scott Fitzgerald, staff writer [See http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5564732&BRD=175&PAG=461&dept_id=414652&rfi=6 for the photo captioned below, which did not make it into print, unduly impressive shot up into the clouds] An 85-foot radio tower is steadied by an OG&E Electric Services hoist Tuesday afternoon at Covenant Life Worship Center, 1551 N. Van Buren. (Staff Photo by BRODY SCHMIDT) Like the efforts from many who helped get an 85-foot broadcast tower erected Tuesday, Covenant Life Worship Center wants to open its new radio station to all faiths. Pastor Thom Cunningham said he would like to see local church singers, pastors and preachers use Enid's newest access to commercial radio - KLGB-LP at 94.3 FM. The station's format is Christian and is broadcast 24 hours daily. "We're not interested in beating anyone up or getting up on the soapbox and thumping Bibles. We just want to bless people. We look forward to blessing the community," Cunningham said. The project has been in the works for approximately 18 months, shortly after Federal Communications Commission officials announced seven more frequencies had been added to Enid's radio band. "We were granted the first construction permit," said Cunningham, who received general radio operator certification about seven years ago after attending technical school in Tulsa. Funded through the congregation and individual donations, KLGB is operating under the government format for low-power stations that stipulates programming must be educational in format. The nonprofit station must be locally owned and operated. All labor and equipment to get the station operating has been given free-of-charge. OG&E Electric Services donated manpower Tuesday to hoist the steel tower constructed in Canada, Cunningham said. The broadcast span for the 100-watt station is 20 miles, although Cunningham received a telephone call from someone in Hennessey on Tuesday who reported faint reception. About 900 songs are currently programmed on software for continuous play, with public announcements broadcast every 15 minutes. Cunningham said he has sent letters to church pastors throughout Enid to state what KLGB's mission is and to invite their participation. Covenant Life Worship Center, a nondenominational church with a congregation that averages about 30 worshippers every Sunday, has been located at 1551 N. Van Buren since 1996 (©Enid News & Eagle 2002 October 2 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. R. América: When I checked for them this morning (Oct 1) around 1000 UT, all I could detect was a carrier. The carrier was very weak, so I had them around 7301.12-7301.15 kHz. Never had any audio though. By 1030 the carrier was gone. Still, this was the closest I ever came to hearing them (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DXLD) See http://www.dxing.info/profiles/paraguay_america.dx for the following article with illustrations: Radio América, Asunción, by Adán Mur Radiodifusión América is a cultural, educational broadcast group, based in Asunción, Paraguay. Programs produced in our Ñemby studios go out locally on medium wave, wordwide on the Internet, by cassette tapes, and now experimentally also on shortwave. There are two groups of ancestors for Radiodifusión América: The programming is the brainchild of Pastor José Holowaty of KGEI - La Voz de la Amistad. Pastor Holowaty was director of this San Francisco, California-based station, for many years. He specialises in Bible teaching, and is a noted expert in classical music. The high quality and originality of our programs result from the careful direction and tutelage of Pastor José Holowaty. From the technical side of things, Radio América descends from an experimental station, born in the city of San Juan Bautista, Misiones. An ironmonger, known as Peso Justo (Mr Honest Weights), assembled a transmitter from a valve audio amplifier, and wound inductors on bamboo, just after World War II. This station, with the name of Radio América, reached the six or eight receivers existing within a few city blocks of the transmitter. Señor Peso Justo worked hard to increase the range, and, with time, the station could be heard out in the countryside, in the direction of Pilar. The Radio América of Señor Peso Justo specialised in public announcements, for which he charged a small fee. For example, the radio would announce that "Señor X should go, as quickly as possible, to Pilar, as his mother was ill". Señor Peso Justo also broadcast the names of persons with delinquent accounts in local businesses. This served to deter bad financial conduct in the region. Interspersed with these announcements was Paraguayan Polka music. Radio América became an officially recognised station, with the assignment of the ZP20 callsign. Later on, ZP20 was moved to Villeta, alongside the Paraguay River. It continued to specialise in the same programming, along with Paraguayan Polka and Mexican Ranchero music. Radio América became very popular with listeners in Paraguay. Storm destroyed the tower In Villeta, the station was owned by the local Police Commissioner. He installed the station in the hen house of his farm, located on high ground, between Villeta and Ypané. A Korean technician constructed a new transmitter, using 833-type valves. This required a supply of 3000 volts to the anodes. They also constructed a new tower, over 100 meters tall. A severe storm destroyed most of this tower. There was no money available to rebuild it. The Police Commissioner appealed for permission to move ZP20 to his property, in Ñemby, which is much closer to Asunción. Radio América was reconstructed, in Ñemby, with what was left of the damaged tower, and the 833-type valve transmitter. Ñemby is much better protected against storms, owing to the surrounding hills. With time, Radio América became the cultural/educational station that it is today. The old valve transmitter was replaced by a PDM transmitter, using mosfets. The audio and energy systems have been completely rebuilt. ZP20 Radio América serves the metropolitan region of Asunción from Ñemby. It uses 1 kW of power, on 1480 kHz, feeding a quarter-wave tower. Our new transmitter site is located near Villeta, 37 kilometers downriver from central Asunción. There are three transmitters, all constructed here in Paraguay. The new transmitters are solid-state, and use Class A amplification, in order to assure maximum audio quality. Owing to the irregular energy supply out in the countryside, our new transmitters operate from battery banks. They are recharged, using heavy-duty rectifiers. Two of the transmitters operate on HF and one on MF. Each has a theoretical power output of 2.4 kW. 7 MHz ideal for broadcasting Here in Paraguay, frequencies above 9 MHz tend to overshoot the target areas. Frequencies below 7 MHz tend to propagate only out to 500 kilometers during the daytime. Thus, we use the 41 meter band, from empirical observation, and from computer-generated propagational forecasts. This choice also allows us to maintain the same frequencies, day and night. Many receivers available in South America have shortwave bands. However, the majority tune only from 2 to 12 MHz. Therefore, 7 MHz is located right in the middle of the dial, for most radio sets. At Villeta, we have four antennas. One is for the medium waves, and is 125 meters tall. It is equipped with 18 kilometers of buried radials, one for every two circular degrees. This antenna has a theoretical gain of 8.84 dBi, is omnidirectional, with vertical take-off angles of from 3 to 27 degrees above the horizon. We have, as well, a large Corner Reflector antenna. This is beamed at 184 degrees, from Magnetic North. The antenna is 82 meters long, on three sides, and is 26 metres tall. There is a theoretical gain of 25 dBi. The horizontal beamwidth is 22.5 degrees, with vertical take-off angles of 3 to 27 degrees above the horizon. There are two 5/8-ths wavelength radiators, using the backside of the Corner Reflector, to serve 4 degrees from Magnetic North. These antennas have a theoretical gain of 8,84 dBi, a horizontal beamwidth of 45 degrees, and vertical take-off angles of 3 to 27 degrees above the horizon. Radiodifusión América is testing, from Villeta, on frequencies of 7300 and 7385 kHz, in 41 meters, and on 1610 kHz, in the medium waves. From Ñemby, regular programs continue on 1480 kHz. All four frequencies are normally on the air 24 hours, seven days a week. The Villeta transmitter site is connected with the Ñemby studios, via PCM radio link. Shortwave frequencies are changed from time to time, so be sure to check the DXing.info Community for the latest information. For instance, we plan to replace 7385 kHz with 9980 kHz shortly. And when you hear us, don't forget to send us your reception reports, they are most welcome and correct reports will be verified. Radio América Frequencies: 1480, 1610, 7300, 7385 / 9980 kHz Address: Casilla de Correo 2220, Asunción, Paraguay Fax: +595 21 963 149 Email: ramerica@rieder.net.py Published October 1, 2002 (DXing.info via WORLD OF RADIO 1150, DXLD) According to recent e-mails from R. América, Paraguay to Arnaldo Slaen, they plan to transmit on 9980 kHz. I've detected a carrier around 9980.3 kHz since I tuned in at 0945 UT, October 3. Anyone getting audio out of this one? (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hi George, Have weak carrier on 9981.47 at 1000. I am listening the the Hurricane Emergency Net on 3873 lsb at the moment but will keep checking this! (Bob Wilkner, FL, ibid.) It looks like the carrier is drifting. At 1056, I've got them around 9980.6 kHz (George Maroti, NY, Oct 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) En un correo electrónico recibido hace un rato, Adán Mur, de Radio América, me confirma que la emisora abandonó los 7300 khz para emplear ahora los 7385 khz con antenas dirigidas a Buenos Aires. Hace segundos escribí a la emisora para que me digan en qué horarios estarán testeando en esta nueva frecuencia. Saludos (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Oct 2, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Viz.: Estimado Señor Arnaldo L. Slaen: Para avisar a Usted que hemos mejorado las características técnicas de la frecuencia 7385 KHZ, banda de 41 metros, lo mejor para servir a la región de Buenos Aires. Por motivo de interferencias, hemos dejado de transmitir en la frecuencia de los 7300 KHZ. Esperamos agregar la frecuencia de 9980 KHZ, en el futuro cercano. Sus reportes de sintonía serán muy bienvenidos. Con saludos desde el Paraguay (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay (via Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Che! Arnaldo... Holowaty se cambió de bando o están alquilando tiempo de transmisión a los mormones. Yo me carteé durante muchos años con José y el estaba al frente de KGEI, una emisora cristiana de tipo denominacional bautista. ¡Que mezcolanza! ¿No? (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, ibid.) ** PERU. R. Unión, 6115v, Sept 21 0850-0900+, presumed with a very strong, very distorted FMing signal. Too distorted to even identify language. A week later, Sept 28, 6114.66, again presumed. Somewhat better signal 0650-0800+. Much more readable but still with some distortion. Latin American music, Spanish, ballads, Spanish talk, but no ID heard (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. Re airtime sale for 1503 kHz: there seems to be a misunderstanding about this frequency. There doesn't exist a single MW transmitter in Poland anymore except for the Koszecin (Czestochowa) site in the south of Poland with 450kW on 1080 kHz (and two independent 0.1 kW community radios). All other sites were completely dismantled and the land was sold. The old 1503 kHz site with 300kW in Tychowo near Szczecin was closed in the 1990s. I assume that TPSA was offering airtime on 1080 kHz instead (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. POLISH CARDINAL TACKLES RADICAL RADIO Tuesday, 1 October, 2002, 10:15 GMT 11:15 UK By Nicholas Walton - BBC News Warsaw A decree banning the offices of a radical Catholic radio station from operating in the Polish capital, Warsaw, has come into effect. The decree was issued by the head of the Polish Catholic Church, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, and will restrict the station from raising funds. It is being seen as an attempt by the church to end the growing influence of radical Catholicism in Poland. Radio Maryja is one of the success stories of post- communist Poland. Founded by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the station began broadcasting nationwide in 1993. It says it is now listened to by well over 10% of adult Poles. But as well as being successful, it is controversial. Its mixture of prayers, masses and hymns is underpinned by Polish nationalism and strong opposition to the European Union. It also has strong connections with a right-wing Catholic political party, the League of Polish Families, which has 38 seats in the country's parliament. Critics say both the radio station and party cross the line into xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Radio Maryja's extremist and eurosceptic message is at odds with the one the church is now trying to put across. In August, Pope John Paul ended his visit to Poland by urging the country to strengthen its links with Europe. Commentators say the church is also concerned about losing its position of influence in Poland, and is keen to win over Radio Maryja's millions of listeners. Instead, it hopes they will tune their receivers into the Church's official station, Radio Jozef (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 198 kHz at Irkutsk (more correctly Angarsk) not operational since 6 June 2001 due to damage to the antenna. It will not be repaired and the transmitting site is being dismantled (Irkutsk DX Circle http://www.icc.ru/radio via Steve Whitt, via MWC via Oct BDXC- UK Communication via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. MEDIA IN SOMALI CAPITAL DISRUPTED BY STRIKE AGAINST NEW MEDIA LAW Observations by BBC Monitoring confirm international news agency reports that the operations by various media outlets in the Somali capital Mogadishu have been disrupted on 2 October by a journalists' strike. The strike is in protest against new media legislation approved by the parliament of the transitional government on 28 September. Mogadishu's leading independent radio station, HornAfrik, was off the air on the morning of 2 October and its web site was not updated. However, another local FM radio station, STN (Somali Telemedia Network) was heard with its usual main morning news bulletin (7 a.m. local time, 0400 gmt) on the 2nd. The bulletin made no mention of the strike. The web sites of various Mogadishu newspapers such as Ayaamaha and Xog-Ogaal were noted not to have been updated on the morning of 2 October. Mogadishu-based Radio Banaadir had reported on 29 September that members of various media outlets met after the passage of the law by parliament and had condemned the new regulations. They had resolved to stop covering any reports on the transitional government and parliament and to "go on strike on Wednesday [2 October] in protest against the attack on the free press". Source: BBC Monitoring research 2 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. B2002 Transmissions Schedule Dear Glenn, Here is the B2002 transmissions schedule from Meyerton Transmitting Station, South Africa. Kind regards, Millingo Nkosi, Transmission Planning, Sentech (Pty) Ltd Private Bag X06, Honeydew 2040, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: +27 11 471 4489 Fax:+27 11 471 4754 SHORTWAVE TRANSMISSIONS FROM MEYERTON, SOUTH AFRICA EFFECTIVE FROM 27 OCTOBER 2002 TO 29 MARCH 2003 CHANNEL AFRICA Time UTC kHz Language 0300-0325 9685 Swahili 0300-0330 9525 English 0330-0355 9525 French 0400-0430 5955 English 0430-0455 5955 Portuguese 0430-0455 3345 Portuguese 0430-0455 9525 French 0500-0530 11710 English 0530-0555 11710 Portuguese 0600-0630 15215 English 0630-0655 15215 Portuguese 1300-1455 21760 English * 1300-1455 17725 English * 1300-1455 11710 English * 1500-1525 17780 Swahili 1500-1530 17725 English 1530-1555 17725 French 1600-1630 9525 English 1600-1630 17860 Swahili 1630-1655 17860 French 1630-1655 9525 Portuguese 1630-1655 3345 Portuguese 1700-1730 17870 English 1730-1755 17870 Portuguese 1800-1830 17870 English 1830-1855 17870 French * Saturdays and Sundays only BBC Time UTC kHz Language 0300-0330 11865 Swahili 0300-0700 11765 English 0300-0500 3255 English 0300-0500 6190 English 0400-0430 15400 Swahili 0430-0500 3390 Portuguese 0430-0500 6135 Portuguese 0430-0500 7205 Portuguese 0500-1700 6190 English 0500-1700 11940 English 0530-0600 15400 Kirundi * 0700-0730 17695 French 1500-1530 21490 English 1530-1615 21490 Swahili 1615-1700 21490 Kirundi/Eng/Swah 1700-2200 3255 English 1700-2200 6190 English 1700-1900 15420 English 1730-1745 3390 English 1730-1745 7230 English 1730-1745 9525 English 1745-1800 7230 Swahili 1800-1830 7230 French 2030-2100 3390 Portuguese 2030-2100 6135 Portuguese 2030-2100 7205 Portuguese * Saturdays and Sundays RADIO VERITAS PRODUCTIONS Time UTC kHz Language 1000-1100 7240 English 1600-1900 3230 English UNITED NATIONS RADIO Time UTC kHz Language 1700-1715 7170 French * 1700-1720 21535 French/Port* 1725-1745 7170 Port/English * *Monday to Friday ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO Time UTC kHz Language 0400-0430 9650 English 0400-0430 12080 Swahili 0430-0500 12080 English 0500-0530 5960 English 0500-0530 11970 Yoruba 0500-0530 9875 French 0500-0530 6015 English 0530-0600 15225 Ibo 0530-0600 15345 English 0600-0630 15225 Hausa 0600-0630 15345 English 1700-1730 12130 Swahili 1730-1800 12130 Maasai 1800-1830 5960 English 1800-1900 11985 English 1800-1830 6095 English 1900-1930 17695 Fulfulde 1930-2000 15255 Hausa 1930-2000 17695 Ibo 2000-2030 15295 English 2000-2030 17695 French 2000-2030 12105 French 2030-2100 12105 Yoruba 2030-2100 15295 English TRANS WORLD RADIO Time UTC kHz Days Lang. 0330-0345 7215 34 Sidamo 0330-0345 7215 5 7 Amharic 0600-0615 11640 1234567 English 1600-1630 9680 1234567 Kirundi 1625-1655 9660 12345 Somali 1645-1700 9930 123 Oromo 1645-1700 9930 45 Kambaata 1645-1700 9930 67 Hadiya 1657-1712 9660 1234567 Juba 1700-1730 9930 1234567 Amharic 1703-1718 7265 1234567 Sena 1718-1733 7265 1234567 Yao 1730-1800 9930 12345 Oromo 1733-1748 7265 2 7 Yao 1830-1900 9720 1234567 Bambara 1830-1900 9510 1234567 Fulfulde 1830-1900 9460 1234567 Hausa 1900-1930 9510 1234567 Yoruba 1900-1945 9720 1234 67 French 1900-1930 9720 5 Songhai 1900-1930 9460 1234567 Kanuri 1930-1945 9720 5 Moore 1930-1945 9510 123456 Nupe 1930-1945 9510 7 Ewe 1945-2000 9510 12345 Twi 1945-2000 9510 6 Ewe 1945-2015 9510 7 Igbo Day 1 = Monday, Day 2 = Tuesday ... FAMILY RADIO Time UTC kHz Language 1900-2100 3230 English RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONAL Time UTC kHz Language 0257-0359 7135 French RADIO SONDER GRENSE Time UTC kHz Language 0500-0700 7185 Afrikaans 0700-1700 9650 Afrikaans 1700-0500 3320 Afrikaans RADIO VLAANDEREN INTERNATIONAL Time UTC kHz Language 0600-0630 17730 Dutch 1100-1200 21630 Dutch* 1200-1230 21630 Dutch * Sundays SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE Time UTC kHz Language 0800-0900 9750 English * 0800-0900 21560 English * 1800-1900 3215 English ** * Sundays ** Mondays RADIO ECCLESIA Time UTC kHz Language 1900-2000 7205 Portuguese (SENTECH, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 7200, SNBC Omdurman, 1 Oct at 1820. In Arabic. Sudanese music, mentioning often Khartum. Later some speeches about Sudan. No ID heard as Iran signed on at 1857 with music (Hebrew program) and Yugoslavia a bit later with interval signal and then Spanish. So, tentative as ID missing (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: The last edition of "Nordic Report" focuses on corporate climate Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" Sunday: "In Touch With Stockholm" takes up questions from listeners about retina transplants, Nordic international broadcasting, and a fairy tale Coming up next week most of the Nobel Prizes will be announced, and we'll be covering them here on Radio Sweden. The Medicine Prize comes on Monday, Physics on Tuesday, Chemistry and Economics on Wednesday, and the Peace Prize on Friday. The Literature Prize is always announced on a Thursday, but the Swedish Academy hasn't announced the date yet. If it isn't next Thursday, it will probably be the following week (SCDX/MediaScan Oct 2 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. http://www.cbs.org.tw/english/index.htm English Service (09/27) Starting from October 27 to March 31, RTI English programs targeted at Europe from 2200 to 2300 UT will be changed to 9355 kHz. Frequencies for other areas and times remain unchanged. (09/26) CBS-Radio Taipei International will bring you live coverage of the ROC National Day celebrations on October 10. (more) (09/26) Good news for our many listeners in South Asia and Africa: RTI is opening new mailboxes in India and Senegal! (more) (via Daniel Say, BC, DXLD) ** THAILAND. Verie signer and address for BBCWS relay is: Miss Puangtip O, BBC Asia Relay Station, P O Box 20, Muang, Nakhon Sawan 6000, Thailand (Chris Stacey, East Sussex, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** TURKEY. B-02 schedule for Voice of Turkey October 27, 2002 - March 29, 2003: ALBANIAN 1230-1325 11910 ARABIC 1000-1155 15105 15245 1500-1655 6120# 15195 ||||| ex 9505#for B-01 AZERI 0800-0925 11835 17755# ||||| ex 15505#for B-01 1500-1555 5965 BOSNIAN 1900-1955 5990 BULGARIAN 1430-1525 7140 CHINESE 1200-1255 15320 ||||| ex 17715 for B-01 CROATIAN 1700-1725 9595 ENGLISH 0400-0450 6020 7240 1330-1420 17690 17815 1930-2020 9890 ||||| ex 7125 for B-01 2130-2220 9525 2300-2350 6020# 9655 ||||| ex 9830#for B-01 FRENCH 2030-2125 6050 9715# ||||| ex 6140#for B-01 GERMAN 1230-1325 21530 1830-1925 9745 GEORGIAN 0800-0855 11690 GREEK 1130-1225 7295# 11855 ||||| ex 9630#for B-01 1530-1625 6015 ||||| ex 6195 for B-01 HUNGARIAN 1030-1125 17565 KAZAKH 1600-1655 7295 KYRGYZ 1700-1755 6095 MACEDONIAN 0900-0955 11895 PERSIAN 0930-1025 11795 17690 1330-1455 11705 ROMANIAN 1030-1125 11930 RUSSIAN 1400-1455 11980 1800-1855 6135 SERBIAN 1430-1455 11935 SPANISH 1730-1755 11690 TATAR 1900-1955 5955 TURKISH 0500-0755 17690 0500-0955 11925 17570 0500-1655 11955 0800-1655 15350 0800-2155 9460 1000-1255 21715 1100-1555 17860 Friday only 1300-1655 13615 ||||| ex 17745 for B-01 1700-2255 5980 9560 1700-0455 6120 1800-2255 6185 2200-0755 9460 2300-0455 7300 TURKMEN 1630-1725 5965 ||||| ex 9545 for B-01 URDU 1300-1355 17715 UZBEK 0200-0255 7115 1800-1855 5955 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) ** U A E. DUBAI: TV CHANNEL IN ENGLISH 'TENTATIVELY' BEGUN BROADCASTING | Text of report in English by UAE news agency WAM web site Dubai, 2 October: Dubai Television announced here today that its English Language Channel (Channel 33) has tentatively began broadcasting via Nilesat, ahead of full transmission scheduled to coincide with the UAE national day celebrations on December 2. [Channel 33 is broadcast on 11785 MHz, vertical polarisation in digital format, via Nilesat at 7 degrees west]. The tentative broadcasting which will cover the Arab world, will run for four hours daily but will be increased to 12 hours after December 2, said Ahmed Saeed Al Qohoud, General Director of Dubai TV during a press conference. The decision to broadcast via the satellite was based on studies which showed that the channel would be received by millions of viewers around the world, said Al Qohoud, adding that the decision was also encouraged by the public response to two live programmes ran recently by the channel to ascertain the views of its spectators as to which programmes they would like to see on the channel. He pointed out that Channel 33, which was the first in the Middle East to broadcast its entire programmes in English to an English speaking audience has achieved a tremendous success due to the variety of its programmes. The channel is expected to reach out to a wider audience with the expansion of its service in December, noted Al Qohoud. "Our assessment shows that there are more than 20 million English speaking foreigners residing permanently in the Middle East and North Africa. This is in addition to tourists and Arab viewers themselves," he said, adding that this is so strong an audience to be ignored. Source: WAM news agency web site, Abu Dhabi, in English 1 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U K. Hemel Hospital Radio: I am about six miles from the hospital, and get a good signal on 1350, but a parallel VHF signal on 48525 is much stronger, 24 hours; narrowband FM, sound clipped. No delay between AM and FM. I think it is coming from the hospital. SIO 555, heard since Dec 2001 (Brett Rowland, Studham, Bedfordshire, Oct BDXC- UK Communication via DXLD) Probably the studio to transmitter link (Andy King, Beyond The Horizon ed., ibid.) ** U K [non]. RUSSIA: BVBN noted Sep. 28/29 with new schedule on 7425: Sat 1800-1830 in Polish and 1830-1900 in English, ex 1800-1900 in Russian Sun 1800-1845 in English and 1845-1900 in Russian, ex 1800-1900 in Russian (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. BBC TAILORS ITS NEWS BROADCAST Television* Expansion into the U.S. continues with a Washington-based program for its cable channel and PBS. By ELIZABETH JENSEN, TIMES STAFF WRITER, October 2 2002 NEW YORK -- It's still the "BBC World News," but now it's coming to U.S. viewers from Washington, not just London. The British Broadcasting Corp., having quietly expanded distribution of its nightly newscasts to almost the entire United States, last week started tailoring the programs to American viewers in a bid to attract an even wider audience.... http://www.calendarlive.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=cl%2Det%2Djensen2oct02 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. HURRICANE WEBCAST OPTIONS Hello Glenn, I have done some webcast research in preparation for the arrival soon of the now-serious Hurricane Lili. The eye of the storm is presently forecast to come ashore Thursday midway between New Orleans and the Louisiana/Texas border, sometime between 1700 and 2000 UT. For those out of the range of 870 WWL New Orleans, I offer these webcast options: There are no major cities in the direct path other than New Orleans, and the present projection shows the worst of it missing New Orleans by perhaps 100 miles. There are no webcasting stations in the storms direct path. Here are some stations immediately adjacent to the path: KOGT AM : http://www.kogt.com/index.htm A smalltown country AM at 1600 right on the TX/LA border. Town is being evacuated but they will stay on air. Distorted feed. Texas State Network affiliate. Webcast: http://www.kogt.com/KOGTLIVE.asx WQYZ FM: http://www.wqyz.com/ Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi, oldies, webcast at http://www.wqyz.com/livebroadcast.asx not immediately sure if station is of local origination or satellite delivered, sounded bland enough to be the latter. WJZD FM: http://www.wjzd.com/ Long Beach, Mississippi, A small, down home R&B / blues format, "JZ 94.5", again right on the Atlantic coast, webcast at http://www.wjzd.com/wjzd.asx nice sound. Relaxed female DJ seemingly unconcerned about coming onslaught when I checked an hour ago. Other options: http://www.wwoz.org/ New Orleans Jazz/Community FM http://www.wrbh.org/ New Orleans Radio Reading Service News/talk stations in Houston area do not stream. The tiny number of number of other streaming stations in southern Louisiana are all satellite delivered American Family religious stations w/ no local content. (There oughta be a law, no?) Beaumont TX news talk is Clear Channel - owned, no streaming allowed by company edict. Some New Orleans / French Quarter webcams at: http://www.comfm.com/webcam/list/?c=us&s=la 8 cameras, updated every 20 sec and archived, actually pretty good New Orleans weather radio: http://www.nola.com/weatherradio/popup1 Strike probability map http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/natural_disasters/hurricanes/tracker/200 2/strike_lili.html Louisiana coastal radar via Intellicast http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalWide.asp?loc=uslact18169&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=RadarImagery&product=RegionalRadar&prodnav=none&pid=none Louisiana coastal radar via NWS http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf?/weather/doppler/neworleans_doppler_ref_long.html That's all for now. Should be an interesting day (Tom Roche- Atlanta, Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This was posted immediately early UT Thu at Anomaly Alert With Lili as a Cat 4 hurricane now, I'm sure there will be a few stations tending to hurricane duties. So who shall we hear that we didn`t hear during Tropical storm Isidore --- stay tuned! Follow the tropics at www.wgai560am.com/hurricane.html (Bob Carter Operations/Engineering WGAI-NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo, amfmtvdx et al. via DXLD) My latest observational comments and forecast on category 4 Hurricane Lili can be found at: FMCI 2002 FL Region Daily Tropical Discussion: http://www.kn4lf.com/sub/fmci5.htm I also am also involved with the Hurricane Watch Net on 14325 kc. Their website is at: http://www.hwn.org 73, (Thomas Giella, KN4LF, amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** U S A. WEBCASTERS, MUSIC BIZ WEAVING A ROYALTY DEAL Radio By DAVID HINCKLEY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER A wave of cautious optimism spread through the Internet radio community yesterday about a possible deal with the music business that could enable most Webcasters to survive. Under a Library of Congress decision this summer, anyone streaming music on the Internet must start paying royalties as of Oct. 20, both for new music and music played back to 1998. While the Recording Industry Association of America calls the royalties modest - and has asked that they be raised - the trade newsletter RAIN has estimated they would put 95% of all Webcasters out of business, because most generate little or no revenue. But Tuesday, Rep. James Sensebrenner (R-Wis.) withdrew legislation delaying the royalty date by six months, saying both sides "have assured me they will reach a comprehensive agreement by [tomorrow] that will be fair to Webcasters, record companies and recording artists, as well as provide the economic certainty and stability necessary for Webcasters large and small to succeed." Paul Maloney of RAIN says the RIAA and Webcasters have been negotiating all week and there is some movement toward a system based on a percentage of Webcasters' revenues. That's what Webcasters have been seeking all along, saying they don't mind paying royalties, but they can't pay more than they take in. The new royalty rate for commercial Webcasters would be 0.07 cents per song per listener, with a $500 minimum annual payment for small operations. Webcasting is still in its infancy, with a small audience. But the hope is that as it becomes easier to receive Webcasts on computers, it will become a niche alternative to commercial radio. "That's why you don't want to put it out of business now," says Tom Taylor, editor of the trade sheet Inside Radio. "You would kill the goose before it has a chance to lay any eggs at all." A royalty system based on percentage of revenue would give the RIAA a much stronger incentive to help Webcasting flourish. (NY Daily News Oct 3 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. RIAA SUES RADIO STATIONS FOR GIVING AWAY FREE MUSIC http://www.theonion.com/ The Onion.com 10/2 LOS ANGELES --- The Recording Industry Association of America filed a $7.1 billion lawsuit against the nation's radio stations Monday, accusing them of freely distributing copyrighted music. "It's criminal," RIAA president Hilary Rosen said. "Anyone at any time can simply turn on a radio and hear a copyrighted song. Making matters worse, these radio stations often play the best, catchiest song off the album over and over until people get sick of it. Where is the incentive for people to go out and buy the album?" According to Rosen, the radio stations acquire copies of RIAA artists' CDs and then broadcast them using a special transmitter, making it possible for anyone with a compatible radio-wave receiver to listen to the songs. "These radio stations are extremely popular," Rosen said. "They flagrantly string our songs together in 'uninterrupted music blocks' of up to 70 minutes in length, broadcasting nearly one CD's worth of product without a break, and they actually have the gall to allow businesses to advertise between songs. It's bad enough that they're giving away our music for free, but they're actually making a profit off this scheme." RIAA attorney Russell Frackman said the lawsuit is intended to protect the artists. "If this radio trend continues, it will severely damage a musician's ability to earn a living off his music," Frackman said. "[Metallica drummer] Lars Ulrich stopped in the other day wondering why his last royalty check was so small, and I didn't know what to say. How do you tell a man who's devoted his whole life to his music that someone is able to just give it away for free? That pirates are taking away his right to support himself with his craft?" For the record companies and the RIAA, one of the most disturbing aspects of the radio-station broadcasts is that anyone with a receiver and an analog tape recorder can record the music and play it back at will. "I've heard reports that children as young as 8 tape radio broadcasts for their own personal use," Rosen said. "They listen to a channel that has a limited rotation of only the most popular songs-commonly called 'Top 40' stations-then hit the 'record' button when they hear the opening strains of the song they want. And how much are they paying for these songs? A big fat zip." Continued Rosen: "According to our research, there is one of these Top 40 stations in every major city in the country. This has to be stopped before the music industry's entire economic infrastructure collapses." Especially distressing to the RIAA are radio stations' "all-request hours," when listeners call in to ask radio announcers, or "disc jockeys," to play a certain song. "What's the point of putting out a new Ja Rule or Sum 41 album if people can just call up and hear any song off the album that they want?" Frackman asked. "In some instances, these stations actually have the nerve to let the caller 'dedicate' his act of thievery to a friend or lover. Could you imagine a bank letting somebody rob its vaults and then allowing the thief to thank his girlfriend Tricia and the whole gang down at Bumpy's?" Defenders of radio-based music distribution insist that the relatively poor sound quality of radio broadcasts negates the record companies' charges. "Radio doesn't have the same sound quality as a CD," said Paul "Cubby" Bryant, music director of New York radio station Z100, one of the nation's largest distributors of free music and a defendant in the suit. "Real music lovers will still buy CDs. If anything, we're exposing people to music they might not otherwise hear. These record companies should be thanking us, not suing us." Outraged by the RIAA suit, many radio listeners are threatening to boycott the record companies. "All these companies care about is profits," said Amy Legrand, 21, an avid Jacksonville, FL, radio user who surreptitiously records up to 10 songs a day off the radio. "Top 40 radio is taking the power out of the hands of the Ahmet Erteguns of the world and bringing it back to the people of Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting. It's about time somebody finally stood up to those record-company fascists." (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A. I expect some may already know about this site - it is absolutely incredible for jingle lovers - a whole stack of pages full of mp3 American radio jingles. I was not allowed to put mp3s on my site and then real audio caused the site to be deleted - how do people do this! http://www.560.com/html/pams_series_38.html (Keith Knight --- Interested in radio try http://wirelesswaffle.Ocatch.com BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U S A. WLW: THE NATION'S STATION Fascinating extract from "Radio: The Roots of Broadcasting" a superb US site at http://inventors.about.com much more there and many photographs. Radio station WLW has a history as colorful and varied as any in the United States. It is unique in that it was the only station ever granted authority to broadcast with 500 kW. The station actually began with 20 watts of power as a hobby of Powel Crosley, Jr. The first license for WLW was granted by the Department of Commerce in 1922. Crosley was authorized to broadcast on a wavelength of 360 meters with a power of 50W, three evenings a week. Growth of the station was continuous. It operated at various frequencies and power levels until, in 1927, WLW was assigned to 700 kHz at 50 kW and remained there. Operation at 50 kW commenced on October 4, 1928. The transmitter was located in Mason, OH. The station could be heard as far away as Jacksonville, FL and Washington, D.C. The super-power era of WLW began in 1934. The contract for construction of the enormous transmitter was awarded to RCA in February 1933. Tests on the unit began on January 15, 1934. The cost of the transmitter and associated equipment was approximately $400,000, not much today, but a staggering sum in the middle of the Great Depression. At 9:02 p.m. on May second, programming was commenced with full 500 kW of power. The super-power operation was designed to be experimental, but Crosley managed to renew the license every 6 months until 1939. The call sign W8XO was occasionally used during test periods, but the regular call sign of WLW was used for programming. "Immense" is the only way to describe the WLW facility. The antenna reached a height (including the flagpole at the top) of 831-feet. The antenna rested on a single ceramic insulator that supported the combined force of 135 tons of steel and 400 tons exerted by the guys. The tower was guyed with eight 1 7/8-inch cables anchored 375-feet from the base of the antenna. The main antenna was augmented by a directional tower designed to protect CFRB, Toronto, when the station was using 500kW at night. The directional system was unique in that it was the first designed to achieve both horizontal directivity and vertical-angle suppression. A spray pond in front of the building provided cooling for the system, moving 512 gallons of water per minute. Through a heat exchanger, the water then cooled 200 gallons of distilled water in a closed system that cooled the transmitting tubes. The transmitter consumed an entire building. Modulation transformers weighing 37,000 pounds each were installed in the basement. Three plate transformers, a rectifier filter reactor, and a modulation reactor were installed outside the building. The "exciter" for the transmitter produced 50 kW of RF power! A motor-generator was used to provide 125V dc for control circuits. The station had its own power substation. While operating at 500 kW, the transmitter consumed 15,450,000 kWh per year. The facility was equipped with a complete machine shop because station personnel had to build much of the ancillary hardware they needed. Equipment included gas, arc and spot welders, a metal lathe, milling machine, engraving machine, sander, drill press, metal brake, table saw and other equipment. A wide variety of electrical components were also on hand. WLW operated at 500 kW until March 1, 1939, when the FCC ordered the station to reduce power to 50 kW. The station returned to super-power operation a few times during World War II for government research. The days when WLW could boast to being "the nation's station," were, however, in the past (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Shortwave "health" programs are always promoting colloidal silver (Fred Waterer, DX LISTENING DIGEST): CANDIDATE'S SKIN BLUE AFTER DRINK The Associated Press GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - Montana's Libertarian candidate for Senate has turned blue from drinking a silver solution that he believed would protect him from disease. Stan Jones,a 63-year-old business consultant and part-time college instructor, said he started taking colloidal silver in 1999 for fear that Y2K disruptions might lead to a shortage of antibiotics. He made his own concoction by electrically charging a couple of silver wires in a glass of water. His skin began turning blue-gray a year ago. ``People ask me if it's permanent and if I'm dead,'' he said. ``I tell them I'm practicing for Halloween.'' He does not take the supplement any longer, but the skin condition, called argyria, is permanent. The condition is generally not serious. Colloidal silver dietary supplements are marketed widely as an anti- bacterial agent or immune-system booster, but some consider it quackery. Jones is one of three candidates seeking to unseat Democratic Sen. Max Baucus in November. The others are Republican state Sen. Mike Taylor and Green Party candidate Bob Kelleher. 10/02/02 17:26 EDT (AOL Canada via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** U S A. LA Times Commentary 10/1 Bode to Turner: Buy CNN back and save it http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-oe-bode1oct01.story COMMENTARY --- CNN Is Anything but Mickey Mouse TED TURNER HAS TO SAVE THE NETWORK FROM BEING SWALLOWED BY DISNEY By KEN BODE, a professor of broadcast journalism at Northwestern University, moderator of PBS' "Washington Week in Review" from 1994 to 1999. October 1 2002 Let's not bury the lead. It is time for Ted Turner to take some of the $2 billion that the money magazines say he has and buy back CNN, endow it and have it run as the all-news channel it was conceived to be. CNN is once again being shopped around. In previous iterations there was a prospective merger with CBS News or a takeover by NBC. This time the rumor is that AOL Time Warner will spin off CNN and allow it to be absorbed by Walt Disney Co. and merged with ABC News, the stepchild news division owned by Disney. When Turner initially agreed to sell CNN to Time-Warner, Time's chief executive, Gerald Levin, called CNN the "jewel in the crown." It turned out that Levin didn't know what he was buying. All he knew was that CNN had worldwide reach. That it was the network that every U.S. newsroom tuned to; that it was the one Boris Yeltsin kept on in his office, Fidel Castro in his kitchen and Saddam Hussein in his bunkers. When President Clinton fired cruise missiles at Baghdad (in response to Iraq's attempt to assassinate former President Bush), the White House had to call CNN President Tom Johnson to ask what had been hit. For working reporters in both companies, the Time-CNN merger seemed to promise a natural symbiosis. Two strong news organizations with worldwide reach -- one television, one print -- was a merger that appeared to add value to both. Then the culture clash set in. A team of Time executives paid a visit to CNN's Washington bureau to examine the new acquisition. They found veteran correspondent Bruce Morton in his office, and the joshing began. When one of the blue suits from Time mentioned that they couldn't wait for the day when they only had to write 150 words, Morton replied, "And we at CNN can't wait for the day we only have to do it once a week." On the Time side, once the bean counters and executives began to understand the vicissitudes of cable television and the competitiveness of the ratings cycle, the joshing soon turned sour. One executive complained that Time sends out more Christmas cards than CNN has viewers. On the CNN side, there was a feeling that the new owners had no appreciation for what they did, which was cover real news, worldwide, at less cost than anyplace else in television. The culture clash morphed into a form of tissue rejection. Driving to work one day, I heard the news that AOL had bought Time Warner. Does NPR have it backward, I thought? Time must have bought AOL. Even at the time of the stratospheric rise of the dot-coms, was it fathomable that an Internet start-up could purchase a worldwide publishing conglomerate like Time Warner? But it was true, and CNN was a small part of the deal, albeit advertised once again as a priceless part of the package. Now, like the rest of the Nasdaq overachievers, AOL's stock is tanking, and the geniuses are looking to unload CNN. If the plan to merge CNN with ABC News goes through, CNN will become a tiny slice of the enormous Disney pie. Disney is one of those enterprises with a huge CEO salary and ailing market prospects. The last time Disney share prices plummeted, company executives traveled to Washington to explain to the ABC News bureau why it would have to sacrifice jobs to the corporate bottom line. Next time, it could be CNN producers and correspondents whose jobs are on the line. The core value of CNN is not duplicated anywhere else in television news. It is the network the world turns to when there is real news to cover, especially foreign news. ABC, NBC and CBS already have responded to budget constraints by closing down foreign bureaux. If there is a major labor demonstration in Paris, all the footage on those networks looks the same because they all buy it from independent contractors in Europe. CNN has news crews and correspondents on the ground, reporting from 31 bureaux around the world. Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather could gather for a quiet breakfast in the coffee shop of the Baghdad Hilton and no one would notice. If they were joined by Christiane Amanpour, there would be 100 autograph seekers in five minutes. If ABC News and CNN are merged, it will be a major step toward that great nirvana to which we seem to be heading when all television news looks the same. Competition used to be considered a healthy thing in journalism, but with this deal, there would be less of it. Disney's accountants would quickly find cost savings by closing competitive CNN-ABC bureaus in Beijing, London, Moscow and perhaps even Washington. Ted Koppel and "Nightline" would find a new home at CNN. Then, when Disney stock slides again, the rest of CNN's overseas bureaus would be on the chopping block. In the entertainment-based corporate culture of Disney, news has no particular value except what it contributes to the bottom line. Where are you, Ted Turner? CNN is the most important of the many things you created. Buy it back. Then, if President Bush decides to blow up the Baghdad Hilton, at least your old network will still be around to cover the war. Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO KILLED THE RADIO STAR --- By Todd Spencer Consolidation has resulted in 10,000 layoffs, the demise of a beloved trade magazine, and a decline in programming quality. But industry execs are fat and happy.... http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/10/01/nab/index.html (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. Letter from Washington: THE CHAIRMAN, by NICHOLAS LEMANN He's the other Powell, and no one is sure what he's up to... Issue of 2002-10-07 Posted 2002-09-30 http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?021007fa_fact [Long profile of Michael Powell, FCC Chairman] (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Glenn, I read, with interest, Harold Frodge's log of 25950AM/KPM 566 in DXLD 2-150. I noted the same reggae style music on 9/25 2059-0004 and 9/26 1624-1728; although I heard an ID for KGON. The IDs are not given with any regularity or schedule, as noted by Mr. Frodge. Correspondence with Bob Montgomery and Mark Mohrmann provided info of "Cue" stations, including those that use this frequency. Entercom Communications of Portland, Oregon has 6 stations that use 25950, one being KGON. The info is over 1 year old, however. I sent an e-mail to KGON regarding reception but have yet to receive a reply. I will definitely scan these higher frequencies again in the future! (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA English news program Sept 28 0025-0040+ on 5930, weak; I assume spur of 5995? (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BUT WILL THEY TUNE IN? By Tara Sonenshine, Originally published September 24, 2002 WASHINGTON -- It seems so simple, so obvious. If only we could use the power of television and the exponential reach of satellite technology to broadcast our ideals to the Arab and Muslim worlds, maybe they would like us, understand us, believe us. It's an idea motivating some in the U.S. government to contemplate spending millions of dollars to build an Arab language satellite TV network that can reach viewers in Arab and Muslim countries with a more positive view of America. But before we spend upward of $60 million to beam American-made ideas into the Arab and Muslim world, let's ask a fundamental question: Will it work? Other governments are already experimenting with satellite networks throughout the Middle East. In Israel, the state-run Israel Broadcasting Authority has started a new Middle East Channel, an Arabic-English international satellite network that will operate throughout the Middle East and Europe to win over regional public opinion, which has grown increasingly hostile toward Israel. At the same time, Arab League governments are preparing to spend up to $22 million on their own satellite television channel, with English and Hebrew-speaking services, in hopes of changing public opinion about the Arab world. The problem with these expensive, high-tech satellite plans is that they fail to take into account certain fundamental media realities that limit how much governments can change hearts and minds. First, there is the problem of credibility. Government-sponsored information is often met with resentment and suspicion. Citizens differentiate between propaganda and objective information. Second, government satellite television channels will face stiff competition from existing private channels that operate throughout the region -- CNN, MSNBC, Middle Eastern Broadcasting, al-Jazeera and a host of other news outlets. Last, regional satellite networks don't provide the kind of local news and information that many citizens want about their own neighborhoods and communities. A better alternative to building large, expensive satellite systems is to strengthen local, independent media outlets in the Arab and Muslim worlds. It is the local media that most influence "the street" and where views of the world can shape public perception. Rather than engage in a full-fledged global satellite competition, akin to an arms race, in which countries simply beam government propaganda at each other, let's devote resources to supporting indigenous news outlets with fact-based, objective reporting. History is full of examples of the power of local media to change societies. In the 1980s, when Congress began to give modest amounts of foreign aid to develop independent media in the former Soviet Union, the results were astonishing. Hundreds, then thousands, of independent broadcasters and media professionals developed, creating a multiplicity of voices and a vibrant and open media able to withstand even current challenges to its independence. Independent media made the critical difference in Yugoslavia, where the power of local independent radio stations such as B92 helped overthrow the dictatorship of President Slobodan Miloshevich. The critical challenge facing the U.S. government is how to change local media in countries that spew hatred of America and the West on their evening news. We need to create a diversity of opinion as well as the ethics and standards of good reporting. We need to provide professional journalism training and legal advice and assistance on how to build strong independent information systems. We need media exchange programs and journalism training that come not directly from the U.S. government but through qualified nonprofit organizations that have credibility in the region. And we need to start pressuring Arab and Muslim governments to expend resources on opening their own media, not building expensive propaganda systems that perpetuate misperceptions about the West. This is not to suggest that there is not a role for government media. Overseas broadcasts such as Voice of America or Radio Free Liberty can be a lifeline to people who live in closed societies. But as we contemplate the expenditure of enormous resources on international television networks and channels with content generated by our government, we must ask ourselves some questions: Who's on the other end of the remote? How will they receive our message? And is it better to create change from within rather than beam from outside? Tara Sonenshine is former editorial producer for ABC News' Nightline and served on the National Security Council in the Clinton administration. Ms. Sonenshine is a consultant for Internews, which is (surprise surprise) "a nonprofit organization that promotes independent media worldwide." http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.media24sep24.story Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun Op-Ed (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Media Advisory -- WEST COAST NEWS CONFERENCE ON RADIO SAWA Washington, D.C., October 02, 2002 The Broadcasting Board of Governors http://www.bbg.gov the federal agency that supervises all non-military U.S. international broadcasting, will hold a news conference to unveil for the first time on the West Coast the story behind its music-driven Middle East Radio Network, known as Radio Sawa http://www.radiosawa.com The Arabic- language news and music station has attracted huge audiences across the region. Governors will also discuss worldwide broadcasting initiatives for the 21st Century in Central Asia (including Afghanistan and Iran), Asia, Africa, and Eastern and Central Europe. Speakers: Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Chairman, BBG Norman J. Pattiz, BBG member, Chairman and founder of Westwood One Mouafac Harb, News Editor, Radio Sawa What: News Conference Where: 9875 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, California 90210 -- Santa Monica Room When: Wednesday, October 9, 2002 - 8:30 a.m. Local Contact: Joan Mower 202.213.8205 (mobile) 310.274.7772 (Hotel) (BBG Press release Oct 2 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. FIGHTING NET CENSORSHIP ABROAD, By Mitch Wagner Washington lawmakers are considering legislation that would allocate $100 million to thwart Internet censorship by authoritarian regimes. Rep. Chris Cox (R-Calif.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would establish an Office of Global Internet Freedom to foster development of censorship-busting technology for users in countries including China and Saudi Arabia. The bill would allocate $50 million each for 2003 and 2004. The office would be part of the International Broadcasting Bureau, which provides engineering and administration for the Voice of America, Radio and TV Martí (Office of Cuba Broadcasting), and other electronic media aimed at viewers in authoritarian countries.... http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55530,00.html (Wired News via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Also see: BIPARTISAN, BICAMERAL BILL STOPS INTERNET JAMMING House Policy Chairman Christopher Cox (R-CA) and House International Relations Committee Ranking Member Tom Lantos (D-CA) introduced legislation today to counter Internet jamming and blocking around the world.... http://policy.house.gov/html/news_release.cfm?id=111 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) which in turn links to: TEAR DOWN THIS FIREWALL, Thursday, September 19, 2002 http://policy.house.gov/html/news_item.cfm?id=112 (via gh, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 6165, ZNBC Lusaka, 1 Oct at 2150 in English. This one popped up at times when Croatia and Chad faded down. Closed down around 2200 after NA. Transmitter was left on for some minutes with test tone, same thing on 6265. Both transmitters went off almost simultaneously around 2205 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 5975, ZBC Harare, 1 Oct at 2100 in local language with DJ and African music. Announcing "National FM" which seems to be relayed on this frequency. 6045 was empty at this time, other days I have heard "R Zimbabwe" ID there (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6715U still alive: I was curious to know if this station is still alive. So on Wednesday, 2 Oct at 1953 I tuned to 6715U and there it was. Having same distorted audio at times as earlier, but no question, same station. Korean language religious program. Haven't seen any reports of its origin so far (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ MOTOROLA CLAIMS ANALOGUE RADIO BREAKTHROUGH From http://www.ananova.com Motorola has developed new technology to raise the quality of analogue radio broadcasts. It says its Symphony Chipset will allow listeners to near-digital quality broadcasts on the old AM and FM frequencies. The technology promises less static and fading, extended listening range and improved clarity and volume. The innovation rests with the use of software algorithms in receivers to improve the radio signal. Motorola expects partner manufacturers to begin selling first radios using the technology by Christmas 2003. Analogue radio uses electronic waves in their original form. Digital transforms the wave into a stream of binary code that can be tuned, filtered and improved by software. Motorola's innovation is to replace analogue frequency tuning circuitry in receivers with software. Until now broadcasters have needed to acquire new digital broadcasting equipment to offer improved services. Story filed: 09:24 Wednesday 2nd October 2002 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 02 - 28 October 2002 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate for most of the forecast period due to the growth and development of Region 134 and the return of old Region 105/114 complex. There is a chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit may reach event threshold on 11-13 October due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled for most of the forecast period. On 09-10 October, a recurring coronal hole in the southern hemisphere is expected to reach a geo-effective position and may result in active conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Oct 01 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Oct 01 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Oct 02 140 15 3 2002 Oct 03 145 10 3 2002 Oct 04 145 8 3 2002 Oct 05 150 8 3 2002 Oct 06 160 8 3 2002 Oct 07 175 10 3 2002 Oct 08 185 12 3 2002 Oct 09 190 15 3 2002 Oct 10 190 12 3 2002 Oct 11 190 8 3 2002 Oct 12 185 8 3 2002 Oct 13 185 8 3 2002 Oct 14 185 10 3 2002 Oct 15 175 10 3 2002 Oct 16 165 10 3 2002 Oct 17 155 10 3 2002 Oct 18 150 10 3 2002 Oct 19 150 10 3 2002 Oct 20 155 8 3 2002 Oct 21 160 8 3 2002 Oct 22 155 8 3 2002 Oct 23 150 5 2 2002 Oct 24 150 5 2 2002 Oct 25 150 5 2 2002 Oct 26 145 8 3 2002 Oct 27 140 12 3 2002 Oct 28 140 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via World of Radio 1150, DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-152, October 1, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1149: BROADCASTS ON RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15038.7; webcast Wed 1300 BROADCASTS ON WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1149.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1149.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1149.html WORLD OF RADIO 1150: FIRST AIRING ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 on 17495, 7415; Mon 0415 on 7415 FIRST AIRINGS ON WWCR: Thu 2030 on 15825, Sat 0600, Sun 0230 on 5070 FIRST AIRINGS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600 on 7445, 15039 ** AFGHANISTAN [non?]. Media Advisory SIGNING OF THE U.S.-AFGHANISTAN RADIO AGREEMENT Washington, D.C., October 01, 2002— Who: Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Chairman, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and His Excellency Dr. Makhdoom Raheen, Minister of Information and Culture, Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan What: The Signing of the U.S.-Afghanistan Radio Agreement Where: Cohen Building Auditorium, 330 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20237 When: Thursday, October 3, 2002 -- 11 a.m. The agreement calls for the BBG, which supervises all U.S. government- supported international broadcasting, to install two high-power, medium-wave (AM) transmitters that will have nationwide reach across Afghanistan. In addition, the BBG will provide transmitters and equipment for up to five FM operations in Afghanistan. The BBG, a federal agency directed by a nine-member, presidentially appointed board, supervises the Voice of America (VOA); Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL); Radio Free Asia (RFA); Radio/TV Marti, and WORLDNET Television. Other BBG members include Kenneth Tomlinson; Marc Nathanson; Edward E. Kaufman; Cheryl Halpern; Robert M. Ledbetter, Jr., and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who serves as an ex officio member. For more information, contact: Joan Mower (202.260.0167 or 202.401.3736), jmower@ibb.gov, or www.bbg.gov (BBG Press release Oct 1 via DXLD) Note that it says `nationwide reach across Afghanistan` but does not say FROM Afghanistan. So is previous report that Tajikistan will be site correct? If so, why isn`t Tajikistan involved in this event??? Disinformation in action? Or the 801 be temporary? (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. VMW 12 MHz Frequency. It would appear that the problem of finding a 12 MHz frequency for voice transmission over VMW has been resolved. The station is now announcing and transmitting on 12353 kHz. (Oct Australian DX News via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. The station I heard in February was R Afri>k<a Int'l from Moosbrunn, Austria on 17895. My first report was sent to the Heigerlein Str. address, but I received no reply. So I tried a follow- up via the NY address that I saw somewhere, thinking it was the same station. Apparently it is not the same station, in which case NY verified a report for the "other" Radio Afrika, thinking it was their own, without checking reception details! I can think of no other explanation. Tnx to WB for noticing this! Question is, shall I count this QSL or not? All the data on the card is correct, hi! (John Wilkins, CO, BC-DX Sep 20 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Nuestro amigo brasileño Samuel Cássio nos informa lo siguiente: HORÁRIO DE VERÃO NO BRASIL 2002 / 2003 O horário de verão começa no dia 3 de novembro e termina em 15 de fevereiro de 2003. Neste período, todos os relógios têm de ser adiantados em uma hora. Tradicionalmente, o horário de verão começa em outubro, mas, neste ano, atendendo a um pedido do Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), o governo decidiu deixá-lo para depois do eventual segundo turno das eleições. O horário de verão de 2002/2003 valerá para todos os Estados das regiões Sul, Sudeste e Centro-Oeste e para a Bahia devido à sua localização (Folha de S. Paulo, em Brasília, via Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) [Due to elections --- what does that have to do with it? --- DST starts in parts of Brasil later this year than usual: Nov 3, until Feb 15] ** BULGARIA. Radio Bulgaria noted at 1600 on 30000, SINPO 35343. ID and news in East European language. Presumably a feeder? (John Ralph, Lambourn, UK, Oct World DX Club Contact) This is the 4th harmonic of 7500 (Mike Barraclough, ibid. via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. "EXPERT" SAYS TAIPEI SOURCE OF FALUN GONG TV SIGNALS - XINHUA AGENCY | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Beijing, 29 September: A senior radio expert said here on Sunday [29 September] that television signals illegally transmitted by Falun Gong cult followers originated in the Taipei area, (in the province of Taiwan), noting that the source of satellite TV hijacking was precise and irrefutable. The source was traced through the use of internationally-accredited technologies and advanced monitoring equipment, said the official in charge of the national radio monitoring centre, during an interview with Xinhua reporters. From 8 September through the early morning of 22 September, signals sent by Falun Gong cult members, repeatedly jammed transmissions of the Sino Satellite (SINOSAT) system. The centre's experts traced the source of interference of the broadcasts while they were in progress, and it has been confirmed that their point of origin is in the area of Taipei city in Taiwan province, at the geographical location of 121 degrees, 30 minutes, 33 seconds east longitude, and 24 degrees, 51 minutes, 04 seconds north latitude, according to the official. The centre traced the interference source of the broadcasts while they were in progress numerous times to determine the site of the broadcasts, and the relevant departments in Taiwan were informed on the outcome of the above tests via non-governmental channels, and the outcome of tests was subsequently publicized on 26 September. Acknowledging that the relevant Taiwan departments have been reportedly begun searching for the source of interference for signals, the spokesman said, stressing that the illegal TV hijacking is a serious violation of the basic norms in civil communications. It is expected that the relevant Taiwan departments will take effective measures to locate the source of the illegal signals as soon as possible and will have them put an end to, the official said. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1412 gmt 29 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) TAIWAN SAYS BEIJING MISTAKEN OVER FALUN GONG TV HACKING | Text of report in English by Taiwanese Central News Agency web site Taipei, 27 September: The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) urged Beijing Friday [27 September] to resume long-stalled dialogue to avoid what it called "miscalculations" over its accusation of satellite interference by Falun Gong followers based in Taiwan. The cabinet-level council that charts Taiwan's policy towards mainland China made the call in response to an accusation levelled by Beijing Tuesday that Taiwanese followers of Falun Gong - banned by the communist regime since 1999 - hijacked mainland Chinese television broadcasts via its state-run Sinosat satellite twice this month. Beijing demanded that Taiwan stop the interference, warning that bilateral ties could suffer. The MAC said in a press statement that even though Taiwan is not a member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), it has consistently abided by the union's regulations and has spared no efforts to prevent illegal interference of telecommunication signals. It went on to say that Taiwan's telecommunication authorities have investigated the mainland claims, but so far, no suspicious source of hacking has been discovered. As to Beijing's assertion that it had informed Taipei through private organizations about Falun Gong followers hacking into its state satellite television signals from Taiwan three months ago, the statement said the council has never received any such information. It urged Beijing to seek Taiwan's assistance through Taipei's quasi- official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its mainland Chinese counterpart - the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS). "Abandoning this short cut is not a wise move," the council said in the statement. Noting that the SEF's fax machines are always switched on, it added that the mainland authorities should provide Taiwan with accurate information about the accusations through this existing channel to avoid miscalculation and misunderstanding. Mainland China suspended cross-strait dialogue in July 1999 after then-ROC President Lee Teng-hui defined Taiwan-mainland China ties as "a special state-to-state relationship". ARATS has also since declined any engagement with its Taiwan counterpart, choosing instead to contact private Taiwan organizations, particularly those founded by opposition political groups. The MAC reminded Beijing that eradication of illegal use or interference of telecommunication signals requires concerted efforts from both sides and it expressed regret that signals of seven private Taiwan radio stations have been disrupted or hijacked by mainland China's state-run radio stations since last year. "The mainland authorities have so far not taken effective steps to stop such interference," council officials said. "It is our hope that mainland China abides by international regulations and effectively prevents radio stations on its territory from disrupting transmissions by Taiwan's radio stations." According to the latest information provided by mainland authorities, the signals that hijacked mainland Chinese television broadcasts via Sinosat were transmitted from the mountainous Wulai region, located 25 km from downtown Taipei. The region boasts a private tourist farm and a forest amusement park. The Directorate-General of Telecommunications (DGT) said it has sent three teams of technicians to survey the area over the past two days. "But so far, no source of hacking has been pinpointed," a DGT official said. Source: Central News Agency web site, Taipei, in English 1132 gmt 27 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Luego de superar algunos incovenientes de tipo técnico con el ajuste del cristal al transmisor y de fluido eléctrico, hoy hacia las 1120 UT, inició transmisiones La Voz de tu Conciencia a través de los 6.010 aunque más exactamente por los 6.010.5 kHz; como es lógico faltan algunas cosas más por ajustar. Pero se confía en superarlos pronto y cumplir con el requerimiento del Ministerio de Comunicaciones. Una vez más le recuerdo y les pido el intentar escuchar esta emisora y lo más importante, el envío de reportes de recepción que son necesarios para evaluar la señal y soportar una solicitud de cambio de frecuencia; estos pueden ser enviados por correo normal a: Libreria Colombia para Cristo, Calle 44 No. 13-69, Bogotá D.C. o por via electronica: rms05001@n... [truncated] En principio el objetivo seria transmitir las 24 horas, pero puede estar fuera del aire por problemas de fluido eléctrico o los ajustes que deban hacerse; en realidad sería de estar chequeando la frecuencia en varios horarios. Como sabemos que se puede presentar interferencias con emisora latinoamericanas es esto precisamente lo que debemos soportar para solicitar el posible cambio de frecuencia. Un abrazo (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Sept 24, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Tambien hay una transmisión, al parecer en holandés de Radio Nederland en esta misma frecuencia 6010 que por las 0200 UT (si no me equivoco) transmite para este continente; en esa hora Radio Mil está completamente interferida. saludos (Héctor García Bojorge, Mexico, ibid.) Hola Hector; Gracias por tu comentario, ya habiamos notado esto y es una emisión en Holandes para Norte y Centroamérica a través de Sackville en Canadá la cual es muy fuerte y nos preocupa mucho ya que a la audiencia que se desea llegar con el mensaje de la emisora, sólo disponen de un horario de escucha reducido para hacerlo que es aprox. 2300-0300. Sólo durante las próximas noches se podrá observar que tan fuerte se presenta esta interferencia por estas tierras. Un abrazo, (Rafael Rodríguez, ibid.) Y luego de las 1000 UT se mete en la QRG Voice of National Salvation (clandestina, de Corea del Norte a Corea del Sur), por los 6010,7 aproximadamente. Saludos (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Sept 25, Conexión Digital via DXLD) See also URUGUAY Para mantenerlos al tanto, les cuento que la emisora se encuentra apagada en 6010 debido a la quema de una bobina del transmisor; esto ya se está solucionando y además están esperando el cristal de fábrica; ya que el que tienen para los 6010 es de fabricación "artesanal" que no tiene mucha confiabilidad. Se sigue evaluando las posibilidades de otras frecuencias. Muy pronto espezarán a enviar las confirmaciones a los reportes de los 6060; como cosa curiosa van a ser despachadas desde USA ya que el correo sale más económico (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Sept 30, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. Right now (0930 gmt 1 Oct) I'm hearing Radio Okapi on 11690. It is using carrier-plus-USB. The signal is weak and is co- channel with a Somali radiotelephone circuit (also using USB). But I've just heard a clear ID. No sign of anything yet on other frequencies cited recently (6030, 6300, 9550). Regards, (Chris in Nairobi Greenway, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. See INTERNATIONAL WATERS ** CYPRUS. 981, VoA Radio Sawa were heard with different programs [?satellite feed delay, see BELOW] in Arabic, 1500-1530 on 981 Cape Greco-CYP, 1260 Rhodes-GRC and 1548 Kuwait. 1260 was in \\ with few SW outlets (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Sep 13 via DXLD) Not just satellite delays: they are supposed to be different for each target audience (gh, DXLD) Despite news of the station moving to 990 kHz, it still seems to operate on 981 kHz. Heard just a while ago alternating with Greek ERT on 981 kHz (Mika Mäkeläinen, Finland, Oct 1, dxing.info via DXLD) Re: R. Sawa on 990 kHz (BC-DX 591). I am happy to send my report to you from Cairo! I hear R. Sawa almost everyday in Cairo. It has not been QSYed and still on air on 981 kHz 17-19 September (Hironao Oguma, Cairo, EGYPT, Sep 22, BC-DX via DXLD) Radio Sawa's MW from Cape Greco Cyprus still stays on 981 kHz. In spite of its shorter distance to Cairo, the frequency is heard approximately 1 second behind 1260 kHz from Rhodes, Greece. Why? (Hironao Oguma, Egypt, BC-DX Sep 28, via DXLD) Difference in distance between Cyprus and Rhodes is inconsequential compared to the speed of light (gh, DXLD) We visited the IBB VoA Control Center Munich last weekend. I guess most of the SW outlets and MW Rhodes/Kuwait relay transmissions via feed by two to four satellite hops, from Washington/Atlantic, Munich controlcenter/Atlantic-Africa satellite, Middle East/Indian Ocean satellite, up to Thailand, Sri Lanka and Tinian/Saipan relays via Pacific satellites. But in case of failure or maintenance, the feed goes reverse from Washington to San Francisco, Pacific, Hawaii, Saipan/Tinian, Indian Ocean, Atlantic to Munich control center. That's all done fully automatically by very expensive Canadian made satellite equipment and also via expensive satellite channel circuits. [But such US propaganda costs are cheaper to reach the target people, than fight on bloody war clashes in AFG or IRQ, ed. WB] In case of Cyprus, I guess the Capo Greco site is fed via Merlin- London control room center in Bush House to Nicosia Cyprus facilities, or via Radio MonteCarlo feeder line [the other Cyprus mediumwave 1233 relay of RMC], via Paris France control center, so there are more two hops via Atlantic/Africa satellite or so (Wolfgang Bueschel, Sep 29, BC-DX via DXLD) The IBB schedule website http://sds.his.com:4000/fmds_z/schedules/freqsked.txt announces the start of the new R. Sawa frequency 990 kHz for 25 October (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Sept 30, MW-DX via DXLD) See, it is taking them quite a while to move just 9 kHz, like chopping off part of the mast :) (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC/USA. RFE/RL CZECH BROADCASTS END | Text of report in English by press release by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on 30 September Washington, DC, 30 September 2002: In a statement released today, RFE/RL President Thomas Dine said that, after 51 years of "devotion in promoting freedom and democracy," the end of broadcasting by the organization's Czech Service, Radio Svobodna Evropa (RSE), is a "sad event". But he added that "looking back, RFE/RL takes great pride and pleasure in the enormous effort of this service in disseminating truthful news and information to the Czech and Slovak peoples" and to the "great impact" produced by the broadcasts "over the course of half a century." Radio Free Europe's "voice of a free Czechoslovakia" first went on the air on 1 May 1951, as the newly-created US surrogate broadcaster's first official transmission. Since that time, the Czech Service (prior to 1993, the Czechoslovak Service) has kept the Czech people informed about all of the major news stories affecting them - the "Prague Spring" liberalization movement of 1968 and subsequent Soviet-led invasion, the rise of Charter 77, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Velvet Revolution that brought the communist era to a close in Czechoslovakia and the peaceful break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993. In 1981, a bomb blast at RFE/RL's Cold War-era headquarters in Munich, targeting the Czechoslovak Service, severely wounded three broadcasters. In 1995, after RFE/RL moved from Munich to the former Czechoslovak federal parliament building in the centre of Prague, the Czech Service became a joint venture with Czech Public Radio. Dine said the end of the Czech broadcasts came due to budgetary constraints and that while there is still a need for the broadcasts in the Czech Republic, "we are now needed more urgently elsewhere." Dine's statement ends with a quote from a reader of the Czech daily Mlada fronta Dnes, who wrote on 27 September that "RSE has every right to [pass into history] with its head high, because it fulfilled its mission flawlessly." Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague, in English 30 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 3289.9, R Centro, 1041, Oct 1, Lots of ads. Fast paced format. ID given a couple of times by the Spanish speaking announcer at 1045. Strong signal (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Musical format discussion: see MEXICO ** EL SALVADOR. 17833.2, R. Imperial (presumed), 0015-0100 Sept 24, W announcer around 0020, then dropped down. 0040 end of LA Pop song and canned (pres.) ads by M over music. Back to music at 0041. Live W announcer again at 0052 which was almost readable. 0057 W anncr again joined by a M anncr with definite mention of "oyentes". Fairly strong signal but severely undermodulated, most times not audible at all. Adjacent QRM too. Can hear this everyday starting around 1900 and also in the mornings around 1200 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) So Europeans have a chance if it is on that early. When is WB checking it? (gh, DXLD) 17833.16, R Imperial, nothing heard here in Europe, not even a carrier (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Sep 26-29, BCDX via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. ETHIOPIA [to ERITREA] Voice of Peace & Democracy of Eritrea. If you take a look in the DSWCI Domestic Broadcasting Survey edited in April this year, you will see that the Voice of the Tigray Revolution is broadcast from Mek'ele, Tigray, Ethiopia on 6350 daily from 0400 (and at other times) in Tigrinya. But at *0312-0350* the same transmitter is used by the clandestine Voice of Peace & Democracy of Eritrea, also in Tigrinya. Today, Sep 4, I heard this clandestine from tune in 0328-0350* and the IS of the Voice of the Tigray Revolution signing on 0355. The latter was also heard with a faint signal on \\ 5500 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DXplorer via BC-DX via DXLD) ** EUROPE. 9384.96, EUROPIRATE, Laser Hot Hits, 2216 Sept 30. "Apeman" by the Kinks, deep fades and noisy, M dj and mx (Pink Floyd, etc.), then 2231 M announces station website "all you have to do is to type in our website address, which is www.radiolink.net/hothits, that's www.radiolink forward slash, that's, uh, www.radiolink.net/hothits..." Altho carrier stayed in for hours afterwards, this was about the peak of readable copy (Al Quaglieri, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. The editorial staff of YLE's doomed German service announces a special commemorative broadcast with studio guests and listener call-in: On Oct 10 1700-1900 on 9630, from 1800 also on 6120, 11755 and Hotbird. They also state that all protest against the closure of the service is futile. The one hour programs on weekends were aired for the last time this Sunday; only the Mon-Sat 0530-0545 on 9650 and Mon-Fri 0930-0945 on 15530 slots will remain till the bitter end (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE? 25775 unID: Like lotsa people I`m keeping an ear out for this. Got it tonight at 1030 UT, with a MA in English (North American accent to my ears) on technology, then gives a phone number "Area code 339 912..." hash static(!!!)" we are giving away 3 tickets for two to see.." static buzzz... thought there were a few phone numbers mentioned including 9514 and 41x9. Sometimes just Ma (sounds young. Sometimes MA and FA. Played some classical music for 30 secs then later Rolling Stones` "Brown Sugar"; faded out about 1045. If the guy uses English and French could it be Canadian low power? Why using Mass phone numbers? Right now at 1130 I can hear some "tuning up" tones. carriers coming and going. Hmmmmm (Jem Cullen, Australia, Oct 1, ARDXC via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Germany is to have its first radio station for truck drivers. Starlet Media has won time on a mediumwave licence in Saxony- Anhalt and a DAB licence in Berlin and Brandenburg. It also hopes to win a national long wave frequency. The station will be named Countrystar (Michael Lawton, Radio World via Jack Fitzsimmons, UK, Oct World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** GERMANY. At Berlin I found today 810, 891 and 1485 empty, no more DRM tests. Berlin-Britz 855 was again running DRM, the splatter problem was meanwhile reduced but still not completely eliminated. I also found that the BBC-Worldservice FM outlet 90.2 has a quite poor audio quality; it's in stereo but the audio frequency range hardly exceeds 7 kHz. I will check the joint BBC/RFI outlet at Dresden with headphones tomorrow if time will permit. By the way, I went out to Frohnau to the old microwave link tower (358 metres tall, 6 GHz link to the FRG with direct sight, not having to rely on tropo scatter like the older 2 GHz links, hence using just 10 instead of 1000 watts transmitter power), but unfortunately time did not permit to search for a place with sight on the station grounds to look for the provisional 1485 antenna and so on. Anyway the weather made it a really nice stroll. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 6085 KHZ ABSCHALTUNG DER KURZWELLE Der Bayerische Rundfunk stellt zum 1. Januar 2003 die analoge Programmverbreitung ueber Kurzwelle ein. Damit verliert der BR nach der weitreichenden Mittelwelle 1602 kHz in 1979 nunmehr eine weitere excellente Verbreitungsmoeglichkeit fuer vielseitigen Empfang, ob zuhause, im Hotel, am Strand, in den Bergen, auf den Booten und Schiffen, im Auto, europaweit. ed. Mit grossem Bedauern lese ich von der geplanten Abschaltung der Kurzwelle. Das ist ausserordentlich schade, denn die Mischung, die auf 6085 verbreitet wird, sucht ihresgleichen. (...) das, was der BR macht, ist eine korrekte, wortlastige Nutzung dieses Frequenzbereichs. Nach der Abschaltung wird der BR ausserhalb seines Sendegebiets mobil nicht mehr zu empfangen sein. Ich koennte eine Entscheidung verstehen, die darauf hinaus liefe, die 6085 moeglichst bald dem DRM-Standard zuzufuehren. Da dies sicher nur eine Frage kurzer Zeit waere, scheint es mir klug, bei der KW-Versorgung keine Luecke entstehen zu lassen und die Hoerer nicht von diesem Frequenzbereich zu entwoehnen. Leiten Sie bitte Ihrem technischen Direktor diese Mail zu, bevor er endgueltig entscheidet (Peter Beck, Germany, A-DX Sep 25 via BC-DX via DXLD) Nachdem der BR sich seiner Sache anscheinend (?) doch noch nicht so sicher ist: Schreibt an die Techn. Information des BR TechInfo@b... [truncated by yahoogroups] und erwaehnt das ihr soeben von der "angeblichen" Abschaltung der Kurzwelle 6085 gehoert habt und damit nicht so wirklich einverstanden seid. Und wenn es nur zwei Zeilen sind die sich jeder von uns ausdenkt - das macht Sinn. Und wenn morgen in Muenchen auch nur 50 Mails ankommen, ist das fuer ein "Geruecht" - offizioeses gibt's ja nicht vom BR - erstmal kein schlechtes Lebenszeichen. Warten wir's nicht ab. 73 (Christoph OE2CRM, A-DX Sep 24 via DXLD) From: TechInfo@b... Sehr geehrter Herr ... , vielen Dank fuer Ihre e-mail und Ihr Interesse an unserem Programm. Leider koennen wir Ihnen im Moment keine naeheren Angaben zum Thema Kurzwelle geben, da die Entscheidung ueber den weiteren Betrieb noch nicht getroffen wurde. Eine Diskussion ueber die Wirtschaftlichkeit von Sendeanlagen hat es uebrigens immer schon gegeben - Mittel- und Kurzwellensender sind hier oft (wegen der hohen Wartungs- und Betriebskosten) im Gespraech. Erst wenn die schriftliche Stellungnahme des Technischen Direktors erfolgt ist, koennen wir entsprechende Informationen herausgeben. Wir bitten Sie deshalb, sich solange mit diesem Zwischenbescheid zufrieden zu geben. Mit freundlichen Gruessen, Manfred Schmitz, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Neue Technologien, Techn. Information, 80300 Muenchen Fax: 089/5900-3199 Faxpolling: (Frequenzen) 089/5900-4032 e-Mail: techinfo@b... Internet: http://www.br-online.de/br-intern/technik (A-DX Sep 24 via BC-DX via DXLD) Der Technische Direktor Herbert Tillmann ist insbesondere zustaendig und verantwortlich fuer die technischen Angelegenheiten des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Dies beinhaltet u.a. | die Umstellung von den ueberholten analogen Techniken auf universell einsetzbare Digitaltechnik; | die terrestrischen Sendernetze und die Programmverbreitung ueber Satellit und Kabel sowie fuer das Internet als neuen Vertriebsweg; | die mittelfristige Abloesung der bestehenden analogen Uebertragungsverfahren. Diese werden nach intensiven Erprobungsphasen in die neuen Rundfunksysteme DIGITAL RADIO (DAB) und Digital Video Bcing (DVB) konsequent auf- und ausgebaut; | die Entwicklungen beim digitalen Fernsehen und Radio voranzutreiben; Herbert Tillmann war Mitinitiator des Projektes BR-ONLINE. Der Aufbau von BR-ONLINE als Komplementaermedium zu Hoerfunk und Fernsehen wurde von ihm aus strategischen Erwaegungen heraus gezielt gefoerdert. Neben der Foerderung der Digitalisierung innerhalb des Bayerischen Rundfunks setzte sich Tillmann auf nationaler und internationaler Ebene bei der Frage der technischen Plattform fuer Digitales Fernsehen im Bereich Produktion in Sendung und Ausstrahlung mit Nachdruck dafuer ein, dass die technologischen Rahmenbedingungen, innerhalb derer sich oeffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunk auf Basis der vom Bundesverfassungsgericht ausgesprochenen Bestands- und Entwicklungsgarantie im Zeitalter des digitalen Fernsehens weiterentwickeln koennen, den Anforderungen nach Offenheit, Transparenz, Diskriminierungsfreiheit und Standards genuegen. Als Vertreter der ARD steht Tillmann auch im Rahmen der Initiative Digitaler Rundfunk IDR der Bundesregierung, die fuer die Digitalisierung der Rundfunkdienste in Deutschland einen Zeitplan bis zum Jahre 2010 vorgibt, fuer ein geordnetes und zwischen allen Beteiligten abgestimmtes Vorgehen. Wirtschaftlich, bedarfsgerecht, marktorientiert, technologisch offen und wettbewerbsfoerdernd sind die Punkte, die Tillmann hinsichtlich eines Umstiegszenarios in den Vordergrund stellt. Tillmann ist Mitglied in verschiedenen ARD-Kommissionen sowie in nationalen und internationalen Arbeitsgruppen (via A-DX Sep 25 via BC-DX via DXLD) Danke fuer die ausfuehrliche Info. 6085: Das waere wirklich schade, wenn die abschalten wuerden. Hab' ich im europaeischen Ausland oft gehoert. Erst die 1602 futsch, jetzt noch die KW (...) Die 6085 klingt hier mit SYNCH und 9.5 kHz-Filter auf dem 7030 ganz hervorragend. (Martin Elbe, Germany, A-DX Sep 22 via BC-DX via DXLD) Sehr schade, war es doch im Urlaub eine Alternative zu DLR, DLF und DW. Und auch so zwischendurch sehr angenehm zu hoeren, ob ADR und DVB (via SAT) eine entsprechende Alternative ist moechte ich bezweifeln. Wobei ADR im SAT-Bereich auch eher zu den Auslaufmodellen gehoert und sich kaum jemand mehr einen ADR-Empfaenger kaufen wird. Ausserdem ist dadurch jetzt, bzw. ab Januar kein mobiler Empfang mehr moeglich. Sehr schade! (Marcel Goerke, Germany, A-DX Sep 24 via BC-DX via DXLD) Waere ja eigentlich bedauerlich, wenn der staerkste deutsche Regionalsender (im Gegensatz zu DW und DLF/DLR) die KW verlassen wuerde, nachdem er schon vor vielen Jahren seine MW 1602 kHz mit aehnlicher Reichweite aufgeben musste. Auch ich habe die KW-Frequenz oft auf meinen Reisen gehoert - war immer eine angenehme Alternative zur DW (Michael Bethge, Germany, WWDXC, Sep 22 via BC-DX via DXLD) Ja, und die Wiederaufnahme der Sendungen ist natuerlich "grundsaetzlich moeglich". Mich erinnert das an R Bremen: Gerade mal drei Leute haben sich beschwert, und damit hatte es sich mit 6190 erledigt. Wir duerfen uns also auch schon auf schoene Trailer auf 6085 freuen; da das ohnehin eine eigenstaendige Programmzustellung ist macht es ja auch keine Probleme, welche einzustreuen (Kai Ludwig, Germany, BC-DX Sep 23 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. ANALYSIS: INDONESIA MEDIA BILL SPARKS CENSORSHIP FEARS | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 30 September The Indonesian parliament is considering a controversial bill to regulate the broadcasting industry. The bill's primary aim is to create an independent broadcasting commission for the first time in the country's history. But broadcasters say the bill has been hijacked by conservative members of the political elite who want to suppress what has become a flourishing independent media four years after the downfall of former dictator President Suharto. In recent years the number of television and radio stations around the country has mushroomed - the result of the freedoms ushered in by this new more democratic era. But now for the first time since the end of decades of authoritarian rule in 1998, the broadcast media is under serious threat. Power to pull the plug The broadcast bill contains several controversial clauses. According to Richard Galpin, the BBC Jakarta correspondent, "one which has sparked particular anger within the media would give a team of civil servants the right to investigate any breaches of the law and grant them the power to immediately shut down television and radio stations, either temporarily or permanently". Insiders say members of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's party, along with the former ruling Golkar party as well as representatives of the military and intelligence agencies, have succeeded in getting this clause into the bill. Atmakusumah, chairman of the national Press Council, says it is as Draconian as anything he can remember since the Japanese occupation of Indonesia during the last world war. "It reminds me of the time in the Second World War, when the Japanese military government would place the so-called military advisers in print media offices and maybe broadcast media offices also, which actually they were censorship officials. "But the Japanese government would call them military advisers," he said. Woolly wording All this is particularly worrying for the broadcasters, as the wording of many of the clauses is vague. For example, it is deemed an offence if programmes "ridicule, look down upon, molest and or neglect religious values, the prestige of the Indonesian people and violate international relationships". For breaking these rules, there could be prison sentences of five years and massive fines. August Parenkuan, head of the television station TV7, is concerned about yet another part of the bill. This gives the government a continuing role in the issuing and extension of licences which will need to be renewed regularly. "The licence is given for 10 years. That makes us so unsure because after 10 years we get the new licence. What we want to have is to put a new law that the extension should go automatically, unless there is an order by the court - the court, not the government or the broadcasting commission." Foreign media Also under threat are foreign broadcasters such as ABC, BBC and Voice of America, which, if the bill becomes law, will no longer be able to relay live news programmes to Indonesian stations. Even Indonesia's foreign minister has questioned the proposed ban on foreign broadcasts. In an interview with the Voice of America in mid-September, Hasan Wirajuda criticized plans to curb the relay of foreign broadcasting by local radio and TV as part of the new broadcasting bill. "Any form of censorship, limitation or curbing of foreign broadcasting in this new world of the information superhighway will only be counterproductive," Wirajuda told VOA. "If the bill is passed by the parliament," he continued, "this kind of censorship, limitation or any kind of curbing of the free flow of information will not be effective or enforceable. This new law will merely be a piece of paper. Why should we produce a law that is not effective and enforceable?" Wirajuda added: "The legislative move by the parliament to curb foreign broadcasting is against the spirit of reform in Indonesia that the government has encouraged. Technically, how can we limit that kind of broadcasting? It is hard to understand. This borderless world has changed, and the free flow of information has bombarded the Indonesian public for so many years. Compared to the neighbouring countries, Indonesia is left behind in this new world of information. Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand have moved far beyond this kind of censorship." Atmakusumah of the Press Council has no doubt what the government and MPs are trying to achieve: "Many of them just don't believe in the full freedom of the press. I thought some of them have rational reasons, for example to protect the society or the audience from the misuse of radio stations. But some of the drafters I think just don't believe in the full freedom of press and _expression." The question is whether the bill will be revised before it is voted into law by parliament, which is due to take place in November, BBC correspondent Richard Galpin concluded. Source: BBC Monitoring research 30 Sep 02 (via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Second Hurricane Hits Cuba NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 1, 2002 -- Fast on the heels of Hurricane Isidore, Hurricane Lili is striking Western Cuba. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and W4EHW at the National Hurricane Center in Miami again are active to gather ground-level reports from the affected area via Amateur Radio. W4EHW has been monitoring both the HWN and Cuban emergency nets. "Many real-time reports were received last night and this morning on 40 meters directly from the radar station on Punta del Este, Isle of Youth," said Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, the assistant Amateur Radio coordinator at W4EHW. "They reported a maximum wind gust of 173 kph (107 MPH) at 1100 UT this morning. Ripoll said no injuries or deaths have been reported, and no damage assessment has been done because of the continued high winds. The Category 1 storm, sporting sustained winds of nearly 90 MPH, made landfall this morning on the southern coast of the Isle of Youth and was poised to make landfall on the western tip of the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio later this afternoon. The National Weather Service says Lili --- which at one point last week had begun to dissipate-- continues to intensify and could become a Category 2 hurricane. Projections suggest that Lili now could threaten the US Gulf Coast. As of 1500 UT, the storm was some 115 miles southwest of Havana, moving toward the west-northwest at nearly 13 MPH. The Hurricane Watch Net re-activated on 14.325 MHz today at 1100 UT after spending 14 hours on the air yesterday hampered by poor band conditions caused by a solar flare and resulting geomagnetic storm. Even so, the HWN's Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, described the activation as successful. "With reports coming in from stations on Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac, vital weather data was collected," said Graves, who's filling in this week for HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. "Cayman Brac had winds from 45 to 50 MPH, and Little Cayman had winds topping out at 90 MPH. Graves said damage in Little Cayman included downed trees, power lines and utility poles as well as minor roof damage and beach erosion. "Once Lili makes it into the Gulf of Mexico, all eyes will be on the northwest Gulf Coast," Graves said. Graves said the net's primary focus Tuesday would be the Isle of Youth and the southwestern coast of Cuba. Both the HWN and W4EHW have been recruiting bilingual (English-Spanish) operators to assist in storm activations such as the current one that affect primarily Spanish-speaking areas. W4EHW continues to exchange meteorological data and Spanish advisories with Cuban amateurs, Ripoll said. Ripoll said many of the reports received via ham radio have proven to be valuable to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center. Additionally, he said, media interest has been very high. W4EHW was interviewed last night on the Spanish network Telemundo. Miami's NBC affiliate aired a story that included an interview with NHC Director Max Mayfield. "Associated Press and CNN also have mentioned ham radio reports," he said. Official advisories can be found at the National Hurricane Web site http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ (ARRL Oct 1 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. IRAQ V. of Mojahed, 1325-1725 UT on additional 9250. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 2, BC-DX Sep 30 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. 1557, Iraqi type bubble jamming at 1550-2025 UT, maybe vs. "Two Rivers Radio" from Kuwait, reported to be on v1550-1566 kHz range (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Sep 19 via DXLD) No more Two Rivers now with Sawa on 1548? ** ISRAEL. Congratulations for your excellent work which I follow every week. I need a very important piece of info about the new Israeli "Middle east channel" in Arabic. I have watched up all Israeli newspapers but i did not find anything good. Do you know sites or anything might help me know more about this new channel? Thank you very very much. Hope to hear from you soon. MH (Marco Hamam, Italy, Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Can anyone help? (gh, DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. COTE D'IVOIRE: GOVERNMENT RESTRICTS FOREIGN BROADCASTS | Text of press release by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on 26 September; subheading as published New York, 25 September: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of journalists covering the ongoing military crisis in the Ivory Coast.... Foreign broadcasts jammed Since 22 September, Ivorian authorities have also been jamming the broadcast signals of local FM stations that relay programmes from the BBC, Radio France Internationale (RFI), and the pan-African station Africa No 1. On 23 September, the head of the official National Audiovisual Committee, Jerome Diegou-Bailly, explained that "in a state of war, one must manage the information in order not to spread death and disruption among the population." Independent journalists in the Ivory Coast, however, have expressed scepticism at the government's motives for banning the three foreign broadcasters. Some point to comments from the government and the ruling-party press that have accused foreign news outlets of working to destabilize the country. A 22 September editorial in the FPI daily, Notre Voie, called the BBC, RFI, and Agence France-Presse "the other adversaries of the Ivory Coast," a formerly stable nation that has been beset with political unrest since late 1999, when the army seized control in the country's first ever coup. Meanwhile, France, the United Kingdom and the United States have all sent troops to the country with a mandate to protect Westerners and, if needed, to coordinate their evacuation. Source: Committee to Protect Journalists press release, New York, in English 26 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Jamming? Just how? Or term used too loosely ** KASHMIR. PAKISTAN: KASHMIR'S RADIO MIRPUR STARTS TEST TRANSMISSION | Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency Mirpur, 24 September: Newly established Azad Jammu Kashmir [AJK] Radio Mirpur started its formal test transmissions on air from 1242 p.m. Tuesday [24 September], it was officially learnt. Station Director Khalid Mahmood Chohan of the AJK Radio Mirpur told APP here Tuesday evening that the test transmissions were successfully brought on air with the name of Allah Almighty by the opening announcer Khalid Waqar, senior producer in the local studios of the broadcasting house. He said that recitations of the verses from the Holy Koran, Hamad-o- Naat and Arifana kalam (poetry) of the eminent late scholar of the sub continent Mian Muhammad Buksh will be broadcast on MW 936 kHz daily during different hours of he test transmissions. He said that these test transmissions would continue to be brought on air till the formal inauguration of the newly-established Mirpur Radio station in he near future. He said that reports received here Tuesday evening from Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Lahore and other stations speaks of the absolutely clear reception of the test transmissions of this station. Khalid Chohan said while responding to a question that various programmes, besides news and current affairs programmes, in four different languages including Urdu, Kashmiri, Gojri and Pahari will be brought on air regularly from Mirpur Radio soon after the formal inauguration of the project. The emergence of 15.8m rupee 100-kW Mirpur Radio Station is the major breakthrough in Azad Jammu Kashmir in the development sector in the latest electronic media technology of modern age. The station will give exceptional converge to the cultural, political, educational, entertainment and development activities emerging in this part of the liberated territory through the large scale news and current affairs and other programmes for the interest of the listeners. Source: Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, Islamabad, in English 1621 gmt 24 Sep 02 PAKISTAN: KASHMIR'S MIRPUR RADIO STATION TO GO ON AIR ON 30 SEPTEMBER | Excerpt from report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency Mirpur, 29 September: The newly-established Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur station will start broadcasting its regular transmissions from Monday 30 September. Commissioner Mirpur Division Sardar Muhammad Khurshid Khan told APP here Sunday [29 September] that all is set for the inauguration of the 15.8m rupee AJK Radio Station Mirpur project. The management of the AK Radio Station Mirpur will hold a befitting ceremony to mark the launch of transmission, said Station Director Khalid Mahmood Chohan while talking to APP. Chohan said that various programmes, besides news and current affairs programmes, in four different languages including Urdu, Kashmiri, Gojri and Pahari will be brought on air regularly from Mirpur Radio. The emergence of 100 kW Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur station is a major breakthrough in Azad Jammu Kashmir in the field of latest electronic media technology of modern age. Elaborating the salient features project, Muqarrab Khan Niazi, Controller Projects Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation told APP here Saturday that the newly- constructed Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur has commenced its test transmissions on medium wave on 936 kHz from 24 September. The station will give exceptional coverage to the cultural, political education, entertainment and development activities emerging in this part of the liberated territory through the large scale news and current affairs and other programmes for the interest of the listeners belonging to the areas spreading in the radius of thousands of kilometres especially in Jammu region of the Indian-held Jammu Kashmir state, since it was a keen desire of the population of the area. The foundation stone of the Mirpur Radio station was laid down by the federal minister for information and media development Nisaar Memon during the former Prime Minister Moeen Qureshi's era, who was also the information minister at that time. The building of the broadcasting house has been constructed on four kanal of land at Sector F-3, in Mirpur city. Whereas the transmitter house has been installed on 400 kanal of land on the area adjacent to the Mirpur industrial Estate, he said. He said that similar 100-kW mediumwave transmitter has also been installed in radio stations at Rawalpindi. Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur will be the third radio station in AJK next to radio stations already functioning in Muzaffarabad and Tararkheil. Muzaffarabad and Tarakheil Radio stations are giving their transmissions on mediumwave and short wave frequencies respectively. To a question, he said that it will be Canada-made transmitter of 100 kW installed for Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur to ensure the clear and smooth transmissions of its programmes for the listeners spreading in the areas in the radius of up to thousands of kilometres. Controller projects said that independent electricity supply lines have been managed through an independent feeder from Mirpur Grid Station to run the high power transmitting station of the project. He said that 8.06m rupees have been paid to the AJK Electricity Department for the independent power supply lines from Grid Station to the Transmitting House. He said that the required staff of all the sections of Azad Kashmir Radio Station Mirpur including engineering programme, finance, administration, news and current affairs have assumed the charge of their respective duties. Meanwhile, the programme section of Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur recorded the interviews of various personalities belonging to cross sections of the society in the studios of the AJK radio Station Mirpur to inquire about their views about the importance of the establishment of radio station in Mirpur, Azad kashmir's only fast expanding industrial district, in this modern age of latest technology... Source: Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, Islamabad, in English 1117 gmt 29 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) PAKISTAN: INFORMATION MINISTER INAUGURATES RADIO STATION FOR AZAD KASHMIR AREA | Text of report by Radio Pakistan on 30 September Azad Kashmir [Pakistani Kashmir] Radio Mirpur was inaugurated by the information minister, Mr Nisar A. Memon, this afternoon. The minister on the occasion said the government has fulfilled an old demand of the people of Kashmir by setting up a radio station. It (?would) project the social and cultural activities of the area. The new radio station will also go a long way in highlighting the Kashmir issue at the international level. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir president, Sardar Muhammad Anwar Khan, and his cabinet ministers were also present on the occasion. Source: Radio Pakistan, Islamabad, in English 1000 gmt 30 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. 9925 (ex 9775), R DAT. Heard the station on Sep 25 & 26, 55555 at my place. Undoubtly a Sitkunai, Lithuania transmission. Heard the start and 15 mins, contrary to Anker's observation heard program in Kazakh language only, except a short Russian ID. Audio like ISDN phone line quality standard. But on Sep 27th instead in Russian again (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Sep 27, BC- DX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Some recent logs of VHF DX received via daytime F2 and evening TEP. Some highlights: 37.340 (am or nbfm) Radio Pyongyang [sic] in English 1000-1030+ UT Sept 22. Same program readily audible on the fundamental, 9.335 (Tony Mann, 32S, 116E, W. Australia, Sept 23, vhfskip yahoogroup via harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. UZBEKISTAN, 17540, ULMD via Tashkent, 0100-0200 UT; Merlin operation via MCB to Laos. Most likely change to 12070 in B-02 season: 12070 0100-0200 to zones 44,49,54 TAC 200 kW 131 degr UZB MNO GFC (BC-DX Sept 30 via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5100, Liberian Communications Network 2240-2315 Sept 30. Pop music with occasional short announcements by man. 2300 announcements and time by man. News of West Africa with male anchor, feature stories by man and woman. Frequent mention of Monrovia. Poor signal with very difficult reception due to fading and utility interference (SINPO 22322). Improved after 2300 through 2315 tune out. Program was in English after 2300, probably also prior to 2300, but too low to be certain. First log of them this year (Jim Evans, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. I'd be careful using "recuerdo" or "recuerdos" as a format name if you report to stations. "Recuerdo" is simply a word meaning "memory" and is not a format description. Generally, the stations called "Recuerdo" are 60's oldies; "Inolvidable" is more common on 70's oldies stations. The 40's and 50's stuff was first done on "El Fonógrafo del Recuerdo" (now XECMQ- 1150) in Mexico City. The latter is a separate format, much like the US Standards format. One of the interesting things that we spent a ton of money on researching in several US Hispanic markets is that there is no word for "oldies" in Spanish. There is also no word for "standards." So you have to describe the music by type, style or artists. You will also find that, among non-Americanized Mexicans there is no usefulness in describing music by decade; the concept of decades is rarely used in general society, especially in working class situations. In Mexico, you may find a station that plays US pop claiming to play the best of the 70's, 80's and 90's, but you would never have a ranchera or Spanish ballad station using decade identifiers. An opportunity to clarify something that may have taken on a format connotation that it does not truly have: Las Vegas [NV] - 870 is "Recuerdo" and not "Recuerdos." In Fact, all the US Recuerdos, 560 in Chicago (soon), 1270 in Dallas, 750 in El Paso and the trimulcast in LA are all "Recuerdo" without the "s" at the end. Mexican or Spanish MOL is generally not called "recuerdos" or "recuerdo." The "recuerdo" name is usually applied to oldies that are mostly 60's and early 70's, as the US stations I have cited do; there MOYL stations like 1150 in Mexico City are true nostalgia stations, playing artists from he 40's and 50's. Since the Mexican population is so young, you will only find this kind of nostalgia station in the very biggest cities where there is a large enough group of people over 60 to listen to such programming; in the US you could not get arrested programming Spanish nostalgia as there simply are not enough Spanish dominant Hispanics over age 60 to make a go of it, even in LA (nostalgia and oldies are separate formats in Mexico, just as in the US. However, the formats don't have generic names like we usually try to come up with in the US). Speaking of US format terminology, we often hear of "regional Mexican" as a format, especially in trades like M Street, R&R, and the fax pubs. That term was developed by Anglo record people to define a batch of genres that they did not understand. So they gave it a name; the name is unused in Mexico itself, and listeners don't know what it means either. So if you hear the nostalgia stuff, you either have a specialty show on a smaller market station or a big-market facility; chances that it would be a US station are nil. The term changes with generations; nearly no one plays 40's or 50's stuff anymore. Just as "oldies" stations in the USA used to play 50's and early 60's stuff, and now, generally, play late 60's and early 70's if they want salable audience ratings. The Radio Recuerdo that first used the name is, I believe, 860 station in Monterrey, NL. It began playing mostly 50's stuff, like Pedro Infante's softer songs, plus Los Jaibos, and the early trio sound that had a dance band (typically with a muted horn section) behind the strings. Today, they play late 70's grupo, some mid-60's trio, and a lot of 60's pop songs. The first Spanish oldies station I am aware of was 590 HCSP La Voz Amiga that did trios, soft rancheras and ballads in about 1966; it became Radio Fiesta with Ecuadorian music in 1969. All the music was from 5 to 15 years old. I tried to find if anyone else played the 40's and 50's stuff that XECMQ plays, and my contacts in Mexico City say there is not another in any market but that some special programs exist, mostly in night (DX) hours. Currently, there is a pop oldies FM in Ecuador using "Añoranza" as a name; I personally find that one more evocative than Recuerdo/s or Inolvidable. I researched the appeal of a pop oldies station in Argentina (either English, Spanish or a mix of songs in both languages) and the idea was DOA (David Gleason, CA, Corazón DX via DXLD) There is an FM Station from Tampico that uses the slogan "Estéreo Recuredo". They play music from the 60's to the 90's, everything from mainstream pop to "Romantica". I believe when they use the term "Recuerdos" (memories), it loosely translates into our term for "oldies". Usually these stations do not play norteña music or REGIONAL MEXICAN which is generally thought of by the Mexican upper class as peasant music (music for the lower classes). The exception is Ranchera (Vicente Fernandez, Pedro Infante which is TRADITIONAL MEXICAN MUSIC and is listened to by all classes. The "Recuerdos" stations usually exist in only the largest Mexican cities (Tampico, Monterrey, DF, Guadalajara.) In the United States the majority of the Mexican population immigrated from the lower classes (Farmworkers, etc). This is one reason that programming usually appeals to the "Lowest Common Denominator". (Steven Wiseblood, Boca Chica Beach, TX, ibid.) What you are hearing from Tampico is common in smaller metros (markets 15 to 4, at least), while in the top 3, the oldies stations will be more focused on 60's and 70's. While in context Recuerdo/s identifies oldies, the word does not mean anything but "memory" or "I remember" So if you use the term "Recuerdo" elsewhere, it refers to any kind of memory. When I did the research in the US for the HBC Recuerdo Stations, we found that the old norteña and "rompe y razga" ranchera does not fit. However, among the highest researching songs were those of Javier Solis, José Alfredo Jiménez and the like. Since most emigrants from Mexico come from rural areas, they are accustomed to hearing a mix of pop and ranchera "fina" on an oldies station, but not hard-core regional. And, as most immigrants in California are from Central Mexico, the ones over 35 never listened to norteña, which was not played in that area in the 60's and 70's. Ranchera can be divided into two sectors... classy and not classy. And this is often done with the FMs like Morena in Monterrey which bills itself as 'ranchera fina' as opposed to the fare on some of the AMs which is less classy. In Mexico City, however, there is no station appealing to upper and middle income persons that plays ranchera in any form... it is considered venom for upper income ratings success, a virtual requirement to bill well (XEBS, the 40+ year ranchera stations on 1410 is top 10 in ratings, about #35 in revenue). (David Gleason, Palm Springs, Corazón DX via DXLD) ** MONACO [non]. From a complete multi-site schedule we have excerpted English, not quite sure why, as one could well get more out of listening to TWR, in e.g., Qashqai... (gh) TRANS WORLD RADIO - EUROPE TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE WINTER SEASON B-02 27 OCT 2002 -29 MAR 2003 Updated: 27 Sep 2002 Shortwave TRANS WORLD RADIO - MONTE CARLO, MONACO TIME/UTC |DAYS |LANGUAGE| MB |FREQ | PWR| AZI |ZONES =========|=======|=========|===|===== |====|=====|===== 0745-0850| 6 |English | 31| 9870 |100 I324 | 27 0745-0920| 7|English | 31| 9870 |100 |324 | 27 0755-0920|12345 |English | 31| 9870 |100 |324 | 27 TRANS WORLD RADIO _ CERRIK, ALBANIA TIME/UTC | DAYS | LANGUAGE| MB | FREQ | PWR| AZI | ZONES ==========|========|=========|======|=======|====|======| ===== 0745-0850 | 6 | English | 25 | 12070 | 100| 310 | 27 0745-0920 | 7 | English | 25 | 12070 | 100| 310 | 27 0755-0920 |12345 | English | 25 | 12070 | 100| 310 | 27 1825-1841 | 7 | Qashqai | 31 | 9960 | 100| 90 | 30/40 1825-1841 | 7 | Qashqai | 25 | 12075 | 100| 90 | 30/40 Day 1 = Mon .. 7 = Sun TRANS WORLD RADIO - ROUMOULES, RMC_FRANCE TIME/UTC | DAYS | LANGUAGE| M | FREQ | PWR| AZI | ZONES =========|========|=========|======|=======|===========|======| 2300-2345|1234567 | English | 204 | 1467 | 1000| 325 | 27,28 Via - Bernhard Schraut (Freq. Manager) (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Cumbre DX et al. via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. NEW WEB SITE FOR RN MUSIC Some of you will already be aware of the work of our music department, as we've sent out numerous Radio Netherlands CD's as prizes in recent years. Now, the Music Department has opened its own Web site. It features the broadest mix of Dutch music, from Classical to Jazz to Pop and Rock to World music. This Web site will help you gather information about the Dutch music scene and Radio Netherlands' role in it. We have an extensive Catalogue of CD productions, which you can browse, and information about our Concert Series and our Dutch Music Weeks around the world. You will be able to listen to music, read Behind-the-Scenes interviews and Biographies of artists, and consult Concert Agendas for bands and orchestras as they travel to your part of the world. Currently you can read details of the "Going Dutch" week on 5-12 October. Radio Netherlands Music, together with NOS Radio 4, BBC Radio 3 and MuziekGroep Nederland, introduces the first Dutch Music Week in two countries, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. All this and more at http://www.rnmusic.nl (Media Network newsletter Sept 27 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. TROUBLED PNG SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS LOSES LOCAL RADIO | Text of report by Papua New Guinea newspaper The National web site on 1 October, by Kevin Pamba The Southern Highlands province's only effective mass communication link with the outside world, Radio Southern Highlands, was turned off last week. The radio station went off after PNG Power cut its power supply on Tuesday [24 September] for non-payment of power bills dating back to about two years ago. Radio station manager Andrew Meles told The National from Mendi on Friday that the closure effectively cuts the 500,000-plus Southern Highlanders off from one of their last remaining service organizations that was running effectively through the troubles in the province. "We were operating during the tribal fights and the elections, bringing news and information to people," Mr Meles said. Mr Meles said though his staff and their facilities were victimized by troubles, they continued to operate. He said often they walk around Mendi town and or hitch a ride in other people's vehicles to other parts of the province to gather news because they only vehicle, a Nissan Vannette, was out of service. He said with the radio service now cut off, they may not cover the fresh elections and the important visits and address by important people like acting governor Sir Peter Barter as they have been doing. Mr Meles said he, as head of the radio station, had repeatedly knocked on the doors of the provincial administration and politicians for help but was to no avail. He said power was among many operational needs the station needed. Mr Meles said the station needs over 100,000 kina to pay off its debts to PNG Power, Telikom, business houses who provide logistics including basic items like stationery on a credit basis. Meanwhile, he said the radio station, which is owned by the National Broadcasting Corporation, had lost four of its staff houses at Tente Newtown in Mendi to warring tribesmen. Mr Meles said the four NBC staff and their families were chased away and the houses were stripped down by the tribal warriors and parts taken away into the villages early this year. He said the staff members are currently living with wantoks [kinfolk]. Source: The National web site, Port Moresby, in English 1 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK?? That would be the one on 3275 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 7300, Radio América, 0750-0835, October 1. Best reception on 7301.12 USB mode. Religious talk in Spanish by male. Christian music. At 0801 long commentary read by female present by "Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Dias" Church. ID at 0829: "proclamando la palabra del Señor, ésta es ZP20, Radio América". Check time: "son las 5 y 29 minutos". Music. Ann. next program by José Holowaty [ex-KGEI]. Other ID as: le invitamos a seguir en sintonía de ZP20 Radio América" 24332 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Cumbre DX, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Wonder if this is a strictly LDS outlet now? (gh, DXLD) [Luego:] Recién chequeé mi dirección en yahoo y me encontré con la carta QSL de Radio América, por un reporte enviado algunas horas antes. Lo reproduzco a continuacion (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) Asunto: Re: Contacto --QSL RADIODIFUSIÓN AMÉRICA, VILLETA, PARAGUAY. TRANSMISIÓN EXPERIMENTAL EN 41 METROS. Señor Arnaldo Slaen, Buenos Aires, República Argentina Estimado Señor Arnaldo Slaen: Tengo el placer y privilegio de confirmar su sintonía a nuestras transmisiones experimentales, desde Villeta, Paraguay. Fecha de Sintonía: 1 de octubre de 2002 Hora de Sintonía: 0750 a 0835 UTC Frecuencia: 7300 KHZ La información presentada en su reporte corresponde con la programación emitida por ZP20, Radio América, repetida en las frecuencias de la Onda Corta. Debo mencionar que estamos probando en las frecuencias de 7300 y 7385 kHz, en este momento. Esperamos agregar la frecuencia de 9980 kHz, en el futuro cercano. ¡Con los mejores de saludos, desde el Paraguay! Adán Mur, Asesor Técnico, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay (via Slaen, Oct 1, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. Re 2-151, correction to name of station: 6323.9 RD COMERCIAL LA VOZ DEL DESTINO. Nueva Cajarmaca, Perú. 2209-2302* Sept. 28 y *1035-1110 Sept. 29 Nuevamente en el aire esta emisora peruana que apareció por primera vez en diciembre del año pasado, y reactivada desde Marzo cuando la escuchó el Colega Malm en Ecuador. Música tropical mencionando el Alto Mayo. Al dar la hora ``...A través de tu radio amiga Radio Comercial La Voz del Destino, 5 con 24, 5 de la tarde con 24 minutos...`` música con los Reales de Cajamarca. Corte abrupto sin cierre luego de las 2300. Luego al día siguiente aperturando luego de las 1030 con música folclórica. Información Adicional. De Lunes a Viernes luego de las 0100 retransmite el Noticiero Nacional de la cadena de televisión Gamavisión, audio que es tomado desde un televisor. En diciembre del año pasado reporté a esta peruana, pero no logrando identificar su nombre, el colega Malm a través de SWB vía DXLD confirmó en su momento que el nombre era Radiodifusora Comercial La Voz del Vecino, pero durante este fin de semana logré una mejor escucha debido a su reactivación aunque en verdad por momentos la grabación suena como ``La Voz del Vecino``, el nombre correcto es Radiodifusora Comercial La Voz del Destino, operando en los 89.5 del FM y 6325 nominal para la onda corta. Con estudios ubicados en Jirón Huallaga No. 199 en Nueva Cajamarca, Pvcia de Rioja, Región de San Martín en Perú. Tel. + 51 94 556072 Mencionaron como director al señor Hilmer Tinedo. Hoy o mañana envío una grabación de esta emisora para que sea colocada en los archivos de la lista. Varias peruanas tarde en la noche y madrugada, todas ellas evangélicas con predicación y alabanza son Radio del Pacifico 4975, Radio Victoria 6020 y Radio JSV 6060.3, las dos últimas con La Voz de la Liberación (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) unID, 6324, 1100, Oct 1, Andean folk music, with no announcements. Good signal strength, but heavy flutter fading from geomagnetic storm. Rdif Comercial, N Cajamarca, Peru is listed for this frequency on Mark Morhmann's LA DX webpage. http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/sw.htm (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. In the September 17th Radio Polonia media programme it was reported that a TPSA representative at the Bangkok HFCC meeting was trying to sell airtime to foreign broadcasters over the 1503 medium wave transmitter (Jonathan Murphy, Ireland, Oct World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. Syrian Human Rights Commission did send that "lovely card" they promised in 24 days for a report to its president, Saleem El-Hasan. The Palace of Westminster card simply states "with thanks and respect" and is signed by Saleem El-Hasan. A thank you e-mail - inquiring further about Sout Al Watan - resulted in the following reply: "Thanks again for your message. All wishes of pleasure and happiness to you too. I have asked several friends in Syria and in the USA, but nobody confirmed so far that he or she heard of such a broadcast. Regards, SHRC." Believable? As JB noted in RDXP WE Sep 8, I may be the only one to have this non-station QSLed (Rich D'Angelo, PA, BC-DX Sep 23 via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN. INTERNET USE SOARS IN TATARSTAN. There are more than 61,000 regular users of the Internet in Tatarstan, tatnews.ru reported on 16 September, citing the republic's Communications Minister Rinat Zalyalov. By comparison, the number of regular users was only about 17,000 six months ago. However, users are still encountering serious problems with their Internet service providers. For example, the operator IntelSet for a long time blocked its own subscribers from using the modem pools of other providers, which is a violation of antimonopoly laws and for which the company was fined about 200,000 rubles ($6,300). ("RFE/RL Newsline," 18 September via RFE/RL Media Matters Sept 27 via DXLD) ** TIBET. 9490, Xizang PBS, 1100 Oct 1, English ID, news, cultural and music program in English. Strong, but distorted audio - less than full copy. // 5240 and 7385, both much weaker. Back into Chinese at 1120 (George, MA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [Evidently HFCC listings changed site from one year to next:] 2001: 9490 2300-1300 43S XIA 100 255 CHN CRI RTC 2002: 9490 0200-1700 42S LHA 100 85 CHN CRI RTC (BC-DX Sept 24 via DXLD) 7385 Tibet. Zumindest auf dieser Frequenz bleiben nur noch 5 Wochen fuer ungestoerten Empfang. Die VOA plant wieder im Winter ueber Iranawila Sri Lanka auf 7385 zu senden. In B-02 Winter schedule: 1200-1700 und 1800-2400. Dazwischen eine Stunde 1700-1800 BBC Uzbekisch ueber Relay Moskau, Russland. Aber vielleicht gibt es im Winter eine andere 'freie' Tibet/X'ian Frequenz (Wolfgang Buschel, df5sx, Sep 18, BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 5050, WWRB 0140-0158 Oct 1. Rock music with no announcements between selections, just short periods of dead air. Some selections were cut off in the middle or began after their usual start. Also short periods of extremely low audio that sounded like a non-related program. Finally at 0158, a very hurried announcement by a man: " This is station WWRB, World Wide Radio Broadcasting, Manchester, Tennessee, U.S.A., 5.050 megahertz shortwave. Just testing our Harris transmitter here on 5085 (?). This is WWRB." Then abruptly gone. Extremely loud signal (SINPO 55444). (Jim Evans, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) WWRB also heard testing 5050 around 0100 UT Oct 2 (Ron Trotto, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hadn`t checked WJIE for almost a week, so: Oct 1 after 0500, 7490 had very strong signal, seemed stronger than before, but no modulation. After 1200, nothing but DVR. Fair around 0030 Oct 2 with disturbed conditions, current WORLD OF RADIO 1149 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WJIE 7490 now regular here from around 2200 and also mornings, Arabic programming noted from at least 0740 to 0830 (Mike Barraclough, England, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** U S A. WTJC KRIJGT ZUSTERSTATION Vanuit Newport in North Carolina (VS) heeft zich een nieuw reli- station in de ether gemeld. World Beacon of Hope begon eind september met laagvermogen testuitzendingen op 5920 kHz. Het station maakt deel uit van het Fundamental Broadcasting Network (FBN) en gebruikt de roepletters WBOH. In de eerste fase wordt met 50 watt de rombische antenne uitgeprobeerd. Daarvoor wordt de programmering van het zusterstation WTJC gerelayeerd. Als de testuitzendingen bevredigend verlopen, wordt de 50 kilowatt sterke omgebouwde middengolfzender op vol vermogen ingeschakeld. De programmering zal dan voor de helft uit Spaanstalige programma's bestaan. WBOH is 24 uur per dag in de lucht, maar voor ontvangst in Nederland en België zijn we op de donkere uurtjes aangewezen. (Diverse bronnen, 1 oktober 2002 via Michiel Schaay`s website http://www.kortegolf.info/Nieuwsbrief-actueel.htm via DXLD) WBOH TESTING FROM NORTH CAROLINA ON 5920 KHZ The Fundamental Broadcasting Network (FBN) has launched a new shortwave station. WBOH Newport NC has begun testing on 5920 kHz. Initially tests were conducted with only 15-20 watts of power. Ralph Brandi [NJ] was the first DXer to log the station on September 30, when power had been raised to 30-40 watts. FBN tells DXing.info that they expect to be on the air with 50 kW of power within a couple of weeks, but they are still waiting for the main transmitter to arrive from Canada. WBOH - which according to FBN stands for Worldwide Beacon of Hope - is located on a new transmitter site in Newport, some 4-5 miles away from the transmitter of WTJC, FBN's first shortwave station. During the testing period WBOH mostly retransmits WTJC programming (heard 24 hours a day on 9370 kHz), but some Spanish content is added as well. Pictures of the new station can be seen on the FBN website. The antenna of WBOH is directed south. By launching WBOH, FBN aims to improve reception in Central and South America with programming in English, Spanish and Portuguese (DXing.info, September 30 via DXLD) ** U S A. In the planned HF schedule for the coming broadcast period [Oct 27, 2002 - March 30, 2003] on the US FCC web site, noted a listing for a 'new' station. I assume this is a "planned" schedule for it, as I haven't seen mention of this one elsewhere. (No listing for the station in current period HF schedule.) Station: KIMF Power Azm Zones 5835.0 0000 1800 KIMF 50 135 10,11 11885.0 1800 0000 KIMF 50 135 10,11 Elsewhere on the site, saw this: Main Station Record - KIMF Permittee: International Fellowship of Churches, Inc/dba IMF world missions Call Sign: KIMF File Number: IHFCP-20011210 Grant Date: / / Expire Date: / / Transmitter Location: Intersection Spring Mesa Rd & State Rd 506, 1 sesquimile SW of Piñón, NM. Transmitter City: Piñón, NM G. Coordinates: 32 36 33 N Latitude. 105 24 51 W Longitude Tower Heights: 0 Meters OHAGL 0 Meters OHAMSL Obstruction Markings: None Required Conditions: None. Target Zones: Address: International Fellowship of Churches, Radio Station KIMF 9746 6th Street, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730, USA. TRANSMITTERS: Power Number of, Frequency, Model (KW) Transmitters Emission Tolerance Modified GE BT-50-G 50.0 2 1010K00A3E, 0.0015% ANTENNAS: Gain Azimuth Beamwidth Elevation Model (dB) (Degrees) (Degrees) (Degrees) RHO 14.000 100.0 35.00 23.00 RHO 14.000 135.0 35.00 23.00 (Bill Matthews, OH, DXplorer Sep 26 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. THE BIRDS ARE BACK -- Our favorite flying T-Hunt is about to start. This, as the famed radio tagged burrowing owls take flight once again. With the details, here's Joe Moell, K0OV. -- It's that time again -- migratory birds in the Northern Hemisphere are heading south for the winter. For the fifth year, ham radio operators and scanner fans are being asked to use their equipment to help wildlife biologists figure out the routes and final destinations of endangered Burrowing Owls. In previous years, hams helped determine that owls hatching during summer months in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta travel over central states from North Dakota to Oklahoma, ending up in southeast Texas and northern states of Mexico. They sometimes fly over 2000 miles to their winter homes. There aren't any radio-tagged Canadian owls to listen for this fall, but the University of Arizona is asking for ham help with 53 transmittered owls from eastern Washington state. If you live in the western USA and can receive 150 MHz signals, you could help. Your scanner or extended- range hand-held ham radio transceiver, plus an outside antenna, are all you need to join in. If you have radio direction finding equipment for VHF, so much the better. For all the frequencies and monitoring information, go to the usual place on the Web, http://www.homingin.com (HomingIn is one word.) If you aren't on the Web, send postal mail to my callbook address. Again, the Web site is homingin.com Thanks in advance for your help. From southern California, this is Joe Moell K-zero-Oscar-Victor for Amateur Radio Newsline -- Once again, more information is in cyberspace at http://www.homingin.com (ARNewsline Sept 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. Here we are in October. My favorite month for pirate dx'ing thanks to Halloween. I love those nights when two or three stations are cranking on different frequencies! Bill D. Berger was very kind to send the following along from the Voice of the New World Order website explaining the origins and objectives of his station. "Voice of the New World Order was born in response to various wacko conspiracy nuts with programs on various shortwave outlets such as WWCR and WWFV (or whatever they're calling themselves now). But it was really Colonel Steve Anderson of the Kentucky Rifleman's Militia and his illegal station United Patriot Radio that sparked the idea of VoNWO. Col. Steve had his station where he broadcast his crazy ideas every night, many having to do with bizarre conspiracy theories dealing with the New World Order and how the evil UN was planning on taking away everyone's guns and enslaving them in one-world government. NWO conspiracy theorists have believed for years that the Illuminati, Jewish Bankers, UN troops based in secret training bases around the US, Freemasons, the Trilateral Commission, the Bildeburg group, and just about any organization you can think of is somehow involved in a massive conspiracy to join all the nations of the world together under one government, headed by the antichrist. Supposedly if the antichrist comes to power at the head of this evil one-world government, then Jesus will not be able to return. So we got to thinking... if there really is a massive conspiracy involving a cast of literally thousands of people, then there should be a broadcast service to distribute information to all these people so they can know how their evil plans are going. Naturally it should be called the Voice of the New World Order, and should be based at UN headquarters. We had planned to begin broadcasting our programs every so often on 6900 kHz after Col. Steve signed off. Originally I think the plan was just simply to try to piss off Col. Steve by extolling the virtues of the NWO, but the idea for a regular shortwave pirate was hatched. Unfortunately, we never put a show together before Col Steve finally went over the edge and shot up that police car, causing him to be on the lam ever since. But the idea had taken root and finally a show was put on the air. Unfortunately, nobody heard our first broadcast. At least, nobody reported it to the FRN Grapevines, the ACE, or to us. Undaunted, we continued putting shows on the air and people started hearing us. Today we broadcast every so often around 6950 and 6955. Any time we need new material for a show, we just check out some wacko's website and see what the conspiracy of the day is. There's enough out there to keep someone entertained for years. Basically our shows poke fun at conspiracy nuts by pretending the conspiracy theories are real, and pointing out how silly they really are. We still haven't had the heart to do any shows with material about September 11. Many conspiracy nuts believe that the US government was behind the attacks, or at least took part in them. While this is laughable, we can't seem to bring ourselves to make fun of these nuts. I know that many people would take jokes about the terrorist attacks the wrong way, and I don't feel like dealing with that kind of mess. But the bottom line is that I don't think I could find much humor in it. We've been involved in pirate radio for years, and have operated several different stations. VoNWO is yet another production from our strange minds, and hopefully won't be the last one we produce." Bill D. Berger says that Voice of the New World Order uses standard ham equipment for transmitting. Regarding the shortwave pirate scene, he says "I think that the shortwave pirate scene is still going strong. Activity dropped off a bit after the Halloween 1998 busts, but today it's not hard to find a pirate active just about any night. Not only are pirates staying on 6955, but we have expanded to other frequencies such as 6900, 6925, and 6950. The FCC still seems powerless or unwilling to do any enforcement. Of course they are still understaffed which is good for us." Bill states that response to VoNWO has been mostly positive and that listeners enjoy the station. "Actually I was hoping to hear from some conspiracy nuts but so far haven't" he explains. "I hope to add a "listener mail" section to our website where we can list comments about our station, so it's up to our listeners to send in their comments." Voice of the New World Order is definitely a unique station to listen for! (via Frederick Moe, Random Transmissions, Oct The ACE via DXLD) ** U S A. WFMT'S SIGNAL DECISION BRINGS SOME STATIC By Raoul V. Mowatt, Tribune staff reporter, October 1, 2002 Only one thing surprised Clare Close more than the persistent interference he heard while tuning into WFMT-FM 98.7 -- the explanation for why it was there. The station has been using part of its signal band to broadcast other programming than the classical music that is its mainstay. The practice, not unusual in the industry, is generally undetectable to listeners. But in rare cases like Close's, the secondary signal can bleed over. "I think it caused a deterioration in the quality of the music," the Northbrook resident said. "I think it's a disservice to those people who sent their [subscription] money, as I have." The scope of the potential problem is unclear. Station executives are quick to point out that they've only had one complaint -- Close's -- since the procedure started in May. But its introduction apparently has prompted some internal disagreement, fueled in part by WFMT's longtime reputation for technological quality and its status as a publicly supported station. The move was made over the objection of WFMT's chief engineer, Gordon Carter, who feared that a few listeners could experience lowered sound quality. Carter likened his situation to when Scotty, the chief engineer from the original "Star Trek" series, gets asked to perform a risky task: Even after telling Capt. Kirk how inadvisable it is, eventually he just has to suck it up and do it anyway. "Money talks," he said. "It becomes more of a business decision than a technical decision at some point." But Steve Robinson, vice president for WFMT and WFMT Radio Networks, said, "We would never, no matter how much income was involved -- it could be $5 million -- lease out the [signal space] unless we could be assured that it wouldn't interfere with the main signal." Each FM station has enough broadcasting space for its main signal and two other "subcarrier" signals. It's relatively common to lease the secondary space to companies who transmit information to specialty receivers. The additional signals are at frequencies not captured by a typical FM set, experts say. Locally, WBEZ-FM 91.5 donates one of its subcarriers to a service that reads newspapers and magazines for blind listeners, said Torey Malatia, its general manager. WBBM-FM 96.3 hosts signals from a paging company and a firm that plays Korean programming, said Don Marion, the station's vice president and general manager. Both said they knew of no complaints about the secondary signals interfering with their main ones, and were skeptical that such a situation would prove a problem with WFMT. The Federal Communications Commission does not regulate subcarrier agreements because a license gives a station a broad right to do what it likes with its frequency, said Peter Doyle, chief of the agency's audio division. He said leasing out portions of a signal can affect the fidelity of the main signal, but it's up to individual broadcasters whether they want to take that risk. WFMT has leased one of its slots to RBC Radio, a New York-based broadcaster of Indian programming, and has been testing its signal since May. "Most listeners don't even know it was there," Carter said. Full-fledged broadcasting of the signal is slated to begin Oct. 1, said Holly Gilson, a WFMT spokeswoman. RBC Radio also piggybacks a signal on a New York station and is heard in various other locations, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., said Abhi Chauhan, a broadcaster there. Specialized radios He said that about 2,000 to 3,000 Chicago area people have purchased specialized radios to pick up the RBC signal. He added that, with its large Indian population, Chicago was a natural market for expansion, and WFMT was a natural business partner. "They have very good coverage and a great signal," Chauhan said. He also said that interference on WFMT would be virtually impossible. Neither he nor WFMT officials would specify how much the lease was for, but one source suggested it was for around $100,000 a year. Marion said subcarriers typically lease for between $12,000 and $15,000 a month. WFMT has long prided itself on its technical quality. The station was a pioneer in broadcasting in stereo and, in 1982, was the first radio station in the world to broadcast from a compact disc. The station makes its annual budget of about $5 million in part on donations in addition to grants and sponsorships. In the latest Arbitron ratings quarterly survey, WFMT drew about 386,600 listeners weekly. Robinson said, "In a minuscule percentage of cases, you're going to find people who are going to have reception problems." But, he added, "It's income, and it's income that comes with no downside, in our opinion." Close, a listener for the five decades the station has been on the air, disagreed. Background hiss He first noticed background hiss similar to white noise or the fuzz that comes up between stations when he was in the hospital recovering from back surgery. At the time, he attributed it to the stereo he was using. But when he noticed it on his more sophisticated home set, Close spoke with Carter and learned of the subcarrier agreement. The 76-year-old retired doctor said his ears might not be as acute as they once were, but that they can readily pick it out. "At normal listening levels, even during the program, you can hear it a little bit," Close said. "But when it's most distinct is when the program material is about to go off." WFMT had campaigned in recent years for an improved transmitter to enhance its sound further. But Robinson said it was "apples and oranges" to link that campaign to any potential problems the subcarrier might cause. Asked if the station was considering leasing its other available space, Carter said he hoped not. "Quite frankly, were it my call, we wouldn't put the one we did," Carter said. "But I can understand from a business sense we're putting a substantial amount of money on the table." In testing a couple of years ago, Carter added, experiments ran the spectrum from no interference on inexpensive receivers to some on higher-end ones. "You could take five different receivers of the same model and get five different results," Carter said. Another factor is that, unlike most other stations, the broadcasts on WFMT go through the entire range of volume, meaning there's an increased chance a discerning ear could detect something amiss during a pianissimo portion. "Let's face it. It's hard to hear a subtle noise in the middle of rock music," Carter said. "It's really easy in classical music, which gets really quiet and suddenly everything is there." But all and all, Carter and Robinson defend the decision. "One of the conditions was if it couldn't be made to work properly, the deal was off," Carter said. "Part of the procedure was a complete independent analysis of our signal with the [subcarrier] present under all possible conditions." He added, "If you have questionable reception to begin with, it's going to be more. If you have good reception, you probably won't even notice it. There are so many things that come into play between the transmitter and the person's ears that can affect this." For some, Carter said, getting a stronger antenna would solve any problem. For others, taking the receiver into an electronics shop and explaining the problem could do the trick. Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Re 6010 kHz [see COLOMBIA]. Ayer veníamos analizando la congestión de emisoras latinoamericanas que se encuentra en esta frecuencia. Vale acotar que Emisora Ciudad de Montevideo solamente está en el aire los fines de semana, desde la media mañana en esta región hasta la media tarde. De esta forma, y considerando que Radio Inconfidência, según mis informaciones abre transmisiones a las 0800 UT, lo más recomendable para los que estamos en la parte sur del Cono Sur es tentar con La Voz de tu Conciencia a las 0500-0800 UT. 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Sept 25, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VATICAN. English is now 1530-1555; all frequencies audible here, 12065, 13765, 15235 (Mike Barraclough, England, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3845, VOA (QTH??), 1051-1101 28 Sept, English talk by M with interview, ment of Tony Blair, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, 1975, and Vietnam. Gave Web address at 1057, and end of program. Piano music, 1100 VOA "signing on" ID. Spur or image?? Loti Yates e-mail said he didn't think this was R. Independent Mekamui as Sam is on 3850 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5040.58. Could this be Myanmar, ex 4725? Noted since 1301 Oct 1 with what sounded like news in language. Same buzzy transmitter sound that one heard on 4725, only there is nothing there this morning. Blew through 1330 with no time pips but rather theme that I believe I have heard before. Then long talk by YL with what seemed to be many mentions of Myanmar. I don't think this is AIR Jeypore which is spot on 5040 but irregular. Station still on as I type this at 1354. Any help appreciated (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PENNANT GALLERY Check out my collection of pennants from radio stations around the world. The latest addition to my collection is a very rare pennant from the famous Radio New York Worldwide when it call letters were still WRUL. I also recently obtained a very unique "upside down" pennant from Radiodiffusion TV Francaise which looks to be rather old. http://www.bcdx.org/pennants -------------------- (Brandon Jordan - Memphis TN - Oct 1, http://www.bcdx.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi via DXLD) Brandon`s new bulletin board could use a lot more traffic (gh, DXLD) DRM +++ With the impending Iraq problem does anyone know how robust DRM is against deliberate jamming? (Andy Cadier, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This question was dealt with by DRM spokesman Peter Senger on Radio Australia a few months back. In reply to a listener`s question on the effects of strong interference on a DRM digital signal he said that DRM had to have a bit error rate of below 10 to the minus 4; if this bit error rate was not achieved the receiver would mute. Any interference increases the bit error rate. In response to a specific question as to whether it would be easier for foreign governments to jam DRM transmissions, since in analogue the human ear is adept at picking out words from broadcasts subject to interference, he said that whoever would like to jam can jam, the bit error rate would go up and the receiver would mute, so contrary to analogue the effect of jamming would be no signal. He said that standards had been established, and would be published by the ITU, so that no adjacent channel interference would be caused, which is a concern of mine. However of course on AM there is a different problem, at night the signals are subject to skywave and digital signals appear as a buzz on analogue sets. That is why in the US IBOC AM is currently restricted to a daytime only service. Having spent so much money promoting DAB is the British radio industry going to embrace DRM? (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK via DXLD) I wonder if it possible that the effects of DRM could be more profound long-term? Let's imagine DRM is readily available and cheap enough to start incorporating in many of the sort of products which contain not a shortwave tuner but an AM radio tuner of any sort e.g. portable radio, personal radio, boom box, mini hi-fi. I know Blaupunkt intend to incorporate DRM in a car radio soon. Would some broadcasters not be beating a door to the shortwave transmission companies to pay to deliver a higher quality signal across a nation, across borders, maybe to a neighbouring country. Would a station like Jazz FM, not a traditional international SW broadcaster, but a winner internationally on the net not want be heard on portable or car radios in as much of the world as was economic? If new programme content or reception convenience were to appear via DRM, would that not drive receiver sales? If a UK station or foreign wanted to reach all the UK from coast to coast with good reception using a single SW frequency, would that be viable? Chicken and egg, receiver sales vs. Brave broadcasters, but if DRM DOES start to appear in many radio sets, then it won't matter if a station is FM or DRM. If the programmes are good and stay on the air without the poor listener having to understand how to re-tune and predict propagation, then we may have a killer app. The regulatory implications are profound. Any local station could hire DRM transmission time from Merlin or go abroad and operate from there. Perhaps DRM will break the traditional model of domestic and external broadcaster on the SW bands, just local radio stations rub shoulders with international giants on the Internet. Please note: These musings are not the policy, thoughts, words or deeds of my employer (Chris McWhinnie, UK, Sept 25, BDXC-UK via DXLD) RAMADAN 2002 ++++++++++++ Der muslimische Fastenmonat Ramadan beginnt wahrscheinlich am 6.11.2002. Das Ramadanfest zum Abschluss findet dann am 5.-7.12. statt. Das genaue Datum variiert plus minus 1 bis 2 Tage, da sich der islamische Kalender nicht an Daten, sondern am Mondkalender orientiert und der Beginn des Fastenmonats von den geistlichen Autoritäten ausgerufen wird. Der Fastenmonat ist eine der ``fünf Säulen`` des Islam, neben dem Bekenntnis zu Allah als dem einen Gott und zu Mohammed als seinem Gesandten, der Abgabe zugunsten der Armen, dem regelmäßigen Gebet und der Wallfahrt nach Mekka. In der Zeit des Ramadan sollen die Gläubigen vom Morgen bis Abend fasten, ausgenommen Kinder, Schwangere, Schwerarbeitende und Reisende. In dieser Zeit verlagert sich das gesellschaftliche und familiäre Leben auf den Abend und verlängern viele Stationen der muslimischen Welt ihre Programme, so dass sich neue Möglichkeiten für den Rundfunkfernempfang ergeben (Dr. Hansjörg Biener, NTT Aktuell via DXLD) END OF 2002 PART 4 ###
